#i just don't go in for virtual card games

[the-one-that-weeps]

Most of you don't realize the limits of creating pjsk ocs are literally just "Hatsune Miku has bestowed you with a world from your feelings. Enjoy." So, I've come here once again to remind you guys to be creative.

Here are some parameters I rarely see being played around with while creating pjsk ocs:

Age: project sekai was created for a younger audience. However, characters in project sekai are a representation of the music producers (as in they create songs for Virtual Singers to sing), and a composer can be any age desired. This is not a limitation.

Character nationalities: yes, it would make the most sense for your setting to be Japan. However, seeing as vocaloid are international idols, that is not a limitation. 99% of those that read this have listened to vocaloid, only 1% if not less are Japanese. This is not a limitation.

Speciality: a common misconception is that, in order for Miku to become interested in you, you have to be a singer/composer. This makes sense, but had been proven wrong by canon itself: Rui is a director, Ena is an artist, Mizuki is a capcut editor. Heck, it's never even specified anyone outside of Nene sing in wxs. This is not a limitation.

People per unit: FOUR IS NOT A LIMITATION. PLEASE. If you're a perfectionist, you might want to have your card sets make sense, but I've seen people figure it out with groups of 3 or even 6. This is not a limitation.

I'm so tired of you guys saying it's not possible for an Urdu 70 year old lady to discover Hatsune Miku and go "oh! I like this :)" and then wake up in a parallel pocket dimension with a Japanese man pretending to be a cowboy, a Samoan Mozart-in-the-making twelve year old and Kagamine Rin.

It IS possible and if it's not, it would be FUN AS HELL, and that is PRIORITY.

Fuck shit up. Go crazy. Cringe is dead and you'll be too in a few years. Carpe diem til it kills you.

We don't know what a Sekai is, and we don't know what a fragment is. How are songs made? We don't KNOW! And even if you would like to abide by the pjsk worldbuilding rules, there's still so much you can play around with!

And don't even get me started on what you can do with SEKAI!! It's a world created from your feelings, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE, especially because we don't know ANYTHING about them!

By the rules we're given in pjsk, Sekai could solve world hunger. By the rules we're given in pjsk, you can technically bring an unlimited amount of cats into your world. And if you take in the Miku Lore about her being from the future, A TIME TRAVELING SEKAI IS SOMEWHAT POSSIBLE.

This post you might know me for was actually a recycling of my own ocs! And guess what, by the rules we're given in the game, THIS COULD VERY MUCH WORK.

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Good Omens graphic novel update: December 2024

We promised a graphic novel treat for December to send off 2024, which we have at the end of the update, so let's dive in!

Colleen has been working diligently ahead of the graphic novel going to print next month, which she discussed over on Patreon. For those looking for more behind the scenes on both Good Omens and Colleen's work more broadly, we recommend either following her Substack, or subscribing via Patreon, as she approaches the finish line.

A snapshot from our production HQ where dummy books of the graphic novel, slipcase and other editions of Good Omens have been arriving thick and fast. The graphic novel (slipcased version shown) has quite the heft to it. It's going to be such a magnificent object inside and out.

Here, we're testing out the various papers, finishes, embellishments and more – everything is falling into place!

Merch-wise, some more delights. The A.Z. Fell & Co tote bag design is in, one side in celebration of our favourite angelic bookseller, the other as if it's been purchased from the bookshop itself, so you can take your pick.

We've got more pins that will be available in the 3-pin set add ons. While the full list will be available in 2025, we're happy to share a few more to get excited about:

On the trading card front, have a look at some of the base deck designs by Steve Gregson and Kirsty Hunter in situ as this all comes together rather nicely, and causes a heated game or two behind the scenes.

And, a quick admin note to wrap up that we always recommend checking the FAQ page as a first port of call for any queries. If you have questions tied to specific tiers, we'd suggest checking the last few updates if your answer can't be found on the FAQ. If there is any information required for your pledge, we will be in touch. We will be back at full steam in the New Year!

Thank you.

So, to wrap up this year's updates, we give you the draft of the full first scene of the graphic novel, artwork by Colleen Doran and lettering by Lois Buhalis. If you'd like to wait until the graphic novel publishes in Spring, skip everything after the ducks!

To 2025 🥂

Until next time.

+ post from Colleen Doran:

Good Omens: You Get...Stuff Like This

In the most recent Good Omens update at the Kickstarter, a few people got upset at the suggestion that you have to get past my paywall here to see Good Omens updates.

Except you really don't, and the post doesn't actually say you do. You get a bit more, like pics of my studio, a discussion of tools and process - but not all of that is exclusively about Good Omens.

I think the Dunmanifestin team just wanted to draw a little attention to my blogs and other works, for which I am very grateful.

As my Patreon supporters already know, Good Omens info posted here gets to the Substack and Kickstarter eventually. And since most of my posts here aren't just about Good Omens, but my other projects and personal stuff, as well as links to our weekly Virtual Art Studio sessions, I think I'm justified in keeping that material behind a paywall.

In fact, I don't think I've posted much stuff about Good Omens since the summer: pages of flats like the one you see above, a few studio photos, and color tweaks.

Also, me boo-hooing about my nerves and health.

But for those who feel left out missing even this small amount of stuff, then the screen shot above is for you.

That's called a flat.

It's a prelim color before adding final color.

Here's what the final color looks like.

So I've posted a handful of this sort of thing since this summer, but frankly, there's even more of my sketches and so on posted at my Instagram that aren't here at all.

For those who don't know, I am doing most of the color myself on the book, but I am working with assistants. I'm not sure how much the Dunmanifestin team wants out there before the big reveals, but here's a snippet of a sky.

In the first image, my flat color.

And after my assistant worked on it.

Here, I've done a repaint. Sometimes I do very extensive repaints after the assistant works on a page. Sometimes not so much. I didn't use assistants on many pages at all. About 80% of the labor on the color of the book is my work.

However, the assistants have been a big help, and I am very appreciative of them.

I will make a point to go through all my prior posts and get every single bit of art that you haven't seen and make it public for all of you in the coming weeks. I need to excise it from previous posts. As I respect the privacy of all my readers, I never make prior posts public without their permission as they may not want their comments or identities to be public.

Thanks so much for everything!

[jennifer-jeong]

Reader plays LDS game and little does she know that the boys can feel her emotions whenever she plays it or whenever she gets the card or memories of her fav boy for example-Zayne and the other two gets jealous idk and how they wish to be real and be with her.......

HELLO I'M SORRY THIS TOOK ME A HOT SECOND I was stressing and thinking about how to approach this but I think I got it now >:) (also school and life is kicking my ass but we don't talk about that)

Fluff | LADS x GN!Reader "Virtual" Boyfriend

Rafayel sneak peak LMAOOO^

CONTENT Fluff, slight angst, gender neutral reader, Rafayel crack, mentions of the boys trauma, CHARACTERS ARE 18+

What I’m thinking is that the boys are conscious within the world of your phone. They can feel you and hear you but they can’t quite see you. You’re almost invisible in a way but they can feel your energy when you’re present. They feel it when you poke them in destiny cafe or touch them in the kindled memories. They hear your voice when you speak in game. They’ve lived the lives outlined for them in their lore and you’re who they’ve been searching for. They’re restricted in what they can say to you when you interact, it's some weird force they don’t understand. They know when you’re online but the same weird force prevents them from finding you, you have to go to them. (Zayne lives both lives of doctor and dawnbreaker, which he is happy about. He would’ve passed away if he had to be the one of two Zaynes to be dawnbreaker)

XAVIER hates that whoever made this world made him suffer for like a century only to have him find you and you aren’t even actually there. But he still loves feeling you there everyday, even if he's not the one that got chosen to sit in destiny cafe. Whenever you listen to his audios or interact with him through cards, destiny cafe, or playtime, his hands are shaky. It’s the only thing that he actually gets to express to you of his own free will. They shake because he’s so nervous but excited to finally be with you. He’s a patient man, he’s willing to wait for you everyday, he just wishes he could be where you actually are ): . He’s a smart man with an excess of free time, he’ll figure out how to get to you, someday.

ZAYNE has spent his whole life in this world in love with you. But now that he’s got you, and he can’t even see you, he’s started to accept that you’re just always going to be out of his reach. He loves when you do visit though, it makes him feel so warm. When you interact with him, he wants so badly to just be able to freely speak to you and tell you how much he loves you. His character is pretty cold because that is his personality, but when he sees you, he desperately wants to stop being distant with you, he wants to tell you all the soft and warm things he has to say. He wants to be where you actually are, he’s sick of basically just being Dawnbreaker Zayne where he just dreams of you and never gets to see you. He’s solved so many mysteries in the medical and wanderer hunting world though, he’s probably genius enough to figure this one out too.

RAFAYEL has been looking for you this whole time and is so frustrated that he found you and can’t even freely speak to you. Rafayel often ends up in glitches in the game because he desperately wants to break out of his confines and just talk to you. Every time you interact, he’s trying to find some way to tell you he loves you and that he’ll always be here no matter what. He gets pretty jealous when he doesn’t get to sit in destiny cafe with you, he doesn’t know who exactly sits in his place but he wants to be the only one you have eyes for, the only one that you touch, even if it’s not quite “touching.” He’s already lost everything he has except for you. He’s willing to do anything to get to you, he just hasn’t figured out how to do it, yet.

Rafayel glitch collection:

+ THIS video LMAOO

Personal follow up hc that they can interact with you when you daydream of them!!! It’s the only way they can reach you and feel you properly. Pretend they eventually figure this out and you live happily ever after !!! (cope)

Photo credits from twitter! https://x.com/nonbiriotome/status/1754530273033683337?s=46&t=Y5PdanktIFDztaAr8_sv4g https://x.com/miyabi_lad/status/1754318127339639244?s=46&t=Y5PdanktIFDztaAr8_sv4g https://x.com/zaynerei/status/1760258500746445149?s=46&t=Y5PdanktIFDztaAr8_sv4g https://x.com/xaviersdaily/status/1759516449758908615?s=46&t=Y5PdanktIFDztaAr8_sv4g https://x.com/yubeljin/status/1752770210124210303?s=46&t=Y5PdanktIFDztaAr8_sv4g https://x.com/nonbiriotome/status/1759228703186227235?s=46&t=Y5PdanktIFDztaAr8_sv4g

|| MASTERLIST <3 || Thank you for the ask and for reading! ||

[elliespectacular]

scared to sell my steam trading cards for $.01 less than the lowest asking price to ensure a quick sale anymore 'cause I don't know shit about the trading card economy I don't know the horrors that these honest working Gamers had to go through just to earn the right to collect and trade virtual trading cards on the pc gaming platform Steam with an ounce of dignity I mean I'm just out here trying to get by and maybe save a few cents on Kitten Burst what if there's been a whole labor feud with strikes and protests over the fair cost of trading cards that I never paid any attention to and by marking my Perducci card from Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate down to $.06 instead of $.07 I'm undercutting the union rate and I've accidentally become a steam trading card scab

[goodoldfashionedengineer]

Idea: Apocalypse Averted AU, Five gets his paper work updated and is officially his age of 58. Luther suggests they could all go to Vegas for the weekend now that Five can't be thrown out for being a minor.

