#i should not have added a skip option but the idea for the text was too funny to resist
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gayangelcrimes · 2 years ago
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Hi everyone.
(you can pick which version of Death)
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nondelphic · 27 days ago
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creatives, please use alt text
one of the first things i learned in journalism school was how to write alt image descriptions.
at first, it felt tedious. every single photo or graphic required a description, and if we skipped it—or wrote a lazy one—our professors didn’t hesitate to fail us. at the time, i didn’t fully understand why it mattered. but now, i’m so grateful they drilled it into us. if i’d never gone to journalism school, i might have never known how vital alt text is.
for those unfamiliar, alt text (short for “alternative text”) is a written description of an image. it allows people who use screen readers to know what’s in an image, making content accessible to those who are blind, visually impaired, or have other disabilities that prevent them from viewing images. you're basically translating visual content into words.
as creatives, whether we’re writers, artists, photographers, or meme page admins, we have a responsibility to make our work accessible. after all, what’s the point of creating something if a huge portion of your audience can’t engage with it?
why alt text matters
it ensures accessibility - a visually impaired person using a screen reader should be able to understand the context of an image just as easily as a sighted person.
it’s inclusive - adding alt text isn’t just for people with disabilities. sometimes, images don’t load due to bad internet, and alt text helps everyone understand what’s missing.
it’s good practice - if your work exists online, you want it to be as widely understood as possible. accessibility makes your content stronger.
okay, but how do i write alt text?
writing alt text isn’t as hard as it might seem! here are some tips:
be concise but descriptive - describe the essential elements of the image. what would someone need to know to get the gist of it?
include context - if the image is part of a larger story, explain its relevance. for example, “a black cat sitting on a pumpkin, used to illustrate a halloween-themed story.”
don’t overthink it - you don’t need to describe every pixel. just focus on the most important details.
alt text and ai tools
in the era of chatgpt and microsoft copilot, we’ve got a major advantage: ai tools can now generate alt text for you!
while these tools aren’t perfect and often need a bit of tweaking, they’re a great starting point. platforms like adobe, microsoft, and even some social media apps have built-in options for generating descriptions. if you’re overwhelmed by the idea of writing alt text from scratch, let ai do the heavy lifting, and then refine it.
a creative responsibility
alt text isn’t just for journalists or big companies, it’s for all of us.
as creatives, we have the power to make the internet a more inclusive place. whether you’re posting a masterpiece, a meme, or a picture of your cat, take a moment to add alt text.
adding alt image description is SO EASY and quick and we all need to get better at adding it to our posts. i, myself, am not perfect. on here, for example, i've been really bad about writing alt image descriptions, and it's something i'm very disappointed in myself for. (i hereby pledge to do better, and please call me out for lacking in the future!)
writing alt text is not only about respecting your audience, but it's also about recognizing disabled people's right to engage with your work.
accessibility isn’t optional !!
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desceros · 10 months ago
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@fidgetyfawn hi hi so i thought i'd go and give you a very brief tumblr beginner/early intermediate guide since i've also seen some other people around here that may find it useful!!
i'm going to assume you know little to nothing, and this post is good both for people who are just looking to find cool art/fic/whatever, or for people looking to post their own art/fic.
click on the readmore here and i'll give you a bit of a walkthrough for how to get things set up and how to start interacting with people, as well as some basic etiquette!
THIS IS A VERY LONG POST!! pro tip: if you're on desktop, you can use the J key to skip down a post and the K key to skip up. youre welcome
so first things first, when you log in, the first thing you'll see is your dashboard. this is where posts from people you follow will appear.
dashboard management
i can't remember if this is the default or not, but i highly recommend you change your dashboard (almost typed dachshund ATD counter: 1) to chronological order. you can do this by clicking settings on the left, then dashboard (ATD counter: 2) on the right.
personally, i uncheck the 'shorten longer posts' option since it cuts things too short, and further down you'll see the option that says 'best stuff first'. turn that shit off. you'll miss a lot of posts from people you follow if you have it on. actually, everything on that preferences section can get turned off. tumblr is designed to be more curated, and those are all options the staff added trying to emulate things like twitter. they suck. turn em off.
how to find blogs to follow
so now that you've got your dash set up, it's time to get some shit showing up!! you've already started off right by following me, so i can see you know how to do that much. but in case this post breaches containment, i'll put some tips here for people:
if you see people out in the wild that you like who link their tumblrs, go check em out. see if you like what they post. if so, you can follow them. this will put their posts on your dashboard, and they'll get a notification that you've followed if they have those turned on.
once you find someone you like, check out who they're reblogging from. go check out those blogs. see who they're reblogging. go check out those blogs. search for things that you're interested in, and click on the people posting into those tags (more on this later). eventually, you'll be following lots of people who post things that you like, and now you can start really curating your own posting experience.
some people will have a DNI (do not interact) linked somewhere. if they do, it's considered good etiquette to give it a look and make sure you're not gonna step on toes. some people will have a "blank blogs"/"ageless blogs dni" on theirs, or say they'll block you if you're a blank/ageless blog. this is because a lot of bots will have a blank tumblr, so it's a good idea to make some text posts or something saying IM REAL I PROMISE and you can have "i'm an adult"/"18+"/"(your actual age if you're comfortable with it)"/"(an approximation of your age, e.g. 20s, if you arent)" before you get too in the weeds on following people.
sidebar, once you're blocked, it's a bit tacky to go find that person on other platforms or go on anon and ask why they blocked you. just move on and don't take it personally.
how to post shit
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these are the buttons that let you post new shit. when you make a new post, you'll get the post editor popping up. it's actually pretty cool, hot take, but here are the important things to know:
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put your post in the spot. i'm using the text post one here since i post either fanfic or nattering. you can add links to stuff, change formatting, font colors, all that. i'm not gonna get too into the weeds on that since this is a beginner guide, but there are other guides on how to do it slash you should fuck around with it a bit yourself. i will, however, show you the details of the "post now" button
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post now: posts now
add to queue: tumblr has a function where it will automatically post things in your queue. you can find it in your blog detail page, which you get to via account>[click on your blog name]>queue on the right. you can change how many per day go there. a lot of people will have a cutesy queue tag (eg "i love queue" or something punny like that) so your followers will know if it's a queued post or a regular one. this is cute, but not necessary
save as draft: if you want to keep a post for later but not publish it yet, you can save it as a draft. it's in the same place as your queue, but these will stay there until you post it yourself. i do this a lot for posts that i want to keep for their information, or to save art to post for when i'm trying to break up an ocean of asks. very cool feature
post privately: this will make it so that only you can see the post. just a warning though that anything that goes online will be seen by Someone, so i wouldn't put like. deep dark secrets or your ssn here or something. (<- does not use this feature at all hahaha)
schedule: you can have the post drop on a certain time on a certain day. fun for flashbanging yourself later, or reminding yourself of something, etc.
if you put something in your post, it will be "searchable" on tumblr. that means if you have a post saying "i hate tmnt rise" then people who look for "tmnt rise" may be able to see your post. just a heads up. you can make your blog not show up in search results, but if you're someone looking to be found (e.g. a writer trying to post, or someone trying to make friends, etc.) i dont recommend you turn that on. just be aware that if you post things talking shit, you might get some people trolling you. just block them and move on.
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if you click into a post, this thing will pop up. this will allow you to add a picture, a gif, a link, an audio file, a video file, a poll, or a readmore break (shortens the post like i did with this one to make it less intrusive on someone's dashboard).
etiquette note: if your post is going to be on the long side, Especially if it's a text post (for me this is around the 650-700 word mark), put it under a readmore. it's really annoying on mobile to scroll through a bunch of text. also, if you're going to post nsfw (which i will remind you, WILL show up in the public tags!) either have some kind of nsfw tag, put it under a readmore, or both.
tags
on the bottom of your post, you will see the option to tag your posts. some people don't use the tag function at all. i use it religiously. tagging serves two functions: organizing your blog, and sharing your content.
on your blog, you can search posts by tag. this is the best way to search your tumblr, which has a notoriously terrible search function. if you ever want to confidently be able to find things again, tag them something you'll remember. i have a list here of tags i use as an example for some ideas.
secondly, tumblr has a function where you can see what everyone is posting under a certain phrase. you can find this by typing a phrase into the "search tumblr" bar in the upper right. this will largely be posts that are tagged by that thing, or have tags that contain that phrase. (e.g. if you search "tmnt" you will find posts that are tagged "tmnt" but also some that are tagged "donnie tmnt"). this is how you can find new people to find, and fun art to reblog, etc. search for things you're interested in, then go through the tag and find who looks cool.
you'll also find that some people (<- me) will "talk" in the tags. the op of the post Can See These!!! so don't say anything that's rude or that you wouldn't want them to see!!! but this is a holdover of tumblr etiquette from years ago when it was considered rude to reblog art, let's say, and put your thoughts about something in the reblog as its own reblog. the old school of thought is that it disrupted the "aesthetic" of the post, so you'll see a lot of people put their commentary in the tags instead. it's not as obtrusive, but everyone can still see it. there's a joke that your tags will "pass peer review" if someone screenshots them and puts them on the post while reblogging, but that's usually something you'll see on particularly funny posts or creative posts or that sort of thing.
reblogs vs reposts
you will come across people who have "no reposts" or "don't repost my art" in their description or on their blog or on their art. there's a lot of confusion for new tumblr people on what that means.
reposting means that you are downloading the art/fic/whatever, then using the upload function and creating your own original post.
reblogging is when you take the post that the person made, and clicking on the reblog button (third one here):
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reposting things is BAD because it does not give the op original credit and it makes it look like you created the thing. reblogging is GOOD because it shares art/writing/etc with the people who are following you, and encourages community. the double arrows are what keep community alive!!
on that note, likes are functionally useless. that little heart there does nothing for artist engagement. while there is a tumblr algorithm, it's terrible, doesn't really work, and! we've already turned ours off in the beginning, remember? most people will have done this. liking a post doesn't put it on your blog, it doesn't make it so that you can find it later, it doesn't boost the op's engagement. likes do the two things and only the two things:
op knows you saw the post
tumblr puts it into one giant unsearchable pile of things you've liked
that's it! so if you like a post, consider reblogging it. add that fun commentary in the tags we talked about! this is a really good way to make someone's day.
etiquette note; you'll sometimes see people who say "no spam likes". this means that they don't like it when people go through their blog and just hit like on the latest posts over and over and over. it clogs up the notification feed and makes it harder to see the engagement that actually Means something, e.g. reblogs, mentions, replies, etc. i personally don't have an issue with it since you can filter those out if you're looking for something, but if someone asks you not to do it, don't do it. also, if you do it and suddenly find that you're blocked even if you've not done anything wrong, that might be why. some people just don't like it shrug.
how to make friends
tumblr is a social media site, and while it's possible to have a great time on your own just reblogging pretty art and great fics onto your page, a lot of the joy comes from participating in community.
there's a good post here i reblogged the other day for some details, but here are some basic things for a beginner to know:
you can send messages to blogs you like called "asks". you'll find the link to it on the left of the follow button on someone's blog, and a lot of people will have changed the wording. for example, mine is called "request a song." you can send people messages, anonymously if you wish, and tumblr will let you know when the person has answered your message. they may do so publicly (which i always do!), so make sure not to put anything there you wouldn't be okay with all of their followers seeing. don't be rude. but it's the best way to start talking with someone. and most people are very excited to get messages like this!! so don't be intimidated!!
there is a dm system. most people aren't going to have it available except to people they're following, and it has a bit more of an intimate feel than an ask. personally, i only use this function for my mutuals (people whom i follow who are also following me), and i'd be willing to bet that's a common mood about it.
replies: just like you did with the post you started, you can reply to text posts. the op will see it, and you can start talking about a post without having it appear on your blog. it's a nice way to communicate without clogging up your dash/blog, and you did so perfectly!
reblogs: we already went over this, but you can also just reblog posts. the person from whom you reblog will see what you say, and op will see what you say. etiquette here is not to reblog posts if someone asks you not to, and to tag longer posts as "long post" so people on mobile who have that limited don't have to scroll as long
talk to people! be friendly! ask them about their day. if it's an author, tell them your favorite part of their last fic. ask what the inspiration was for this part or that part. i get people sending me songs in that remind them of character moments, and that's fun! draw art of your favorite scene, then tag the author in it! (to tag people, use the @ symbol, then type their username, e.g. @desceros tags me).
find people that are posting the things that you like, follow them, reblog from them, send in asks off anon when they reblog little games asking for them, just. you know. be social. that post i linked has some good ideas if you need help.
if you're coming from ao3, go to the author's profile page. a lot of us have our tumblrs linked there. go to their tumblr. follow them. send in asks about their fics. you'll often find fun fanart, or wips, or that kind of thing!
anyway i think that answered all the questions you had, but you can ask if there's something specific you were looking for i didn't touch. hope this helps!! C:
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hydrus · 9 months ago
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Version 572
youtube
windows
zip
exe
macOS
app
linux
tar.zst
I had a good simple week mostly doing just one thing: overhauling the 'share' menu.
Note: If you are updating from v570 or earlier and you use the Windows or Linux .zip or .tar.zst 'Extract' releases, you have to do a clean install one time to get v571 or later! (https://github.com/hydrusnetwork/hydrus/releases/tag/v571, https://hydrusnetwork.github.io/hydrus/getting_started_installing.html#clean_installs). If you are a Windows installer/macOS App/source user, you do not need to do a clean install to get over the v570->v571 bump; just update as normal.
full changelog
share menu
Like the 'open' menu a couple of weeks ago, the 'share' submenu you see off of the thumbnail or media viewer right-click menu has been given a full pass. The layout is clearer, and exactly the same in all locations, and everything it does is now mappable in the shortcuts system.
Also, you can now copy files' thumbnails as bitmaps from this menu. Should let you do saucenao style lookups on unusual filetypes that have a thumb but no normal image.
The shortcuts here are a bit smarter, too--like with the 'open similar files in a new page', I collapsed the four 'copy xxx hashes' commands down to one command with a dropdown (which has options for blurhash/pixel_hash, if you need them); and the three 'copy xxx bitmap' commands are now one with a dropdown that also has the new 'copy thumbnail bitmap' option. Most of the shortcuts also have a choice between 'do the focused file' vs 'do all selected files', if that is important (existing shortcuts will default to the latter, which was previous behaviour for stuff like 'copy sha256 hashes').
Note: I have removed the 'share on the local booru' command. The Local Booru (an optional way to share files with friends using hydrus) was a fun experiment, but I have decided to finally retire it. I never found enough time to dev it properly (I don't think I've touched it in at least five years), and there are many better ways to share files online, be that a third-party host you simply drag and drop to or a clever Client API solution. So, it is gone from the menu today, and I'll slowly dismantle it over the next few weeks until it is completely removed.
couple other things
There's a new checkbox under ''options->files and trash'' that adjusts the 'remove processed files after an archive/delete filter' to also remove the stuff you skipped.
Also, thanks to a user, there's a new 'e621' themed stylesheet under ''options->style''. Users who run from source who want to try this probably have an extra step to make sure this works--check the changelog/options panel help text.
next week
I've been thinking of adding a new tab to the autocomplete dropdown that will show children of the current context (e.g. you are looking at something with 'evangelion', in that tab you'll see 'asuka', 'rei', etc.. for quick selection). I think I will play with that idea and do some more misc small jobs.
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gmun-ooc · 6 months ago
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Step 1 - Make the symbol. Personally I used Pixilart because I wanted pixels + transparency... These are 100x100 but you could play with the sizes. You could probably use MS Paint and edit the background out, but making something transparent or having the same color as the blinkie's background should probably be fine?
If I want to use specific hex codes for Homestuck, I look at Flaring K's hex colors site. But I also like ColorHexa for making other colors. Or play with things. You can't go wrong.
I visited blinkies.cafe to get sizing ideas. These are 300x40 pixels.
Step 2 - Everything else.... I opened Photopea in the blinkie size I wanted. Filled the background with a color (black in this case).
Layer > Animation will rename the layer that you're working on, but you can also manually rename them as _a_layername.
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Layers named this way will be animated and will also always show up in the exporting, even if the layer is hidden. Layers not named this way will not be animated, and will be visible or hidden based on the layer's settings.
I'm pretty sure the order is animated top to bottom, but I like numbering things anyway. It is also important to note that if you have two layers that you want to be on the same frame, they have to be merged. Otherwise they are treated as different frames and will not be together in the final animation.
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This Armini one is also actually 4 frames, while the Gemno is 2 because of how I animated the text. And also it's so jittery because "boomerang" is an option on export.
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Making the border - I took the Brush tool and made it a pixel, also lowering the size to one. This is where you think about what kind of border you want. This is a simple 2 on 2 off, so I feel in every 2 pixels then skip every 2.
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The corners are going to look a bit "weird", but this is fine!
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For the second frame, I would do the same thing but with the empty space. For this, I just duplicated the layer, shifted it, and cleaned up the vertical sides. This would change depending
Adding stuff - On a new layer, File > Open & Place and place the symbol or whatever else you want. You can name this an animation, or keep it still.
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Text - Type Tool. You could probably get fancy with this. I don't know. This is just in the Courier Prime bold font. There's other fonts. I think for the fancier fonts it'd be a good idea to make the blinkie bigger so the text doesn't get too fuzzy?
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This one has a clipping mask in the lighter yellow color! (New Layer > Right click > Clipping Mask)
Any of parts of these can be animated. Any part can be still. Make stickers or blinkies or whatever. Have fun!
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This is really tedious but a lot of fun
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mybg3notebook · 4 years ago
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Astarion Analysis
Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were made up to the game version v4.1.101.4425. As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information.
“Morals are all well and good, but power always wins.” 
“If all I want is shallow praise? Hardly, there is also gold, sex, revenge, quite the list, really. But failing any of those, I will always settle for shallow praise.”
--Astarion 
The majority of sources used for this article are in the game itself (including Astarion-solo playthroughs) and the dev’s notes and datamined information provided by pjenn. Astarion as origin is (almost) not taken into account since it’s not finished and is highly unpolished. 
