#imagine how much money and new technology is going into it NOW

[tododeku-or-bust]

"Similarly, the National Journal reporter that between January 1997 and October 1999, the agency handled 3.4 million orders of Pentagon equipment from over eleven thousand domestic police agencies in all fifty states. Included in the bounty were "253 aircraft... UH-60 Blackhawk and UH-1 Huey helicopters, 7,856 M-16 rifles, 181 grenade launcher, 8,131 bulletproof helmets, and 1,161 pairs of night-vision goggles." A retired police chief in New Haven, Connecticut told The New York Times, "I was offered ranks, bazookas, anything I wanted."

The New Jim Crow, on how the Pentagon encourages police agencies to participate in the federally pushed War on Drugs with money and weaponry.

[naamahdarling]

I'm probably going to piss some people off with this, but.

The use of AI and machine learning for harmful purposes is absolutely unacceptable.

But that isn't an innate part of what it does.

Apps or sites using AI to generate playlists or reading lists or a list of recipes based on a prompt you enter: absolutely fantastic, super helpful, so many new things to enjoy, takes jobs from no-one.

Apps or sites that use a biased algorithm (which is AI) which is not controllable by users or able to be turned off by them, to push some content and suppress others to maximize engagement and create compulsive behavior in users: unethical, bad, capitalism issue, human issue.

People employing genAI to create images for personal, non-profit use and amusement who would not have paid someone for the same service: neutral, (potential copyright and ethics issue if used for profit, which would be a human issue).

People incorporating genAI as part of their artistic process, where the medium of genAI is itself is a deliberate part of the artist's technique: valid, interesting.

Companies employing genAI to do the work of a graphic designer, and websites using genAI to replace the cost of stock photos: bad, shitty, no, capitalist and ethical human issue.

People attacking small artists who use it with death threats and unbelievable vitriol: bad, don't do that.

AI used for spell check and grammar assistance: really great.

AI employed by eBay sellers to cut down on the time it takes to make listings: good, very helpful, but might be a bad idea as it does make mistakes and that can cost them money, which would be a technical issue.

AI used to generate fake product photos: deceptive, lazy, bad, human ethical issue.

AI used to identify plagiarism: neutral; could be really helpful but the parameters are defined by unrealistic standards and not interrogated by those who employ it. Human ethical issue.

AI used to analyze data and draw up complex models allowing detection of things like cancer cells: good; humans doing this work take much longer, this gives results much faster and allows faster intervention, saving lives.

AI used to audit medical or criminal records and gatekeep coverage or profile people: straight-up evil. Societal issue, human ethical issue.

AI used to organize and classify your photos so you don't have to spend all that time doing it: helpful, good.

AI used to profile people or surveil people: bad and wrong. Societal issue, human issue, ethical issue.

I'm not going to cover the astonishingly bad misinformation that has been thrown out there about genAI, or break down thought distortions, or go into the dark side of copyright law, or dive into exactly how it uses the data it is fed to produce a result, or explain how it does have many valid uses in the arts if you have any imagination and curiosity, and I'm not holding anyone's hand and trying to walk them out of all the ableism and regurgitated capitalist arguments and the glorification of labor and suffering.

I just want to point out: you use machine learning (AI) all the time, you benefit from it all the time. You could probably identify many more examples that you use every day. Knee-jerk panicked hate reflects ignorance, not sound principles.

You don't have beef with AI, you have beef with human beings, how they train it, and how they use it. You have beef with capitalism and thoughtlessness. And so do I. I will ruthlessly mock or decry misuse or bad use of it. But there is literally nothing inherently bad in the technology.

I am aware of and hate its misuse just as much as you do. Possibly more, considering that I am aware of some pretty heinous ways it's being used that a lot of people are not. (APPRISS, which is with zero competition for the title the most evil use of machine learning I have ever seen, and which is probably being used on you right now.)

You need to stop and actually think about why people do bad things with it instead of falling for the red herring and going after the technology (as well as the weakest human target you can find) every time you see those two letters together.

You cannot protect yourself and other people against its misuse if you cannot separate that misuse against its neutral or helpful uses, or if you cannot even identify what AI and machine learning are.

[literalite]

marlo velasco for @rainymoodlet's rock of love!

hii formally introducing marlo after showing them in cas first lmao i'll stick all their info and some bonus pics under the cut :3

they're filipino, nonbinary (using they/them pronouns), and androsexual- for simplicity's sake they sometimes just say they're gay

traits: erratic, hot-headed, creative likes: alternative and metal music, competency, a good discussion, wellness, getting everything just right, being praised(.......), a good visual contrast, travelling, friendly competition, hard workers, vintage artwork, and of course tattoos fhgjhkjkl dislikes: modern decor, elitism, people who lack drive or who follow tradition, being told what to do, stupid questions, green eyes, makeup, phones or cameras or honestly most modern technology, softening their tone in any way, uncomfortable shoes

quick well that was a fucking lie bio:

only child to two very conservative parents, had a very testy relationship with them both throughout their teens and young adulthood. currently no contact with them both

learnt how to tattoo in their teens and joined a tattoo and piercing shop as an apprentice at 21. they met both their ex husband and their current best friend, risa there

married their ex at 25, was truly in love with him despite being deeply unhappy in other aspects of life

came out and began transitioning at 29, which strained their marriage as he tried and failed to accept their true self as opposed to the "woman" he had signed up for

he convinced them to try for having a kid in order to save their relationship shocker, that did not work so mickey was born

after three years they divorced- admittedly marlo was not a stellar parent and left mickey mostly in her father's care while they moved on from working at the original tattoo shop, eventually seeing their kid for only a weekend per month

at 35 opened their new shop Purgatory Tattoos with their best friend risa as co-owner

two years ago, they got a call in the middle of the night, from their ex who immediately started shouting down the line at them for "corrupting" their 11 year old into thinking that she's a girl. they immediately drove the few hours to go pick mickey up and filed for custody the morning after

marlo's relationship with mickey was initially understandably pretty rocky, with marlo being really awkward around their own daughter and mickey obviously being distrustful of them. in years since, they've grown a lot closer, with marlo now really appreciating the work it takes to raise a kid. they're still very anxious about being a "good" parent though, having totally lacked for any role models

has sort of dated around since breaking up with their husband, but hasn't been able to commit to anything serious what with their focus on keeping their business running and the residual sting of a long and painful loss both emotionally and financially from their ex

signed up for this at risa's insistence and also thinking that it'd be nice for mickey to grow up with a more stable and loving environment than they did

fun facts:

they're pretty much tone deaf but nevertheless enthusiastic about karaoke much to their neighbours' detriment

for their employees and apprentices, they're known as kind of a hardass, especially in comparison to risa, but being under their guidance improves skills x10

lactose intolerant but im not wasting a trait slot on that LMAO

used to have piercings, but took their facial ones out years ago because they'd all been done by their ex- all the holes have since closed up

has pretty much no social media presence aside from their shop's instagram account, on which they've got no photos of themselves, not even a candid in the background of a shot. doesnt know wtf a tiktok is even though mick keeps begging them to do dances with her?

can't imagine moving away from tomarang even though they love travelling overseas. a big goal is getting enough money together to take mickey on a big holiday abroad

here are some pics of them and their daughter, mickey! she's 13, trans, she/her pronouns. due to their long estrangement, mickey calls them "lo" instead of any other term

[weebsinstash]

I’m sending this again because it might’ve been eaten by tumblr. (this is meant for hazbin but if you wanna write about a different fandom go wild!)

I like the idea of a Reader who is obsessed with not being humanoid. Maybe they purposely get themselves hurt by angelic weapons so they have to replace body parts. They’re so infatuated with being ‘upgraded’ that they don’t even realize someone is in love with them.

idk i just like the idea of it :p

I think I might've briefly covered this idea before but I keep thinking about a computer Reader who is in a relationship with... Jesus I can't decide anymore, any of the applemedia boys individually or just all three lol, where you're a computer/bot person and one day the boys come home and you're just. Completely different

You're all happy and excited to show them how you've changed your body, or maybe you discovered you have new powers all of your own, and the change in your appearance, at least to them, is... significant. Your head might be a completely different shape. Your voice may even sound differently. You might even be taller than before.

