#puppetmaster chase

[the-mystic-council]

The other Councillors SUCK!! Spread the word

-The Best Councillor

[tadc-harlequin-au]

Hi! Please excuse any misspellings, english is not my frist language...

Firstly I just wanted to tell you that I love your AU! Your Harlequin au was what intorduced me to lovely TADC au Tumblr community and I absolutley love it! I haven't seen alternate universes as creative as these since the Sansverse era!

Secondly, I hace a question about the Patriarch: He seems to have a very good idea of who Caine is, wouldn't he be this world's equivalent to Able? I ask because althugh his design is WAY different from most fan Able depictions, he still has that "The Puppetmaster's brother" vibe that all Ables tend to have, a peace of Caine's past that he can never get rid of!

If he is not Able then I am curious of who he is, if he is then the lore just got spicier and if you don't want to spoil anything I'll understand.

But honestly: Keep it up! Your au has filled 70% of all my daydreams, the only thing I have been able to think about for a while has only been game mechanics, combat and chase sequences!

Damn y'all are fucking sleuths istg

Though I am very proud of that because that means my design philosophy worked somehow, and for that, I'll throw you guys a bone. And also because I can't keep it a secret any longer I've been holding it in since the very beginning of this au

YES.

The Patriarch of Puppets is none other than Abel, Caine's biological brother.

When I was first designing him, I wanted every aspect of Abel's design to scream "opposite of Caine", and to hold some form of symbolism. From his megaphone head, down to the color palettes, there is meaning. Don't get me wrong, Mushy's Able is a very memorable and awesome design and I could've incorporated him the same way I did Souls-like, but I wanted something deeper for Harlequin.

While Caine is adorned in golds and maroons to symbolize his warmer nature, Abel has teals and silver, a very cold and intimidating stature. Their outfits and the colors are an opposition towards each other yet reflect one another somehow, the way Abel dresses tightly and formal when Caine is loose and open, his intense red pupil conveys his hostility, whilst Caine's eyes are softer blues and greens.

His king-size height dwarfing Caine tells just how much the Puppetmaster felt living on his shadow, HELL, someone noticed the weird "A" on the sides of his head and I had to shrug it off because I didn't want to reveal it as early as that time.

Even the megaphone head design holds SO MUCH UNTOLD STORY BETWEEN THE BROTHERS THAT I WILL CHOOSE TO KEEP A SECRET FOR NOW. I've put SO MUCH THOUGHT behind his design.

*sigh*... Which is also why I very much dislike the "siren head" jokes, because it's the one thing I didn't really foresaw when I was developing his design until I finished, and someone pointed out it might cause jokes like that to prop up. Something I thought I wouldn't mind initially, until everyone made the same joke over and over again and I just audibly groan irl.

But you know. internet's gonna internet, they see one thing that resembles a popular media, it's an immediate connection. I didn't even give a shit enough about Siren head to know how the design actually looked like, just a silhouette of the guy.

Therefore, I would really appreciate it if saying this out loud would help lessen the jokes, but ik not everyone is going to see this post so.

I do still wanna thank you for your kind words, because these kinds of asks are the fuel to my fire of inspiration and motivation for this AU, and I wish that I can keep this fire going till the very end of this AU's story :')

[sirenjose]

Thoughts about Mattias' Design Notes

"Ventriloquism" explains the "consonants" in Matthias' deducs 3 and 9.

The manor game designers being inspired by their "device design", but came to include Matthias himself after seeing him pursue "perfection" by playing the role expected of him...

Movable devices that have some way to talk (even if by pretending via ventriloquism) makes me think of Bonbon. Though he was made before the manor games...

There is also how the manor is seemingly responsible for making Louis and sending him back to Matthias...

Maybe a bit of a strange thought, but the Muse sculptures came to my mind too. They were also said to be "mechanisms" designed by Burke. From what we've seen so far, they don't move much or talk, but maybe they'll do more later in the main story...?

But besides that I wonder why else the manor games would need "movable devices"

As for the "perfection" bit, that makes me think of Hollow and his desire to "rebuild paradise", as "paradise" is essentially meant to be a "perfect" place.

With the role Hollow and Orpheus are trying make themselves out to be, they'd also be interested in "perfection". And with Hollow/Orpheus' desire for "vengeance", I'd imagine the idea of "getting stronger" was his first idea to achieve that perfection.

