#operation: time fixers

[lemon-3ds]

I think Timekeeper's future sight(?) powers should be nerfed a little. It would be funny methinks

[hellva]

coffee candy cookie but after 3 years in tbd ((she hasnt slept in a week and is capable of murder))

[bakersstreetirregulars]

Returning Registry Event Report: 1/9/2023

As written by New Hire Coffee Candy Cookie ☕️🍬

Operation: Time Fixers

Crystal Delivery (-> 1/14)

500 Crystals given daily for twelve days, 1,000 for logging in five consecutive days, 2,000 for ten consecutive days.

This is a PERMANENT CHANGE in which the Guild Daily Check-In Bingo Bonus Crystals (up to 500/day) are being moved to the Cookies’ Daily Gifts tab in the Events menu. Up to 9,000 Crystals can be received over two weeks if every day’s gift is collected sequentially.

Daily Dice Battles - Round 1 (-> 1/12)

Roll dice against randomly-selected opponents, opting between rolling odd or even to win. Certain opponents may have special rules and side gambits. Extra winnings for a win against Licorice Cookie, Poison Mushroom Cookie, Cherry Cookie, or ME?!?!*

*Addendum I: Coffee Candy Cookie panicked as she ran through this report.

Addendum II: As Printed- Win against her and Licorice for 300 Crystals. Win against Poison Mushroom for 100 Crystals. Cherry Cookie is not recognizable by her base silhouette, as she is wearing her costume. Win against her for 300 Rainbow Cubes.

New opponents appear every several hours, but a sponsored ad can be viewed to meet the next opponent immediately.

Meet Coffee Candy Cookie: Missions (-> 1/12)

An array of missions in Breakout and Trophy Race to complete to accumulate the following rewards. Some of these rewards have been relocated from the Cookies’ Daily Gifts to this repeating event.

100,000 Coins

Ten (10) Bronze/ Four (4) Silver Sugar Crystals

Regular/Special Blessing Tickets

Magic Powder

Three (3) Spirit Potions

Five (5) Quick-Run Tickets

Fifteen (15) Classified Task Records…?!*

One (1) Treasure Incantation

Fifteen (15) Copies of Coffee Candy Cookie & Welling Inkwell each

Meet Automatic Typewriter (-> 1/12)

Similar to the above event, except the reward list changes to the one below. Tasks are centered around guild activity, so membership with a guild is mandatory.

Coins

One (1) Treasure Incantation

Three (3) copies of Automatic Typewriter

Enhancement Tickets

Five (5) Quick-Run Tickets

Six (6) Bronze Sugar Crystals

Magic Powder

Treasure Mastery: Automatic Typewriter (-> 1/12)

Use the Automatic Typewriter to score points for rewards on a progressive track. You must own the Automatic Typewriter to access this.

Cookie of the Year 2022 Results

Blue Lily Cookie has received the most votes and will receive a Valentine’s Day Costume. Timekeeper Cookie will receive a costume for White Day as the runner-up despite her lead for earlier rounds of the competition. View the victory speech to receive 100 Crystals.

Custom Run (-> 2/5)

Run with custom rules in private rooms. Featuring the Warm Midwinter Campsite for 1,500 Sugar Snowflakes, which can be earned for running in these races.

Operation: Time Fixers (-> 1/29)

To be disclosed in a future post.

Cosmetic Gacha Banners: “Operation: Timeguard”, “Save the Future”, and “Operation: Time Fixers” (12/31 - 2/28)

Prior TBD Costumes for Walnut (Search for Lost Time), Roguefort (Pursuit of Lost Time), Croissant (Director of the TBD), and Timekeeper (Ruler of the Ephemeral Flow) will be grouped into one “legacy” event banner.

The new costumes for Cherry (Time Demolitionist) and String Gummy (Timeline Lawbringer) will be grouped into a “new” event banner.

The TBD Search Unit Jelly Shape Set will be grouped into a third jelly shape banner with increased odds.

Miscellaneous Patch Notes

“Save the Future” added to Story Mode with storylines from January 2022.

Operation: Timeguard (November 2020, 4th Anniversary) has possibly been ignored because it bases itself on the retconned version of GingerBrave’s Tale that follows him through the lands outlined in Trophy Race and would progress as the player unlocked new lands.

Added Impeccable Snake Fruit Minister Jelly Set to the Jelly Shape Gacha

Raid Run Changes

Number of Bosses in rotation reduced (4 -> 3, Poison Jelly Toad removed from rotation)

Rank and Leaderboard Scoring has changed as follows (Team’s Total Raid Score -> Time Spent Defeating the Boss). If you take too long to defeat the boss, it will escape and you will get minimal rewards and a rank of E- if you stayed in until the end.

Accumulating enough points as a team will now activate a “Team Ultimate” attack which deals (10M x 20 hits) for a total of 200,000,000 damage. Upon launching this attack, a review of the top 3 contributors will flash across the screen.

Leaderboard Placement Requirements have changed as follows

Higher Score gained between Normal/Hard -> Best Score obtained on “Hard”

Combined Scores of each Boss -> Combined Shortest Time to defeat each Boss

Bosses’ respective Raid Chests now contain more Skill Gems of the color corresponding to their weakness

Giant Sugar Mantis: (Even Mix -> Yellow)

Soboro Queen Bee (Yellow -> Red)

Bamkuchen/Thorncap Treant (Red -> Blue)

Matchmaker will now match based on similar skill levels. You cannot see the levels of your teammates’ combis until a match has been established.

Story Mode

Added Combi Recommendations to get 3 Stars

Lowered Maximum Levels by stage

Relays have been removed

Adjusted Energy Drain, added Energy Potions to select stages to match changes

Escape Level Bonus

Added rewards for Escape Levels 301-325

Level 255 Bonus: +150 points for Pink Bear Jellies

The above bonus will be applied retroactively for anyone who has achieved level 255+

Champions League

Strange Winded Grove -> Legendary Sacred Forest

Added settings to toggle real-time event notifications and the live scoreboards

Balance Changes

🍒 Cherry

Giant Cherry Points added to points for regular Cherry Jellies

+2 Cherry Bombs thrown per skill activation

Increased Cherry Jelly Points (-> 120,000)

Decreased Giant Cherry Jelly Points (40,000 -> 80,000 -> 120,000 -> 160,000 -> 200,000)

Combi Bonus changed to +88,000 Points for Cherry Jellies

Rocket Firecracker: Rescue charges now stack (maximum 3), Increased range for Magnetic Aura during Rescue and Blast, Increased Rescue & Blast points (600,000 + 100,000 per level -> 2,000,000 max)

⏰ String Gummy - TRIAL RANK REQUIREMENTS ADJUSTED

Increased Clockbot Jelly Points (173,000 + 20,500 per level -> 460,000 max)

Increased Jump Shot Points (1,120,000 -> 1,540,000 -> 1,960,000 -> 2,380,000 -> 2,800,000)

Combi Bonus: Increased points for Clockbot Jellies (+410,000 points for Clockbot Jellies)

Smile Detector: Increased points for Metal Jellies (880,000 + 80,000 per level -> 2,000,000 max)

Time Rend Scissors - Increased points for Time Reversal Jellies (938,000 + 77,000 per level -> 1,785,000 max)

[shrinevandal]

have i mentioned that i miss them

[studiometa]

i care him so fucking much

update: Schneeball

[metamorphiacreations]

now im not saying that Devsis loves me or that im the favorite but i have been really hoping for a 3rd TBD event for a while now and who knows maybe they were listening ajdjdj

[cosmic-ships]

Alright here's all.... *Checks notes* 63ish ship names in the tags :' )

reblog with your selfship ship name

mine is cobweb

[shadow-milk-cookie]

Chapter 3 of Operation Timefixers is so confusing. First Maple Taffy Cookie says they have dragon eggs. Specifically, red, gold, white, and violet dragon eggs. Then they say they needed to store the eggs in a special device. THEN they say they want a chance to see a real dragon egg! But. They had just said they had eggs that needed to be mainted at a specific temperature and humidity! And then they say the eggs are fossils! Why would the fossils need to be maintained like real eggs! Do they have dragon eggs or not! What is the truth??!? Where did they get the eggs!!! Am I wrong and do fossils actually need to be maintained a specific temperature and humidity? I'm not a historian or scientist I don't know!

[celaenaeiln]

Just how true do you think the sentiment of “bruce was still a child who didnt get to grow up/move on until he met dick”?

Very true! Actually-Alfred straight up says it-true!

This scene is when Dick was accepted by Batman to become robin.

I was actually going to use this for another Dick and Alfred post but let me just drop it here that Dick cares about Alfred so much!!

Like this boy is the sweetest, most caring person ever. He asks the butler if it's okay for him to become robin-who does that?! Who would think of doing that?! He's the most considerate, softest baby ever! The tiny, nervous, shy smile on his face in the second panel <33333

Here's the answer: "And while he most certainly became a man...I don't think he ever became an adult."

But Alfred says it twice!

"But Alfred always used to say Bruce would have self-destructed if he hadn't met me and learned some responsibility."

My other post about Bruce and Dick has a lot of images that talk about this idea too

That's why I love Bruce and Dick's relationship so much. They are so codependent on each other. While Bruce saved Dick (not from being angry. He wasn't an angry robin, istg.), Bruce also would have died without Dick.

Before Bruce met Dick, he was on a one way track to his own ending. He was reckless, didn't take precautions, and was on the verge of being consumed by the darkness of which he was fighting.

At this time, a boy came along that shined light down upon him (literally because of the circus stage lights lol) and he was taken by him instantly.

With a new partner-a child-by his side Bruce was forced to take precautions, learn how to operate as a human being, and was just happy to have someone who bright and cheerful. He used Dick as an emotional crutch from losing his mind.

"Still, the addition of Dick Grayson into the Master's crusade has made a difference in him."

"I do believe I saw him smile. There have even been occasions in the pantry when I could just discern the muffled sounds of laughter echoing up from the dreadful cavern beneath the manor."

There are so many occasions where Alfred talks about how extraordinarily important Dick is to Bruce.

Dick raised Bruce.

To borrow a lyric line that explains this:

"Take a broken man right in my hands And then put back all his parts"

Dick's "i can fix him" issues which are a massive part of his relationship with Deathstroke come from acting as a child parent to Bruce.

But the greatest part?

He still is.

Again and again and again. Dick is the only person Bruce relies on. He never tells anyone his secrets or worries unless that person is Dick. And often he bears the brunt of the work by his family. Both Tim and Jason have gotten angry at him for taking Bruce's side or supporting Bruce but the thing is, he's the only one who can next to Alfred. Tim has accused and praised him of being too much like Batman sometimes but when you raise a kid (adult-sized) I think you're bound to forgive them while also admonishing them for their mistakes.

They also use Dick as the unofficial spokesperson to talk to Bruce

"Hey. Tim told me about Zur. Are you alright?"

Side note: Tim tried talking to Bruce earlier but Bruce kept ignoring his concerns.

