#from beating herself up about not being 'good enough' at various things

[yandere-writer-momo]

Rent-a-girlfriend

Part 3: Katsumi Orochi

Yandere Baki various x Afab reader

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

…………………………………………………..

Katsumi ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed. What on earth was he going to do? He told his parents he had a girlfriend so they’d get off his back about getting married…

Was it desperate of him to pay for a rental girlfriend? What if his parents caught on to his lie?

Katsumi waited at the small cafe to meet up with his date. His heart beating erratically in his chest as he started overthinking. What if she didn’t show up? What if she bailed on him and now he was out of all that money… jeez.

Katsumi looked up and his breath hitched when he saw (your name). Her hair was down in soft waves and she wore a white midi dress. She was lovely…

(Your name) approached Katsumi with a soft smile. She gave him a wave and giggled when his whole face turned red. What a cutie.

“Hello. I’m (your name).” (Your name) introduced herself to Katsumi who took her hand in his. Katsumi was amazed by how soft and small her hand was compared to his large, callused one.

“I-I’m Katsumi.” Katsumi introduced himself with a stutter. He cursed under his breath for being so nervous. He’s been so busy training that he neglected dating and talking to girls. Now she probably thought he was a loser…

“So what are all the things I need to know before I meet your parents?” (Your name) softly l asked as she took a seat beside him. Katsumi flushing a bit in the face at the question.

“I’m 25 and we’ve been dating for a few months.” Katsumi muttered. “My parents really want me to get married and have children so I lied and said I had a girlfriend…”

“I can play my part.” (Your name) smiled warmly at him. Katsumi’s heart fluttered as butterflies exploded in his chest. She was so beautiful… it was a shame she was just a fake girlfriend…

“Thank you, I appreciate this…” Katsumi held her hand in his, his cheeks pink. “My parents can be a little bit embarrassing so I hope you don’t mind them.”

“Not at all. I’m sure I can handle it.” (Your name) replied smoothly.

Just how embarrassing could they possibly be?

.

.

.

(Your name) was surprised to be pulled into a tight hug by an older Japanese woman the moment she walked through the door. The woman was thrilled out of her mind to see her.

“My goodness! You must be (your full name)!” Katsumi’s mother, Natsue, beamed at her. “We’ve heard so much about you from Katsumi and we’re so happy to finally meet you! It took us ages to get your name out of his mouth! I’m Orochi Natsue and that’s my husband Doppo, but you can call us Mom and Dad!”

(Your name) smiled at Natsue. Goodness. It seems Katsumim was not lying… his parents were a bit much. Poor guy.

She was then pulled into a hug by a muscular bald man named Doppo. The older man smiling warmly at her.

“Where did he meet someone as pretty as you?” Doppo jokes. “Or did he snatch you up with his boyish god looks? He learned that technique from his old man.”

Katsumi choked on his spit. The karateka wrapping an arm around (your name)’s waist to pull her away from his dad. “Hey. That’s enough.”

“We’ve been worried sick about our son since he takes his karate training so seriously… he hasn’t had time for girls.” Natsue shares. “We were worried his still a vir-“

“Mother!” (Your name) put her hand over his lips to prevent herself from laughing at how cute Katsumi’s blush was. This poor guy… she felt so bad for him.

(Your name) gave Katsumi’s hand a reassuring squeeze. She gave his parents a smile. “Katsumi is a wonderful boyfriend. You raised him well.”

Katsumi blushed, his dark eyes focused on her bright smile. She was gorgeous… it was a shame she wasn’t really his girlfriend.

Dinner went by without a hitch. His parents cracking jokes here and there to make (your name) laugh. It was when Katsumi’s mother brought out the photo album that Katsumi swatted her away.

“Stop! She doesn’t need to see those!” Katsumi whined while (your name) laughed at his expense. His mother showing him baby pictures.

“I asked his biological mother for these and aren’t they precious?! Look at his chubby little cheeks!” Natsue cooed as she pointed at the pictures of a chubby baby Katsumi. Even then, he still had such majestic eyebrows.

“Katsumi, you never told me you were such a cute baby!” (Your name) joked, her eyes twinkling in mischief. Katsumi’s whole face flushed red in embarrassment. This guy had to be the cutest one she’s ever been on a date with… he was so precious.

“Don’t tease me too! Whose side are you on?” Katsumi felt his heart race at how joyful (your name)’s expression was as she interacted with his mom. His mom pointing out all of her favorite pictures to (your name). Katsumi didn’t realize how well she fit in… like it was natural for her. It was like she was truly his girlfriend…

“I’m sorry, babe. But you were so cute!” (Your name) smiled brightly at him. She pointed to a picture of him with his tiny foot in his mouth. “I can’t get over how you still have those majestic eyebrows. They must have been a strong gene.”

Katsumi downcast his gaze from her soft expression. He was going to melt into a puddle at this point. Katsumi has never felt this way before… a shame his parents noticed too. The older Orochi’s having Cheshire grins on their faces at the young couple.

“So when is the marriage?” Natsue joked, Doppo putting his hand on her shoulder with a nod.

“We’re not getting any younger so when is marriage and when are the grand kids-“

“We are leaving!” Katsumi jumped to his feet and scooped (your name) up in his arms. “Stop embarrassing me.”

The older couple laughed at the young couple’s expense. Natsue held Doppo’s hand as they watched Katsumi and (your name) walk out the door.

“Remember when we were like that?” Natsue asked Doppo softly, Doppo smiled.

“Of course I do. We still are.” Doppo pressed a kiss to Natsue’s head. The couple then cleaning up the table.

.

.

.

Katsumi carried (your name) out onto the street a ways until they were a few blocks from his parent’s house.

“I’m so terribly sorry about them. I didn’t think they’d jump right on that ship.” Katsumi apologized with a bow. (Your name) held his hand in hers to give him reassurance.

“You’re perfectly okay. Sometimes parents can be a bit much.” (Your name) gave his hand an affectionate squeeze. “They seem to love you a lot. Almost as much as they love babies.”

Katsumi and her share a laugh. The karateka blushing a bit more in the face. She was so beautiful and genuine… he felt as if he didn’t deserve her affection. Even if it was fake, it all felt so real…

“Say, how about I take you somewhere since we still have some time together?” Katsumi asked. He admired how small her hand was in his. Her daintiness was attractive to him.

“I’d love that. What are you thinking?” (Your name) smiled warmly at Katsumi. Katsumi gave her a wink in response.

“It’s a surprise.” The two walked off hand in hand. The karateka taking her to a little ice cream stand. “It’s not nearly as sweet as you but I thought it’d be a nice treat.”

(Your name) smiled at his flirtation. Out of all the men she has been on these rental dates with, Katsumi was pure boyfriend material. So far he was the whole package. She was amazed a man of his caliber didn’t have women lining up for him.

“I think you’re the sweet one.” (Your name) flirts back. She might have the tiniest crush on him. How could she not? He had a good family life, a stable job, he was active, he was handsome, easy to talk to, funny, and so sweet… maybe she’d for real date this guy… who knows.

She was still debating going back to the states to see her old beau. She wondered if that cocky guy missed her.

Katsumi and her walked side by side while they enjoyed their ice cream.

“It’s hard to believe you’re on the market.” (Your name) tells him. “You’re the whole package. You’re perfect.”

Katsumi blushed with a smile. “You really think so?”

“You’ve been nothing short of a gentleman and I really enjoyed my time with you. Even though your parents are a little crazy.” Katsumi laughs with a bright smile.

“Grand baby fever is a hell of a thing.” Katsumi finds himself staring at her lips in thought. He wanted to kiss her…

(Your name) smiled up at Katsumi. “Our time is about to come to an end. Would you be a doll and walk me to the subway station?”

“I’d love to.” Katsumi tells her softly. The karateka holding out his arm for her to take. “Shall I escort you, my lady?”

(Your name) snorted at the nickname. “What are you? A dweeb?”

“Maybe I’m a weirdo.” Katsumi wiggles his brows at her which caused her to laugh so hard, her chest hurt.

“Maybe you are.” (Your name) instead took his hand in hers. “But I like it.”

Katsumi trembled and bit his lip. The karateka pulling her body close to his with a sigh. This felt like a real date. This all felt real… perhaps he’d book her again?

“I never do this and I’m not supposed to but…” (your name) nervously smiled up at Katsumi. “Can I give you my number?”

The two both turned red in the face before they looked away. Katsumi muttered a yes.

Katsumi pulled his hand from hers to hand her his phone with a shaky hand. (Your name) typed her number in with a smile. She handed it back to him with a smirk.

Katsumi rose a brow at her. “Why did you put a star beside your name?”

“Because I’m a star.” (Your name) nodded her head at him which caused him to laugh.

“Okay. I can see that.”

The two of them joked the entire way back to the subway. Occasionally bumping into each other in a playful manner.

This was the best date she’s ever had… a shame she had no idea what she’s just gotten herself into… there was a reason Katsumi was still single…

.

.

.

(Your name) dreamily sighed when she walked into her apartment. Her phone screen lit up a light, pastel pink with an oh so familiar notification.

ᴋᴀᴛꜱᴜᴍɪ ʜᴀꜱ ɢɪᴠᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ 5 ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ 30% ᴛɪᴘ! ʜᴏᴏʀᴀʏ!

(Your name) smiled warmly at the notification. She adored Katsumi so far. The karateka already sent her a good night text too… what a gentleman. She was happy to bank out so much money tonight and find a potential boyfriend. A win is a win.

(Your name) stretched her arms with a content sigh, she placed her phone on her bedside table to charge. (Your name) then slipped out of her clothes and headed towards the shower. It was time to call it a night.

Another notification lit up her screen while she was in the bathroom.

ʙᴀᴋɪ ʜᴀɴᴍᴀ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴏɴᴅᴀʏ ᴇᴠᴇɴɪɴɢ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀ ᴘᴀʀᴋ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ! ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀᴄᴄᴇᴘᴛ?

ʏᴇꜱ ᴏʀ ɴᴏ?

[thelibrarian1895]

Bats and Time Travel

First, a disclaimer, I have only some minimal level of Booster Gold knowledge.

That being said, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that detective work isn't his strong suit, or the strong suit of most time travelers. Why would it be when they can just peak into the past and see what happened? So when something comes up and it's less straightforward than obvious bad guy needs a beating, Booster is at least smart enough to get expert help. On occasion that expert help has to go through time with him. He has to be very careful with this because no one wants another Flashpoint and he doesn't want to clean up any time shenanigans. The same goes for any other time related incident.

Bats are, of course, the go to for anyone who needs expert detective assistance. You can generally just grab any Bat and they can fill in as a detective though some are happier about it than others. Some are also more suited to time travel than others.

Batman works out well enough. He can be more or less trusted not to go off and mess with the timestream and cause some sort of catastrophe that takes forever to fix. Things get a little dicey if any case brings the Bat around Gotham or near one of his kids in the past. It becomes an exercise of restraint for both involved because B very much wants to go to his child and protect them/lecture them/hug them depending on the timeframe or at bare minimum loom over them. Booster has to sometimes physically get in the way to stop this. It doesn't always work. B is at least polite enough to fix the mess. Batman has trouble with alternate universe or alternate timeline adventures since he has to so often beat other versions of himself up and comes back extra broody. His family appreciate when he gets to the self reflection and determination to improve part after he's done brooding.

Nightwing is good to work with during time related incidents. Very professional, very cheerful, but still kept out of Gotham and very reluctantly kept from his past self because Nightwing really wants to give his past self a pep talk more often than not. Nightwing has, however, written letters for his past self that has resulted in a few branching new timelines or a mess that he was polite enough to help fix. Nightwing is allowed on alternate universe adventures which lets him give those pep talks to himself that he knew he desperately needed/wanted at those various ages.