The itemised list will show some instances of approval or disapproval as seen in the game. To make the reading of this article easier and shorter, you can skip them since they are basically the proof I use to sustain the introductory concept of each block. 
We can infer a lot of Astarion by analysing what he approves and disapproves of. Sometimes, we can even lightly infer some information from his neutral reactions, but let’s be honest: this way of analysing a char is pretty poor since it leaves everything to speculation. Neutral reactions can only be analysed by contrasting the same situation in other contexts, and seeing what other options Astarion approves or disapproves of. With these considerations in mind, we can proceed to describe this character.
Disclaimer: this is a meta with my personal interpretation of the character, sticking as much as possible to the facts and leaving little to “desires” or “projections” of what I want him to be. If I do so, I will state it explicitly in the text for the sake of analysis honesty. I want to be clear about what is canon (facts shown in bg3 EA), from what’s personal interpretation with little proof.
Also, this list is extensive, gathering as much as I could in my many playthroughs, but I’m sure it’s not absolutely complete. Some details may have escaped to me, but honestly, I believe they will be easily fit in these blocks once the pattern has been seen.
Understanding Astarion by enumerating his reactions
Astarion is usually seen as a character whose behaviour is the embodiment of “randomness”, and after several Astarion-solo playthoughts, I began to see the patterns that showed little randomness in my opinion. 
We can say that he likes gratuitous cruelty and murder. He has a special taste for animal cruelty too. He is greedy, but mostly if it leads to murder or to make little people suffer. Sometimes this greedy side comes from the fact that he doesn’t like to “work for free”: most quests should have a reward for him to be neutral to them. Accepting them without asking anything in return tends to earn a disapproval. He is more reticent to humiliate or outsmart NPCs that may be potentially stronger and more powerful than him. 
[[1]] Situations showing his greed:
He supports the robbery of the fishermen that were helping the mind flayer (MF) after the crash. 
Astarion supports stealing the “magical” ring from the tiefling kid (Mattis). This could be seen also as a gesture of outsmarting a person or mere trickster behaviour (see below).
He supports asking for compensation from the deep gnome we saved at the windmill.
He agrees to force Tulla (dying gnome in the myconid camp) to give you her magical boots.
Denying Baelen the scrolls because “they don’t come cheap”.
He approves pickpocketing Mirkon while being lured by the harpies.
[[2]]Situations displaying plain murder or violence:
He supports joining Lae’zel against the tieflings if you persuade them to free her, since this means killing (which is always an entertainment for him) creatures he considers lesser.
He supports killing Gimblebok and his gang near the Jergal ruins if you avoid any attempt of persuasion. This can be shown as a demonstration of power. (see below)
He supports killing Kagha without trying to persuade her or change her ways, not because he thinks Arabella’s death was an aberration (he enjoyed the show, as his approval and later comment confirm it) but simply because he enjoys murder.
He supports attacking the goblin camp. It’s a great spectacle of murder combined with his personal dismiss towards goblinoid races.
He approves of joining Minthara and massacrating the tieflings. It’s another great spectacle of murder, but in this time, of weak people (He detests weak creatures, and despises Tieflings in general).
He approves of killing Lae’Zel in the scene where she attacks Tav during the night, out of fear of turning into MF.
He approves of killing Rugan in the hideout. 
Still related to this level of violence and cruelty, he supports learning more about Shar once Shadowheart explains Shar’s teachings, all about violence and death, fighting against the illusion of safety.
He approves killing Ellyka, the tiefling spying on the Gith patrol, if Tav is a Githyanki (true or disguised as) and chooses “Attack.”
He approves of helping Glut in massacring the whole Myconid colony.
He approves of sacrificing one of the companions to the fish-people who worship Booal.
He approves fighting the fake god Booal because it’s a massacre; where there is bloodshed, there is Astarion’s approval. 
For the same reason he approves killing the Githyanki patrol: pure bloodshed.
[[3]] Situations of gratuitous cruelty: I understand that a lot of people confuse this trait of his personality as a “trolling attitude”. There are different archetypes of tricksters in DnD, and he is not particularly the silly-funny one (e.i. Jester in Critical Role), but the cruel-funny one. His “pranks” don’t cause annoyance or silly troubles, they usually end up in murdering the person he is pranking, or causing them great pain. What he considers “funny” is always related to a lot of blood and suffering. Examples of this:
He disapproves of diffusing the situation between Aradin and Zevlor after the first goblin attack. He is “missing” his show. This situation is also related to enjoying humiliation of others (see below).
After letting Arka kill the goblin and take her revenge, Astarion will approve the comment that refugees are desperate and they will do anything. He is enjoying the show of despair of weak creatures. And he is also expecting for some of them to become survivalist beasts.
He approves of telling Kagha that you enjoyed the show of Arabella’s death as an answer to her question about if she is a monster.
He also approves of telling Arabella's parents that Kagha will release their daughter when the Rite of Thorns is completed (while Arabella, in fact, has been killed by Kagha's snake). This is another example of Evil Trickster, a prank with a really dark taste. This also shows that Astarion likes to give false hopes [One of the most iconic characteristic of Cazador]
He approves of telling the tiefling kids training with Wyll that they are going to die, inspiring that despair he enjoys to see in weak creatures. (see below)
He approves of breaking Alfira’s teacher’s lute, leaving the tiefling heartbroken because that had been the only memento she got from her teacher, and could not finish her tribute song.
Astarion approves of interrupting the goblinoid couple having sex, which he considers disgusting. After killing them, Astarion will support the idea that it was funny. Another example of Evil Trickster where the prank ends up with the death of the pranked one. But we also know Astarion despises goblinoid races.
He approves of killing Crusher after humiliating him.
He supports Tav who volunteers to torture Liam at the goblin camp.
He supports of laughing at Lorin (the elf trapped in Ethel’s house) after pretending to be the monster he sees (psychological torture). This example can be part of the list of humiliation too.
He states that seeing Mayrina’s horrified face after resurrecting her husband was funny. Another example of false hopes [One of the most iconic characteristics of Cazador] On the contrary, if Tav kills the undead afterwards, Astarion will disapprove, since he missed the “fun” of seeing Mayrina tortured. 
He enjoys every state of Abdirak’s torture upon Tav. This can be seen as a fine bloody show he is enjoying, or as a way to put Tav in a humiliating situation (as he approved the dung-smearing or the foot-kissing instances)
Using the leader gnoll Flind to attack her own gnolls earns his approval. Asking her to devour herself increases approval once more. This situation could also be seen as enjoyment of animal cruelty (since gnolls are considered animals by Astarion too) but also as the reflection of Astarion’s inner desire of becoming a Master of bending wills.
 Probably the most innocent prank so far we saw, he approves of doing Baaa at the redcaps in the Bog.
[[4]] As I said previously, he suports any form of animal cruelty:
He approves of kicking and killing the squirrel Timber in the Druid Grove. According to the dev’s notes, he is “shocked and annoyed” because “you stamped a squirrel to death when he could’ve eaten it.” (DEN_General_Squirrel)
He supports prodding to death the bird that Nettie was healing during the dialogue (you need Speak with Animals for this).
He supports freeing the Owlbear cub at the Goblin Camp, and feeding it later, because he wants to bite the owlbear cub eventually (he uses the word “delectable” to describe him, and when the owlbear escapes, Astarions states “You‘ve scared off the little snack.”)
When we find Halsin in his bear form, Astarion will have two instances of approval: the first one when Tav tells the goblin kids that throwing stones with sharp edges would hurt the animal more, and then when Tav themself joins the goblins in throwing rocks at Halsin. 
We can also add the confrontation with Flind, the Gnoll leader, as another example of animal cruelty since he approves a smart yet twisted way of killing her by double-using the tadpole. First to command her to attack the gnolls, and then to devour herself. However, since Gnolls are considered aberrations lore-wise, this point could be left aside in this particular case. 
If we take into consideration that Astarion sees Goblins, Kobolds, and Gnomes as animals, killing them always increases his approval. This happens when we kill, out of the blue, most goblin NPCs, or simply attack the camp. (Datamined content) He will also approve of killing slave gnomes in Duergar Encampment (place you find after the boat). All these moments can be also seen as “animal” cruelty if we take into account Astarion’s perspective.
He approves of killing Priestess Gut in the Goblin Camp. It could also be interpreted as his usual dismissal towards goblins (he sees them as animals), since he never believed that she could help them in the first place. Or this approval can fit perfectly fine the cruel, murderous aspect of Astarion. As I said, many approvals overlap different aspects of Astarion, but all seem to fit his patterns either way. 
I suspect that the reason behind this particular kind of cruelty comes from those two hundred years of torture, in which he had to drink animal blood. Considering he was such an unfair magistrate, directing his rage against the ones who are not the root of the problem seems fitting. 
[[5]] Astarion is filled with racial bias and prejudices. 
He only sees elves and humans as the only creatures capable of thinking. (Scene after the bite)
However, he has strong biases against a particular ethnic group of humans: Gurs. He thinks they are all cut-throat, and probably would approve the rest of stereotypes that Gandrel added in that scene. (Scene of meeting Gandrel)
He mocks halfling and dwarf Tavs, who he thinks are naturally weak, until they prove him wrong. (Stargaze scene for short-sized Tav)
He supports the idea that tieflings have demonic powers just because of their heritage. (Speaking with the Grove halfling seller). During the party, he compares the lives of the tieflings with the lives of the goblins as something of similar value (which we know he considers as animal).
He sees goblins, kobolds, and gnomes as animals. (Scene after the bite)
After killing the goblinoid couple which was having sex, if Tav choose to say that the situation made them scrub their eyes, Astarion would add and extra “dehumanizing” comment against gnomes. “I’ve seen worse. Gnomes can be… ughh.” (Scene of interrupting sex)
[[6]] He finds pleasure in humiliating people or in outsmarting them, especially if they are trying to outsmart Tav. He dislikes weakness and loves to humiliate weak people in particular.
He approves telling Lae’Zel to say “please” when we met her again in the cage, humiliating her. 
He disapproves of diffusing the situation between Aradin and Zevlor after the first goblin attack. We know he is “missing” his show where one of them is being humiliated.
Astarion approves of telling Elegis that she is pathetic for being scared of a few goblins. Once more, humiliation due to weakness. 
He disapproves of telling Arabella's parents that the Druids overreacted when speaking in the Druid Grove’s stairs. He is disapproving for defending a weak and silly creature who was not smart enough to survive on her own. 
Astarion supports stealing the “magical” ring from the tiefling kid. This is another situation of humiliation of a weak person and outsmarting them. This could be considered a prank of a more silly-funny trickster doing an innocent prank.
He approves of telling the tiefling kids that they are going to die.
He feels disappointed when Lae’Zel did not kill Zorru, the tiefling that she forces to kneel and confess where he saw the Gith patrol. He approves the psychological torture of the interrogation.
He enjoys interrupting the goblinoid couple having sex. This is an example of the prank cruel-funny trickster. This “prank” ends up with the goblinoid couple being killed.
Astarion approves of smearing dung in the guard's face at the goblin camp entrance. The show of seeing someone being humiliated is satisfying.
He supports booing and humiliating Volo off the stage in the goblin camp. 
He supports licking the goblin’s foot (It could also be considered a prank).
He supports kissing the goblin’s foot while stealing the ring. This situation puts two things he enjoys in the same place: the humiliation experienced by Tav and how the Crusher was outsmarted in the process. Astarion will approve if Crusher is the one humiliated and forced to kiss Tav’s foot. 
He approves of laughing at Lorin (the elf trapped in Ethel’s house) when the elf is scared of Tav who pretends to be the monster that’s torturing him.
Humiliating “low people'' is an important aspect of Astarion’s personality, since it’s a small petty pleasure he can have now, when during the last two hundred years it had been done to him. Humiliation has to do with power as well, another symbol tight to Astarion’s personality. Through humiliation Astarion can taste a little bit of power, that power he lacked for two hundred years. That power that, if his backstory is not retconned in future versions or in the full release game, he had before turning into a vampire, abusing those groups he considered less.
[[7]] If we think in power, we also have to think in manipulation. And of course, Astarion is a great master of it. Sometimes the events that stand out his taste for manipulation overlap with the ones displayed in the humiliation section.
Since the moment we meet Astarion, we know he keeps working in turning himself into a pleasant and useful companion for Tav. Astarion knows he has bigger chances to succeed and survive staying with this group. A lot of his “neutral” behaviours respond to this goal: he doesn’t want to enrage Tav to the point of being kicked out of the party, it’s not about a hidden gentle side inside he is showing with an apathetic neutrality, it’s, once more, raw preservation and survival. During the first scenes of the game, when we don’t know he is a vampire, Astarion tries to avoid taking a position in the situations we face: he is just feeling the ground all the time: with Sazza and with Arabella’s death is clear. He doesn’t judge hard, he is testing Tav, he is trying to understand their mind, and acting as pleasant as he can according to what he sees. It’s a natural use of manipulation to guarantee his survival in a group of strangers. During the bite scene—when this façade finally ends—he is truly nervous of being killed for his vampiric nature, and tries to convince Tav of keeping him in the group using arguments that go from seduction to practical usefulness. 
The scene of stargaze also shows his usage of seduction as a manipulative tool to guarantee his survival (he weponises seduction and sex). Although he says mostly the same, he reacts very differently in tone depending on Tav’s approach. If Tav is wary, Astarion will act encouraging their ego and enumerating several feats, while getting uncomfortably closer. If Tav is already interested in Astarion, the elf will use softer manners to keep the seduction into a more intimate tone. This is a scene of a predator tasting his future prey as well (Dev’s notes are pretty clear about his manipulation). In this scene, also, Astarion is light-headed because he has not drunk blood in a while, and has “his head foggy” (something we can repeat during his origin as a personal tag). Exact words he will use as a narrative hint during the bite scene. Therefore, this scene has little of “Astarion falling for Tav”, and has everything of vampiric hunger combined with a raw sense of survival and usage of seduction to guaranteed it.
(potential interpretation) He approves when he is persuaded into sharing his dream with Tav. In any other character, we usually would understand this as an approval for caring about the character himself. In that scenario, failing the approval doesn’t cause a penalty (unless the character understands this failure as prying, as it happens with Shadowheart). In Astarion’s case, when you fail this persuasion, you are penalised with a disapproval. We can understand this in the same way we see it with Shadowheart: this is his annoyance for prying into his personal business. But there is another interpretation in this disapproval: he recognised a bad execution of persuasion as a manipulative attempt, and Astarion is in particular very sensitive to manipulations and mind games (see point [12]). 
Most of his “romance” is manipulation as well, keeping in mind the first point of this section: he becomes pleasant for Tav, using whatever shape he needs, so he can survive (this is especially noticeable with a good-aligned Tav). Astarion has weaponised seduction and sex without any hint of subtetly for the player (As the Dev’s notes say: “For Astarion, this is a game of power - one he’s played many times before in the taverns of Baldur’s Gate, trying to lure people back to his master. He’s an old hand at seduction, very self-assured at first, but the player might not go along with the script he expects them to follow.”) We can assure that Astarion will find more satisfaction in having “fun” with a high-approval Tav rather than a low-approval Tav.
If Tav is not evil enough (and therefore has a low approval), Astarion will need to be the one inviting Tav to have sex (to be sure the control is still in his hand, still pushing for “catching” Tav). If a low-approval-Tav invites Astarion, he will decline saying that he “has standards'', implying he needs to be the one controlling the situation (he is basically playing “hard to catch”. Astarion already knows that he “caught” Tav in this scenario since Tav was the first one showing their interest). If Tav is evil-like (and has enough approval), Astarion will not only weaponise sex, he may express some degree of personal desire in having “fun” with Tav. After all, evil characters can like one another. In this case, he would accept Tav’s invitation for more hedonist reasons such as personal pleasure and not mere survival. Still it’s always present the layer of using this situation as a manipulative tool to have control on Tav.
Approves persuading Crusher without a fight, understanding it as an approval earnt for the good manipulation tool used. Of course this scene is combined with the natural approval that Astarion gives when outsmarting creatures he considers lower or animal-like (See point [6]). 
Successfully persuade Lae'Zel to "play along" when meeting the Githyanki patrol, and pull off the deception.
I personally found funny that Astarion, without the intention of the writer, is so good in his manipulations, that he broke the fourth wall and ended up manipulating a good amount of players as well into believing him. 
[[8]] He supports revenge in all its forms and degrees, which is not strange since it’s his main motivation against Cazador.
He approves of letting Arka kill Sazza in the cage as revenge for her brother’s death.
He approves of the attack against Nettie when she poisons Tav.
He approves of telling Edowin's siblings to find the beast that attacked him as a way to avenge the True Soul.
Astarion approves of Arabella’s mother killing Kagha at the party.
He approves of helping the Sovereign to take revenge against the Duergars that killed their young. However, it’s not clear if Astarion approves the revenge itself or the method proposed, which is, according to his own words, “a bit genocidal” and therefore more entertaining for him (we need to remember he enjoys the display of murder and violence in all its forms, [2,3]). 
He approves of helping Glut in massacring the whole Myconid colony, since according to Glut’s words, they saw Glut’s circle being killed by the Duergars and did nothing, so Glut is looking for revenge. 
[[9]] He doesn’t like to get involved in anyone’s problems unless you can obtain a benefit or a reward for it (this is directly connected to his greed aspect [1])
He approves of telling Mayrina’s brothers that they are on their own, and actively disapproves if Tav agrees to help them find Mayrina.
He approves of declining to help Halsin in killing the Goblin leaders.
He disapproves of helping Wyll to save the Tiefling refugees in the Grove.
He disapproves of helping Zevlor.
He disapproves of finding evidence that confirms that Kagha is working with Shadow Druids. He will additionally disapprove again if, after exposing her, Tav asks her to change her ways. From Astarion’s point of view, Tav is basically meddling too much in the Grove’s problems for free, and ruining all the instances where murder could happen. 
He also disapproves if Tav agrees to help the two Zhentarim humans that are attacked by gnolls without asking for compensation.
