#i know i don't have to make maps but it'll be fun

[scorndotexe]

time to break out the watercolors to make maps for dnd

[jazelock]

Nothing Lingers Just Out of Sight

Idea for a Fear Spirit that has the Special Rule:

Flinch Away from Shadows

Generate 1 Fear whenever you use a Power Card on a target land with your Presence. Generate 1 additional Fear if your next Action in the same Power Phase removes all your Presence from that land.

and the Innate Power of:

Paranoia Seeps Through the Land

Speed: Slow, Range: 0, Target Land: Any - This power may be Fast. - You may push 1 of your Presence. - You may repeat this power for each Moon element you have.

[rose-tinted-kalopsia]

≡;-꒰ 𝑿𝑨𝑽𝑰𝑬𝑹 ꒱₊˚ ପ⊹ I 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒚

╰┈➤ ❝ xavier x afab!reader | smut nsfw 18+ mdni

tags : porn with little plot, pure filth actually (quite self-indulgent), slight food play?, food sharing, slight public teasing if you squint, essentially just xavier being a little shit (again), multiple orgasms, overstimulation, oral (f. receiving), vaginal sex (unprotected), creampie, cum eating, praise, use of pet name "angel", references to "childhood snacks" secret times, lmk if i missed any tags!! ((unedited))

wc : 4.5k

an : has NO ONE ELSE noticed how often strawberry is mentioned in xavier's cards?!!! and also, thank you for 500+ follows where did you all come from omg,,,

You were far better than any candy.

It wasn't often that the two of you got to spend a day outside together.

With how your occupations treated the both of you, most of your days off were much-preferred to be spent indoors—cuddling, watching a movie, or whatnot... and Xavier, of course, was always very fond on catching up on his sleep. Not that you ever minded; in fact, you found those extra days of simple rest very welcome. In your little afternoon naps, Xavier's presence by your side was always comfortable under the warmth of the sunlight.

But...

Sometimes, days like this were just as welcome.

Despite the Linkon heat, you wore a big smile on your face as Xavier helped you off the viking ride, gently guiding you as you stepped out of the ceramic boat. You dusted off your dress, looking back at the boat with a wistful gaze.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" He echoed your thoughts, slowly lacing his fingers together with yours in the exact way that made your heart flutter.

You looked back at him with another smile, falling into step with him. In your mind you recalled the brush of the wind in your faces as the ride swung higher and higher, the thump in your heart recalling the thrill of it and turning your smile into a full-blown grin. "Yeah!" you nodded enthusiastically. "I'm glad we went with your suggestion. Starting off with the more relaxing rides and working our way to the fun ones... You get to feel the thrill all the more!"

You caught the way his gaze softened, and he gently squeezed your wrist. "The face you make when you're excited is really pretty."

His comment came casually, and he nodded lightly to himself, almost as if confirming his statement as a pink blush slowly made its way to the tips of your ears.

"When you're embarrassed, too," he added with a smile.

You would never tire of it—how he would always make you fluster with his words, so nonchalant, so unexpected. He had that sort of habit, especially with you—the gall he had to present himself so unassuming and casual, you could never understand it, but it did the job quite well and sent your heart for a ride of its own.

With a little huff, you looked away. "You, too, then!" you could tease back normally, but this time, your response held a little less bite to it, and Xavier laughed.

"If that's how you feel, then I won't complain."

The two of you paused in front of a souvenir shop, and immediately, you felt your eyes brighten. Your grip on his hand tightened. "Xavier—"

"You want to go, right?" He had that same, knowing, gentle smile on his face, and he inclined his head towards the entrance. "Sure, then."

"But... you have to come with me!" Again, you tugged at his arm.

But there was a glint in his eyes, almost as if he knew what you were planning.

Xavier shook his head. "How about this? You can surprise me with something from this shop... And then it'll be my turn to surprise you at the next one we come across." He made a quick glance at the map in his other hand. "I think it sounds fair. Don't you?"

You could pout at his words, but there was truth in what he spoke—even as you looked at him inquisitively, you could find nothing that showed he wouldn't keep this promise, and there was no reason to refuse.

Except...

Curiously, you peered at him.

"You should know exactly what's in store for you," you narrowed your eyes playfully. "Why are you indulging me today?"

Xavier shrugged, then, and even the smile on his lips couldn't prepare you for his next statement, so raw, and honest, and genuine that it made your heart turn—"I like seeing you happy."

There wasn't an ounce of mirth in his eyes when he spoke this, and perhaps, though he was normally straightforward with you and affectionate like this at the most random of times, it would never prevent the butterflies from racing in your stomach.

Blushing, you turned away, letting go of his hand and walking to the store.

"...Wait for me here, then!"

And perhaps, it could have been part of his plan to ease you out of bullying him the way you often did, for it surely worked:

You returned out of the store not with matching bunny headbands like you'd originally intended, but cat ones, instead.

Close enough, you thought.

With a small smile, you shielded your eyes from the sun and glanced around for Xavier, only to spot him lounging near an empty bench by the fountain. It was closer to the bushes and a lot cooler with the breeze, seeing as it was a spot much further away from the crowds of people. His legs were crossed as he flipped through the pages of one of his little pocket books, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, no doubt a sign that he, too, was feeling a little hot with the noontime sun at its peak.

As you approached with the headbands in your hand, your footsteps slowed when you noticed him reach upwards to brush the hair out of his face, his mouth opening slightly to guide the lollipop he had from one side of his cheek to the other.

Despite yourself, you gulped—

And curse how attractive of a boyfriend you truly had.

When he looked up at you, you'd barely registered for yourself that you had settled down to sit beside him, and his eyes drifted to the headbands in your hand.

"...Cat headbands?" He momentarily took the lollipop out of his mouth and raised his eyebrows at you, clearly amused. "I was expecting something else."

But you didn't reply.

Your eyes met, then, and a small, tiny tiny little smirk played on his face. It told you everything you needed to know.

Instead, you noted the slight stick of candy on the corner of his mouth, and when he put the treat back in, you barely noticed the way he took the headband from you and promptly put it over his head. Your eyes instead were focused on the way he languidly swirled his tongue over the candy.

He let out a hum of consideration as he looked at himself through the locked screen of his phone, but when the lollipop shifted around in his mouth again, his eyes turned back to you—

You had been caught.

Instinctively, you pulled your hand away from him, but he was quick as he held it in place, slowly sliding the lollipop back out of his mouth and twirling the stick between his thumb and his forefinger thoughtfully.

"This? Oh... Someone came by with all sorts of candies to sell. The children were crowding him, but I managed to get one." His gaze switched from the lollipop and then back to your face, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Sorry, angel... Did you want one, too?"

"You, um.... You didn't tell me you were gonna get one..." Your voice was thick when you spoke, and you fumbled slightly with your words.

He smiled.

Something in you told you it would be dangerous if you dared to answer, but you found that you couldn't look away from him. "...Mhm," you nodded your head, honestly speaking, even as your breath caught in your throat when he reached over to stroke the side of your face.

"We can look for a candy store next," he murmured.

You watched his eyes drop to your mouth, and he slid the thumb of his hand slowly down to your lip, his smile almost widening at the way your jaw dropped opening ever so slightly.

"Guess you don't want to wait."

Without waiting, his other hand, holding the lollipop, still wet and half-dissolved from how it had stayed in his mouth prior to your arrival, and slid it into yours. Your gazes locked as you instinctively curled your tongue around the candy, wandering over every inch of it, taking in its flavor before swallowing.

And he smiled.

"It's strawberry bubblegum," he nodded at you, again speaking somewhat matter-of-factly, but that same sly, sly smile was still plastered on his face.

Then he pushed.

A slow, filling push, as he slid the pop further into your mouth.

You gasped at the feeling, unable to help the way you sucked on the candy, unable to stop yourself from maintaining eye contact and seeing every little way pure delight would make its way to his features.

Your tongue swirled over the lollipop, lips parting when he withdrew it, feeling the way your mouth would stick with sweetness before he was guiding it back into you, twirling the stick between his fingers and allowing you to taste it again, and again. And he remained silent as he did it; slowly, precisely guiding the treat in and out of your mouth, having you breathe carefully through your nose as you looked up at him with your eyes half-lidded.

The edges of your mouth were coated with saliva and melted sugar, sticky as you swallowed all of the flavor that you could, dissolving the candy with your tongue as much as you possibly could.

When the candy remaining on the stick was considerably small, he pulled the treat out of your mouth and back into his, biting it off with an almost cheeky grin.

"It's good, isn't it?" he hummed, making a show of licking his fingers clean in front of you, watching as your eyes shifted to once again follow the movements of his tongue, and smirking slightly as your breathing became short and quick.

"Something wrong, angel?" he tilted your head back up to meet his eyes, voice so soft that you could melt. He noted the way your skin was wet and sticky, shining with the residue of the candy, and he didn't wait for your answer.

Instead, he leaned over to lap at your chin, quick, small kitten licks up your jawline until he was kissing you, making you taste the thick, sweet flavor of the strawberry lollipop still llingering in your mouths.

When he pulled away, you were dazed, your heartbeat erratic, barely processing the way he handed you a wipe to actually properly clean your face, your lips turning down into a pout.

"...You're unfair, Xavier," you whined.

You pouted even as he placed your headband onto your head, clearly smiling with satisfaction at the way the both of you matched.

"Why's that, angel?" he hummed, feigning innocence like he often did.

And it pissed you off, it really did—he was infuriating when he wanted to be, even after all he'd done just now, the taste of the candy still lingering on the tip of your tongue.

"Oh, come on! How can you do all of that and act like nothing happened?" you huffed. "I want you..."

His eyes crinkled up in joy as he laughed, reaching over to pat your head. "But we're here for the rides, aren't we? You said you'd go on all of them."

When you crossed your arms and looked away, pressing your thighs together in a way that he definitely noticed, he only chuckled once more and gave you a small kiss on the top of your head.

"Later," he murmured, "I promise. But for now... We shouldn't waste our admission tickets."

You couldn't argue after that.

He had a point, after all—and luckily for you, in the end, it wasn't too hard for you to let your arousal slip off your mind for the rest of the day.

Instead, you simply enjoyed being in his company.

Each ride you took, from the drop tower to the rollercoaster to even a little game of bumper cars, was as exhilarating as the last. Even winning a target game against him by barely a single point had you jumping up and down with glee, your arm carrying a big, fluffy white bunny that you confidently stated looked a lot like him. And almost like an unspoken promise, he didn't tease you any more than he already had—the cotton candy remained cotton candy, the marshmallows remained marshmallows, and the animal crackers were eaten just as they should be.

By the time you both had walked back to your apartment, the little bag in his hand containing whatever "surprise" he'd gotten for you rustled against his wrist, and you peered curiously into it once you settled with him on the couch.

"Candy?" you questioned doubtfully as you pulled out a little packet of licorcice, but your eyes shone when you eagerly popped it into your mouth and chewed.

Xavier shrugged, leaning back into the couch. "That... last time we tried snacks together was fun, so I figured you'd appreciate another one."

You almost laughed. "But those were my childhood snacks! These are just your typical candy! We could've tried these any day, you know?"

He raised an eyebrow, taking a chewable candy into his mouth. "We could've worn animal ears any other day, too."

This time you grinned, and settled into his arms. "Yeah, you're right. I have a sweet tooth, anyway, so I'll gladly eat candy with you. You didn't need to set this up..."

You fished into the bag and pulled out a smaller bag of chocolate bits, its brand unfamiliar to you as you held it up.

"Oh, I thought you'd like that one," Xavier spoke first this time. "You like milk chocolate, don't you?"

Something in your heart sparked at the mention, and you couldn't help but smile. "You remembered!"

Your hands were eager as you opened up the packet, unwrapping one piece and putting it into your mouth.

The first bite had your eyes sparkling wide, noting how it melted into your mouth as you chewed.

Xavier looked at you, amused. "Is it good?"

You were excited as you took out another piece of chocolate, and you nodded—this time, you closed your eyes to savor the taste, letting yourself relax into the richness of its flavor. "Mmm... t'so good..." You'd barely noticed the way your satisfaction had the tone of your words twisting into something mildly inappropriate, your eyes still closed as you chewed. And you couldn't have registered that particular smile edge at Xavier's lips once more.

But Xavier wouldn't let you off the hook that easily.

"Hmm. Could I try some?" His voice was close to your ear when he murmured out his words, but you were happy to oblige him, clearly not catching onto his intentions.

You held up the bag of chocolates for him, taking yet another into your mouth—

Instead, he smirked down at you and gently set the chocolates back into the bag with the rest of the candy, pushing it off the couch as his lips found yours.

Your eyes widened, his tongue mixing with yours and tasting for himself the milkiness of the chocolate you'd eaten, his own eyes half-lidded as he lowered you onto the couch. When your head hit the armrest, all sense of arousal from earlier at the theme park came rushing back to you in waves, and you gave in.

Xavier pulled away only to kiss you once more with increasing fervor, and you moaned into the kiss, feeling any rational thought seep from your head within seconds. Your arms were around his neck and his hand was in your hair, your clothed bodies flush against each other as the kiss, the moment, became steadily more passionate, steadily more heated.

The bag of candy slumped on the ground beside the couch, easily long-forgotten with the way his lips moved against yours, his tongue soft and wet in your mouth as the heat slowly began to crawl over to your cheeks. When he pulled back, you were flushed, breathless. His body hovered over yours, his hair hanging over your face, his eyes displaying a lingering sense of desire that mirrored your own.

You swallowed thickly.

"Yeah," Xavier breathed, his voice hushed. He licked his lips. "The chocolate tastes good."

You could barely believe he was still talking about that.

"I-I don—"

"But... I have an idea of what would taste better."

He cut off the beginnings of your protest with a little smirk, and you could see the way his eyes raked over your body to where the skirt of your dress had ridden up just enough to expose the side of your panties.

Your heart thrummed loudly in your chest.

"Wh- what would that be?" You tried testing him, tried to look into his eyes to gauge what his next move was.

"You don't know, angel?" He murmured as he drew closer to you once more, lips barely touching yours, his hot breath fanning over your face.

Feebly, you whimpered, but you didn't dare make a move.

Xavier dipped down to bury his face into your neck, and breathed in deeply. "You smell like strawberries."

Your breath hitched.

"Did you plan this? Your lotion... It's new."

You felt his hands snake underneath your dress, pushing the fabric upwards to grip firmly on your waist. The contact on your bare skin made your eyelids flutter closed.