Red Hood is not allowed on time travel cases because Jason has poor impulse control and has on more than one occasion killed someone who would commit a terrible crime in the future and ended up causing decades worth of a mess that needed to be cleaned up. He is responsible enough to fix his own messes and is only allowed now in alternate universe adventures. He's good at alternate universe adventures and they've helped him remember to rely less on hearsay and more on solid evidence.

Red Robin is Booster's favorite to work with because the kid can be snarky if caught in the right mood and the worst he has to worry about Red Robin when it comes to damaging the timeline is Red Robin taking pictures of various incidents. Red Robin is also polite enough to direct all attention Booster's way which appeases Booster's attention seeking nature. This is how Tim has the best collection of Batman tripping on his cape pictures and other similarly embarrassing incidents of his friends and family. Tim is allowed on alternate universe adventures and again returns with more pictures that his friends and family can't prove aren't them. He is developing an alternate tim support group to try to prevent additional gun batmen timelines. And, as he tells his brothers on occasion, so he can have intelligent conversation with family when Cassandra is away.

Black Bat would be Booster's favorite to work with except he's extremely intimidated by her, even more so than he can be by Batman. She has deliberately allowed herself to be seen in the past on occasion and those sightings in certain conspiracy forums as a cryptid. She's very proud of it. She is also a cryptid in other alternate timelines but is no longer allowed to go to alternate timelines after she has had to be restrained from adopting/kidnapping alternate versions of her younger self or her siblings.

Spoiler is also not allowed on time travel cases for the same reason as Jason, poor impulse control. She may have set off glitter bombs that resulted in a timeline mess almost as impossible to clean up after as the glitter. Her ability to help with alternate universe adventures is under review because, again, glitter bombs.

Robin aka Damian has worked in a timestream case once and came back with a dodo bird. Booster is glad that the kid allowed himself to be persuaded that there wasn't enough room to bring back the mastodon. He is not allowed to work on timestream cases until he can be trusted not to come back with extinct species. He is also not allowed to go on alternate universe adventures after he came back with another dragon bat he has named Desdemona.

Signal takes advantage of timestream adventures to fact check the crazy nonsense his siblings have told him. Booster likes the kid well enough and the invisibility does make things easier at times. The only reason he's not Booster's preferred Bat is because Signal is more naturally charismatic and people pay more attention to him than to Booster and also Signal needs to work on his confidence in his detective skills. He gets migraines dealing with alternate universe adventures and so tries to avoid them when possible.

Alfred has gone on ONE timestream adventure. Booster does not speak of the adventure. Alfred will just smile slightly if asked. Alfred is not allowed on alternate universe adventures because the Bats in his home universe get sullen and withdrawn without him and at least one kitchen fire will occur. His alternate selves are also possessive of their respective kitchens and do not appreciate intruders, even if the intruders are themselves.

[inou-ie]

I swear your jingliu fic made me twirl my hair in happiness. I love this woman so much. She could be so gentle with the reader. Can I request a jingliu scenario with a reader that is not from the luofu or any other ships and just likes to travel. Since Jingliu is kind of wanted by everyone because you know she went a little crazy, it would be fun to see her explore the galaxy too.

I got you, anon. Jingliu deserves some relaxing time too, after all. I just want to cuddle her.

This is a good idea so here's a short fic for you, though there's really nothing going on here, just Jingliu being taken to explore the galaxy with you.

In the boundless galaxy, away from the busy trade lanes and political fuss, you were a simple wanderer driven by curiosity and a love for exploration. You weren't tied to any faction or powerful group, just someone who found peace in the wonders of the universe.

Upon reaching a particular world, your curiosity led you to explore its surroundings. It was during this exploration that you came across a mysterious woman, her gaze fixed upon the moon, who identified herself as Jingliu, a wandering swordmaster. In a hushed tone, she cautioned you that if you wish to avoid trouble, you have to pretend that you never met her.

However, the allure of her mysterious presence proved too enticing to resist, and you found yourself lingering in her company. As you continued to explore Xianzhou together, fragments of Jingliu's history began to surface. It became apparent that she was regarded as a sinner in the eyes of others.

Even though Jingliu wore a blindfold and kept her emotions concealed, you couldn't help but sense the profound loneliness that must have consumed her. Being erased from the history of her own world had left her isolated and disconnected.

In that moment, a deep desire welled up within you – the yearning to take Jingliu with you, embarking on journeys to explore diverse planets together. Convincing her, however, was a challenge, as her fear of losing control and causing you harm held her back. It took time and understanding to ease her apprehensions.

As the day of departure from Xianzhou drew near, Jingliu began to open up further about herself. She shared the that she used to take pleasure in indulging in a wide array of wines from various planets, each one offering a unique taste of the cosmos.

With a heartfelt promise, you assured Jingliu that you would take her to sample wines from the various planets you were set to explore together. A faint, genuine smile graced her lips, and the sight was enough to make your heart skip a beat.

In a solemn exchange of promises, Jingliu vowed to protect you, a testament to her gratitude for your kindness in bringing her on this journey. It was a pact that held immense significance for both of you, a commitment that signified your enduring bond and the shared path you were now destined to tread together.

Jingliu's endearing cluelessness about certain things added a unique charm to your time together. While she may not have been the most talkative companion, her reactions to your playful antics were nothing short of priceless. Teaching her new things and sharing in the amusement of her discoveries became a delightful part of your shared experiences.

Most of your time is now spent with Jingliu, finding yourselves gazing upon the stars from the vantage point of your spacecraft, sipping the exquisite wine you had acquired from the previous planet. Her head rested gently against yours as the two of you shared stories and opened up about your lives, seeing her now smiling and enjoying her time is such an achievement for you.

[starblazes]

𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐮𝐦𝐩 .

001. Stelle struggles to sleep most nights. If her head isn't full of questions about the latest mission, then she's wracking her brain trying to pry any memories from her past. Her poor sleeping habits were particularly prevalent during her time in Belobog due to the pervading dreams she had that prevented a good night's rest. Usually, when she can't sleep, she pulls herself out of bed and heads to the Fight Club for a few rounds of punching things or a similar location depending on what planet they are on. It is not a healthy habit, and some part of her is aware of this, but she generally she doesn't give it much thought.

002. To kind of go hand-in-hand with the above, she has a very poor self-preservation instinct. Stelle isn't particularly one to care about her own well-being and this view of herself is often exacerbated by others' belief that she can beat any obstacle — whether physical or mental. People need her to fight and she does it without question. They need her to run errands? Done. So long as her friends aren't getting hurt, Stelle will throw herself in the line of fire again and again, even at the expense of her own health. She would give her life, if that's what it took. Stelle is not invincible or impervious to injury and sometimes she needs the reminder to look after herself and ask for help when she needs it.

003. She loves spicy foods. The spicier, the better. Her tolerance for heat is almost comical in that she could probably eat a ghost pepper whole and not flinch or break a sweat. Because of this, no one ever lets Stelle cook for them. Her standard for heat is simply unmatched. She doesn't really understand what the big deal is, but then, there are a lot of things she still doesn't understand about herself and the journey she's on.

004. Stelle doesn't use her phone as often as one might think. Other than keeping in contact with friends and those she's met along the way, she really only ever uses her phone when she's on the Express floating through space and there's little else to do. The games she does usually play are puzzle-based ones, but nothing too challenging. She has enough challenges when she's trailblazing. Things like Tetris and Candy Crush Saga are her go-tos. Despite not using her phone particularly much, she does like to decorate it with jangling or shiny charms that make noise when moved.

005. Stelle runs several degrees warmer than the average person. This is because she houses the Stellaron, which basically acts as a constant flow of energy in her body. In this way, she is somewhat of a personal space heater. This came in handy during her time on Belobog, as it allowed her to travel more freely to the furthest reaches of the Snow Plains without feeling the effects of the cold as strongly. Stelle is not actively aware of this effect on her body, only that she acknowledges that she isn't as easily cold as others claim to be. However, as a side effect, this means she is also more likely to overheat and is prone to wearing fewer layers when the climate is warmer. Because of this, Stelle prefers colder climates and she keeps her room on the Astral Express at a cooler temperature than most.

006. She dumpster dives. This is absolutely 100% a hobby and not a gimmick or a fun little joke. Stelle is an endlessly curious person and, having few memories to fall back on, she likes to get her hands on anything that might spark a memory who and how she was prior to Kafka waking her up on the Space Station. Whenever she returns to the Parlour Car after a Trailblaze mission, or even a side trip, she almost always has a bagful of trinkets with her that she's procured from various trash cans and dumpsters. Everything from broken pocket watches to glass jewellery beads and marbles. One person's trash is another person's treasure, as the saying goes.

007. To coincide with the above, her room on the Express is a cluttered chaos of random objects, items, gifts and mementos from friends, and random doodads. To the outsider this can all seem like a hoarding nightmare and much of it must be trash; but to Stelle, all of it means something and each individual item holds a story. Basically, her room ends up looking like Howl's from Howl's Moving Castle.

008. She's an adrenaline junkie and will seek out tasks and missions that are dangerous purely for the thrill it gives her. This is also largely why she she takes on so many errands and tasks from those around her without much complaint; there is always some level of danger to keep it interesting and coming back for more.

[buffaloappabites]

You Right

Pairing: Shuri x Black!Fem!Reader

Warnings: Smut, Cursing, Fingering, Grinding, Terrible dancing, Cheating, Bisexuality

Summary: You’re at the club, all your friends left you, and your boyfriend is out doing god knows what. Running into the last person you thought you’d ever meet keeps the night from being a total waste though.

A/N: My irl boyfriend confessed to cheating so I wrote this in like an hour to make myself feel better idk, I hope you enjoy! Shout out to all the bad bitches w no rhythm!

It’s a late night at the club and all of your friends have wandered off with various men, leaving you alone to your own devices. You’d all decided to step out to celebrate your 23rd birthday, little did you know it meant everyone breaking off and leaving the birthday girl all by herself.

What kind of shit is that?

You could be at home cuddled up with your man tonight—-only recently he’d been doing nothing but getting on your fucking nerves. And you were 99 percent sure he was probably cuddled up with some other bitch.

So here you are, in the tightest black dress, the tallest heels you own, and you hair in the tightest box braids imaginable. You looked damn good as you enjoyed your drink from the second floor of the club, looking out over the dance floor at all of the sweaty bodies moving to the beat.

You’re having a good time, until someone comes up beside you, and you pray it’s not some creepy ass dude about to kill your vibe.

Luckily you were right.

Who you found occupying the space next to you was far more exciting. Standing next to you was the princess of Wakanda herself, Shuri. What the hell was she doing here? Next to you especially. You had to look up a bit to see her face, she had an easy going smile plastered across it, all of her perfect teeth on display, with a silver grill glinting in the club’s lights.

You couldn’t help but to smile back, I mean who wouldn’t?

“You look like you’re having fun.” she says, leaning in a bit closer so you can properly hear her over the loud music. In doing so you can smell her perfume, it’s very strong and earthy.

You don’t know if it’s the alcohol you’ve been drinking or her scent that makes you a bit lightheaded but you like it either way.

“This isn’t really my scene if I’m being honest, but I’m enjoying myself.” You respond.

She nods, and the back of your neck and cheeks heat up when she checks you out. You bite your bottom lip and decide to do a little looking yourself, letting your eyes wander. Going down past her strong jawline, over her tall, athletic frame covered by a well tailored black blazer. There’s a diamond chain link resting on her chest and you briefly wonder if it’s long enough to dangle in—-

Wait—-

Oh hell no! This is your fucking song. It’s Beyoncé’s In Da Club remix, you’re surprised they’re even playing it.