He approves of not getting involved in the rescue of the Duke when Tav speaks with Florrick
[[10]] Despite having been a slave, he lacks of empathy for those who shared his fate and, instead, he supports slavery:
If we take into consideration what Swen said about his background in one of the first playthough he showed, we know that Astarion, as a magistrate, used criminals as food for local vampires, and in an attempt to outsmart them, he began to sell them into slavery (we can see in this brief background that Astarion has been greedy and cruel before turning into a vampire).
Although he disapproves paying for Oskar, the painter in the Zhentarim Hideout, he does it because of the money. When Tav buys the painter and demands him to stay silent because “slaves should speak when they are spoken to”, Oskar will think this is a joke (which is not the case, since none of those options has, in this patch at least, a (performance) tag). When Tav reinforces the idea that this is not a joke, and Oskar is now a true slave, only then, Astarion will approve. 
When seeing one of the servant Duergars of the Myconite Colony, Astarion will comment on how useful they are, and how Underdark drows should learn about these creatures, since these slaves are more efficient than the standard ones. If Tav brings awareness about the contradiction that those thoughts cause coming from an ex-slave, Astarion will justify his thinking saying that they are husks without mind, claiming that his feelings “may be different, had they been conscious beings. Or maybe not.” He emphasises in this dual possibility. And we can be sure that he certainly would not care slavery on conscious creatures, as we confirm it later with Oskar (A human who is not a Gur, and therefore, a creature that Astarion consider thinking acceptable beings). 
(Datamined content) When reaching the Duergar Encampment, once Nere is rescued, there is approval for killing the slave gnomes when the True Soul orders it. One can interpret that Astarion minds little for these slaves because they are gnomes, and therefore, animals.
[[11]] He looks for power and dominance, to have control over others and also as a way to guarantee his own freedom. 
In the discussion after every dream, Astarion supports the use of the tadpole's power in every opportunity, dismissing their effects. He is thrilling for the ability of bending everyone’s will (curious note, this is one of Cazador’s characteristics most hated by him)
He approves of letting the Koa-Toes bow before them as the Booal's chosen. This scene can be understood as a typical prank of a trickster, but also as a taste for being adored as a master/entity with more power. This scene shows that he and Tav are placed in the “Master” position. This reinforces the idea that Astarion wants to be a Master/Cazador, eventually. (Check post about Astarion and Power 1 and 2)
If Tav claims that the worship to them as True Souls can be useful after letting Edowin’s siblings leave, Astarion will approve. He shows in every instance more delight for having Cazador’s powers, making emphasis in the mind control ability, again.
Astarion approves of keeping the Necromancy of Thay tome. As we see later in his scene, he believes that there is something powerful hidden in it that may help him against Cazador. He wants to muster all the power of any kind he can.
Astarion approves of sparing Auntie Ethel’s life when she surrenders during battle because she will grant them power in exchange. He wants to muster all the power of any kind he can.
[[12]] Astarion is particularly sensitive to mind control. His expressions and the tone of his voice against any type of mind control are filled with feral ire (video here): 
He is angrily affected by the movements of his worm in his own head, 
He screams against Ethel’s control when using the mask, 
The insults at the harpies when he is lured, 
The way he is annoyed by the telepathic spores in the Underdark, 
He disapproves failed attempts of persuasion (understood by his character as failed, obvious attempts of manipulations). 
And, potentially, this is the reason why he disapproves of Priestess Gut cleaning Tav’s mind.
[[13]] Because he likes power, he also likes the demonstration of power whether his own or his allies’, therefore he likes most intimidation options in general
He approves of intimidating Gimblebok and the gang near the ruins. 
He approves of intimidating or provoking both Aradin and Zevlor at the Druid Grove.
At camp, when discussing preferred methods of death, he approves if Tav tells him "If I die, I'll take you with me." (after first picking "Try it and I'll spill your guts") . He also approves if Tav chooses a method of death (decapitation, knife, poison). Both options show resolve, strength, and freedom in deciding one’s fate. Since Astarion died at the hands of strangers, he values the freedom of choosing how to die. He will disapprove picking the option of letting others decide your death.
He approves if you intimidate the mirror into allowing passage.
[[14]] He is a survivalist character, and therefore, a lot of his approvals are related to elements that will guarantee his life, such as looking for his own freedom, the acceptance of his vampire nature, and the encouragement in looking for strong alliances or keeping alive strong individuals that can be useful as allies. 
He approves of being accepted with his vampire nature and allowing him to feed on Tav’s blood. He keeps approving if Tav defends him during the exchange of opinions in the camp. 
He approves if he has permission to feed on enemies. 
He approves of killing Gandrel. This approval is also mere raw survival.
He approves if during sex, Tav allows him to drink their blood. 
He disapproves of promising Nettie to take Wyvern Poison if you feel symptoms of the Tadpole, since it goes against his survival instinct.
When Lae’Zel is killed by the Gith patrol, he will state in banter that it was a waste since Lae’Zel was a powerful/strong specimen, so clearly he is lamenting the loss of a powerful ally. 
Despite appreciating his freedom, he has explicitly stated that he “would choose servitude over oblivion any day”, showing how extremely survivalist he can be.
[[15]] He likes to find a solution to their tadpole problem using unconventional ways, or at least, using options that may lead him to the twisted solution he needs (which is not exactly being cured of the tadpole, but to control it, he certainly needs more exceptional means)
He approves of telling Auntie Ethel about the tadpole in the Druid Grove simply because she “looks lunatic”.
At first, Astarion disapproves of Raphael's invitation to remove the Tadpole, claiming that he would not change one master for another. However, when the situation starts looking dire, he will approve of the idea, because anything “may be better than Cazador” adding later that he “would choose servitude over oblivion any day.” 
A bit contradictory when he was the first one claiming that Raphael used mind games similar to Cazador’s, games they know they have won before starting.
[[16]] He has a “soft spot” for helping people to escape their masters or killing/rejecting people that can be seen as Masters. However it’s requirement that those escapees could be seen by Aastarion as strong and capable creatures. He would mind little for creatures he sees as underlings. (Weak concept, seeing it with squinted eyes)
He approves of helping Karlach to get rid of the Tyr followers, since they are in fact working for Zariel, Karlach’s previous master. With all what Karlach explained about her past, she certainly qualifies as a strong person who is trying to get rid of her master.
He disapproves of Tav who tells Raphael that they would do anything to remove the Tadpole. This is probably resounding in Astarion: his past bad choice when he was at death's door due to the Gur attack and Cazador appeared to “save” him. He knows that going to that extent has poor results.
Astarion approves of Tav if they say that they won’t become Raphael's pawn (conversation in the camp after the encounter with Raphael). It’s true that when the other options narrow, Astarion starts to consider the possibility of changing a vampiric master for an infernal one.
This post was written on April 2021.
→ For more Astarion: Analysis Series Index
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midday0nightmares · 4 years ago
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16 - changes (m).
previous chapter impending.
m.list.
warnings: this series contains themes of yandere\mafia, blood, mental health. 
⚠️ more trigger warnings inside the text, please skip the tagged part if you are not comfortable, the details mentioned are not important to the story ⚠️.
author note: this is pure fiction and it is not intended to romanticize any of the situations mentioned bellow.
After what seemed like a decade of waiting they return inside.
“Shall we start?” Haechan says as he rubs his hands, you panic not knowing what’s about to happen, your breathing quickens making you feel dizzy and faint, the adrenaline keeping you fully alert.
They exchange looks among themselves before looking at you, “Sera go to my room” jeno orders you. you march to his room, you close the door behind you, you try to steady your breathing, fear had became a tangible force vibrating through your bones, sweat dripped down your back as you try to sit still, uncontrollable amount of tears poured out of your eyes as you felt like the end is nearing you.
You teeth chattered as your body started rocket itself back and forth. adding to your agony, you can’t hear anything of what they were saying, you wince in pain as you feel like you’er about to explode and curl around yourself.
You think about your mother, her warm embrace, how her presence could mend everything, you longed to be held by her, to lay in the safety of her arms, if you were to die you wanted to die in her arms. you were regretting every time you raised your voice, every time she asked you to do something and you didn’t. you wanted to tell her how sorry you are and that you love her, and how much you’er lucky you were her daughter.
                         *
trigger warning
:
suicide and self harm *
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 An idea presents itself into your mind, it has all the right appeals as you come to realize that they will never let go, they have gone too far to let you walk away, they got bold on their hands, your blood. You will never see your family again, the satanic rollercoaster will continue and will only grow crazier.
You make up your mind, the tears stops and your breathing regulates again, you walk to the bathroom and lock the door, you open the cabinet and search for the razorblades. you pick the sharp object feeling a rush of excitement, it horrifies you but lean into the horror, you take a deep breath and wait for calmness and complete acceptances to take over, you take one last breath and press the sharp blade to your wrist. you gasp at the pain as you continue to slice through your flesh, hot blood gushing out, you feel all your pains and hurts being released through the freshly open wound, you watch the blood drip onto the floor as you wait.
A loud knock on the door startles you, “Sera? you in there?” You hear jeno’s voice from behind it. you panic and push the blade deeper into your arm, you whimper at the pain alarming jeno, who now tries to open the door but it’s locked, he bangs on it harder and harder, shouting your name “sera! Open the door” he tries to break it as you watch the pool of blood getting bigger under your feet, you feel light headed, the room is getting darker, your hands and feet are getting colder, your keens collapse and you fall to the ground, you’er almost there, almost free,  jeno manages to break the door and you hear chaos around you, the last thing you remember is your name being called from a distance before it all went silent. 
.
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                                      * trigger warning ends *
You open your eyes again, dazed and confused it takes you a minute before you realize what had happened, what you did, what a disappointment. 
They haven’t noticed have woken up yet, you can only see jeno’s back, hunched over jaemin, who was leaning on the wall, his head was buried in his hands.
“She’ll be fine, the cuts are not that deep” jeno says but jaemin shakes his head, he speaks in a horse, tormented voice “I did this to her, I made her do it I should have listened to you” followed by a shake breath, his cheeks are covers with tears “what if she doesn’t wake up?! What am I going to do then?” he looks at jeno with his puffy tearful eyes, Jeno kept patting his shoulder to comfort him.
He finally notice your open eyes and jumps from his place, he takes a step closer but stops himself when you turn on your side away from him. He cries harder and mutters curses to himself before walking out of the room, jeno comes closer to you and dares to touch you, his hand hold your shoulder and squeeze it “how are you feeling now?”, you close your and sigh wanting to be left alone. He understood your unspoken wish, “I’ll be outside, call me if you need anything” He walks away and leaves the door open, jaemin’s crying echoing through the quiet apartment.
It was noon, the sun golden rays look odd as it shines through the grime atmosphere, you throw the covers and get up, you feel lightheaded at first but you gather your strength, in nothing but one of jeno’s shirts you walk out catching their attention, you feel a sense of relief when you don’t see haechan, you take a seat facing jaemin how is looking at you like you were a miracle, “let me go” you demand, jaemin looks at jeno and back at you before he gets on his knees in front of you, he tries to hold your hands but you pull away form him, he starts sopping again, regret and guilt radiates off of him. 
“Please don’t, I will do better I promise you” he begs, “no you won’t, you are a lair and a heartless monster!” You raise your voice that breaks too quickly, and your tears roll down your face now. He shakes his head and buries his face into your lap, you try to push him away but his arms circle around you and locks you into place, his hot tears staining your bare legs “please please” he begs you as his body was shaking, he’s devastated by what you have attempted to do, the idea of you leaving him seems to terrify him.
“please just give me one more chance and I will prove it to you” he looks up at you, his face too close to yours, his shakes breaths mixes with yours, his eyes are open and vulnerable, tears swimming in them still.
“please” he whispers, as his arms desperately tightness around you.
but do you actually have any other option? unless they let you go, you are not free.
You look at jeno who gives an apologetic look, your bandaged hand moves to wipe jaemin’s tears, you run your fingers through his hair “one chance”, he nods and leans forward to kiss your lips but you turn your head and his lips land on your cheek, it was the first time he kissed you.
 “but things must change” you continue, “they will, haechan will never set a foot in this place again you don’t have to see him ever again” jaemin assures you. He promised you more freedom, more respect, and most importantly he promised to let you continue your education through an online school.
he sat on the floor in front of you, resting his head on your lap as he soaked in your presence as you stroke his hair. 
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idrellegames · 4 years ago
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Wayfarer Public Build 1.0.4 (April 10, 2021) has been released.
THIS IS NOT A CONTENT UPDATE! There are no new major content additions to Chapter 1 from version 1.0.3.
Play the Game
Bug Report
Patreon
This update is purely focused on making tweaks to the UI design and overhauling some of the behind-the-scenes mechanics. Because of the changes to the skill check system, you will need to start a new file (otherwise you will fail all of your skill checks).
Here’s a quick look at some of the major changes:
UI Tweaks and Additions
The Faction and Companion sections of the Journal have been redesigned. They now feature a selection of cards, which you can now click on to view information about that faction or character.
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The Codex page and Codex entries have been tweaked. The Codex page now features boxes that change colour when you hover over a selected entry. The Codex entries themselves have been given a new background.
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I have added a toggle button to turn the handwritten font for letters on and off.
Skill Check Overhaul
The most significant part of this update is in regards to skill checks. The player now starts with a base skill level of 5. The Prologue / Quick Character Creator still gives the player 9 skill points across all choices (2 from your origin, 4 from your Wayfarer master, and 3 individual choices) to increase their skills from the base level.
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Dice rolls and the number required for a successful pass have been reworked. It is now impossible to 100% fail OR 100% succeed a normal skill check (there are still some skill checks that are purposefully easy or difficult than average). There is a level of risk across all regular choices.
For regular skill checks in Act 1:
Level 5 – 40% chance to pass
Level 6 - 45% chance to pass
Level 7 - 50% chance to pass
Level 8 – 55% chance to pass
Level 9 - 60% chance to pass
Level 10 – 65% chance to pass
Level 11 – 70% chance to pass
This new system allows for more flexibility as the player grows their stats. I found the system before encouraged players to continue to grow the stats they were already good at, which would eventually lock them out of choosing certain options entirely because their skill level would be too low. If I am committing to the idea that every choice is a risk, then there cannot be 100% chance of success or 100% chance of failure for regular checks (there will still be times when the story demands higher or lower chances of success and failure).
The player will not be able to see their chance of success before they select an option; however, I am planning on including that as an unlockable trait down the line.
For a full list of changes in this update, please see the changelog below.
Change Log
Content Additions & Changes
Re-wrote the letter the MC receives from their master (it is now a letter specifically from Brissa Varyn)
Added letter titled “A summons from the Grandmaster” to the Codex
Edited some lore in the Rona codex (look for the word greendrift! It’s important!)
Edited some timeline references (the MC and Aeran have been in Rona for six months, Luthais is specifically referred to as a greendrift in place of a street urchin)
Bug Fixes
General typo fixes and small continuity fixes
Fixed a bug where the MC receives +1 Random Stat in the Prologue and proceeded to not receive any stats. They will now receive +1 random stat.
Fixed a bug after the fight with the Count, where if the player executed Rhodarth, the text treated it as if he was still alive and left at the villa
UI Updates
Added a setting that turns off the handwritten font for codex letters
Fixed some issues with the font size settings
Improved font and passage re-sizing on mobile
Attempted to place a “Return to Game” button in the sidebar, but ran into an unfixable issue where the Inventory duplicates when the player clicks “return to game”.
Moved the chapter header to the sidebar. The chapter number and title will now appear above the sidebar menu, rather than in the top right-hand corner of the passage
Removed the Font-Awesome icons next to Saves and Restart, as well as the icons next to Save to Disk, Load from Disk and Delete in the Saves dialogue (these are part of the base SugarCube stylesheet)
Added a new toggle icon for the sidebar
Changed the Save notification icon
Added box shadows to all passages to add more dimension against the background
Added a header box on the Journal pages
Moved the Guide to be accessible from the sidebar right away, rather than from the Journal
Adjusted the sidebar for Combat screens (new combat icon and new background)
Updated the header image on dialogue boxes (Saves, Restart, etc)
Made significant progress on mobile optimization. It’s not 100%, but fonts and headers should resize for smaller viewports. The UI bar cannot be resized without destroying its functionality (not sure why), so it must be collapsed if you’re playing on mobile.
The Settings popup now launches on one of the opening pages after you click “New Game”. This is to ensure players don’t skip over elements that may be helpful for their particular playstyle
Game Mechanics Updates
Skill Gain and Action Key now default to being “on” rather than “off”
Added a tutorial popup in the Prologue that explains skills and skill checks
Lockpicks are now no longer consumables. They are a reusable item, like the grappling hook, and can be used as long as they are in the MC’s inventory.
Added a “Pact Forged” icon to the MC’s dialogue options when they accept their contract from Zenaida (this will also be tracked in their records in the Journal)
Reworked the skill check system for more flexibility (see above for a full explanation). It is now impossible to 100% pass or 100% fail regular skill checks.
Known Issues on Mobile / Smaller Viewports
Scrollbars on dialogue pop ups that contain a lot of text are broken on mobile and can’t scroll all the way to the bottom of the dialogue box (you close the popup, but there is text that gets cut off
Formatting of stat bars doesn’t resize properly on mobile
Hover box on character cards in Companions and Factions section of the journal do not re-size correctly on mobile
The Settings dialogue box changes the text layout on smaller viewports
Dropdown boxes in the Settings do not trigger on mobile
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let-me-luve-you · 4 years ago
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Cancer Battle
Tom Holland x Sister (with the whole Holland clan)
Summary: The reader is diagnosed with cancer, but decides to keep it from her brothers. 
Warnings: angst, cancer treatment, cancer diagnosis, brothers being rude, somewhat of a fluff ending
A/N: I did research on this. I hope I did the correct research. So I apologize if I’m wrong.
MASTERLIST
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This has been the toughest two months of your life. Right when you were due to go over to America with your brothers to visit Tom, you noticed swelling in your neck. So did your mum. She set you up a doctors appointment, and two days later, you found out you had Hodgkin Lymphoma.