For each robin, Dick acts as the emotional go between Bruce and them.

Jason:

Jason's sad face :'(

That moment meant so much to him

Tim:

Another reason why Dick and Tim are so close is because Dick acted like the parent during Tim's robin era. It wasn't until recent comics that they had Bruce actually even caring about Tim.

Damian:

Also Dick and Damian father and son moment <33

Dick the fixer upper. Always fixing everyone's family issues. With each other or with Bruce.

Also the scene of Martha Wayne thanking Dick

There's a comic panel where Bruce says "Dick is the glue that holds the family together."

Dick is literally the light of his life. Without him Bruce would've lost it. It was the perfect combination of Dick's cheerful personality, strong ethics, and tragic backstory that caused Bruce to take him in and it was these same traits that helped him grow. Because Dick's distinguishable trait is that he humanizes people. And Dick humanized and raised Bruce.

[merge-conflict]

johnny and his ex-lover and his ex-lover and his ex-lover and V

I feel like I should make one of those relationship charts for the penthouse penticule.

[latibvles]

WHEN DOES A WAR END?

A collection of stories surrounding an all-female bomber crew, primarily derived from @hboww2rewatch ’s weekly prompt list + individual prompt requests. a special thanks to @basilone for letting me take inspiration from their masterpost for their own stories: the earth is run by mothers.

[Read all the works in chronological order on Archive of Our Own]

And click the Read More to meet the crew.

THE MAIN PROMPTS

Friends ( March, 1943 )

Crews ( May, 1943 )

Kinship ( May, 1943 )

Recuperation ( June, 1943 )

Injured ( October, 1943 )

Reunion ( October, 1943 )

Typewriter ( October, 1943 )

Wedding ( August, 1946 )

Bonding ( February, 1943 )

Dress Uniform ( December, 1942 )

Vivian “Viv” Savorre | Pilot, 26, Detroit, MI

Responds primarily to Viv — magazines love her, as do most reporters. Has an easy smile and a certain allure that leads people to believe that she was maybe a socialite or some type of high society girl before she joined the Army. Gives very little of herself, somehow manages to make you feel like her best friend regardless. Can throw a mean punch when prompted.

Wilhelmina “Willie” Neumann | Co-Pilot, 25, Stroudsburg, PA

Never introduces herself as anything but Willie. The “mouse” living in the bomber, a woman of very few words. Has good eyes and is very diligent about writing letters home to mom. Only ever speaks when she has something to say, a bit cold if you don’t know her well enough.

Inez Eckley | Navigator, 21, Nashville, TN

Too humble to function. Refuses to admit that she is in fact near-sighted. Her brother’s a minor league baseball player (do not ask her about it) and her mom just had another kid. First in her family to get a college degree — does not brag about this.

Fern Carmine | Radio Operator, 21, Racine, WI

Silver-spoon baby, part-time swindler. Will occasionally save the 100th from Bucky’s impromptu performances with a song of her own — unless they duet, which is tolerable. Don’t play her in darts unless you plan to lose. Loves to dance and loves when she can get the girls dancing with her.

Lena Connolly | Flight Engineer, 23, The Bronx, NY

Accepting any and all stupid nicknames derived from the fact that she is very Irish. Prides herself on being a fixer and being damn good at it. Strongly opinionated. Pretty much down for anything. Good at getting people out of trouble before the fists start flying.

Josephine “Jo” Alden | Tail Gunner, 24, Boston, MA

Also responds to Josie, Josie-Posie, and whatever other rhymes can be surmised from that. The Mom Friend. Suffers from middle kid syndrome and lived to tell the tale. Carries around a library in her footlocker and will hold your hair back when you throw up (after a mission or after a night at the bar).

Harriet “Harrie” Morgan | Ball Turret Gunner, 22, Montgomery, AL

A quintessential ray of pure sunshine. Loves a good sweet treat and lacks a knack for picking up lot of social cues. Very loud, very optimistic, undeniably and admirably fearless. Will scrunch her nose if you call her Harriet.

Carrie Hughes | Waist Gunner, 18, Denver, CO

Baby of the group. Nervous energy personified. A little bit naive and maybe not the bravest of the bunch but she’s getting there. Likes feeling pretty and getting compliments from the people she looks up to. Still finding her own bite.

Lorraine Ivanova | Waist Gunner, 20, Brooklyn, NY

Likes winning and being number one. Does not indulge in the antics unless hard-pressed to do so. Gonna get shit done no matter the cost. Doesn’t talk about herself all that much, makes it hard to know her.

June Cielinski | Bombadier, 21, Chicago, IL

Angry more often than not. Throws a mean punch. Doesn’t look like she can in fact throw that mean punch. Has two older brothers and it shows. Mouthy, opinionated, and downright degrading when you get on her bad side. An overly protective girls’ girl first and foremost.

[lu-is-not-ok]

Everything you need to know from Leviathan

First things first: this is Not a story summary of Leviathan. This is merely a collection of all the pieces of characterization, backstory, and worldbuilding that I believe is or will be relevant in Limbus Company.

I encourage everyone who has finished Library of Ruina (or doesn't care about spoilers to that game) to read Leviathan yourselves, as I will be skipping over most of the actual plot of the novel.

Also, due to the nature of Leviathan as the direct sequel to Library of Ruina, some endgame spoilers to that game will inevitably come up. That being said, I will try my best to keep those spoilers as minimal and vague as possible.

Preamble: Done. Let's get into this. Something something long post warning ahead. It's also kind of chaotic and borderline incomprehensible. If I missed something then, uh, whoops.

Event Timeline:

The end of Library of Ruina directly causes an event dubbed "the first miracle" by some, and "the second passing of White Nights" by others, during which the people killed in the Library would begin returning to the City as if nothing happened.

An orphanage in the Backstreets of District 22 (V Corp's) was at the epicenter of this event, being destroyed in the process and causing the Ring to take interest in the children raised there.

The events of Leviathan follow half a year after this event, and seem to take place over the course of at least a few days. It's as of yet unclear how much time has passed between the end of Leviathan and the beginning of Limbus Company.

Vergilius:

Vergilius comes from District 22 (V Corp's), a Nest filled with wide water canals and boats that make use of them, making it somewhat reminiscent of Venice.

Vergilius used to be the operator of a highly-experienced and skilled Fixer Office. The lowest Grade Fixer at that Office is Grade 3 until a rookie joins them during the events of Leviathan. This Office seems to be dissolved by the end of Leviathan after half of the Fixers working for it die.

Vergilius's title, the Red Gaze, is a stealth pun in Korean. The word used for Gaze is a homophone to the characters used in an epiphet meaning Immortal Poet.

The red eyes Vergilius is named after appear to have a certain kind of aura to them, which causes him to draw attention to himself and be easily recognised. For missions where stealth is involved, Vergilius has a special pair of glasses to make his gaze less recognisable.

Also, Vergilius owns whole-ass calling cards with his Fixer title and a portrait in a Roman-inspired style.

As a Color Fixer, Vergilius is extremely strong and fast, being able to crack the ground underneath his feet when running at full sprint and literally cut through buildings. In fact, Vergilius's body is heavily augmented with artificially woven muscle fibers, which Vergilius compares to hydraullic cylinders and motors in how it feels to use them, though they're not literally mechanical. Despite that level of power, he's noticeably less experienced or skilled than another Color Fixer seen in Leviathan - Iori, the Purple Tear.

Speaking of her, Vergilius appears to know quite a bit about her, including her name, what happened to her in Library of Ruina, and what one of her goals is. She's also implied to have taught Vergilius a technique called Shin that gets introduced later in Leviathan. Also, Iori calls him a junior, implying a difference in either age or experience between the two. Oh, and he also knew Roland.

In addition to knowing those people, Vergilius appears to have also known Carmen before she died. He recognises the nickname Carmen uses for him within the Light as the one she used for him back when they knew each other. Also, back then, Vergilius's weren't as they are now, implying they've known each other before Vergilius was a Color Fixer.

For some time during his work as a Fixer, Vergilius has had the ability to sense "Flow". A fate-like pressure that he sees as trails of shadows and light, pointing him towards a destination he doesn't know. It's a force he notably struggles to resist, only being able to by following dim Flows, rather than the slow but bright Flow. However, doing so merely brings ruin to Vergilius's life, as the dim Flow inevitably guides him back to the slow Flow.

For ten years, Vergilius has been visitting an orphanage in the local Backstreets, donating money and goods and spending time with the children there. He even keeps an old photograph of him with all the orphanage's residents on him.

Before he found the orphanage for the first time however, Vergilius would go on rampages and kill people he believed were contributing to the horrible current state of the City. One of those rampages involved the slaughter of a whole Syndicate, the leader of which was Lapis's father. It's heavily implied that all the children within the orphanage landed there as a direct result of Vergilius's actions.

Vergilius is consistently shown to be stoic and emotionally distant, yet deeply caring underneath his aloof exterior. This is most clearly shown through his relationship with Garnet, the previously mentioned rookie who was raised at the previously mentioned orphanage. Though Vergilius denies Garnet's claims that he raised him, and regularly thinks about how Garnet's sentimentality is going to get him killed, yet he also can't help but feel proud of Garnet in moments where he truly shines, care a lot about Garnet's safety, and feel horrible guilt when he fails to protect him.

Back during his rampaging days, Vergilius is unable to show mercy, with his "attempt" to do so involving giving the last survivor a cut that would let them survive for a few hours, in gratitude for giving him a code to the door. Inversely, current day Vergilius appears to have softened, as his gladius has a heating mechanism that immediately cauterizes the wounds it inflicts. This ensures non-fatal wounds remain not fatal, even if leaving his target alive could cause him issues later on.

Vergilius's motives for taking care of the kids at the orphanage despite being the one who orphaned them are as complex as they are layered. Guilt is clearly a part of that, as Vergilius believes there's no reason for him to see Lapis again when Garnet offers to take him along for his meeting with her. Another part of it might have been Vergilius secretly wishing that one day, one of the kids would realize what he'd done and take their retribution... however it's unclear how "canon" that particular motivation is due to it only being brought up in a vision of a Mirror World. The orphanage was also a reprieve from his former reality filled with wails and begging for mercy. It was a place of warmth, filled with voices of delight waiting for him every time. At the same time, it was a source of hope for him. A place where he could redeem himself, to raise children who could live with the heart he couldn't have, and who could potentially change the City with their virtues alone. All of these motivated Vergilius to cover up and forget about his true goal. One he's been actively burrying during his visits at the orphanage.

That goal? Redacted from the viewer. The first explicitly set up mystery in Leviathan. However, we know that it is directly tied to how Vergilius wishes to change the City.

Vergilius believes that the City is deeply wounded, with its injuries having festered for a long time. He believes that the way to change it is to continue spilling blood, never letting it dry out. To try and pierce through the City's thick shell into its wounded core. When describing the world he wants, he says it's "a world that can only be understood once you feel it with your whole body".