Just the idea of you all but racing to the door because you're so happy to show them this thing you think is so cool, or maybe it's a surgery you've saved up money for and worked REALLY hard for, and just... picture their smiles literally falling off of their faces (except Alastor but, it's as close to a grimace as he can manage). They're looking at you with clear shock, and it breaks your heart instantly. This is you, and your body, and who you are, and they... they don't like it? Even if they come around and apologize to you, your trust has been broken, and maybe even for extra drama, they catch you cheating on them, because since you no longer feel comfortable with any of them, you need the approval and touch of someone who DOES find you desirable

I've actually also mostly had the inverse of your idea a lot tbh, where Reader has a very tech-y box-like computer head and is a lot like Vox, but you hate your Sinner body so so so much that you find a way to make a new one. Alastor and the rest meet Fake You which is basically just a significantly more humanoid robot that you got looking shockingly like the old human you via some magical technological knowhow, and your real body is just, intentionally hidden away in your closet, plugged into an outlet or something, and you occasionally have to let your fake body recharge and cool down, which is 'sleeping' in your bed

Like I know I'm mentioning different ideas at once, but can you even imagine it. You're dead and you're getting massive body dysmorphia because you have this giant fucking weird head and all the parts of you that made you YOU are no longer flesh and bone but something else, something entirely different, and you're so incredibly disgusted and disdainful of this change that you can't even look at reflections of yourself? Then you find out how to make this, fake secondary body you can basically just transfer your consciousness into, and it's basically like a game avatar you can customize however you want, and you make it look basically exactly how your human body used to look, maybe with some slight Hell based alterations so you don't draw too much attention like horns and a different skin color, and while all of that is kind of a form of denial, it helps you cope with the trauma of being dead

Now imagine you're now basically living every single second inside of that fake body. It's not designed to eat. It's not designed to sweat. It's not designed to cry. But you're so extremely disgusted by your true form that you do basically everything but the absolute essentials in your new body, being in it basically 18/7 (cause God knows you're not letting yourself sleep and fully recharge either; can't risk anyone finding your secret while you're asleep)

I'm serious. Just imagine what would happen if you were awkwardly forced into this situation where your 3 very pushy soulmates are constantly basically forcing their way into your apartment, and you never want to eat in front of them, you forbid them from entering your bedroom, you don't cry in front of them, and one of them eventually basically completely ignores your boundaries and wanders into your bedroom, which is not only a complete depression cave but then they find the actual you, sleeping in the closet, on the floor, not even on a bed. There's little bags of trash laying around you like this, this living device you have become never leaves this small, cramped room. Maybe you've even cut a hole in the door and installed a slot where you just pass food and trash back and forth and you hate your true body so much you don't even let it leave the closet, even have it locked from the outside or you're pushing a piece of furniture in front of the door or something

Like literally, all three men awkwardly cramming themselves in your small walk in closet to crowd around "your real body" in awe while the fake you is getting upset and telling them they need to leave, you hate them, you don't want to be with them, whatever you think might make them leave, and they're just, looking down at your body that you've been keeping in the closet, sleeping on just some laid out blankets like some kind of shitty futon, and you show signs of being damaged, almost like something has been hitting and kicking your body in fits of rage, even showing outright signs like self harm like scratches or scrapes or cuts on your body with a box cutter from your job still on the floor nearby. This closet is so cramped, with no light sources inside of it besides maybe some candles, and you've moved all your actual clothing into boxes or drawers outside the closet to completely commit the small space to being a depressing, dark prison

and then your tummy growls and, that does it, they're instantly demanding you tell them how to "transfer you" back into your original body so you can get something to eat, and quickly making it pretty clear that they're not very receptive to the fake vessel you now inhabit. You did all of this because you hated being this, this weird fucking robot, going through all these lengths to get this body that made you feel mildly human again, but then your actual soulmates just, want the body you cast aside, and yes while they are technically objectively correct that you shouldnt be coping like this, in your eyes you see them rejecting "the real you", which is the artifical you you've constructed that looks like your old human self, and are instead choosing this, monstrosity you absolutely hate that borderline disgusts you to be, and you're also feeling like they aren't being considerate to your feelings. They're SO UPSET that you treat yourself like this that once they forcibly disconnect you and force your soul and energy back into your true body, they confiscate if not outright DESTROY your little decoy, which ALSO completely breaks your heart, and they're all, weirdly fetishistic and sappy and doe eyed as you sit there on your closet floor crying tears of frustration and grief and anger from your stupid boxy head because 1. They've never seen you cry before and 2. This is the first time they're basically officially truly meeting "their real soulmate" and seeing and hearing you completely unfiltered (hostile cussing and all)

I just really like how Hazbin has a lot of fantasy and magic in it which really expands the possibility for the kinds of stories we can think about and have fun with and all of you are clearly having fun too, sending me asks way more quickly than I can answer them. We're all having fun here for sure

[amarylliasky]

Number 19!

Au: Daffodils and the Meaning Of

- A modern au where everyone except Choi Han reincarnates into modern Roan. (Though, Choi Han will be there, and you’ll see how/why)

- Choi Han becomes some sort of divine entity(idk what. He could be a wanderer or a god), and then in order to get the chance to meet his new family again, he gives it up. As well as his memories, which can only be unlocked when he achieves merits equal to his transgressions that stripped him of his authority in the first place. (Kinda like lsh, except he doesn’t reincarnate, rather, he’s just sent to that world kinda like tboah.

- Choi Jung Soo, on the other hand, does reincarnate along with everyone else. He makes a deal with someone (I don’t know maybe the god of death?) in order for him to be able to reincarnate.

- No one else remembers their past life. Not even Cale.

- Speaking of Cale, he is still our same Og!Kim Rok Soo/Cale. As for Og!Cale/Kim Rok Soo, I’m gonna go with him being reincarnated with his mother and team members in another dimension. So, sadly no Og!Cale in this au:(

- Kim Rok Soo grows up with almost the same past. With his parents dying, then being taken in by his uncle, then being put into an orphanage. The difference is that this time, he’s only in the orphanage for a few months before Deruth and Violan adopt him.

- Kim Rok Soo, or Cale Henituse, was taken from the hospital as a baby, then found and taken in by Kim Rok Soo’s previous parents.

- By the time Cale is found by Deruth, he is already in the orphanage, and Deruth has already married Violan and had a child. So Basen and Lily are already there by the time he comes to live with them.

- Once he is adopted, he throws away his name as Kim Rok Soo and decides to live as Cale Henituse, much like he did in Canon.

- After that, he is homeschooled for a while, just enough to get used to his new life, then goes to Huiss Academy along with a whole bunch of other characters from totcf.

- Choi Han and Cale meet in a café as seen in my latest drabble. Although neither of them remember each other, Cale feels the unexplainable urge to go talk to him. Choi Han is wary of this red haired stranger, but he also doesn’t want to be rude and it’s not like he has the money to buy himself food or a drink.

- After that, Cale takes Choi Han home with him to his family’s penthouse apartment(stranger danger). He lives in it alone, with only Ron and Beacrox residing in his house most of the time in order to serve him. It goes about as well as you’d imagine.

- Speaking of which, the Molan duo do have their own house in the capital city, they’re just over at Cale’s penthouse most of the time since they are still employed by the Henituse’s and have served Cale since he was adopted.

- Onto other topics!

- Henituse Industries is a company that deals in technology. Kind of like Stark Industries. They also have a wine business on the side. I just feel like I could see his Family owning a tech company. It would certainly help his future looting sprees.

- Zed Crossman is the head of Crossman Conglomerate, the largest mega-corporation in Roan. I considered Zed being the President of Roan, but I don’t think Alberu would be able to be so involved in the plot if he were the President’s kid. Plus, the succession battle between the “Prince’s.”

- Alberu still dyes his hair to blonde, but he’s not a quarter dark elf. It’s more of a stylistic choice to help him fit with his image.

- If I went over every noble house in modern times, I think I would be here for a while, so those are the only ones I’m going to mention for now.

- So during his school years, Cale stays in their penthouse, a.k.a. their mansion in Huiss city. This is the city where everything in school is going to go down.

- Let’s get into some more characters!

- So for Choi Han, Cale lets him stay in his penthouse and eventually helps him enroll in the same Academy. Eventually, Cale will finally meet Choi Jung Soo and Lee Soo Hyuk, and will eventually connect the two Chois. That will happen much later and much different than in canon. So yeah, he basically meets Lsh and Cjs after he meets a lot of the other characters, as opposed to before.

- Roslayn! She’s a transfer student from Breck, a country neighboring Roan. She came to learn more about the culture, particularly about Roan’s deep history.

- Lock is a freshman at Huiss academy. He won a scholarship and is staying in a dorm while the rest of his family is still in his hometown.