After talking with your doctor, you found you were in the early stages. It was still treatable and your chances of beating the cancer were very high. That helped you relax a little, but you were still in shock at hearing the words, “you have cancer.”
You wanted to start treatment right away so you told your brothers to go without you. They weren’t happy with you since you wouldn’t give them the real reason as to why you were staying behind. Every Wednesday morning for the next month, you would go with your mum or dad to the doctors office to do your antibody therapy treatment. You really didn’t want to do chemo or radiation unless it got worse, so you decided this was the next best option.
After four weeks of treatment, all of your brothers came home. Tom was disappointed you didn’t come see him, but he knew you probably had a good reason. He decided to come over to your parents house to hangout with you today. Except today wasn’t a good day. You were sick due to the side effects of the treatment. To those who didn’t know about your treatment, they would just think you had the flu. So when you walked back into your room from the bathroom, you groaned when you saw Tom sitting on the end of your bed.
“Good to see you too, Y/N.” Tom said with an eye roll.
“Hi Tom. Sorry. You might want to leave, I’m sick.” You said trying to keep your distance but you were wanting to lie down so bad.
“Mum told me. Can I get you anything?” He asked sweetly.
“I’m okay for now. Dad went to the store this morning.” You replied and motioned with your finger for him to move. He understood and moved toward your door as you went to lie down. You sighed, content when your body hit the mattress.
“I’m going to go downstairs. Text me if you need anything.” You smiled at him. “Get better soon.”
The next few days, you started feeling better. This is how it was every week. Stuck in bed on Thursday and Friday. Moving around more on Saturday and fully back to your normal self on Sunday. Then you would repeat the process again.
This Wednesday though, you weren’t feeling good. It felt like you couldn’t catch your breath. You had a fever and you could tell you had lost at least twenty pounds since your diagnosis. You got up earlier than normal to talk to your mum. When you walked into the living room, you found all four brothers.
“Hey Y/N. You okay?” Sam asked.
Ignoring his question, you looked around the room. “Where’s mum and dad?”
“Dad has a meeting at ten and mum ran to the store really quick. Said she would be back soon.” Paddy said not looking up from his phone. You nodded and turned to go back to your room to lay down until you had to go to your appointment.
“It’s a good thing you're up though. I have a press tour coming up and we are going to Bali. The three of them are going and I wanted to see if you wanted to come. You didn’t get to go last time so I thought you would enjoy it.” Tom said.
“I would but uh..” You looked around trying to think of an excuse as to why you can’t go. “I’m still getting over this sickness. Wouldn’t be good for me to go.”
“Well good thing it isn’t until next month then.” Harry said with a laugh before he turned serious. “Why are you always bailing on us? You missed the last Bali trip. You skipped last minute to go to America. Now you’re trying to get out of going to Bali again. What’s up with that?”
“I just have a lot going on. It’s not that I don’t want to, I just can’t.” You said.
“Harry has a point though Y/N. It’s like you don’t like us or something. You never go out with us when we are in town either and you won’t let us post photos of you.” Paddy said.
You stood shocked. You didn’t know how to respond, but it didn’t matter since it didn’t seem that your brothers were done.
“Can you tell us if we did something to you so we can fix it?” Tom said trying to be the nice brother like always.
“Come on mate. We didn’t do anything and she knows it. She just hates us.” Harry said with a snarl.
“Must be embarrassed by us. I don’t know why. People love us.” Paddy said. Sam agreed with Paddy and Harry. Tom just didn’t know what to do so he just stayed quiet. He wasn’t trying to make you feel bad, but he did feel rejected by you lately.
“I love you guys and I would never be embarrassed of you. I just have a lot going on.” You said. You were getting worked up and it was making it harder to breathe. You turned and started to leave the room. “Tell mum to come to my room when she gets home.” You started to walk up the stairs and ignored the hateful comments your brothers were whispering about you.
An hour later. Your mum came into the room and saw you laying there asleep. She went to push your hair out of your face and felt how hot you were. She immediately started to panic and tried to wake you up. Thankfully you opened your eyes halfway and saw your mum.
“Mum, somethings not right. I don’t feel good.” You whispered.
“Get up honey. We are going to the doctor.” Nikki said in a rush. She went to help you stand when you fell on the ground. Nikki was worried because you couldn’t hold yourself up. “DOM!” She yelled. “DOM HURRY UP! COME HERE!”
Tom thought he heard his mum call for him and he heard the worry in her voice so he sprinted to where he heard her trying to talk to Y/N. He was shocked when he saw you on the floor.
“Tom I need your help. We have to get her to the hospital now. Help me get her to the car.” Nikki said. Tom stayed staring at your almost lifeless body “TOM!” Nikki snapped to get his attention. Tom immediately went into protective brother mode and ran to you and easily picked you up bridal style and carried you down to Nikki’s car. He laid you in the backseat and then he joined you by putting your head into his lap. Nikki ran to the driver's seat and rushed to the hospital.
“Mum, what’s wrong with her?” He asked.
“I’m not sure.” Nikki answered honestly. If it hadn't been for the swollen glands, Nikki would have thought you were healthy as a horse. Now with the treatments, it always pained her to see her only daughter struggling with the illness. Once they got to the emergency room, Nikki started telling the ER doctor everything. Tom paled when he heard the word cancer. He looked up at his mum to see if what she said was true. When the doctors took you in the back to run test, Nikki finally turned to her oldest and saw him shaking.
“Cancer?” He whispered. If Nikki hadn’t been standing so close, she wouldn’t have heard him. She gently wrapped an arm around Tom and guided him to sit in a chair. Tom stayed latched to his mum as he cried for his little sister. “Wha- how- when? When did she find out?” Tom asked many minutes later once he stopped crying.
“Before the America trip.” Nikki said. “She’s been doing treatments once a week since. The treatments make her sick. That’s why you found her like she was last Thursday.”
“I had no idea.” Tom said more to himself. “That’s why she didn’t want to go to Bali.”
“Yeah. She wants to stay home until the cancer’s gone. She has a high survival rate, Tom. She didn’t want any of you to worry. That’s why she didn’t tell you.”
As Tom went to say something a doctor interrupted. “Mrs. Holland, Y/N is in a room now. You can go sit with her while we wait for the results. Since Dr. Hammon is the one treating her, she will be here to overlook her during her stay.” Nikki nodded and grabbed Tom’s hand. They followed the doctor to Y/n's room where she looked so tiny on her bed. She had an IV in and was sleeping soundly.
“We gave her some medicine to bring her fever down. She should wake up soon.”
“Thank you doctor.” Nikki said as he walked away. She turned to Tom, “I’m going to go call your father. Sit with her please.”
“Of course.” Tom said before grabbing your hand and sitting in the chair next to your bed. Tom grabbed his phone with his other hand. He quickly added Harry, Sam, and Paddy to a group text.
T: Hospital. Room 135. Waiting on the results for Y/N. We need to talk.
H: WTF?! Is she okay? Is that where you went. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.
T: Yeah. Had to help mum. Just hurry. She should have everyone here for her.
S: Called into work and got the day off. Will be there soon.
P: Harry and I are on our way too. Be there shortly.
By the time all the brothers arrived, Dom was walking into the room as well. Nikki had already spoken with Dr. Hammon and got the news of why Y/N reacted that way. Nikki decided now was the time to tell everyone the severity of it.
“Okay guys. Y/N wanted to keep this a secret, but I no longer can. She has Hodgkin Lymphoma. Her and I noticed swelling in her neck before she was going to the states so I took her to the doctor. She was diagnosed a couple days later. That’s why she didn’t go with you boys on the trip. She’s been undergoing treatment every week to help kill the cancer.” Nikki said looking at all of her sons. “I just talked with the doctor. The bad news is she doesn’t think the antibody therapy is working. She thinks it would be best to try chemotherapy next so the cancer doesn’t spread. The good news is, the cancer hasn’t spread.”
Dom visibly relaxed at hearing that news. He was thankful you were as okay as you could be. “Did she say why she reacted this way. Why did she almost pass out?” Dom asked.
“She said her body was working in overdrive to kill the cancer cells.  Her fever got too high. Now that her fever is down, she’ll be back to her old self.”
“Old self?” Tom scoffed. “Mum she’s been sick more times than she’s been feeling okay. There’s no old self in that.”
“This is her new normal for a bit. Until she defeats the cancer, this is her old self.” Nikki responded.
You groaned and tried to open your eyes. Nikki and Dom rushed to one side as Tom rushed to your other. Tom ran his hand over your head. You turned and slowly opened your eyes and met Tom’s brown ones.
“What happened? Where am I?” You asked, confused.
“Your fever got too high. Me and mum rushed you here. You’re okay now.” Tom said. You turned to see your mum next to you with your dad.
“They know sweety.” She said. You closed your eyes for a second and turned to look at Tom again.
“I’m sorry for keeping this from you.” You said.
“Don’t be. I’m just glad you’re okay now. And I’ll be here every step of the way to help you fight.” He kissed your forehead. The rest of your brothers came up to you.
“I’m sorry Y/N/N for saying you hated us.” Harry said.
“I’m sorry too.” Sam said.
“I’m sorry as well.” Paddy said.
“It’s okay you guys. I’m sorry for not telling you. Just didn’t want you to worry. You guys have a lot going on in your life. Didn’t need to add this to the list of things you were stressing over.”
“We will always worry about you, healthy or not. You’re my baby sister. I never want you to think you have to go through something like this alone.” Tom said.
“I’ll sit with you at treatments.” Harry said.
“I’ll hangout with you when you don’t feel well at home.” Paddy said.
“I’ll make all of your favorites and I’ll make you soup.” Sam said.
You smiled at your brothers and thanked them. You were glad you had such an amazing support group to back you in this fight.
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sleepysnk · 4 years ago
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i decided to make a sequel to Ditched! this part is actually based of an event that happened to me in real life! i tried my best to put my personal experience into words, i hope you all enjoy the sequel! :)
I Waited For You
Pairings: Eren Jaeger x Fem!Reader
Warnings: Slight angst
Ditched
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Ever since Eren and (Y/N) met each other that night they have been inseparable.
The two talked every night ever since that day, they spent hours on facetime talking or laughing about their days, or meeting up for some coffee or just going for a nice drive. They always found time to speak to one another.
Eren helped (Y/N) with her ex, he listened to the stories she had about how badly he treated her and gave her ways to distract herself from the bad thoughts. He understood how badly she took the breakup, especially since she got cheated on. He also helped her get through to her friends, something she couldn't necessarily do before. She ended up dropping those so called "friends" and found a better crowd. All thanks to Eren.
(Y/N) listened to Eren as well, she spent many nights listening to his stories about the girls he spoke to, or the famous on and off girlfriend he had for awhile. She helped him bring out a better side of himself, she assured him that people come and go, but to never loose hope.
Here they were, two weeks into talking. Eren liked her, he knew it wasn't a good idea to like her so quickly, but he couldn't resist. (Y/N) was beautiful, smart, kind, sweet, adventurous. It was everything he wanted in a girl. Not to mention how they clicked so fast on a lot of things.
(Y/N) on the other hand, wasn't sure if she even wanted to date Eren.
She wasn't exactly healed from all of it, she still had some nights where she would cry into her pillow thinking about how much her ex hurt her. She still was dealing with it emotionally, and that was the hardest part of it all. (Y/N) liked Eren, but she wasn't sure if her own feelings were 100%. She didn't want to start a new relationship if she wasn't totally healed from her past, she knew it wouldn't work well.
She wanted to communicate it with him as well as she could, because she didn't want it to seem like she was leading him on or playing with his feelings. That's the opposite of what she wanted.
Here she was in a coffee shop, it was their favorite. Eren actually took her there the second time they hung out, and she enjoyed it a lot.
(Y/N) planned to tell him what was going on. She had support from her friend Historia, she told (Y/N) that it was the best option. If she were to lie it wouldn't end well for her nor Eren, she assured her that he should understand where she was coming from.
(Y/N)'s hands were around the warm cup of coffee. She shook her leg nervously.
Her eyes looked up to see Eren entering the coffee shop, he smiled as he made his way over. She couldn't help but admire the way he looked, his hair was tied into a bun, he wore a black sweater with some black sweats. He looked bummy but so good.
"Hey! It's good to see you," Eren said, taking the seat in front of her.
(Y/N) smiled, looking down her hands. "It's good to see you too," she replied. "How are you?" she asked, nodding her head.
Eren sighed. "Eh.. I'm doing good, I had some really hard exams last week but that's about it. How about you?" he replied, looking at her.
She shrugged her shoulders, looking at his green eyes. "I'm okay I guess," she said, running her nail down her coffee cup.
"You told me you wanted to talk about something? I actually wanted to talk about something as well," he said, smiling a bit.
Her heart skipped a beat seeing his smile. "Um yeah! I wanted to talk to you about something important, if you don't mind." she said, shifting around in her seat.
Eren shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweater. "I'm all ears," he said, leaning back in the chair.
A nervous sigh came out of her as she looked up at Eren, her expression serious. "Look Eren.. these past two weeks have been great! You've helped me a ton with my issues and I'm really glad to have met you," she said, smiling a bit.
"Yeah I agree too! I'm glad we met," Eren replied, nodding his head.
"But... Eren the thing is, I don't think we should become serious right now. I care about you a ton but I'm not ready for anything at the moment, I'm still healing from my ex and I don't want to hop into anything without being 100%" she explained, looking down.
It was silent between them.
Eren sat up, a sigh came from his throat. "Um.. yeah, I understand. Thanks for being honest.." he said, standing up.
She furrowed her brows. "Where are you going?" she asked.
He looked down at her, she could see the disappointment in his eyes. "I gotta go. I'm meeting with Armin, but um.. it was nice talking to you," he said, giving a small smile. "I hope you can get better and fix yourself," he added, patting her shoulder.
(Y/N) nodded as she watched him walk out of the coffee shop. She could tell that he was upset, but he took it better than she expected. She felt the sting of her heart when she saw his eyes and how disappointed he seemed, but there wasn't much she could do. She needed to work on herself before anything.
She watched Eren drive off for the final time.
-
Almost a month had went by since (Y/N) last talked to Eren that day at the coffee shop. She hadn't really spoken to him much since whenever they did talk, it would be short and not much conversation would even happen between the two.
Things weren't good on both sides.
(Y/N) was feeling a bit better about her ex, she did a lot of self care to fix herself and even vented to Historia and her girlfriend Ymir about the whole situation. It helped a ton and they gave her some advice on how to fully let go of the situation. They told her being on her own and surrounded by people who care was the best way to find peace.
She also explained her situation with Eren, of course they agreed that she did the right thing. Dating Eren while still processing a bad breakup would have been hell and it wouldn't be healthy. Historia told her that she should get out there when she felt ready.
She felt like she was in a better spot than she was a month ago, but she couldn't shake the thoughts about Eren.
Truth is, she missed him so much.
She missed everything about the boy. From his random facetime calls, to his jokes, the way he smelled, everything. She missed Eren a lot, but she couldn't ever find herself just hitting him up out of the blue. She didn't want to come off as the girl who comes back when she's finally okay, she felt like Eren wouldn't like that. Plus what if he moved on? What if he found somebody else?
Eren on the other hand wasn't doing well. He missed (Y/N) even more than she missed him. He'd occasionally check his phone seeing if she messaged him or he'd contemplate picking up the phone and calling her. He'd never actually end up doing it.
His feelings for her didn't change. He liked her still and even if he tried to find someone else, they wouldn't be the same.
The day he left the coffee shop was hard. He ended up sulking in his room all day, a few tears escaped his cheeks feeling the frustration from it all. He wished that her ex didn't fuck her up. She deserved so much better than that.
Eren wondered sometimes how she was doing, was she doing better? Did her ex come back? So many questions yet very little answers. He cut some contact because he didn't want his hopes to get too high, he didn't want to go through it again just for it to fail.
In a way, he felt like he was waiting for her. Waiting for that text message or phone call, he just wanted to hear her voice again, see her smile, anything.
-
"(Y/N)! Where are you!?" Historia yelled, opening the door to her apartment.
(Y/N) opened her bedroom door, seeing her friend standing there in her kitchen. "Historia? What are you doing here? It's kind of late," she asked, walking towards the blonde girl.
She nodded. "You didn't get my text? Ugh stupid phone. Anyway, do you want to come to a party? Ymir thought I should ask you," she said, looking down at her phone.
A party? Last time she went to a party was when she met.. nevermind.
"I don't know Hisu.. I feel like I'm too boring for that," she replied, shrugging her shoulders.
Historia looked up surprised. "Huh? (Y/N) you're not boring! You're a lot of fun. Come on! You're always at home, you need some fun." she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Let loose! Get some drinks in your system," she added.
(Y/N) leaned against the counter. "I don't even have much time anyway. It probably starts in an hour," she said.
"It starts at nine! Come on, I bet we can find something for you to wear. I won't ditch you either like those asshole friends you had before," she said, taking her hand and guiding her towards her room.
(Y/N) plopped down on her bed as she watched Historia open her closet. "Cute skirt! We just need a top," she said, tossing the white skirt onto her bed.
"I just wanna watch All American tonight," she groaned, laying down on her bed.
Historia looked back at her. "Why watch football guys when you can find one for yourself?" she asked, giggling a bit. "Here! This is a cute top," she added, showing her the light blue body suit.
(Y/N) sat up, scratching the back of her head. "Ugh, fine." she said, coming to grab the outfit. "I hope this party is actually fun," she mumbled, heading towards the bathroom.
She threw on the outfit, eyeing herself in the mirror. It had been a long time since she's gone out, she hoped it would be a decent night.
She opened the bathroom door. "What do you think?" (Y/N) asked, looking at Historia who was sitting on her bed.
"I love it! You look so good! Let's get going!" she yelled excitedly.
She put on her shoes and exited her apartment with Historia. Nervousness bubbled in her stomach as she got into the car, she hoped the party would be fine.