"F-for you," you replied, your breath shaky.

"For me?"

"Y-you... You like strawberry, so I thought I, um... would make you happy with it..."

Xavier pulled back away from you with a warm smile, his hand leaving your waist momentarily to brush the hair out of his face.

"You always make me happy no matter what you do, angel," he spoke sincerely, genuinely, despite the heated moment that the both of you had just shared. But his eyes narrowed almost playfully, and he tilted his head to the side with a short laugh. "But you don't know how much I've been waiting to eat you up because of that scent."

His words made you whine, a mixture of both pride and embarrassment coarsing through your body at the fact that you had been the one to get him all needy like this for you.

"So, angel..." Xavier trailed his fingertips over your thighs, pushing them apart as he shifted downwards, closer to your core. Another smile teased at his lips when your breath hitched, but his eyes never left yours. "May I?"

You threaded your hands into his hair, and your eyes fell closed.

"Okay."

His lips were on your thighs then, warm and soft as he trailed his kisses upwards. And the sensation of it all made you shiver, but you could almost feel the way it affected him, too. He'd let out soft sighs against your skin, drinking in your scent and your warmth, and then his kisses would almost get needier, craving you just as much as he made you crave him.

You gasped the minute he pressed himself closer to your clothed cunt, breathing in your scent yet again and then poking his tongue out at the wetness that had gathered in your center. Then from there, his movements became quick—his hands shifted beneath your hips, lifting them upwards towards him, your legs draped over his shoulders as he pushed your panties to the side. You couldn't help the way your mouth fell open with a drawn-out moan of his name once he ran his tongue through your folds, licking a wet stripe from your slit upwards.

Your fingers gripped desperately into his hair.

Such a simple motion already had you reeling.

"You even taste like fucking strawberries," he mumbled, before he repeated the motions, long, slow, languid licks that geadually turned to gentle lapping at your wetness. His tongue moved upwards to flick occasionally at your clit, and you could revel in the way he looked—so lost in your taste, his quiet groans reverberating through your body.

And then your thighs trembled around his head, and your eyes widened at the smooth, silky prodding of his tongue as it finally slid inside of you.

"O- oh, god," you leaned your head back against the armrest of his couch, your eyes falling shut once more.

You could have sworn you felt him smile.

With another moan, your hand fell from his head back onto the couch, searching for purchase only for him to reach out, taking advantage of the way you arched your back, and catch your hand with his.

He laced your fingers through together even as he continued to swirl his tongue in your heat, drinking up your arousal, pressing his face closer and closer into you—despite the obscenity of his ministrations and the noises that fell from your lips, the simple action of holding your hand almost made you swoon.

And he didn't dare let go of it.

"I— haah— Xavi—!"

Feeling a familiar knot form in your stomach, you began to languidly roll your hips against his face, matching the way his tongue would dance over and in your folds. In response, Xavier moved with fervor in his actions, focusing on sucking at your clit, flicking his tongue in ways he knew you loved best.

You barely noticed the way his other hand had also left its spot by your hips before a finger entered where his tongue had earlier been—he hooked it inwards, curling just right to hit your sensitive spot, and you let out another loud moan.

"Fuck—! X-Xavier!" You threw your head back, gripping his hand tightly, your other digging desperately into his couch. Your body writhed, a sharp rush of pleasure making you shudder and cry out more of his name as he continued to swirl around your clit, and another finger carefully prodded at your hole.

You couldn't see the way he smiled at you, but you felt it—felt it in the way he sucked on your bud, felt it in the way he stretched you out and moved his fingers in and out of you, until you snapped.

Your hips bucked upwards and into him, holding in place, as your body succumbed to the pleasure.

"X—Xavi—er!" You cried, and his hand holding yours made sweet, gentle caresses over your skin, his tongue still lapping up all that you had to give him. He let out a hum as he moved from your cunt, to your thighs, to your belly, and up to the exposed skin on your neck, leaving a loving trail of kisses, and then he rest his forehead against yours.

"Did that feel nice?" he whispered, lips meeting yours in quick, fond pecks, blue eyes nearly shimmering with how much affection he held for you.

It was more than nice, you thought, but you answered him with a kiss. And as he continued to kiss you back, Xavier edged his hand downwards, slowly, slowly, before the tip of his cock nudged against your entrance—

The contact made you gasp and arch upwards. "Xavi—?!"

"Nnh... Please, angel?" He sighed, nuzzling your nose, massaging your hand. "'M not done with you yet. You can give me more, right?"

You whimpered.

You could feel the sensitivity from your earlier orgasm, unsure if you could truly push yourself for another one. But his cockhead would dip in so... nicely. Xavier was teasing, testing you as he waited for your reply—

And you couldn't resist.

When you gave him a feeble nod, he smiled.

"That's my girl."

The praise made you shiver with delight as he pushed into you slowly, setting an unhurried place, his lips back onto your skin as he nibbled just over your collarbone.

"Ngh... Xavier..." you whined as he slid all the way into you and his teeth grazed your skin, the sting of his bite somewhat foreign, but not unwelcome. "T-tomorrow, we have a..."

"Wear a scarf," he mumbled, barely looking up at you before he shifted to suck on the area next to the mark he'd just made, his intentions with you very clear. In seconds, every roll of his hips against yours, coupled with the way he would bruise at your skin and leave visible evidence of your activities, had you throwing your head back with a moan.

"Mmf—fuck, Xavi," you gripped his body tightly against yours, feeling the way his cock would stretch your walls so perfectly.

"Mh? 'S it good?"

He angled his thrust right against the spongey spot in your walls, and you gasped, feeling the way he would smile against your neck.

It was clear affirmation for him, if your moans of his name didn't already give him enough of it—and despite the fact that you had already cum once, he was adamant on getting you to that high once more.

"Feels good for me, too," he groaned as his pace began to pick up, the faint sounds of skin slapping reaching your ears. Each stroke of his length moved with purpose, hitting that same spot over and over and over, your mouth falling open in whimpers and moans of his name.

"Ah— X- Xavier!" You bucked your hips to match his pace, his grip on you getting tighter, his breath hot and heavy against your neck.

Your eyes met, and you keened at the way his hair fell over his face, his eyes searching yours for something you couldn't name. "...You're so beautiful, angel," he breathed, nearly panting, his thrusts becoming quicker and more erratic.

And you could have thrown the words back at him, were you not so lost in your pleasure as you clenched around his cock, gripping his hand tightly in yours.

"C-close— Xavi—!"

You began panting, your vision hazy, as he rut his hips into yours.

"Mhm— almost there— angel— fuck—"

One final thrust had him collapsing onto your body, pulling your own release out of you as he spilled inside, his cock twitching within your walls as he came.

"Xavier..." you whined, reaching to wrap your arms around him, almost cradling him as he groaned into your skin. "Xavier, I..."

He hushed you with a sloppy kiss, and you could feel the way a significant amount of energy had seeped from his body as he gave you a tiny little smile.

"I love you too, angel," he mumbled, before he was sliding down your body once more, your eyes widening when he settled between your thighs yet again.

"H-huh? What are you—ah—!"

You shuddered and gasped at the contact of his tongue back on your folds, still sensitive as you pushed his cum out of you. But yet his eyes remained on yours, and he stuck out his tongue out to continue lapping at the mess he'd made in your cunt.

"Xavier!" you cried. "P-please, no more...!"

He shook his head slightly. "Shh, angel. Don't worry, relax. Just let me clean you up," he mumbled, taking a dollop of your fluids into his mouth, and then swallowing as you watched, your face flushing red.

There was a small, almost cheeky smile lifting the corners of his mouth when he raised his head slightly.

"It's better than candy."

⁺₊ / an: took a break from requests to get this up before we all get "unique aftertaste", bc this was mildly inspired by the trailer! <3 xavi with food play has been on my mind a lot, if it wasn't obvious yet...

© rose-tinted-kalopsia. all rights reserved. do not: steal, copy, repost, reupload, modify, or claim any of my works as your own, regardless of credit given. absolutely do not use my works for AI training and other related purposes.

[amphibiahawks321]

So how about some more Black lagoon stuff with Balalaika and Revy(seperate),just having a boyfriend who just straight up an energetic and affectionate person. He just seems like he shouldn't be in roanapur, much less dating someone like Revy or balalaika, but he is despite being the opposite personality wise.

[in balalaika's office, she's focusing on a map of roanapur, planning a large operation–only for Y/N to bursts inside her office]

M!Reader : Sofiyaa! guess who brought you luuuunch!✨ Figured you needed a break considering you're soooooo underslept!

[Balalaika starts smirking, her eyes start focusing on Y/N Infront of her]

Balalaika : You know you're walking into a war zone don't you dear~? I don't really have much time for a lunch break...

[Her eyes now softened by Y/N's kind gesture]

M!Reader : A war zone? Sounds fun! And things won't be out of control because you're always the one control the operations Sofi!

[Balalaika starts calming down by Y/N's sweet words]

Balalaika : Sighs... Guess you're right sweetheart.... I don't wanna overworked myself too much, if that happened how will i spoil my sweetheart rotten?~

M!Reader : Aww, you know you've given me enough dear!

Balalaika : I know, that's what makes it so much fun~

M!Reader blushing : even overworked you still have the energy to flirt...

[Y/N placed the food down onto her desk which she happily starts eating it, balalaika stares Infront of her to see Y/N excitedly waiting for her comment]

Balalaika : Chuckles... Finally some good food...

[Balalaika says trying to make it look like she's saying it casually so that Y/N would be more happy she's enjoying it (which he did)]

Balalaika : You know, I still can't believe the idea someone so thoughtful and affectionate such as yourself could even be in roanapur my dear

M!Reader : energetic is my middle name baby!

Balalaika : I'm wouldn't be surprised if that's true~♡...... Hmm......

M!Reader : Hm? Something wrong? Oh no... DID I PUT TOO MUCH–

Balalaika : No no, it's nothing dear, I actually just thought of a way you help me relax love

[Y/N gasp dramatically and puts down his hands on balalaika's desk with determination]

M!Reader : What is it!?✨

[A couple of minutes later, Balalaika is still eating her meal but now with Y/N sitting on her lap]

M!Reader blushing : ......

[Balalaika chuckles and she gave Y/N a kiss on his neck]

[Revy outside a bar leaning against a wall, cigarette between her lips looking tough like usual, Y/N shows up in high spirits like usual]

[Y/N walks up to revy and joyfully hugs her making revy shocked but she's basically used to it at this point]

M!Reader : Revy! I miss you so much!

Revy : Yeah yeah, cut the affectionate crap I miss you too...

M!Reader : Since we're off today I was thinking we could do something fun today!

Revy : .....

[Revy starts staring at Y/N like you've lost your mind]

Revy : Fun? You think Hanging out in this shithole is fun?

M!Reader : Come on don't be like that! You're too awesome to be looking grumpy today! Come on just you, me having fun! Trust me it'll be fun!✨

[Revy about to refuse immediately but she sees Y/N genuinely excited to hang out with her....]

[Revy thought 💭]

Fuuck those eyes...

Revy : Sighs... You're absolutely batshit crazy you know that?

M!Reader : Nope! I just wish to see you smile more today!

Revy : .......

[Revy softened a bit by Y/N's dumb yet sweet comment]

[Revy thought 💭]

T-This asshole...

Revy : Sighs... Fine fine let's go, not like I was gonna do anything today anyway, just don't get yourself killed, okay?

M!Reader : With you around? Never!–.....

[Y/N felt revy's hand intertwining and locking itself with Y/N's hand]

M!Reader blushing : ......

Revy : What? Can't I hold my man's hand or some shit? Don't get it through your head too hard hyper boy....

[runningfrom2am]

leveling the playing field // epilogue

summary: seven years later.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 2.7k

masterlists / nav / requests

tags/warnings: capitol brat!reader, maybe slightly ooc coryo, idk i tried my best. this part is quite tame! idk, discussion of the games as a concept is pretty messed up? obviously r & coryo are both delusional but whats new??

a/n: this is it :') thank you all so so so much for all the love on this fic! it means so much to me that you guys enjoyed it! but don't get too sad (like me) bc i am not ready to let them go so i'll probably do like blurbs and stuff ab this series so stick around for those!

series masterlist // playlist

~ seven years later ~

"You've got this, Darling. It's going to be perfect." Coryo insists, kissing your temple as you relentlessly adjust your hair, trying to tame any imaginary flyaways in your flawlessly straightened hair.

"As long as it's not a disaster..." You mumble, giving up on your hair and refocusing on making sure you have all your papers.

Arena map? Check. Tribute and mentors list? Check. Schedule?

"With you in charge, I do not doubt that it will be anything short of flawless. I know you. You wouldn't have it any other way." Your husband assures you, taking your spot in front of the large mirror to adjust his red coat, matching to yours.

You sigh, tucking the large stack of meticulously organized papers into your bag. "I mean, does anyone honestly expect it to be perfect? It's my first games... There's a small margin for error, right?"

"No." Coryo replies sternly, turning to face you. He grabs your chin as you groan, forcing your eyes to meet his. "There's no room for error, but it will be perfect. So don't worry." He plants a gentle kiss on your lips. "And if you need anything, just call."

"Okay..." You hum, smiling as you look up at him. "I'm going to miss you, though." Your smile shifts into a pout, and he kisses your forehead.

"I know. I'll miss having my assistant around, too." He mumbles against the softness of your skin.

Your time working together under Dr. Gaul had been a dream. Why did everything have to change all at once? You've been together every day for years, and you had the most fun helping plan the games and pitching all your ideas to Dr. Gaul, staying up late over ideas due the next morning and too many cups of coffee, giggling over how funny it would be to see a games where the people of the Districts got to vote over who to send in.

"Do you think it's because that's kind of what happened to Lucy Gray?" You giggled in the dark, feeling Coryo's form shift under the blankets next to you before you felt his breath hit the side of your face.

"Now that you mention it..." He laughed quietly. "Yeah, it totally was."

You had always come up with Dr. Gaul's favourite ideas together. But now, she was gone. And it was just you. You honestly thought that woman was some kind of immortal beast, but clearly, no one is fully bulletproof.

She had offered the position of Head Gamemaker to both of you in her will. You and Coriolanus had worked well together, she had always said that about you. That the two of you were her favourite experiment.

"No, Darling. You take it."

"What? No, we've always done everything together." You protest, furrowing your brow. "She's offered it to both of us, we can do whatever we want, no more waiting for her approval. We can run with it! Come on, it'll be so fun, Coryo."