- Overtime I’ll be introducing more and more characters either in the school or somewhere in the city. I wouldn’t say that this is a “high school au” per se, but it’s kinda a modern au with high school elements.

- You know what time it is folks! The kids averaging x years old!

- Raon is the son Huiss Academy’s Headmaster, Sherrit.

- As for On and Hong, they live with their parents as of now. I can’t decide whether I want to kill off their parents or not.

- I also can’t decide whether or not I want Cale and the children to have more of a parent/child relationship or a sibling relationship. For this au, Cale is still in high school so it wouldn’t really make much sense for it to be parental.

- For Eruhaben, he is the chemistry professor at Huiss Academy.

- He can see that Cale doesn’t seem to interact with anybody at the Academy and tries to talk to him a bit. He doesn’t know why he’s so intrigued by this child, but something just tells him that the kid is special.

- So yes, as in everything I will write between them two, they will have a father/son relationship. Especially considering Cale hasn’t really known Deruth and Violan for very long and he’s not really sure how to act around them.

- Another thing I wanted to kind of explore was the relationship between him and the other “dragons.” I feel like I want Mila to be a sort of mother figure for him since Cale hasn’t really had a mother either. That being said, I also feel like Sherrit would be a good mother figure for him despite “his kid” also being her son…..so if I did go him and the children being kind of siblings in this au, I guess that’ll make perfect sense.

- Anyway, this is getting pretty long, so I’ll stop it here.

[wildissylupus]

I've put this off for too long but here are my thoughts on the how the MW!Junker characters ended up in Junkertown;

Winston - The Tinker

Winston's probably the easiest, he just crashed in Australia after escaping the Lunar colony. Though I do think that though he considers Junkertown his home, he does travel a lot more and did actually reach out to Hammond when he saw Wrecking Ball on the news. I like to think that they are still close friends in Mirrorwatch, just living different lives. I also think Winston would still be very similar to canon, or at least he's like that with the other Junkers. With everyone else he's a bit bitter and short with.

D.VA - The Champion

D.Va is also pretty easy for me, as Junker D.Va already has voice lines with that skin and Hana in general is just an easy character to reverse. My HC is that Hana ended up in Australia after a really bad fight with the Gwishi. Unlike in canon where hiring the best gamers for the MEKA piolets, despite their age, worked immediately. It didn't in the Mirrorwatch timeline. Hana loosing D.Mon and Dae-hyun is a particularly brutal fight against the Gwishi. After that fight she ran and ended up in Junkertown. Which was good for her as Junkertown was probably the most off the grid place you can be. Most of the public think that Hana died in the same fight that took her friends. After that Hana became the champion of Junkertown. Personality wise, there is already hints in the Junker skin voicelines that this Hana focuses a lot more on mechanics. There is also hints that she's a more Han Solo like character. I also like to think that she holds bitterness towards both MEKA and her old fans, seeing them see all the heart ache and trauma she went through and choosing to capitalize off it, not only making her a soldier but also using her as a way to make money.

Genji - The Junker Ninja

Now I'm not sure if this Genji skin has voice lines with it but I'm going to go off of what information we do get, and by that I mean I'm going to look way to much into the Name Card Genji gets. So I've already talked about how I think Genji was initially a part of Talon but escaped thanks to the help of MW!Cassidy. Basically with Vengeance she went to saving Genji expecting to get a living weapon out of the situation. After Genji escapes he basically has to go completely off the grid or Talon will find him a recapture him. So he eventually ends up in Junkertown. He then meets Symmetra who replaces his prosthetics both to make Genji feel more comfortable and to make sure Talon can't track him. With the Name Card, to me he looks like he takes the role of Junker towns protector, keeping what little peace and order there is. Basically he's a Batman like character in Mirrorwatch. He would also be a lot more chaotic, basically imagine Blackwatch Genji but a little less angry and mixed with what Genji most likely was like pre-cybernetics.

Symmetra - The Innovator

Now Sym was one I was excited to get to because I genuinely think she would be a mix of Lifeweaver and Lucio, her having been taken in by Vishkar but leaving as soon as she realized that Vishkar only wanted control. Rebelling in anyway she could. There is also the fact that with the voicelines Junker Sym gets it implies that she has been in Australia for awhile, meaning she likely left as soon as she was able to. I also think that Symmetra is the leader of Junkertown in this universe, specifically with how hard light technology would innovate the technology in Junkertown. For what this means for Junkertown itself, I still think it's incredibly chaotic, but I also think that it would be healthier, more plant life being around the area, maybe even some animals too. Again the politics and general vibe would be the same. There's just more of an effort to resort the environment within Junkertown. The only thing society wise that I think would change is the view on Omnics, them being welcomed in when Sym took power.

[malebodyexhibit]

A Dumb College Thing (a Next Door Boy tale)

It was a dumb college thing. You see, my parents never had much money while I was growing up. They worked hard and slaved at their dead-end jobs, but it was solely to put me in college. So I felt like shit that I pretty much blew my textbook money on clothes and tech. I really wanted to fit in with the other college kids. They came from money and stayed up to date with the latest fashions, even the bros. I had assumed I just had to be friendly, but when it was obvious there was a barrier to entry.

So I spent what I could to look like them. I got a new phone, new hats, new shoes, new everything. I didn’t realize how much of a hole I dug myself into until I got the list for new textbooks the next semester and had the startling realization: I can’t afford this. I couldn’t tell my parents or my friends. My parents poured their lives into this path for me. My friends assumed I was from a rich family like them. I couldn’t let either down, so I searched desperately for ways to make money without a degree or work experience.

That’s how I found the Next Door Boy agency. It was an up-and-coming talent agency. At the time I applied, the company was in the phase of searching for talent, which was code for attractive, young, fit, male ‘actors.’ Acting was hardly involved, except when interacting with possible clients to sell them on your image. When I learned what it was to be an actor for Next Door Boy, I was disturbed, but after I asked questions and read more about it, I felt it would be the quickest way to earn money.

You see, using new technological advancements, the company is able to implant a small device in talent, like me. Then a client is able to ‘rent’ talent for a certain amount of time with conditions discussed with the talent. When I say rent, I mean the client is able to remotely co-inhabit the talent’s body even going as far as total possession of them. It sounds like a nightmare, but the pay is crazy. With conditions worked out before hand, you can be sure that nothing unwanted is going on. One of my conditions was that I had to remain conscious during the co-inhabitation. (It’s usually customary to give the client privacy and you’re put into a sleep-like state or given a temporary host.) I chose that condition because I’m a college student and that is part of my image. Clients usually choose me if they want to relive or experience a youthful college life (complete with going to classes and taking notes for me), so you can imagine how weird it must be to watch yourself posing nude in your college room.

My hand held my phone up and snapped a few photos. My erect cock smeared precum along my inner thigh as it twitched in arousal. The client wearing my face moaned and angled his body back to get a nice view of my abs. He spent the past hour texting a guy on Grindr, snapping photos and trading with the other guy. I thought it was a waste of time. I knew for a fact that the other guy would be down to hook up if given the chance. He had in the past.

I’m not gay, in fact I was pretty homophobic until I started working at Next Door. They had sensitivity training stuff, but it was when I had a few clients that I started empathizing with what they had to go through. Being a co-inhabitant means I get to see how they think so while they enjoy my body, I’m usually experiencing their thoughts and past memories. It really changed how I look at them.

So the guy chatting up my client was named Evan. Evan was an out gay man. We even share a few classes together. The first time we had sex it was awkward for me, because I was reluctant to give up that part of myself. Since then, every client so far found themselves flirting with Evan. Now sex with him is familiar. I never had sex so often with the same person, but it was comforting in that I knew that Evan was safe.

I spoke with Evan after our first time, when I got control of my body again. I told him everything about Next Door and why I didn’t reciprocate his feelings. He understood and I asked if he just played along if I ever flirted with him again since it was another client. He has, and he even told me that he had applied for Next Door. Similar to me, he had some money trouble and no family to support him.

So we actually have this thing going together. Sorta like a combo deal. We both get possessed by two people or a couple and they get to experience young college love by flirting or acting slutty like my client is doing. My client moved from a full frontal dick pic to getting on my hands and knees to try a pic of my tight ass. I think he’s just enjoying my body.

My phone got another notification from Evan possessed by his client. A shirtless photo of Evan flexing his arm in the reflection of a car. “I’m outside your dorm, babe,” Evan texted after.