After a talk with Carmen, Vergilius effloresces into his E.G.O, which allows him to wield blood as both a weapon and armor. It also allows him to become one with pools of blood, however he would be unable to leave them if they were to dry while he's inside. However, the usage of his E.G.O is limited by the amount of other people's blood he has available to him. If he were to run out, he'd be forced to use his own, dying painfully in the process.

Also, Vergilius keeps coming up with one-liners when beating people up. It's kinda funny.

At the end of Leviathan, Vergilius is invited into Limbus Company, being promised to give him Lapis (who had been replaced by Charon) and Garnet (who has been reduced to a tiny glowing jewel) back. Thinking back on his past, Vergilius accepts, though the story ends before we get to see the exact terms of his employment.

Charon:

Previously, Charon was known as Lapis, and was one of the kids at the orphanage Vergilius would regularly visit. She was especially close friends with Garnet, who would later become a Fixer and join Vergilius's Office. In fact, Garnet notes how Lapis wouldn't usually open up to anyone but him, and when they did talk she would often talk about Vergilius. She's also noted to not be a fan of studying.

Lapis ended up at the orphanage after Vergilius killed her father during his slaughter of the Syndicate he led. While we don't get to know much about her father, we do know he cared deeply for her, to the point his last words were calling out her name.

In a flashback to her childhood, we learn that Lapis would always suck on bitter candy as she's able to preserve it and suckle on it little by little, whereas sweet things melt away much sooner. She follows this anecdote of hers up by revealing her wish to "try all the flavors in the world" when she grows up.

After aging out of the orphanage, Lapis got a job at a fruit-harvesting company. During the events of Leviathan, Lapis has decided to meet up with Garnet at a private location. However, the area turned out be occupied by Syndicate members, including that of the Ring, and Lapis was kidnapped to be used in the Ring's experiments with Mirror World technology.

At the end of Leviathan, Lapis turned out to be the only of the "gems" to have survived the experiments. However, she did so because she was the only successful one. Her former identity was completely erased, replaced by that of Charon. Initially, Vergilius is hesitant to make contact with her, feeling like keeping his distant will save both of them from pain. However, he relents when Charon finds a still living piece of the jewel Garnet had turned into.

Gubo:

Gubo is one of the researchers at N Corp, and during the events of Leviathan he comes to an auction held by the Ring for the sole purpose of gaining access to their Corridor and retrieving Aseah.

His connections to a Wing allow him to casually bid 10 billion Ahn like it's nothing. Gubo is also notably frustrated when the auctioneer appears to be breaking their own rules, trying to convince them that doing so would put their gallery in ill repute.

To enter the Corridor despite his failure at the auction, Gubo is willing to sacrifice the lives of the people that had accompanied. Notably, Vergilius is able to tell that Gubo did no fighting himself due to his appearance, reckoning he merely hid while others fought in his stead.

Gubo is someone who's willing to keep himself calm and composed regardless of the situation. He's constantly calculating ways to reach his goal, willing to do anything and pay any price to do so. However, that composure is said to reflect insecurity, obsession, and yearning. He is shown to take some ridiculous risks in pursuit of his goals, attempting to attack Vergilius twice despite being clearly outmatched against a fucking Color.

Despite N Corp being at potential odds with the Ring, due to them kidnapping Aseah, Gubo doesn't act hostile towards the Ring's members outside of getting rid of those who were directly standing in his way.

Aseah:

During Leviathan, Aseah is the main researcher working on the Mirror World technology for the Ring. He's specifically working on modifying and tuning an invention made by Young-Ji, the Glass Window.

By that point in time, Aseah had already joined N Corp, however the Ring kidnapped him to use his knowledge for their own gain. Despite such seemingly dire circumstances, Aseah does not seem bothered to be working for the Ring in the slightest.

Aseah is a cold and usually emotionless individual who only cares about his research. In fact, he only ever shows emotions, specifically passion, when realizing he's made a breakthrough or describing how the technology he's researching works. He's easily swayed to risk other people's lives for the sake of pushing his research even further.

One of this main motives for using the Glass Window is to create a Singularity to surpass Yi Sang's creation, as well as any other competing technology of this kind. Despite his self-imposed rivalry with Yi Sang, Aseah still calls him a friend.

At the end of Leviathan, Aseah is successfully retrieved by Gubo . However, a question is posed: for both to get back out of the Corridor, Aseah must be able to know how to navigate it. If that's the case and he could have escaped this whole time, why didn't he? He must have had reasons to not fly away, even though his cage was wide open. Add that to the mystery counter.

Limbus Company:

Limbus Company shows up at the very end of Leviathan, being a new enough Company for Vergilius to have never heard of them before.

A Special Operations Team from a department called LCA raids the Ring's lab, specifically searching for Vergilius. A woman with hair that seems white from far away, but appears graysih close up, approaches him. This is revealed to be Faust, and she's the one who gives Vergilius an offer.

Work for Limbus Company, and we can bring Lapis and Garnet back.

The Ring:

The Ring are a Syndicate that are said to only believe what they see with their own eyes, and are dedicated to the creation and display of various types of art. They also hold auctions for various pieces.

Some of the Ring's art falls within our understanding of it, such as paintings and sculptures. A large amount of it however includes acts of extreme violence or otherwise cruel behavior.

Many of the lower-ranking members of the Ring and Backstreets residents under their protection are considered to be akin to students, being graded on their pieces and taking art exams. While the Ring does allow resits on their exams, flunking too many times will result in death. In such an environment, a lack of inspiration causes people to have mental breakdowns.

As far as we've seen, the Ring hold two different types of art galleries, which I'll refer to as Syndicate-facing and Public-facing respectively.

Syndicate-facing art galleries are structured more like schools, complete with classrooms and suspicious "art" exhibits within the halls. One of those exhibits we see are "statues" of people with animal heads. However, these statues are actually sill living people that are forced to stay completely still under the threat of violence, or "scolding". Oh, and those people also had their mouths and ears sewn shut. This particular exhibition is revealed to be a part of a test that the Ring was holding that night.

Public-facing art galleries look more akin to modern art galleries we'd see in our world, and their lower floors are accessible to pretty much any public person. These floors are filled with more standard types of art, like paintings and sculptures. The top floor of these galleries is considered the VIP floor, where auctions are held and the true disturbing nature of the Ring is shown to the guests there.

During the auctions, every participant has a veil put over their head, and they are to bow in respect when the one holding the auction enters the stage. The art pieces sold on these auctions can be anything from paintings of real slaughters that took place in the City, to objects made out of or containing pieces of actual people, to straight up dancers stuck eternally dancing in glass stages in which time flows slower. Additionally, the person who wins the bid on the "meister's most cherished work" will be allowed into the Ring's Corridor.

At the time of Leviathan's events, the Ring not only has access to the Corridor, but also Mirror World technology in the form of the Glass Window.

A secret research lab was kept hidden within one such Corridor, where the Ring would test Mirror World technology on "gems" - young people who came from the orphanage at the epicenter of the Miracle. These experiments involved these people experiencing many Mirror Worlds at once within their mind, with those people physically shattering if pushed too far.

The Ring's goal with their research of the Mirror Worlds is to open as many Rifts to as many of them as possible, with one of the high-ranking Ring members saying they wish to open ten thousand rifts at minimum.

This plan appears to be thwarted by the end of Leviathan. It's vaguely implied that N Corp and/or Limbus Company seized the tech in the Ring's possession, leaving it unclear if the Ring still has access to it currently.

Over the course of Leviathan, we learn of two different high positions within the Ring: Docents and Maestros. Each can be identified by the kind of ring they wear on their ring fingers. Also, all of the ones we've seen thus far are gender non-conforming as fuck.

Docents are responsible for taking care of and monitoring the art galleries. Notably, they are responsible for guiding guests and giving lectures on the lower floors of their public-facing galleries. These lectures appear to involve explaining the ideals of their Maestros. Docents wear two-coiled rings that extends down the top of their hands and coils around their wrists.

Maestros are responsible for holding the auctions and appear to have a high amount of control over the Ring's actions. They wear three-coiled rings. They also notably act a lot more according to what they believe is true art, as opposed to the Docents who can still be swayed by money and social standard. As an example, Maestro Jumsoon decides to give his most prized artpiece not to the person bidding billions of Ahn, but to the person who convinces him they can complete the piece due to being personally involved in what it represents.

N Corp:

The physical location of the Ring's secret lab appears to be within N Corp's District. However, due to its entry point being connected to the Corridor, it's unable to be accessed from outside the Corridor.

One of N Corp's main source of income and culture are so-called suicide vending machines, or vending machines that dispense canned experiences that specifically allow a person to experience suicide. This bit of technology is considered both amazing and condemnable, and is said to be one of the main reasons people move to N Corp's Nest.

N Corp Taboos are upheld vehemently. Recorded footage of that secret lab, even without knowing it's located in N Corp, would result in Taboo Hunters being sent out over the breaking of the Nest filming taboo. They are highly efficient, going after everyone who had seen the recording before finally retrieving the footage.

M Corp:

M Corp's full name is MDM Enterprise. In Leviathan, we see M Corp do business with the Ring through delivering their product to them - an entire moonlight stone.

A moonlight stone delivered in a massive box filled with a flesh-like cushion around the stone. Opening the box requires using an unlocking mechanism composed of multiple various levers. Everyone present in the same room as the box during its opening are required to wear ear plugs, while those actually opening it also require airway protection. Upon being pulled open, the stone needs to be cut out of the flesh cushion using a knife.

If sufficient ear protection is not worn during this process, the sound the stone emits while being forced out of its container will cause all that hear it to experience a "wave of hiraeth". This is shown as a sort of dissociative state where the person rambles about the ocean being their home and family, and how they need to return to it.

The moonlight stones themselves appear similar in shape to large pearls. The Ring appears to use them by putting them in translucent containers, where the stone is attached to multiple electrodes and tubes for a yet unclear purpose.

The Light:

After the second passing of White Nights, people would begin transforming into forms similar to cocoons or eggs. This happens when a person becomes aware of how unbearable the world around them is, causing them to retreat from reality.

When seperated from their bodies, people establish their... Redacted. Yet another mystery. However, it's implied to be something along the lines of the ideal world they wish to create, or the dream they wish to make true. If they manage to set this Redacted and endure the process, they can be born anew as a Distortion (or potentially with Effloresced E.G.O). If they can't their bodies are seized by their sins, resulting in the creation of a Peccatulum.

This process is pointed out as being different to the process of Distorting that we're used to seeing, though it's not yet unclear to what extent.

The inside of the Light as utter stillness, shimmering as if somethered in light. When someone is inside the Light, Carmen attempts to guide them towards a specific conclusion, acting kind and trying to absolve them of any guilt over their actions, while showing an utter lack of pity or genuine feeling. She's able to see past the facades people put up, directly looking into what they have been through. She uses that knowledge to direct people towards realizing their true desires and wishes.