“Oh shit! I love this song!” You yell before you can stop yourself.

She laughs, showing off those perfect teeth again and asks, “Do you want to dance?”

“Mmmmm nah,” you say “Dancing’s not really my thing, I don’t have much rhythm.”

Which is true, you look awkward and stiff as fuck. It’s why you’d rather stand and look cute in the corner.

“Come on,” she says, grabbing your hand, “I got you.”

You can’t even protest, she’s already pulling you down the stairs and out onto the floor.

She starts dancing first, moving smoothly to the beat. She makes it look so smooth and easy.

“Let me see what you got!”

You begin to awkwardly move your hips and arms in an attempt to find the beat, but you can’t quite get it.

She laughs hard at you and you stop, about to pout.

“Aw, you’re adorable.” she says coming close, “Here. Don’t look down, or you’ll overthink it.

She grabs your hips and helps you move in time with her. You can help but to look down and she grabs your chin making you look up at her.

“Eyes on me, hm?” she says.

You’re staring into her brown eyes and she’s watching you, hands still on your hips. It’s becoming much easier for you to find the beat on your own, but you don’t want her to move away.

In fact you want her closer. Everything about her you find sexy, from the smile, to the clothes, to the body. You try to pretend to not notice the heated gaze she’s staring at you with, but it’s a wonder how you haven’t melted to the floor already.

The song has since changed, Your Right by Doja Cat & The Weekend blares through the speakers & everything seems to have slowed down a bit.

But neither of you move. Instead she’s holding you close, pressing up against you. She dips her head down, so her lips are close to yours. Her hands wonder from your hips to down your backside to your ass. You lean forward pressing your lips into hers and she wastes no time kissing you back, letting you feel her full, soft lips again yours. You lick and bite her bottom lip and she lets you slide your tongue in her mouth, where you can feel just how warm it is.

You both are still grinding on eachother, this time with no regard for the rhythm of whatever the hell is playing now. One of her lean thighs is set firmly between yours, and you’re grinding down on it. You’re falling apart at the friction and you want nothing more than for her to put those hands currently squeezing your ass to work.

She stops kissing you and you look up at her through heavy lidded eyes.

“Do you want to take this out of here?”

You can’t say yes fast enough.

Before you know it you’re straddling her in the back of a car. She’s kissing down your jaw, going lower and hitting that sweet spot near your collar bone. Her hands are on your ass cheeks, spreading them apart and sliding a finger over your wet pussy.

You’re having the time of your life, until your phone rings, breaking up the silence. You sigh and roll your eyes.

Not right now. You take it out thinking it might be one of your girlfriends needing help, but nope.

“Damn, is that your man?” Shuri asks, giving you a knowing look.

You can’t even lie, as your screen says clear as day, “Boyfriend 💕”.

Fuck. She shrugs and goes back to kissing your neck, and whispers in your ear. “I don’t judge, answer it.”

You obey and answer the phone, and he begins to prattle on about how much he loves you—-something he’d always do when he’d just finished cheating and felt guilty.

You weren’t really paying attention. You were much more focus on the lips attached to your neck and the slim fingers working their way into your panties. Once inside she slipped on inside of you, making you gasp a bit, it’s taking everything in your power not to moan out loud. She slides in another and begins to pump them in and out of you. Her brown eyes are staring into yours and you’re still lamely holding the phone to your ear.

Then he starts asking questions.

“Where you at?”

Your voice comes out shaky, “The club, on 2nd st.”

“With who? Better not be up there with no dude.”

You’re about to fall apart when she presses her thumb against your clit, disguising your moans as coughs.

“The girls nigga, damn I gotta go.” you say hanging up the phone. You let out a loud moan when you cum, grasping her shoulders and dropping your phone somewhere in the car.

She pulls a wet hand from your panties and begins to suck on her fingers. She offers you one and you take it, tasting yourself on her.

“So….” She says, “You tryna see my strap? It’s made outta pure vibranium.”

“You don’t even have to ask.”

[minijenn]

Jen Tortures Herself With Every Dreamworks Animated Movie Ever: Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

Holy shit, ya'll, holy shit. This movie, THIS FUCKING MOVIE is probably one of the most insanely BEAUTIFUL, expertly crafted MASTERPIECES, not just from Dreamworks, but from any studio EVER. Like what the hell, how did they DO THIS? How did they take a sequel to a decent, but somewhat forgettable spinoff movie and turn it into something THIS FUCKING GREAT? It's utterly unbelievable, and yet absolutely magical in every way. So let's get into me gushing about how much I adore this movie because how can I not?

After losing the eighth of his nine lives, Puss falls into something of a slump, until he hears word of a magical Wishing Star. Hoping to use the star's power to get his nine lives back and escape from the (utterly terrifying) clutches of Death, he once again teams up with Kitty Softpaws, and a new addition to the group, the adorably innocent Perrito, to brave the Dark Forest and find the Star. However, they're not alone in the race to the star, as Big Jack Horner and Goldilocks and the Three Bears are all determined to beat Puss and crew to it and take the wish for themselves.

So there's like... so much happening in this movie, you'd think it'd be a jumbled mess of characters and plotlines with nothing getting the focus that it should, and yet... I don't know how they did it but everything just... fits so perfectly here? The pacing is some of the best I've seen in any movie, all the plot beats and scenes go on just long enough and everything flows so naturally and right? The charactesr are all given so much depth and time to just interact here, and not just our leads either (I'll get into that more in a sec). At no point does anything feel like its dragging and at no point does anything feel like its going by too fast. I don't know how they did it, but it all feels, in the words of Goldi and the Bears, just right.

As for our characters, Puss is just as great as always here, with a really compelling arc of him learning to value his life and the people in it. Kitty herself has a good arc too of learning to trust as her and Puss rekindle their relationship. Perrito is absolutely precious and adds this genuine sweetness and heart to an otherwise grizzled and world-wary duo. Goldi and the Three Bears are absolute standouts though, like oh my god, ya'll oh my god the feels I had for this sad little orphan girl and her theiving bear family? I want an entire series or spinoff movie about them, Dreamworks, PLEASE I'm BEGGING you, I need MORE of this beautiful little found family!

We have two villains here, and both are pretty great in their own right! Jack Horner is our more traditional insane villain played for laughs (the fact that he's voiced by John Mulaney helps) and he's pretty funny while also being appropriately sinister and ruthless, making him effectual to boot. But then there's Death and holy shit, if this movie had come out when I was a kid, I think this wolf would have had me pissing my pants because he is terrifying. Like seriously, hands down, the scariest villain in any Dreamworks movie by both design and in terms of just the way he moves, the way he speaks, his eerie whistling any time he enters a scene? No wonder Puss has multiple panic attacks when faced by this motherfucker, because honestly, I would too.

The themes of this movie are all so wonderful as well, from the ones I mentioned above (learning to value life, trust, found family, etcs), but I think its overaching message is absolutely beautiful and shines its way through all of its various subplots. The idea that sometimes, the thing you're wishing for most is something you already have. Like damn, Dreamworks, hit me hard with that kind of beautiful, inspiring truth.

Also fucking hell, the ANIMATION??? IS UNREAL??? This is by and large the most BEAUTIFUL movie dreamworks has ever made, with such a unique and vibrant style that makes everything feel so... dreamlike, I'd say. The texture work here is so complex and yet so simple, the backgrounds are so intricate and colorful, the MOVEMENT IN SOME OF THESE FIGHT SCENES? Insane, unbelievable, Idk how they did it, but they DID it, and it's GORGEOUS. Also so is the music! The score SLAPS, especially in those fight scenes and also I just gotta say, Favorite Fearless Hero? Gonna be stuck in my head for a week. I ain't even mad about it.

So yeah, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is probably one of the single greatest things Dreamworks has ever made. It just hits in every way, an excellent ride from beginning to end with a story that flows so well, characters that are just a delight to watch, animation and music that practically make me foam at the mouth, gah, its just... perfect. Truly, utterly perfect. (Or Purrfect, if you want to be catty about it (ok, I'll stop).

Overall Rating: 10/10

Verdict: Have a realistic depiction of a panic attack

Previous Review (The Bad Guys)

Next Review (Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken)

[blackjackkent]

All right, time to learn to fight Thisobald!

Our boy the booze elephant ("Wretched Distiller") is uh. Sure something.

That's... gross. :P At max damage he could two-shot Rakha by burping.

Numb also makes things somewhat complicated. Rakha's party, though, is actually better suited to this fight than Hector's would have been; Hector's primary damage dealers at this point were himself and Karlach who did bludgeoning and slashing damage respectively. Rakha has a bit more of a spread by comparison; she herself focuses on fire, Wyll does force and necrotic damage with Eldritch Blast, Minthara does radiant with Divine Smite and various other things (or potentially fire with Searing Smite). Lae'zel's weapon is a slasher but also does 1d4 psychic damage, and Minthara can use Inquisitor's might to imbue it with some extra radiant as well.

Also we're on easy mode. :P Thankfully.

-----

After Action Report:

OK this fight is actually a bit more goofy than I thought at first glance. Thisobald's reflux feature CHANGES based on the type of damage you do to him!

I had to do a couple reloads to try out different damage types to see what happened. Each of them changes the feature name, a new skill associated with it, and dialogue from Thisobald and Rakha in response.

ACID DAMAGE "Acid Reflux" -> "Acidic Regurgitation" Thisobald: "SIZZLE! FIZZLE! MELT!" Rakha: "Watch it - the acid's altered his brew!"

FIRE DAMAGE "Burning Reflux" -> "Fiery Regurgitation" Thisobald: "Fire and flames, blaze and burn!" Rakha: "Flaming brew? This battle's taken a heated turn."

COLD DAMAGE "Cold Reflux" -> "Icy Regurgitation" Thisobald: "Brr. Cold, chilled, frozen." Rakha: "The brew's been chilled!"

LIGHTNING DAMAGE "Electrified Reflux" -> "Electrified Regurgitation" Thisobald: "Lightning strikes. Drink up!" Rakha: "Damn - the brew's acquired a spark!"

NECROTIC DAMAGE "Rotten Reflux" -> "Rotting Regurgitation" Thisobald: "Drink of dead, dying, death. Order up!" Rakha: "The drink - it's turned necrotic!"

POISON DAMAGE "Toxic Reflux" -> "Venomous Regurgitation" Thisobald: "I've picked your poison!" Rakha: "Hells. His brew's turned to poison!"

I just love that Rakha, who is like the least one-liner-ish person, ends up cracking jokes here. This is clearly not her canon behavior but I thought it was funny. :P

Anyway. There's probably some kind of interesting strategy one could do here around orchestrating him having a particular damage type that would be beneficial to us, but I am not thinking that strategically about it. XD

I did have Lae'zel focus on the other four little zombies wandering around the place since we have to fight them too and her damage is more effective on them. Everyone else just sort of laser focused on Thisobald to try to burst him down.

The other interesting mechanic here is that every time Thisobald does a puke attack, he gets drunker. After three attacks he is "Profoundly Intoxicated":

This is basically how he died with Hector - exploded after drinking too much - so it would certainly simplify things if we didn't have to bust his health bar all the way down.

And sure enough, after his next fire puke:

Nice. Rakha was downed in the fire but Minthara, being the hardened warriors that she is, immediately prioritized beating the shit out of their adversary:

Obliterated.

"A shame, what the shadows did to him," Wyll says thoughtfully, looking down at the strange, bloated corpse. "His death gives me no pleasure."