But for Matthias, "Louis" is the imagined "perfect" version of Matthias. Matthias just acts the way people expect him to. Orpheus also pretends in a way, considering what we know about him vs. how we see him act in the final game and in general.

I wonder if you could say Orpheus got the idea of the hallucinations from Matthias?

Matthias pretends to be Louis. Maybe this can be sort of like Frederick acting as Mary? Or Norton who we see holding a pickaxe pretending to be Fool's Gold and pretend to chase Alice?

Puppets are normally controlled via strings, though the Czernin's created "movable devices", so like the design notes say about the chess pieces in Matthias' essence, the Czernin's performance (+ ventriloquism) makes Louis seem alive and like it has a will of its own.

Orpheus in this case is like the puppetmaster, with the game participants being the puppets (especially with how in game they're shown with doll eyes). The participants are alive and thus capable of moving and talking and acting on their own, but Orpheus is the 1 manipulating and moving them into the places and roles he desires them to be in. He can also make them act differently from how they normally are (with the help of the drugs), or basically make them more extreme than they normally are.

But back to Orpheus himself being like Matthias in the way of acting out a different role than what he actually is. Orpheus in a way does act a different role based on people's perceptions. Specifically how he's viewed by the public due to him being a novelist.

In contrast, we know Orpheus' inner feelings are closer to what we see and hear from Hollow as well as how he acts as the manor owner/Nightmare.

In the final game he acts as if he's the son of the DeRoss couple. He acts as if the forest ranger wasn't his real father, as if Orpheus didn't have any part in the tragedy despite how we know from Bonbon's deductions he had been involved to a degree (at least by apparently stealing things from the manor for his real parents). He acts like he doesn't know Alice.

We don't know if he's truly forgotten or if he's only pretending, but this is still likely what he wants to believe in. Even in the present, after Time of Reunion, Orpheus believes in memories we know aren't the complete truth.

As we see in Matthias' Design Notes, the final line is appropriate. It's a "meticulously crafted illusion performance" that "became a lifelong, irrevocable delusion". Except now Alice wants to stop Orpheus, fix everything, and make everyone, including Orpheus, confront the truth.

[vivifrage]

I think with Lightfall like. It's fun. I had a good time. A blast, even! Especially with the gameplay, even when I got frustrated because I was playing Legendary and I'm not a good gamer.

It's action movie fun. Which is what it intended to be, really, from all the tropes and the pacing of it. But it got bodied with sudden roadmap changes and Witch Queen as video game Oscar bait.

Yeah, I think it could have used a breather to bond more with Rohan especially, but there was in-game justification for going fast and I'm sure the format A Destiny Expansion(tm) limited the team. We saw it bad in Witch Queen's seasons, and Bungie acknowledged that yeah the seasons structure was limiting them. As someone who works in software dev, nobody likes having to make things worse. But it happens a lot. Sometimes in really bullshit ways that the software folks wouldn't expect to be that level of bullshit, let alone anyone who isn't working with the software day in and day out. And by bullshit I mean "massive overhaul of the entire system just to make one tiny change" kinds of bullshit. Again, nobody likes it. I promise you.

Back to Lightfall. It's a fun action movie. It's also the plot point we'd been hurtling towards since Witch Queen, and probably even well before that: The Darkest Hour. We're struggling to use this new power in time, the mysteries around us have unraveled but in the end it's too late for us to get the upper hand, and it nearly costs us everything. In the year beforehand, we'd been losing in one way or another at the end of the seasons: Crow kills the Psion, our rituals fail to stop Calus, Eramis gets away, Rasputin dies. The Witness accesses the Traveler.

What it also does is it sets up the rest of the year for our Triumphant Finale. We get a thread to follow - how to get into the Traveler - and chase it through the year, alongside other threads like what the Veil is and how we're gonna deal with Xivu Arath. As of the end(ish) of Wish, we've got our answer and are primed for The Final Shape as our finale.

But first we had to have The Darkest Hour. Which, in the short term, being what it is, is a bummer. No getting around it. It's also part of why comparisons to Witch Queen went awry, IMO.