"That's your dream. Not mine." He smiled at you, brushing his thumb over your cheek.

You frowned, focussing yourself on pulling the buttons of his shirt so they were perfectly aligned. "Are... Are you sure? I don't know if I can do it without you."

"You'll never do anything without me, you know that." He hummed, pushing your hair out of your eyes. "If you need help, just ask. I'm right here. Always."

"I'm not an assistant anymore." You laugh. "Technically, you're kind of my assistant now." You shrug, leaning down to pull on your shoes, white with bottoms red to match your coat.

"Okay, well, I wouldn't put it like that..." He laughs, shaking his head at you and holding out a hand to steady you while you adjust yourself to accommodate your heels.

You take it gratefully, standing up and brushing off your coat once more with your free hand. "Be honest, Coryo, do you think the bear is too much? I feel a little like it's cheating, they don't even really have a chance. Do you get what I mean?"

"Darling," He cups your cheeks in his hands. "No one will be able to look away. That's the most important part."

"I just... I want it to be something different. Something people will still want to watch."

"Everyone will be watching." He assures you. "Now, let's get going. You have a big day ahead."

"Yes sir, Mister President."

"My name is Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman, your favourite and only host of the annual Hunger Games on Capitol TV, and I have a very special treat for you all this morning before the beginning of the games." You gently remove your coat as you sit down across from Lucky, holding it out for someone to take before the cameras flit your way, though the live audience can already see you.

"For anyone who lives under a rock, this beautiful woman here with me is our lovely First Lady of Panem, and now, Head Gamemaker, Dr. Y/N Snow." He continues as your coat is taken away, and you smile across at him. "Thank you so much for squeezing us into your very busy schedule. Now, how are you feeling about today, Miss Snow?"

"Doctor is fine." You correct him politely, to which he utters a quick apology. "And I am feeling very good about my first games. Dr. Gaul left some big shoes to fill, but I've been working with her for years so I have some really exciting ideas that I just can't wait for the world to see."

"Yes! I'm certain you do." Lucky grins. "Now, I don't know how much of our audience will remember this, but the first time we met was during the tenth games, I was hosting for the first time and you and your husband were both mentors! Just young academy students with some big dreams, isn't that right?"

You laugh, nodding as he speaks and letting the cheers die down. "Yes, I remember that. All of us were kind of getting a feel for how things would work, and my husband was actually the one who came up with the ideas of betting and sponsorships. He has truly always been such a leader, and so smart. He was the one who asked Dr. Gaul if I could help him with his mentorship, and she agreed, and then she just really loved how well we worked together so she kept us around to study under her all these years. It has been such a fun and kind of... fulfilling journey for us both."

"And now, here you are." He nods at you.

"Here I am." You echo it back to him, waiting for another question.

"Now, we have to address what can only be described as the elephant in the room..." He starts, and you try and hide your confused look as you straighten your posture. If there was some kind of problem you should have been made aware before you set foot on stage. "That summer, after your mentorship. Tell us. What happened? Both of you disappeared off the face of the earth right after your success in the games, then came back with these shiny new internships under Dr. Gaul, how did you swing that?"

"Oh!" You laugh, partially relieved it wasn't about these games, but hesitant because everyone knows better than to bring up the tenth games in any sort of detail. "Well, that was the beginning of our internship with Dr. Gaul, and she wanted us to gain some life experience, so we did some touring of the Districts on our own to get to know the people of Panem better. Neither of us had ever left home before, so it was definitely a unique experience that I think was really good for both of us. It was a super secret thing, for some reason. We weren't even to tell our families."

"I see! Well, I hope you learned everything you sought out to?"

"We did." You nod. "And more."

"Okay, well, with that cleared up, tell us more about the games you have planned for us this year. Is there anything new we should be expecting?"

"Oh, definitely." You nod, smiling wide now that you can once again talk about your games. "But I wouldn't want to spoil anything, so everyone will just have to watch." You shrug.

"I don't know if you are aware of this, Dr. Snow," He leans in a little closer, smile on his face. "But one new thing that we know for sure is changing this year, is that the president, your husband, has made it mandatory to watch the games. Not just here in the Capitol, but everywhere in the Districts as well. He made an announcement just this morning, he wants everyone to see what you've worked so hard for."

"Aw." You blush, pressing your hands to your chest. "That's so sweet! No, I didn't know that." The audience eats up your reaction, and you try to keep your eyes on him instead of acknowledging all the clapping and shouts from below you.

"Well, that's just about the cutest surprise! He has a lot of confidence in you." He laughs, reaching over and patting your leg. "You've all heard it here, he's just as good a husband as he is a president!"

"It's true." You agree, hardly audible over the crowds enthusiasm.

"Speaking of your husband..." He says, turning back to look into the wing of the stage and nodding at someone. "He set us up with a little surprise for you, if you don't mind."

"Oh, please." You laugh, covering your face as your cheeks heat up. "Of course he did." You shake your head, whistles from the audience not helping your blush.

"Okay, you can look now. Don't hide!" Lucky laughs, and you lower your hands from in front of your face to be presented with a bouquet of white and red roses. It wasn't an extravagant gift from him, the amount of roses he has gifted to you since your return from Twelve together is astronomical by now, but it's a gesture you cherish nonetheless. You smile as you take them.

"Beautiful, as always." You grin, making a point of smelling them before handing them back to the assistant who's waiting with a vase for them.

"And we have one more thing here, I believe..." He hums, looking back again while you're distracted passing off the wrapped flowers.

When you turn back to look at him you gasp, hands flying up to cover your mouth, fearless of whether or not you would smudge your lipstick. "Is that for me?" You ask, voice higher in octave from the excitement as one of the stagehands walks out with a small dog, fur dyed a soft shade of red with a matching bow around its neck.

"Indeed it is!" Lucky laughs as you're handed the puppy.

"Oh my god..." You smile, tears brimming in your eyes. "Hi there..."

"I think there's a note for you there too..." Lucky urges you and you grab the tag tied onto the bow. "Mind reading it for us?" He says, holding his handkerchief out to you.

"Thank you," You laugh, dabbing under your eyes with your free hand. "A new assistant to match your shoes." You read, laughing at the inside joke.

Everyone laughs, and you get from Lucky's confused expression that you should explain. "Uh, working under Dr. Gaul we would always joke that he was my assistant and vice versa." You laugh, wiping your eyes again before you continue. "I am so proud of you. Finally, the world will see you as I do. Intelligent, strong, and beautiful. Unstoppable. That's why I love you, you're as pure as the driven Snow."

The audience awe's, but you know none of them get it the way you do. "Another inside joke." You nod at Lucky, trying to hold back from crying so much you turn into a mess.

"I stand corrected. That is the cutest surprise." He points to the dog in your lap. "Both literally and figuratively."

"I don't know what I'll do with it." You laugh, shaking your head as the puppy jumps up against your chest, trying to lick your face.

"How about a name, to start?" Lucky prompts you.

"Oh, gosh. Well..." You giggle, lifting it and setting it back down so it will sit in your lap. It's so small, hardly bigger than your hands. It'll likely never grow larger than your lap. It's perfect. "What about Lucky?" You tease.

"Oh, you flatter me, Y/N. Come on, something better."

"I don't know!" You laugh. "I'm not good at naming... things."

Lucky laughs. "Our Head Gamemaker with no ideas? That seems unlikely."

"Okay, okay. You're just putting me on the spot here, I'm a little nervous." You laugh, stroking over the dog's head. "I tell you what, before the games begin this morning I'll come up with twelve names, assign them randomly to the districts, then whoever shall win the games will determine the name of my dog. Does that sound fair?"

"Ah! That's brilliant!" Lucky laughs, clapping his hands together. "And that's a good incentive for anyone who hasn't yet placed their bets or sent in donations for the tributes! Your donation may just be what gives the First Lady's dog its name. How fun!"

"It'll be interesting." You giggle, looking down at the puppy in your lap. It must have been white before the dye, it took so well. Maybe it will fade into a pink before it grows out its natural white fur- you wouldn't want it to stay red forever, but for show, it was perfect.

"Now, we really shouldn't be taking up any more of your time. You have a busy day ahead!" Lucky says and you nod in agreement, standing up and carefully tucking the small dog under your arm. "Thank you for making time for us, I know I'm looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us."

"Thank you. I really hope you all enjoy the games!" You smile, holding out a hand for him to shake which he takes quickly, then allowing you to walk off the stage.

As predicted by a certain Mister President; Coriolanus Snow, your first games as Head Gamemaker went without a hitch. They were perfect in every way. Capitol citizens were buzzing- not just about the games, the mutts you incorporated into the newly decorated arena, or the most shocking kills, but also about your dog. The people loved her, and so did you. She hardly ever left your lap or your side for the duration of the games, which only lasted a matter of days.

The party your husband threw for you at the presidential palace, your home, at the end of the games was extravagant. Coryo couldn't help but broadcast his pride to all of the Capitol. He loved you; you were his, and he needed everyone to know. Not a soul in all the world was anywhere close to being on your level, and shaping you into the perfect wife and First Lady was what Coriolanus Snow considered his greatest achievement. As you stood next to him, his palm tucked neatly against your lower back, you were perfect. More perfect than you were the day you fought for a spot in the mentorships that he granted you, more perfect than the he first time he kissed you, and more perfect than both of the days he had killed someone for you. Without question, he would do it all again if it meant he would get to hold you even just one more time.

"I'm so proud of you, Love." He gently rubs your back, looking down at you while you overlook your garden from the patio off of your bedroom.

You smile, standing up on your toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. "Snow lands on top." You whisper, biting your lip when you see a shift behind his eyes.

"You bet we do." He hums with a smug smile, lifting you up and carrying you back inside.

And somewhere, thousands of miles away in the Northern shambles of a still recovering District Thirteen, while you and your husband are celebrating, Sejanus Plinth and Lucy Gray Baird share knowing, sorrowful glances when it's announced on the crackling radio that the winner of the Seventeenth Annual Hunger Games was a boy from District Two, and because of this, the First Lady of Panem's dog shall be called Sage.

taglist: @totallynotkaibiased , @stelleduarte , @klplynn , @secretsicanthideanymore , @bejeweledreverie , @gloryekaterina , @andrewgarfieldsbitch , @queenofspades6 , @pepperonipastas , @ladybug0095 , @lunamothwrites , @sbrewer21 , @mus-tbe-a-weasley , @splxtscreen , @unclecrunkle , @karmaswitch , @coconut-dreamz , @nekee-lilac02 , @ooooglymoooogly , @riddlerloveb0t , @lovedbalances , @notyourwildestdream , @snowlandson-top , @too-lit-for-fanfic , @utopiakys , @deafeningballoonnacho , @roosterschanelslut , @chmpgneprblem , @cosmoetik , , @urvampgfsworld , @carolanns-world@nan-nie , @shakespearseclipse , @iovemoonyy , @notyoursweetheart-honey ,  @xyzstar , @eatpizzasass, @slytherinholland , @queenofshinigamis , @elodiebeau , @soulessjourney

taglist is closed for coryo unfortunately, but my requests for him are open!! so send me all your suggestions!! requests here!!

[billybatsonbrainrot]

Number 8 in the wip game

"Meet Me in the Middle": A Billy + SuperSons fic! They're all the same age.

Damian and Jon want to go to the same school. While Bruce and Clark are glad that their sons became friends, they don't exactly want their sons to go to a school in the other's city.

Clark is a bit skeptical about sending Jon to Gotham every day because it's Gotham, and it will take Damian hours to get to Metropolis from Gotham. No, he won't be taking a plane or helicopter just to go to and from school every weekday. Do you know how much pollution that would make? And no Clark, you can't fly Damian either, that would draw too much attention.

They try to find a middle ground, maybe a school somewhere in between their paths. Ultimately, they choose one somewhere near the middle of their destinations. It's in Fawcett City, home of their most cheerful coworker.

Damian thinks he'll use this as an opportunity to uncover the Captain's secret identity, he let it slip once that he did have one. He'll do the one thing his father couldn't, but he'll need an excuse to spend more time in Fawcett outside of school. Maybe it'll be under the guise of making a new friend. Hmmm yes, this kid in the red sweater will do.

Jon is more than happy to see Damian gain an interest in making new friends. Billy seems like a fun guy to hang out with, he'll befriend him too!

--------

Billy: *Overhearing Superman and Batman talking about how excited Superboy and Robin are to go the same school together*Good for them, good for them

Billy: *Suddenly remembering that conversation after becoming friends with the only kids from Metropolis and Gotham* 😲

Idk where exactly the cities are but I know that Gotham City is in New Jersey, Metropolis is in New York, and Fawcett City is in Pennsylvania.

Metropolis will be in more north of New York, Gotham more south in NJ, and Fawcett will be next to where the three states meet.

Here's a map to be more helpful (will most likely move Metropolis and Gotham to be closer to Fawcett but you get the idea):

[traumaboyexo]

CIRCLES UPON CIRCLES: LONESOME GLOW

[[No idea what the exact story or plan is for Loop in the @circlesuponcircles AU, but I really liked the idea of Loop being trapped in the Orrery room and I wanted to do something for it. It's a little short but I hope you like it.]]

You push the smallest ball on the strange sculpture once again. The entire figure spins once again. You watch as it goes round and round once again.

Round and round and round.

You've been doing this for the past few hours. At least you think it's been a few hours. It could only have been a few minutes. You can barely tell anymore.

You watch as the figure of orbs slowly comes down to a stop, motionless, silent.

You flick the smallest ball once more.

For a moment, you consider kicking the entire thing over in rage. You consider throwing it against the wall and watching it shatter into a a small pile of debris, letting the orbs aimlessly roll around the floor.

It'd be far more entertaining that whatever has happened so far. It'd be new.

You want to scream.

Alone. You don't remember how long you've been alone but it's been very, very long. Not another voice than your own. Not another sound than the ones you make.

You almost heard their voices once, in the midst of your madness. You thought you were there, with you. That for a moment, you weren't alone.

It's sickening. It's disgusting. It's horrifying.

It just needed to be on the other side. The question that you could answer. To open this door. Why couldn't it have been inside? Why was this prison made?! Why are you even here?!

You so hopelessly wish to bash your head against the door until one of them breaks apart and crumbles. To know that no matter which outcome occurs, it'll all be over for you.

You need to get out. You need to get out. You need to get out. You need to get out. You need to get out. You need to get out.