It's perhaps a good thing that Rakha is still unconscious when he says this, because probably neither he nor she would be very proud about what she would have to say about how much pleasure Thisobald's death gave her.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Insinuation 2.5 Live Reactions

(This is me, writing reactions as I read, because why the fuck not. They're not complete, mature thoughts taken after I sit back and evaluate what I've read. Consider them as such)

I mean, I can guess that 2.1 to 2.4 is about setting up the point where Taylor is willing to convince herself to join the villains, rob a bank, etc, and fine, fine, but I do feel like those four could have been 2? I mean, with 1.6 million words, you expect some filler, and technically even the filler builds out the world and the characters, etc, but still.

If you looked at Brockton Bay as a patchwork of stellar and squalor, upper class and lower class with no middle ground, then downtown was one of the nice areas.

Okay but that's... not how you can actually look at Brockton Bay? Even the Bay can't be quite that starkly stratified? The modern American economy couldn't function in a city that extremely divided economically. And sure, Brockton Bay sucks, but capitalism is still a thing there.

both Grue and Hellhound had lived in different cities prior to teaming up and setting roots in Brockton Bay.

But don't both of Grue's parents live in the Bay with his sister? Or is that just her being wrong?

Grue had poked fun at Regent rather than treat him like a leader,

People do poke at their leaders sometimes though, Taylor? Like, that's a whole genre of person, the kind of person who pokes fun at their leader and gets away with it for one reason or another.

  Information, it seemed, was a major factor when dealing with capes.

Puzzle Bosses atop Puzzle Bosses.

Which is, incidentally, why so many fanfics are capable of believably beating various baddies earlier, I imagine. Because all it really takes is getting the right knowledge a little easier.

As I thought on it, though, the notion that I might actually consider taking Tattletale up on her offer of a meeting nagged at me.  The more I thought on it, the scarier the idea got, and the more it seemed to make sense.

Careful Taylor. This will be the first rationalization of many...

If I got anything worth sharing, I could turn around and give it to Armsmaster so he could use it against them.  Just going by what Armsmaster had said about these guys and the scarcity of information on them, it would be a pretty major coup for the good guys.

Didn't you just get pissy about Armsy stealing credit from you?

Then again, she still thinks heroing is in her future and so I suppose this makes sense for her to think, since she has no other in to hand info over to a Hero/the PRT/etc

 That said, I suspected that when it came out that I was a hero and not a villain, they would count it as such regardless.

Hehehehe

Foreknowledge of how it goes leads to certain humor. Though, honestly, I wonder if anyone expected her not become a villain, when this was all that was out? Feels like it's pretty well hinted at, but maybe I just know what to look for.

The Central Library looked almost more like a museum or art gallery than anything else, with tall ceilings, pillars and massive pieces of artwork hung to frame the hallways between the major sections of the building. 

I honestly hate libraries that do this. Seems like a waste of money better spent being a fucking library. The central library in the city I went to Middle and High School in did this when they built a new location for the main branch. Absolute eyesore. Just be a library.

#KyliaEditorializes

It was fast enough that I couldn’t imagine Tattletale taking the time to check and double check every aspect of her message the way I had mine.

Knowing her (as I don't actually), she probably expected you'd ask for proof, or at least considered the possibility.

G R and me will meet you at the same spot we crossed paths last night, k? Don’t have to get gussied up if you catch my drift. Rest of us will be in casual wear.

Asking her to meet unmasked? I mean, I know you don't have nefarious intent, but is Taylor going to be that stupid?

it was hard to imagine her threatening me with one breath just a sentence after she’d offered to meet me in a way that made her totally vulnerable.

And you. While Outnumbering you.

I just had no idea what I would be getting into.

*looks back at the summary of Worm* You really, really don't

There was an outside possibility I could get killed, but somehow that didn’t concern me as much as it maybe should have.

Because you're borderline suicidal and desperately need like... well, I'd say therapy but even therapy wouldn't be enough right now. You need a lot of shit, really.

Startled, I looked up.  A middle aged woman in a red jacket stood just behind me.  As I met her eyes she asked, “Are you done?”  She gestured at the computer, where the screensaver was still scrolling.

I wonder if Taylor would have accepted if she hadn't been jostled like this? Certainly could be an interesting divergence moment, though where it gets taken remains open.

2.5 definitely feels like it fully needs to be here, which is good. Again, I'm not saying 2.1 and 2.3 and 2.4 are filler, but they did feel a little less... necessary. This? This one feels necessary.

[possessionisamyth]

Let's talk about Jill! I love her. You love her. She has ProblemsTM, and no one talks about her enough.

Jill is the most skilled S.T.A.R.S member, and the most adept at dealing with bioweapons post RE3. Sure, Chris got his ass beat by Wesker and killed Alexia in Code Veronica(a kill Claire should've gotten), but they still don't compare to all the various fucked up forms of Nemesis who Jill had to kill again, and again, and again mostly by herself.

From that point on it's Chris and Jill working together if you want to count the manga segments, but let's touch on her character beats. Like her insomnia. Or her untreated PTSD. Or her depression. Actually, I'm going to tackle the most fun thing about Jill when it comes to handling her various brain problems and that's how she deals with them.

She gets really mad.

Why is this fun? Why is this different? Why is this valuable? Well, the simple answer is a lot of women characters aren't allowed to show ugly, visceral anger when they're given mental illnesses. If they do, it's to the villainize them. The same way goes for men not being allowed to cry more than a single tear down the cheek when they're depicted as sad. If they do more than this, they're considered weak and feminine which is also a way to villainize anything deemed feminine, but we are staying on topic.

Jill gets pissed off when she's challenged, and it's great and refreshing because tools in the narrative justify her anger. She slaps Carlos in the face when he implies they should kill themselves instead of getting eaten by zombies or blown up by the bomb because how dare he suggest giving up after all the effort they put into surviving? It's on sight whenever she so much as sees Nicholai in the novelization. She's snippy, and annoyed, and cussing in RE3 Remake and none of it is framed as cutesy. She's fucking tired, and she's mad about all this shit blowing up in her face all the fucking time! That's why people were calling her mean in the remake, and it's like! Good! I'm glad she's angry and "mean" in one of the worst times of her life!

It's a little sad to see some of that frustration drop in Revelations I, but god Wesker capitalized on her blinding rage when he put her under mind control. Still an extremely stupid arc to give her. Will never forgive them for it. But my girl was so fucking mad, and you know what they didn't do when Chris saved her? She wasn't crying or sobbing or weeping. The anger was still there, but as much as the mind was willing, the body was too weak to employ it. She pushed Chris away to yell at him to save the world. If she was just a modicum stronger it might've been a harder shove or a slap, but that's all she could do.

And we get a mere snippet of this anger in Death Island when she's in the shooting range talking to Chris. The truth is she's not handling being back on the field well at all, but she built her entire life up to S.T.A.R.S and past that proving that she's not weak to other people. It's too hard of a habit to break because it's a defense mechanism. To Jill, being viewed as weak even for a moment will lead to being taken advantage of, and she never wants to be taken advantage of. She needs to have control over her life and herself, doubly so after surviving Wesker. So she's going to keep that control even if it means accidentally biting the hands that reach out to her to help. This kind of depiction is usually only given to men, and Jill gets it. She gets it! And she's not evil for it! And it's so so so soo good when it's employed well! (Unfortunately this is also why in newer iterations they keep trying to tone this down by making her appear sexier, because she's too intimidating otherwise. Yes, it's just as bullshit as it sounds!)

Unlike Claire, Rebecca, and even Ada who can't show more than two emotions, Jill can shoot and kill and stab and tear and destroy with all the anger she wants, and she can still get a nice date if she wanted before the rest of the RE cast! This anger is allowed to be hers without it being framed as masculine with that "one of the boys/i have three brothers" nonsense and without vilifying her womanhood for daring to express her anger as ugly as anger can be! And that's why she's great, and I love her, and someone for the love of god please get her into some decent hands for whatever she's in next.

[ask-paradox-and-friends]

Welp. If there was a god of war style game based off our Einherjars.

Two things.

One the games are built like the Norse saga. So more rpg elements more open world. With stories and funny moments.

The hero would be Göll who thanks to time hijinks (aka stealing Cronous's sickle hoping to help save mortalkind from hell and heaven) finds herself unable to get to heaven but she can get stronger and stronger with more godly ascension as she gains new titles and roles as she helps the champions and because the gods are dicks she has to find various weapons and powers the contain the powers of the heros.

There will be two sagas.

The monster saga:(Hell opened up and is causing mayhem and goll works with the heros powers and weapons to defeat the monsters and demons.)

The heaven saga:(goll became a god and made the champions the new gods of mortal kind meanwhile various gods are trying to kill her cause goll kinda uprooted heaven's dynamic.)

But here we go. Hardest boss fights. And why. And again, just random ideas. For a game idea. If you want, I can make the easiest fights? And these are what it's with what I know about these fandoms and mythologies, so plz be nice.

10:æta (the monster Saga) this is a massive troll that's resistant to the weapons Goll should have for this story being bun's claymore Ruby's Scythe and Paradox's battleaxe while wearing Garou's gauntlets it's also immune to the only fire and ice spell Goll knows. Dosent help it's huge club hits hard.

9:nukalaweve (monster saga) this large demonic centaur is a oceanic deamon so it's resistant to fire and dark magic it's also really quick. Thankfully it is a big target and using Pico's rifle you can hit the monster from long range.

8:Set (the god saga) the EGYPTIAN GOD OF CHAOS is good at magic and spear fighting WHO KNEW? Dosent help that he is also a storm and desert god so he can whip up sand and lighting to blind and blast you back. Be prepared to get poked. A lot.

7:The helldrake (The monster Saga) It's a gaint f u metal dragon powered the soul of a deamon and is a deamon engine, so it's powered by chaos To make this one worse, it's just the random broken bits of various broken deamon engines held together by sheer spite. It's also chaos undivided, so you have poison tendrils boiling blood and a shit ton of magic. Dosent help it's fast. Thankfully, you have Sunblood's anti mater Singularity canon, which, if you aim right, just melts it's health (looked them up. Gonna say this now. These things better be rare.)

6:Tezlapoka (the god saga) the Aztec jaguar god whos in charge of darkness. So it's immune to your only fire attack and Dearil's shadows so and being a night god he'll randomly make the whole area go dark making it harder to see him and at half health he makes a large dark black sun that starts coating the floor in fire.

5:Be'lakor (god saga) a deamon prince with the powers of the runinous four. And you did just fight Abadon the Neverchosen and his fire horse. To make the problem worse half way through the fight he just steals the sword of Kaine which makes his stronger and gives him new powers also he starts useing his blade of Shadows be glad he has that glowing chest scar. (If you played total warhammer this would be a major 'OH COME ON!' Also you should know this is a problem when the chaos god literally stop fighting just long enough to trick you into killing his ass.)

4:The Tarasque (monster saga) problem one unlike every other time you have to fight a gaint monster you don't have a gaint of your own. (The helldrake you have a mech to help hold it off the chaos dreadnought ambush ruby sends her 'eldest baby' who is a large trynaind that both Penny and Weiss coated in armour and guns to help you. Before you ask she named it Numnum) this thing is bigger then a building. And between the scorpion tail and the fact it's a 'dragon' it barfs fire on you. Thankfully between Jaunne's sheild and Mai's spears it's weak light based attacks. (It got beat in the myths by saint Martha who splashed Holy water on it then whacked it with a crucifix.)

3:amaterasu (The god saga) the sun goddess of Japan is simply testing you so she is holding back but you are forced to use Naruko's rope dart Kaito's sword and Saito's gun blade to hold her off due to her wanting to see what they can do. Thanks to you having Tsugu's cloak you should have a teleport dodge and a fire resistance. But be warned. She will absolutely whack you around with her prayer beads and chakrams.