Five is surprised by the suggestion but then Luther is saying "Well I'm sure you could win a lot of money by counting cards, you could probably pick it up real quick, knowing you". And well, he loves a challenge. And there's alcohol. So why not

Diego joins too because no way will he be lamer than Luther and Allison goes with them, officially because "You idiots can't be left alone in Vegas" but actually she just wants to see how it goes.

(more under the cut, this got kinda long)

Klaus has had enough of bright colors and loud noises for a while, the club was already enough, he doesn't need another flashback, thank you very much

Viktor also stays because his hearing is so sensitive now and it'd be hell he imagines

So the first group goes to Vegas, at first it's fun, even if some of them won't admit it. They drive limousine, have some fancy drinks, explore the Las Vegas strip, go to some restaurants.

And then they actually go to a casino and all hell breaks loose.

Diego had been studying a gambling book and Luther had bet $10 on roulette and won. Diego urged him to go again, it's a 50/50 chance anyway.

Luther did and-

-lost.

Luther gets up at Diego about it and Five says "Of course you shouldn't have listened to him, it's Diego"

Then they get into a fight with each other and get kicked out of that casino.

Allison then banned them from games involving actual people for the next hour.

They go to the slot machines a bit and Luther accidentally rips off the handle of one of them.

Overall, they lose A LOT

Five tries a virtual Blackjack game loses twice, then wins, almost cashes out, before he thinks 'I am in a flow right now and the winnings wouldn't even out my losses right now' and goes again.

He loses and screams at the thing

Meanwhile Diego found one that has a mini Jackpot and a Big Jackpot (why are there two Jackpots?!!) and right as he put money in, he broke the mini jackpot. Then he saw the Big Jackpot is almost at its limit too, so he spends like half an hour on that game

Only to lose all of his earnings.

He screams at the thing

The three guys get kicked out of that one too

Then they realize "WHERE IS ALLISON?!"

They obviously can't go back...

...except they can because they are trained child soldiers, so back in again it is.

Luther was sadly caught, but that helped Diego sneak back in again

Five simply blinked.

So, where was Allison during all of that?

In a secret area for A-list celebrities playing Blackjack of course.

Both Diego and Five get there, are caught right as Allison spotted them, getting increasingly frustrated and cashes out.

They get out and realize "Where the fuck is Luther?!"

Luther is actually on a party bus, but they just go back to the hotel. Allison goes to the spa, Diego and Five back to their rooms, expecting to find Luther, but he isn't there.

Both of them groan but since they don't even have an idea where he is they think that he'll probably get back to the hotel at some point.

And he does, except he's blackout drunk. They lay him to bed, Five says he's had enough and gets another drink. And another. And then he just gets the bottle.

None of them can sleep. It's way too hot and it's way too loud. What are these walls made out of, paper?!

They had a reservation for lunch the next day but they all overslept way past noon

They go walk the Strip again only to find cosplayers dressed as Umbrella Academy members.

So they decide "actually this is awful, let's go" and just do not think about all the money they lost

So, what did Klaus and Viktor do during all of this?

Well, they went to brunch, then they visited a butterfly house, afterwards they took a stroll through the park, eating ice cream, while ending the day by watching 'But I'm a cheerleader' with pizza that they ordered.

[tyrantisterror]

My Childhood Wonder Grew Up

Yesterday I wrote a short post about how I had a smutty story idea that none of the friends I showed it to discouraged me from developing, and as a result it's, uh, developed into something I might actually make. And because the past two months have been ABSOLUTE HELL, especially for any other more fruitful/less smutty creative endeavors of mine, I feel the need to share something I've created to validate my existence in some way. But because this idea is, again, shamelessly smutty and self indulgent, I'm going to give you a proper warning of what you're getting into so you can back out from looking at it.

Ok... so... I'm a big Digimon fan, or at least a big fan of the first three seasons/series of Digimon anime - I feel they kind of dropped off in both story and monster design after Digimon Tamers, though they've been returning to form lately. Have you seen Dinomon? Dinomon kicks ass, even managed to supplant Plesiomon as my favorite mega.

But anyway! Digimon designs vary a lot more in aesthetics than pokemon do, but the best ones all have this cool grungy punk rock feel to them. And because Digimon was the punk rock to Pokemon's pop music, it had more edge to it. Yeah, your dinosaur buddy could evolve into a bigger dinosaur if you want, but it could also evolve into THE FUCKING DEVIL if you played your cards right/wrong. And while the Digimon animes have more or less focused on the most logical evolutions - little dinosaur becomes bigger dinosaur becomes cyborg dinosaur becomes, like, humanoid dinosaur knight - there's a part of my brain that's always thought about how you could take the "person partnered with an evolving monster" setup in a weird direction. Like, what happens if your fun monster pal digivolves into one of those nightmarish Final Boss digimons like Diaboromon or Apocalymon? What if you had a partner who digivolved into one of the "garbage" monsters, i.e. the pathetic, gross, mostly useless digimon that were a result of you sucking at playing the virtual pet game these were originally made for?

Or... I mean, I warned you this was a smutty idea... what if your digimon partner evolved into one of the hot digimons? Like any of the MANY digimons that are basically monster girl dominatrixes? What if your partner turns into LadyDevimon?

And that silly, smutty idea just rattled in my head for a while. 'Cause there's sort of a fun twist you can do on the stock "I've grown up and my childhood friend is now hot and I don't know how to process that" plotline in romance stories with it, you know? Because how does that cliche storyline change if the childhood friend in question was originally a three foot tall lizard, but now she's a nine foot tall dragon-woman?

It's a smutty idea! A terrible, shameful, smutty idea!

...

but no one's stopped me, so...

My Childhood Wonder Grew Up! is the story of five ten year olds who accidentally wandered into another world filled with monsters called wondersprites. Partnering up with five of these wondersprites, the kids went on a grand and harrowing adventure to defeat the Dread Kings, five uniquely strong and wicked wondersprites who were deadset on ruling both the World of Wonder and the human world with a tyrannical iron fist. They defeated the evil, parted with their wondersprite friends, and sealed off the World of Wonder forever, becoming celebrities in the human world in the process.

And then eight years passed.

The "Wonderkids" have graduated high school, and are all struggling with the burden of childhood fame, the gnawing fear that their lives may have peaked when they were preteens, a complete loss as to what they should do with their adult lives, and most of all, a deep sense of grief at being parted with the weird creatures they had befriended during that bizarre and wondrous childhood adventure. As they step out of childhood into adulthood, something remarkable happens.

Wondersprites reappear in the human world, chief among them are their old partners. Except their partners have grown up too, transitioning past what was thought to be the final level of their life cycle. And their new forms are... unexpected.

The leader of the "Wonderkids" was/is Ren Akari. Once a bold, confident (perhaps even overconfident) kid with a flashy and bizarre sense of fashion, Ren's lost all that brash attitude over eight years of people mocking their childhood exuberance and role as the face of the Wonderkids. Now they just want to be invisible, covering themselves in dark and muted clothing, hiding their face (and their goggles - try as they might, Ren can't give up all their childhood habits) beneath a hood, and generally trying to shrink from the public eye as best as they are able.

Their sprite, Scaly Wonder, was a sweet dragon that could match and exceed Ren's enthusiasm pound for pound. She's kept that exuberance, but in her new form it reads a bit differently than it did when she was a pudgy (if badass) dragon.

(Ren and Scaly both identified as male when they were kids, but as young adults they identify as nonbinary and female respectively).

The "bad boy" of the Wonderkids, Colt Ford was stoic, aloof, and generally had an air of being too cool for all this fantasy isekai bullshit. He was always the first to criticize Ren's leadership, but also the first to jump into the fray to help out his friends. Though he often insisted to the contrary, it was clear he cared a great deal for his friends, especially his bird-like partner, Feathery Wonder.

Colt has, unfortunately, remains distant, aloof, and closed off through his adolescence, growing into a young man who's even more shut off from his feelings than he was as a kid. That's ok, though, it's what a man's supposed to be according to his parents.

Colt's partner, Feathery Wonder, has struggled to live up to those same expectations. Though he's definitely tried to keep getting stronger like colt wanted, somewhere along the way he crashed, and his new form is... well, it's anything but strong, though it does has surprising utility in helping out the other wondersprites with mid-battle upgrades.

A tomboy whose confidence almost matched Ren's, Jaime Shannon was the heart of the group in many ways, mending disagreements between the other Wonderkids and always making sure they remembered they were in this together. Jaime was never afraid to speak her mind, and also enjoyed playfully ribbing her friends when they got too wrapped up in themselves.

Unfortunately, that confidence was relentlessly criticized when Jaime and the other Wonderkids were put in the public eye after saving the world, with many tabloids and pundits singling her out as a "bad role model." Jaime purposely tried to distance herself from her childhood personality as much as possible, becoming prim, soft-spoken, and very traditionally feminine in a hope to prove she's not the grubby tomboy everyone thought she was.

Her wondersprite partner is Shaggy Wonder, a fuzzy furball of a creature who was perhaps the most self-serious of the lot, constantly making heroic proclamations and speeches, much to Jaime's amusement. He's still like that, of course, but with his much more heroic build, he's beginning to look like he might actually live up to his own hype now.

Seymore Sullivan was a scrawny, bookish kid who tried to live up to the idea of brains beating brawn, often with very limited success. Though shy and full of insecurities, he proved an important asset to the Wonderkids, as his wealth of knowledge and analytical mind allowed him to devise strategies his fellow ten-year-olds could not think of on their own.

Seymore had a very eventful journey of self discovery after the whole Wondersprite Adventure. She goes by Siobhan now, and with that change in identity she seems to have gained all the self confidence that many of her fellow Wonderkids lost.