...you take a deep breath.

It doesn't help anymore. But you can act like it does. For the sake of yourself.

You get off the floor and walk towards the stupid novel. You've practically memorised most of the story at this point. You could almost read it by heart by now.

The person creates another them. They finally have somebody to talk to. They get into a heated fight. They separate and betray each other. Then they cry become friends again.

Reading it nearly makes you wish to see them again. Your other half. They must be outside now. Having fun. Spending time with their family. Maybe he'll let you out if you knew you were here! Maybe he'll be able to read the words.

How many times have you told yourself hope wasn't healthy. That the more you continue to wish, the more they won't come true. Just the same pain and despair and agony and vile feelings.

You look towards the walls. Once, you had hoped the scrolls in this room would hold an answer to escape. Maps of the stars, every single one. And so you plastered them across like posters, aligning and arranging every single one. Praying, wishing, hoping.

Nothing. Not a clue. Not a sign. Not the answer. Almost like a cruel joke.

And so you tore into them, scratching them like a wild animal and throwing them off the walls.

And then, soon after that, you looked towards the books on shelf. Every single of them was worthless, books from every topic, from various studies on the stars and planets, the concepts of infinity, mathematics, a textbook on pure physics. Useless, useless, useless. Not a single sentence or word even explained your situation.

And so you brought the entire shelf down. Toppling over and breaking as soon as it hit the floor.

Would it have been worse if it had been fully frozen in time? Your efforts to break it, made futile and meaningless?

You don't even want to comprehend it.

You just want to cry.

You slowly drag yourself over to the door, and slump down with your back against it.

You begin to break down into tears. Why did this happen to you? Why would the Universe forsake you in this manner? Was this your part to play in this sick world? Was this your fate, your destiny determined?

What a shitty role to be cast into.

...footsteps. Voices. From behind the door.

...it couldn't be. And yet it was.

It was them. It had to be.

But they wouldn't be able to open the door. There was no point. It was hopeless, after all.

...but maybe there's something you could after all. The very thing you're meant to do, that you promised to do.

Perk up, little star.

It's showtime.

[yelenasdiary]

Forbidden Masterlist

Welcome to the Forbidden AU! Below you will find everything you need to know about this series + more!

Summary: Just outside of the small town of Blisswater, lives two young sisters, Kate & Y/n Bishop. It's hard not to know who the Bishops are, Kate is the eldest by a year. She is a beautiful young woman, smart, protective and is known to have a talent in using a bow. Y/n, she is shy but quiet as some would say but nevertheless, she holds her own talents and can often be seen tending to the animals of Bishop Ranch. One evening while Kate is out hunting to make some money, Y/n is surprised with an unwanted guest, Yelena Belova. A bounty Hunter from Drybellow who has taken shelter in the young Bishop's barn after being wounded from a gun fight.

Struggling to keep money following, Y/n has no choice but to take the bounty hunter's offer of $5 a day if she is able to help the woman recover. During Yelena's stay, the two grow closer, a little too close if the wrong pair of eyes were to see them.

Warnings: Dark Themes, Angst, Homophobia, Fluff, Comfort & Smut. Please note that every chapter will have its own warnings, these are just overall warnings.

Meet The Characters -

Here you can find a little rundown on each main character along with some little facts about them. Feel free to ask any questions or if you'd like to know a little more!

Y/n Bishop // Moodboard

Kate Bishop // Moodboard

Yelena Belova // Moodboard

Wanda Maximoff // Moodboard

Natasha Romanoff // Moodboard

Map -

Here is a map I made for you to have a better understanding of the world this AU takes place in! This was really fun to make.

If you want to see where Wanda & Nat live, click HERE.

Chapters -

As this isn't a mini series it'll have over 10 chapters! Not 100% on how many as yet.

Chapter I - Welcome to Blisswater

Chapter II - Day One

Chapter III - Stranger

Part IV - TBA

Part V - TBA

More to come.

Character Index

Drabbles -

I am open to writing drabbles for this AU! Don't hesitate to send any ideas you'd like to see!

Discussion -

As always, my asks are open for any discussion on this AU! All discussion posts can be found under the #ForbiddenAU

Taglist -

If you'd like to be on a taglist for this series, please comment here! Do not comment on a chapter, drabble, discussion post or a 'meet the character' post as I don't check them for "please tag me". I always check the masterlist comments!

With that, I hope you enjoy this series and I cannot wait to start posting it all for you!! Is there anything YOU would like to see happen in this AU? let me know!

[reptileyan]

Transferrable Skills (naga x reader)

For Anyshiptober 🎃

Cw: breeding, dubcon, intox via venom, being shoved underwater, brief vomiting, bitching back and forth. I love this stupid naga he's a weird little obnoxious cunt

You do not like snakes, and you like them much less than usual today. Running isn't fun, it hurts and makes you louder, and you should have never tried to better yourself by hiking like some kind of nature loving idiot. Most people who love nature are smart and pack well and can read maps and research for warnings and this results in them surviving. Most hippies succeed in self betterment, and don't get hunted down by snakes that speak human language. You can decide whether or not this really happened later.

The quickmud is very inconvenient, and reminds you of that time you nearly died as a kid. You certainly haven't gotten any brighter, just less optimistic.

The snake is much bigger than you, hurriedly slithering up to the edge of the quickmud. It can smile very wide. Good contender for the villian of a children's movie, back when they were hot and interesting and irredeemable.

It preens before deigning to speak to you. You want to say shit that would get you cancelled on a snake version of the internet, as soon as you can think of anything that isn't a plea for help or screaming. It speaks with a drawl.

"Hi."

You sink another inch.

"Hi."

You fucking hate nature and you love concrete so much. What you wouldn't give for an Arby's parking lot.

It coils up and waits.

You don't like strategy games. You like naps. This is very far from napping. You sink a few more inches and develop an interest in playing along.

"You gonna let me drown?"

It smiles. Naga. Not a snake. Sort of a snake, but they're called Naga if they're this big and sentient. Very useful information.

"Yeah, probably."

"Cunt."

It spits when it laughs, coiling up on itself as its eyes water. You would be endeared were it not letting you die in mud.

It rubs its eyes. Its smile seems genuine, if condescending.

"You're funny!"

You hate. It. Here. You are going to stage a coup at whatever corporation has a lot of bulldozers, and then you will personally bulldoze every forest. You'll live in domes with fake air and fake everything and it'll be amazing.

"Yeah. I get that a lot. From children. Babies. Five year olds. Who think swear words are funny."

It studies you, sighing after the laughter leaves. It has soft, chubby cheeks. It looks huggable, not sleek and vicious. Cool. Fascinating. Your last thought is gonna be about snake lust.

"You have children?"

"No-can we have this conversation somewhere else?"

It has a stupid face, with stupid markings, moons and planets and freckle constellations, gold scales interrupting the cerulean. Its grin is back.

"Nope! I'm comfy here."

"Happy for you. Wouldn't want you to be uncomfy."

"Me either!" Chipper fucking bitch. "You were saying, about babies?"

You draw out your words. "Theeee otheeeer huuuumansssss payyyyy meeeeee-" you sink a bit and become more interested in hurrying "to babysit their kids sometimes a lot so they can do drugs will you PLEASE get me-"

"So you're useful!"

"Yeah, I bet that's a novel concept. Get me out."

It tilts its head. "What's a drug?"

You are unlocking new emotions that have no name, so you give them names. Rage two. Fear five. "You'll never know if i drown."

"Eh, there are other humans."

You blink. Then faceplant in the mud.

And just like that you're dragged ashore, into a nearby river, your face aggressively dunked into the water. It hisses and spits, eventually managing words.

"That mud is TOXIC, if you swallow too much you can DIE-what's wrong with you?!?! The other humans never get near here because it's a death trap-"

You cough, and vomit, and swipe deliriously up at it. "Are snake bitches scarce around here or something? Gotta resort to stray humans?"

You're shoved underwater, pinching at it until it pulls you back up, vomiting more river sludge and water. The hissing resumes as you're carried back to its den, deep underground, beneath walls you could never climb unassisted. You're stripped of your clothes and shoved into a hot spring, the reason the cave is so warm-it's huge, multiple chambers flow into each other.

"You said you were useful."

"I said I was useful to the humans who paid me, and then I elected to eat mud because i was bored of drowning."

It takes a deep breath. Lets it out slowly. "Do you remember why you were useful?"

"The mud tasted bad."

"You. Are. Useful. Because of this." It points at your tits. "And this." It flicks your cunt, hard. You yelp, draw back. It continues.

"Naga are rare."

"Aw man."

It grits its teeth. "I have no mate."

"Wonder why, you are so charming."

You dodge under the water, and manage to avoid the first strike. The second lands, and you're pulled ashore, the rocks scraping at you until you're held in the air.

"I want a mate. You know how to care for children."

"Human ones. Human. Do you know how biology-"

"No, I'm stupid. Of course I know there are differences, but you'll figure it out, because you have to."

"Great. So where are the kids?"

It looks at your eyes, squints, then bursts out laughing. "Guess I'm gonna roll the dice on having dumbasses like you. It's almost cute."

"I'm adorable." You pose in midair.

"You're crazy."

You nod solemnly. "Babies where?"

It carries you to a soft pile of... discarded clothing, leaves, blankets. "Humans leave shit behind."

"You're defo gonna eat me, huh?"

"Nah."

It grabs your head, tilts your neck, and bites. You feel floaty. Tired. Needy. You reach for the pretty, weird thing in front of you.

"Was-i-i wanna. Wanna nap ummm-oh hi! Like your colors!"

It rubs its snout against you. "That's better. Dummy. Thanks for getting lost. You've been super ungrateful though, i saved your life and you didn't even say thank you."

Your eyes tear up. "Mm sorry! That's not nice."

It nods and pulls you close, rolling onto its back. "I know baby, you were very mean."

Tears start to fall down your cheeks. "Din mean it, mm sorry, pretty, like you."

"That's good to hear. Don't tell yourself, but I like you too. Cute little squishy human. Well-fed like me."

You wiggle slightly and nod in agreement. "Mm squishy. Like you. Good?"

It pets your cheek, down your chest and stomach, weighing your belly in its hands. "Mmmhm. You know why?"

You think really hard. "Pillow?"

"No sweetheart. Although i'll take it under consideration. You're perfect for what I need, you'll be so cozy for my babies. You're gonna be their mommy and keep them safe growing in your fat little tummy, how does that sound?"

You brighten. "Good! Like babies! Cute an take care em. Even when they bite n throw up."

"Good little mama."

It rubs you against its bulging slit, groaning as its cock slips out and starts to force into you. You whine and squirm, but you want to be good! You want to have the babies it promised!

You make enough noise that it starts to worry. "Hey, if it's too much you gotta-"

You shriek as he starts to lift you off. "NO! No, want more, in please, want to be full, babies, yours, all warm!"

"Oh." It flushes, bright red, beautiful under the markings. You plant a messy kiss on its snout. "Mwah. Babies now. An harder please, so big, ss nice, better than toys."

It doesn't know what to say. It hugs you, tight, tearing up. "Thank you."

You nod sagely. "Im very good responsible. With babies. An kissing. An you're cute. I like funny evil reptiles. Even if you're nice, like some kinda loser. Fuck me now please."

You are lifted up and slammed down, your new mate wide-eyed as it watches you take and take and take, only complaining and screaming a bit about how big it is, and pouting when it slows. You're flooded with cum, head back, digging your nails in, finally telling it thank you.

You fall asleep full of cum, its flare lodged securely inside of you. You insisted, just in case. You like being full, you want its babies.

It's happy to give you what you want, drowsy and warm. You were watched from the moment you entered the forest. You were never in any danger, from drowning or anything else. Dumbass human. You look beautiful full. You'll be mad as hell when you wake up, simultaneously thrilled to discover your fate, to be a beloved mate and toy and baby mama.

[biggaybunny]

Games I Don't Hear Anyone Talk About, So I'm Going To Talk About Them

There's no rhyme or reason to the order here, and maybe these games do have fanbases I've just missed! But that's the premise, here we go:

The vibes to me are like, if Celeste were a metroidvania. It has exceptional platforming mechanics that are easy to learn, hard to master, and a colorful and expansive map that rewards exploration. The characters are all adorable too.

A horde survival game a la vampire survivors with a stark and effective color palette. It has tons of atmosphere and the characters offer actual differences in playstyle from one another. I admittedly haven't put too many hours into this because it's tough as nails, but I still recommend it.

A choose-your-own-adventure VN with a light card battling element, I Was A Teenage Exocolonist was both comfy and a little melancholic about finding happiness and meaning in times of change and strife. It'll take you some time to uncover the full story, and I found myself doing four or five repeat playthroughs without feeling the repetition because there are so many branching routes to take. Also, while you can opt out of the card battling to focus on the story experience, mastering it is a lot of fun!

Have you ever thought to yourself "The only thing wrong with XCOM is that I wasn't playing as a group of weird superpowered teens, also I need the plot to be more JRPG, also there weren't enough auxiliary mechanics for me to get lost in"? Have you ever wanted to see a teenage girl roundhouse kick a man so hard he catches fire?

What if SimCity was set in the future, and also made by insane people? I admit, this game has a learning curve, and is niche. But if you're as much a fan of citybuilders as I am, this is a gem. This isn't a sandbox city builder, but doesn't follow the format of traditional guided city builders. But if you do succeed, the art style and level of detail makes regarding your successful metropolis all the more rewarding

It's part battle chess and part deck builder, and all fun. Lots of combat styles to pick from as you work your way through ridiculous odds. Not much plot, but a good game for people who like games like Slay The Spire and Monster Train.

I think those are my top games I don't see talked about. Hope someone finds this interesting, but tbh, I just had fun talking about these. There's more I could add, but I could be here all day if I wanted to. There's just so much out there, I don't know why anyone's buying price-gouging triple-a games when you can get hundreds of hours out of a title asking less than twenty bucks.

[thescarletnargacuga]

Art: @iamespecter

CHAPTER FIVE

Racing AU!

Caine's been shot by cupid's digital arrow! He's falling harder than a stone, losing control even. Is he losing control or just experiencing digital hallucinations? Jax knows something Pomni needs to know, can she beat it out of him on the track?

WARNING: cartoon racing violence

Caine floated with his arms and legs crossed. He hadn't taken his eyes off the red door for nearly twelve hours. The silence of his workshop was only broken by his fingers tapping anxiously against his arm. He glared at the door, daring it to move.