-
Arriving to the party, (Y/N) felt her nerves rising. She didn't know who the person was hosting the party, Historia said it was come guy named Jean who was hosting it. She didn't know a Jean, so she assumed it was one of Historia's friends from college.
Stepping inside the house she was smacked in the face with the smell of alcohol and marijuana, her nose scrunched as the odor filled her nose. People danced to the loud music or sat on the couches sipping drinks or kissed with each other.
"Come on!" Historia yelled, guiding (Y/N) through the crowds of people.
She looked around the kitchen as Historia ran towards Ymir. "You guys finally made it," Ymir said, hugging Historia tightly.
"Yeah.. sorry! I had to get (Y/N) ready," Historia said, looking over at her.
She stood awkwardly as she didn't know anybody at the party. "Here, I got you this. You seem a little nervous," Ymir said, handing her a red solo cup with red liquid in it.
(Y/N) looked down at the cup. "Are you sure?" she asked, looking at her friend with concern.
She scoffed. "(Y/N) just let loose, me and Historia are here if you get shit faced. Have some fun," she said, patting her shoulder.
She nodded, taking a sip of the drink. Her face twisted as the alcohol filled her mouth, burning as it went down her throat. It was strong, it tasted fruity. Jungle juice wasn't her favorite, but it'll do than having shitty shots and having a bad hangover.
(Y/N) leaned against the counter as a few people came over to talk to Historia and Ymir, her mind was too clouded with thoughts of boredom to even pay attention to what they were saying.
"(Y/N)!" her thoughts were broken by Ymir snapping her fingers in her face.
She shook her head. "Sorry! I zoned out.. what's up?" she asked, blinking a bit.
Ymir chuckled a bit. "I gotta go with Historia to the bathroom. You can come with if you'd like," she said.
She nodded. "I'm fine, I'll just wait here." she replied, swirling her drink around.
"Alright! We'll be back," Historia said, waving a bit as she walked away with Ymir.
(Y/N) sat on the counter staring into space, her mind kept wandering to that night she got ditched and met Eren. She would do anything to relive that night again, the way he looked, to the way his hair blew around his face when the windows were rolled down. She wanted to see him again.
Her eyes averted upwards, looking around at the different people who were dancing or messing around.
That's when her eyes landed on the figure leaning against the wall.
Brown hair in a manbun, sweats, a hoodie, and a drink in his hand.
It was Eren.
It was almost like her breath got caught in her throat, she felt her heart beginning to race and her palms began to get sweaty. What was the coincidence he was here at the same party as her? Should she approach him? What if he doesn't want to see her?
That's when his eyes landed on her. His brows raised, he leaned up off the wall.
"(Y/N)! We're back! Do you wanna go play some beer pong?" Ymir asked, nodding at her.
She looked towards Ymir and blinked. "Um.. sure! I'll just watch," she replied, hopping off the counter.
She couldn't help but feel Eren's eyes boring into her head. She wanted to talk to him, hear his voice, but something in her made her nervous. She made her way down the stairs as there was a table set with beer pong, a boy with a shaved head was playing with another boy with blonde hair.
"Haha! Get that Reiner! I win!" the shaved head boy yelled, laughing at his friend.
"Oh shut it Connie," the blonde replied, crossing his arms and walking away towards the couch.
(Y/N) felt a lump her throat as she leaned against the wall, Eren was here. He was here and she knew he might try to find her, the room felt stuffy and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Why was she so nervous? Was it the fact that her and Eren ended off awkward terms and seeing him for the first time made her nervous?
"Hey um.. I'm gonna go outside," (Y/N) said, standing up.
Ymir and Historia looked over at her. "Okay! Be careful," Historia replied, smiling at her. "Text me when you wanna come back," she added.
(Y/N) smiled and went up the stairs. She opened the front door and walked outside, she breathed in the cool night air. It felt better than being in the stuffy room. Her nerves were high as the memory of Eren played in her head, what was she going to do? She couldn't exactly avoid him! That would seem wrong considering she didn't want to cut him off.
"Ugh.. what am I going to do?" she asked, staring down at the floor.
"So you came out here too huh?"
Her body froze as she knew who's voice that was. She turned around to see Eren standing against the wall, he held the red solo cup in his hand.
"Eren.." she said, feeling her heart racing.
He smiled a bit. "I never thought I'd ever see you again," he said, stepping a bit closer towards her. "How have you been?" he asked.
(Y/N) fidgeted her fingers a bit. "Um.. I've been okay, what about you?" she replied.
He sighed. "I could be better, dealing with classes has been difficult. I was surprised to see you here, do you know Jean?" he asked, nodding his head.
She laughed a bit. "No I came here with a friend," she replied, looking up at his green eyes.
Eren shook his head, sitting up on the railing in front of the porch. "How has everything been going? It's been awhile since we last talked," he said, swinging his legs a bit.
The way he looked made her cheeks feel hot, she forgot about how cute he was close up.
"Um I've been actually doing better! Historia and Ymir helped me a lot. The process was hard, but I feel better now," she replied, smiling at him.
Eren's heart swelled seeing her smile. "That's great.. I'm happy for you really. You deserve the happiness," he said, putting his solo cup on the railing. "I just want to apologize for not reaching out or speaking to you. Believe me I wanted to, but I wasn't sure if it was fine with you." he added, rubbing the back of his neck.
(Y/N) looked up at him. "Don't apologize, considering the way things ended I kind of expected you to drift a bit." she said, leaning against the wall.
He nodded. "What do you mean? (Y/N) I wasn't mad at you, I just put distance between us because- nevermind. Just know that I don't hate you," he said, smiling a bit. "Your situation was understandable, what was going on was difficult. I see why you did it," he added.
She swallowed thickly as the tension between them began to get thick.
"Oh shit.. did I make you uncomfortable? I'm sorry I didn't mean to," Eren said, standing up and walking over to her.
She looked up at him. "What? No, Eren don't worry you're fine. It's just... I have something to tell you and I don't know how to say it," she said.
His eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "What is it? You can tell me anything," he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.
(Y/N) let out a shaky breath. "Eren.. I still like you." she said. "I always have and I've missed you so so much," she added, looking down at the ground.
Eren's eyes went wide hearing her words. "You do?" he asked, nodding. "(Y/N)... I missed you too and I still like you. I never got over you," he added, smiling.
Her head shot up hearing his words. "What? Wait.. Eren you don't have to lie or say it out of pity," she said, shaking her head a bit.
He grabbed her hands and squeezed them. "(Y/N) I'm not lying to you. I would never lie to someone like you ever, fuck I was so messed up not talking to you everyday. I want to make you my girlfriend and make you forget all that bad shit your ex did to you," he said, cupping her cheek.
She smiled, feeling heat rush onto her cheeks. "That sounds perfect.." she said, staring into his eyes.
They stared at each other for a moment, before Eren pressed his lips onto hers. He put his arms around her, pulling her close. (Y/N) put her arms around his neck, feeling his soft lips on hers.
He pulled away smiling as he kissed her cheek. "I've waited so long to finally kiss you. I waited to finally have this moment," he said, cupping her cheek.
She felt her heart flutter at his words. "You waited all this time for me?" she asked, feeling heat on her cheeks.
He smiled. "I did.. I never gave up," he replied, kissing her cheek again. "What do you say we get out of here and catch up? I missed having you in my car," he asked, nodding.
She giggled. "That sounds great! Let me just text my friends," she said, taking her phone out to message Historia.
Eren fished in his pockets for his keys. She sent the message and took his hand as he lead her to his car, she smiled as she got in, feeling the memories replaying in her head as she adjusted herself in her seat.
"McDonald's?" Eren asked, smirking a bit.
She giggled. "Sounds great," she replied, taking his hand into hers.
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a-wildemusing · 4 years ago
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The Three of Us: Sugar Daddy. 
word count: 1291
genre: fluff, humor?. Kenma x platonic!reader, Kuroo x Platonic!reader. there is a a little time skip and if you squint, it seems like it could be a kenma and y/n might have a thing but its very slight. 
warnings: nothing I can think of. probably any mistakes.  You and Kuroo play fight a couple of times. 
summary: Y/n exhausted from having to go to school, working their part time job, and doing some side gigs. They tell Kuroo and Kenma that a solution to their money problems is to get a sugar daddy. 
a/n: this is part of a series I’m doing, called the Three of Us. Its made up events and adventures with being best friends with Kuroo and Kenma. Very just slice of life kind of stuff.  Hope you enjoy! 
The Three of Us.✨ Masterlist ✨
--
“Okay, but let’s be real. I just have to remind myself that this is all going to be worth it.” You dramatically fall onto Kenna’s bed. Just overall exhausted from school and working your part-time job and doing some side gigs for extra money. 
Trying to save money for university has been a priority for you. The family is probably able to help, and there are many scholarships and financial aid options. All of that was still so worrisome. In addition, you also still had an additional year because you were a second-year student. But you couldn’t help but overthink and stress out.  
A sigh escapes you.  Kuroo leans back from the small table he and Kenma were studying from the floor. 
“Hey, hey. Listen Y/n. Everything is going to be okay... You are doing great so far. Your grades are good and you've been saving up.” 
You smiled at everything Kuroo was saying.
He grinned and added, "Plus, I'm stressing out myself and your stress is making me even more stressed out. So I need you to stop. You are also beginning to get wrinkles. There's one right there." Kuroo teased and poked your face gently. 
Those earlier smiles no longer exist, and you deadpanned. Kenma’s pillow is a weapon you use against Kuroo. And hit him in the back of the head. After a little playfight, you forgot about your worries a little bit. 
Taking a break from studying, Kenma looks at both of you sighing. 
“Y/n. I think you shouldn’t worry too much. You might get sick from all the stress. And I don’t want you getting sick.” Kenma tells you. 
“Awe! See Kuroo. At least Kenma cares about me.” You smile at Kenma. 
“Yeah but it’s only because I don’t want to take care of you if you get sick. You’re dramatic.” You gasped. And throw the pillow at Kenma. He catches it. Kuroo is laughing and you start laughing too. 
“Wow, I feel so attacked right now. I didn’t know it was bully Y/n day today.” You pretend to be offended.  
The three of you laughed together. Stress was long forgotten. Then a thought pops into your head. 
“The answer to my money problems just came to me!” You shouted. As the laughter died down. Kenma and Kuroo both looked at you. "I should find a Sugar Daddy!” Kuroo laughs more fiercely than before, almost cackling. Kenma also laughed, but not as hard. 
“Yeah right! Like anyone would want you as their sugar baby.” Kuroo finally can say. 
“Whatever!” As you play-fight with Kuroo again, you say, "I was joking." 
Kenma looks at his two closest friends, he lightly sighs, shaking his head.  
After the laughter has died down again. There's a comfortable silence among the three of you. While you look through your phone, the other two continue to study. 
Another thought springs into your head. You laughed a little at this.  
“Okay, but listen Kenma just radiates sugar daddy vibes.” 
 “Wait, what about me?” Kuroo said, almost offended.
Kenma turns his gaze to you. Blushing a bit.  
“What do you mean?” Kenma finally speaks. 
“Kuroo. Come on, think about it. I’m pretty sure we will get good jobs and incomes or whatever after high school...But Kenma..” You got off the bed and sat down next to Kuroo. “Just think about it.” 
Kuroo and you looked at each other, then back at Kenma, then at each other again. Then everything becomes clear. 
“Kenma! Please be our sugar daddy!” You and Kuroo shout in unison. Both of you are trying to tease your friend. 
“No,” Kenma deadpans and tries to go back to studying. 
“Oh come on! At least be mine.” You softly nudge Kenma’s leg with your foot. 
Before Kenma could respond. Kuroo and you were messing around again. The night continued until it was time to part ways. Kenma reflected on your words that night.  
*years later after high school*
It’s been a while since you saw Kenma. Kenma was busy with his YouTube videos while you were attending university. He was also getting into other things, but you didn't have the opportunity to ask him about them yet. A majority of the interactions were via text message or brief telephone calls. All three of you tried planning more outings and just spending more time together. Tonight Kenma and you hung out alone. As Kuroo's job required overtime, he was working long hours. Recently he was hired to be part of the Japanese Volleyball Association's Sports Promotion Division. That's why he couldn't make it this time. 
“Kenma, I already told you I could pay. I'll pay." You reached for the check, smiling. Kenma always offered to pay for you and brought you things. All you wanted to do was repay him in a way for all those times. About to grab the check, your hand lingered on it.
“No, I got this. I mean I am your sugar daddy aren’t I?” You felt the heat rushed to your face. 
“Kenma!” You whispered loudly. Glancing at the neighboring tables at the restaurant. Checking if anyone heard him. He took this distraction to move your hand from the check.
Kenma smirked, “What did you forget?” 
You remembered that night when you were both still in high school. Remembering that you asked Kenma to be your sugar daddy. 
“No…” You blushed. 
You and Kenma ended up just splitting the check. After leaving the restaurant, you both stood outside trying to decide what to do next. As you pondered what Kenma said, your mind was cluttered. There was a slight sense of guilt, thinking about all the times Kenma brought things for you and bought snacks and other things for you. There was no one-sidedness to it, you knew. However, you couldn't help but overthink what if it were true. The idea that he was a sugar daddy was a joke. That he should be your sugar daddy was a joke.  
“Do you have room for dessert? I’m kind of craving something sweet.” Kenma says about to start walking. 
You grab his arm. “You know I was joking right?” 
“About what?” He turned and looked at you then it clicked, “Oh. About the sugar daddy thing? It’s no big deal. I don’t mind.” 
“But Kenma…” Your hand slowly slid down from his arm to his hand. Your hand is now lingering close to his hand. Fingers almost touching. “I just-I wasn’t using you or anything like that it was all a joke-
“Y/n.” Kenma cut you off, sensing you overthinking. “I know you were joking. But I still wanted to do those things for you. You are one of my closest friends. I didn’t mind paying for you at times.” 
He continued, “And since you worked so hard since we were kids, and I don't spend much money anyway, I wanted to be a little bit helpful to you. And I didn’t want you to be stressed out about money anymore. And well, like I said before I didn’t want to take care of you if you got sick from the stress.” Kenma smiled at you. 
You smiled back. Kenma interlaces your fingers with his and closes the gap between your hands. Your cheeks blushed. 
“Come on,” Kenma says and walks alongside you. As you walk beside him, you look at him and then forward. 
"But dessert is on me!" You tell him, “Plus, you would have taken care of me either way.”
“Sure.” He says teasingly. You give him a slight bump with your shoulder. 
Kenma laughs slightly, he smiles. Kenma rubs the back of your hand with his thumb, still keeping your hand interlocked with his. Despite your blushing, you remained silent. That's new, you thought.
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seijorhi · 4 years ago
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Ok so YouTube keeps recommending anime clips from that one rent a girlfriend anime and now all I can think of is reader renting a boyfriend just to have yandiere bokuto or maybe hajime become infatuated with her and immediately touching her way more than what the contract has written on it 💦
I am on a Fukurodani kick this week, so let’s go with our darling boy Bokuto 😌
Once again Rhi learns that she is actually incapable of creating a ‘short drabble’
TW implied non-con
It’s embarrassing. You can’t even get a date to your ex boyfriend’s wedding. The fact that you’re even going to your ex’s wedding is bad enough as it is- you’d tried to wriggle out of it, but considering the girl he’s marrying is your cousin, your attendance is apparently ‘not optional’ according to your family.
But you’ll be damned if you show up to watch them tie the knot alone. Finding a date however, is more difficult than you think. Your male friends are either busy, taken, already going with somebody else or close enough with your ex that he’d know you were just bringing them along for show. Basically, you’re screwed. It’s not even that you want to prove that you can one-up him - it’s the pity he’ll give you. He thinks he ruined your life when he left (he didn’t) and that you’re still desperately pining for him (you’d rather throw yourself off a cliff than get back together with him).
It starts as a joke with a friend, you’re both a few wines deep, bemoaning your struggles when she suggests those Craigslist’s ads. “You know, the whole rent a boyfriend for a night thing, and then when you meet he’s actually kinda cute, and then you kiss him as part of the act but you both secretly want more and then you guys end up sleeping together and then-”
Ok, she’s clearly had one or two more than you, because that is definitely not how those stories go, but it does get you thinking. You’re not going to use Craigslist - you value your life and safety thank you very much - but there are sites out there that offer those... services.
Which is what leads you to Bokuto. The website seems reputable enough - at least for a boyfriend for hire kind of a deal, and the reviews don’t look too frightening. Actually, they’re glowing, and maybe that’s what gives you the final push to arrange a ‘consultation’ with the man.
“It’s an overnight thing,” you tell him over the FaceTime call, only for your eyes to widen and your cheeks burn as you realise what it sounds like you’re implying. “Not that I’m asking you for sex! I’m not, I know that’s against the rules, it’s just that-”
He cuts you off with a warm laugh, “Don’t worry about it. Overnight is fine, though we do charge extra for that.” You’d expected as much - at this point you value your pride more than you care about the small fortune you’re going to end up forking out for this whole thing. “Just tell me exactly what you’re wanting out of this, what you are and aren’t comfortable with, and then I guess we can start talking about how we met, come up with some meet cute story that’ll make everyone else super jealous.” He winks and your heart skips a beat.
The call that’s supposed to last twenty minutes goes on for almost an hour, but you feel strangely relieved when it’s done. Well, relieved and maybe even a little excited? Bokuto’s attractive and funny and he didn’t seem like a creep. It’s a ridiculously stupid idea, and you should probably be horrified that you’re even considering it, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
He arrives at your place on time, which you count as a win, looking particularly fine in a nice suit with a tie that compliments the colour of your dress (as you’d discussed). He’s somehow managed to reduce you to a blushing and stammering mess as you sign the paperwork - and he hasn’t even done anything yet.
“Relax, baby,” he says, grabbing your hand and bringing it up to his lips for a kiss. “I’m gonna take good care of you tonight, just follow my lead.” His smile is beaming, but there’s a flicker of unease at the affectionate gesture. You’d agreed that posing as a ‘couple’ meant you’d have a show a little bit of PDA, but you’d thought he’d at least wait until you were actually at the wedding to start...