Witch Queen is, as I said before, the Oscar bait, insofar as an MMO looter-shooter has Oscar bait. It puts the tangled web front and center instead of tracing one thread and then zooming out to show the whole thing. It's more philosophical in nature, sitting back and asking us whether we think we're special and what really separates us from one of the enemies we hadn't forged alliances with yet: the Hive. And, of course, if we'd noticed the puppetmaster behind it all. It ties up the question that's been going on since Forsaken: are we the bad guys? (No, not really, we're struggling to survive the way everyone else is. Which, nobody else we've been fighting is really "the bad guy" either.)

It's a really good storyline! I loved it, even if, honestly, I didn't like the gameplay as much as Lightfall. I think it's earned its good reviews and positive reception.

But it is the Oscar bait. And unlike Lightfall, its plot role didn't require the same downer ending. It could sprawl, and honestly? I don't think it would have worked as our Darkest Hour. Not without screwing up the story and making a jumbled mess. Seriously, I don't think Destiny's "everyone gets a second chance" philosophy would have carried well at all if The Darkest Hour was when the Hive got Ghosts. Instead it would have reinforced our misconception at the beginning of Lightfall - that we are the sole rightful Lightbearers and that the Hive getting the Light was a wrongdoing.

Destiny did need something between Witch Queen and The Final Shape. And they moved things - but announced it less than a year before Lightfall released. At their big press conference-y deal, but still. Limited time for folks to get the news.

And then it came out and it was an action movie, not Oscar bait. But it followed Oscar bait, so that's what the expectation was.

Personally, I'm fond of, say, Moonlight. Fantastic movie. Beautiful and heartfelt. I enjoyed it and I think it is worthy of its high praise. But if you ask me what my favorite movie is, I'll say it's a tossup between Pacific Rim and Mad Max: Fury Road. They fit different niches in the cultural ecosystem - Moonlight isn't a bad Pacific Rim and Pacific Rim isn't a bad Moonlight. Not unless you pit them against each other despite their vast differences.

Also I remember there was lots of complaining about how empty Neomuna was at first, but everything about the CloudArk and especially the lorebook is such early pandemic-era fiction.

Lightfall is a good action movie. Witch Queen is good Oscar bait. Both of them have their strong points and weak points. There are technical factors that limit things. There are other external factors that limit things (looking at you, upper management).

It's fair to critique a story but like, I dunno. Bungie's devs, writers, and artists aren't idiots or evil or out to get you specifically. Lightfall is fine but you can't - and shouldn't - expect it to be Witch Queen.

Please, for the love of everything holy, don't let us repeat the nasty bitchy maelstrom we got around Lightfall. Or I'll start shitting in ovens.

[tearyeyedonce-gentlesoul]

glossary (WIP)

i didn't know there was a word limit on tumblr until i made this, so i unfortunately had to remove links that would lead to specific tags and help with organizing on here. also note that this post might be remade in the future

electricpuke/rocklandgame characters: abel, adam, adam whesker, akihiko kojima, akira kojima, alchemy willow, alice (electricpuke), alice carroll, amaterasu, amy, ana (rockland), ana (viral), annabelle winter, arcadian, aria king, ashley kinley, ashton kinley, athena dianoia, audrey, august dixie, avery greyson, ami, axel, baal, cain zeitgeist, callum willow, cassiel, charlie willow, chase knox, chase valentine, christopher “chris” king, circe, damien morningstar, dante stryker, dominick torrero, dylan, edison tekker, elizabeth bathory, elise, enoch, eve, faereighn, farz murphy (electricpuke), foal, freya, gabriel, gabriel lily, grace quinn, hades, hammerclaw, heidi, horus, hunter, itsuki mori, jack buchanan, jason buchanan, jason carmine (rook), jiyun, john, kali, karasu, kaz tyagi, kenny, kiku kojima, kiyoshi, kurt, lachesis chronis, lady yuzu, leo taylor, lilith, lincoln, logan, loki marshall, lucifer morningstar, macey, marco jennings, marcus de la cruz, max, meredith, mia, michael fitzroy, michael volkov, mio, molly, morgan, morgan le fey, munchie, naoki “nathan” donovan, nicolas flamel, olivia, oswalt morrison, peyton, quinton willow, rai, raizer, raja, ramiel, raphael, raphael sivori, reiko nakamura, richter (hotelpsycho), rory stryker, rose martinez, rosey, roy mcnamara, ruby red graves, sally, samael volkov, sanae, sano kojima, sejun, sergio marino, sergio morrison, shane, shiro suzuki, sparrow, sun-mi yeon (scarlet), sydney dixie, teagan buchanan, the engineer, the REAL vincent metzger, thor, tobias reeves, trace, trevor mcloughlin, tsubaki, tyler, uriel metzger, valak, vencil cartier, veni (electricpuke), verak, vincent castillo (electricpuke), vincent metzger, vlad, xander rosario, yeon seong-mi (emily yeon), zero (dollmaker), zero (empire), zeus