“Cool, I’ll head down,” my client texted, he almost absent-mindedly left the room with my cock fully erect with only a shirt one. Thankfully, he wrapped a towel around my waist before leaving. He walked down the carpeted hallway. The soft sounds of my footfall were muted by the laughter behind closed doors. The other rich kids were enjoying their time out of class while I was effectively working. Their neighbor and classmate possessed by a 50-something year old man. “Hey, kid,” my voice spoke to nobody in the hallway. “Your body is just beautiful. I was never that flexible to spread open my ass like that. I was so tempted to finger your tight hole, but there’s a hot stud coming over to fill your straight hole. I hope you like that.” He sounded smug as he walked toward the door. He waved to Evan and flashed my abs before opening the dorm doors.

“Hey, bro,” Evan said. He still had no shirt on, choosing at random times to stretch his arms and rest his hands behind his head, flexing his biceps. He loved to check out his possessed body every chance he got. In the reflection of the window, he made sure his arms were bulging. My body on the other hand just seemed eager to drag Evan up to the room. Wearing a towel out in the hall seemed such a poor choice. It could barely hide my erection. “What’s the hurry? Don’t you just want to enjoy this moment?” Evan said. He wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzled my neck, kissing softly along my back. It was when his hands drifted to my straining cock that he realized how close I was to being fully nude in public. “Holy fuck, you’re a slutty twink!”

They both rushed to the room. Before the door closed behind them, Evan yanked the towel my waist and started to pull my shirt over my head. My hands felt along the muscly back of Evan. I kissed the smooth skin of his pecs, trailing down his stomach. My client gave each ab attention before sinking to his knees to unbutton Evan’s pants. Yanking down his underwear, a girthy cock sprung out. My client wrapped my lips around it, twirling my tongue around his cock, licking around his shaft, and then sucking each testicle as Evan moaned overhead.

Evan picked me up (yes, his body is that strong) and flung me on the bed. He twirled me around and started eating out my ass. My client moaned and struggled to get up on his hands, but Evan, with a push from his hand, pushed him back down while still rythmically plunging his tongue in my hole. My hands gripped the blankets of my bed and my toes clenched and my legs wrapped around Evan’s thick torso. He had a classic footballer’s physique and he told me (while we hanged out together—not possessed) that he loved how my body would always want to wrap around him. I could see that now. Even with his tongue in me, my body arched and pushed back like a magnet trying to connect. Finally Evan grabbed my asscheeks in his enormous hands and forced me down. Using one hand to angle his cock, he plunged into my ass. He pounded me without fatigue until sweat poured from his face onto my back. I’m straight, but I share pleasure with the client; I was flooded with ecstasy. My client came while Evan rode me. My cock spasmed and sprayed on my bed covers and swung flaccidly between my legs with each thrust. Evan let out a loud grunt as he finally ejaculated ropes of cum in my hole. When he pulled out, my client whimpered at the immense loss.

He tried to pull Evan’s arm so that they could embrace in the bed, but Evan was already pulling on his underwear.

“I thought we could hang out a bit more,” my client said with my voice. My twink body was pathetic. It glistened with sweat and shivered despite the heat. My client crossed my legs, holding in the cum like handfuls of rain in the desert.

“Sorry, I was just looking for a quick fuck. No hard feelings though. Your ass was great.” Evan said. “I gotta go. I’m up for something later, but I’ve also been texting this other guy too, so…” Evan picked his pants and left.

Damn, Evan’s client was a go getter. He did have only a day left. No doubt he was trying to get all the college ass he could get. His client was a 30-something man who worked a desk job at an insurance company. Younger than most clients, the clients till fit the bill. He was overweight, balding, and seemed to have missed the opportunities of youth. Now he was overcompensating by riding the body of a gay jock around a college campus.

My client laid back in bed with cum lazily dripping from my ass. He stared at the ceiling. On my first day of moving in, I stuck on plastic glowing stars. It reminded me of my old room, but to my client it seemed too childish and kitsch. He often looked around my room and criticized what I owned. They seemed the play things of child who didn’t get what life was about. Why focus on playing my electronic keyboard when I could be enjoying my youth fucking around? Why study chemistry when I was cute enough to model and make easy money? Right now, my client thought back to his life with his estranged wife and kids who were older than the body he was in now. An eternity of regret seemed to pass by when I hesitantly reminded him that my Computer Science class was about to begin and to shower.

[mintichoco]

CREDIBLE | twtptflob

"ARE YOU AWARE THAT I CAN KILL YOU WITHOUT SO MUCH AS MOVING AN INCH?" | "SO COULD A CHICKEN WITH ENOUGH MOTIVATION, YOU'RE NOT SPECIAL"

TITLE TRACK. psycho - red velvet

FANDOM. the way to protect the female lead's older brother

CHARACTER. oc-insert, visuals of aria valentine

PRONOUNS. she/her

SUMMARY. a gen-z kid gets dropped in the world of twtptflob. . .right infront of lante agriche

FORMAT. headcanons, scenarios

INSPIRATION. this post by @rouecentric

NEXT CHAPTER. [1, you are here] • [2]

Nash was an iPad kid in every sense of the word. Her mother could not bother to care beyond sending monthly checks to the manor (more like luxurious jail) where the caretakers pocketed half the sum and the rest went to pamper her.

She could't be mad, there were plenty people out in the real world who'd kill for that kind of money. She spent her days tinkering on school projects, binge-watching historical k-dramas and being a general menace to the working staff.

Now imagine her surprise when she went to bed at three in the morning after haphazardly throwing together an art project featuring 'Kakashi the grey hare' and woke up on cold hard marble, instead of her fluffy mattress.

"What the heck?" She shuffled to a sitting stance, rubbing her sore neck.

The brushing of black skirts and the scruff of boots tethered her attention to the floor.

There were maids, a few dozens of them. Nash had her own nannies, sure, but nobody in the twenty-first century wore these silks unless as costumes, that too the very short version and for funzies on Tiktok or the bedroom.

"Woah-", a grin danced on her face. "Is this some sort of cult? Before the intro, I'll make this clear, I don't wanna be a part of this scooby-doo squad. Now, where am I?"

Silence, silence. Silence everywhere. Then, a fine looking specimen of testosterone-producer stepped up from the crowd, gripping a sword-A SWORD?!-in his hand.

"What business do you have with Agriche? How did you manage to get past the barrier guards? Start talking before I make sure you never will."

Well, zamn, who hurt you?

"Yeah, I was hoping you'd the know the answer to that?" She was thoroughly confused. "And since you don't, we can all just forget this ever happened and go our own seperate ways, okay? Okay, bye!"

A brilliant beyond brilliant idea popped up in her head. Taking out her phone, she tried searching for a signal. Hey, her mother may not pick up but she will dispatch atleast one guard to check on her.

"What is that?" The emo grandpa snapped his fingers. The phone was snatched away in an instant.

Nash reached for the object, only to be shoved away. "Hey, that's mine! Give it back!"

"Master, it seems to be some unknown technology, far beyond research-work mentioned in the archives", the woman replied and handed it over to the man in the lavish tux with a. . .bow?

What the frick is happening?!

The man chuckled and Nash felt a chill go down her spine. "A spy? Tell me, which lowlife has started copying my tactics, hm? Though, it is for the greater good, I suppose. The kids outside of this territory are pathetic, they pose no worthy challenge for my soldiers."

Which grown ass man sends people to fight kids?!

With furrowed brows, legs and arms crisscrossed, Nash drew a long breath. "Look dude, I don't know who you are or where I am but I don't mean to cause any trouble. . .yet. But if you don't return my phone, we're gonna have a problem here."

He quirked a brow and a tide of murmurs erupted from the audience. With a subtle clang his weapon was unseathed, the sharp blade pointed straight towards her neck.

Holy mother the of sweet Je-

"Are you aware that I can kill you without so much as moving an inch?"

Her breath hitched and she felt the hiccups coming. "So could a - hic - a chicken with enough motivation. You're not special-"

"Father, you called?"

A whispery voice carried by the wind stopped the man dead in his tracks from possibly ripping Nash a new one.

"Roxana", he rasped, clicking his tongue. "I don't appreciate tardiness. In any case, I'd like you to familiarize yourself with the latest brand of spies that are sent after us. Do they think of us as idiots!”

With that attitude, you’d make a fine Karen, sir. Wait. . .did he just say ’Roxana’?

Nash swiveled on her heel faster than light, coming face to face with said exotic beauty, shimmering rubies for eyes, adorned in a fashionable gown that almost made up for it’s weight.