2:The Crystal Hydra (the monster saga) this post game boss fight has a lot of loopholes to go through. You need all the weapons find a secret dungeon kill the other hydra bosses and the whole time goll will fell a odd feeling that being Paradox (the man who flipped off a sun god roasting him and laughed at death and destruction gods trying to kill him) being terrified of this thing. It's immune to everything by Holy and dark magic and has high hp and defense. It also has 3 heads that won't let up. Half health it and it's skulls start flying like made and loose the darkness weakness and somehow they still are durable and the heads can revive each other and they HEAL (bonus they're immune to most magic.)

1:Uranus (god saga. Look I don't want to jib God of war and record of ragnarok by having the bbeg being ra Odin or zues. And themeing here is fun Uranus is the embodiment of the sky and heavens. So the final fight against heaven's corruption leads to you fighting well. HEAVEN) let's see. He's strong enough to scare The titans who nearly killed the Olympic gods and was created to be Gaia's equal. Gaia like Nyx and tartarus scares the shit out of the gods. You need everyone and everything you can get. H A V E F U N

@hazawatsugu @splatoonfan88 (tagging friends.)

[riftdancing]

Second Question. Siyoh Mari. She grew up in Doma? She aided the revolution? Did she stay after it failed? Was she there the entire time of the occupation? If so how did she survive? How does she feel about the people that didn't stay?

There's an implication of secret there, so feel free not to share that if there is one.

Oh no worries! I am quite open about Siyoh's history. She is a very proud and patriotic Doman!

So Siyoh's Mother, Aanya, was Thavnarian born and raised and her Father, Sasja, was Doman born and raised. They met in Thavnair while Sasja was trading goods from Doma. Basically he spied Aanya entertaining in the markets with her Dancing, and immediately fell head over heels for her.

He extended his stay in Thavnair so he could court her for a few weeks, visiting her frequently in the Markets before he finally worked up the courage to ask her on a date. She said yes, and the rest is history.

After exchanging vows they settled down in Doma with Sasja's family. But, when Aanya was pregnant with Siyoh the two migrated back to Thavnair for a short while to be with Aanya's family, which is where Siyoh was born.

Shortly after her birth, Sasja and Aanya moved back to Doma which is why Siyoh is technically Thavnarian despite being raised almost entirely in Doma. Only almost because she visited Thavnair frequently with her Dad on his trade routes to see her Mother's side of the family, including her great grandmother who is actually Vieran!

That being said, both cultures are equally important to her, she still needed to choose a Nationality. Because she was raised mostly in Doma, Siyoh would consider herself an Immigrant who chose Doma for her home. To which she considers herself Doman over Thavnarian.

Growing up, Siyoh never knew a free Doma. She was raised during the Garlean occupation and her parents, while still playing by the Empire's rules, would school her at night in their own beliefs of freedom. Luckily for Siyoh, she had two very loving parents who had the luxury of being able to shelter their Daughter from some of the Occupation's hardships.

Part of this was due to the community Sasja had fostered within his nation. I've talked about Azuma being Siyoh's life-long best friend because the pair were raised together. Azuma's Father and Siyoh's were like found family brothers. Their families took care of each other. In exchange for baked goods from Aanya's bakery Azuma's Father trained Siyoh in the ways of martial arts. To this day she is incredibly talented with a blunt pole arm.

But, Siyoh didn't really feel the effects of the Occupation until she was old enough to be considered an adult. Siyoh grew up aiding her Mother in the bakery. Aanya is one of Siyoh's biggest culinary influences and part of the reason she's so passionate about cooking is because it makes her feel close to her deceased Mother. So her teenage years were spent learning how to bake and aiding her Mother in various chores about the family establishment. Especially when her Father would have to leave home for long trade routes.

If you've ever made your own bread before, you know it can be a tricky business. There are many things out side of your control that can effect the whole process, and you can't always predict exactly how your bread will rise or bake. Which is why back in medieval England an extra 'insurance' loaf was necessary. Today we've come to know it as a 'baker's dozen'. There are a few theories as to why a baker's dozen became 13, but the most widely accepted one has to do with avoiding a beating. In medieval England there were laws that related the price of bread to the price of the wheat used to make it. Bakers who were found to be "cheating" their customers by overpricing undersized loaves were subject to strict punishment, including fines or flogging. Even with careful planning it is difficult to ensure all of your baked goods will come out the same sized. So, for fear of accidentally coming up short, they would throw in a bit extra to ensure they'd be spared a surprise flogging later.

As a writer I was horrifically inspired by this idea for Siyoh's first cruel experience with the Empire. It occurred one day when a high-ranking Garlean officer stopped in to sample their confections and made a big stink about being sold short. Unfortunately, fresh into her adulthood and manning the shop for her Mother who was preparing more confections in the back, Siyoh caught the bulk of his ire.

To make it known no Garlean would ever be sold short in their particular market, Siyoh was brought out front and made an example of. The man had her ear nailed to the door of their shop, so that next time she might better listen to perceive his wants. Once he had left she was so mortified by the experience that instead of waiting for the nail to be remove, she tore her own ear from it.

To this day she still has a crescent notch in her ear from where it scarred. You can see it in almost all of the artwork I've doodled of her.

These days she often adorns it with earrings or piercings. A way of reclaiming the trauma which was inflicted upon her that day.

Siyoh also lost both of her parents during the Occupation. In the same night even. Both Siyoh and Azuma's families had always secretly opposed the occupation. By night Sasja was constantly working to meddle with Garlean tradelines while Aanya inspired the youth around her to be brave enough to one day stand up to the Empire.

But a secret only remains a secret as long as it's kept, and one night the Empire would come calling. Luckily for Siyoh, she had been spending the night with Azuma's family. But her parents were caught, and she would never see them again post that night.

Worse off, Siyoh still has no idea what happened to them. She returned home after spending the night with Azuma to find neither Mother nor Father home, and their house left looking as if they'd left in a rush. Anya's hand pulled soba noodles were still only half made resting on a bowl on the counter. An image that still haunts Siyoh to this day, despite running a Noodle Bar out of their old bakery building.

But this left Siyoh mostly defenseless. For a while she tried manning the bakery by herself. She was hardworking, determined to uphold the honor and respect of her hardworking parents and the wealth of their establishment. But the Empire just kept calling. And more specifically, one officer in general. The one who had nailed her ear to the door.

I won't go into detail, because I would have to trigger warning the hell out of this post. But Siyoh suffered a lot of abuse at the hands of this particular one man. And it wasn't until Azuma's Father was able to smuggle her to Kugane and onto a ship headed for Limsa Lominsa, that Siyoh was able to escape him.

Unfortunately, that ship wrecked just outside the Isle of Umbra, and after bashing her head against a rock before washing ashore, Siyoh (much like Mihli) lost the majority of her memories.

Thankfully she met a sweet Thavnarian woman there ( @thavnairian-mist's character As'htola Amari) who took her in and nursed her back to health and sanity. As'htola became somewhat of an adopted Mother to Siyoh who she still writes to and visits on occasion when her trade routes lead her the right way. (Siyoh also wound up with a bunch of adopted siblings who she loves DEARLY - As'htola's kids)

Of course once she remembered who she was and where she came from, the bells of the revolution were just beginning. And they tolled her return to Doma. Siyoh was reunited with Azuma there and the pair played their part in the revolution by aiding those who fought, as well as Siyoh waging her own fight there.

...and that's how she survived the occupation.

Being someone that technically fled towards the end, she has no hard feelings to the others who fled to Eorzea as refugees. After all, Azuma also fled and wound up in Mor Dhona. Those people were only doing what they could to survive. In fact, she has a lot of sympathy for Doma and her people as they have weathered many hardships under the Garlean Empire.

But more interestingly, Siyoh has no prejudice towards the Garlean People as a whole. This comes with her own experiences. The officer I mentioned earlier had taken her to Garlemald on more than one occasion where she met more than just the soldiers who had bullied her and her family. Through this she noted that not all Garleans were the same. That some where good and kind people, with different beliefs and even oppositions to the empires choices (as we saw in Stormblood.)

Siyoh is able to separate her abusers from their race and nationality as a whole. That one abuser is not the reflection of his entire people. And while she knows more than one was abusive, she also accepts that there is more than one good Garlean out there (for instance, Jullus pyr Norbanus in the MSQ).

And I really admire that about her.

Fun fact: During the Empire Siyoh's full name was actually Siyohei aan Mori

Also one of the write prompts from a previous year very lightly hinted at some of the abuse and anxiety she felt during the occupation. You can read it here if you're interested.

[bloodycyrano]

DATV releases today, and while I've been trying to avoid spoilers like the plague in order to raw dog the game, here's my entire concept for my Rook because I just couldn't help it! Plus, it'll tide me over because I can't play today.

A Grey Warden! Mentored and trained by my very own Hero Of fereldon.

They were born in an alianage, into a broken home, with the biggest facination with the tales of the grey wardens. They idolized the wardens to a point of becoming somewhat of a fan-creature (They're nonbinary, and i feel like Fancreature is a great androgynous term for fangirl/fanboy) about them.

They were still a child when the fifth blight was ended, but the stories of the Hero Of Fereldon circulated far and wide, and Rook was quick to build Her up to be this ultimate hero and unstoppable force.

By 14, They had enough of the Alianage. Poverty, listening to their parents fight violently every day.. They ran away, hitching a ride across Ferelden from various travelling carts and eventually finding Bodahn Feddic, and his Son, Sandal; who were more than happy to tell them all about the fantastical hero Rook had idolized for years- Good and bad.

When Rook showed up at Soldiers peak, in search of their beloved hero, the HOF was quick to try and send them home. Several times. Rook kept coming back.

Eventually, HOF took them in, realizing they truly didn't have a home to go back to at this point, considering HOFs own disdain for the Alianage. However, HOF's intentions were far from entirely selfless.

My hero of fereldon was always a very manipulative and two faced anti-hero, constantly at war with the demons (figurative) in her own head. She was made an honest woman in her time as a warden, but her power complex and narcissism remained. She, more than anything, desired a mind to mold into the perfect warden in her stead. After all, she never wanted children of her own. But a student, to carry on her legacy as being what she thought was the most legendary warden of the dragon age? Say less.

Starting out, they had a complex relationship of teacher and student. HOF was fiercely protective over Rook, but also took measures to mentally and physically harden the child including harsh words, bitter truths, and physical labor. She took training to extremes, telling Rook that if they could not spar like the other recruits, they might as well stop wasting the HOFs time. That being a child wasn't an excuse, and if they wanted to be her student, they had to prove themselves- often resulting in a very battered and bruised child.

While she was never truly abusive, she was harsh and cruel at times, while also managing to Validate and fill the void of a mother figure in Rooks life.. Giving them gifts, comparing Rook to herself, teaching her about dalish culture as if Rook was her own child, eventually even sending Rook to learn from her very own clan Sabrae for at least a month out of every season. And when the time came, HOF was proud to personally give Rook their very own Vallaslin.

They fought empty handed until Rook was 16, because even in HOFs cruelty, she did not actually wish to harm them, and by 19, she finally decided that Rook could undergo the joining ritual as she had around that age.

Rook always had their fair amount of macabre interest, and varying morality, but HOF pushed it even further, instilling her own bad habits in the mind of the child. The obsession with blood magic and the blight, the power of blind rage, and the 'anything to win' mentality, even at the expense of other people.

The only thing HOF could not beat into them was the idea that manipulating people to get what you want was okay. Extortion? Sure. Threats? Sure. Violence? If the situation calls for it. But Rook was honest, and they always had been. Lying was something so far off the table that it became the one thing that began to crack the perfect image of their idol that they had in their head.