"Hey, boss-"

"GAAAAH! BUBBLE! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M BUSY!?" His voice garbled some distortion as he righted himself from nearly doing a backflip.

"Really? I thought you were having a staring contest with the door. Did you win?"

Caine dragged his hand down the front of his teeth. "No, Bubble...I was just... checking something. What do you want?"

"It's almost race time, boss."

He checked his wacky watch. "Byte biscuits, I don't have one ready. Guess we'll do a repeat today, but an old one. Makes it uh...what's the word?"

"[%$!#]?" Bubble smiled.

Caine gave Bubble a deadpanned look of disappointment. "No. Nostalgic! That's the one. And it'll be new to our newer racers anyway." He looked at the door again, half expecting it to be gone. It remained. "Bubble, I have a task for you. Stay here. If that door disappears, tell me right away. Got it?"

"On it, boss!" Bubble took Caine's place of hovering in front of the red door.

Caine snapped his fingers and the assets he needed for today's race disappeared from the workshop. He mentally assembled the map as he made sure he was ready to host. Coat? Check. Cane? Check. Hat? Check. A quick look in the mirror to see if he had something stuck in his teeth, he never did, but he always checked anyway. He had to look his best, especially now that he knew that Pomni paid attention. She said he did good! He wondered if she'd say it again sometime. It was so nice to hear.

"Alright, Bubble! I'm off! Remember, if that door so much as twitches out of place, tell me." He vanished with a snap.

~

Pomni was having her first digital breakfast. At least, that's what everyone else called it. Unless someone requested a specific dish, the assortment of food on the table was completely random. She didn't feel hungry, but her mind was certain she needed to eat. When was the last time she had food? What was her last meal in the real world? She took a bite of palagonal chicken before she started trauma spiraling again.

Gummigoo sat next to her enjoying some caramel filled chocolate eggs. He too was using food as a distraction from the thoughts that plagued his confused mind. This was life now. His last life being entirely made up, he had to try and make a new one. A real one. ...how? He monched another egg to silence the questions.

"You two are awfully quiet." Ragatha said from across the table.

Pomni and Gummigoo gave each other with knowing glaces. "Just hungry." "Yeah."

"They're still adjusting." Kinger said poignantly. "Give them time." He put an indeterminate fruit to his face and a bite disappeared from it. "Ooh, kiwi."

Zooble offered a piece of toast to Gangle, who took a small bite. "Kinger's right. Don't you remember how long it took you to adjust? Took you a month to stop screaming every time Caine showed up."

"He wore earmuffs every time he visited." Gangle giggled.

"What can I say? He was scary to look at. All teeth and eyes and eugh." Ragatha shivered.

Jax was at the end of the table. Chair tipped back, feet up. "So, you're saying Caine made you scream? How scandalous." He smirked when he got the exact reaction he thought he'd get out of her. He flattened his ears as he dodged the bowl of potatoes she threw at him.

Gummigoo didn't really get the joke but smiled all the same. Watching them all interact like this, joshing each other and having fun despite the circumstances. He could get used to this. "So uh... the races. When do they usually happen?" He rubbed his head. He hadn't quite processed the massive garble of information Caine dumped into his code.

"Roughly mid-day. Not that any of us have a real perception of time here, just going by the day/night cycle outside." Ragatha answered. "And the races last until everyone has crossed the finish line three times. However long it takes."

"So if you fall behind, everyone has to wait on your slow sorry [%$!#] to finish." Jax added.

"Well, you won't have to worry about me. Slow isn't in my lexicon." Gummigoo winked.

Jax rolled his eyes. "The flying chatter box will be here soon and I got some adjustments I need to make." He stood.

"This isn't an airport. You don't have to announce your departure." Zooble jabbed. Gangle put her ribbons over her mouth to cover her smile.

Jax held up his hand and his gesture was censored as he walked away. Zooble returned the gesture.

Pomni excused herself under her breath and followed Jax. He preoccupied himself with his kart. He didn't look at her but acknowledged her presence. "What do you want, short stack?"

She ingnored the name and looked back to make sure everyone else was still at the table before answering. "I wanted to ask you something. A-about the void."

He froze in place for a second before continuing messing with the buttons. "What about it?"

"You've been there, right? You mentioned it my first day."

"I might have. What's it to ya?"

"Well, I-..." She got quiet. "I may have accidentally ended up there. Yesterday. Through a door. And an office. Uh- it was weird, anyway, do you know anything about the void?"

"I may or may not. What's in it for me if I tell ya?"

"Uh...I don't know. I just-"

"Thought I'd tell you what I know for free? Tsk, tsk. That's no fun. Tell you what..." He submitted his selections and the kart lowered back to the ground. He looked down at her with the biggest grin. "Beat me in today's race, and I'll tell ya what I know."

"What? You don't care about winning! You said so yourself!"

"I don't, but now, it seems there may be something worth competing for after all. The satisfaction of knowing something that you don't." His grin widened with a evil glint in his eye.

"Fine. Give me your word that you'll tell all when I beat you."

"If, short stack, if." He held out his hand for a shake. He gripped her hand hard and leaned down close. His voice a dark whisper. "You've never seen me race when I gave a [%$!#]. You think I'm a problem now? You ain't seen nothing yet."

Pomni stood her ground despite the nauseating anxiety that bubbled in her gut. "Game on, then."

Jax looked ready to burst with joy. "Game on."

"Hello, my tasty toasters!" Caine appeared out of thin air over the table. Startling only Gummigoo. "Are you ready to race? We're doing a classic today! An oldie but a goodie! Join me outside and see!" He zipped over to Pomni and held out his hand. "I'm especially excited to show you this track, Pomni. It's very thematic to your attire."

"Uh...okay." She hesitated but took his hand and flew with him right through the wall like a couple of ghosts.

Gummigoo walked out with the others. "Is he always this... eccentric?"

"Nah, this is actually pretty tame for him. His latest project must be giving him problems." Ragatha shrugged.

The outside had been transformed into the inside of a massive yellow and red tent. The track ramped up from the start; spiraling and winding through hoops of fire, impossible long jumps and loop-the-loops. Toy-like, but life sized, animals played with balls and balloons and popcorn. Faceless figurines danced on tightropes and trapeze.

"Welcome, to the Circus!" Caine announced, followed by the standard fanfare of the NPC audience. Fireworks went off overhead and he looked to Pomni for approval. Time was doing something weird as he watched her expressions. It was going so slow. The sparkle and flare of the fireworks reflected in her wide, colorful eyes. He felt fuzzy, like his core was made of static. He still held her hand, the way it fit in his suddenly felt significant. When she looked at him with an amused smile, he nearly fell out of the air. He slowly let her back down, but forgot to let go.

"Uh, Caine?" Pomni asked as she tried to pull her hand away. Gangle covered her mouth in a silent gasp and shook Zooble with excitement. Zooble just let it happen, Gangle often got excited over little things and they weren't going to deny her expression.

"Oop- right, apologies." Caine cleared his throat. "As I was saying, welcome to the Circus! To our return racers, welcome back! The Circus is a twisting good time where you'll perform jaw dropping stunts from heart stopping heights at mind bending speed! The more tricks you show off, the more points you achieve!"

"Wait, heights?" Pomni asked nervously.

"Oh yeah, BIG heights." Jax came up behind her and pointed out the largest drop on the track. A sign made of flashing colorful lights saying "The High Dive" hung precariously over the edge of a hundreds foot high ledge that sloped like a ski jump, a speed boost flashing red and orange all the way down.

Pomni gulped.

"Don't worry, Pomni." Ragatha shoved Jax away. "Remember you have a glider, and the tricks can be whatever you want. Just go with what feels right. Caine's pretty easily impressed." She escorted Pomni to her kart, keeping an eye on Jax.

Gummigoo whistled. "Crikey, this is what we do here?"

"Pretty much." Said Zooble. "Just roll with it."

"Works for me." He saw everyone go to their respective kart, so he mounted his bike at the end of the line.

"Racers! Start! Your! Engines!!" Caine shouted into the mic. The revving of the engines nearly drowned out the cheering crowd. Without Bubble around, two smaller bubble assistants held the starting light.

First light.

Jax looked back at Pomni with a smarmy grin.

Second light.

Pomni narrowed her eyes at him, determined not be intimidated. At least, not outwardly.

Third light.

"Wait, which button was for the glider?" She thought outloud.

GREEN!

No time to think, Pomni floored it to take off with the pack. Gummigoo zoomed past her, his bike accelerating much faster than any kart. She watched him weave in between Zooble and Kinger and disappear. She took a breath and focused on the first jump; the smallest with a short boost on the ramp. She jumped it without doing a trick, opting to watch the others first.

Jax and a few of the others spun 360°, earning them a few points on the leaderboard. "Okay...that doesn't seem too hard. I can do this."

~

"And they're off! Jax is leading by five lengths with Kinger right behind him! Gummigoo in third with a strong start! Ragatha and Gangle are tying for fourth! Pomni is keeping up in sixth and Zooble brings up the rear! Get it in gear, Zooble! You don't want to be the last in line for the fun!" Caine laughed.

~

Pomni got her first item, a bubble. "What!? What do I do with this!?" She held it out away from her, it's beady eyes looked at her vacantly over its sharp toothed grin. She wasn't paying attention and ran right into a bar of soap. But she didn't spin out.

"Nom nom nom, mmmmm! Tasty!" Then the bubble popped.

"Wha-...I guess it does that." She turned a corner and came to the first loop. She hit the boost that circled the length of the loop and felt her face pull back from the force of the acceleration. She'd scream if she could breathe. She kart pulled ahead of Ragatha's at the bottom and flew off a big jump. She panicked and starting hitting ALL the buttons. "Come on, come on, where's the-"

FWOOF!

Her glider deployed unexpectedly as it jerked her out of freefall. The sudden motion made her let go of the steering wheel and she glided off course.

~

"Whoops! Looks like someone needs a little course correction!" Caine snapped his fingers and a cloud of bubbles pushed Pomni back on course in time for her to land. "Don't forget! Tricks are the name of the game! Even someone in last place can win with enough trick points! Wow the crowd!"

~

Pomni could throw up, she really could. She fought the feeling as she got her next item, hoping for something useful. Jax was far ahead, in position and points, and she needed to catch up or never hear what he knew about the void. She got a golden cupcake and ate it immediately. Her kart went faster and she gained her ground back from flubbing the jump. She passed Ragatha and made ground on Gummigoo. Shells flew as Jax released three white ones. Pomni and Kinger swerved around them, one got Gummigoo and he fell behind.

"How did he have THREE!?" She screamed.

"Multi-shell. Very useful." Kinger's calm tone barely carried to Pomni. "You having fun?"

Pomni didn't get a chance to answer. The track curved sharp right and Kinger didn't turn with it. He hit the wall and was left behind. Pomni barely made the turn while Jax effortlessly drifted through it.

Jax looked back, pleased that Pomni didn't crash with Kinger. This would be awfully boring if she couldn't keep up.

~

"Oh! That had to hurt! Kinger moves down three places! Gummigoo shook off the shell like a champ and is gunning for lap leaders Jax and Pomni! Ragatha is fighting for her life dodging a shell from Gangle! The girls are on fire today!" Caine spun and flipped in the air as he made his announcements. "Up next is the elephant pyramid! The third largest jump on the whole track! Let's see those moves, racers!"

~

Jax made the jump and did an aileron roll, earning him lots of points.

Pomni took the jump and tried twisting her kart for a trick. Instead of spinning horizontally, she tipped forward into a front flip and almost didn't rotate back upright before landing. This time, she did puke, black bile slicking the track behind her. "Ugh, what the [%$!#] is this course!"

Gummigoo saw the mess in time and avoided it. Gangle, who finally made it past Ragatha, wasn't so lucky and slid into the wall. Gummigoo caught up with Pomni. "Hey! You alright!?"

"Yeah, just jump jitters!" She tried to laugh it off.

~

"Clean up on aisle Pomni! Good to get it out before taking on the flaming spiral! That'll really throw you for a loop! Haha- Oh no! Watch out for the cube of face painted dogs, Zooble! Ooooo that's going to leave a mark!"

~

Pomni had a death grip on her steering wheel as she fought the g-forces through the spiral. She lost all sense of up or down. The fire was thankfully only for visual effect. She and Gummigoo were still neck and neck behind Jax. Signs for the High Dive flew by as they approached the main attraction.

Jax had an orange shell at the ready for whoever got close first. Then his ear twitched. A high pitched whistling sound in the distance was getting closer. He slammed his brakes, forcing Pomni and Gummigoo to swerve away. He managed to get outside the blast radius just in time for the purple shell to target the new 1st place holder.

Gummigoo backflipped and was left stunned on the track. "That sugar huffing banker!" Gummigoo snorted angrily and kicked his bike back into gear. Other racers flew by, putting him down several slots.

Pomni put the petal to the floor and went past Jax as he laughed at Gummigoo. Her glare met his shock.

"Huh!?"

"Missed me, [%$!#]!" Pomni threw the popper she'd been holding.

~

"AND POMNI TAKES THE LEAD! She's in her element! She'll be the first over the High Dive!" Caine left his booth to witness it himself. The High Dive was a super long jump that had racers glide all the way to the finish line.

~

Pomni went over the edge and hit the boost that stretched the length of the slope. Faster. Faster! Hitting the bottom of the jump at top speed she flew into the air. Her heart was racing. Everything felt in slow motion. Tricks. Was the one word sent to the front of her mind. Just with thought, her kart twisted and flipped, performing an aeriel twist. She deployed her glider afterwards, afraid to free fall any farther.

~

Cane's bottom jaw fell and hit an NPC on the head. "We've never seen that move before! A tremendous display!"

~

Pomni hit the ground running and crossed the finish line to complete lap one. "Holy [%$!#]! Holy [%$!#]! Holy [%$!#]! How did I do that!?" She was shaking with fear and excitement. The rush she felt her first day was coming back. It felt so good.

BAM! The back of her kart was rammed. She looked back to see a scorched purple rabbitoid in an orange tracksuit glaring daggers at her. "You think that was funny!? I'll show you funny!!" He rammed her again.

She tried to speed away but the windy first portion of the track was slowing her down as she struggled with the drifting mechanic. The first jump separated them. She spun and hit the ground with better speed and got to the surprise boxes first. Her new item was a cane. She immediately threw it at Jax.