Siobhan's partner was Crawly Wonder, a goofy and mischievous wondersprite who took a playful and irreverent attitude to their adventure in the World of Wonder, even when things got VERY perilous. Though Crawly loves putting people off kilter, they're a little worried their newest transition might be too much - it looks a little terrifying, doesn't it?

(Siobhan/Seymore identified as male when she was young but now identifies as female, while Crawly Wonder was and is nonbinary)

A girly girl through and through, Cassie (yes, Cassie, ignore the name I wrote on the paper, this is all a work in progress and shit will change) Vasquez may have been a bit whiny in the eyes of her peers, but she also had the strongest moral core out of all of them, and was the most successful at winning other sprites over to their side and away from the rule of the Dread Kings. She proved again and again that her femininity was an asset, aided by the help of her surprisingly versatile aquatic wondersprite.

Cassie has grown up to be a bit less traditionally feminine, though she would say her love of all things lady has only grown with age. She picks and chooses aspects of various alternative lifestyles that suit her - a little hippie here, a little punk there, etc. - and of all the Wonderkids, she's the one who most openly pines for the World of Wonder, even sporting several tattoos in explicit honor of her wondersprite partner.

Said sprite, Slippy Wonder, was invaluable in the water as would be expected, but also surprisingly capable of holding her own on land, battering enemies with her venomous tentacles. Slippy also openly pines for a reunion with Cassie, and is even more overjoyed than the others that the World of Wonder is connected to the human world again.

While the return of wondersprites to the human world is, ostensibly, the conflict that the Wondernot-quite-kids and their partners need to solve, the meat of My Childhood Wonder Grew Up lies in how their relationships to each other have changed now that they've grown up. Sure, there's a new Wondersprite Adventure for them to solve, with threats both old and new alike to deal with and a big mystery to solve, but all of that is hard to focus on for our no-longer-kid protagonists. As much as it seems like their childhood is back again, can it really be when they themselves have changed so much?

And also... are they gonna smooch those monsters? 'Cause some of them are... oddly smoochable.

...so yeah, that's the smutty little idea I've come up with and no one has stopped me yet. None of this is set in stone, naturally - I might age up the kids a bit, for example. Like, 18 feels thematically appropriate, it's the official transition point between childhood and adulthood, and graduating high school feels like a potent time to explore the feelings of leaving childhood behind and entering adulthood... but also I'm thirty-six and 18 doesn't really feel like an adult age to me now, even if legally it is, you feel me? Twenty would feel more appropriate, even if it's a less thematically interesting age.

And either way this probably won't come to fruition for, like, MANY years yet - when I get back my writing mojo I will be going right back to Maude and Mordi, and Wizard School Mysteries still has five books to go yet, and Dark Chivalry needs to fit in there somewhere too, not to mention a polished version of At Sea Without a Map and the 10th anniversary special editions of No Sympathies and ATOM Volumes 1 and 2...

But someday, maybe, we'll see this become a thing. A smutty, smutty thing.

[friend-crow]

Something I've learned about needing expensive medications is that sometimes you can go to the manufacturer's website and get a (virtual) savings card that reduces what your insurance doesn't cover to $0. Of course this isn't always available, and some manufacturers won't do it for people who are uninsured or on medicare, but it's worth looking into.

One of the medications I take is around $850 retail, and because it's a specialty (ie expensive) medication, my insurance will only cover 50%. You can get a coupon on goodRX, but that just reduces the retail price to $725. If you go to the manufacturer's website, they will cover the other half if you have a commercial insurance plan, though.

It's basically an evil little game they like to play to see how much money they can extract from your insurance before they admit that they don't need to be charging anywhere near what they are.

Paxlovid is one that you can get for free regardless of your insurance status/type of insurance, at least through the end of this year. Hopefully it'll be available again next year.

With my other $850 medication it said the savings coupon was for up to 12 months, but all that actually means is that you have to get a new card at the end of each calendar year.

The more we learn about long covid, the more strongly I feel about getting paxlovid if you can, as it's supposed to help minimize the chances of long term effects (as well as hospitalization or death).

[lunasdreamytreats]

Best kept secrets

Baizhu x fem!reader

Warnings: NSFW // !PSUDO STEPFATHER/STEPDAUGHTER RELATIONSHIP! don't like, don't read // modern au // legal age-gap (Baizhu's in his late 30's, reader's in their early 20's) // drinking wine // reader calls their mother 'mama' // petnames (darling, little girl / good girl) // daddy kink (u call him it a few times and he calls himself it too) // mentions of drugs and aphrodisiacs // begging // oral (m+f receiving) // fingering // dumbification // bad writing (was still finding my writing style as i began writing and its not fully proofread)

Word count: 3.5k... (jeez i went crazy)

A/N: HBD MY LOVE 🥰 I love Baizhu sm, been planning this bad boy forever. Please enjoy and make sure to read the warnings carefully and lmk if I missed something ❤️

'How did this happen again?' You ask yourself as you accept another kiss from the man you knew as your stepfather. It feels so wrong, until you remember how your own mother is a cheating gold digger herself. Virtually your whole life up until a year ago had been on the move. Your mother would marry rich men who owned whole companies or company branches and either bankrupt them and leave or cause a scandal so they go out of business and leave. Over 19 years you’ve had a total of 10 stepfathers and you've never been really close with any of them.

As far as you know, the most recent one is the only one out of your stepfathers that has more than one source of income. He owns the only pharmacy in town while also working as a doctor. It must be taking longer to burn through it than normal, you thought, since you're still there.

You feel as if you should be grateful that your mother hasn't ruined it yet, because you've grown fond of life in this family. Your little sister Qiqi absolutely adores you as her big sister. Although your not sure if your mother knows about this, but your stepdad, Baizhu, absolutely loves being able to spend his money on you. Whenever you get off work he'll wait outside for you in the car with your favourite music ready to play. He'd drive around town with you for half an hour before going to pick Qiqi up from school. If you saw anything you wanted while driving, he'd tell you to quickly jump out and buy it with his card.

“Sweetie I don't care how much it costs if you want it I'll gladly get it for you.” Is what he'd say if you tried to protest in any way, in the end, you’ve just accepted it as him wanting to spoil you. Baizhu was very different to any of your other stepfathers, for one, he's making an effort to bond with you..... Oh and he's young, well, young compared to the others. At only 35 when they got married, he was 2 years your mother’s junior and 17 years your senior.

The 4 of you lived a fairly drama-free life up until tonight, when Baizhu came back home after dropping sweet Qiqi off at her best friend Yaoyao's house for her very first sleepover. He came in and asked you to come downstairs and sit on the couch, saying he needed to ask you about something important. You promptly closed the game you were playing and put the controller back, coming down to see Baizhu in the kitchen with a bottle of white wine and 2 glasses.

“Oh? What's the special occasion, Dad?” You asked before sitting back down with him.

“It's about your mother, (Y/N).” You froze slightly, wanting to ask him if anything bad happened to her. However, before you could speak, he placed one of the full glasses of wine into your hand.

"Do you know if she cheated on any of your other stepfathers, like any one of them?"

“Well I don't know for certain, but I've got a feeling she cheated on all of them, including my father.” You lifted the glass of wine up to the light and swirled the liquid around before continuing.

“Right when she leaves them, I found that either their companies crumbled, or they declared bankruptcy. Some less than 6 months after their wedding. It's happened way too many times to be a total coincidence.” Looking over at him, you saw a small sigh leave his lips as his eyes met yours. The low light of the lamps on the wall adjacent to him made his golden irises glow. ‘Oh fuck that's really pretty.... h-hold on a god damn second, that's your stepdad your talking about, dumbass!’ You quickly shook the thought out of your head and took a sip of wine to distract yourself.

“Why'd ya ask?”

“I saw your mother with someone and they were talking about how long until they can run off together....” You always had a feeling she had an accomplice her little scheme, but a whole ass lover all these years? Baizhu leaned forward in order to put the wine glass back on the counter and shifted to face you.

“Thank you for telling me this, my darling.” Eh why the lovey dovey language? He seems to be awfully calm for someone who just found out what a horrible person his wife is.

“Dad.... now that you've caught mama, when do you want us out of here by?”

“Hm? Why would I kick you out, darling?” Again with the darling! Is this really how fathers express their affection towards their children?

“I-I just thought since she's cheating on you, you wouldn't want her or her child arou-!” He's laughing? How? You thought he'd be annoyed. And yet here he is, not only not giving a toss about the current situation, he's laughing at it.... Why?

“Do you think I'd leave my cute, sweet little girl all alone without someone that loves her like I do? No no no darling. Besides, this is the best time to show you something that I've been planning this last year.” What could that be? You wondered. Come to think of it, from his plans for Qiqi's birthday party to things he's overheard at work, he's never kept anything a secret from you. He stood up and retrieved a piece of paper from inside a safe in the wall that he hid behind his back so you couldn't see what was written on it. As he sat back down, you managed to catch a small glimpse of the contents of the paper, you saw your signature there and what you can only assume is Baizhu's, both written in black ink next to each other at the bottom of the page.

'Oh! He must be holding the adoption papers we signed after the wedding'. You had another quick glance at the paper again before he folded it up and set it down on the table.... What?? You must be hallucinating because your pretty sure the words 'certificate of marriage' were at the top of the page. Hang on, if that's a marriage certificate, then why did you clearly see your signature next to Baizhu's?

“Did you see it, my darling?” Baizhu's words brought you back into the moment at hand, oh, that and his hand resting on your waist. The small gesture causing a shiver to shoot up your spine. “You’re my real wife. And you have been all this time.”

“How?” The reality of this situation hitting you like a boulder made your voice go hoarse, coming out like a broken cry. How was he able to hide something so big for so long? “How did I not notice it?”

“I'll be honest, I only got close to your mother so I could be with you, my darling. I knew what your mother was when I saw her, now she's the only one in the dark about it.” Baizhu's voice broke through the stifling silence around us. This is so weird, you’ve always thought your stepdad was a nice man, in personality, heart and looks. And you’ve told your friends about how you'd like your future partner to be like him. So should you go along with it?

“B-But what about the wedding night? Didn't you and mama have sex?”

“Nope, she ran off after the ceremony, I spent the night in your room.”

“W-what!? How the fuck did I not feel you?”

“Not when you've taken the deep sleep elixir I put in your food. I’d put it in whenever I knew your mother was going out for the night.”

“Oh, so that's why I hardly remember those nights.”