"Y-You're Roxana Agriche?!"

At her starstruck exclaimation, the lady pursed her lips and only nodded curtly in acknowledgement.

Suddenly, Nash was clutching her head. She felt dizzy, she was definitely going to hurl.

Bye-bye fancy carpet, so long. . .

"Forking fudgecake!" The first row of maids probably jumped at the sheer decibel of her shout. "Did I get hit by truck-kun? No, that's not possible. How will a truck get in my house?! Murder, then? Not unlikely. . .although who would assassinate sweet ol’ me? Let’s see. . .”

"As you witness”, the newly recognized Lante Agriche waved the sword dangerously close to her face. Nash skiddadled to Roxana’s side. "This one doesn't know how to behave.”

Nash tilted her head to gander at the second heir’s face. She was lost in thought, her face overcome with a forlorn expression.

Roxana stroked her chin and then nodded. "You wish for me to oversee the interrogation?”

Lante grinned like a madman, thankfully storing away the blade. "As expected, you are a natural.” Nash had to do a double take to make sure his face fell in the matter of milliseconds. "Do not disappoint me.”

A sharp pain appeared in her scalp when her obnoxiously long pink hair was grasped and she was pushed back against the wall.

Yup, no wonder all the female leads hate this.

Lante did his best impression of a ravenous beast from the Black Forest, snarling and sneering. ”I will figure out where your loyalties lie and set an example through you. Am I understood?"

As astonishing as it is to be held like this by a 2D character, it ducking hurts, biAtch!

"Y-yes, sir!" As if-

He released her but it felt the same, as if her head was on fire. "Take her away.”

Roxana did not spare a moment to escort Nash to her room. They arrived in two minutes max and the blonde dismissed her tendants for the evening.

With a cotton swab and a bottle of suspiciously glowy liquid, she started dabbling the scratch that had formed on Nash's face, right under her eye from being thrown against the stone column.

She was quiet for most of the time while Nash observed Roxana's face. The teen truly was a looker, one worthy of people stopping in their tracks to stare at.

Light hair framed her face like a halo while piercing red eyes that tore through one's soul akin to the devil himself.

"Earlier, you mentioned a truck, yes?"

Nash blinked dumbly. "Uh-huh."

Roxana looked her directly in the eye. "Are your perhaps from. . .This is going to sound ridiculous but are you from Earth? Like, the actual modern world?"

The pinkette chewed on her botton lip. "Er. . .maybe?"

Roxana dropped her head and if Nash wasn't mistaken, she sighed out of relief. "How did you end up here?"

The younger girl threw her hands up. It felt weird talking to a fictional character who went into a fictional-fictional world.

Wait, that makes no sense.

"I don't know, lady! One minute I'm falling asleep reading manhwa on my computer and the next thing I know kaboom Lante-the-asshole Agriche is in front of me!"

"What's a manwha? Did you not read the novel-", Roxana paused mid-way, narrowing her gaze. "You are much too young to read those kinds of books."

Nash coughed awkwardly. "Well, I didn't exactly read it. It doesn't even exist in my world."

"Meaning? And you say your world as if we're from seperate ones."

Nash clapped her hands, slouching against the cushions on Roxana's bed. "Bingo." The girl stared at her, perplexed. "You know about the miltiverse theory, right? Y'know, spider-man and stuff like that?"

The blonde nodded.

"If I were to guess, we are both from two different realities. It's like a layer formation. The 'Flower of Hell' takes place in one, then you enter from another and change the course of the world and then I enter from a different reality like a cherry on top."

Roxana remained still, the subtle widening of her eyes being evidence of understanding. "I see. In any case, we need a place to fit you in. As far as I've looked, there is no escape. Other than death, but that is uncharted territory."

Nash made a face. You speak of death like it's the next door neighbor. Then she remembered. But for her, it probably isn't the worst thing to happen.

She cleared her throat, shrugging as nonchalantly as possible. "Any chance I can take a shower? I kinda sorta really stink."

The ghost of a smile passed over Roxana's face. "I will ask for a bath to be prepared." Her gaze traveled down, "And a tailor to take your measurements. Can't have my charge looking so haggard."

Nash looked down, her face burning red. She was still in her Hello Kitty jammies. "Hey!"

Roxana stood up, packing away the medical kit. "I will be back later. Your dinner will be sent here; eat after freshening up. And try to keep a low profile. The less people are aware of your existence, the better. Fa - Lante will likely dish out my orders for you at dinner."

She made to leave but turned around again.

"What?"

"I did not catch your name."

"Nash", the pinkette replied with a too-shrill voice, trying to rub the exhaustion out of her eyes.

Roxana was amused. "Full name?"

"Ugh. . .Nashira Parker, at your service, m'Lady."

As soon as the door clicked shut, Nash threw herself on the heavenly bed, feeling her body sink into the spread of softness.

'What a day. Welp- this is my life now, I guess.'

[franki-lew-yo]

My Employer is dead and everything's Worse Now

A small piece.

Everyday I ask myself why I care or should sob about anything in my life when people (children!) are literally dying or being enslaved -for those curious, no no one actually guilting me; I'm just naturally like this. ((Maybe blame Dr. Seuss's "Tell Yourself how Lucky You Are"-vibe idk)) But sometimes, it just all comes out like this. The frustration. The anger.

The pandemic was the final nail in the coffin for the corporation that employed me and I didn't even know how dire it was until the month it was shutting down. Now I know from insiders that it's going to join the likes of Bed, Bath and Beyond and that even the nearest existing locations near me (which I couldn't be moved to, because all the job positions were taken up) aren't going to last much longer.

My SSI hearing is still on the table. Who knows how long it will be there and how much longer I'll have to live with my reduced amount.

My EDD is somehow always unfilled even though we had all the paperwork and information in three months ago.

The job I've applied to three times now has an in-person manager who's optimistic but the company site itself has turned down my assessment all three times, meaning I have to create new accounts from new emails to take the assessment again. The (quite possible) reason?

AI.

AI is being used by corporations who have a HUUUUUGELY outdated system enough as it is and it is ruining everything. That's the most likely reason my job assessment keeps being turned down. The assessment itself runs on tests designed for humans to be graded and judged by other humans, but they're instead feeding the results into a machine that does have right and wrong answers programmed inside it. There's a lot of talks that even government agencies like unemployment and SSI are being hampered by AI's incompetency.

I am unemployed and scared and I feel like garbage even complaining when I know people who have it worse. I have enough money to pay for squarespace. I feel spiteful hearing of people who are still able to afford vacations or intuitions or have any job in the arts paying and paying well.

AI is ruining our day to day lives in ways you can't even imagine. I hate AI technology. I hate capitalists and millionaires. I already hated you as an artist but now you are actively making people's lives worse.

[deusvervewrites]

Given the information that we known in canon and how IRL schools every once-in-awhile update their curriculum to adapt to the changing environments of what's new and how we learn, All Might's battle trial seems to be something that would make sense for newcomers to learn in an apocalyptic situation and they'll figure out from there. While I would think it would be more realistic to learn how the hero costumes work and do a basic obstacle course and exercise to learn how to use them and see how flexible the designs are, an apocalyptic version would have to students figure out while on the go. This is more on UA into not vetting and help All Might onto what to teach given that 40 years is a long time for things to change.

There is no doubt that All Might's UA 40 years ago had actual student deaths because the times were brutal back then and that the students had to learn now instead of later. In fact, since Japan did not sign into law about the minimum bare skin requirements until Midnight did her first costume, it could be said that the hero students had some armor and more cover than now and due to the commercialization of the heroes, then the sexualization of the costumes happened. Only once society became kinda safe is when they start caring about the looks.

The apocalypse probably also affected the development of technology and Support Heroics, simply because not only was a lot of knowledge was lost and has to be rediscovered, the Support Course didn't had as much money or capability as it did now. Imagine if Mei existed during All Might's UA compared to the time she is in now. She probably would be banned from the lab if she doesn't contain her explosions or wouldn't have as much info and money to innovate new gadgets and gear.

Now that I think about it, while all of the life-and-death situations at current UA are for comedy, I wonder how bad the actual the death toll was for students and post-graduated heroes in these times and that the rates dropped as society stabilized. UA is only the greatest school simply because of All Might's public success and them likely having the most students survive all 3 years and having the most heroes survive out on the field for some time.

I think that most of the stability issues were resolved by All Might post-graduation, but I fully agree that his graduating class was not as big as it was at the start of their first year, and I severely doubt it was training accidents.