gatobob characters: ashe, anthony shore, beg, celia lede, centicat, chamomile, chastity, chet ichpujani, cry, demon, derek aeron, derek goffard, dragon, evander hutch, farz murphy (gatobob), farzen, fox, gideon bautista, harold, jack, jaqueline, jesse, jedka (facility), komodo, lawrence oleander, lich, lily talor, machete, marten trell, mason armbruster, mason heiral, mona winters, raid, raven, ren hana, richard, roadkill girl, samantha, scream, sid, stan, strade, tom, veni (gatobob), vincent castillo (gatobob)

other notable characters: a.e.d, ellen klein, izm, lucien rire, rodchester williams, shaun

known aliases/blogs:

arioddsandends, askparasitegods, bonesandcentipedes, doctor-dollmaker, electricpuke, fuckbyknifepoint, nagakira, nurseharlot, rocklandgames, runawayoutlaw, scarletaegis, scarletmarionette, trentboyett

gatoafterdark, gatoanswers, gatobob, gatoplays-sos, gatxbxb, gurobob, gurpbob, serpulalacrymans

eras (label for creator universes): altinr, arcane, boyfriend to death, crazy au, dark circus au, devil's night carnival, dollmaker, empire, facility, foxtail, human!au, huntress, inferno, mark of belial, nightclub, of gods and monsters, rockland, route 66, self insert, superjail, the artist, the carnival game, the commander, the doctor, the hunt, the misfits, the price of flesh, the puppetmaster, the serial killer, this is not romance, till death do us part, viral, welcome home, yanaki, you kill me every time, zeitgeist

[valentinerose529]

This/that comparison pitch: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit meets Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows

Working title: Magicians and Puppet Masters

Blurb: After being exiled from his homeland of magic for his uncontrollable abilities, magic thief Elijah wants nothing more to do with fame and adventure. But Ixora, an expert Stormcaster and the proud wielder of bad puns, chases action and adventure like he can’t get enough of it. When an easy quest turns into a high-stakes race, this unlikely duo has to work together with a ragtag team of magicians and mischief-makers to take down the puppetmaster behind the scenes.

Current stage: first draft (incomplete)

Themes: high fantasy, urban magic, swords and sorcery, queer romance, the power of friendship, found family, rejected chosen ones

Content warnings: medium violence and combat, magical violence

[ghostinthepepper]

just woke up from a nap where i had a really weird dream that gave me an au idea?

background info: no xchara but still overwrite, it's just very weakened version that only work on one at a time. he doesn't think it's okay to use it. he fights with dream instead of star sanses.

so things go almost the same as shattered dream au at first where nightmare is awful to dream to the point that dream is planning to eat the black apple. except cross, who has watched dream try to help everyone to his detriment the whole time, has had enough of nightmare's abuse of dream.

so just before dream might have eaten the black apple, cross steals both it and the gold, and eats them. in doing so, he takes the role as both guardians instead. nightmare is turned passive by this btw.

the two apples are balanced in cross because he wasn't a positive/negative spirit. this keeps him far more sane than shattered and corrupted nightmare, but not completely sane.

cross changes his name to puppetmaster. he also decides it's okay to use his weakened overwrite from now on but he can only use it in close range and with pre-planning.

puppetmaster hates nightmare after all the abuse towards dream and decides the only way to deal with nightmare is kill him.

so puppetmaster starts chasing nightmare trying to kill him, but he also starts chasing dream because he wants to protect dream even at the cost of dream's freedom.

at first dream runs away and tries to talk him down as he's being chased but then decides to go with him eventually because he believes he can help cross come back to his senses. once dream agrees though puppetmaster turns him into a small fox so it's harder to escape.

from then on now passive nightmare and gang try to free dream with puppetmaster trying to kill him and dream trying to talk him back into sanity without being able to speak because he's a fox.

puppetmaster isn't covered in goop btw because he's balanced, instead he just grows to twice dream's height (still debating if he can use tentacles, but if he can it'd probably be short range)

[sugarrspice]

Okay. But consider,,,,,, puppetmaster Jackie with oblivious Chase-- //SHOT 👉🥺👈

((You're also not subtle, aha. Regardless, who am I to deny you?