“Fuck, you're so cute when you don't know what to make of a situation, darling. I wonder what your reaction is going to be when I do this?” With no warning, Baizhu pulled you closer, onto his lap, and kissed your neck. The bold action made you gasp in shock. While you were distracted, he took the opportunity to catch you off guard again and kiss your lips. The kiss was just as he was, gentle and full of passion, yet demanding. Letting you know that although he’s being gentle, he’s still the one in control. He’s holding you so soft and tenderly, it makes this kiss feel like a natural part of life. Like your forgetting you two had a completely different relationship before...

That's how it came to you and your stepd- no, your husband making out in the open space of the living room. :)

'This isn't wrong. He's my husband.' You told yourself as you kissed him back. The grip his hands have on the flesh of your hips was so soft, as if he couldn't bare the thought of hurting you. Which, in a way, was true. He couldn’t bare the thought of being the reason you were in pain. As the kiss deepened, he felt more comfortable in exploring your body. His hands gently glide up your body before setting on your chest. His hands circle your body to where the dress zipper and bra clasp were.

As his arms pulled you closer, his fingers grazed the bit of exposed skin, making you shiver at the contact. Pulling away from your lips, Baizhu looked at you with love filled eyes and ran his finger over the neckline of your dress before hooking a finger on it and tugging at the fabric.

“My darling, can I?” He asked, rather breathless from the deep kiss. You could only nod in response until you find your voice. That was another way that Baizhu shows he cares, he was patient when you couldn’t get your words out. It was a thing you had struggled with for most of your life. And although it was a small gesture, it was something that mama never bothered to get right.

“Y-Yes daddy~” You managed to whisper a response, your head already felt dizzy and the neck kisses didn't help. Hearing daddy leave your mouth must’ve awakened something primal in him. With a newfound spark of lust in his eyes and a tightened grasp on you, his teeth grazed the skin of your shoulders. You reached behind your back to start unzipping your dress, only for your wrists to be pulled away and held back in one of his hands, while the other pulled the zip down slowly.

“Shhh~ darling, let daddy take care of you now.” An uncomfortable thought came into your head; ‘what if mama came back without warning to see her daughter, clothes slipping off, on her ‘stepdad’s’ lap making out with him?’ But don’t worry, Baizhu has a plan to deal with her if she comes back early. There’s no chance he’d allow this perfect moment to slip through his fingers again. After he pulled the zipper went all the way down, Baizhu started to gently draw circles on your newly exposed skin. The heat building up between your legs was getting frustrating, so you started to rub your clit on Baizhu's thigh to relieve yourself. Until he noticed and gently held your hips in place.

“Darling, I thought you’d let me take over tonight.. you know what happens to bad little girls that don't obey their daddies, don't you, darling?” Baizhu whispered, gently kissing the shell of your ear before continuing, “They. get. punished.” Taping your shoulder blade with each word. Each tap of his finger sent electrifying waves of pleasure down your whole body. You can’t help but lean into his touch, drunk on how quickly you crumbled under his teasing. One thing was for certain, however, the pleasure you felt was unreplicable.

“M'sorry daddy.. don’t punish me, I-I’ll b’good, please..!” You plead, hoping he’d be merciful on you. Since nobody can blame you for being needy. After a few minutes of drawing circles on your back, your dress and bra went flying off you, yelping when the cool air collided with your breasts. Smirking, Baizhu gave your hips a squeeze as his lips left a trail of kisses from your jawline down your chest, before latching onto the hardening nipple. Swirling around it with his tongue, he copied the motion on the other with his fingers, tugging whenever he sucked. All night, Baizhu had been focusing on giving pleasure to your most sensitive spots, like he already had a mental map of where he should focus on.

While your attention was taken up by the stimulation to your breasts, Baizhu let his free hand snake down, across your tummy to settle between your legs. One touch of his slender fingers to your puffy folds sent you jolting forward into his neck with a moan. Thing is, that one touch was only light, nothing much to most people. But to you? Mind-numbing. Actually, you don’t think you’ve ever been this sensitive to anything before.... it’s like your sensitivity to touch became enhanced. Could Baizhu have given you something to do this?

“You like that, don't you, darling? Good girl. Tell me, who’s making you feel this good?”

“Y-You daddy, s’you makin me feel good”

“Good. Fucking. Girl.” With every word, he swiped the pad of his thumb against the nub of your clit. Your hips subconsciously bucked into his hand with newfound lust. Like your body was chasing after his touch after he retracted his thumb. Baizhu's fingers ghosted over the outline of your clit, prodding at your hole. Easing the tip of his index finger inside while holding you steady. When your body relaxed, letting him know you were comfortable with him inside, Baizhu pushed you to the couch so you were laying on your back with him on top. The hand that’d been holding you steady now moved from your lower back to hold your cheek softly, catching any tears that fell over your eyes.

“Fuuck, you're clamping on me so tight.. I’ve barely even started with you, never thought a little foreplay would be all it takes to get you begging for me so soon, darling.” Don’t mind him though, he’s just being all mean and teasing you! He began slowly moving his finger in and out, slightly curving it to graze your soft inner walls. He added a second finger gently, stretching them apart in a scissor motion and continuing to touch places you couldn't dream of being able to touch on your own.

“Fuuck~ ur fingers~ s'deep!” It almost felt uncomfortable, keyword almost. The tender kisses Baizhu left along your body made any kind of discomfort you felt fade away. That is until a strange feeling came creeping into the pit of your stomach. A twisting and churning sensation like a knot threatening to make your insides explode.

“Ha~~! A-Ahh! D-Daddy, feels weird..!”

“Oh? A weird feeling, you say? That's your orgasm building up, darling.” His thumb quickly swiped against the sensitive nub of your clit, “Now be a good little girl and cum for me...” Your eyes peeped open at his words, only for stars to invade your vision as the knot came undone over his fingers and the couch. Your fucked out expression caused Baizhu to smirk in satisfaction, taking pride in being the only person to ever make you orgasm; other than yourself, of course.

“Good girl... ” Baizhu glanced down to where you both connected, taking note of how his wrist was now slightly wet... Did you squirt over him? Or was it sweat? This encounter certainly left you catching your breath.. Your body twitched sporadically as your walls finally began to relax around his fingers, and you sighed in satisfaction. Feeling you come down from your high, Baizhu gently pulled his fingers out, awestruck at your essence which was now dripping down his digits.

“Daddy... love you” You reached your hands out and Baizhu took them in his own, helping your sit up and kissing your knuckles softly.

“Love you too, darling. Cuddles?” He asked, holding his arms out so you could come to him if you wanted. You practically jumped up and slid into his lap, burying your flushed face into his shoulder. ‘Oh, you’re the type to get all cute and cuddly after sexual encounters...’ Baizhu thought, but that’s fine, he’d give all the cuddles you could ever need if you asked. You feel him gently smile on the top of your head alongside wrapping his arms around your middle.

Of course, with all that Baizhu’s done for you tonight, you couldn’t just ignore how hard this encounter made him. His dick throbbed against the cloth holding it back, simply begging for him to do something to relieve it.

“Daddy, lemme help, wanna help it..” You attempted to slip off his lap to kneel between his legs, fully prepared to help him. But he tightens his hold on your body, preventing you from moving much.

“No darling, y’can help me from here.” Baizhu reassured, moving the fabric that concealed his cock out the way. It bounced back against his abdomen, splashing a little precum over his stomach. Your eyes widened, you’ve seen dicks before, (in sex-ed class), but nothing like this. His dick was much bigger than anything you ’ve seen, and certainly bigger than you think you can take. Noticing your unease, Baizhu gently took your wrist and brought your hand to touch it.

“Lemme do it with you, darling... help me feel good too, yeah?” With one arm still holding you tightly, Baizhu’s other hand joined yours, guiding you in jerking him off. Even under two people’s grips, his dick still twitched and pulsed against your hand. Biting your lip, you lean your head down to press small kisses and kitten licks to his swollen, red tip. You looked up at him, still with his tip nestled snuggly in your mouth, eyes trying to convey what you want; for him to use your mouth like a fleshlight.

At first, poor Baizhu didn’t know what to say; he didn’t want to lose his composure and ram into you so hard that it became more uncomfortable than pleasurable, but the look in your eyes conveyed that you were actually begging him to lose it. He let out a long, shaky breath before moving the hand that had been on his cock to hold your hair out of your face. He didn’t even realise he was holding his breath...

“Tap my thigh twice if it gets too much for you, ok darling?” You nodded and began easing more of him into your mouth. He almost couldn’t think straight with just his tip in your mouth, but seeing you slightly struggle to fit him in drove his size kink mad. Baizhu’s fingers raked through your soft hair before setting at the top of your neck, taking control back from you and moving your head along his shaft.

Muffled whimpers and gags mixed with Baizhu’s groans made it easy to lose oneself in ecstasy, so you never noticed the small commotion happening on the other side of the door; never noticed the amused smile on your lover’s face upon realising the trap he and the millelith set achieved it’s intended outcome. Not that you were meant to know about any of this anyway...

“Sh-! Shit, on your knees, darling” You nodded and slid his cock out of your mouth to get into position, obediently for your husband. Baizhu rose from the sofa, guiding his dick back into your mouth as soon as you settled down. This time, he allowed himself the chance to thrust his hips into your mouth, meeting the pace you originally set. His thrusts started slow and deep, becoming more desperate as the pleasure built up.

“god.. m’gonna cum darling” Baizhu’s hold on your hair tightened, pulling at the strands that were wrapped around his slender fingers. He had to lean against the nearest cabinet since his thighs were twitching so much, his legs might’ve given out on him. You have to say, Baizhu’s groans of raw pleasure were a melody you’d never get tired of hearing. Baizhu abruptly pulled out from your mouth, gently taking your hand off from his thigh to place it on his heavy, aching cock.

“Finish it off, darling.. y’did so well, wanna cum on your pretty face..” You nodded and dragged your hand across his dick, feeling the way the large bulging vein running along the underside of his shaft throbbed with need. You leaned a little further up, enough to press your lips against the sensitive skin just underneath his tip. Baizhu’s grip on your hair tightened as his free hand grasped his cock, giving it a few languid pumps.

“Keep still, sweet girl,” He could barely get the words out before the tight coil inside his slender body snapped. Creamy white cum painted your face in spurts and globs, a testament to the adoration that Baizhu had harboured for you for so long.