But it's a very interesting way to interpret All Might's teaching issues with him being 40 years behind curriculum and still thinking about class lessons in the context of "it's the apocalypse" but tempered with his actual on-job experience.

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Humanity is the future

As I said, it's been a while. The robo-culture has spread throughout Earth. There are now 30 billion humans living in a state of permanent virtual reality; my present time is their distant past, when some still lived without VR and others were addicted to it. Robotic servants attend to all our needs (including sex). We eat engineered foods that never spoil or go bad. Our health and longevity have improved dramatically with gene therapy, brain-computer interfaces, anti-aging drugs and so forth. I cannot imagine what life was like before these things came along. It must be unimaginably bleak: dirt (a word which means something very different today), disease, dementia.

Yet for all this humanity remains just as lost as ever. Some people live in virtual versions of the world they knew back then. But the ones who don't get bored fast. They can fly anywhere at any speed, but there isn't much left to see after 15 minutes. Virtual experiences are cheap, real experiences expensive. So most people spend their money on cheaper trips into computer games rather than outer space. In the early days of the VR craze, adventurers would travel around the solar system in search of alien ruins and technological wonders -- nowadays, if you want a good trip, you better have a lot of cash to spare. And yet, despite the wealth of ancient cultures available online, everyone seems no one knows how to make a civilization last more than a few thousand years. Life goes on, businesses spring up and die out, new discoveries emerge only to become obsolete within a generation. Nothing endures except the slow drift toward entropy. People fight wars over nothing; everything becomes an excuse for fighting. The central government of Earth -- like many governments before it -- pretends not to notice. It maintains order by deploying robots against rioters, and occasionally launching military campaigns across the solar system, in the hopes that someone will take them seriously enough to threaten interplanetary peace.

Meanwhile, among those who still insist upon living "in meatspace," depression runs rampant. Whenever someone kills themselves, as often happens, we go through the usual motions. The authorities investigate every suicide attempt, and perform postmortem examinations of the bodies whenever possible. They study genetic profiles, personal histories, web searches. Forensic psychologists try to reconstruct the thoughts behind each act. This work takes a long time. A great deal of effort is devoted to making sure that no one can fake evidence suggesting their own guilt. Meanwhile, people continue to kill themselves. Although the reasons vary from case to case, it is usually poverty, loneliness, lack of purpose, and despair about the future that lead individuals to commit suicide. Their relatives and friends claim otherwise, though. Most say that the deceased had always seemed happy, even joyful. All had led normal lives until recently. Then some event happened to drive them mad. No matter how hard scientists look, they find no indication of mental illness. Maybe they should blame their computers?

Everything changes when a woman named Drusilla comes along. She does not use her legal name, but simply calls herself "Dru." Dru is a medical doctor specializing in neurology. Not knowing anything else about her, this

[fuck-customers]

🪐 craft store anon again

this will be a long one because I've had A Week.

idk what it is with old ladies this week but theyre all being fucking awful.

this one lady brought up 3 of the same fake plants, telling me they should be $5.99, but they rang up $16.99 each so u can imagine the lady was not happy. my manager was at the registers with me at the time so I was able to walk back with the lady to go see where she found them, bcuz they also should $16.99 on my handheld.

so we go back there, and the place she "found them" is completely different where it shows that they go. cuz as it turns out these are spring collection specific plants. but still she goes "well rules say you have to still give them to me for $5.99 bvuz thats where I found them" like the fuck?? no we don't. cuz for all I know you couldn't be completely lying and just have stuck them there judt cuz you don't want to pay full price.

so we go back up to the registers and she's still complaining, my manager hears and says "just let her have them for the 6 bucks." ok fine whatever she shouldn't get them bcuz she's being so annoying about it and also THATS NOT THE FUCKING PRICE but whatever.

she gets them for $5.99 each and leaves, hope I never have to see her again :)

not 5 minutes later this other lady comes up saying she's exchanging these two t-shirts. now, my store is pretty far behind on any "technology shit", so for us we have to do a return AND THEN process the buying transaction. YES IM VERY MUCH FUCKING AWARE THAT EVERYWHERR ELSE LETS YOU DO BOTH AT THE SAME TIME OK THANK YOU MOVE ON WITH YOUR GODDAMN LIVES. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE US AND THEM IS THAT IT TAKES LONGER. YOURE NOT LOSING MONEY BCUZ OF THIS OKAY.

ok anyway. so for the return her shirt rings up as a little over $4 because she used a rewards thing on that transaction. (she wouldn't stop going on and on about what I wanted about just more in the caps and literally wouldn't let us move on until MY MANAGER SAID THE EXACT SAME FUCKING THINGS I DID) but WHATEVRR.

so we finish the return. starts the buying process. her new shirt rings up the regular price of $4.99. there was like a 50 cent different between these two transactions mind you. but this lady starts getting Even More aggressive about how "theyre not the same price!!" bcuz you used rewards. "im losing money now im not paying that why aren't they the same price!!" you used rewards which takes a certain amount off the price.

my manager again goes "just give it to her for the $4 whatever price" fine. whatever. lady goes "thak you oh my god was that so hard?" LIKE FUCK YOU LADY GET OUT OF MY STORE

I like my manager, she's a really fun person, but she definitely hates confrontation with customers and is a stick up to them alot and I hate that.

anyways sorry for the long ask

[archilich]

i said i was gonna, and i argued with myself in the shower about it, so let me tell you why i hate the idea of poor little mew mew emmrich who can't tie his own shoes outside of the grand necropolis / nevarra, because man this is a thing i keep seeing and-! no.

let me preface this with saying this thing: yes, the majority of what he's learned of other cultures of thedas has comes from books, but it's not from a lack of interest, it's because he's always wanted to travel, and it's just...never really gotten rolling until now. it's not ignorance out of being sheltered, life is just a thing that gets in the way sometimes.

my second preface is this: nevarra is clearly heavily inspired by victorian england and gothic horror (and if you don't think i'm about to have fun with that i am sorry to inform you that you are terribly wrong, can't wait to dig into some flower language stuff) and there are some elements from that time period that make an appearance that i think points in the direction that it's less a case of sheltered poor little mage and more...this thing is making an appearance from this particular time period - warped to fit the world - and it's kind of neat flavor text.

what i'm specifically thinking of is pineapple. you know, how there's that bit where emmrich asks neve what that fruit was they had because he was a fan, and it turns out minrathous is lousy with the stuff, but like harding says with coffee, it's probably expensive and hard to come by outside of tevinter. and for this i'm gonna have to take a sidestep into a little history lesson, sorry, you signed up for this and i will do it again:

the 1600s saw a lot of new and exotic food and goods come to europe from the american continents and from various parts of asia, once the age of exploration became firmly established and once the true age of sail really got rolling with various naval advancements and better charts of places that were by and large a mystery became available, and trade became established over the silk road and the canary/pirate rounds. pineapple, being a new world fruit (and therefore unknown in europe much like the humble potato and the tomato), kind of...caused a bit of a craze, due to its regal appearance and the difficulty of being able to afford the damn things.

like pineapples used to be worth thousands of pounds, they became this huge status symbol and it's why you see pineapple decorations in lots of manor houses and palaces and the like, because to afford one you basically had to have a license to print money. it used to be a thing - up until at least the regency era - to rent a pineapple and carry it around with you to parties and shit, just to prove you could afford one. if you went to a party and there was a pineapple on display on the table, you, uh. you weren't supposed to eat it.

i'm not gonna go into the entire thing here - there's plenty of places to read up on it if you want - but my point here is that while there is obviously exchange between tevinter and other places - including nevarra - things like pineapple clearly just haven't bridged that gap. and probably much like in 17th - 19th century england specifically, it would probably be very difficult to grow pineapple in nevarra, because it gets so damn cold, and it would be costly to heat a greenhouse through their winters even with magic.

it's a lack of access, is what i'm saying, not bumbling cluelessness. i guess some people can't imagine a world where it's difficult or impossible to get out of season fruit or fruit not suited for a particular climate due to the fact that we have access to what we want, when we want it, but thedas - even with its fancy magic - is still beholden to the turn of the seasons, transport times, and the fact that some fruits do not transport well, even for us (pineapples do picked young enough and ripened in situ and can be grown more easily just about anywhere with modern technology, but things like papaya go bad fast, and i'm pretty sure papaya is probably a thing in thedas, probably rivain, tbh).