Warning for... a fairly unhealthy relationship? Sort of? Possessiveness, mild manipulation.))

He hears the door open right as he pulls the last string tight, and groans. He'd been hoping to get Anti out of here, before Chase came home, but--

"Jacks, I'm home!"

Should've gotten home later, he thinks, and straightens, shifting to block Anti's prone form from immediate view.

"Welcome back," he calls back, keeping his voice light and cheerful. "I'll be down in a few! There's Chinese on the table, I grabbed dinner for us."

An answering clatter as Chase- presumably- begins to putter around, warming up the takeout.

He cocks his head, listening. Chase doesn't come up, which is- good. There's few, few rules he imposes, this room's lock being one of them. As far as Chase knows, this room is dangerous because he keeps his patrol weapons in it, and that's that. He doesn't need to know about Jackie's extracurriculars; the things he does to keep him safe.

He twists the scarlet threads around his hand and hauls Anti up by main force, pulling him close.

"So as you can tell," he breathes, keeping his voice light, "we've got new rules around here. Rules that mean that you can't play the way you used to."

Anti's eyes narrow; the only thing keeping him silent is the threat of suffocation wound around his neck, tight enough to leave a mark.

"Rule number one. You don't touch Chase. Don't come in sight of him, he shouldn't hear a peep out of you."

There's the familiar smirk, then. He pulls the strings tighter in warning; Anti only grins wider, his familiar coo nothing more than a rasp, now. "Protective, are we? You want the little songbird all for yourself?"

Jackie snorts a laugh, and slings a companionable arm around Anti's shoulders. It would be a friendly gesture, if the movement didn't wrap the threads once more around Anti's weeping neck.

"I have him all for myself," he corrects, still smiling. "Just like I have you. Marv, Hen, James."

He doesn't bat an eye at the sharp, rattling breath Anti draws in; it's good for him to know what he's part of, now. He'd like for them to be family. But first- he needs to know that they can behave.

"You think it'll last? That he'll stay? That he can stay?"

Jackie winks, and releases the strings with a sharp tug right as he steps away, leaving Anti to lurch as he refinds his balance. "Why don't you stick around and look for yourself? Just don't let him see you."

He sends a warning thrill of heat down the strings, doesn't stick around to see Anti hiss and flinch. He can smell warm noodles from downstairs, and Chase is about to get suspicious.

The door locks with a gentle snick behind him; he takes a moment to make sure he's presentable. No blood, no burns, nothing that can't be explained by patrol.

Perfect.

He tosses himself down the stairs, taking them two and three at a time, and slings himself around the railing. Chase nearly slams into him in the process; Jackie wraps a sturdy arm around his waist with a laugh, steadying them both.

"Easy, tiger," he teases, and Chase snickers, brushing a kiss against his cheek.

"You're the one who came rocketing like a bat out of hell. Patrol okay?"

Jackie waves a dismissive hand, though watches carefully as Chase's eyes track his movement, noting the scraped skin across his knuckles. "Same shit as usual. Small-time fish, Anti getting too big for his britches."

Chase freezes, then, and Jackie squeezes him, gently. "I took care of him. Don't worry."

"You sure?" Chase's eyes search his; Jackie smiles at him, warm as he knows how to, and bumps the side of his head against him.

"I promise. Anti knows you're mine."

Chase huffs a soft laugh at that, and Jackie grins, watching the threads around him slowly loosen, tension draining out like water from a broken pot. "So scary," he teases gently. "My hero, are we?"

You have no idea, he thinks fondly, heat tingling under his skin and strings twinging in a discordant tune. You have no idea, the bridges we've burnt to keep you.

"So long as I'm your hero, I'm alright with that," he murmurs back, and then nods to the steaming noodles. "Movie night? I'm beat after patrol. Anti's always a pain in the ass to deal with."

"Movie night," Chase agrees, voice warm. "I can tell you about work."

Jackie steals one more kiss for that, and moves to pick up their bowls, humming a light tune under his breath.