[alexxncl]

‼️NIGHTBRINGER LESSON 53 SPOILERS‼️

masterlist | all lessons | season 3 | lesson 52 | lesson 53.2 | lesson 54

now i knew we were gonna get some kind of lore drop given the "waking up from a dream" title card at the beginning of the lesson

can someone explain to me what the FUCK is going on ???? like it's obvious we're not supposed to be there, but where is there?

for context, all we saw was a black screen with the characters in front of it. like what is happening

the way that lucifer was so adamant about mammon not using his card in meowcao only to let him use it anyways 😭

he can't resist his favorite baby brother ig

HELP 😭 not he told levi to touch grass

but on a less joking note i think this is sweet bc it's clear that he's worried about levi's physical/mental wellbeing

if only he worried this much about his own wellbeing

also is it canon that levi sometimes takes virtual classes bc of lucifer's intervention or is that something i/someone else headcanoned ??? bc it's canon to me

maybe i'm having war flashbacks from meowcao but this isn't sitting right with me. idk. maybe this is where the "dream" (?) mc had comes to fruition

but back to the dream, was that like a vision ??? was it actually happening in real time ???? maybe i'm just dumb and sleepy idk (it's midnight in china rn)

ngl i completely forgot about mc's whole magic sickness thingy (i'm so tired forgive me)

what happened when someone gets magic sickness ?? do they die ???? don't leave me in the dark

okay but WHY is this a thing ??? like i feel like we're back in season 2-3 of the 1st game when mc did that whole quest to become a sorcerer 😭 ik solomon taught them better than that like c'mon gworl get it together

but i GUESS it can be explained bc they have pacts with 2 sets of demons from different timelines, and that's a lot of magic for a mortal to be able to tap into. given all the emotional strain they've been put through, i get it

#obeymegivemcabreakchallenge2k24

the way that literally NOBODY answered mc 😭 but why are they talking within earshot of literally everyone at the fire. i wanna be nosey. let me in.

the next part of the lesson having the title card "devildom flowers, celestial realm memories" is scaring me a little bit ngl. what is this is the "dream" mc had earlier

:((((

ik i said i wanted a lore drop but this hurt. now i get why raphael's been mopey since coming back to the devildom. not only has simeon lost his wings, but he's turning into a demon on top of that, drifting further away from the celestial realm and raphael by proxy

more on this here

but also why would they end of a cliffhanger ??? raphael opens up and then they bith get attacked by god knows what

can diavolo just...kill whoever's trying to attack the brothers. like is that illegal here. can it be legal just this once

[jockw]

Any nevermore headcanons?

Heya Mythawolf!

I've been thinkin bout it today when I saw this on my way home, so. Doing the same as last time, marking characters' names in colors to make it obvious. These are mainly modern tho, hope that's alright - it's also long so imma add this line for the mobile users that wanna scroll by easily

Modern Lenore would've bickered a lot with her parents for sure, getting grounded but never anything bad as a punishment. I think at worst they'd take her devices/gadgets away to make it severe, but she'd somehow have something to enjoy coddled up in her room. I also headcanon that Lenore doesn't drink alcohol because of her mother, not because she drinks basically everyday and her liver is begging for help — no. Simply put; because she just don't want to. Maybe for special moments, like new years and all, but not on a regular basis.

Going back to my previous headcanon about Annabel being vegan/vegetarian; I still see it happening!

It's a fascinating idea, because I barely see much vegan/vegetarian representation in fictional characters. But hey, my tastes in stories are wild so of course I'd rarely see such things. Perhaps I should make one myself.. anywho. Back on track, she'd definitely feel uncomfortable being near people that eat meat very messily. As in, seeing the oil roll down on the person's mouth to their chin as it almost drips onto their shirt kinda disgust. Though Annabel would never show or force her disgust to people who are meat lovers, she isn't one of those who goes "You are an animal killer! How dare you eat their flesh?!" (No, I'm not calling all vegan/vegetarian pricks. I don't think every one of them forces other people to become a plant eater either).

Prospero wears glasses, he enjoys a good book but it wouldn't have taken him double the amount of time if he had glasses with him. I'd say.. this is mostly general for any universe I s'pose? Our handsome boy is a bookworm, 'sall. You'll find him easily in school libraries, community libraries, bookstores, etc..

Duke and Pluto are deadass gamers. They like to play tons of games, cards, D&D, Monopoly, you name everything man. Hell, add Free Fire in the pot too.

I think if they were addicted to gaming, they'd also have a Twitch channel together and post their videos - mostly it's them playing together/against each other in some matches. Otherwise, we're gonna go to the Rabbit Hole and add a little problem; they're far too gone in the virtual realities that their friends are worried.

Well, Berenice is definitely some alcohol lover and like, slay because yes. We love her who she is. I believe in the world there are alcoholics who can control their liquor, and know when to stop. I see Berenice like that, unlike Lucille who continues from the Webtoon (although it's not much regardless).

Our little vamp gal would be the one winning in drinking parties, even if it's some random in a bar taking shots. She'd so win.

Eulalie likes to travel, she wouldn't mind having a travel buddy too. Doesn't matter who, even if it's Montresor. She likes to learn more about culture, see the landscapes and— go into France, in the secret passageways under Paris to search the catacombs just to take a selfie with it. Yes, she watched As Above, So Below - the movie and now she's trying to find the exact locations to get there. Her favorite to go to place is somewhere in Australia because she got bitten by a tarantula one time.

Will wears Hello Kitty pj pants btw.

I think that's it for now!

Cause i still gotta answer 2 more asks lol and I'm freezing, hope ya enjoy mate

[wren-beowulf]

GUESS WHAT BITCHES ITS

INTO THE WREN-VERSE

I don't know why I decided to do this but I suspect it's because I lack any semblance of self control.

I made one "Wren" or "Sirius" for every Tumblr colour, each with their own personalities and backgrounds, though with certain singularities, their "Canon Events" So to speak.

RED IS @roan-rossignol

- The "Bastard Wren." Bastard child of Loki, Bastard personality, bastard of a man.

- Owns a casino and speakeasy called Red Velvet and is DEFINITELY shady, where all the underground shadowy people go. Seems like he's running a whole ass mafia. Is he really? Who knows.

- Sirius is his half brother on his mom's side, Works as a bartender at the bar there and makes a pretty good bouncer. Literally the only thing keeping Roan from going batshit with his brand of crazy.

- His intelligence lays with his words of manipulation, tricking people into making deals with him without lying, but only because he doesn't have to. He's also incredibly intelligent when it comes to any kind of game, especially the ones at his casino. His skills lay in people and puzzles.

- Magical powers, the odd one out in that. Mostly in deceiving and shape-shifting, though has greatly expanded his magical prowess over the years.

ORANGE IS @brother-of-a-villain

- Sirius Prime, so to speak. A voice of reason for his own ball of crazy back home. He is tired, and honestly not much surprises him anymore. How is he able to keep up with everyone's shenanigans? Even he has no idea.

- Runs an autoshop in the Bowery and is good at what he does. He's really putting those 7 years of school and masters in aerospace engineering to good use.

- Wren is his full brother, and has done most things in his life to try and protect them. Most of which haven't worked, which he feels emence guilt over.

- Doesn't have any powers, but may be a carrier of a dormant Metagene.

GREEN IS @fenris-morant

- The "Quiet Wren/Sirius", which is probably due to the amnesia he's had for the past year and a half of his life, so it's not like he has much to talk about.

- Is a very active and stupidly good Mercenary/Hitman/Assassin named "Wolfsbane", a play on his namesake and the deadly plant.

- Does not know who this "Sirius" Guy is, other than the dogtag around his neck when he woke up and the birthday card in his pocket. Wants to find him to figure out who he is and what happened. Though, he could also BE Sirius and just chose the wrong name, he doesn't know yet.

- His intelligence related to anything killing and detective work. He's a great tracker that way. He can calculate the curve of a bullet through a pipe and can pin a fly by its wings without killing it. This guy knows how to cover his tracks.

- Has the ability to turn his body, or parts of his body into green lightning that can phase through attacks, move as fast as lightning, and pack quite a punch. Can also manipulate the weather to create electrical storms. He's also rather immune to electrocution.

BLUE IS @wren-beowulf

- Wren Prime. the fuckin' crazy one who you definitely know is fuckin' crazy. The good kind of crazy (sometimes) with a good heart.

- Used to be a villain, but hey, love changes people. Works as a mechanic who dabbles in the illegal now.

- Sirius is his brother who is still very much a part of his life. I'd say he's the only thing keeping Wren from blowing everything up, but considering that already happened that's a lie.

- His intelligence is in anything engineering related, can figure out anything you put in front of him and can make virtually enything in record time. Also does coding, but simply prefers building.

- Has the ability of Duplication, and can make doubles of virtually anything, even himself, which he does often. He also recently acquired weird ghost powers which he's still figuring out.

PURPLE IS @caspian-vares

- The "Mellowed Wren" But also not really lol. He seems pretty calm, but if you actually know him he's just a different brand of adrenaline junkie who has trouble separating the "Could I?" From the "Should I?"

- Works part time as an anonymous newspaper photographer, as well as a local "fixer" of odds and ends. Also works as a notorious hacker known as SP3CTER who is known to be able to get into anything and vanish without a trace, like a ghost.

- Sirius was his... brother? Though since Caspian was adopted he has no idea if they were biologically related or not. He's... also been dead for a while, leaving Casper with a lot of guilt over his death.

- His Intelligence is basically a reverse of the Prime Wren's. He's a stupidly competent hacker and tech wiz who also does some engineering, though mostly as side projects.

- He has the ability of multiplication, and can make multiples of virtually anything, even himself, though only does it if he has to. After his brother's death he awakened a secondary mutation that gives him telekinetic and telepathic abilities, which he hates. Though it is noted that one of his biological parents had a telekinetic/telepathic ability as well.

PINK IS (I HAVENT MADE HIM YET BARE WITH ME)

- He's a Sirius who's "Wren" died :>

WHITE IS @brother-of-a-demigod

- The "Criminal Sirius" who is 200% done with your shit. He's pretty much the only thing keeping his brother, Roan, from fucking up everyone's shit. He's tired, but that seems to be true throughout the multiverse.

- He's in charge of the Bar at the Casino, an expert mixer, but not afraid to become a bouncer if you all can't behave. (Trust me, he's better than his brother)

- Wren is his half brother, and he's not jealous of the whole half God thing. Seriously, seems like a pain.

- Uses magical tattoos, not particularly efficient in magic otherwise.