Jax avoided the cane and threw his orange shell. The shell found its mark, but in his haste, he threw it in a corner and it ricocheted around back to him. They both spun out and didn't pay mind the other racers as they struggled to get ahead of only each other.

~

"Some one get some ice because the competition is one FIRE! I haven't seen two racers target each other more since last season's finale! They're playing for keeps!" Caine was absolutely giddy. He considered the fierce competition excellent feedback. He'd have to mark this track as a favorite.

~

Pomni pushed Jax away from a surprise box, using a move from his playbook, and stole the item. It was just a bar of soap but she used it anyway in the slight hope it would trip him up.

Jax avoided it by keeping his distance for the next jump, using the opportunity to rack points. Afterwards, he got a golden cupcake and boosted past Pomni, regaining his lead. Jax watched her fall behind in his rearview and took a breath. "Little squirt is made of tougher stuff than I thought."

After going over the elephant jump, Pomni got an item in the form of a toy train. Unsure of how to use it, she dropped it. Letting go activated it, turning her kart into a high speed steam train engine. In her surprise, she barely had any control and hit Gangle and Gummigoo, knocking them both into a spin. "Sorryyyyy!" She cried from the cab of the roaring steam engine. It only lasted a few seconds before he kart went back to normal.

~

"CHOO CHOO! Look out! Locomotive Pomni is on the track and she is taking no prisoners! Who's first!? Who's last!? I DON'T KNOW! WHO CARES!" Caine was having the time of his life.

~

With a shell, Jax was delayed enough for Pomni to get ahead, but just barely. "I won't let you have this!" Jax angrily pulled up and pit maneuvered her before the apex of the High Dive. They hit the boost with Pomni sliding sideways in front of Jax's kart. He rammed her side to pin her kart in place and started cackling at Pomni's look of fear as they continuously accelerated to the bottom. "Ready to fly!?"

Pomni's kart rolled over and over and over in the air. She could barely get her hand to the glider, she felt so discombobulated. The glider uprighted her, but Jax had a hefty lead gliding to the finished line and completing the second lap. She came down hard, having deployed her glider at the last second.

"Pomni! Are you okay!? You got tossed pretty hard!" Ragatha kept herself even with Pomni, having witnessed her barrel roll thanks to Jax.

"I'm fine! Not even dizzy!" This was a lie. She could barely see straight.

"Maybe you should back off of Jax! I'm all for kicking his tail but he can be intense! Don't start anything!"

"I didn't start this, but I'm going to finish it!" Pomni used a cupcake and hit a booster lane, rocketing away to catch up with Jax. The forces of the acceleration didn't even effect her this time. She confidently went into the turns, still unable to drift properly, but managed to keep enough of her speed to close the gap between her and Jax.

Jax looked back just in time for Pomni to sideswipe him into the curved wall. Sparks flew, slowing them down but not stopping. "You little-!" His arm was long enough to reach Pomni's steering wheel and tried to force her to steer away from him. She fought back with all her might.

"I'll make you eat that wall! You'll tell me what you know through broken teeth!"

"Not on your life!" He activated a chili pepper and held Pomni's wheel as he blew fire in her face point blank.

~

"Holy Raviolis!" Caine gripped his cane hard with both hands. "Things just keep heating up! This is getting intense! Let's hope Pomni gets out of this one! Oh and uh, Ragatha took a bite out of Gummigoo's tail for hitting her with a popper, or...something. COME ON, POMNI!!"

~

Pomni threw a shell in Jax's face. He threw a cane. She threw soap. He drifted into her. She accelerated into him. They threw simultaneous shells mid glide.

"Give it up, Pomni! You're not winning this!" He hoped she didn't notice the waver in his bravado. Pomni was proving to be an aggressive adversary, even Ragatha would have given up by now. She rolled with the punches and served them right back. He'd never admit it, but he was starting to feel a smidge of respect.

Pomni got another train and railroaded him with a whistling war cry. He spun out, giving her a new lead. Pomni started laughing. "Come on! Is that all You've got, Jax!?"

Jax held a purple shell in his hand. "No."

Pomni's eyes widened with fear. All the cockiness left her body in an instant. She shut her eyes and braced for impact. Nothing happened. She opened her eyes to see the shell fly off into the distance.

"God [%$!#] [%$!#]!" Jax hit his dash, enraged. He'd completely lost track of where they were in the line up. Apparently, they were not at the front.

"Ha!" Cockiness restored, she blew a raspberry at Jax. She hit the last surprise box, but couldn't use it because Jax immediately slammed into her kart.

~

"Today is just not Gummigoo's day! That's the second purple shell he's taken to the face this race! Hey, that rhymed. AND KINGER TAKES THE GOLD! Followed by Ragatha, Gangle, Gummigoo, and Zooble! Only two racers left! Who are REALLY taking their time! Hurry up, you two!" He checked his wacky watch. No notifications.

~

Jax and Pomni ground the paint off their karts ramming together, trying to slow the other down before the High Dive. "Hey! Because I know you won't win this, I'll tell you one thing! The void isn't as empty as we've been told!"

"WHAT!?"

The distraction worked. Jax cranked his wheels towards her until they both spun. He pulled out of the spin in time to hit the drop the right way. Pomni went backwards. Hitting the booster, she accelerated uncontrollably towards the bottom. On a wing and a prayer, she activated her last item. A top hat appeared. It looked like Caine's.

She put on the hat and it floated over her head. A sparkly silver red light engulfed her and the kart. She felt different. Powerful. She cranked the kart around and zoomed down the ramp faster than the booster would go. The world warped around her as she flew off the end, trailing light like a comet. She made a B-line for the finish line, the light around her carrying her through the air without a glider.

Jax was at the finish line when he was slammed by a tremendous force. Something landed right on top of him and he slid across the line. He slumped over his steering wheel, head throbbing.

The hat's light went out the moment Pomni crossed the finished line. Her kart came to a rest close to Jax and she felt a gurgle in her stomach. She barely got her head over the side before more black bile poured out of her. She coughed and spat, but overall, felt pretty good.

Kinger was once again in the winner's circle, being congratulated by Caine. He smelled the flowers on the winner's wreath and smiled in his own way when little bees came to have a smell too. "Hello, little ones, there's plenty to go around." He sat down and let the little bees smell his flowers.

Ragatha and the others ran over to Pomni and helped her out of her kart. "You look awful! I think you overdid it with this race."

"Naaaah, I'm fiiiine. What's the score, Magathy?"

Ragatha almost laughed, but her motherly concern overrode the urge.

"You and Jax tied for last place, but you got more trick points so you scored 6th." Zooble said.

"I did? I beat Jax? YES! YOU HEAR THAT!? I WON!!" Pomni yelled at the top of her lungs followed by a manic laugh.

"Let's...get you inside." Gangle opened the door for them.

"Wait! Wait! Where's Gum-goo? How'd he do?" Pomni looked around, seeing three of everything.

He poked his head out from around Ragatha. "Fourth. Would've been first if not for the shell. What even is a seashell? Why do they explode?"

"Roll with it." Zooble reminded.

"Right."

Pomni flopped face first on one of the couches. She needed a minute or ten to recover.

~

Jax jerked up from his steering wheel when something kept poking the back of his head. He was about to shout a string of obscenities when he saw it was Kinger. "Ugh. Go away. My head's killing me." He got out of his kart and stretched.

"I found insects!" Kinger showed off the bees buzzing around his flower wreath.

"Good for you, Kinger." he started walking to the garage.

~

Bubble had stayed in front of the red door, sometimes licking it out of boredom. The door didn't do anything. However, some distance away, a small candy butterfly asset glitched to life with a subtle blue hue and fluttered over to Bubble. "OoOoOoOo candy!" Bubble chomped at the butterfly but missed. They chased after it, abandoning their post.

The door flickered and then disappeared.

~

Caine appeared inside the garage. "Well done today, everyone! Very well done! Especially you, Pomni! You showed real courage throwing yourself off those jumps!"

Pomni weakly held a thumbs up.

Jax and Kinger walked in and Jax threw himself into a bean chair across from the exhausted Pomni. Kinger led his little bee friends to his room.

"The race was especially exciting thanks to these two wild warmongerers!" Caine pointed out the worn out jester and rabbit. "I think I'll keep that track close at hand! All the high flying action was a sight to behold! Now rest up! As always, we have a big race tomorrow!" He patted Pomni gently on the head before disappearing.

Ragatha sat down at the end of the couch by Pomni's feet, Gummigoo claimed a recliner, Gangle and Zooble on the other couch. "What happened out there?" Ragatha asked.

"Honestly, you two were out for blood." Gummigoo added.

Jax sighed loudly to convey his annoyance. "We made a bet."

"What was worth trying to kill each other over?" Asked Zooble.

Neither Jax nor Pomni answered. Both avoided any eye contact.

"Was it a kiss?" Asked Gangle.

Pomni shot upright. "NO!!"

Jax bust out laughing.

"Okay, good, I don't know if Caine is the jealous type but he's too powerful to easily test that theory."

"What are you talking about?" Pomni asked, more confused than ever.

"Wait, you haven't noticed?"

"Notice what?"

"The way he sought out your approval, the way he looked at you before the race, they way he wouldn't let go of your hand? I notice these things." Gangle smiled proudly.

Jax laughed even harder. His sides were splitting as much as his head but that was the funniest thing he ever heard.

"Come on, Gangle, Caine fishes for compliments all the time about his work." Ragatha rationalized. "He's done that to all of us at some point."

"No, no, no, this was different! He looked at her the way Zooble sometimes looks at me!" Gangle hugged Zooble's arm. The edges of Zooble's head tinged purple.

Jax loudly gagged. "One, ew, Zooble. Two, Caine's an A.I., he doesn't know what love is. It's a human thing."

"Oi! I'll have you know that where I came from there where families and couples and friends and brothers! We know what love is. Even if it was just written in and never experienced." Gummigoo crossed his arms indignantly.

"He's got a point." Ragatha shrugged. "And Caine is very advanced. Maybe he does have a crush."

"Awfully quiet over there, Pomni." Jax chuckled.

"I-...uh, I don't know. I didn't see it. I mean...yeah, he didn't want to let go of my hand, but I thought that was normal Caine weirdness."

"Fair, but what will you do if he does have a crush?" Gangle asked, eager to know.

Pomni thought for a moment. "I don't know. Really. I don't know how to feel about it at all. I haven't been here a week and after everything that's happened, now I get to add 'suspected romantic interest from the leading A.I.' to the list?" She put her head in her hands. "It's a lot."

"Could be our ticket out of here." Said Jax. "We've tried everything to escape. Except flirting our way out. Never realized it was an option."

Pomni looked around the room. All of them were looking at her. "You can't be serious."

"As digital purgatory." Jax said.

"It's worth a try." Zooble added.

"Oh, is it!? Then you try!" Pomni flushed, her pale skin turning an ashy grey.

"Nope. I'm already taken." They put an arm around Gangle. "And I don't share."

"Okay, I think that's enough. Pomni's had an exciting day and we shouldn't get carried away with what could be a glimmer of hope for freedom. Let's settle down with some dinner, yeah?" Ragatha gave Pomni an apologetic look and got up to go to the dining table.

"I could eat." Gummigoo stood and put a hand on Pomni's shoulder. "For what it's worth, I'd understand if he did have feelings for you. You're easy to like." He gave her a wink and walked away. Gangle and Zooble joined him.

Pomni dragged her hands down her face, then stood and stared Jax down. "We need to talk."

"Let's take a walk, then." He begrudgingly got up and went outside with her. Outside was sunny, late afternoon. The grassy hills beyond the test track rolled on to the distance with no end in sight in any direction. He took a small box out of his pocket, popped a small white stick in his mouth and offered to Pomni.

Pomni took one out the box and put the end in her mouth. It was a candy stick. Lemon sherbet flavor. "Thanks."

"Sure. So. What do you want to know?" He casually put his hands in his pockets.

"Everything. But let's start with how you ended up in the void."

"Completely accidental. Back when Caine allowed us to accessorize our karts as much as we liked, I used ALL of them until the kart barely functioned without glitching."

"Why?"

"Just to see what would happen. Anyway, I spun out from a shell and the collision physics did not like my kart. Next thing I knew, I was out of bounds."

"That happened to me and Gummigoo."

"You gonna let me finish?"

"Sorry."

"While I was looking for a way out, I found what I thought was an exit. Big red door, couldn't miss it. But I found myself in a really weird liminal space. Empty hallways and offices."

"Did you hear it?"

"The voice? Oh yeah, knew my name and everything. It led me through a door to the void."

"Did it say anything else?"

"Not much. Something along the lines of 'help' and 'find me'. Caine got me out of there pretty quick. Said I was experiencing 'digital hallucinations' or something."

"That's EXACTLY what happened to me. Except, I didn't go through the door out of bounds. It was on the test track."

"What?"

"Yeah, and it wasn't there when Caine brought me back."

"Huh. Weird."

"How would it do that? Why would it do that?"

"I dunno. Maybe Caine is [%$!#] with us. Make us think we're crazy so we give up? If that door is moving around, it ain't an accident. Only Caine can move assets in and out of bounds."

"...yeah." Pomni chewed on her candy stick in thought.

"Look. If Caine has taken a liking to you. Use it to our advantage, will ya? Pry some answers out of him. I guarantee he isn't telling the truth about things. You don't know what it's like yet being under his thumb for years on end." Jax's ears folded back and he looked away.

"I'll...see what I can do." She started to walk back to the garage.

"Hey."

She looked back.

"Good race today. Most fun I've had in years."

She smiled. "I'll see about making a habit of kicking your [%$!#] then."

"Heh, you wish." Jax stayed out a bit longer, looking out to the horizon.

~

Caine brought all the circus assets out of bounds and made a separate area to store it. These were special now. "There we go. Now I just need to try and sort out the- oh hey, Bubble. BUBBLE!?"

Bubble drifted by chasing a butterfly. "Oh, hey, boss. How was the race?"

"What are you doing here!? What about the door!? ...is that butterfly active?" He snapped his fingers and the butterfly fell lifelessly to the ground.

"Thanks, boss!" Bubble ate the butterfly.

"Bubble, no! I need to examine that!" He grabbed Bubble, pried their mouth open and dug around inside. "Ah-ha!" Caine proudly took out the butterfly covered in soapy saliva. "Now, why would an asset be flying around without my permission? That doesn't make sense." He turned it over in his hands, then made it hover, and with a snap of its fingers, it unfolded into strings of code. "Hmm...nothing seems out of the ordinary. Except the unauthorized activation. But that could be a glitch." With a wave of his hand, the butterfly code vanished entirely.