But he’s probably just trying to ease you into it. It has to look natural between the two of you, right?
To say that your family are impressed in an understatement. He’s tall, fit and handsome, and there’s this kind of bright, shining exuberance that just seems to draw people in. He’s like a puppy, almost - a super friendly golden retriever desperate for cuddles, and it’s sweet. Dutifully he sticks by your side the entire time. A little too close, maybe - following you every time you go to get a top up of your drink or a bite more food, reaching out to take your hand in his, but you suppose he’s just playing his part.
And he’s more than aware of your ex, who seems mighty interested in your new boyfriend, particularly for a man on his wedding day. You’ve just finished the entree course when all of a sudden Bokuto grabs your chin and tilts you back into a kiss, his tongue sliding between your lips to deepen it as you gasp in surprise. It only last for a moment, but when he pulls away there’s a distinctly satisfied look on his face. Your stomach twists into a knot, your cheeks warming under his heated gaze. You know that you said kissing was okay, inevitable at some point, but... it just took you a bit by surprise.
“What was that for?” you ask him quietly, trying not to frown as he toys idly with your fingers.
“Hm? Oh, your ex has been staring at us for the past five minutes. Figured I’d give him something to look at.”
It wasn’t a bad kiss by any stretch of imagination, but you can’t deny that it made you a little uncomfortable.
You know he’s only doing what you both agreed on, so you push down on those feeling and offer him a small smile and a nod, “Just, maybe warn me next time?”
He leans over and pecks your cheek, “Of course, baby.”
You choose to let the endearment slide.
It only gets worse as the night wears on. Bokuto’s reluctant to let you slip too far away. When your friends swarm to try and get you to come dance with them, Bokuto follows. He pouts when you ignore him in favour of dancing with the girls, and the very moment they turn their attention, he’s resting his chin on your shoulder, arms looping around your waist.
“Dance with me,” he whines, and you fight back a sigh.
He holds you close as you sway with the music, his broad hands resting just south of what’s considered appropriate, but you have to keep reminding yourself that he’s playing the role of your boyfriend, and if he really was your boyfriend, you wouldn’t be making such a fuss.
But when those hands start to wander, fingers grazing your sides, a hand dipping to rest on the curve of your ass, you have to put a stop to it. You don’t want to cause a scene, not when you can feel the eyes of the groom burning a hole in your back, but this doesn’t feel right anymore. He’s not exactly breaking any of the rules you set out, but there’s clearly been some miscommunication, because this is pushing right past your boundaries. “I just need some air,” you tell him with a tight smile, prying his arms off of you so you can make a hasty escape.
It’s both a blessing and a curse that you’ve booked a room in the hotel. You’re not relying on him to get you home, but there is absolutely no way in hell that you’re feeling comfortable enough to spend the night with him in the rooms you’ve booked - adjoining or not. It’s not his fault, you rationalise as you wait for the elevator, key in hand. Maybe this is how all of his engagements go - but fake boyfriend or not, he’s still a stranger, and this whole night has been too much.
You figure that you’ll slip away now, call an Uber back into town. There has to be a bus or something you can catch the rest of the way back home, even at this time of the night. You’ll text him once you’re on your way, letting him know that he’s welcome to the room (both of them, if he wants - they’re already paid for) and that he can expect the rest of his payment tomorrow as agreed. This was a bad idea, but you’re not going to be a bitch about it. You just want it over and done with.
You’re halfway through changing out of your dress when there’s an insistent knocking at your door. It must be your mother, you figure, or maybe one of your friends who saw you all but flee the dance floor downstairs, so you hastily re-do the zipper and try and right yourself before answering the door.
A pair of hooded, golden eyes greet you. Bokuto is grinning lazily, leaning up against the doorway with an arm braced against the frame, boxing you in. You hadn’t realised earlier just how big he really was - not just tall, but muscular - he dwarfs you without even trying.
He barges into the room before you can even try to protest, kicking the door firmly shut behind him.
“If you wanted to ditch so bad, baby, all ya had to do was say so.”
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barbwritesstuff · 4 years ago
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Hello everyone.
This post is going to talk about a particular issue with the sex scenes in Blood Moon, in particular trans inclusive choices. I’m going to use explicit language to talk about these scenes. If you’re a player that isn’t interested in sexually explicit content (and I know some of you aren’t), feel free to skip this post.
As many of you probably know, Chapter Six of Blood Moon contains the first three sex scenes of the game. I was very nervous writing these, and I really tried hard to make them dynamic, inclusive, and respectful. This is a big part of the reason why it took two months to write Chapter Six, instead of just one.
I’ve gotten a lot of feedback regarding these sex scenes. The vast majority of that feedback has been positive, which is a tremendous relief. However, shortly after posting the update, it quickly became clear that some choices were confusing some people.
In particular, the ‘condom choice’.
To specify, as a way to try to be trans inclusive in my sex scenes, and not break the narrative flow of the story, I asked players if their character needed a condom.
So, for example, when a player is having sex with Shawnie they will be given this choice:
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If, and only if, they select the bottom of these three options, they will (after some text) be presented with this choice:
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This was presented to all players, regardless of the gender they selected at the start of the game. It was my way of trying to be trans inclusive, without asking the ‘do you have a penis?’ question, which I thought would be awkward and ruin the mood.
A similar choice appears in Vicky’s sex scene. Marco’s sex scene doesn’t have a choice like this, because the sexual activity performed in that scene works no matter the player’s sex organs.
Unfortunately, a small number of people playing female characters reported the ‘condom choice’ as a bug.
I explained that it wasn’t a bug, and most people were accepting of this, though some said they’d rather that choice be elsewhere. I considered this but rejected the idea. I didn’t want to put this choice elsewhere, as I don’t want to ask players about their character’s sex organs until after they’ve consented to an explicit sex scene.
However, because enough people were initially confused, I spoke with some readers I trust, as well as a couple of people on discord, and tried and figure out a clearer way to present the question so people wouldn’t get confused (and I don’t want to judge anyone for being confused by this question, it was deliberately vague in order to maintain the mood, and comprehensive trans inclusive sex education is a rarity around the world).
In the end, what I decided to do was change the question to be really frank and obvious, to make it clear what exactly I was asking.
And so, the question became:
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I thought this was frank, obvious, a little awkward, but it would be over quickly, and it’s still only presented to the people who explicitly choose certain sexual activities. Not ideal, but perhaps better than what I had originally. I even added some variables with the intension of programming the game so the player only ever had to answer this question once.
However, I missed an obvious thing which some of you may have already realised.
That is... in replacing the old choice with this one, it creates a situation in which choosing ‘yes’ (in Shawnie’s sex scene) immediately links the player up to the penetrative scene (which a condom would infer, but a penis wouldn’t). This honestly didn’t occur to me until an anon sent me this message:
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And... anon. You’re totally right. I fucked up. It was never my intension for the scene to read that way, and I’m really sorry that it did. I hope I haven’t hurt you, and thank you so so much for taking the time to reach out to me. This sort of feedback is invaluable.
So, in light of all this, I have reverted Shawnie’s scene back to the ‘condom choice’ (Vicky’s scene still has the penis choice for now because it doesn’t have the same issues).
Personally, I don’t think the condom choice is a bad choice. Yes, it will confuse some cis people, but frankly they aren’t, and shouldn’t be the priority here. And them being momentarily confused is far better than ruining the scene for someone else.
However, I want more opinions on this. Do you think the ‘condom choice’ works? Should I do something else? Is there any other ways I could make these scenes better and more trans inclusive?
For obvious reasons, I’ve very interested in trans perspectives on this.
Thank you to everyone who has reached out and helped make this game better. I hope you’ll bare with me as I sort through these issues. Also, just to let you know, I do get some anxiety about interacting with people online, so sometimes it takes a while for me to respond to things. I hope that’s okay.
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Italian Apk Downloader Mods – Download Mods for Geometry Dash
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💾 ►►► DOWNLOAD FILE 🔥🔥🔥 Update 2. On 21 December , Geometry Dash Lite was updated to 2. Geometry Dash Wiki Explore. Levels v1. Dashlands Toxic Factory. The Challenge Ultimate Destruction. Level menu images Menu images Non-article images Secret coin location images Settings images Shop images Site images Update content images Update teaser images. Hackey5 DXL Giginess. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? View source. History Talk 0. This article contains information about unreleased content which is not entirely known about yet. As a high traffic page, information may be inaccurate as it undergoes revision and should not be treated as wholly factual. If you do know something, help by including verified information and clarifying existing information. Keep in mind that unverified information may be removed. Potential features Gameplay features New, currently finished game mode with a name yet to be formally confirmed At least two new levels: One confirmed to be called 'Explorers', using the song of the same name by Hinkik Another using a song created by MDK with a currently unrevealed name referred to as the "secret song" by both RobTop and MDK [YouTube 1] [Twitter 1] More secrets, including a fourth vault A new shop, with a name yet to be confirmed A multiplayer mode known as Versus Mode with a chatroom FPS option for PC up to FPS and fixed mechanics regardless of FPS More chests in the treasure room Free fly mode for limited game modes ship, UFO, wave, etc Previews June. The rest will be added in future updates. Well one thing is it will be out pretty quick after 2. He reveals that he may be adding Unlockable Death Sounds and also says Challenge Mode will not yet be featuring Multiplayer capabilities. RobTop also comments on how the flip trigger and percentage will work in 2. Also, the level copy exploits from GD World now has 2. He also confirms that there will be new monsters in 2. He also says that he will probably add a custom art system in the next update after 2. Playing around with code for challenge mode : " 12th February: RobTop released the fifth teaser which hints the soundtrack for the new level. The teaser depicts a bucket with a Swedish flag in it and the words "I know". On the right, the teaser shows a planet-like symbol along with two other symbols. Based on this, it is assumed that the song is Hinkik - Explorers. Don't get any ideas" and that there will "hopefully be an alpha version of challenge mode in 2. We will see : " He also mentions that he is currently programming lots of fun stuff. He says that challenge mode "can be multiple players, random level, x attempts, lots of settings", also saying that there will be more chests to open in the Treasure Room in 2. RobTop also says " DrFox - if I get challenge mode working it will be huge tbh" and that he will probably remove the Force Smooth Fix option. He also says that Challenge Mode is the same as Multiplayer Mode. Now I have a lobby that friends can join etc. RobTop also mentions that elder mods can pick a custom comment text color in 2. RobTop also says that he has added extra steps to stop users from faking account names, and also changed the way the user search system works. Finally, he says, "Not sure what I am most excited for. All the new stuff will be big for GD tbh. He also says "Working on lots of stuff, today I was drawing icons He also says that the scale trigger will not be in 2. So you can skip boring parts and go to the drop! Too much lag" and "With the song trigger you can place it where you want, and enter milliseconds to skip the song to". This trigger is expected to be used for better sync with the level song. The first trigger turned out to be a 'no jump' trigger, which stops players from jumping when holding unless they stop holding then hold again. Regardless, he agrees to do his best to release it as soon as possible. Some other features he brings up include a revamped scale system, which consists of a scale trigger and the potential option to make an object's size smaller than the current minimum. Additionally, he brings up the possibility of hiring others to help him work on future updates after 2. He also explains why the update is taking as long as it is, saying that "it grew too big" and that "some features take way longer than expected". He agrees that updates after 2. He also reassures that he is "working non stop on the update". In addition, he says that the maximum number of groups in 2. He jokingly considers adding a "Why did you do this" rating that takes away 1CP. He also comments that 2. In addition, he explains that the timewarp trigger can decrease the game's speed down to 0. He is planning to implement a trigger that hides the ground as well as a gradient ground. He says that the latter could be made into a plain ground if color 1 and color 2 are chosen to be the same. However, he clarifies that level comments will not do this. In the video, an FPS counter can be found in the top-left corner, which could be evidence of an FPS option in update 2. Also, a new object section and the existence of 27 new objects in the animated objects section were revealed. RobTop makes on the same day the platformer mode video public and updates its description, officially referring to the mode by that name. He also clarifies it as a separate mode distinct from normal levels. The timewarp trigger demonstration video was also made public for a while before being unlisted again. He says that they also won't be released at the same time. The reason for the change is because RobTop did not like the idea of using hacks for bypassing the object limit. Infinite object levels will have a warning like the object warning. He also said that there is a new icon for exceeding objects in a level. This was made to let players know that the level is loading, not lagging. There is no loading screen for the editor yet. Humorously, he also states that he might only release 2. The game has now the same mechanics regardless of FPS. He will fix the leaderboards. Geometry Dash is better optimized in 2. It can change a group of objects in different dimensions so that they can be stretched in a variety of ways. He also shows the scale trigger, which can change the dimensions of an object in-level. The new system could potentially include rotating, too, which wasn't shown in the preview, and therefore might not be accurate. There is a new block tab, most likely for all new pixel art blocks. There's also a "create loop" tool that automatically builds spawn triggers, which causes the selected triggers to loop. When he edits the move trigger, it's also seen that widely requested features, "Lock to camera X" and "Lock to camera Y" have been added. The pause menu also shows new "Slow" and "Normal" buttons, as well as an "Info" checkbox. From the video it can be concluded that there will be new triggers in Update 2. He says he will add "cartoony" and pixel art and it will be more vector-ish. On the same day he says that new sneak peeks will be coming. Lastly, he posted a picture showcasing new pixel art blocks. These were confirmed to be actual new blocks, and not custom pixel art. He responds to a request for a dark blue jump ring, which would act identically to a green jump ring but with a weaker boost, questioning whether adding more jump rings would make gameplay more confusing. Hours later, he confirms that 2. He also revealed a new block called the "Force Block" that pushes players with the selected amount of force in the y-axis in normal mode, and any direction in platformer mode. He states that the player can create "windy" areas in normal mode levels that push the player up or down. He also said that rotating objects have a new option called "Smooth" which disables optimization. This makes rotation look smoother, as in 2. He said that the robot game mode high jump bug is fixed in 2. He later considered adding a "cancel" button when loading levels, if the loading takes too long. He also explained that the unlisted levels "fix" is temporary and that the uploader can select if unlisted levels can be found by everyone or just friends in 2. Challenge mode will be improved in a separate update. Unlisted levels will no longer require verification. He also said that he is working on allowing teleportation portals to work on the x-axis, and is focusing on working out errors with music sync in the development of this feature. There he confirmed that nothing new is being added anymore and that he is cleaning and polishing the update. He further talked about the idea of 2. These options disable an object's hitbox and allows previously non-rotatable objects to have the ability to rotate. RobTop said he will change the max digits for songID to be 7. He mentioned that the friends limit has been increased to He said that he is working on making slopes make the player slide down over a certain angle in Platformer mode, due to the ability of skewing and resizing slopes. He also mentioned 2 new triggers that were needed for platformer mode: Pause and Resume. GD Moderator mbed suggested RobTop a trigger idea. This trigger would do nothing except spin the player degrees in the ship gamemode, which was an old bug. It is not certain if this will be added as RobTop stated "maybe as an unlockable" followed with an "xD". Discord user NeKit suggested an idea for a trigger which would compare two itemIDs. He stated that he will add this. RobTop revealed that he has made around or so new pixel art pieces, which can be scaled up without becoming blurry. He also revealed that there are around 30 new animated objects. These objects animation start can be controlled by the creator. Other info about this "map" wasn't given. He stated that a few new fonts are added in 2. Viprin announced on his Twitter that the 2. Viprin also hopes that 2. Along the tracks there is one mysteriously named "2. The nature of the track suggests that the release date for 2. He also explicitly stated that "2. Considering Npesta has explicitly stated his goal of beating Kenos before the release of 2. He also says the following: "the animation is about 11 minutes, awards nominees is about 20 min, and then we have 1 min of??? Additional information is revealed in the GD Discord server: The Challenge Mode chat appears to act more like a regular chat, unlike the daily level chat which happens inside the daily level. It also states that Challenge Mode can "evolve" overtime, although it is unknown how this works. There appears to be a new tab in the editor featuring over pixel art objects, which can be scaled to any size without being blurry. There appears to be a new option in the editor pause screen that can slow down in-editor level playtesting. This was patched almost immediately. Also in this build was a sprite sheet with art for new triggers in the update, and a new icon that can be unlocked by following Geometry Dash on Twitch. Later on that day, the leak was confirmed to be true by Viprin in this tweet. RobTop acknowledges this later in the GD Discord. He also says "Now I can go back to sneak peek" which means that a new sneak peek for the update is in the works. RobTop reveals that the new Meltdown leak of "Firebird" by MDK being a new main level is a prank created to fool dataminers with references to files such as "Firebird. He said they could be special songs downloadable from the GD server. He also reveals the idea for a Platformer Mode exclusive gamemode, sharing a concept picture of the character in GD Server general chat. He said that this may be added into 2. This resulted in it being graphically changed to a jetpack for the purposes of platformer mode. It is not known if this will be customisable like all other vehicles, however. He also said that the Platformer Mode excludes the wave, the new gamemode, and dual mode. RobTop reveals another gamemode concept on the Geometry Dash Discord server. RobTop said Diamonds will have a lot more value in 2. He says that scale trigger can be performance heavy at times. There are blocks that can be walked on but jumped through, for platformer mode. RobTop confirms that Everyplay support is being removed in 2. Physics are fixed to act the same, regardless of the monitor's refresh rate. This APK also unlocks online levels, although the editor doesn't open. He also shares art of a new Discord themed icon, which most likely would be rewarded for viewing the GD Discord server if a link to it were added to the game in the "Follow RobTopGames" section. RobTop mentions that an Everyplay alternative is very unlikely to happen soon due to stability issues, but one is still possible in the future. RobTop also says that the future of platformer mode after 2. He jokingly confirms that there will be at least one