GO FORTH AN BOTHER THEM!

Message them! Torment them! Flirt with them! Ruin their lives or make them better it's up to you! These are my babies and they're out in the world for you now, go crazy, you have my permission.

[fereldanwench]

I didn't want to completely sit out a year-in-review, but for reasons I'll explain at the end of this post and under a cut, doing the traditional pick-one-pic-from-each-month approach just wasn't going to work for me. So instead, here are 20 of my favorite shots (in no particular order) of Valerie from 2023!

(I'll share solo Goro shots and shippy/story shots in two other posts before the year ends.)

Some thoughts about this year (cw for anxiety and depression mentions):

So yeah. I actually hadn't planned on joining in on the virtual photography year-in-review fun in part because... Well, frankly, I wasn't sure if it would actually be fun for me.

Although I do have pictures for every month, the first third, maybe even half, of the year was a struggle on almost every conceivable level. A lot of it was shit that carried over from the end of 2022, which was also an incredibly difficult year for me. I don't really want to delve too deeply into why--Some of it was personal, some of it was professional, some of it was fandom, and if you know, you know.

The main obstacle I had here is that looking at a lot of the shots I took from about January to May (give or take a few weeks on either end) honestly reminded me of Bad Times™️. I've worked really hard to pull myself out of that depression/anxiety cycle and return to a healthier approach to fandom and online socialization in general, but I just didn't want to spend a lot of time in that mental space. There are a few shots from those months that made it to my favorites, and I hope one day I can look back on that stuff and just feel the good from it again. Alas, that day is still not here.

But I am happy to report that the other reason I wanted to approach the review differently is a lot more positive! It's also two-fold: 1) I spent the earlier part of this year exploring more of a technical side of virtual photography and 2) I was really prolific the last third or so of this year so trying to narrow faves from about August until now was just not possible.

One of the few good things about the end of 2022 was being able to upgrade my graphics card, which meant I then had a rig that could support ray-tracing and hot sampling. As a result, I started putting a lot more focus on lighting and getting acquainted with new tools. I also was trying to work with the new AMM posing system, which is very convenient in some ways (100s of poses without reloading the game!) and a complete pain in the ass in others (can't move characters without their poses breaking!). Custom photomode poses + Nibbles Replacer has been the game changer I've been waiting for.

Or to put it more succinctly, December 2022 through about April 2023 felt like a relearning/return to basics kind of creative period, which is essential, but also means I just don't really like a lot of what I did, lmao.

Then, shockingly (I'm not shocked at all), starting treatment for my anxiety and depression in the second half of this year suddenly made creating a lot easier and fun again! Crazy how that works.

Even bumping this little review up to 20 shots instead of 12, there are still pictures from the past few months that I had to cut as favorites. There was just no way I could condense the amount of fave shots I took from August to now in just 5 options.

I also owe quite a bit of this revival to modders for asking me if I wanted to take shots for them--Exploring more of a fashion photography approach to my shots I think did a lot to build on what I had learned earlier in the year and encouraged me to try something new. I don't want to tag anyone in this long-ass glorified diary entry, but if you invited me to take mod shots for you, just know that it really meant a lot. ♡

And that's where my head has been with a yearly review! Is filling out a little template with 12 pictures this serious? No, it definitely is not, lmao. But hey, overthinking shit is still something I'm working on. ✌️

[project-sekai-facts]

Hatsune Miku broke space-time and here's how

a somewhat off-the-wall theory by tumblr user project-sekai-facts

SEKAI are... mysterious, to say the least. They're worlds made out of the emotions of teenagers, only accessible through a song on a phone that cannot disappear, and most importantly, inhabited by the main 6 Crypton VOCALOID characters.

So, what exactly is a SEKAI? For one, they're not magical or supernatural, as confirmed in Len's Street SEKAI 2*. According to Len, SEKAI are just mysterious, as previously mentioned. He also mentions in that card story that the Virtual Singers that inhabit SEKAI are not that much unlike humans, although they have the innate ability to help people discover their true feelings, and nurturing those feelings is at their core.

That's the thing, how are they able to maintain a humanoid form if they're not magical or supernatural, and not holograms either? Well, with magical worlds and the concept of people teleporting inside of their phone ruled out due to the phones going with them, the only option I can think of would be an alternate dimension. A parallel universe, if you will.

An alternate, parallel universe actually makes a lot of sense. Because there's still the big question of how a selection of characters came to be physical, sentient beings. It's made perfectly clear that in the world the main human characters live in, the Virtual Singers are simply Virtual Singers. They're just characters designed for vocal synth software, exactly as they are in the real world. So to me, the most likely explanation is that the SEKAI exist in an alternate universe where the Crypton VOCALOID characters exist as real "people".

It's not a perfect explanation, and doesn't really account for the fact there are several SEKAI, and several incarnations of the VOCALOID characters across those. While the SEKAI are presented as planet-like objects in a void (the "Between SEKAI"), as the game calls it, there's also the fact that SEKAI continuously grow, in a similar style to a universe. To be honest, I don't think the writers care that much about the physics behind SEKAI and the contradictions present.

They actually play with a bit of a "god" dynamic with the Virtual Singers. They aren't tied to a specific SEKAI, instead residing in the void between SEKAI and watching over "themselves" and the humans who inhabit the SEKAI.

All of that aside, how did the SEKAI come to be, and what's so special about the Virtual Singers? Why are they playing god in this alternate dimension?

Well, it's well-established that SEKAI are created from feelings. Specifically strong and unwavering ones, that have to maintain their strength in order to become a full fledged SEKAI, and not just a small fragment of what could be. But, where do the Virtual Singers come into this?

Well, it's hard to say. Considering how closely tied the Virtual Singers are to the SEKAI, I'd say it's pretty safe to say that they have an impact in the creation of them. Which places 2006 as the earliest a SEKAI could form, the year MEIKO was released. Although, considering how Miku is put at the forefront of it all, 2007 might be more likely. Perhaps the SEKAI were created by staff at Crypton, who were happy with Miku's outcome, and that's why she's at the forefront? It's plausible, though I think there's a more likely theory.

The game places a heavy emphasis on what VOCALOID means to people, the way a community has formed around it, and creators will put their feelings into music that can then be enjoyed by people worldwide. From an out-of-universe perspective, I think this provided the inspiration for the idea of SEKAI, though I think it works from an in-universe perspective too. By some reality-shattering phenomenon, when VOCALOID (particularly Miku) started to really explode in the late 2000s, the feelings that people entrusted to these Virtual Singer characters managed to create entire worlds based on their feelings. Obviously Miku being the most popular and well-know VOCALOID character ended up being at the center of it. Thousands of people conveyed their true feelings through her, and probably hundreds of those people felt strongly enough for SEKAI to be born from their feelings.

And that's all it is really. SEKAI are just a metaphor for the worlds that Vocaloid producers create with their songs, and the feelings they put into those songs, the feelings they entrust to the VOCALOIDs. It's a very literal representation of it.

[atinycafe]

hard hours thought LORD all I can think about is cocky and mean dom wooyoung who teases the poor reader until their overstimulated and crying (if you can't tell I'm a slut for mean doms oh my god I'm foaming at the mouth)

warnings: nsfw under the cut, fem bodied reader, dom wooyo, slight dumbification, clit play, use of pet names (woo, wooyi, baby), mean wooyoung!!!, slight dacryphilia, overstimulation, unprotected sex (don't do that), multiple orgasms, dirty talk, reader lowkey has a degradation kink, cream pie, slight hair pulling, slight manhandling, 3.3k wrds author's notes: yes yes YES, bae you're a visionary i was alr writing something like that be4 you even wrote that request, mean doms r the best masterlist

"you're not going out wearing that dress," he says, as you step out of your hotel room and into the living room, having just finished getting ready with your makeup and hair done, holding your heels in your hands. perplexed, you glance down at the small, flowing white dress, then back up at him.

he sits on the white couch before you, legs spread wide, meticulously adjusting one of the cuffs of his snug white dress shirt. the shirt clings tightly to his well-defined chest and biceps, which flex as he tries to fasten a button at his wrist. you try to ignore the effect his physique has on you and focus on the matter at hand.

"what's wrong with it?" you inquire, a hint of uncertainty in your voice. you gaze down at yourself again and then turn to the floor-to-ceiling mirror beside you, searching for any flaw in the dress.

"you're just not going out dressed like that," he repeats, his eyes fixated on your exposed legs. the dress barely covers your buttocks, accentuating your thighs. once again, you shift your attention to the mirror, puzzled about what he finds objectionable.

"but it's a cute dress, bought it especially for our trip in venice," you reply tentatively, unsure if he genuinely dislikes the garment. your hands smooth over your stomach and love handles in an attempt to flatten any bumps caused by the fabric. "don't you think it's pretty?"

"yes, baby," he sighs, rising from the couch. he runs a hand through his purple locks and approaches you from behind, standing tall and strong as he gazes at your reflection in the mirror. he places his hands atop yours, just above your navel, and leans in to whisper in your ear, "the dress looks stunning on you. that's precisely why i don't want you to wear it outside. don't want men seeing all this, only i can do that baby"

suddenly, realization dawns upon you, and what wooyoung thought would be a sweet compliment strikes you in the wrong way. you push his hands away and turn to face him, gasping and lightly hitting his firm chest.

"you bought it for me!" you exclaim indignantly, and he responds with equal surprise, a pout forming on his face.

"i gave you my card, but i didn't buy shit," he places a hand on his chest, playfully brushing off imaginary dust.