Long after the HOF made like my dad and went to get the milk, Rook continued trying to contact their lost mentor.. They had stopped receiving letters back soon after they began, but somehow, they just knew she was getting them anyway.

Rook does not believe the HOF will fall victim to the calling.. Perhaps it's delusion, or putting their idol on a pedestal, but they believe that if there is a single warden who could overcome it, it would be the hero of Ferelden.

Rook does have an inflated ego simply from the idea that they, themself, were the only person the HOF ever took under her wing. In their eyes, Rook is the perfect warden, trained by their very own hero and the hero of Ferelden itself. Therefore, they feel superior to all other wardens, largely because the HOF treated it this way.

Bonus!

Rook got Barkspawn hooked on eating raspberries. Barkspawn never would've gone into the gardens for sweet treats if not for Rook showing Barkspawn that they were yummy.- It became a near constant problem when HOF had to pull Barkspawn out of the thorny bushes.

Imagine having to pull a dog that's taller than you when it stands on its hind legs *out* of a viney bush full of thorns and fruit.

[vellaphoria]

Can I ask about "truth serum or dare" from you WIP list? 👀

it was originally my February YOTP entry which I am very late on lol

Basically: every year, Bruce makes everyone go through something akin to exposure therapy with truth serum. Tim, Dick, Jason, Steph, and Damian have instead turned it into a modified game of truth or dare where you challenge someone to a dare and if they decline, you get to ask them a question, prompting a forced response via truth serum.

Tim usually wins the game with his lying to Batman skills, but Steph is trying to pull of a surprise victory that year by exploiting Tim's crush on Dick.

Long excerpt is below the cut:

Steph glares down at the aerosol canister like it personally broke her dad out of Blackgate, once upon a time.

"I just don't get why we have to do this every six months," she says, tossing the canister from one hand to the other.  

Tim shrugs. "Could be worse. Could be every two months. Like the Gotham sewer escape drill."

"Ugh, don't remind me," She grumbles.

"At least it isn't shots anymore. That's one good thing."

There's a knock at the door frame.

"Hey, are you two ready?" Dick asks, poking his head in. He looks a bit… dressed down.

Steph almost laughs at that. While comfortable clothes are probably a good idea for tonight, he's the only vigilante she knows who consistently wears his own merch. Though she’d be lying if she said that he didn’t make the too-tight t-shirt and Nightwing sweatpants look good…

"One sec," Tim says. He holds up the aerosol and promptly sprays himself in the face with it.

“Alright. I think it’s working, but…” He raises an eyebrow at Dick. "You get one free shot. Ask me something."

"Why can't I ask you something?" Steph asks, trying not to sound whiny.

Tim makes a face. "Because you know too much," he says. Which is honest, if uninformative. "Also, that was a question."

She sticks her tongue out at him.

Dick, on the other hand, looks like he's really thinking about it. After a moment, he grins. Wide enough that it can’t mean anything but trouble.

"Who's your favorite vigilante in Gotham?"

"You are," Tim says, apparently before he can think better of it. 

Steph gasps in faux-offense. "Rude."

"Hey, he calls it like he sees it." Dick waggles his eyebrows in a way that's exaggerated enough to make Steph laugh.

"Jerk," Tim mutters. Though he smiles as he says it, so he can't be too mad.

He stands up from his seat, putting the aerosol canister back on the counter.

"I think there's an extra one back there if you haven't gotten yours yet," he says.

"Nope, not yet. Thanks for not asking."

It's the tradition, of course, to only ask questions within the game itself or by specific request. Anything other than that counts as cheating, and generally results in automatic disqualification and the offender being made to pick up extra chores from Alfred.

Usually the worst ones. Like scraping bat guano off of various things in the Cave.

“Well, don’t take too long,” Tim says. 

Dick doesn't make any particular effort to move out of the way as Tim walks past him, but he does glance down, his eyes tracking him as he leaves.

Is he… staring at Tim's ass?

When he looks back at Steph, he startles like he'd forgotten she was there. Then his expression turns a little guilty. It's confirmation enough that yes, he absolutely was.

Steph feels herself smirking. Because this? This gives her an idea.

This is how she’s going to finally be the one to finally beat Tim at his own game. And there's nothing he's going to be able to do about it. 

Apparently her thought process is showing, since Dick raises an eyebrow at her.

"Okay…" he says, "that's a mildly terrifying expression. Do I even want to know what you're thinking?"

"Nope!"

He shakes his head. Then he goes for one of the leftover aerosol containers.

"Well, better get ready. This game isn’t going to lose itself…"

[quill-pen]

Modern AU Scroogeverse: Starbucks orders

@rom-e-o and I joked around about it a little this morning, so I thought it might be fun to do.

Disclaimer: I, personally, am not a coffee drinker at all. I hate everything about coffee--the smell, the taste, the noise the coffee maker makes as it brews. And I never have dealings with Starbucks because I think they're a little overhyped and expensive.

Note: Americanized Bess has absolutely influenced these people's taste on things like iced and cold beverages. As she should. Cold drinks are lifeblood.

Ebenezer: First off, nobody makes coffee like his beloved Bess (she does it the old-fashioned way on the stove and adds just the right amount of heavy cream and cinnamon) so that's usually where Eb gets his coffee (she'll pour it in a thermos and send it out the door with him). But on the occasions Bess' coffee is unavailable for various reasons, Starbucks is an easy stop on the way to work. His drink of choice: the dark roast, tall, cinnamon powder, heavy cream, and two pumps of cinnamon syrup (if it's the holidays, he'll add a pump of the peppermint) to make up for the lack of Bess' TLC. It's good, but still not as good as Bess'; every sip of her coffee is like her love in liquid form and you bloody hell can't beat that. If he's had several late nights at the office, Ebenezer will also add a few shots of the signature espresso. If he has to attend a morning business meeting he's been dreading, the man has also been known to fill a flask with a little "feel-good" juice and spike his drink just enough to get through the meeting. He doesn't get anything else from Starbucks. He might try something Bess gets, but, as stated before, Starbucks is merely a handy substitute: He's not about to take time to explore their menu. Note: They never get his name right. Ebenezer is now simply known as 'Ed' at the local Starbucks.

Bess: For warm weather: a grande iced dark chocolate mocha with heavy cream and light ice. The number of espresso shots depends on how busy work has been. For cold weather: a tall caffè mocha, with warm heavy cream, light foam, and six mocha pumps. Again the number of espresso shots depends on work. If she's in the mood for something particularly sweet, Bess will usually go for one of their chocolate chocolatey frappucinos. She doesn't have a particular favorite--she likes them all--but always gets them in grande. Note: You think they'd be able to get Bess, easy enough, but no; she's been called "Bed", "Bless", "Beth", "Bet", "Bast", and "Bath". These people aren't even trying, are they?

Bob: Doesn't go to Starbucks--it's not on his way to work and it's too expensive (he's got lots of kids to take care of, even if now being partners with Mr. Scrooge makes life so much easier and comfy). He stops in at a local mom-and-pop place called 'The Grinds' and gets a large, cowboy coffee with a little milk and sugar. (He's also sweet-talked the barista into adding some espresso shots. The man has like a dozen kids, okay?! He needs it to get through the day!)

Ethel: Unlike Bob, will occasionally patronize Starbucks--mostly when she is out with the other girls. Because this is only an occasional thing, Ethel likes to treat herself (she deserves it!): a venti strawberry crème frappuccino with vanilla sweet cream, extra whipped cream, five syrup pumps, two espresso shots, toasted vanilla syrup, cookie crumble topping, mocha sauce, and extra strawberry puree. Leave her alone--she's affording herself a rare treat--it's fine. Note: Don't always get her name right either, but they get it right more often than with Bess.

Harry: Does not have a favorite. Man gets something different every time he goes and has liked everything equally. He does have a particular fondness for their frozen fruit beverages though, but only in summer. When the weather gets cold, he'll go for their hot apple drinks. The only customization he insists upon is extra cinnamon or peppermint during the holiday season. After all, he loves Christmas--it's his favorite time of year! He always gets the largest option. Note: Yes, his name always gets spelled right, usually accompanied by little Harry Potter flourishes. He finds them so charming and tries to keep them all. Hela eventually throws them out when he's clearly forgotten about them--usually after a week.

Hela: Usually goes for their teas. It's a toss-up between a short honey citrus mint with light lemonade and an extra pump of honey or a short, regular matcha tea latte. Note: Only gets her name spelled right if she's served by a fan of Marvel.

Tom: He is a very simple man. In the cold, he beelines for their hot chocolate: grande, steamed whole milk, doubled mocha pumps with extra whipped cream, and extra caramel drizzle with caramel sauce lining the cup. In the heat, it's a regular mango dragonfruit lemonade with extra ice. Note: Once got named "Dom" at Starbucks. The barista winked at him as she passed him his drink. Addie was with him and did not appreciate it; she absolutely took a cue from her cousin and groped his ass on the way out. The ride home was very long after that, but the events that played out at home were a blast.

Addie: In the cold, she loves the white hot chocolate. She'll usually get a tall with oat milk, extra foam brown sugar syrup with a mocha cause lining, and chocolate mint cookie sprinkles with light whipped cream. In the heat, her go-to is a grande iced brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso with salted caramel foam, mocha drizzle, whipped cream, and caramel crunch topping. Note: Often gets called "Abbie", but one time, somehow, she got called "Baddie". She rode that high for a week.

Ernie: Isn't really a coffee man, so he mostly sticks to the teas. He goes for the classic Earl Grey with a little lemonade, honey, and a pinch of cinnamon. If he's looking for something cooler, he just goes for the lemonade. Nothing very complicated. Note: Absolutely gets "Bert" added in with his name like 80% of the time. The joke is getting old now, folks.

Ella: Honestly, she doesn't do Starbucks. She had one drink once--a huge chocolate java mint frap, loaded up with all the best goodies. It was so good. But the stomach flu was going through the Cratchit household at the time and she got hit with it right after she had that heavenly delight and... yeah. Ruined the entire chain for her. Just the mention of Starbucks makes her stomach roll. Ernie doesn't drink Starbucks around her and does his best to shield the very logo from her view.

Granny: Simple and surprising--a doppio of espresso macchiato. regular except for eight shots of espresso instead of the standard two. She's in her 80s and surrounded by young folks, okay? How else do you expect her to keep up with them all?

Josie: Doesn't do Starbucks either. She thinks it's overrated and too trendy, and will go out of her way to find small, independent establishments to patronize. She enjoys hazelnut lattes with a little touch of cinnamon and mocha sauce. Will always ask the barista to make the most unique design they can with the cream and asks if she can watch.

Mickey: Just like his love, he doesn't do Starbucks. For one he could never afford it; for two, he tried some once and he didn't find it all that great. Certainly wasn't worth the hype everyone seemed to have about it. He chooses to support the independent coffee houses as well, often taking Josie out on dates to them. He likes the cowboy coffee with only a little milk; he enjoys the rusticness and simplicity of it. Josie isn't a fan of the flavor but she loves the smell of it on Mickey's breath afterward and she doesn't mind the taste coming off his tongue and lips when he kisses her either.

Jules: He can't drink coffee as it makes him sick, but he enjoys the iced teas. His favorite is a blended grande black tea lemonade with some apple juice and strawberries. And definitely extra ice. Always extra ice. In the winter, he gets a regular caramel apple spice. Note: Often gets his name spelled as "Jewels". Once he had an older barista that was a big fan of Jules Verne though, and he got that written on his cup--that was fun.