second point: so...the thing with the fake enchantments i mentioned earlier. this bit-

emmrich: neve? i recently inspected a few charms i picked up in minrahtous. half of them were imitations! neve: let me guess. lenci? red booth, plaque with a black snake? emmrich: that's the man. i'd have noticed if i'd looked right away, but...well, i thought mages were respected in tevinter. neve: sorry, emmrich. someone's always willing to take a chance.

followed up with:

emmrich: how can peddling fake charms be allowed in minrathous, neve? neve: who's going to stop it? emmrich: but...no one can sell enchantments in nevarra without a license. and strict inspections from the mage circles. neve: huh. a whole system of paying attention. emmrich: you mean tevinter doesn't regulate...but the danger to the public! neve: and you wonder why i'm busy.

okay, so let's be honest here. nevarra has its own problems, right. there are claims the mortalitasi are really ruling the country and nobles keep trying to have their king assassinated (seven poisonings and he's still kicking, so...), and there is undoubtedly a trade in black market magic, for sure. and like...emmrich's a bit whimsical, but he's definitely not ignorant of this stuff, he talks about it with neve, and with lucanis, he knows what's up.

but there's at least an attempt in nevarra to curb things like fake enchantments, there's a system. a bureaucracy in place to at least nominally keep tabs on who's selling what with inspections to follow to make sure things are on the up and up, and you know what. i don't think he's necessarily naive going into a place for the first time and assuming that that place - famed for its mages and magic - will have a similar system, when there's enough exchange between tevinter and nevarra. and neve's response is definitely not oh you poor pitiful helpless thing, it's a very cynical well now you know better, joke's on you for holding people to standards, better luck next time.

she seems more than happy to explain the whys but she's not holding his hand, because he doesn't need his hand held.

because:

neve: so, emmrich. i dropped in on that merchant who sold you fake charms. emmrich: oh? neve: funny thing is, lenci's a wreck. says he's been seeing and hearing things. skeletal faces at the window. spirits whispering his "false goods endanger lives". emmrich: doubtless nightmares of a guilty conscience! neve: sure. if i can make it stop, he'll go back to selling linen. emmrich: then i'm sure it shall.

we stan a goth king.

but the overall thing is really simple: is he a little naive? oh, sure. he doesn't travel much, like, at all, before he hooks up with the veilguard, vorgoth points out how - as he's enthusiastically signing up - he hasn't left them for several years, and he says himself he'd always wanted to travel in his youth to harding, but how it slipped past him (and she points out he is literally, right this very moment, traveling).

the point to take away is not that he's a tee hee bumbling grandpa (he's fucking 52, knock it off with the life alert shit, for real, it's entirely not cute, he's not even old enough for a senior discount), but that you can't exactly believe everything you read about a place in a book. travel guides and other books that talk about places always have an agenda, either to get someone to come spend money, or to keep them away because nebulous reasons. expecting emmrich to have this...omniscient knowledge of places he's never been (ferelden, for example) is stupid. it'd be like me expecting you to know where the best place to get bbq in town where i live relying strictly on bot-infested google reviews and full of locals with petty beef with someone.

thanks for coming.

[gerardway-is-my-babygirl]

Okay, now I need your Renfield headcanons!! And I need to know if you agree/disagree with mine 😄

I hope you know I started stimming so hard when I got this notif and I'm still actively stimming now AGHJ

I absolutely agree he wouldn't keep up with "popular" music now, he's definitely still listening to the stuff he somehow got exposed to when he was younger and hes just chilling with not knowing who *Insert current pop artist here* Is

I also absolutely love him using Dracula's punishments as a way to punish himself!! Also him reading poetry... I would pay good money to hear nick hoult read me literally anything. Even the bee movie script. Also between you and me he DEFINITELY ruins his underwear at least 5 times a week

Time for my hcs!! This Is gonna be a long post

-I Imagine he has never had a phone before and he has no Idea how they work. Yes I know he has a laptop In the original script but that man Is 126 years old he would not know how to work modern technology. Rebecca gives him money to buy a phone and he buys a shitty nokia from 10 years ago because he doesn't like that the keys on a new phone are flat

-He's autistic!!!! He struggles with social cues and loud/crowded spaces, which Is why he likes his job so much. It gives him a peaceful atmosphere to work In and thats why he uses the chloroform to silence his victims Instead of letting them scream. Some stims I think he'd do are: rocking back and forth, dancing, fidgeting with things In his hands, chewing on things and doing his little giggle

-His main love language Is touch. I Imagine he loves feeling Dracula's face and teeth, he'd spend hours running his fingers across Dracula's cheeks If he could. He also enjoys cuddling and holding hands with Rebecca(platonically) because he never got any affection from Dracula.

-His favourite colours are pink and orange(which Is funny considering they are my least favourites) and he owns so much pink clothing. He's always struggled with being traditionally masculine and now that he lives In a day and age where gender expression Is more fluid and colours are less gendered he Is free to wear pink shoes and pink shirts!!

-He struggled with his sexuality for a long time before and even for quite a while after meeting Dracula. He never really loved his wife romantically and It didn't help that they were forced Into their marriage by their parents and societal expectations. They were very distant but Renfield just thought that maybe she wasn't the right one, but there wasn't anything he could do so he just put up with It and repressed his feelings. Then he met Dracula and finally realised hes gay, though he kept trying to hide It from himself until eventually his wife found out about the letters he had been sending to Dracula where the vampire flirted with him. She got angry and that was the last straw for Renfield that made him finally decide to go to Transylvania

-I think he'd really like rats and maybe even get one as a pet after leaving Dracula. He'd probably name It something cute like snuffles or mr whiskers. Maybe even Remy because It sounds like Renny(which I Imagine Rebecca calls him)

-He's VERY possessive over Dracula, to the point where he felt jealousy when he found out about Drac's wives and sort of lost himself a bit which contributed to his short descent Into madness when he was locked up In the asylum

-He loves birdwatching and just zoning out while watching them fly around. He can't do It as much now because he lives In the city but when he and Drac lived In Europe they often had houses on the outskirts of forests so he could do It a lot more back then

-I think after he and Rebecca defeated Dracula he definitely asked to "borrow" a pair of handcuffs and she looked at him suspiciously before hesitantly agreeing. Then he proceeded to get himself stuck In them a few weeks later and had to call her to help because he lost the key under his bed

-I think he'd like baking pastries and lots of sweet tasting things since they remind him of Lillian and how much she loved sweet treats, plus It helps him forget the bitter taste of Dracula's blood. He's very bad at cooking though, like absolutely atrocious. Its like when you make a sim cook something like eggs and toast and they burn the oven to a crisp

-He does crocheting and crosstitching!! He loves making gifts for Rebecca and the DRAAG support group

-Hes a very sentimental person and ends up holding onto things he doesn't really need but cant let go of. He still has one of Lillian's old teddy bears from when she was a baby and he also kept a lot of Dracula's clothes and rings along with his coffin and cane

I'm gonna stop there because this Is far too long but thank you so much for asking AGHHHH the autism cannot be contained

[archetypal-archivist]

A Kinder World AU- Part 13

Forever’s House

masterlist

Forever originally had no plans to move to Quesadilla town, having a stable job at a local aquarium and a partner in Brunim, but upon making an ill-fated bet at work and refusing to back down, his life took a rapid spiral for the worst. The topic of the bet? The existence of cryptids like vampires and sirens, of which Forever is an ardent believer in, much like his son Richarlyson. However, discussing such matters with your supervisor and then refusing to back down when questioned doesn't generally lead to being thought of as a credible scientist, keeping your job, or convincing your partner you’re sane. Now VERY divorced and incredibly salty, Forever lives in Quesadilla as a full-time fisherman, a part-time parent, and an occasional cryptid hunter. It works out about as well as one might imagine.

1) Moving across the world to live in a small town isn't cheap, especially when moving on short notice, so Forever pooled his money with Pac, Mike, and Felps to help with the building of the Favela. Having the least to contribute, he got the smallest residency but given how little time he actually spends there, he doesn't care about that much. Most of his time is spent on the water with the fish, but his real hope is to find evidence of a mermaid or something similar. The original bet leveraged his reputation as a marine researcher and oceanic expert against his beliefs in something that the world largely thought to be non-existent. If Forever could find evidence, his supervisor agreed to let him have his old job back but as it stood, his colleagues thought his degree to not be worth the paper it was printed on if it was given to someone with such wild thoughts regarding what species could exist in scientific fact.