"But that can't be that big of a deal, right? Glitches happen. Heheh..." He did not make himself feel better. It had been a very long time since he'd received any kind of system update or patch. He squeezed and twisted his cane anxiously.

"Nah, not a big deal at all! You're the host, boss. You can probably fix it."

"Yeah...fix it. Wait a second, the door! Stop distracting me!" He popped Bubble and teleported to where he last had the door. The empty space confirmed his fear. An asset had gone rogue. What's worse, an asset that led to the void. "I should have deleted it when I had the chance."

~~~

Ch1 prev next

Please leave a comment! I love reading them!🙏

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Hey! Alway me🫣🤭.

I need to ask cause you draw so well.

I really like the poses and bodies you do, so I was wondering: Do you have any tips for learning how to draw bodies, hands, faces, etc. well?

Hello again!! Thank you so much for enjoyin my work !!!!

I didn't think I'd type up much in response to this, but. Oops!!!!!! So I have all of my notes below the cut :]

With regards to drawing anatomy and the sort, the shortest way I can say it is to study exactly what you're looking to draw: it's easy to generally say 'just study' or 'study everything' when it comes to art, but if you don't know exactly what you want to improve on, you're not going to make as much progress as you may want. You'll need a starting point, and identifying things like bodies/muscles, faces, hands and the like of what you want to focus on drawing is a great start!

For starters, I for sure recommend looking into muscle anatomy charts and models- something like these:

Color blocked diagrams like this can help identify the shapes of muscles, and generally once you understand the shapes of them and how they fit together, drawing anatomy as a whole starts to come easier: once you've made sense of the muscles of the body, you better understand where they belong and how they'll move, and therefore you can plan/visualize them better.

You know how sometimes people have to disassemble an engine and then reassemble it to better understand it? Think of it that way: you deconstruct your subject, study it, and- with a better understanding of it- put it back together!

Moreover, once you know the rules of anatomy, you can start to bend it when working with perspectives. make sure to look at plenty of photo references to understand this!

Perspective's a different subject I'm gonna pivot to really quick: it seems scary at first, but you just need time to study and play around with it, like with anything you're studying.

Generally speaking, the closer something is to the camera, the bigger it'll be. When we try to draw these extreme perspectives in mind- I, at least- get worried about it looking inaccurate or 'wrong'. But it's good to embrace that exaggeration at times! It helps add emphasis to your piece (especially if there's movement or action!), and it's why we learn these rules of anatomy and perspective: to harness them and break them when necessary. If you feel as though something looks off though, don't be afraid to look for reference images.

I don't use them much nowadays, but 'art dolls' can help you out with posing and perspectives at the start! You don't need a physical doll either: my personal favorite site was justsketch.me. It's totally free, and you can add multiple figures to a 'set' if you need to. Play around with it for a bit: it's pretty fun just posing the dolls!

Back to muscles though...

Obviously, you don't have to map out muscles like this every time. Just doing this a couple times once in a while as an exercise helps you get associated with the shapes of the muscles, especially when applying it to poses you're looking to draw.

*Quick note: the forearm's bone- the ulna- twists when bent as shown in this reference, hence the 'twisting' shape of the lime greens!

As for hands, I hope this quick little chart can help! again, a big help- for me- is understanding the shapes and how they all connect, and how parts of the hand move and work. Like I said before, looking at references will help a lot.

With hands and poses alike, I honestly recommend tracing your pose/reference of interest first, if you have one. Doing this lets you get a 'feel' of how to draw what you'd like, plus it allows you to become more familiar with the details of what you're drawing. After you get a grasp for that, free-handing poses will come easier. If you're able- whether that's taking pictures or looking at a mirror- yourself can be a good reference for your drawings too! You'll know exactly what you're looking for, and you don't have to worry about hunting for The Perfect Reference.

As for faces, part of that is based on style- BUT I hope how my approach to drawing faces can help!

If I May Provide A Quick Demo on how I go about learning to draw new characters: I do a fair amount of studying whenever drawing real people (as I do with my movie!x-men art), so I hope looking at my process can help you see my thinking in action.

Michael Fassbender probably has one of my favorite faces to draw since it's so distinct in shapes and therefore pretty easy to understand and draw, so I'm gonna borrow him for this:

I always have a set of reference images of the person/character I'm drawing off to the side. For this demo, I'm just going to use these few

When I first start to get to know a person's face, I start off with generic shapes. Almost like I have to carve the rest of their features out of this 2D marble slab, I guess is a way I can put it. While drawing Michael/Erik, I always think of how 'square' or boxy his face is as a starting point. Thereafter, I look closer at the details of his face and gradually start 'grinding' the 'marble' to be more specific to his face shape.

In this case, although I can 'summarize' his face with a square, I also acknowledge it's not perfectly square and that he has a rounded jawline, chin, and forehead. Still: I ask myself why I think his face is so 'square', and a part of it's because of how pronounced his features are: they give him a sharper look.

That 'sharper' look is displayed best at his cheeks/cheekbones, so I highlight it, as I feel it's a distinguishing feature of his face I want to capture.

So I have his general shapes down- but I also know Michael has very distinguished expressions as well! So I go look at my sources and no this wasn't an excuse to rewatch First Class I sweaarrr <-lying to see how his face moves depending on what he's expressing or even how he talks. When I understand how his face moves, then I can start to draw expressions I feel are more 'natural' or 'accurate'. The rest of his face just falls into place after that.

Once I have my notes, then I just do some rough sketches and I put what I learnt into practice. And then uh... yeah! That's how I do that.

Evidently, this way of study doesn't work if you're drawing a character with no real-life model. Moreover, some styles are a lot more simple than what I have going on here, and some subjects may be better suited for a different art style all together: it ultimately depends on what you find the most fun and what you think feels right to you!

I'm not sure I have any other tips off the top of my head, but if you have any please feel free to ask! Drawing takes time to get the hang of and to figure out what you like, so I hope you have fun on your artistic journey!

Happy drawing!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Wibta if I told my friend, upfront, I do not want his toxic partners in my campaign party without specifying why?

Everyone in this is 22+

So I (22NB) have been working on a campaign for at least 3 years now. I used dnd as a base and built off it to make my own world, races, mechanics, massive maps, religions, languages etc. This will be a massive campaign with highlights on religion and dealing with gods as a mortal etc and I've put so many hours into it it isn't even funny. I mean shit, I picked music for different areas depending on if it's day or night.

I made a discord server to house most of the basic info my players would need from table rules to the races and beyond. I mainly had the idea that the party would consist of my dmnpc guide (he doesn't fight or break the game, his only action during fighting is the help action and guide the party. Im not an asshole dm who makes my guide the protagonist. If its important, death doesn't really exist in my campaign due to demi-god race stuff, the party just gets sent back to its last save point with my grumpy man guide saying I told you so.), my partner's character (24f)(she dosent get preferential treatment. We've been together for 8 yrs) and my best bud's character (22tm. Been friends for 8 yrs). I never said I specifically only wanted my partner and friend to be party members but it was implied due to the fact I never invited my friends partners to the discord. I just don't really have many friends and this is the first time I've ever dm-ed period, let alone dming my own homebrew. We're all pretty novice newbie players and I think it'll be fun for us to stumble through the game together in a much less complicated form of DND without seasoned players "um actually-"ing us the whole time.

My partner is excited to try and my friend is ecstatic and about 2 years into development (last November) he asked if I could let his partners join the campaign. There're a few issues with this beyond me not really knowing them and not wanting to run a large party (it's hard for seasoned dms to run a 4+ party, let alone I, a fresh infant of a dm). My friend has 3 partners of his (he has 4 total) he wants to introduce to my campaign, this includes (fake names): Mel(24nb), Sandy (mid 20s f) and Rue (23 tw). I have issues with each individual present and it all stems from me sitting in on a different campaign for a single session. See, my friend has his own campaign (much smaller, follows one story in one town on an island instead of my entire continent) and he tried to run it by those three partners (and 2 friends. Names and genders unnecessary, they were our age) while I quietly sat in the session (it was over a discord call, were all in differnet states except for me and my partner) and watched it run just to see how my friend dmed and how the groups chemistry was. They had a 3 hour session.

It was the most socially awkward, intense and passive aggressive 3 hours of my life. Mel barely paid attention and as a result, had to have things explained to them when they weren't listening. They would then would talk over the person explaining things, pick apart their language and get irritated to the point of telling them (mostly rue) to shut up. Mel was quite litterally looking for a fight constantly. Sandy was relatively quiet but also not paying attention and talking over other players actions. She also would come up with random "icks " and one minute was telling everyone to keep all sexual jokes and comments to themselves because it made her uncomfortable then the next said her character was literally blowing a guy in the back of tavern.(btw this is not a fetish campaign or anything, it was out of left field for everyone and my friend shut it down because of that) Rue was the "uhm actually" type who pointed out inaccuracies, broken rules and lack of realism (it's a pirate fantasy magic campaign. There isn't much to focus on realism). Rue was clearly the most seasoned player but the nicest all things considered. She was mostly just condescending and treated my friend like he was stupid for not having every single detail mapped out. The party also had 2 of his friends but they were just as quiet as me and also either not paying attention or listening to the shit show. The session litterally ended with Sandy and Mel having the tiniest argument, mel pulling a crying running away anime protagonist "I'm sorry for being just a fucking terrible person! Ill leave so you all can have fun!!" Then hanging up all dramatically. Safe to say, their party was literally every red flag I was warned about by dm guide content.

My friend then came to me and said they broke up with Sandy that night but were still friends and I was still in shock from the sheer toxicity. Did I mention I had only met Sandy and the two other friends that night? And had only spoken over the phone to Mel once in a group call and met rue in person 2 times? Safe to say, I do not want litterally any of his partners in my party for various reasons and I feel as if just one of them at my table would make my patience end on sight. I consider myself to be very flexible and want to do my very best to be a fair but strong dm who doesn't get their story absolutely trampled by players intentionally trying to ruin my story and watch me scramble (mel and sandy openly did that). These players would disrespect my table rules for fun. Even my friend said they never respect him and his story as a DM and he won't run a game with them again and he thinks they'll respect my rule? As a baby dm? Nah fam.

He wants to bring rue and Mel into my campaign and I haven't answered him yet. I've mostly dodged the question with "I'm not sure how big of a party I feel comfortable dming for, I'll know later down the line." And he's asked again, still curious. I don't wanna judge my friends relationships because he and Mel have been together for 5 years and rue has been with him for 2 (they were together previously before rue came out and rue tried to control and physically abuse him. Thats another reason I don't want her in my campaign. Fuck abusers) but the toxicity they would bring would probably poison me. If I bring these things up, idk how my friend would react and he can be a bit... Extreme when he gets defensive. Cutting people off permanently at a moments notice then coming back crying or confused. He has BPD which explains it but I don't obviously wanna say " your partners are low-key toxic and abit abusive and I don't want them at my table or in my life for the most part and although I love you bro(/platonic) I do not want living blowfish at my table that you might not even speak to tomorrow.".

Obviously I wouldn't word it like that but mainly I just plan on saying "Ive never dmed before and I'm nervous about the functionality of my campaign so I want to keep my party nice, small and intimate and only between you, me and my partner for now. Maybe we can incorporate them later." Without mentioning all the... Other stuff and side stepping if he's like "but what if just mel/rue?". Me, my partner and him have been friends awhile so it's not like he'll feel like he's third wheeling or anything and I get he wants his partners to take in his interest, I just do not want them at my table and I wanna know if I'm a dick if I dont specify why and avoid the question. I dont wanna rock the boat and hurt my friends feelings but I'm not gonna ruin the first full run of my pet project so a passive aggressive asshole and a know it all almost abuser can participate. He deserves to know why his partners can't join and I'm not technically lieing, even if they were cool, I don't know if I'd want them there. But they definitely aren't cool and that just seals the coffin for me.

(obviously I'm wording this in a comedic way but everything here actually happened and I mostly just wanna focus on supporting my friend despite his choices. I do not have to like his partners to tolerate them but it's my table and my years of work, if i dont want them there, they dont get to be there. I'm just wondering if I'm a dick for kinda lieing kinda not if I don't give the actual reasons for why I don't want them at my table and never plan on allowing them there. I would happily accommodate 1 or 2 more people at my table in this case if they were close to me like my sister or older brother but I dont know his partners well at all and even though they are passive to me, I dont feel safe around people like that. Wibta?)

What are these acronyms?

[bonzos-number-1-fan]

TMAGP 16 Thoughts: Aave Maria

This was an interesting one. I don't think I loved it but I do think there is a surprising amount to dig into. I also think this is showing more of the form of TMP. A bigger focus on a rogue's gallery and unlike TMA is more more in the thick of it to start with. We're not piecing together an unseen world, we're in the world and getting our bearings.

Spoilers for episode 16 below the cut.

It's really great to see some immediate follow up on Alice's run in with Drowning Victim. I was a little worried it'd be something she pushes down and ignores like everything else in the job. Because she didn't I think there might be a change in her perspective. Previous she's been very uninvested in the specifics of the cases and now she's basically been in one I do wonder if it'll effect her work. We definitely saw more of a reaction from her from this incident than we've ever seen before. So I'm wondering where that will lead her. I'll also be interested to see how this ties back into the Institute. The Drowning Victim is obviously connected but it makes me think Connor Dyer (found in CHBD, see master sheet below) might not be her dead name. I wasn't a fan of the idea of both main protagonists having the same backstory but the way she alluded to the death of her parents here makes me think the Institute might have had something to do with it. Not that I think she knows that but that the narrative placement of it might be laying the groundwork for that connection to be revealed.