Martha: The chocolate java mint frap, tall, with coconut milk, double-blended with frap chips, hazelnut syrup, two extra pumps of the mint sauce, mocha sauce lining, toasted cookie crumble, light cinnamon powder, and whipped cream--that's this girl's game. She only needs to have one once in a while, as it's so very rich. Note: Once got called "Martyr". So... that was different.

Kathy: Girl is a fiend for the espresso shots! That's what happens when you're studying to be an L&D nurse, I suppose. She gets a quad of the blonde roast loads it up on six shots and hammers it. But after she's had a couple of those, she'll get a short, dark chocolate mocha with heavy cream and honey to sip on. Note: Has been called "Catty" more than once. She does not appreciate it.

Millie: VENTI. PUMPKIN. SPICE. LATTES. With extra cream and cinnamon and caramel sauce lining. She lives for this stuff and literally has an emotional breakdown whenever it goes out of season. After that, she falls back on the vanilla bean crème frap, venti size, with almond milk, extra whipped cream, frap chips, macadamia syrup, caramel lining, white chocolate mint sauce, honey blend, cinnamon, mocha drizzle, and caramel crunch topping. And, ya know what? It's still nowhere near as good as the pumpkin spice. Why don't they just sell it all year?! It would be their number-one seller! They could just start a whole other Starbucks offshoot just for the pumpkin spice and rake in the money! Note: Absolutely tells the barista how to spell her name and double-checks to make sure they got it right.

Gil: Decaf roast, tall, black--plain, simple, easy. He likes the bitterness; reminds him of the earth and nature. If he's craving a little sweetness, he might add some honey. Note: Usually gets called "Dill". Does not complain--he gets his coffee either way. And he kinda like the name "Dill" actually.

Tim: He's not allowed to drink coffee, as he gets way too hyper. But he does like their frozen fruit drinks. The pineapple passion fruit is his favorite; he always gets extra pineapple in it. He gets the largest size and sticks it in the freezer whenever he's had enough to snack on for a few days. The stuff tastes even better when it's frozen enough to eat like ice cream! Note: Tim is so cute, most of the time the baristas don't even hear him say his name because they're so focused on his cherubic smile or sparkling blue eyes, so they just write "Angel boy" on the cup. Tim just blushes and beams.

Beryl: She doesn't like coffee, but she is also a serious businesswoman, and serious businesswomen drink coffee. Beryl gets the espresso con panna in the smallest size with extra whipped cream and three espresso shots. The whipped cream is the only way she can stand the taste of the stuff. Sometimes she needs a little mocha drizzle to get it down too, even while she's holding her nose and trying to swallow it down without letting it touch her tongue. Ebenezer has pointed out to her time and again that it's okay if she doesn't like coffee--she can drink something else if she wants to--but Beryl refuses. "Businesswomen drink coffee! It's a staple!" And no one is going to convince her otherwise. Note: Never gets her name spelled right, so she has taken to telling them at her name is "Bear". That always gets spelled right and she gets comments on how "cool her name is". Beryl might be considering changing her name to "Bear".

[tracythecutefairy]

Here’s an Overwatch self insert OC I made to ship with Junkrat.

Bio under the cut (warning for mention of alcoholism):

Name: Tracy Ann O’Connor

Alias: Poker Face

Age: 29

Height: 5’5”

Weight: 135 lbs

Birthday: 07/17

Nationality: American

Sexuality: Bisexual

Base: Las Vegas, Nevada (Junktertown, Australia after marrying Junkrat in the future)

Occupation: Thief, mercenary, gang member (formally)

Affiliation: Dead Lock Gang (formally)

Role: Damage

HP: 250

Weapons -

Main: Tommy gun

Sides: Flash grenades (temporarily stuns enemies and blurs their vision for 5 seconds)

Healing booster drink (can give it to a team mate)

Ultimate: Rocket launcher

Personality:

Poker Face is a quiet, introverted woman that doesn’t want to start trouble but has no problem ending it. She has trained herself to never express herself on the battlefield or on missions, hence the name “Poker Face”. She wants her enemies to know that they are nothing to her and that’s all they’ll ever be. She never shows it but she’s always stressed out and anxious about various things. She tends to overthink everything and always beats herself up for being awkward with others. She gets angry and annoyed very easy too but you would never know it.

Most people think of her as a cold hearted, ruthless killer with no remorse or feeling because of her reputation. She really is a caring person though and is very kind to those she loves. Everything she does is to protect and care for her family. She can actually be very expressive when she’s not “working” and has a good sense of humor. She does have a resting bitch face though.

She’s not too favorable of Overwatch or Talon. She just wants to do her own thing and doesn’t like others bossing her around. She got enough of that from Ashe.

Background:

Tracy was born in Southern California but lived in Colorado most of her life. Her father is of Irish descent hence the last name. She grew up mostly lower class because her parents struggled with finances constantly. This has caused her to become obsessed with getting money and to ensure her family never goes through financial strife again.

Despite being raised in a mountain town, she was always more of an indoor person and preferred playing video games, reading books or playing card games. A couple things she had going for her above most others was being good with firearms and knowing how to survive in the wild. She eventually encountered the Dead Lock Gang and was taken in by Ashe herself when she was 17 years old.

Ashe had her trained in combat and taught her all the ways to pull heists. She was given the nickname “Poker Face” after earning a reputation for being expressionless on missions. Her family is completely unaware of her criminal activities and believe that she was at a good university in Texas and earned a well paying career afterwards. They still don’t know to this day and she is really good at keeping that a secret.

She stayed in the Deadlock Gang for ten years before deciding to leave and strike out on her own. Ashe was not happy about this but eventually relented because Poker Face had pretty much become like a little sister to her. Ashe does warn her that if they ever had to cross paths in a heist then she’d be a dead woman. PF accepted these terms and wished her ex-boss well on her travels.

PF’s home base is in Las Vegas. She has her own penthouse at the Bellagio. When she’s not robbing banks or treasure hunting, she goes home to play video games and have fun at the casinos.

How she and Junkrat met:

Poker Face’s first meeting with Junkrat and Roadhog was actually when she still worked for Ashe. The duo agreed to pull off a huge heist with the deadlock gang and spilt the rewards 50/50. Ashe had PF accompany them to keep them on their word.

Upon hearing her nickname, Junkrat immediately knew that he wanted to see this lady smile. No, he NEEDED to see her smile. This was way more important than whatever profit he was gonna get from this heist. So for the whole time, Junkrat pulled all the stops to get PF to crack a smile. This includes juggling grenades, horrible puns, crude jokes and making terrible impressions of being a cowboy.

PF endured all of this for most of the mission. Bodyguard or not, Roadhog finally had enough and had to be stopped by PF from choking Junkrat. He ultimately told him to shut the hell up and focus on the job. It was then that Junkrat made the most pathetic, high pitched whine in existence and PF couldn’t hold it in anymore. She let out a giggle and smirked but immediately went back to the resting face in embarrassment. Her whole face was red as a tomato for the rest of the mission. When Junkrat saw that smile, he felt like the world stopped moving and a strange feeling began forming in his chest. He was in love. Seeing this lady smile was better than anything else in the world, even explosions.

He was pretty much elated and on cloud nine for the rest of the mission. He was actually planning to break his promise and take all the money and treasure as a reward but changed his mind ultimately. He gave the Deadlock Gang the 50% cut and let Roadhog keep the rest (because poor Roadie was pissed that he backed out on the original plan).

Even though he was driving her crazy throughout this whole mission, PF couldn’t help but think about how cute and funny he is. She thought to herself that she wouldn’t mind doing something like this again with him so she gives both Junkrat and Roadhog her “business” number. Around this time, she was planning to disband from the Deadlock Gang anyway. This of course made Junkrat even more happy and ecstatic.

They did some heists in America and Canada here and there. She and Junkrat started going out sometime before the events of Overwatch 2 and have been together since. Junkrat wants to purpose to her but he’s having a hard time finding the perfect ring for her.

Relationships:

Junkrat - Loves him truly and dearly with all her heart. They match each others freak. Once they start dating and she opens up more around him, she’s totally into helping him with his wacky antics. PF is very affectionate and loving with him. He is the only one that she will smile and laugh around when on missions. He loves to make her smile more than anything. Junkrat just absolutely loves her to the moon and back. He’ll be damned if anyone tries to take his most beloved treasure away from him.

Roadhog - Gets along very well with him. She often pities him on having to endure his partner in crime’s antics but she’s just as guilty by engaging with it. She likes giving Roadie cute charms and plushies whenever she goes out shopping. He cares about her despite the annoyances and likes seeing her and Junkrat be happy with each other. He can’t decide if it’s a match made in Heaven or made in Hell lmao.

Ashe - PF still cares about Ashe even after leaving her gang and won’t do anything to interfere with Ashe’s activities and goals. Yes, she can be bossy and mean as hell but she still helped PF out of her family’s financial woes. She truly appreciates that and doesn’t want to be ungrateful for it. Ashe is absolutely furious and hurt by her departure but still cares for the “mountain brat” despite this. So she makes her own vow to never go after PF’s family, no matter what. She has absolutely no idea what PF sees in Junkrat lmaooooo.

Trivia:

- Has a scar on her neck so she covers it all the time, she’s very insecure about it

- Loves the color red the most

- Used to dye her hair red a lot but also does other colors like burgundy and black

- Currently on a break from dying her hair because her poor scalp needs to recover

- Her tattoos: the 4 card symbols (♠️♦️♣️❤️) on her left shoulder, the numbers 777 on her right shoulder, a butterfly on her left lower leg, and a dragonfly on her lower right leg

- Owns many motorcycles but her favorite is a red 1988 Harley Davidson FLSTC

- Loves collecting cutesy merch

- She loves Pachimari but her favorite cute characters are Hello Kitty and Pompompurin

- She’s a huge nerd in general, her home decor is mostly full of figurines, posters and autographs that she got from conventions

- Loves decorating for holidays, especially Halloween and Christmas, can’t get enough of it

- Despite the name sake, her favorite card game is not Poker, it’s Blackjack (and Uno)

- She’s very good at card games but can’t beat her mother at them

- She hates eating most seafood especially shell fish

- She loves all sorts of games but the Zelda series is her fave

- Her favorite movie is Spaceballs, it always makes her laugh no matter how many times she’s seen it

- Will never shut up once you get her to talk about a hyper fixation of hers

- Is a decent singer but is way too shy to sing in front of others

- Loves all sort of music but her favorite genre will always be rock

- Favorite band is Queen

- Hates extreme heat yet somehow finds her way into living in hot environments

- As long as there’s AC and games to play, she’s fine to live wherever though

- Used to be very scared of bugs and snakes but she was pretty much forced to overcome the fear since she worked with Ashe

- When she lives in Australia, being around dangerous creatures is just a normal part of her life

- She’s a recovering alcoholic, she’s at the point where she’ll only drink on holidays and on severe moderation

- She has terrible relapses on occasion though

Relationship Trivia:

- They switch often on who gets to be the little/big spoon, they love cuddling each other so much that it doesn’t matter which ones which

- They call each other by their own names, even on missions or heists but Tracy will often shorten his name to “Jamie” to make it easier for her

- They tease and prank each other often for fun

- Pet names she uses for him are sweetie, baby girl, honey, rat boy, firecracker, sugar, and sunshine

- Pet names Junkrat uses for her are darl, lil mouse, pokey, my treasure, love, beaut and cherry bomb

- They always dress up for Halloween and do matching costumes

- Junkrat loves giving her small gifts. It could be anything from gemstones, wild flowers, scraps of metal that look like hearts, and pretty shards of glass

- PF loves all these gifts and uses them for arts and crafts projects so she can never lose them

- PF often buys him stemming toys, tools for his workstation and anything that’ll make him laugh like whoopie-cushions or rubber chickens