Carmen is able to meet and talk with people whose hearts "crack". Who are too overwhelmed with their emotions in the moment. When she discovers a person's true wish has been buried and hidden away, she acts as if the act is so painful that it hurts her by proxy. She uses this opportunity to offer these people the power to create they consider right, one only for their own eyes.

She claims that she's helping everyone paint the City with their own colors, much like the Light, in which all colors perfectly blend together. When it's pointed out to her that doing so would be impossible, due to everyone's colors being different and thus it being impossible for them all to exist together in perfect harmony, Carmen responds by saying everyone should be dedicated to protecting and fighting for the sake of their own world, even if it means fighting the entire world itself.

Carmen describes the process of Distorting or Efflorescing E.G.O as becoming a "self unbound by the eyes and standards of the City", with Carmen attributing the latter to being Ayin's idea. Carmen says that she believes the final destination of everyone's ambitions is Love, specifically unconditional Love towards oneself, as the only person that can truly understand and love them is themself. This is where Carmen and Ayin come into conflict. Ayin believes people should be able fight using clothes and tools, holding the human form in high regard. Carmen, on the other hand, sees that as unnecessary moderation, and argues one should express their love through their body, so that it and their heart can become one.

Effectively, Carmen is trying to guide people to only caring about themselves and their desires, disregarding everything around them. She does so through a "friendly, yet ruthless pressure", by offering the seemingly perfect solution of absolute self-love at the cost of being blind to one's reality. She knows what the "right" choice is, and will be disappointed if one were to choose the other option, but she won't stop anyone from pursuing their desires even if their way is different from what she's envisioned.

...There is a purpose to it all. A goal Carmen has for herself. After all, she's a person too. It's another bit of information that's redacted, setting it up as yet another mystery, but we do have a hint towards what it could be. Somehow, a person who was given power by Carmen failing to fight for their wish appears to contribute towards Carmen's personal purpose.

Speaking of that, Leviathan reveals another, more violent way to defeat a Distortion. By proving the fundamentals of a Distortion's beliefs wrong, by breaking the foundation upon which their wish was built, the Distortion begins to fall apart. With nothing left to its form but vague concepts, an Abnormality is born, tearing out of the Distorted person's body and killing them instantly.

Peccatulae:

The Peccatulae are the result of the process enabled by the second passing of White Nights, in which a person retreats into a cocoon-like form upon finding the world too unbearable and faces an ordeal within. If the person fails the ordeal by not being able to find a wish for which's sake to return to their world, their body is left to be fed on by their sins. This results in their bodies transforming into manifestations of those sins - the Peccatulae. Once this transformation takes place, it cannot be reversed.

Peccatulae are not Distortions, as they are what happens when one lacks the strong desire needed to either Distort or Effloresce E.G.O. They are also not Abnormalities, as unlike them the Peccatulae can be killed.

The Peccatulae visually lack any humanity they may have had before the transformation. At the same time though, the cries they let out are compared to that of humans burdened by life, by the sin of bearing sin.

Those cries are also seemingly able to affect one's mind, causing memories associated with the Peccatulum's Sin Affinity to resurface.

The Glass Window:

The Glass Window is a piece of technology created by Young-Ji, which was co-opted by Aseah and studied by the Ring. This technology is considered to be a Singularity by Wings and Grade 1 Fixers.

The main function of the Glass Window is superimposing Mirror Worlds onto whatever is viewed through it, though in a blurry state. It's noted to be less stable than Yi Sang's Mirror technology, but in exchange it's capable of superimposing a much larger number of Worls at the same time.

The amount of Mirror Worlds and their intensity can be controlled through modifying the Glass Window's Refraction Rate. A higher Refraction Rate allows more overlayed Worlds to stack, at the cost of "yielding more of one's heart to the Glass Window".

Surviving high Refraction Rates without physically shattering involves attaining focus - a process involving perishing one's heart without killing it.

Most weapons cannot damage the Glass Window.

The Corridor:

The Corridor is a piece of technology that the Ring owns during the events of Leviathan. It's a liminal, seemingly-infinite space that can connect to places all over the City. As long as the area they wish to link has an exit, a matching entrance will appear within the Corridor.

Many of the doors within the Corridor are locked using mental locks, to be able to enter them one needs to think specific mental keywords as they attempt to open the door.

Inside the Corridor itself, electronics such as video recorders and ear pieces appear to malfunction.

Despite the Corridor being a mostly linear space, the complex and intricate rules by which its passages connect make it more than possible to get lost within. As such, navigating the Corridor is usually done when accompanied by a guide.

To navigate the Corridor by oneself, one needs to always remember two things - their starting point, and their destination. Knowing those two points will allow one to be able to find their way by feeling which directions to take. This is due to a phenomenon called Reversion of Causality, a phenomenon which some Singularities take advantage of as well.

Breaking through a wall in the Corridor leads to a massive hall made of constantly shifting purposeless surfaces lined within even more purposeless doors. Staying within this outer hall is dangerous, as one would become stuck here if the doors within the Corridor reassembled themselves.

Shin and Mang:

Shin is a technique Vergilius learned from (who's implied to be) the Purple Tear. Shin involves completely relinquishing the control of one's body to one's mind, specifically one's memories and the feelings associated with them. When Shin is used, it causes glowing rings to appear around the weapon (or body part if weaponless) one is using to fight. The glow of these rings is constantly emphasized to be that of the moon.

Vergilius describes Shin as "the power of Light", and "the power of sin".

To use Shin, one needs Mang (referred to as luna/lunae when not a proper noun), often multiple of them. Using Mang is described as filling onces emptied minds with dense and heavy memories, then letting the lunae of these recalled feelings guide one's movements.

Random Miscellanous Bits of Info:

It's a tradition in District 8 (H Corp's) to gift apples on Christmas Eve, to wish the giftee a peaceful night.

Cellphones in the City seem to be at a stage in-between Iphones and slightly older smartphones. The screen only takes up roughly half of the phone, but it appears to be a touchscreen due to the lack of mechanical buttons.

Related to that, payphones also exist in the City. The District the payphone is in gets shown to the one recieving a call from one.

The Seven Association holds seminars for new and aspiring Fixers that teaches them the basics, such as information about major Syndicates, Singularities, spatial awareness, etc. The Seven Association also holds Fixer qualification tests.

Higher education is something one can pursue in the City.

There are still video recorders that use videotapes in the City.

Cognition-warping ID Cards are a thing within the City. However, they are noted to only be useful for brief deception.

One of the canonical Mirror Worlds is literally our world.

Airplanes don't exist in the City.

[pmtomato]

i forgot to show that fixer i mentioned in Magnus post. Meet Maya, the evil woman(tm) and a Blizzard office operator. Blizzard office is a an affiliate of Oufi Association, and serves as a banking office. They give out loans, mortgages, collect debts and handle other financial manipulations.

I also made her office's ID for Meursault and Don.

i know what you're about to say and NO i did not know about rocinante being of comically grave importance to her, nor did the warp event come out at the time when i made this. I just wanted don with blade legs cuz that's metal as fuck.

[eating-plastic]

Leaving Morals Behind: Kent x fem!reader SMUT

Warnings: NSFW, smut (MINORS AND AGELESS BLOGS DNI), age gap (older man-younger woman. Reader is ALWAYS +18), AFAB!reader, p in v sex, rough sex, oral sex (male receiving), masturbation, choking (the good kind 😏) , the ol' cheatin' with the babysitter trope, dom!Kent, sub!reader, degrading, infidelity (duh), swearing, slow burn, mentions of PTSD, reader tries so hard to be a good person lol, there are some feeling in this, probably some grammatical errors

Word Count: 7724 Words

A/N: Okay, I know, infidelity is wrong, cheating is wrong, I wouldn't cheat on my partner, and I'd hope to God he wouldn't cheat on me, my mama always said married men are off limits...but y'all are lying if you said you wouldn't become a homewrecking whore for this man. I'd happily be this man's fucktoy if Jodi ain't givin' it up lol. Please leave all morals at the "read more" line, you will be able to pick them back up at the end of the fic. Keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times, and away we go!

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

You always thought you were a good person, or at least you always tried to be. You liked to be liked, giving and getting respect and rewards. Always wanting to be friends with a strong moral compass you never strayed from. So when you had inherited your grandfather's old farm and had to move to Stardew Valley, you were none the wiser that it was going to be a test of your good nature.

A test you were going to fail at.

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

Stardew Valley was beautiful, at least you thought so. Sure it wasn't as big and bustling as the city you were used to, but you didn't mind. No, the only problem you had was money.

The farm was a fixer upper, that was for sure. You knew you would have to get some seeds and maybe some animals to make money, but all you were concerned with was making the home look like a home.

And food. You needed food.

Whelp, looks like it was job hunting time for you.

Unfortunately you didn't even know where to start.

"Wow, so mom was right," the sound of a male voice causes you to turn. Behind you was a man about your age with blonde hair. "Someone did move into the old man's place."

Of course, that's where you would start. Being nice as you always were.

"Hi, I'm Y/N. Uh, this was apparently my grandpa's farm," you hold your hand out for him to shake. He takes it, but looks at you weird.

"You didn't know?"

"Uh, well no. I wasn't very close with him. I think I only knew him when I was a toddler," you truly didn't remember, then again your family was never close with their own. "So, you gotta name?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. I'm Sam."

Well, so far so good.

"Well, Sam, you wouldn't happen to know if anyone here has a help wanted sign or something. Kind of, uh...need to get this place fixed up."

He thinks for a moment.

"Eh, not sure. But hey, why don't I show you around? I'm sure you'll find something!"

With that, you followed Sam around, even getting to know him a bit more. You found him relatively likable, but you didn't really support his dislike for authority. Of course, you felt disappointment bubbling within you due to small towns typically meaning little opportunities. At the sight of your defeated face, Sam sighs.

"Look...there's someplace that is hiring, but it kinda sucks."

"Psh, I just need enough money for food and get the farm looking like, well, an actual farm."

"Yeah, it really does look like a shithole," at that, you punch his shoulder. "Ow! Okay, sorry. Look, I work at Jojamart, it's this big business that moved in recently, and they're always looking for workers. I don't like it, but if you can put up with it, then I'll take you there."

To make a long story short, you told Sam to lead you there.

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

You tried to get by on such a humble paycheck, but operation "fix up your new farm" was going slower than you'd like. On the bright side, at least your friendship with Sam was going well. You viewed him as the brother you never had, and he viewed you as the sister he never had. Not to mention he had introduced you to his friends Sebastian and Abigail, although the latter was more agreeable and welcoming to your kindness.

About a month or two of you living in Pelican Town had passed, Sam had asked if you wanted to go out drinking with him. He even added that it was his treat since you said you didn't want to spend your paycheck on anything that wasn't a necessity. He clearly had something he wanted to talk to you about and you alone, considering Sebastian and Abigail weren't present like usual.

"So...any reason you wanted to drag me out for a drink?" swirling your glass and watching the drink that moved within.

"First of all, you need it. You've been working for six months straight."