For the incident itself I don't have a load to get into I don't think. I thought it was pretty effective in showing Madame E to be kind of a tool but then giving us more and more reason to be sympathetic towards them. Ink5oul's first voiced appearance was remarkably understated too. I was expecting them to feature more here but I think I'm glad they didn't. As I mentioned there is more of a rouge's gallery here and with a couple of really loud characters already it's quite nice to see one more understated than that. They've got a bit of an M.O. forming here too. Part ironic "punishment", part graverobbing plagiarist. DIG. Which does lead me to wonder about how they'll end up kicking the bucket. It feels like a set up waiting for a punchline. The way they give the "clients" what they're after in a twisted sense has a lot of room for interesting stories so I'm interesting to see where that goes. It's also interesting just how similar this was to Daria's incident. Very similar incidents overall but to different ends. What I think is a more interesting concept in those is how it totally differs from the tattoo that showed up in Marked. The tattoo in both of Ink5oul's works have been afflictions on the tattooed but Marked's tattoo was something that affected those that viewed it. Whether that's a consequence of they're plagiarism or a different "school" of tattoo technique remains to be seen.

Also fun fact: from.vision.ruled really is a location in Highgate Cemetery. There is a map app called what3words that is a grid of 3 metre squares over the globe and then each square gets a three word code. It's so you can give a more precise location than something like an address or broad location. So in this case you don't need to say "Meet me outside the Circle of Lebanon in Highgate East" you can say "Meet me at from.vision.ruled" and get a more accurate location. It's great if you want to meet people where there isn't much or any signage, point people towards the entrances to places when it's not obvious from a address, and stuff like that.

Post-incident was really great too. It's lovely to see Lena be so clearly angry and lose her typical collected nature. Not only because it shows she's got range but because it really hammers home just how scary a character like Lady M. is going to be. Gwen not taking her shit for it is also great. I think bringing Lady M. to the OIAR as a power play was pushing it hard but I also think Lena treats Gwen like shit and needs a lesson or two as well. This power struggle they've got going is always captivating to see and I can't wait to see more of it.

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

Incident/CAT#R#DPHW Master Sheet (Now with terminology/theory cheat sheet)

DPHW Theory: 1565 is about where I was expecting this would end up. 1 in Death in an episode where someone died already seems to be a sticking point for people. I personally don't understand that particular framing. Every Power in TMA had a massive body count but only one of them was the Power about death, and not all of them focused on stuff that'd outright kill you. So while a person did die this episode it's not an episode about Death as a concept/theme/subject.

CAT# Theory: CAT1 is very interesting given how the other tattoos have been placed thus far. But I'm going to leave that for the time being. I've got an essay in the works about the current more common CAT# theory. Should be out over the weekend.

R# Theory: B seems about right for this. It's weird and publicised but, ostensibly, medically explainable. So it happened and we can agree it happened but it's just an unfortunate illness in the eyes of most.

Header talk: Tattoo (Influencer) -/- Cardiac is interesting in the same way the CAT# is so I'll leave some of that for later. What I do want to talk about in that subsection. Influencer as a subsection is intriguing because it's very unlike Smirke's methodology. That was fairly rigid but Influencer in this context is such a modern term that it implies this methodology is reacting to how things change and express more rapidly, or it's not as old as I think has been implied so far.

[tyrantisterror]

At Sea Without a Map pt. 20

Perhaps unsurprisingly, you feel overwhelmingly concerned with Calibani's well-being. Even as you're pulled in three other directions, the drive to go to check on her is stronger than all of them combined. A good 38% or so of your mind asks you whether you might be getting too attached to this woman-who's-actually-a-monster that you've only known for, what, two days or so? It adds that you should be careful since you've been alone for a while. You're vulnerable, you need to take care of yourself.

You tell that part of your mind to fuck off. Well over half of you thinks it's full of shit anyway.

You find your sea-monster predator-turned-friend? leaning against the side of your boat and resting her face on her hand, her eyes scanning the horizon with a troubled expression on her face. Immediately you feel your concern is justified, and you don't even hide the haste in your step as you close the distance between the two of you. "Calibani, what's wrong?"

Her eyes go wide when she hears your voice, and she hastily puts on a big smile as she turns to face you, though you notice it doesn't reach her eyes. "Oh, nothing, Sailor!" she says with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Just tired, is all! Fighting that gloppy monster took a lot out of me!" She smiles again, bigger and more visibly forced this time, and says. "What about you? It's can't be fun for you dealing with all these..." Her smile falters for a fraction of a second. "These monsters trying to eat you..."

It's a deflection, and not even a very good one, but you worry if you call her on that it'll scare her into withdrawing further. "It's been harrowing," you say as you keep your gaze locked on her face. "But I imagine it's worse for you, since you're a lot more vulnerable now than you used to be."

Calibani frowns briefly, her eyes big and just a little watery, but she quickly plasters a smile back on. "Oh, I've never been the biggest fish in the pond," she laughs. "It's not the first time something's hunted me, and it won't be the last. At least I have a new weapon to defend myself with." She looks at her stork-headed spear, and her smile finally becomes genuine again. "Thank you for making it, by the way."

Now you get to wave dismissively. "Please, you're the one who made it useful. I think you did as much damage to that thing as the boat."

Calibani's smile grows wider as her eyes flicker with worry again. "Yeah, I hurt it pretty bad," she says with clearly feigned enthusiasm, and again tries to change the topic. "It was so clever of you to hit it with your boat. What a finishing move!"

"Well, it worked for me bef..." you stop mid-sentence as you realize that Calibani knows exactly when you last hit a monster with your boat, and that it's likely a bit of a traumatic memory for her. But there's really no way to end that sentence differently, and so you just whisper out, "...fore..." as an awkward silence falls between you. As both of you stand there quietly not making eye contact, your eyes fall upon her tail, which once again hangs over the side of the ship.

"You're tail's hanging off the side of the ship," you say, stating the obvious.

Calibani looks at it. "Yeah, it is," she says quietly.

"Aren't you worried something will grab it again?"

She shakes her head, and her big mane oh hair attached to it wiggles with the motion. "The water feels so good on my scales and fin," she explains. "I think the time spent enjoying that will outweigh any time spent getting grabbed or bitten, so it's worth the risk. Besides, if something grabs my tail, I can warn you that trouble is coming, so we'll be better off in the end anyway."

You decide not to argue with her logic. "Well, let me know if you need anything," you suggest, unsure of what else to say at the moment.

"Will do, sweetness!" she replies with a bright, fake smile.

With a nod, you leave her to her thoughts, deciding to wait and see if maybe she'll open up later. It's time to focus on the second task at hand, anyway, the whole reason you came here: you need to search these boats.

It's slow, methodical work, and at first it doesn't yield much for all the labor involved. All the wrecked and capsized ships are a bust, their contents either lost to the sea or so water-damaged they're basically useless. The boats that are right-side up provide a bit more - some non-perishable or at least not rotten food here (and, to Calibani's assured delight, some salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika), a few useful tools there, even some clothes that you decide to pocket in hopes of adding to your wardrobe (and, notably, a few more sweaters that seem like they might fit Calibani, though a couple might need to be stretched out a bit first).

In one boat, however, you find something truly interesting. It seems rather bland at first - a briefcase, kind of fancy but not something that seems promising at a glance, with a logo on its side that seems vaguely familiar to you: Spindle Inc.

The name sounds familiar, and you wrack your brain about where you heard it before. Isn't Spindle one of those big tech companies, the ones that make a shitload of money but no one's quite sure what the hell they actually do or sell? You realize this is one of the few specific memories of your life before the Sea that you can recall, and try to see if you can remember more details, but nothing comes to mind.

There's a lock on the briefcase, but luckily for you the former owner didn't remember to lock it. You decide to open it up, just to see if anything inside might further jog your spotty and unreliable memory.

Inside, you spot several documents, with the one on top reading, "Field Agent's Guide to the Sea of Monsters." Most of it uses jargon you can't begin to comprehend, but as you pour over it you come across some notes jotted in the margins.

"It's no use, the only way home is under." "Need a deep sea vessel." "North, South, East, West. Where did it come from?" "Can't risk going back to the lab, they won't let me go." "FIND DR. NEPTUNE." - underlined "Where is Neptune's base? Clues scant." "Captain Peter = only person who knows where Neptune is. Find him beyond the boat graveyard. We're close. I'm close. We're going home."

It's scattered and strange, but you think you get a sense of what this person was looking for. Someone named Dr. Neptune, who you can only find by meeting someone named Captain Peter, who is "beyond the boat graveyard," which you can guess from context is where you are right now. Seems your next destination is... well, ok, not really set, but you know where to go looking next, and that's something, dammit!

Of course, looking requires sailing, and that reminds you that you should probably check on your boat. It's been running well enough, but you've had collisions with two large creatures in about as many days, more or less, so it's good to give things a looksee.

Most things seem in order - no leaks, no dents, no strange noises from your engine (because you're not even sure this boat has an engine, much less where it is or what noises it should make, since the damn thing has always been eerily quiet). Only one thing seems out of place.

There's a... stain? you think? on the front of your boat, a jagged red stain that looks eerily like a mouth. It must be the globster's blood, you tell yourself, except wasn't the globster's blood more of a, like, melonoma black sort of color, that putrescent shade of black that's got other colors mixed in like a mess of spilled paint? And it was chunky when it came out, so how is it smeared so neat and smoothly.

Unless... maybe it's paint? Yeah, that's it, it's paint! How could you forget the cute little shark smile that was painted on your boat, that sharp-toothed painted on grin it's always had as long as you've known it? Of course that smile's always been there, it's probably the reason you picked this boat in the first place whenever... whenever you found it, or bought it, probably? Who wouldn't want the goofy grinning shark boat?

Regardless, nothing is wrong with your boat, as it's in perfectly ship shape. You've got a heading, you've got a working ship, and you've defeated a hideous monster that wanted to eat you and, perhaps worst of all, seemed to be British. If anything calls for celebration, this is it. Going below deck, you break out one of your rarest treasures: a bottle of red wine you found, unopened and of, well, a vintage you hope is good (you don't know shit about wine, you're not Donald Pleasance). It's time to break out the salted meat, cook some of those potatoes you found among the ships, and make a night of it!

You go below deck and make as decent a meal as your conditions with allow, then invite Calibani to eat with you. The two of you share the best meal you've cooked yet, and while the little "ooo's" and "mmm's" Calibani makes while eating show she enjoys the food, you can't help noticing she still looks awfully troubled.

"Did you notice?" you say as you finish your meal. "That it tastes different, I mean."

She nods. "It's good," she says quietly.

"That's cause I found some spices," you say proudly, hoping for a big reaction. But while Calibani smiles, it once again fails to reach her eyes. "Did I oversell how good spices are?" you ask.

"No, no, I'm sorry," she says. "It's really good, best I've had, honest, but..." She looks down at the floor and sighs. "Do you... hate me?"

You stare blankly at her, completely dumbstruck by that question. "What?"

Panic flares behind Calibani's eyes as she throws up her hands and animatedly explains, "It's just that you've been attacked by monsters that want to kill you three days in a row and one of them was me! And the other two are dead - I killed one, we killed the other together, and - and I just don't get it, because you didn't kill me when you could have, and I'm just worried..." She stops her ranting to catch her breath. "I'm worried that you don't like killing and that I've forced you to do it and you hate me for it, or that you hate those creatures for trying to kill you and that means you hate me because I tried to kill you, and I never thought of killing as a personal thing before but now that you put the thought in my mind it's all I'm thinking about and I feel terrible about everything and just - just - do you hate me?"

"Uh... wow," is all you manage to say.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she says quickly, "I didn't mean - oh no, you do hate me, don't you?"

"No, no!" you say just as quickly, your hand instinctively touching your compass. "In fact, I'd go so far to say that my mind keeps being pulled in a direction that likes you quite a lot."

She cocks her head at you and squints, confused by your phrasing despite understanding the jist of it. "Um... well, I mean... why though? I tried to kill you, just like that bird and the... the globster thing we just killed." She looks thoughtfully at the floor. "What makes me different? Why did you spare me?"

That's... actually hard to answer. So, as you do with all hard choices, you consult your compass.

[kishibe-kisser]

Types of kisses (w/ Baizhu, Childe, Dainsleif, Thoma)

Something entirely self-serving because I'm having a funky mental health day.

Tags: Kissing, touches, slight hair pulling, neck kisses

mentions of nsfw/ more suggestive

Baizhu: Gentle kisses. Maneuvering around eachother at the pharmacy, only pausing for him to plant a soft kiss on your forehead. His hand finds the back of your neck, pulling you into him so he can kiss your face gently. It's a small, silent 'I love you' in the middle of a busy day. His gentle eyes looking at you from across the room beckoning you for another silent 'i love you'.

Slow and passionate kisses. The moment you two have an actual moment to yourselves, his hands are holding your face and making sure he has your full attention before kissing you. His lips soft and gentle against yours, you can even slightly taste some herbs on his tongue. His hands always move to your hair, toying with the tresses and tugging on them gently. If time permits it, he'll tug your top down to expose your shoulder and kiss down the skin to leave marks for only him to find.

Childe/Tartaglia: Playful kisses. He's the type to cover your eyes and have you guess who's behind you. It's always him and you know that but you like to play along and sometimes for shits and giggles you answer with someone else's name. When he shakes his head disapprovingly, he'll peck your lips sweetly. Other than that, he likes peppering your face in kisses as he tickles you and makes you laugh. Your laughter is his favorite thing in the whole world, so on a day to day basis he just keeps the affection light and sweet.

Playful kisses don't just stay wholesome, chasing you to the bedroom with laugh before pinning you to the wall. He likes making things a game up until he catches you. His smile turns slightly sinister before kissing you deeply, thigh wedging between your legs as he pulls your hair to expose your neck.

Dainsleif: Goodbye kisses. When you're out and about, it'll be a miracle if he pulls you to the side for a kiss. It's incredibly rare. With all he's been through, the worst fear in his life is losing more people he loves. So when you are about to go your seperate ways for whatever, he pulls you to the side and looks you in your eyes. His hands holding your face and stroking the skin before telling you to be safe and kissing your forehead/lips/cheek. He also likes to remind you that if you need him, he'll be right there.

Feverish kisses. When he needs you, he absolutely needs you. Kissing you like his life force depends on it. Walking you backwards and pressing you into the nearest surface. Every emotion he has is put into kissing you, savouring you. His hands map out your body to make sure he never forgets a single curve or bump.

Thoma: Sneaky kisses. Thoma loves to steal a kiss while he's working, pulling you to the side behind a corner to kiss your lips quickly and then get back to work. The kisses leave him giddy the rest of the day and the more he manages to steal from you, the more he can't stop smiling. He thinks it's just so fun to do almost like it's a game to see if you can kiss without getting caught.

Gentle kisses. In contrast to how he is around others. When it's just the two of you, he treats you like glass. Not kissing you too roughly to show you how much he cherishes you. He smiles alot inbetween kisses, pausing to look at you only to smile even more. He kisses down your body with the same energy, taking time to make sure you feel cherished.

A/N: Just wanted to write something for me! Will work on the new requests I received now, I had a busy week.