- Junkrat draws many sketches and doodles of her with a lot of hearts, they’re all over his workstation

- They even find a way onto his schematics

- They cannot help but smother each other in kisses when at home or on dates

- Poor Roadhog can only handle so much lovey dovey crap so he just walks away until they’re done

- Junkrat can annoy PF sometimes, it’s usually when she’s playing video games and he keeps distracting her

- They can get into serious arguments but they’re thankfully very rare

- It’s usually over Junkrat being too reckless with his bombs that it worries PF or PF having a relapse with her drinking

- Roadhog has to be the middle man for most of these arguments but he puts his foot down when one of them goes too far in endangering their life

- They always make up afterwards by apologizing and having a good cry session

- Junkrat works on her flash grenades to cover more area and make the effect last longer on enemies, she really appreciates this

- He also tinkers with her rocket launcher

- PF can make Boba tea and other sweets

- They eat junk food too much, please someone give them fruits and veggies

- They often go to amusement parks and concerts together, they wear disguises of course

- PF is scared shitless of big rides but she’ll go on them if Junkrat does too

- Good luck getting PF to share her food from amusement parks because she won’t, not even with her boyfriend

- Ok maybe she can share a funnel cake with him but only because it’s too big

- Junkrat will do anything he can to win a prize for his girlfriend at the carnival games

- Since the games are rigged, he just ends up stealing the prizes anyway and if anyone calls him out, they have Roadhog to deal with

- On sad days, they comfort each other by kissing and massaging their battle scars and wounds

- They also try to make each other laugh

- Whenever he overhears PF sing, Junkrat is the happiest man in the world

- He encourages her to sing more often around him, he’ll even do it with her to make it easier

- It takes a long time but she does warm up to freely singing around him and even Roadhog too

[meracydia-miqo]

FFXIVWrite 2024 - Day 13: Butte

post-dawntrail; contains references to certain points in msq (2k words)

———

“How good are you at climbing? Might you be able to check what you can see from up there?” Erenville pointed at the large rock formation some yalms away, sided with steep slopes of terracotta stone and clay lined with small shrubs peeping through the cracks.

Q’lhani looked up. It looked to be a few yalms tall, but the walls were rough, and uneven enough to appear relatively scaleable. She regarded herself as no expert at climbing, much less near-vertical cliffs, but she’d found herself scaling enough walls over the years it was hardly intimidating. ”Might as well try,” she shrugged.

Q’lhani dropped the sack of rroneek feed on the ground, and jogged over to the outcropping. Erenville had explained to her the differences between the various geological formations in Shaaloani during their first visit, but all the technical terms went a bit over her head. Something about the relative height and width of them. They were all just weird rocks and hills to her.

Eyeing the walls, Q’lhani stepped around the base of the structure, judging it. She tested her grip on a small rock jutting out from the scree, and when she deemed it satisfactory, pulled herself further up. A few loose pebbles fell to the ground behind her, but she kept her footing. Long tail stretched out behind her for balance, she climbed the rest of the way up, making use of whatever convenient clefts and crevices she could find to dragging herself up to onto the flat surface at its peak. She’d managed worse before.

It was like being on top of a building. The wind buffeted at her skin from such an exposed position, short hair blowing into face in an attempt to obscure her vision, but she ignored it. Turning around, she spotted Erenville standing at the base, who looked up at her, appearing satisfied. From this height, she could see the way his long ears seemed to flop, battered by the strong winds.

“Any sign of it?” He called up to her.

The two of them had returned to Shaaloani not long after their return from Living Memory and defeating Sphene, so Erenville could check on how the fauna had changed and fared since the dome’s appearance. Q’lhani, with little else she wanted to do, opted to join him so they could resume what had been interrupted when said dome first appeared. For better or for worse, they were recognised pretty quickly, and next thing they knew they were being asked to assist in locating a runaway rroneek. It had been startled by a storm, they said, and bolted off somewhere.

Sitting up (she didn’t dare stand in such wind, one strong gust felt like it would send her flying to the other side of Lake Toari), Q’lhani scanned the horizon. While there was no shortage of the beasts roaming the plains, most looked to be wild, along with a couple bearing passengers traversing the wilds. But some distance away, she spotted one by itself, slightly smaller than the rest of them, pacing back and forth as if lost, surrounded by more yeheheceyaa than other rroneek.

She turned back around to look down at Erenville. “There’s one by itself to the west, it looked a bit lost.”

“Aye, that sounds promising.”

At Erenville’s confirmation, Q’lhani jumped the full distance back down to land beside him, stumbling slightly as her feet hit the hard ground. Erenville reached out to support her, and she mumbled a word of thanks, tail flicking behind her.

Glancing back up at the cliff face, Erenville asked. “Still, that is quite an impressive height. Is there anything you adventurers can’t do?”

“Land straight, apparently.”

“Everybody has their flaws. Wuk Lamat would’ve landed on her face.”

Q’lhani laughed. “I’ve got her beat there, then.”

“That you do.” Erenville scooped up a couple of the sacks of feed. “Anyway, we have ourselves a rroneek to find.”

Wiping off any of the loose dirt on her knees, Q’lhani picked up the remaining sack and slung it over her shoulder. The person back in Hhusatahwi who’d implored their aid insisted that it was individual’s favourite food and was sure to bring the creature running over as soon as it caught whiff of the smell. Q’lhani still didn’t quite understand why it was necessary for them to lug three whole sacks of the stuff around for one lone rroneek, but she’d been asked stranger things.

They headed in the direction that Q’lhani had seen the lone rroneek in, keeping out of sight of any of the creatures that might see in them a tasty meal. Q’lhani could easily fend them off if it came to, but Erenville warned against stirring up too much trouble lest it disrupt the natural balance of things. She appreciated the break from fighting, at the very least.

When they got closer, peeking out from the bottom of a ledge, Erenville spoke up. “That appears to be the one we’re looking for. Come.”

Where? Q’lhani stood on her tiptoes, straining to catch sight of it, but came up short, cursing her height compared to a shetona like Erenville. She frowned. “I’ll trust you on this.”

Following behind Erenville, she spotted it further up the slope, backing away slowly from a pair of yeheheceyaa, the pteranodon-like creatures making squawking noises at it, flapping their wings.

“Looks like it came too close to their nest. The yeheheceyaa are rather territorial, so they aren’t like to take kindly to others approaching their young,” Erenville explained, voice quiet, and barely audible over the howling of the wind in her ears. To prevent the animals from noticing their presence, most likely.

A gust of wind stirred up the grass, and Q’lhani blinked rapidly, shielding her face to stop any sand from blowing into her eyes. “So then what’s the plan?”

Erenville paused a moment, deep in thought. “Ideally, we’d like to distract them for long enough that the rroneek calf can make its escape. If the farmhand is correct, it should be relatively easy to lure it in this direction with the feed.”

Q’lhani glanced over at the animals again. Her vision was obscured slightly as another gust of wind blew her bangs over her eyes, but she could see the rroneek getting dangerously close to losing its footing as it neared the edge of the cliff. They’d have to be quick, if they didn’t want it falling to its doom. “The wind,” she noted, remembering something she’d heard Erenville mention before. “It’s blowing towards us. Will it still be able to smell it? It hasn’t yet.”

“Good observation. It’s young—though it may not show much, it’s likely too distracted by the fear right now. I’ll bring the feed closer, and we will find out.” Erenville explained, before nodding at her. “If you would do the honours of distracting the yehehceyaa?”

“This is starting to feel familiar,” Q’lhani said. “Much more preferable over picking up more dung again, though.”

Keeping low to the ground, she climbed up onto the ledge, watching the yeheheceyaa for an opening. If she could make it to the other side of the outcrop, it would force them to turn around and give Erenville the opportunity to lure the rroneek over to safety. She spotted a couple others further along, and when they turned around, she snuck further into the open, until she neared the other edge, where she stopped.

She didn’t have an exact plan as to how to distract the scalekin without harming them, so she’d have to improvise. Sneaking further up the ledge, she slowly closed in on the nest, a few small young barely visible over the various sticks and branches that made up the edge of the nest. They really were a bit like big, featherless birds. She’d have to ask Erenville later what made them different from cloudkin.

Not wanting to get too close to the nest, she lowered her head, before letting out a whistle, keeping an eye on the yeheheceyaa. When they didn’t move, she tried again, louder this time, and shifted her position without making an effort to mask her presence, in a vague attempt to mimic an approaching predator. There was a squawk, before one of them turned around, spotting Q’lhani just a few yalms away from the nest. At the commotion, its partner turned around too, abandoning the frightened rroneek, and before she knew it she had a pair of aggressive pteranodon-cousins screeching as they closed in on her. A questionable success, but a success nonetheless.

She caught sight of Erenville approaching the rroneek, who raised one hand when he spotted her in turn, indicating he had it under control. Good. Onto the next step.

Ducking back down, Q’lhani slunk away from the nest before jumping down the ledge, ignoring the yeheheceyaa as they swooped in close to her, screeching. Upon landing on solid ground again, she ran. She wasn’t there to cause trouble—if she could get away, they would hopefully see it as them having successfully scared away a threat, and all would be well.

Several (very long) seconds later, she slowed down, trying to catch her breath as the screeching quietened and the shadows of swooping scalekin lessened, before stopping entirely as they gave up and returned to their nests. She looked back, searching for Erenville. It would’ve been easier, she realised, if they’d planned on a meeting place ahead of time, but it was a bit of a rushed response given the situation.

Fortunately, it was only a minute or so later when she spotted him approaching, all three sacks swung over his shoulder as he guided the young rroneek along the path. It huffed happily as he stroked its fur.

“You make it out of there in one piece?” Erenville called out in greeting.

“Somehow.”

Q’lhani waited as he caught up to her, a rare smile on his face, before matching her pace to his. “I hope it wasn’t a test sending me out there with no means of pacifying them.”

“No time to mix up a formula,” Erenville explained. “I had faith you could handle it. Much better than some people I’ve seen.” He reached his hand out to stroke the rroneek again, and Q’lhani couldn’t help but think of how truly in his element he was with animals. She wondered if Cahciua had been the same way, and if he’d been around a lot of them growing up.

Q’lhani opened her mouth to respond, but was beaten to it when Erenville continued. “Take it as a test or preparation for when we go track down a golden alpaca, if you like,”

We.

She remembered that Erenville had expressed interest in trying to track one down himself after Zoraal Ja had arrived with one during for first task for the Rite of Succession back in Urqopacha, though at the time he had specifically mentioned doing so alone.

The fact that he had expressly stated ‘we’ implied that she had already passed said tests.

“You still did most of the work on the actual animal-catching front, though.”

Erenville looked at her out of the corner of his eye, lips pulled into a thin smile. “You’ll catch up on that front I’m sure. Eventually.”

Q’lhani narrowed her eyes. “Is this about the marmots in Labyrinthos?”

“Perhaps.”

Upon arriving back in Hhusatahwi, Q’lhani felt about ready to collapse after what felt like hours of unplanned rroneek-tracking. The farmhand had run up to them as soon as she saw them approach, rroneek following behind them, thanking them endlessly for finding it for her, and bringing it home safely and so quickly. Q’lhani was just glad they hadn’t been lugging around the feed for no reason, in the end. Erenville had said that it produced a strong enough scent when he opened them that when the rroneek realised it was safe, it didn’t take long for it to come running on over, allowing him to calm it and coax it into following him the rest of the way to safety.

“I fear we might be labeled as master animal wranglers soon, after all that.” Q’lhani sighed as she entered their shared room at the local inn.

“Just another title to add to your long list, huh?”

“I’m afraid so.”