"I have not! And for your information, I can handle the responsibilities of a job. You can't even bear working for an hour." you quipped.

"Not true. I can't handle working two hours, thank you very much."

"Heh, okay okay," you prepared to take a sip of your drink. "So, what's the second thing?"

"How good are you with kids?"

You nearly choke on your drink and let out a laugh of disbelief.

"Wha-What kinda question is that?" your laugh makes Sam let out a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, that does sound weird, huh?"

"You don't say."

He clears his throat, before explaining himself.

"Look, my mom's been stressed. Especially since my dad's been deployed. I gotta kid brother that she always worries about, and leave yours truly to babysit. Besides, you said you've been looking for a second job, anyways."

It's true. With the humble paycheck Joja was giving you, it was hard to get the farm fixed up, hence why you never went out drinking with Sam and his friends.

"It won't be much, but my mom really needs the break. Even if it's just for a day," the blonde looks at you pleadingly.

"Any little bit helps," you nod. "You sure your mom would be okay with a total stranger watching her kid?"

"Believe me, you're not a stranger to her. I've talked about so much that she thinks we're dating," he jokes.

"Ew!" you did a fake shudder at that, even making a goofy grossed out face.

"I know!" he lets out his own playful noise of disgust, before collecting himself. "So, uh, what do you say? Think you can put up with my little brother."

"Of course I can. I've babysat more kids than I can count before moving here. You have got yourself a deal, Samson." you held your hand out to shake on it.

Sam gave you an annoyed look that made you laugh. He hated being called by his full name, which you reveled in. Still, he shook your hand, sealing the deal.

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

You told Sam that you would show up at his place the following Saturday. Upon meeting his mother Jodi and his little brother Vincent, you liked them just as quickly as you liked him. Jodi did look as exhausted as her eldest son described, and was trying to turn you away from babysitting her youngest. Not because she didn't trust you, but because she felt she didn't have the money you deserved for taking time out of your day to watch the little boy that was eagerly asking you all sorts of questions.

You just told her what you told Sam, any little bit helped no matter how small. Besides, you were quickly taking a liking to Vincent. In fact, you would say that he was one of the cutest kids you'd ever babysat.

And so, after standing your ground, the woman caved, and asked her youngest son if he would like you to watch over him.

The answer was a resounding "yes".

So she left, leaving the two of you alone in the home.

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

"What are you doing?" Vincent asked, watching you tidy up the living room of the home.

"Just cleaning the room up a bit. Wanna help me? you had decided to indulge the child's love for insects, making sure he didn't get too dirty. At least, to the best of your abilities. He still needed to wash his hands afterwards. As such, you decided to assist Jodi even more by picking the house up a bit.

"I thought only mom cleaned?" he cocked his head to the side.

"Everyone cleans, kiddo. A nice home means a nice life," you moved to the kitchen to do some dishes.

"Is that true?" he asked.

"Mmhm, it is. Come on, you can help me dry dishes."

"But isn't that boring?" he still followed you into the kitchen despite his question.

"It doesn't have to be. How about I tell you a story while we work? Sound good?" you knelt down to be at eye level with the kid.

"Okay...but only if you let me have gummies afterwards."

"Whatever you say kiddo. Just don't tell your mother about the "gummy" part, kay?" you ruffled his hair and moved a chair closer to the sink for him to stand on.

He pulled himself onto the chair, and you began to tell a story you remembered from your childhood.

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

You were coming up on a year of living in Stardew Valley, and your farm didn't look like it's former self at all. Now, you had crops of your own, as well as a couple of hens. As such, you quit your job at Jojamart, now selling your wares, but you still babysat Vincent at least once a week.

You loved the kid just as you loved Sam: as another brother you never had. Jodi was still apologetic with the small amount of money she paid you, but you no longer cared. You weren't babysitting her younger son for money anymore, now you were doing it because you wanted to. Besides, you enjoyed helping the overworked woman out with cleaning up the house a bit.

As such, it allowed her to repay you by joining her family for dinner. It was nice eating with what you now would consider a surrogate family, now that you were so far away from your own. In fact, both Jodi and Vincent had finally stopped calling you and Sam a couple, which was nice.

Yes, your good nature and morals was certainly still shining through, and rewarding you in the end.

That was until he showed up.

You were eating some of Jodi's lentil soup for supper that night. While Vincent complained about it, you told him that if you could eat it, he could eat it. So he sucked it up.

Meanwhile, Sam was discussing a song he was writing with Sebastian asking for your ideas. The ideas you gave ranged from serious to jokey.

It was all going so well, until the front door opened.

You all turned your heads to look at who it was. Though you never met him, you knew just who you were looking at. Sam, Vincent, and Jodi all told you about Kent. You knew he was in the military, and how his family had worried about him. He was loved, and everyone's words made you want to meet him when he got back from his deployment.

Now though, you felt small as his eyes fell upon you. He was analyzing you, a stranger in his home, despite clearly being on good terms with his family.

You wanted to excuse yourself early, now no longer hungry as you were intruding on what should have been a nice moment of a family reuniting.

Of course, after Kent found out you were both Sam's best friend and Vincent's babysitter, he stopped staring daggers at you like you had just burnt his most valued possessions. He even offered you his hand to shake, which you noticed was rough and large compared to yours.

After being properly introduced to him, you voiced that you were going to leave, coming up with the excuse that your crops needed tending to.

As you walked home, you decide to stay away from Sam's place for a bit, wanting him and his family to have a proper reunion with the patriarch of the house.

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

It had been a few days since that dinner, and you were still following your decision. You still hung out with Sam, and Jodi and Vincent always said "hi" to you when you passed by them in town square, but you still didn't want to intrude.

So you spent these past days walking around Pelican Town, after tending to your crops and hens. You loved taking in the scenery and waving hello to any of the villagers that you'd greet. You also just love getting lost in your thoughts.

"Hey, uh, Y/N!"

You jump at the sound of a rough, male voice calling your name. You turn around and see Kent walking towards you. He doesn't seem as cold as he was when you first met him. As such, you got a better look at the older man now that you weren't frozen under his gaze.

He looked like an older, more handsome and rugged version of Sam. Also more muscular too, at least from what you could tell despite the clothes.

"H-Hi," you still can't help but be shy around him.

"Look...I'm sorry about our first meeting. I noticed you were kinda shaken up after it," he rubs the back of his neck, clearly feeling a bit guilty about it.

"It's okay. You didn't know me. You just wanted to eat and sleep I imagine, right?"

"Yeah," he nods and sighs. "Still, why don't we start over, clean slate."

He holds his large hand out for you to shake once more. You smile sheepishly, and take it.

"Clean slate," you agreed.

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

Clean slate was right. After that day, everything in your world went back to normal. You got to babysit Vincent again, and you felt welcomed to hang out and eat supper at Sam's place too.

However, you quickly noticed that things were a bit rocky in his world. He would talk about how he was happy to have his dad back, but noticed that he seemed so standoffish, Vincent would even complain that he didn't play with him anymore. Jodi never spoke on the matter, but you assumed that she understood the seriousness on the matter. You certainly did.

Before moving to Stardew Valley, you had a huge interest in psychology, taking classes in both high school and college. You even had plans of becoming a psychologist. Funny how those plans changed.

The point is, you had an idea what Kent was going through. Being a soldier certainly wasn't easy. You had no doubts in your mind that he had seen and done things most couldn't even bear.

Whenever you would walk around town, you'd notice that he would stand under trees a lot, all by himself and deep in thought. Sure, he'd smile and wave at you when you'd pass by, but you knew that there was a disturbance inside his head. You wondered if he wanted someone to talk to. Then again, you didn't want to be pushy. Besides, you were just a family friend that he was only starting to get to know. There was only one way to find out.

Asking him.

You timed your walk perfectly with Kent heading out to stand under the tree just North of his home. He was a bit suspicious, considering you would usually take your walk later, but maybe you just felt like taking it sooner.

"Afternoon, Y/N," he greeted and continued on his way.

"Hey, Kent," you chirped.

"You're taking your walk early."

"Yeah, I didn't have much to do today. Why sit inside waiting for the clock to strike when you can just do it now, right?"

"I guess," he tenses up a bit when he notices you aren't breaking away from him like usual. Maybe you were just in a friendly mood. "So, uh, how's the farm coming?"

"Oh, it's going great! You should've seen it before I cleaned it up. You wouldn't even recognize it.

"Maybe...this town hasn't changed much since I left."

His jaw is tight and he clearly is starting to get lost in thought. Now was your chance.

"Are you okay?" you ask.

"I'm fine," he says quickly.

Alright, that didn't give you much to work with.

"Do you...do you want me to leave you alone?" you clearly aren't buying his words.

Kent sighs, deeply.

"Y/N, listen, don't you have something better to do than waste time following me around?"

Resistance, that was to be expected. Still, you would try one more time. If he continued to push you away, then that would be it. You would leave him alone.

"I know you're not fine, Kent. I can't imagine what you're going through, but I just want you to know that I'll listen to you if you need me to. But if you want me to leave you alone, then I will."

He stares at you intensely. He's both analyzing your words, and deciding if he wants to talk. You continue to look up at him, patience evident on your face. Eventually, he takes a deep breath and begins to speak.

"You like listening to other people's problems?"

"I like being there for people if they want me to, however they want me to. So, if you want me to leave, I will."

"Heh, a farmer, a babysitter, and a shrink. Is there anything else you can do that I don't know about?" he really doesn't want to give you a straightforward answer. Unfortunately for him, you were more stubborn than you let on. At your lack of backing down, he just looks away from you.

"It just doesn't feel right....Like I can't go back to normal no matter how hard I try. I'm happy to be home...but I hate that I can't just go back to who I was before...," he trails off.

Well that's shocking. You were really expecting him to tell you to "fuck off". Still, you'll take it.

"Have you tried talking to someone about this? Jodi?" you push a bit, seeing how responsive he'll be. Luckily, he replies to your question.

"No one here gets it, so why should I? Besides, Jodi just wants to pretend that everything is still great, so why should I ruin that? Hell, why am I even telling you this, anyways?" he runs a hand through his hair, frustration evident at the matter.

"Only you know the answer to that, Kent. I'm not gonna tell you what you should and shouldn't do, or how you should feel," you hesitantly hold your hand up to touch his arm." I'm just here if you want someone to just listen to you."

You're both silent now. Neither of you know what you want to say. Still, your hand is resting reassuringly on his arm, which he doesn't shove off. Finally, the older man sighs.

"Look, just...," he thinks about what he wants to say. "Just know that you don't have to waste your time listening to me, okay."

You give him a sympathetic smile.

"It's not wasting my time, if I'm just doing what I wanna do," you squeeze his arm gently before letting it go. "I just want to be there for you, Kent. Just like with Sam, and Jodi, and Vincent....And I'll do it however you all want me to."

He glances at you, before giving you a shadow of a smile.

"You're too nice of a person. You know that, Y/N?"

"So I've been told," you giggle.

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

'You were just being nice,' you thought. It seems like those five words had become your mantra ever since that day.