"i showed you the picture before i ordered it!" you remind him.

both of you were lounging on the couch in your south korean home, shoulders brushing against each other. he was engrossed in the game displayed on the large tv screen, controlling virtual players as they chased after a basketball. his thumbs moved forcefully over the buttons of his controller, while you found yourself fixated on an online shop, absentmindedly nibbling on your thumb as you scrolled through various dress colors. "babe, should i go for the pink dress or the white one?" you had asked, holding the phone up to his face, partially obscuring his view of the nba 2k23 game. he whined, shifting to the side and slumping on the couch in an attempt to get a better glimpse of the ongoing match. you playfully straddled his lap, feeling the strength of his thighs beneath the shorts he wore, pouting at the lack of attention. when he continued to ignore you, you reached out and placed your hand on his bulge, successfully capturing his focus as he turned to you with surprise. he pushed his gaming headset microphone up, muting himself completely, and raised an eyebrow at you. biting your lip, you ground against his bulge, your skilled fingers knowing just how and where to apply pressure. he tossed the controller aside onto the couch, his now-free hands finding their way to your waist, pressing firmly against your flesh. just as he leaned in to kiss your neck, you pushed his chest away, firmly holding him against the couch. you thrust your phone in front of his face. "pink or white?" you scrolled between the two dress pictures, and wooyoung glanced at you, a hint of annoyance in his expression. he quickly glanced at the phone in a disinterested manner before snatching it away and tossing it beside his controller. "white, baby. now move and let me fuck you. my dick hurts," he exclaimed, his voice filled with desire.

wooyoung rolls his eyes, fully aware of what you're trying to do. "you damn well know i wasn't looking at no picture."

you move past him, making your way to the couch he had occupied just a moment ago, and begin slipping one heel onto your foot, struggling with the pesky little latch. you bite your lip, forcefully closing your mouth, briefly contemplating asking wooyoung for help with the heels. "i'm not changing, woo," you assert, not even bothering to look up from your task.

"baby, come here. let me show you something," he calls out in a gentle tone, beckoning you with two fingers. reluctantly, you get up, leaving one foot bare on the floor.

once you're within his reach, he swiftly grabs you and maneuvers you so that you're facing him. he bends you slightly, placing a hand on your shoulder and another on the lower part of your back. as you're bent, he moves his nearest hand to your face, forcing you to turn and gaze at your reflection in the mirror.

as you continue to stare at yourself, your eyes fall upon the edge of your dress, which does absolutely nothing to conceal the flesh at the bottom of your buttocks. you were aware that the dress was on the smaller side, but you didn't realize it rode up this high.

embarrassment floods your face as you imagine how mortifying it would have been to walk outside like that and only notice later. you notice wooyoung's smirk as he witnesses your expression crumble, and you bite the inside of your cheek. he's right, but you'd rather perish than admit it. so, you push his hands away, feigning indifference.

"my butt looks cute," you shrug nonchalantly, staring back at him. he gazes at you with annoyance, clenching his jaw, "i don't mind if people look at it." his tone is firm and leaves no room for argument as he issues his order.

"well, i do mind, so go put on some pants."

"or what?" you smirk internally, observing how his ears start turning red and the veins in his neck become more pronounced. he's so adorable when he's angry, and you can't resist challenging him. besides, he always fucks you exceptionally well when he's like this.

"watch your tone, i'm not playing with you."

bingo. now all you need to do is push him a little further until he snaps, and you know you're in for an unforgettable night.

"you're so insecure. do you think 'm going to find someone better than you out there? is that why you're acting like this?" you giggle mischievously, managing to attach the little strap to your ankle, stretching your foot as you admire your recent pedicure.

"one more word," he reaches for his patek watch, unlatching the lock and removing it. you stare at him, letting out a small hum of confusion. he remains silent as he places the silver watch on the nearby furniture, gripping the wood tightly until his fingers turn white. he chuckles, "one more word, and i'll fuck you until you're crying on my cock."

he notices the subtle clench of your thighs, but his expression remains composed, his gaze piercing through you. innocently tilting your head, you look up at him with big doe eyes for a moment before dropping the act and revealing a sly smirk.

"do you think i'll find a man with a bigger dick than yours out there?" you ask, resting your chin on your palm. in just two strides, he's in front of you, gripping your hair tightly in his fist. you bite your lip, fighting the urge to smile.

"such an attention whore," he whispers, and you hold your breath in anticipation. "should i fuck the attitude out of you? you'd like that, would you?"

you nod, and he snorts, but there's no amusement in his eyes, and his laughter feels purely mocking. "what a slut. i bet you're already soaking," he mutters, clicking his tongue disapprovingly. he lifts you up by your hair, making you whine before ordering you to be quiet.

he turns you around and forcefully bends you over the sofa, your delicate hands finding their place on the armrest. without giving you a moment to think, he swiftly pulls your dress up and yanks your lacy panties down to your heels. a dry chuckle escapes him as he notices the glistening trail of your arousal connecting your panties to your swollen pussy, and you flush with embarrassment.

"don't tease," you whisper as you feel him collect your wetness on his finger, gliding over your folds but intentionally ignoring your throbbing clit. he delivers a harsh slap to the inside of your thigh before tightening his grip on your hair.

"do you really think you’re in a position to give orders? know your fucking place," he growls, his voice laced with a commanding edge, as he swiftly retrieves the abandoned panties and tucks them away in the depths of his pocket. asserting his dominance, he places a strong hand on your back, urging you to arch your body in submission. enthralled by his forceful touch, you release blissful moans, your face seeking refuge in the shelter of your forearms.

"no you don't get to hide."

he raises you from your previous position, effortlessly hoisting you onto his shoulder, your body perched upon his frame. in a bold display of dominance, he delivers a stinging slap to your butt, evoking a surprised squeal to escape your lips. as he strides into the room, you find yourself airborne for a moment before landing upon the bed, the impact causing a playful bounce. your dress rides up, revealing your bareness, laying it bare for his eyes to behold.

with a gaze filled with smoldering intensity, he casts his eyes upon you. nonchalantly, he unfastens the top buttons of his shirt, revealing a glimpse of his chest, and methodically rolls up his sleeves, exposing the sinewy veins on his forearms. the sight of his pulsating veins elicits a whimper from deep within you, anticipation building as drool pools within your mouth. without hesitation, he seizes your ankle, firmly dragging you towards the edge of the bed.

"didn't shut your mouth when i told you so i'll shut it for you," he asserts firmly. swiftly retrieving your black lacy panties from his pocket, he presses them into your mouth with a forceful intensity, effectively stifling your cries, while the taste of your essence lingers upon your tongue. unzipping his pants, he exposes his fully aroused and throbbing member, its vibrant hue accentuated by its eager glisten, "so fucking loud."

he positions the tip of his member, allowing it to penetrate only an inch before he locks eyes with you, "beg." a smirk dances upon his lips, knowing full well your current predicament leaves you unable to utter a word. the fabric restricts the passage of air, pressing against the beginning of your throat. as he catches the sound of your muffled whimpers, he feigns concern and queries, "you don't want this dick? thought you were my dumb cockslut, thought you were my cum dump, you don't wanna beg?"

as you begin nodding frantically in response to his words, a smile creeps across his face. he observes the tears streaming down your cheeks, evidence of the ache within your pussy. despite his proximity, there remains a tantalizing distance between you, heightening your sense of helplessness. as you clench around his crimson tip, you feel the faintest of thrusts, the motion minuscule yet undeniably present, intensifying your sobs. his grin widens as he witnesses the drool spilling from your lips, relishing in the control he holds over you. "fuck, i love it when you cry, makes me so hard."

responding to your fervent plea, he swiftly retrieves the panties from your mouth, granting your desire to speak. without missing a beat, you launch into a desperate plea, your voice filled with longing and need. "pleaase please pleaseee, wooyi i need it so bad, give it to me." your begging appears to have an effect, as he places a hand upon your trembling thighs, parting them gently to create more space, heightening the anticipation. yet, despite the enticing position, he remains motionless.

"who's my dumb slut, mmh?" he grunts. in response, you mumble a string of submissive affirmations, your voice barely audible as you confirm your role with each whispered "me." finally, yielding to his desires, he thrusts deeply, fully penetrating you. "i've been too nice with you, too lenient you forgot your place." with each snap of his hips, you emit a piercing cry, your fists clenching tightly onto the blanket beneath you, lost in a whirlwind of overwhelming sensations.

"such an attention whore," he moans, "i thought you were mine alone, but clearly, for a cock-hungry slut like you, nothing is ever enough." his relentless thrusts reverberate through the room, the rhythmic collision of thighs filling the air, while his pubic bone grinds harshly against your sensitive bundle of nerves, sending waves of pleasurable fuzziness cascading through your body.

"'m sorry nngh only you," you whine, feeling the tightening in your stomach as your next orgasm looms near. "please, let me…mngh, cum. please, please?" you babble out, your desperation evident in your words. wooyoung responds with a hearty laugh, his large hands pressing into the soft flesh of your thighs.

"you're so fucking dumb, i can't even understand you. always talking back now look at you, y'can't even speak," he pants, his tone dripping with a mix of condescension and control. bringing his thumb to your swollen clit, he rubs it with a cruel and unyielding pressure. "baby wanna cum?" you nod eagerly, your hair swaying with the movement, tears streaming down the sides of your face, "then cum."

in just a matter of seconds, the overwhelming intensity engulfs you, causing your stomach to tighten and a high-pitched whine to escape your lips. expecting him to cease his actions and provide respite, you attempt to take a deep breath, but to your dismay, he continues without relenting. panic grips your senses as you desperately try to convey that it's becoming too much, that you need him to stop. yet, as you lock eyes with wooyoung's hooded gaze, a smirk playing across his face, the realization dawns upon you. this is your punishment. you should have known better. it had been far too easy to coax him into fucking you. normally, he would relish in being just as much as a brat as you, drawing out the tantalizing foreplay for hours, until your begging reached the point of voicelessness. fighting fire with fire.

"s'too much, woo, no, please," you plead, the desperation heavy in the room. however, since you haven't used your safe word yet, wooyoung's pace remains unyielding. he pinches down on your swollen clit, causing a silent scream to escape your lips, your back arching from the bed. your nails dig harshly into the skin of his hands. "why would i listen to you?" he taunts, his words laced with a hint of retribution. "you're nothing but a brat who refuses to listen to me, s'only fair if i get back at you, don't you think so? isn't that what you wanted."

you find yourself devoid of the strength to respond, only broken gasps escaping your trembling lips. your eyes roll back into their sockets as he lifts one of your legs, positioning your white heel on his shoulder, allowing him to hit a deeper spot.

the climax engulfs you once more, sweeping you away in a torrent of pleasure and desperation. a cry escapes your lips, a fusion of ecstasy and yearning. as you gaze back up at wooyoung, your chest rising and falling rapidly, he returns your gaze with a gentle smile. his cold hand brushes against your cheek, caressing it tenderly. finally you're done. you smile back, matching the softness in his expression. however, his laughter startles you, shattering the illusion. "you really thought we were done huh." your eyes widen when he snaps his dick into, the collapse harsh on your clit which makes more tears come out of your face.

the pain courses through your body, causing tremors to ripple across your trembling form, yet you know that the discomfort will soon transform into pure pleasure. wooyoung tenderly takes hold of your ankle, planting a gentle kiss upon it, momentarily offering a contrast to the intensity of his actions. a flicker of hope ignites within you, driving you to beg once more, maybe he'll stop after this one if you manage to convince him. "w-woo, baby, please," you stammer, your voice fractured and strained, your tongue heavy and uncooperative. "i c-can't do it anymore mnngh 'm sorry so sorry sorry s'too much,"

"my baby's so dumb, of course you can take it. i know your body more than you do. you can give me another one. acted like a slut now you get to be one, so take it." with a hand pressed firmly against your stomach, his thrusts begin to slow down, each one deep and forceful, "need to cum in you baby, can't stop until you're filled with my cum, need to see it dripping from your pretty pussy, need to see you cry."

as you nod, you release uncontrollable sobs, your tears intermingling with the shared intensity of the moment. your desperate desire to please him consumes you entirely. as he begins to vocalize his own pleasure, moans escaping his lips, you know that he's nearing his climax. your mind flickers in and out of consciousness, the sheer magnitude of pleasure rendering you temporarily lost in a blissful haze.