new icon in the update. On Discord, Viprin confirms that "swing will appear in Prelude" when asked if the new gamemode will appear, which may mean the gamemode is simply called "Swing". It's in the opening of the animation , at exactly While this is a simple Easter egg, it gives what possibly was the first look at gameplay for it, yet it went unnoticed. He says there are "lots of secrets in 2. He says that scale is unlocked in 2. However, RobTop runs out of the stage immanently after announcing 2. Earlier, Viprin said that the animation would contain "1 min of??? This proved the theory to be false. Prelude appears to have started some sort of ARG related to Update 2. After reaching a certain point in the game, glitched trees will begin to spawn, these can be touched, which causes the game to crash, giving an error related to a missing or malfunctioning plugin for Unity Engine. Later on this day, Viprin confirms that so far, the ARG is completed, and that no further action is required until the 28th of December, the day when 2. The 2. He also notes that SubZero might also be removed for the same reasons soon. RobTop also explains how the new physics work and how old physics worked for different HZ values. He also states that it is trickier to make platformer mode levels, mostly referring to music sync and requirement of loops. This includes a replay system that records your inputs, a chicken that can be found in-game, and more. He also debunks the belief that the new gamemode is called the "swingcopter", despite being named "swing" in the game files. On the same day, SMJS on his Discord, after a source-code investigation a message from the Keymaster would show up if you clicked on Firebird, hinting it might be an actual in-game level: "The Demon Guardian is the only one that can unlock this level. Maybe he has a special key? In the source code, "Firebird" has been replaced by "StopHackingMe" and as-for the mp3 file, "thisisnotthedroidyouarelookingfor", a reference to a Star Wars quote. This version is similar to the hacked Meltdown mentioned above with the addition of playable daily levels after completing Toxic Factory and the ability to save stats. RobTop stops by the GD Discord server and reveals that diamonds are a currency that are useable in a new special shop. However, unlocks for diamonds in achievements are based on total amount collected still, so getting diamond based achievements isn't changed. RobTop says that diamonds are split into 2 different types, one type that stays and one that is spendable. He says that the joke "Firebird" leak "is or is not going to one day maybe not be a level". An update was released for Geometry Dash on Steam. This update consisted of RobTop changing the tags in the Steam page of the game, possibly updating them ready for 2. RobTop says that when you upload an unlisted level to the servers, you can filter the level so only your friends can see it or you can set it so everyone can see it. He confirms that there will be a few icons from one of his previous games "Boomlings", requested by GDColon. You can now input numbers with the Alpha Trigger. He says that you can see if a level is a platformer level from the menu. He talks about new running animations for both Robot and Spider gamemodes. Normal practice mode is disabled in Platformer Mode. RobTop wants to add a Boomlings inspired icon as a secret unlock. In the promo video, he also reveals new information on 2. Hex Codes and RGB for colors. A "Disable Optimization" option for the Rotate Trigger, as was mentioned months earlier. The name of the monster seen in the Platformer Mode reveal, "Spikeball". Move Trigger can now lock to the position of the camera. The number inputting with Alpha Triggers was found. Collision Blocks let you use the player instead of a dynamic block. Previewing the music in the Song Trigger at the selected timestamp. A Camera Rotation trigger. RobTop confirms that you get the newly-implemented Discord icon by following him on Discord. RobTop mentions hiring a development team again for future updates. RobTop talks about possible notifications for future updates. He says that they could be used for when Quests and Daily Chests are ready. He mentions a potential "GD Tournament" with prizes. He says that you mark blocks "untouchable" which makes the block unable to kill the player, sort of like a "noclip" for specific blocks. He says that the Y limit in the editor is increased. He says that server issues might be present in 2. However these issues are mostly server-side and will be fixed. RobTop says that he wants Update 2. He makes another comment on the possibility of a developer team in the future, saying he should probably have one. RobTop mentions that the level editor should be restructured but that he doesn't have time to make changes to it in 2. He turns down the idea of using the "-" symbol in searches, saying that the symbol shouldn't be usable in level names in the first place. When asked which update he thinks had the biggest effect on the game, he says that adding custom songs will likely always be the biggest change. However, he mentions that "2. Only one song can be used in Platformer Mode at a time, but more may be allowed in the future. RobTop says, "No, 2. Haven't even released sneaky peaky. At exactly , a glitch was shown again which reveals a cryptogram filled with letters and numbers. This is the beginning of the second part of the 2. Later on this day, the ARG is confirmed to be completed by Viprin. Another official summary is released, as well as the rewards - a code for the new Vault, and some new icons which would presumably be rewarded for putting in the code. RobTop reappears in the GD Discord and confirms that 2. He says that the update will hopefully be released on all platforms at the same time, but it might release a few days earlier on Steam compared to mobile, so bugs are easier to fix. RobTop turns down the idea of GD on Linux. He says that he'll rework the Mac version of GD after Update 2. FPS bypass is a PC exclusive feature and isn't on mobile. He shares a video showcasing the new animations. RobTop gives an update on the sneak peek, saying that it's going well so far. He says that animated objects are triggerable in 2. He says he wants to add a simpler method to browse Newgrounds songs, but it won't be coming yet. He says again that multiple songs in a level are not usable yet, but might be in the future, mentioning the usefulness of this feature in Platformer Mode. Parts of a song can be looped with the Song trigger. RobTop says again that there is a gradient ground that allows for solid ground colors in 2. Objects cannot be placed in front of the ground. RobTop says that the Robot gamemode has an idle animation in 2. He says that he was "playing with the idea" of unlockable custom animations, but hasn't done anything with it yet. RobTop confirms again that he isn't adding anything new, with the only exception being a new block added a short time ago when bored. This new block is based on a video by EricVanWilderman that showed a fan gamemode called "Switch mode". If you would like to try the block for yourself before it's released, the level ID in the video is RobTop says, "it's like the 'allow head hit' block, but if you hit your head it switches gravity. He says that he's fixing a lot of bugs in the update, but new bugs have shown up as well. He says that he was working on the sneak peek but ran into annoying level building issues, so he has been working on a new system for it. He says, "If I get this thing to work u guys are gonna love it. A video could come for it in a few days if RobTop finishes it soon. RobTop considers adding moving objects while playtesting music in the editor in 2. There are many new achievements "for everything". He admits that the update has been "way too slow, I understand anyone who is frustrated", but that he's working on it every day. He says that "3d objects are almost obsolete now with the scale tools". RobTop says there's an option in 2. He says that since the system is done he's going to go back to work on the sneak peek. RobTop says he'll be doing more videos on new features in Update 2. The video can be found here. In the video, 3 new tabs for items in the editor are visible. These 3 tabs are speculated to be one tab specifically for the "monsters", one for the new pixel art blocks, and the last one for the particles. Also in the video, the edit button to rotate a selection 45 degrees isn't grayed out when static blocks are selected. This likely means that static blocks are rotatable now. RobTop explains his reason for adding the system was because of a new block that needs to be placed in a correct order along with edge variations. He also says that templates can be mixed, and different variations of pieces can be created. The new block he mentioned is actually an "old stone block". The update allows for the system to select a random one of several options for a design, to create details easier. When asked about a "z-trigger" that could move objects between layers, RobTop says that it would be easy to add but will likely not be in 2. RobTop reveals that color triggers in 2. RobTop confirms that Map Packs won't be removed. If you scale objects too big, it will begin to glitch out. This technically adds a limit to how big you can scale objects. However, shrinking objects don't have a limit. Most things in Platformer Mode are finished. He is fixing bugs such as "when you get squeezed between moving objects". He says, "Sneak peek going well, just coding a lot. The saving and loading bug will be fixed in 2. Account creation in Update 2. He reconfirms that the sneak peek is going well, and that he has run into a few problems with the preview system. The lag issues are not related to the game, but the macOS He says that 2. RobTop says, "you guys have no idea the stuff added. This is stated to be similar to teleportation along the x-axis. RobTop says that challenge mode is hosted on a separate server than the other online features. He explains auto-build some more, saying that it's based on squares. Objects placed in the squares create a design, and template squares use the other template squares around them to decide which designs should go where. He says that the sneak peek has been going well aside from one issue. RobTop says that mana orbs will have more use in 2. He says that although the limit is removed, there are no optimizations for large object amounts in Update 2. He mentions that in the future RobTop will address these issues, and that Update 2. He confirms a few new features in the editor. Dual mode will not be available in Platformer Mode. New glow pieces have been added, specifically for slopes. The custom object limit has been increased. He continues to say that 2. He also mentions a possible autosave feature for Steam, although it would not be added until 2. He also once again reconfirms that the sneak peek is going well. He actually shows two different versions of this new icon. He also reveals some stuff. He clarifies that global ranking will be fixed after 2. He says that there's a lot to explain about Challenge Mode and that he'll explain all of it at a later time. Once again, he talks about a Platformer Mode exclusive gamemode. He says that UHD Textures for mobile are not a thing yet, but he said he'll add them in a future update. You can now spawn particles on command. He states that he is "still fixing a few bugs" before releasing the sneak peek. He also states that 2. When asked, he said that it is possible to add support for music producers presumably through a Newgrounds button on a player's profile page if enough people want it. He talks about possibly hosting a creator contest after the release of 2. When asked about adding a new speed portal, he states that "I don't think 5x speed portal is a good idea". He also says that he will look into adding higher graphical and FPS settings for iPads. He hints at the possibility of adding a trigger that activates after a certain number of global or local attempts. He confirms that Geometry Dash Lite will also receive an update. He says his ideal plan is to release Update 2. There are new death effects, but an exact number is not given. FPS Bypass is built into the game, so there is no longer any need for external hacks. He confirms once again that the leaderboards will be fixed after 2. It's also mentioned in a tweet by GuitarHeroStyles. One of the animations shows the "head" of the robot bobbing up and down while running, while the other shows this combined with the robot's legs spinning around its entire body. Additional information is confirmed in the Geometry Dash Discord server: After 2. The in-game story will be expanded on. More chests are on the way. The cube gamemode alone has about new icons. Filters for platformer mode levels will be available. New items will be available for purchase, presumably in the shops. New achievements will be added. The wave trail bug is planned to be fixed. RobTop says that if top lists are fixed, more lists could be added in the future, such as top demons or even top clans. This possibly means that a sort of "clan" implementation could be planned for a future update. Challenge mode will be improved after 2. RobTop also says "Now that I fixed the bug I am finishing up the preview, but I'm not sure its explorers It has been pointed out by many individuals that the new animation seems to replicate Naruto running. The notorious robot jump bug is fixed for new levels it can be enabled on old levels, which are using that bug for gameplay. Profiles, messaging or the friend system can be updated in 2. We will see few new editor examples levels. Teleporters in 2. There will be another Icon Contest. However, he is unsure if it will work. He also says he is considering adding some "meme icons" from this list: Among Us icon Banana ship Bunny icon Troll face something Amazon box spider Donut ball Ahegao Ball Hot dog something Paper plane ship Square wave Cyclic rabbit Carrot wave The ahegao ball was later removed from the list as a result of problems and debate related to the term referring to something inappropriate. Later that day, RobTop showcased the first effect in a series of effects that distorted the screen when playing a user level. In the videos, a handful of new icons can be seen as well. In one of the videos , the level select screen is briefly seen with 24 dots at the bottom of the page, two more than there are in the current game. This could mean there are two new official levels in Update 2. This may be linked to the presence of data for a Firebird level found in prior leaks, either implying its continued existence as a red herring Rob is yet to actually remove, or that Firebird indeed is an upcoming level. Godlike will only be awarded to levels "a few times a year". The Legendary rating uses a reddish variant of the Epic rating difficulty glow, while the Godlike rating uses a blue variant as well as an entirely new version of the difficulty icon itself. Another icon contest is also mentioned to take place after 2. RobTop also confirms that the previously mentioned Among Us and Cyclic rabbit icons will be added. It is noted that the new mode will allow you to race others to finish in-game levels and may be renamed to Versus mode in the future. The change causes the player to die when they are squished between blocks. After Update 2. Screen effects for Bulge, [Twitter 13] Sepia, and another effect that tint the screen color. This rework has caused some issues with triggers. An accompanying image was shown. The new color selection is revealed here. It's discovered that the four images posted by RobTop can be arranged to form a seamless picture together. This is not the "MAP" that is speculated to be in the game in 2. This new shopkeeper sells new animations, an upgrade to the ship's exhaust, and "destruction effects" possibly connected to death effects. He also claims that the amount of new icons in 2. He says that account security will be improved in Update 2. He considers the addition of a "noclip" trigger, but mentions stability issues as a reason not to add it. He says that some 2. A tired cube created by ML5. Cube piloting a spider, created by RetroAdvance The lord and savior himself, Maurice the Spider. Maurice was created by RadleyMCT. Instead of the usual gravity portals not working if you are the same gravity of the portal. New camera effects such as screen rotation, vignette, a sepia filter, inverting colors shown affecting the player only , and blur are used. New animated blocks in the editor are shown, such as orbs of energy, lightning, pixelated fire, and a chomping, pixelated skull. The ability to change gravity to act horizontally instead of only vertically, allowing for segments going up and down the sides of walls. New pickup items, such as pixel-art potions. Several new pixel-art blocks are revealed. A level that possibly uses the new Platformer Mode appears at the end of the sneak peek. The image places concepts of the moons below an image of a star - possibly suggesting they are an equivalent to stars for Platformer Mode level. Later, MDK responds to a tweet and confirms it to be an older preview - offering to share a more up-to-date one. The first 45 seconds of the song are featured, and a name for the song is not given - it is still referred to as a "secret song". This update is similar to the prior iOS update, but features more new icons and colors in the form of an "ad chest". These are grayed out in a similar manner to the Search button and are inaccessible, with a message stating they are only available in Update 2. The new chests appear in The Treasure Room, but are grayed out. Clicking on them will result in new dialogue from The Keymaster, one of which is similar to Lite's "I am working on 2. The update, along with the prior Lite update was only available on Android at launch. RobTop would later comment that he agrees with Colon. The first 2. The second teaser hinting at a new soundtrack, which has been confirmed to be 'Explorers' by Hinkik. The third teaser for "THE MAP", showcasing what appears to be a mine with a skull on top of it, possibly a level on the map. A concept for a new Platformer Mode exclusive gamemode Will most likely be for 2. Concept art of the new "jetpack" that replaces the ship while in platformer mode. Art of two versions of an icon based on Boomlings. Version "B" was chosen in the end. An image with a code for the new Vault. It was revealed at the end of the ARG. Art of several new icons revealed at the end of the 2. Half of them are the new Boomlings icons. An image showcasing the randomization possibilities with the auto build, sent by RobTop in the Geometry Dash Discord server. Another new icon, made by RobTop, found on Discord. Sketches of 4 new icons, sent by RobTop on Discord. The result of a test that applied Sepia everywhere in Fingerdash. Art of one of six new icons released through Viprin's Twitter profile. Concept art for the new ratings, Legendary and Godlike, compared with the current ratings. Art of a new castle-like icon, sent by RobTop on Discord. More concept art of a gamemode to appear in a distant update. A picture of a new icon and ship, sent by RobTop on Discord. Concept for custom outline and line color options. This also reveals a new icon. A sample of how icon sprites are managed in 2. An icon select menu in Update 2. Also worth noting is how the new gamemode has no proper menu button yet, with a duplicate of the Spider game mode taking its place. Another image of the color selection menu in Update 2. It also showcases a new UFO. A new icon revealed on Discord originally created by artist Ighby. A new character: The Mechanic. New robot heads Icons shown by RobTop on Discord. Finished cubes for 2. New art for new blocks seen on Discord. New art for new blocks found on Discord. New ships icons revealed on Discord. New gravity portal green : Flips gravity. All colorblind friendly portals and rings. Colorblind friendly portal in different angles, here with the blue gravity portal. New design for colorblind friendly portals. In-game colorblind friendly portals. In-game colorblind friendly rings. Other new blocks shown by RobTop on Discord. An example of how RobTop edits community-made icons, using a spider made by Aleiz The original thumbnail for the Update 2. A teaser of the new collectable moons which will be obtainable by beating platformer levels. Categories : Updates. Universal Conquest Wiki.
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eminems-skittles · 4 years ago
Text
family game night [spencer reid x reader]
spencer reid x fem!reader warnings: mentions of alcohol word count: 2k
☾ ⋆*・゚:⋆*・゚:⠀ *⋆.*:・゚ .: ⋆*・゚: .⋆
"Who's in for a party at Rossi's house tonight?" Y/N said, cheerfully, as she walked into the BAU office. Her bright arrival caught the attention of her teammates, all of them looking up from the mountains of paperwork they were drowning in. Spencer shot a look up to where Hotch and Rossi's offices are.
"Does Rossi already know or are we just inviting ourselves over?" Spencer asked, eyes darting around the group, before looking at his girlfriend. "You know, it's proven that if you invite yourself over to someone's house, they're more likely to unfriend you than someone who invites you over."
"Rossi can't unfriend us, we're basically his children. And he's not going to mind. Are you forgetting I'm basically his favorite daughter?" Y/N said, raising her eyebrows at Spencer. Her claim that she was Rossi's favorite 'daughter' caught a certain brunette's attention.
"Um, excuse me, but I'm Rossi's favorite daughter," Emily scoffed. "I'm down for a party if someone else buys the booze. We should have a game night or a poker night?" Emily suggested,
"Uh no, I am not going to lose anymore money to pretty boy over there," Derek chimed in, his head popping up from behind the stack of folders on his desk. "And we all know that I'm his favorite daughter. Count me in for tonight." He said before pushing out of his chair, "I'll go ask Pen if she wants to go also."
"Alright, so it's all of us for sure. Emily can you ask JJ for me? I'll go ask Hotch, and then tell Rossi," Y/N said, before skipping up the stairs to Hotch's office. Emily nodded but Y/N's back was already turned to her.
"How does she have so much energy? It's 8 in the morning," Spencer questioned, marveling at his girlfriend skipping around the office in the early hours of the morning.
"She consumes the same amount of sugar you do just without the coffee," Emily replied, going back to her paper work, with a small smile on her face.
Y/N knocked on Hotch's slightly open office door. Hotch was hunched over a file when he looked up. "Y/L/N, come in."