You were just being nice while you listened to Kent open up about whatever he felt comfortable with telling you.

You were just being nice when you would reassuringly touch his arm and speak so sweetly to him.

You were just being nice when you would give him gifts he loved, while the rest of his family would only get gifts that they liked.

And it was just a coincidence that you started wearing more dresses now, because he would always compliment you when you wore them.

Everything even got to the point where Kent would visit you at your farm to help move things that were too heavy for you, when you had complained about whatever you were having trouble with. You didn't want him to strain himself, but he insisted. He said it was because he was repaying you for always being there for his family.

So yes, you were just being nice when you would watch him move objects around, always wearing a white tank top that showed off his arms, or even forfeiting the shirt entirely.

You were just being nice, because you were just making sure he didn't pass out from heat stroke, hence why you gave him towels, ice cold lemonade, or even offered your shower to him.

This wasn't because you desired the older man. No, of course not. How could you? He was not only married with a family, but you were friends with his family. Sure he was attractive, and sure he cared about you, but you'd never pursue anything with him. You weren't a homewrecker.

You weren't. Even when your brain would betray you and make you dream about Kent in situations that ranged from wholesome, with him kissing you while standing under one of the many trees he stood under, to down right pornographic with him pinning you down to any surface and fucking your brains out. Nope, you couldn't be into him. Even when you would wake up from those dreams with butterflies in your stomach or damp panties.

No. You couldn't. After all, would you really be into him if a cold shower washed those thoughts away? Would you really be into him if you still hung out with him and his family? Of course not.

You were just being nice.

Well, that was until one wet dream you had one night.

'You were babysitting Vincent like always. You were helping him study for a science test he had that Friday. You supposed you could add tutor to that list of farmer, babysitter, and shrink.

Suddenly, both Jodi and Kent entered the home. The boy at your side got up from your spot on the floor and ran into his mother's arms. She said that he had a doctor's appointment, which was odd because you could've sworn Vincent's doctor's appointment had passed. Still, they both left, leaving you and the older man alone in the home.

He walked into the dinning room, and called for you to follow him. You did what you were told, only to have his hand wrapped around your throat. You could still breathe, but it didn't stop you from jumping.

Kent now had you pinned up against the dining room table, calling you a "dirty homewrecker" and a "filthy whore", and with his hand under the skirt of your dress.

The next thing you knew, you were bent over the table, your skirt flipped up and your panties ripped off, all while the older man behind you used your body like you were nothing but a sex doll.

Fuck, it felt amazing. You had never had your body used like that before, but you were already addicted to it. Especially as you felt your orgasm coming closer...and closer...and....'

You woke up, panties completely soaked and your pussy craving attention. It was at that moment in your lust filled mind that you thought one thing: fuck it.

No cold shower was gonna take care of this, and you decided that you were done lying to yourself. You were done with being nice all the time. You wanted Kent, and you didn't give a fuck about his wife and sons.

So, you slipped your hand down your body and underneath the waistband of your pajama shorts and panties.

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

Little did you know that Kent wasn't exactly having the most platonic thoughts about you, either. Though it did take him a bit longer than you for him to have his own "fuck it" moment.

You were so beautiful, attentive, sweet, almost innocent in his eyes. And as such, he also just assumed that all of the actions you had done for him, was just you being nice.

That's why he would go over to your farm to help you. He was just repaying your kindness. He was just being nice.

He didn't want you. No, how could he? He loved his wife, he had a family. And you? Innocent, sweet little you? You couldn't have wanted him. You were a good girl, not a homewrecker. No, he didn't desire you at all.

Even when his brain betrayed him by playing dreams of you as his little wife instead. Coming home to you, loving you, taking you out on dates. Nope, that longing feeling he felt after waking up from these dreams was something else.

After all, would he really be into you if a cold shower washed those thoughts away, or if he could still look you or his family in the eye. Of course not.

You were just being nice.

That was until he had his own wet dream about you.

'He was sitting in a field with you, which was odd considering how open fields make him uncomfortable, but you looking at him so lovingly seemed to make him forget that.

Something he noticed was that you were wearing a dress, as you seem to be wearing dresses a lot nowadays, except this one left little to the imagination. The skirt hardly covered your ass, and the top put your cleavage on full display. You, however, seemed completely unaware of your revealing outfit.

The next thing Kent knew, your dress was off, and apparently you weren't wearing a bra or panties underneath. He was also hovering above you, with his hand wrapped around your throat. Despite this, you were looking up at him, completely blissed out. As if this dream couldn't get any better, you let out the most adorable moans while he fucked you.

What started off with what could've been interpreted at "love making" quickly transformed into something more primal. And he loved it. Especially as his orgasm got closer...and closer...and....'

He woke up, except unlike you, he woke up in the middle of the night, with his wife peacefully sleeping beside him. He couldn't take a cold shower, and he couldn't go back to sleep now that he was almost painfully hard. There was only one thing he could do.

'Fuck it,' he thought, before getting up to head to the bathroom, after making sure everyone in the house was asleep.

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

Neither of you made a move. How could you? You didn't know if Kent desired you, and he didn't know if you desired him. Besides, there was the whole, oh, you know, married with a family issue. Still, that didn't stop you from wanting to be a bit subtle on the matter, now wearing dresses that had shorter skirts or emphasized your cleavage, and touching him a bit more.

Everything didn't come to a halt though, until you had asked him to come over whenever he could to help move something heavy. Apparently, that meant Kent coming over on what felt like the hottest day of the summer. As such, you decided to set up your sprinkler in case he needed to cool down while he worked. Oh yeah, and so you had an excuse to run around in your bathing suit in front of him.

When he saw you, he was taken aback by seeing more of you than he was used to, even looking away to focus on the task at hand. That clearly didn't last long, as you felt his eyes back on you while you bent over a bit to splash the cool water from the sprinkler onto your face.

"Alright, move over. I need to cool down more than you," the older man jests.

You look up at him and smirk, moving aside.

"Go ahead."

Kent stands and sighs, as droplets of water fall unto him. While he's distracted, you grab the sprinkler and hold it towards him, causing him to get hit in the face with a rush of water. You place it back down and laugh at his startled reaction. Unfortunately, this gave him enough time to replicate what you did to him.

"Eek! Kent, stop!" you squeal out, trying to shield your body from the sprinkler's cold blasts.

"Nope! Not until you say you're sorry," he playfully sneers.

"Ah! Okay! Okay, I'm sorry!" at that, he puts the sprinkler back onto the grass. "Truce?"

You hold out your hand, which he shakes.

"Truce."

"I'm sorry about making you come out here. Especially on the hottest day of the summer," you do feel a bit guilty about the whole thing, despite flaunting your body in your bathing suit.

"You know I don't mind. I'm always happy to help you out."

"I know...," you begin, deciding to make a move now. You make your way closer to Kent before giving him your best "bedroom eyes". "I just wish there was something I could do to repay you."

You drag your fingertips up his arm, which causes him to tense up. His eyes widen at your actions, and he backs up from you.

'Oh, shit.'

You quickly drop your hand to your side. Your face begins to heat up with embarrassment and shame. You try to get out an apology, but all that comes out are stuttered phrases.

"...I see," Kent grabs his jacket and walks out of your backyard. All you can do is just stand there, humiliated.

You raise your hands up to your face and take a deep breath, ashamed of yourself.

'Oh, Yoba, what have I done?"

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

After that event, you couldn't even look at yourself in the mirror. What was wrong with you? How could you do that? You tried to seduce a married man. A man who you were close with, and had a family you were close with. And now he knew just what a horrible person you were. Hell, it felt like everyone in Pelican Town knew, despite them not treating you any differently. In fact, Jodi and Vincent still would greet you anytime they passed you, and Sam still would invite you out to drink with him and his friends. And every time, you had to put on a mask like you were still a good person, like you didn't try to destroy their family.

You also never saw Kent after that day, but you were purposely trying to ignore him. How could you face him? He seemed pretty pissed off at your actions, not wanting to associate with someone like you.

You were actually considering moving back home. What was once someplace you felt welcomed in, now felt suffocating. Everyone knew, they had to.

It was evening now, and you were doing everything you could to ignore your thoughts and how much of a miserable human being you were.

The sound of your phone ringing rips you from your task, and you almost feel like just letting the caller on the other end give up trying to reach you. Guilt pulls you to answer it though, because if you are going to try and feel less miserable about yourself, why ignore someone who may have needed you. So you answer, lifting the device up to your ear.

"H-Hello?"

"Y/N," the voice on the other end greets. You feel your blood run cold as you recognize who it is.

"Kent...wh-what can I do for you?" you swallow, nervously.

"Sorry that this seems short notice. I was gonna take Jodi out for drinks and Sam's off with his buddies somewhere. Do you mind watching Vincent for a bit?" he doesn't sound pissed off or tense, like you expected. That does melt your nerves a bit.

"Y-Yeah, sure. Um, I'll be over there in a bit."

"Good."

And just like that, the line goes dead. You take a deep breath. You were just going to watch Vincent, that was all. Maybe this was your road to redemption. Maybe your little stunt that hot day was going to become water under the bridge. So after composing yourself, you head on over to the home you had been avoiding.

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

It seems like the distance between your farm and Sam's place had gotten shorter during your trek. You actually just stare at his front door wondering if you should just turn around and head back. No, you had to try and reconstruct your shattered, good nature. Flaking on people who needed you was not going to help. So you knock on the door just as you used to.

Unfortunately, Kent greets you when the front door opens, though you didn't know if greeting Jodi would've been any better.

"Come in," he says, shortly.

You walk in and the older man closes the door behind you. You wait for Vincent to come greet you like he always does when you babysit, but you can't hear the sound of his footsteps getting rapidly closer, nor do you hear his voice. In fact, the whole house was quiet.

"Kent, where is everyone?" you ask, feeling nervous.

"Gone," he says, before walking into his kitchen.

"Wha-gone? What do you mean 'gone'?" you hesitantly follow him. He is leaning up against one of the counters, thinking.

"Jodi took the boys out for a little vacation. I stayed behind," he still doesn't look at you.

"I-I...why?" everything is beginning to feel weirdly dreamlike.

"Because we need to talk," his eyes finally fell on you. "And you haven't been giving me much of an opportunity."

"Sorry...," your voice is small, and you look down at your feet. As much as you don't want to face this talk, you know that getting it out of the way may make things better.

"'Sorry' is right. You pull that little stunt all those days ago, and then avoid me," wait what?

You look up and notice that Kent is much closer to you now. You freeze up a bit, but feel confused that he doesn't look angry with you.

"Tell me, sweetheart," he leans a bit closer to you. "Do you normally fool around with married men?"

The question takes you by surprise and your cheeks heat up.

"I-I...no," it's the only thing that comes to your mind, which now feels empty.

"Clearly," he holds your face so you are forced to look at him. "You have a bad habit of working me up, where people could see or hear us. Do you want everyone to know that we're fooling around, hm?"