"you're so good for me, so fucking good around me, fucking made for me. only me, nobody else," he rambles, as he releases himself inside you, his head falling back to reveal the inviting expanse of his neck. the sensation of his warm seed filling your quivering walls pushes you to the precipice. overwhelmed by pleasure, your body convulses in a powerful climax, marking your third orgasm of the night.

after withdrawing from you, he maintains a firm grip on your ankle, using his thigh to keep your legs open. as he tucks himself back into his pants, his gaze remains fixated on the sight of his cum slowly oozing out of your well-used hole. a silent contemplation lingers in the air before a smile graces his lips. he tenderly pulls your dress back into place, ensuring your modesty is restored. bending down over you, he gazes at your exhausted visage, wet with tears and traces of drool clinging to your chin.

he affectionately licks your chin, savoring the remnants of drool before capturing your lips in a passionate and messy kiss. despite your exhaustion, you muster the energy to respond, your tired lips meeting his. within the intimate embrace, he smiles, his satisfaction evident.

"did so good for me baby, next time just shut your mouth when i tell you to."

[emeraldhypothesis]

If I can request another:

Seto Kaiba! And my favorite third rate duelist with a fourth rate deck, Joey Wheeler! ^^

Kaiba:

My GOAT

Why I like them/why I don’t

I mean God, where do you even start with Kaiba? What's left to say about how he's one of the coolest characters ever? One of the most iconic rivals in shonen media and arguably fiction, Kaiba has left an undeniable impact on pop culture

What I like about their appearance

The drip is immaculate with Kaiba. His glittery Duelist Kingdom Manga Coat, the iconic white trenchcoat that all rivals must at least homage to this day, that funny purple coat the filler arcs put him in, his glorious six-pack in DSOD, his defined arms, and piercing gaze that sees through to your soul...

sorry what were we talking about again?

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?

Same name so no contest.

Voice wise though... this is so hard. This is still Kenjiro Tsuda's defining role to me, even as modern shonen fans rediscover him through characters like Nanami from JJK or Kishibe from Chainsaw Man. His vocal evolution during the series is fantastic, where he gradually lowers his voice so by the end Kaiba has a baritone that's as smooth as a jazz solo, and don't get me started on what the decade between DM and DSOD did for Tsuda, Kaiba's voice afterwards is like a siren's song.

But Eric Stuart is also just defined by Kaiba. While Tsuda plays Seto as more of dormant volcano that can erupt to show Kaiba's rage and passion, Stuart portrays him like a wild hurricane that will lash out at anyone who provokes his ire. It's interesting that he maintains a lot of Kaiba's youth in DSOD, where in the more emotional moments it lets Stuart portray Seto as what he is- a young man trapped in the maelstroms of grief, desperately chasing for any sign that he can get the one person who got him back for one more game.

You can't make me pick. I love them both.

OTP

Pride, no question. Even before DSOD was basically a two hour grieving session on Kaiba's behalf about Atem, Kaiba and Atem's rivalry is one of the defining examples of shonen rivalries sounding more intimate than a dying man's love letter. Seriously, the manga goes places with how Kaiba describes the feelings that Atem generates in him.

With the context of DSOD though- holy shit. Holy shit man we won so fucking hard in 2016. "You have your bond with him... and I have mine."

Honorable mention to, of all things, Kaiba/Tea which I had a brief dalliance with in 2021. I think she'd be one of the few people who can put with him and bring him to heel.

NOTP

Besides Mokuba, I'll repeat what I said in Yugi's section that I don't think either of them would fall for the other because of Atem's lingering shadow.

OT3

Well he's got three Blue-Eyes, so that's the easy joke.

Favourite card they use

Look I know it's easy. I know everyone says it, it's the go-to pick BUT COME ON, BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON IS JUST THAT COOL.

YOU DO NOT WRITE A SCENE WHERE KAIBA SACRIFICES GOD FOR THAT DRAGON WITHOUT SIX YEAR OLD EMERALD HYPOTHESIS (or however old I was when I watched Battle City) LOOKING AT THAT DRAGON LIKE HE FOUND RELIGION.

Favourite moment they were in

Picking one is so hard. I just wanna gesture at practically every moment he's on-screen and being so over-dramatic he rides the impossible line of being cringe and being jaw-droppingly cool.

I guess I'll just list a few because I legit can't pick:

Tapping into the Rod by accident to get a glimpse of his past with Kisara, letting him stop himself from losing to Ishizu and breaking destiny as a result.

His amazing comeback against Seigfried, one of the few redeeming scenes of the KC Grand Prix.

Willing Obelisk to his hand in DSOD.

But emotionally I'm super fond of his speech to Mokuba in Virtual World where he reveals that Blue-Eyes is based off a dragon Mokuba drew as a child that Seto resolved to earn as he grew up, ending with him tearfully asking Mokuba if he's become a man worthy of that dragon yet.

Least favourite moment

You know in retrospect, telling Yugi to get over Joey's death post-Marik Duel because he wanted his rematch? Bit of a bitch response.

Would I fuck, marry or kill them

Same deal with Ryoken- I marry for the money with full knowledge that he is thinking of Atem the entire time.

Joey:

JOEY MY FRIEND JOEY FUCKIN' WHEEEEEEEELAH

Why I like them/why I don’t

Everyone loves an underdog, and Joey is the underdog of fiction. He's cast such a shadow that all of the Best Friend Characters- Syrus, Crow, Bronk, etc.- have to match, but Joey was just a character in a league of his own. You can recreate Kaiba's success, as seen with great rivals like Kaito, Reiji and Ryoken, but I'd argue it's much harder to recreate what made Joey work- I think because you do see him start from rock bottom (both as a Duelist in the anime and as a person in the manga), whereas usually the best friend characters start out as generally decent people and know their decks well. Joey has that full journey that makes him stand out from his homages to this day, and it stands to him. He's not just probably the best for nostalgia, is what I'm trying to say.

What I like about their appearance

Joey has such a great set of designs. I love his green jacket in Duelist Kingdom that makes his hair pop, and then the white shirt for his roaming in Battle City, but I think my favorite Jou design is his DSOD look which combines the two to show his maturity and how he's developed- alongside the white and green just working together really well.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?

Dub, no contest. I saw a Tweet once (before Twitter went to shit) that remarked on how ubiquitous certain anime localization names/terms have become, with the particular examples listed of Ash Ketchum, and Joey Wheeler.

I have to actively work to remember to call him Katsuya if I'm using sub names- and even then, I will slip and say Joey.

In terms of performances, I have to again say that dub just runs circles around the Japanese. Hiroki Takahashi is an incredibly talented actor, it must be stressed, but Wayne Grayson just makes Joey his own. His accent, his mannerisms, the little sounds he makes, it's all just so effortlessly charming and personable. I know most people praise Dan Green and Eric Stuart especially for their roles in the dub, but man Grayson is such a gem as well.

OTP

If I don't look at the age gap between Mai and Joey, it can't hurt me...

Otherwise I have a very fond soft spot for Joey and either Atem or Yugi, both of them have such good bonds with Joey that carry throughout the series, and I'd be a sucker not to highlight the docks duel for this exact reason.

(also like. That AMV that 4Kids made for the Joey vs Yugi duel in Duelist Kingdom? I remember that)

NOTP

I don't super enjoy the power imbalance between Kaiba and Joey, so while I can enjoy Puppyshipping in very specific contexts... it's not something I would ever seek out normally.

OT3

You look me in the eye and try to tell me Yugi's friend group hasn't had one night where they all tried making out with each other for fun.

Favourite card they use

Much as I hate how a lot of Joey's deck has been turned into "Bad Red-Eyes Legacy support," Red-Eyes is a hell of a cool dragon. That said, I find Time Wizard adorable.

Favourite moment they were in

Oh, what a toughie. I feel he has so many good moments, like him fighting to the bitter end against Valon in DOMA, fighting against Marik during the dockyard duel, managing to pull off some impressive plays against Bandit Keith and make Yugi work for a win in Duelist Kingdom as the climax of his arc, he's got so many.

Think I'll go with him tanking Ra's rage though and making Marik stress-vomit from how close he came to losing. Respect to Joey for that one.

Least favourite moment

I'm not fond of how arrogant he's made to be in his duel against Duke, and I really don't like that Joey's final duels in the series happen in the KC GP and see him barely beating Solomon and then made to job to Siegfried after opening a brick hand. It's a bit of a lame spot to end Joey's record.

[project-sekai-takes]

Nightcord at 25:00 has the worst issues with so-called "balance". Some of you may have seen my take about how they need less events in the cool attribute because THEY HAVE SIX which is way more than the other attributes. Clearly there are so many cards for every single character PLUS SIX VIRTUAL SINGER CARDS in the cool attribute. Also as of lately they're adding more full group N25 covers and after Failure Girl if they go ANOTHER full group cover I'm going to explode. The old problem was that it was all duets and not full group covers and now this is when the devs are trying to fix it by forgoing duets in favor of full group covers. Mizumafu for example had a long streak of covers in the years before 2nd anniversary but now they haven't gotten anything since 2022. So based on this evidence, clearly this problem has existed since the beginning of the game and by trying to fix it they're making it worse. Thus they should get REAL balance like rotate the attributes and add more duets IN ADDITION TO full group covers.

Also finally I think the new Mafuyu song sounds great based on the trailer... please don't turn this into another Mizu5 thing they're not even funny anymore youser just cheaply poking for angst at this rate

-Marshmary anon

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