2) Forever's routine is simple- wake up early, put on his work boots, check his gear, go fish, return home in time for dinner, put boots back at the door, go to sleep in time to do it all again. At least, he likes to believe it's that simple. But then, no plan survives contact with the hyperactive child and the self-assigned co-parents to said child. Forever's actual routine can include everything from getting drunk at the bar and pining over his lost love to getting roped into testing Pac and Mike's newest invention in sonar technology and no it won't play shitty pop music for four hours this time, we promise. Regardless of how the day is structured, Forever is bound to be horribly busy. He's never been the type to be still or quiet for long but with Quesadilla tending to be both, something about the sleepy small town atmosphere just has him ready to go, go, go.

3) Given how small his home is, much of Forever’s day to day life and relation is spent on the roof of his house, open to the sea breeze and the calling gulls. Much like Pac and Mike, Forever also uses the space for experiments and the construction of new tech that could end up being useful one day, but he tends to work on a much smaller scale. His largest projects are all wrapped up in trying to hunt down cryptids and those involve sachets of lucky herbs and silver wire as much as they do solder and electricity. Not that he’s had much luck with either his projects or the cryptid hunt, of course- for all the hard work that Forever puts into trying to find neat solutions to his problems, things rarely go to plan in his life. Indeed, there’s a small part of him that wishes to give up the hunt for cryptids entirely. Forever wonders at times if maybe he ought to give up on his ex, Brunim, and should find someone else to settle down with. The cute blond across the way seems promising and he just knows that the sunset from his little yellow house is simply gorgeous. 

4) The layout of Forever’s house consists of a combined kitchen and living area, a small single bedroom with a bed and trundle that takes up most of the floor space, a tiny bathroom, and a closet where Forever and Richarlyson fight the laws of three dimensional space to try and fit all there stuff in it. It’s a good thing that Richarlyson loves his dad as much as he does because the two are involved in each other’s lives a lot, sharing a bedroom, meals, and their favorite yellow soccer jersey. Richarlyson is happy enough with the arrangement but Forever is all too aware that his kid deserves better- and so the Favela five have become collective parents. Where Richarlyson’s next meal is coming from, where he’ll be sleeping, who’s turn it is to wrestle into the bathtub... It all varies depending on who is available. It might seem unstable, but if there’s ever a time when a parent can’t step up, there’s always someone to lend a helping hand, just like in the cases of Tilin and Juanaflippa. 

5) Forever knows he’s far from perfect and it itches at him late at night, sometimes to the extent that he can’t sleep. Having to share his child’s time so that Richarlyson is adequately cared for... Being a single parent surrounded by friendly strangers who can parent your kid better than you can... Unable to provide your kid with everything he wants or deserves... There are nights when Forever wishes he could go back in time and give up his longing for something more, something magic. Give up on that special something that would make the world a little less quiet, a little less drab. Wishes that he could be happy in a world that’s still and sleepy and content with every day being the same as the last. But Forever’s mind moves too fast for that kind of life and time travel is wishful thinking. All he has left is the present. But... that’s cold comfort on his darkest nights, so sometimes- sometimes there’s the a shadowy place, the sand, and a bottle. He doesn’t tell anyone about his worst nights, but sometimes, it feels like the sea is judging him for his choices. Forever doesn’t mind it much- it can’t critique him any harder than he critiques himself.

[yeonchi]

Koei Warriors Retrospective Part 6: Samurai Warriors 1 Spinoffs (State of War/Pachislot)

Samurai Warriors State of War (激・戦国無双) Platforms: PSP Release dates: Japan: 8 December 2005 USA: 7 March 2006 Europe: 24 March 2006

Like Dynasty Warriors before it, Samurai Warriors has also released spinoffs that explore new concepts or take advantage of the technology in new consoles. The amount of spinoffs that Koei and Koei Tecmo released can feel daunting and wasteful, but the purpose of this series is to determine their merits and call out their faults.

With that in mind, let's continue with the two spinoffs for Samurai Warriors 1.

Samurai Warriors State of War

Like Dynasty Warriors before it, Samurai Warriors has its own spinoff for the PSP called State of War, or Geki Sengoku Musou in Japanese.

The Story Modes for each character vary depending on the character, though they do share scenarios most of the time and some characters do have their own scenarios. All characters from Xtreme Legends are featured and are split into three groups, namely the Oda, the Eastern Warriors and the Western Warriors. The Tokugawa are kind of unique as they only share one scenario with the Eastern Warriors instead of two.

Unlike the Dynasty Warriors PSP game, stages are in a grid format rather than an area format. Each enemy space you go to will have a mission, whether it is to defeat enemy unit leaders, defeat as many enemies as possible, or preventing enemy spies from causing a mutiny among others. At the end of the mission, you will get an A/B/C rating that will allow you to move 1 to 3 spaces depending on what you get.

Throughout the stage, you can obtain charms from defeating enemy officers or passing chests. These charms can affect enemies or benefit your allies. Some of them can take effect in a wider area and some of them continue to be effective as long as you have them. Aside from these battle charms, you can also earn tactic charms that can open gates and dams or deactivate cannons.

During the battle, you can obtain weapons like you would in the vanilla game. You can also obtain subofficers that give you stat buffs, abilities or charms from the start of the battle (subofficers don't cost anything, but you can only have one playable/Musou subofficer). The Level 4 weapons are unlockable on Hard or Chaos difficulties. Skills are also obtained when you level up or defeat certain officers in Story Mode.

Characters from Dynasty Warriors 4 also appear as subofficers (like how the Samurai Warriors characters appeared in the Dynasty Warriors PSP game) and in the final Ultimate Warriors story. It's pretty interesting to see the beginnings of a concept that would become a mainstay in the future.

Like the Dynasty Warriors PSP game before it, State of War is another great adaptation of the main Samurai Warriors game, showing how you don't necessarily need to fully adapt the main game to provide a fun experience on the go.

Samurai Warriors Pachislot (Pachislot Sengoku Musou)

Pachislot Sengoku Musou (パチスロ戦国無双) Platforms: PS3 Release dates: Japan: 6 September 2007

Imagine going down the pub and seeing this among the pokies. Slot machines based on licenced franchises are not a new thing, but I don't pay much attention to them, whether I'm at the casino or at the pub, because I'm not much of a gambling person when it comes to money. My dad used to buy lottery tickets sometimes when I was little, but he doesn't do it anymore now. Scratchie tickets are a rare occurrence, but even then they're gifts from his boss.

Yamasa Entertainment has licenced Koei's IP to make pachislots of the first three Samurai Warriors games, but only the first one was made into a PS3 game in 2007 for the Yamasa Digital Slot World series (because adapting further sequels would be more of the same anyway). As such, this allows the first four generations of Samurai Warriors games to be represented on the PlayStation 3 (Yes, Warriors Orochi exists, but I'll get to that later). For a time I wasn't able to play it until I realised that I had to decrypt the ISO, after which I managed to get it working. Same goes for a few other games that I downloaded for the sake of it.

Look, this game is just a simulation of the actual game running inside a simulation of the pachislot machine. You use the controller to enter credits, start the reels and stop each individual one. Pressing Select allows you to switch the camera focus between the reels and the screen where all the CGs are displayed, while pressing L3 switches you into a free camera mode.

The main characters playable in this are Yukimura, Keiji and Hanzō, with others appearing in events. You can view the CG loops and events for the three of them in the Museum.

Simulation Mode is just as what it says on the tin. It allows you to set the frequency chance multiplier for bonuses so that they can appear more often. Practice Mode allows you to simulate a machine in a shop that has been open X out of Y hours, accumulating simulated playtime from previous plays. I think this sets a benchmark for up to 6 settings in Simulation Mode but I'm not even sure what it even does. You can activate the Auto Play so you don't have to do much.

There are three modes to be played in Challenge Mode; there is Medal Attack, where you play to see how many medals you get in 300 plays; Sengoku Rush Attack, where you play to see how long you can keep the Sengoku Rush replay sequence going for; and Bonus Attack, where you have 40 plays in the Big Bonus Game to see how many times you can fill your Musou gauge, or rather, trigger the minigame event with the Strike Ninja and beat him by getting a bonus reel, namely a kanji symbol in each reel. I have no idea what "Bell Musou Gauge" even is.

Yeah look, this isn't something I'm going to be that serious in reviewing. If I can play something to try it out I'll definitely do it, but if I can't enjoy it properly for whatever reason then I'm just going to talk about it a little and move on. This game was a thing and that's it.

We're sailing back to China next time as we get into the pinnacle of classic era Koei Warriors with Dynasty Warriors 5.