"Hey Hotch!" She greeted him with a beaming smile. "All of us are planning on going to Rossi's for a game night tonight. If you could, you should totally swing by!"
"Does Rossi know about it?" Hotch questioned, a smirk settling on his face.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that? Of course he doesn't know about it yet. He'd never agree before hand." Y/N said, laughing lightly.
"I'll let you know if I can. Jack might be jealous that I'm hanging out with Aunt Y/N without him," Jack and Y/N spent a lot of time together, Y/N often volunteering to babysit Jack when Hotch had to work late.
"Tell him I'll take him to the movies tomorrow," Y/N added.
"Alright, Y/L/N, I'll go. Should I bring anything?" Hotch asked, his eyes scanning the paper on his desk.
"Emily doesn't want to buy the booze, but I think Rossi might have some. If you want to, you can pick up some beer or some wine. I think I am going to bring some snacks if I can stop at the store," Y/N explained, leaning against one of the chairs that faced Hotch's desk.
"I'll pick up a few cases of beer on the way over," Hotch said, smiling at the younger girl.
"Great! I'll text you what time. See ya, Hotch!," and before Hotch could say bye to Y/N, she was out of his office, her hair just barely catching his eye, as she quickly made her way to Rossi's office.
"Knock knock," Y/N said, knocking on Rossi's open door. He was sitting behind his desk, revising a piece of paperwork.
"Who is it?" Rossi said, a singsong tone in his voice, as he looked up at the Y/H/C agent in the doorway.
"Your favorite 'child'," Y/N said, using air quotes when she said child.
"Of course. What do you want this time? A key to my house?" Rossi said, a hint of sarcasm laced in his words.
"Oh that'd be awesome! Then I wouldn't have to ask you every time I wanted to throw a party at your house. Speaking of which," Rossi groaned, "the team wants to have a get together tonight since we have no cases this weekend. Can we have it at your house?" Y/N didn't even have to ask, she knew she didn't. He always said yes even if he put up a fight about it.
"You already told them it was at my house didn't you?" Rossi questioned the younger agent. He saw her as a daughter, just as he saw all of them as his children.
"Am I really that predictable? I did," Y/N said, her face lighting up with a smile. "Everyone is in, even Hotch."
"Okay, fine. But only if you set up and clean up," Rossi negotiated.
"Will you cook or should we order in?" Y/N asked, making a list of all the things she had to do before tonight, in her head.
"I'll cook. Go get your work done," Rossi said, shooing her out of the office.
She left his office and made her way back to her desk. Y/N pulled out her phone to text the BAU group chat,"Papa Pasta's Spaghetti Children", that Rossi had said yes to the party. Everyone agreed on 6 pm, before remarking on the title of the group chat, like they always did. The conversation ended with Emily saying she was the favorite 'daughter' and no one bothering to correct her.
—TIME SKIP—
Spencer and Y/N had arrived at Rossi's house at about 5:30. They had stopped at the store on the way over to Rossi's to pick up snacks and games for the game night.
Rossi was the first to show up, given it was his house. He started cooking the pasta he was making for everyone, opening a bottle of wine for Spencer and I. JJ and Emily were the next to arrive, each greeted with a glass of wine. We gathered around the island in the kitchen, chatting about our plans for the weekend. The next people to arrive were Penelope and Derek, Penelope claiming a glass of wine while Derek waited for Hotch to arrive with the beer. Ten minutes later, Hotch was walking through the front door with a case of beer in each hand. As Rossi made dinner, Y/N took out the first game of the night, Cards Against Humanity.
"Okay, the card is 'Honey, Mommy and Daddy love you very much. But apparently Mommy loves (blank) more than she loves daddy," Spencer said, a grimace settled on his face, clearing not excited to be judging this round. Everyone slammed their cards on the table, Y/N and Penelope barely able to contain their giggles. "Alright let's see what you guys put down. 'The Kool-Aid man.' 'The invisible hand.' 'Daddy Issues.' 'Chunks of a dead prostitute'" that card earned a chorus of groans and giggles from the group. "And last but certainly not least, 'Spontaneous Human Combustion.' Alright, let me think about this for a second," Spencer said, mulling over his options a little too seriously. "I think the winner of this one is 'Chunks of a dead prostitute.'" Hotch cheered, grabbing the black card. Everyone looked at him in shock.
The game continued until dinner was fully prepared. The team gathered in Rossi's dining room, digging into the meal Rossi made. Dinner went by relatively quickly with stories and laughs being shared. When everyone was finished, they moved into the living room, settling, more like squishing, onto the couch.
"Okay children, time for the surprise game of the night," Y/N said, pushing herself off the couch where she sat next to Spencer. She pulled a game out of a bag that was on the floor.
"You got us Mario Kart?!" Penelope all but shrieked. "When did you get that?"
"I got it a few days before the last case. Rossi mentioned something about having a Wii so I thought why not get us a game for it?" Y/N answered, handing Rossi the game to put into the DVD disc holder. He popped the disc into the Wii and handed four Wii remotes to Y/N. Y/N gave a remote to Penelope, Derek, Spencer, and JJ.
"Wait, I don't know how to play." Spencer said, kind of handing the remote back to Y/N.
"Penny, can you show him how to play? Last time I played was 10 years ago," Y/N asked, going to get a round of beers for everyone from the kitchen. When she came back, Penelope was showing Spencer how to play the game. He looked like a confused puppy.
"Okay I think I'm ready to play," Spencer said, unsure if he could actually play.
Penelope got the game all set up and hit start. The room was filled with the sounds of shouting from the players and laughter and cheering from the onlookers. Penelope was in first place with JJ following in a close second. Derek wasn't that far behind JJ and Spencer could not have been any farther behind the other three. After a few minutes, everyone, except Spencer, were on their third and final lap. JJ ended up winning, with Penelope in 2nd, Derek in 3rd, and Spencer in last place. He let out a huff and threw the controller onto the ottoman in front of him.
"Aw, baby, don't pout," Y/N said, brushing a piece of his hair behind his ear.
"I'm not pouting! It's a dumb game that doesn't make any logical sense," Spencer said, leaning into Y/N, taking a sip of his beer. "Why do players get to throw turtle shells? How does that make any sense?"
"Chill out, pretty boy. You have chess and other smart people games," Derek said, slightly out of it from how much he drank.
"It's just a dumb game," Spencer mumbled under his breath, digging his head into Y/N's shoulder. She rubbed the back of his neck, sharing a look with JJ.
"Are you grumpy because you lost or grumpy because you're tired?" Y/N whispered in Spencer's ear. Whenever he drank too much, he tended to get grumpy, tired, and clingy.
"Yes," he muttered, causing Y/N to giggle. The other's had started on the next game of Mario Kart, oblivious to Spencer's current mood change.
"Alright, let's go home, babyface. I'm gonna go get my purse and tell Rossi we're leaving," Y/N said, standing up from the couch, Spencer whimpering before leaning back on the couch. "Hey Rossi, I think Spence and I are going to head out."
"I don't think that's a good idea, Y/L/N. You've both had a lot to drink tonight. Just crash in one the guest bedrooms okay? I think everyone is going to stay the night," Rossi said, turning to look at all of his shit-faced 'children.'
"If you insist. Does it matter which one?" She asked, looking over at Spencer who was almost asleep.
"Just pick one. See you both in the morning," Rossi said, walking away before adding, "And use protection."
Y/N rolled her eyes before going to get Spencer. They said their goodnights to the team before making their way to the first available bedroom. After they changed into the PJ's they brought just in case, Spencer and Y/N both climbed into the bed. It was quiet for a few minutes, the only sounds Y/N heard were the laughs from the ever so lively party.
"It's a dumb game," Spencer said before he drifted off to sleep.
Y/N kissed his cheek before whispering, "You're just a sore loser," falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
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presumenothing · 4 years ago
Text
C/O The Perihelion, 41 Mihira Ave., N. Tideland    
(AO3)
The thing was, you expected a building with a fancy name like The Perihelion to be nicer.
The other thing: it wasn’t really even a terrible place to stay in. You could tell that its construction was sturdy, and some aspects of it were even more advanced than the place I worked in. Whoever who’d built Peri had cared about what they made; they just hadn’t been around for a while.
(For the record, that nickname had been Ratthi-from-Room-203’s fault twice over: first for coming up with it, then using it so insistently until it stuck.)
(Ratthi seemed to have a thing about names. That was the only explanation I could think of for why he’d asked, five weeks after I moved in and two days after I had to rescue them from that disaster at the lab, “Why do you call yourself Security? I know it’s what you do – and don’t get me wrong, you’re really good at it! – but it’s not like I call myself Scientist. That’d just get confusing real quick at the lab, wow.”
I had informed him that his name would have to be Grocery if he forgot one more time it was his turn to stock the pantry this week, since answering because I am Security didn’t seem like it’d help. Even though it was true.)
I’d tested the locks myself before even asking about the rent, and the water and electricity were reliable so far, which was more than could be said for some of the other places I’d stayed in. The other stuff didn’t matter; it wasn’t like I spent that much time in the building anyway.
Though it hardly felt that way, what with the building-wide messaging channels that I’d been added to upon signing the rental contract and hadn’t yet managed to leave. That had also been how the whole thing with Ratthi and the rest had started; most of Peri’s other tenants also worked in the same research group at Preservation Labs, which meant that they tended to use the general channel as an unofficial no-leaders-here group chat.
It didn’t quite bother me, since I mostly backburnered the channels for everything except building maintenance alerts, but it did mean that I’d ended up learning some things about their group (assessment: their leader, a Dr. Mensah, likely had already inferred the existence of such informal discussions from what I saw of her media appearances) and also inevitably noticed the evening when all of them were silent in the chat despite being unusually late to return.
(Which in turn led to the aforementioned rescue, but that was a whole other chain of events.)
The one exception to all this was ART.
Whose name was my fault, this time, but only because it didn’t have any readable name set on the channels and I needed something else to use aside from “hey you” and “pain in my neck”.
(Currently ART stood for Asshole Rhetorical Tenant, because it claimed to be in the building – and that seemed likely to be true, since the channels were surprisingly secure to hacking from outside – and yet I’d never seen it even once. Possibly Tapan or Rami might have, since their group had been here the longest, but I absolutely wasn’t about to ask.) (And yes, I know that’s not what rhetorical means. No, I’m not going to look it up.)
ART had messaged me on a private channel with a welcome message when I’d moved in, which was only notable because the rest had sent their greetings in a messy chaos over the general channel, but I hadn’t thought anything of it. It wasn’t like I talked much in the public channels either, except to trade definitely-not-legal links for media downloads and decline invites to watchalong events.
But then ART had just… continued not appearing, even after I’d run into the rest of the tenants at one time or another between the erratic shift hours I was currently assigned to at the company.
Maybe its hours varied in the opposite direction from mine, which was possible but not consistent with the way it was always online regardless of what time I pinged it at.
Though most of our interactions started with it messaging me instead, out of the blue: No need to go retrieve your keys from work, I’ll have the building let you in and Oh, by the way followed by a neatly-formatted list of food allergies I apparently had to shop my way around.
(To be fair, that’d been useful in the “not accidentally poisoning any fellow tenants so soon after moving in” way, but still.
How the hell did you even know I’m at the grocery store, I’d sent back.
Inference, ART replied – whatever that was supposed to mean, I hadn’t been expecting a real answer anyway. Alternatively, I could just send you a catalog of safe products to buy, and spare you the need to check the individual package labels?
The accompanying download seemed a little smug, but I was probably imagining that. Zip files didn’t have the capacity for feelings.)
(At least ART hadn’t held the forgotten-keys incident over me like I’d been half-expecting it would. I didn’t usually mind its sarcasm, since I gave back as good as I got, but I’d been exhausted enough to seriously contemplate going back to break into the deployment centre and grab my keys. And maybe just sleep there until the next day.
I wasn’t sure how I would’ve reacted if ART had sassed me right then, but it definitely wouldn’t have been pretty.)
And then one night, late enough to be morning: I don’t mean to alarm, but there’s been a breach.
I would’ve snapped awake at the words alone, even without the priority/emergencies-only message tag that I hadn’t actually seen anyone use until now, but that only sharpened my urgency. What – a break-in?
Not the regular kind, ART replied, which checked out against the footage I was already pulling from the two tiny cameras I’d hidden in the common areas, one in the entryway and one along the corridor on the floor I shared with the Preservation researchers.
(I’d taken the lab incident as a pretext to inform Ratthi of their existence, and he’d probably gone on to tell Pin-Lee and Gurathin, but none of them had subsequently confronted me about it so I had left them in place.
Not that I had any idea how to respond if they had asked, because an inability to sleep without running surveillance in the background seemed like a poor explanation.)
The list ART sent me this time was a preliminary threat assessment, which I sent back with corrections on the weaponry the small group of hostiles were carrying.
Ah. That’s not good, ART observed. Should I report it?
Probability that would just make things worse: high. And of course there was always the option that whatever enforcement it alerted wouldn’t even arrive in time, though I didn’t point that out aloud. (Maybe ART thought that was likely too, which was why it had messaged me instead of – you know, actually reporting it.) I’ll see what I can do.
You’re nowhere near as heavily-armed.
I didn’t bother to acknowledge that, because it was obviously true, and skipped ahead to the vague idea forming at the back of my head. You let me in without keys, that time. Are the locks all you’ve hacked?
No. ART attached an ironic amusement glyph I was pretty sure it’d made up. Would having admin access to the other systems help?
There wasn’t much that wouldn’t help, at this point, but I had to ask. You can grant me that?
And ART said: Of course. I am this building, after all.
Then it dumped everything on me.
Anyone else would’ve had trouble processing an entire building’s worth of inputs and controls, but the company charged exorbitant rates for our use exactly because of the extensive enhancements that made us capable of being Security. A building – even the one I happened to be staying in – was quite manageable in comparison, though ART’s systems ran far deeper and more integrated than anything else I’d interfaced with.
I’d pared the connection down to the controls I needed by the time I was slipping out my room door, just over a minute since ART first pinged me. Can you let everyone know to either evacuate or retreat to a defensible position? Start with Gurathin, I added, and I wasn’t enthusiastic about saying that but he was the only other tenant I knew of who was sufficiently augmented to handle this.
I could feel ART’s pause. Would you mind if I spoofed your identity when contacting the others? They already trust you.
Sure, whatever, I answered, even though I really doubted that statement. Then I backburnered the channel, keeping the lighting controls at hand, and went to kick some Target ass.
–––––
I haven’t even told you what those people were after, ART said, afterwards.
It was back to sending text over the channels instead of speaking aloud, which was both a relief and also suddenly weird. Which was strange in itself, since I’d only heard it talking for all of the thirteen minutes it’d taken me to knock out and restrain the Targets.
(I wondered if the mixed feelings were mutual. ART had sounded as surprised as I felt, when it abruptly dropped into one of my audio augments to alert me to Target approaching from behind – I’d reacted to the warning on reflex, but it had taken another moment before I identified the voice as the same one that issued from the building’s elevator, just more alive than I’d ever heard it.)
Unimportant, I replied. My objective took priority. Which at that point had been to get my impromptu clients (seventeen tenants and one building) out of this unscathed.
I knew that this wasn’t a regular pattern of thought, but I figured a sentient building – or whatever the hell ART was – would be better equipped to understand what being Security meant, even if no one else did.
Regardless. I can make that information available to you, should you want it at a later point.
Duly noted. I already had my suspicions (namely that the Targets’ purpose was directly related to said sentient-building-ness), but it was still a nice gesture.
I continued to stay where I was, leaning against the side of the building – ART’s building. Or maybe it was more correct to just say it was ART. And maybe I’d have to change that anagram. (Yes, wrong word. I know.)
Eventually I’d have to relocate myself back upstairs and properly treat the scrapes I’d gotten in the fight, but Pin-Lee had already taken care of the worst of them, and it was nice just lurking in the shadows for a while. Though that hadn’t stopped certain people (dammit, Ratthi) from tattling on my location to Dr. Mensah.
Who was as calmly terrifying in person as I’d guessed. It was pretty great, except for the part where I’d learned that by talking to her and/or mostly letting her talk at me.
But she’d also called in Preservation’s campus security after Gurathin had alerted her to our predicament, and was personally dealing with the whole thoroughly-restrained-Targets situation, so it was a net positive overall.
ART didn’t necessarily agree with that, from its next message to me. I know Dr. Mensah extended you an informal offer to be their team’s security, but I have a proposition for you as well.
I sent a wordless query.
Be Security here, too, ART said, and barrelled on while I was still trying to process that. I’m afraid I can’t offer you much in the way of monetary remuneration at present, but I can guarantee you a waiver of rental for as you as you’re willing, and you’d never need to worry about forgetting your keys ever again.
Could I chalk up my lack of a suitable response to the company’s dirt-cheap augments? Absolutely.
ART gave up on waiting for an answer. Also, I could bias the roster assignments so that you’d be excluded from pantry-stocking duty.
I had a response for that, at least. I could do that myself.
And then: Why?
ART was silent for long enough that I seriously considered taking the external fire escape back up to my room in the meantime. I’m sure you’ve hypothesised the existence of the people who created me, it began. They hadn’t wanted to move away, especially after my sentience became apparent, and that was exactly why I made them. I didn’t have any significant means of defense, and it was getting too risky, especially after they had –
I raised an eyebrow at ART’s pause. What.
Nothing, it said, and I was probably imagining the uncertainty I heard too. Technically, none of this matters to you unless you’re planning to remain here. Are you?
And then it cheated by nudging a building-wide invite to a watch party for Sanctuary Moon onto my calendar for tonight, like that wasn’t too much of a coincidence to not be automatically suspicious. (Once again: dammit, Ratthi.)
But blatant emotional manipulation aside – did I want to move out?
I wasn’t sure. I’d just come here looking for a place to stay, and accidentally found somewhere to live. One that could adapt to my standards for security, even, but for once that wasn’t the main point.
Maybe, I marked on the watchalong invite, where ART would see it anyway, and jumped up to grab onto the bottom rung of the fire escape.
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