You don't speak, still frozen and tense. Kent sighs, letting your face go and moving away from you.

"Of course...you don't want that anymore, do you?" he turns his back to you. "If you don't want to, then you're free to go."

"W-wait...y-you...?" you let out a frustrated sigh, trying to compose yourself and ask what you wanted to ask. "You mean...you weren't mad at me."

"Of course not. I was just surprised and needed to think," he glances over his shoulder." Now, answer my question, Y/N: do you want this or not?"

Well, here you were. A crossroad. You could either try to rebuild your moral compass, or you damage it permanently. And you know what? The fog in your brain and the dampness that was forming in your panties was going to keep you from walking out that door. This was going to end in two ways: just getting a taste of what you've been dreaming about so you could move on, or becoming addicted to it entirely.

Kent's back is still to you, and a smirk forms on your face. You begin to remove your clothes as quietly as you could. You regret not not wearing a dress as it would've made this so much easier, but your guilty mind had sworn to not wear them anymore. Funny how that was going to change.

"You know what?" you drawl, waiting for the older man to turn back and look at you. He does, and a smirk forms on his own face as his eyes fall upon you, now only clothed in your bra and panties. "I don't think I'd mind fooling around a bit."

"Clearly," he makes his way back towards you, but this time he wraps one of his hands around your throat, squeezing it lightly. "Heh...and here I thought you were a good girl. Looks like I was wrong though, huh?"

You shamelessly whine at the feeling of him mildly choking you, reminding you of one of your many impure dreams about the older man.

"Yeah, you aren't a good girl at all," Kent's other hand wanders to your back, pulling you closer to him and undoing your bra. "You're just a filthy whore, right?"

You bite your lip, a nice quip for his comment forming in your mind.

"I'm your filthy whore," you correct, which causes the older man to chuckle darkly.

"Oh yeah?" he asks, which causes you to nod. "We'll see about that."

He suddenly lifts you up, causing you to wrap your arms around his neck and your legs around his waist. You are carried to his bedroom. As if the situation couldn't get any more taboo, he was now going to fuck you on the same bed he shared with his wife.

Kent closes the door behind him out of habit. Not that he had to worry about anyone bursting into the room. In fact, he was surprised how natural he was with this considering he and Jodi have hardly fucked since he got back.

There was no time to think about that though. Especially as you sat down on the edge of his bed in only your panties now, your eyes full of curiosity at what he was going to do to you.

"The fuck you think you're doing," he growls, which both startles and turns you on. "You think I'm just gonna let a whore like you get comfortable, just like that?"

"N-No sir," you whimper.

Kent's eyes don't move from you, his gaze as hard as it was the night he first met you. Even as he slowly begins to undress, his glare is still unmoving. As soon as his torso is bare, your eyes wander, taking in all of his muscle and scars.

"Come here."

"Hm? Wha-?"

"I said 'come here'. Don't make me have to fucking repeat myself," he crosses his arms across his chest.

You waste no time making your way over to him, only to be shoved to your knees. You look up at the older man and your mouth waters at what'll happen next.

Kent's hands move to his belt, undoing it and pulling his pants and boxers down enough for his cock to spring free. Your eyes widen at his size, wondering if he'll even fit inside your pussy. Oh well, now's not the time to think about that, especially since you had a job to do.

"I take it I don't have to tell you what to do?" he asks.

You nod, taking his dick in your hands and jerking him off. You then begin to swirl your tongue around the tip, getting a feel for his length. Once you feel ready, you take the first few inches of his cock into your mouth, taking him as far as your gag reflexes would allow you.

Kent moves his hand to the back of your head, gripping your hair harshly. He tries to be nice and let you suck him off at your own pace, but impatience begins to consume him.

Eventually, he forces your head all the way down his dick, causing you to gag and for tears to form in the corners of your eyes. You ball your hands into fists and try to relax your throat, allowing the older man to fuck your mouth however he'd like.

And that's just what he does. He continues to use your mouth at a harsh pace, groaning with pleasure at such. Your panties are soaked, and you move one of your hands underneath the waistband to stroke your clit. Your moans add to the older man's satisfaction, and he looks down at you.

He loves what he sees. You with teary, half-lidded eyes, some saliva seeping from the corners of your mouth, and your hand touching yourself.

Suddenly, Kent pulls you off of his cock. While you're happy to have a breather and give your jaw a bit of a rest, you still feel disappointed that you aren't gonna feel him cum down your throat. As such, you remove your hand from your panties and look up at him confused.

"Don't let me stop you, sweetheart. In fact...," he pulls you up from the floor and moves you to the bed. Your panties are then ripped from your body, and the older man removes the rest of his clothes as well. "There... now why don't you continue playing with that pretty, little pussy of yours."

His words make you shiver and your wet hole to clench around nothing. You spread your legs and move your hand back to your cunt. You soak your fingers in your slick and go back to rubbing your clit. You tilt your head back , and breathy moans drip from your lips.

Kent takes in the sight of you. Despite wanting to fuck you right then and there, he still wanted to enjoy a bit of a show, especially as your moans grew louder. While you are distracted, he moves to his bedside table and rummages for a condom in the drawer. It's nice that they are finally going to get some use, now.

He moves back to you and grabs your hand, halting your motion. You whine in frustration, as you were on the verge of your release, but get cut off as you are flipped onto your stomach.

"On all fours. Now," he growls.

You waste no time getting onto your hands and knees, and feel the bed dip behind you. Kent gets into position, before ripping open the condom's packaging and rolling it onto his dick. He then lines himself up with your pussy, before pushing into you.

You cry out at the feeling of being stretched out and drop onto your forearms. The older man barely gives you time to adjust to his size before setting a harsh pace. You had never felt such an intoxicating mix of pain and pleasure in your life. Needy, high pitched moans leave your mouth at his cock thrusting in and out of you.

"Yeah? You like that, huh? You like getting fucked by married men?" he growls into your ear after leaning down so that his chest was to your back, still not halting his pace.

You try to respond, but it feels like the tip of his dick is hitting your cervix, which scrambles your sentences into sobs of pleasure.

"Of course-fuck! Of course, a dirty, little homewrecker like you does," he moans, while wrapping his hand around your neck once more.

Despite his degrading words, Kent is enjoying this as well. As horrible as it sounds, he does love the feeling of your tighter, younger pussy when comparing it to his wife's. Scratch that, he just preferred everything about you when compared to Jodi.

You listened to him, you were there for him, instead of just pretending that everything was okay. It could've helped that you never knew him before his deployment, or it could've been that you tackled things that were wrong instead of ignoring it.

At the moment though, he doesn't care. He'll think about it later, right now he has a job to do. Right now, your pretty, little cunt was tightening around him and your moans were now screams. You were going to cum, and he would let you, but not that easily.

Kent slows his pace and his thrusts become shallow. The sudden change causes you to whine in a combination of confusion and frustration.

"Aw, what? Did you really think I'd let a whore like you cum?" he chuckles cruelly at your desperate whimpers.

"K-Kent...please," you even try to push your hips back, but he tightens his hold on your neck, stopping you.

"Tell me, sweetheart. Why should I let you cum, hm?" he didn't expect you to give him a good answer. In fact, he didn't even care what you told him. He just wanted to hear you beg.

"P-Please, I-I'll do anything! Please!" you feel tears beginning to flow down your cheeks. After keeping you from cumming once, you didn't want him to deny you a second time.

"Aw, you're that desperate to cum, huh?" his faux sympathy makes you nod. "Hm, alright...I guess I'll be nice."

His pace changes to the harsh speed it was before, pulling a surprised moan from you. Your orgasm hits you like a freight train, and you cum harder than you have ever had.

The feeling around his cock, makes Kent spill his own release into the condom. He wishes he didn't have to use it, but he knew the consequences if he didn't, and you both were already doing something that would have serious consequences if found out.

He pulls out of you, and your body goes limp. You are blissed out of your mind, and the bed underneath you feels comfortable. The older man decides to take the time to dispose of the condom, as well as look for any other potential evidence of his affair that would need to be taken care of.

He then returns back to the bedroom, lays down next to you, and starts petting your hair. It's gentle, which seems odd after he roughly fucked you, but you certainly weren't going to complain. You move to face him, and give him a dazed smile.

Kent smirks at your reaction, shifting his hand from your hair to your cheek, thinking while he stroked it.

"You need anything?" he breaks the pleasant silence. You just shake your head, and pull him closer.

You could stay the night. Jodi and the boys weren't going to be back until tomorrow night, which was fine by the both of you.

Unfortunately for you and Kent, this wasn't going to be a one time thing. You both were addicted to each other now, which meant that this could get dangerous. Not that either of you cared though. You both were going to enjoy each other no matter how this fucked up fairy tale ended.

[mechanicalriddle]

HAPPY OCTOBER! (prompts by @bweirdart) (x)

Today(yesterday)(thedaybeforeyesterday)'s theme is favorite oc. I think it is probably obvious who is getting featured here if you have been following me for the *checks calendar* past two years

Character intro/diary/colossal infodump under the cut because I have to explain Exalted to you first before anything else makes sense in context, i'll rehash some of this in further detail for entries later in the month

WHO IS SHE?

My tabletop character.

What system is she from?

Extremely complicated question. For the completely uninitiated she is from a system called Exalted (3rd Edition), which is about spirits, gods, and the deeply fallible humans that the gods uplift to become humanity's ultimate champions. (surely they would never be crushed under the weight of their own hubris! update: oops!)

The original Exalted is a sort of post-post-post apocalypse bronze age deal. everything is sort of made of and governed by magic and elemental principles, various gods, etc etc. In the original Exalted, the titans who created the world are overthrown by their 'offspring', gods known as the Incarnae, after the incarnae choose to vest their power into their human Champions (the Exalted).

Now, for the vaguely initiated...

There is a published setting for an AU version of Exalted spoken about in quiet whispers...

Basically the main differences are:

-The Titans won, and humanity fled aboard the vast mechanical world-body of the Titan's only defector, Autochthon. then they lobotomized him and turned him into a gigantic warship

-all of this is in space. Normal exalted takes place on a large flat disc of reality adrift in a sea of infinite probability. This version is kind of like that except its three dimensional and instead of a flat disc it is a sphere that you can leave. so like the real world pretty much

-Takes place at the height of magitech rather than when Exalted normally does which is 2000 years after all that shit fell apart

The setting is called GUNSTAR AUTOCHTHONIA. If you see me make any references to this understand that this is what it is. We do also just call the campaign itself Gunstar also though, since it's the only one in this modified setting any of us have played.

OK now in context. Who is she

There is an organization made up primarily of the demigods uplifted by the god Sol Invictus; this organization is known as the Solar Deliberative, and it is a senate of god-kings of various levels of experience and corruption who rule over the Gunstar and command its forces against the Titanics. (In the original setting, the Deliberative is the ancient empire on which the world is built. In Gunstar, it remains alive and 'well'.) The god Luna also has their own Chosen, the Lunars, who are also part of the Deliberative. Lunars generally operate as the strike force of and seconds-in-command to the Solars.

Solars and Lunars are elected... Basically by lottery, from exceptional mortals who the Gods take a shine to, usually via some act of act of incredible heroism or just sheer brazen-ness. Two and two together, she won the big stupid lottery, despite not being terribly kind or clever or good natured or generous or. Well. The most important part, ambitious.

(pictured: Luna taking pity on some idiot after an Osmosis Jones suicide mission deep into Autochthon's corpus)

But Luna likes a fixer upper. Siithi is quickly coming to realize that worthiness means very little in this business, and any moron with a mote pool can save the universe, granted they're being at least halfway sensible with it. You'd think that'd be a low bar and yet she knows at least a few people personally who regularly fail to clear it.

What's she like...

She's loud, and crass, and trashy, and a bit mean. Maybe a little stupid. But she's been around the block at least two or three times. She considers herself a simple sort (except when she's contorting herself into 4th-dimensional interpersonal complexes.) She likes to drink and toke and watch wresting and hang out and take a nap. Now a bunch of jerks want her to be the savior of the people of the Gunstar or some other dumb horseshit. Fine, she said. I guess if you want me to do that I guess I can do it. Maybe I'll even be good at it. But that's not going to stop me from complaining about it the entire time. If only she didn't have this big, dumb, stupid, perpetually bleeding heart.

She has powers? Tell me about the powers.

She is stronger and faster and generally cooler than most mortals... Though that's fairly standard among the Exalted. Because she's Luna's chosen she can, of course, shapeshift. Mostly she acquires alter egos via people gambling them away to her so she can stay on the down low (deliberative members are extremely public figures so a lot of people know her true face...) She can also shapeshift into a variety of garbage animals, including her true "spirit shape" form which happens to be a fat bloodsucking worm

Most of her charms (lunar magic) are devoted to stamina charms (letting her do things like breathe poison, slow her own heartrate to become imperceptible, etc.), dexterity combat charms (useful but boring), mysticism (communing with spirits, presumably so she can rip them off somehow) but she has some fun utility charms like the one she used to pocket the craft-forward Dawn's makeshift bomb into an extradimensional space and refuse to give it back.

(It's still in there.)

Oh, yeah, also she can raise the dead. Which is not that weird in the regular Exalted setting but isn't really in vogue in Gunstar. By which I mean even foremost occult experts like Deliberative Twilights have never heard of necromancy before. She tries to be chill about this but that can sometimes be difficult, because firstly, most people think it's pretty creepy, and secondly, in a wartime economy a lot of factions would take some pretty drastic action to have that power for their own.

Now if only she could harness it to its true potential.

Give me some numbers.

She is 5'6", and 32 years old. She's about to hit Essence (level) 3, and has been exalted for probably about 6 months by this point.

Her gender seems pretty swanky.

Thank you!

She is intersex (17 BHSD deficiency) and personally doesn't identify with being transgender, but would be very hard pressed to call herself cis either.

I have received mixed messages about whether or not I'm actually allowed to say the word she most closely identifies with so I'll say it starts with a D.

Why do you have some pictures of her all scrawny and sad lookin

That is either because the drawing is well over a year old and her design has since changed, or because I'm drawing what she looked like before she exalted. At the time she was slowly dying of an occupationally-acquired disease. So you can guess why she has a weird relationship with the whole 'death magic' thing. Now she is post-miraculous recovery and much fatter and happier for it.

(happiness relatively speaking...)

Who is the dinosaur?

The dinosaur you have seen her drawn with from time to time is my friend @heedra's PC. Their name is Meteor-Dream, or Meat for short, and they are a half-creature half-spirit sort of thing known as a Dragon King. Dragon Kings are sapient dinosaurs with humanoid intelligence who retain their memories & reincarnate into new bodies every time they die, so Meat is actually rather fucking old.

Meat and Siithi are bestfriends!!! Or at least they were. They were bickering for a while. Meat has been busy slowly merging themselves, mind-body-and-soul, with the maligned violence spirit known as the Viator of Nullspace in a bid to kill their errant & traitorous god (Sol Invictus, who we've mentioned before, is actually kind of a dick who eventually switched sides, but the power of his Chosen remains vested in the Deliberative).

The pair had sort of come to an agreement about the situation, but also Meat is just getting kind of weird and hard to talk to lately & also huge and glowing nuclear furnace chest cavity and covered in darksteel plates with scary eyes and Siithi is simply not sure what she thinks about that. (Truthfully she knows what she thinks about it, but speaking it out loud would only cause more trouble...)

Is this some kind of friend-to-enemies-to-lovers thing?

Siithi is very aromantic and Meat thinks humans are disgusting little pink flesh homunculi, so... Nope!

Not to say that Siithi does not actively want or seek tail. Just not this tail specifically... that would be weird!!!

Alright. So why is she your favorite? What is the source of your obsession??

I don't know!!! She's simply funny.

I think it has to be partially an investment thing, because I have spent an egregious amount of time on her characterization, backstory etc. So I feel like I know her very well compared to some of my other OCs. I also am a huge sucker for tropey loser scumbags with secret inner worlds where they actually care way too fucking much, & then are subjected to The Horrors. Its sooooo awesome when you subject them to the horrors.

I also always get a lot of positive feedback on her! Presumably because other people think shes very funny as well. I hope you do too! But probably, if you've made it this far!

~

Thank you for supporting my work, even if you are on the barest periphery of what actually happens with it. I will continue posting more about her this month, because God Won't Let Me Stop !!!

✌️

[m1d-45]

rain or shine

summary: you aren’t feeling the best, but luckily for you inazuma’s resident “fixer” is here to do away with your ailments

word count: 1.1k

-> warnings: mentions of nausea, reader doesn’t eat much due to said nausea, dw thoma has you covered though

-> gn reader (you/yours)

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yuus3n || @esthelily || @turningfrogsgay || @cupandtea24 || @genshin-impacts-me || @chaoticfivesworld || @raaawwwr

< masterlist >

you were having a bad day. plain and simple.

it started yesterday, when you had to stay up late to complete some last minute forms. the estate needed supplies a bit sooner than typical, but you didn’t mind the extra time it took. rain kept you company, a light sprinkle that quickly turned heavy, though thankfully with no lightning. it seemed the shogun was in a better mood today.

you woke up tired, with rolling nausea and a fierce headache. had you caught something? you hoped not, as you were planning on being productive today. a painkiller and a swig of water mostly did away with the headache, but the nausea refused to leave. you couldn’t even properly enjoy your breakfast, only getting through half of it before giving up. maybe you’d have it for lunch? that would save you some time and trouble later…

that was your first mistake. if anything, it only caused more trouble as the day stretched on. you went to the garden with a folder in hand, passing it off to a group of staff waiting by the gates. it was their list of things to pick up, and a lengthy one at that. the party was larger than typical to account for this, but when you were asked to join them, you couldn’t help but agree. they could use the help, right?

your second mistake. the trip was to bring back various supplies—silks, ingredients, toiletries and the like—from inazuma city back to the estate. it was a routine operation, one that you would normally be able to complete easily, except for the fact that it had rained the night before. mud stuck to your shoes, the unusually humid air clinging to your skin. your half-breakfast didn’t help, and your headache was beginning to return again. halfway through, when your crew took a break, you couldn’t stomach anything more than a few sips of water. by the time the final crate was carried back to the estate, you were far past lightheaded, breath coming in thin pants. a few of your fellow workers stopped to check on you—“hey, you should sit down” “what’s wrong?” “here, have some of my water”—but you waved all of them off. you were supposed to help, not worry them. you did have to promise to take a break before they’d let you leave, and though you were grateful for their concern, you did feel a little bitter.

all of this was your own fault, after all. why should you make them worried over something easily preventable?

you walked to your room with a hand on the wall for balance, blessedly not running into anyone. you weren’t sure how you’d explain yourself in you ran into lady ayaka- or worse, thoma. it wasn’t that you’d get in trouble, certainly not, but you were too ill for whatever food or drink they’d offer, and you didn’t feel like distracting either of them from their jobs. thoma especially so, since you knew he’d have a hard time focusing on his work if he saw you like this. it would normally be endearing, but today was everything but normal.

you pushed open the door to your room, pushing it closed behind you without stopping to lock it. the estate had the highest security in inazuma second only to the tenshukaku itself, and you honestly couldn’t be bothered. it’s not like staff were in the habit of snooping through each others rooms, and the extra effort was hardly worth it right now.

your sheets were blessedly cool as you fell onto your bed, barely putting in effort to arrange yourself on it. you’re… just taking a break. that’s all. just resting, and then you’ll get up and do all those things you were supposed to.

after all, it would be irresponsible of you not to, right?

you wake up to something cold dripping down your face, though your room was still dark. at least no one was here, then… but what was on your forehead?

you struggled to open your eyes, barely making out anything. you could tell someone had closed your door since no light was coming through, but who?

a gentle hand on your shoulder stopped you from getting up, the cold whatever—cloth, maybe?—on your forehead shifting as you did. “stay, you’re alright.”

you let your eyes close. you should have seen this coming, in truth.

“…thoma?”

“i’m right here.” his hand moved up and you could feel his gloves on your cheek as he wiped something away. “and don’t worry, all of my duties were finished while you’ve been asleep. i’m all yours.”

well, at least you weren’t disturbing him. small wins. “what are you doing here?”

“you have a fever,” he said simply. “you likely just caught a small bug and overworked yourself. don’t worry, it should be gone within a day or so.”

you’d been hoping you weren’t sick, that maybe it was the heat of the humidity making you feel ill. then again, you’d also hoped not to fall asleep, so…

thoma took the cloth from your head, and you hear small splashes and the trickle of water. “furata tells me you went out this morning with the other staff.” he places it back on your forehead, wiping away any droplets that spill before they reach your ears or eyes. it’s much cooler now, and you worry about how long he’s been sitting here. “she also says you looked quite tired before you left.”

“thoma-“

“i’m not upset.” as if to prove it, he takes one of your hands in his, squeezing once. “but i am worried. can you tell me why you went with them if you weren’t feeling well?”

“i just wanted to help.”

“i understand that, but you need to put yourself first, love. you can’t help others if you don’t first help yourself.” he removed the towel and put the back of his hand to your cheek, humming, then both were gone. “do you think you could eat something?”

you opened your eyes properly, taking stock of your body and room. he’d propped his vision on your nightstand as his source of light, and though it was small it still stung, your eyes slightly watering. but the rest had been good for you, and your head hurt a little less than it did before. “maybe.”

he smiled, lifting your hand to press a kiss to the back of it. “i can work with maybe. how does soup sound?”

“lovely.”

“perfect.” he lets go of your hand and moves it behind your back, the other hooking under your legs.

“thoma, you-“

“don’t have to, i know.” effortlessly, you’re lifted into the air, greeted with a kiss to your cheek. “but i like taking care of you. now, what kind of tea would you like with your meal?”