I'm walkin' on sunshine...

[let-me-iiiiiiiin]

God, the lyrics of "Bury The Light" by casey edwards and victor borba is such a good fit for OG luo binghe. It's such a shame that the actual song doesn't fit the vibe I've assigned him in my head

Just look at these though:

Immortal temptation takes over my mind

Condemned

Fallen weak on my knees, summon the strength

Of mayhem

I am the storm that is approaching

Provoking black clouds in isolation

I am reclaimer of my name

Born in flames, I have been blessed

My family crest is a demon of death

Forsakened, I am awakened

A phoenix's ash in dark divine

Descending misery

Destiny chasing time

Inherit the nightmare, surrounded by fate

Can't run away

Keep walking the line between the light

Led astray

Through vacant halls, I won't surrender

The truth revealed in eyes of ember

We fight through fire and ice forever

Two souls once lost, and now they remember

[Chorus again]

Disappear into the night

Lost shadows left behind

Obsession's pulling me

Fading, I've come to take what's mine

Lurking in the shadows under the veil of night

Constellations of blood pirouette

Dancing through the graves of those who stand at my feet

Dreams of the black throne I keep on repeat

A derelict of darkness, summoned from the ashes

The puppetmaster congregates all the masses

Pulling strings, twisting minds as blades hit

You want this power? Then come try and take it

Beyond the tree

Fire burns

Secret love

Bloodline yearns

Dark minds embrace

Crimson joy

Does your dim heart

Heal or destroy?

Bury the light deep within

Cast aside, there's no coming home

We're burning chaos in the wind

Drifting in the ocean all alone

[friskibitz]

immortal temptation takes over my mind

condemned

falling weak on my knees, summon the strength

of mayhem

i am the storm that is approaching

provoking black clouds in isolation

i am reclaimer of my name

born in flames

i have been blessed

my family crest is a demon of death

forsakened i am awakened

a phoenix's ash in dark divine

descending misery

destiny, chasing time

inherit the nightmare, surrounded by fate

can't run away

keep walking the line between the light

led astray

through vacant halls i won't surrender

the truth revealed in eyes of ember

we fight through fire and ice forever

two souls once lost but now they remember

i am the storm that is approaching

provoking

black clouds in isolation

i am reclaimer of my name

born in flames

i have been blessed

my family crest is a demon of death

forsakened i am awakened

a phoenix's ash in dark divine

descending misery

destiny chasing time

disappear into the night

lost shadows left behind

obsession's pulling me

fading, i've come to take what's mine

lurking in the shadows under veil of night

constellations of blood pirouette

dancing through the graves of those who stand at my feet

dreams of the black throne i keep on repeat

a derelict of dark summoned from the ashes

the puppetmaster congregates all the masses

pulling strings, twisting minds as blades hit

you want this power, then come try and take it

beyond the tree

fire burns

secret love

bloodline yearns

dark minds embrace

crimson joy

does your dim heart

heal or destroy?

bury the light deep within

cast aside there's no coming home

we're burning chaos in the wind

drifting in the ocean all alone

[piedpiperr]

Okay. But consider,,,,,, puppetmaster Jackie with oblivious Chase-- //SHOT 👉🥺👈

((You sent this to both blogs so I can only hope you're satisfied, aha. Set directly after the request on sugarrspice with PM!Jackie and heroaverage. Possessiveness, mild manipulation, as well as explicit 18+ content.))

Chase is a warm, steady weight against his side. They've put on some light flick in the background, something cheesy. Nothing that holds Jackie's attention; he's too busy listening to the way the strings hum with drowsy content. With-

A softer, richer tone overlays it, and he flicks his gaze sideways; Chase is, if he has to hazard a guess, not watching the movie.

Pride, dark and warm, uncurls in his gut; he doesn't preen, but he stretches out, casually, knowing the slow movement will draw Chase's eyes with it.

A low, soft laugh, and Chase leans over, skating a hand over his bared midriff. Jackie doesn't have time to hide his shiver; Chase only grins like the little shit he is.

"Liked that, didn't you?"

Jackie tips his head back, smirking right back. Just this side of wicked, just the way that he knows tugs on that sense of danger that Chase can't help but- hah. Chase. "Like what you're seeing, don't you?"

Chase snickers, and now he's crowding close, breath warm against Jackie's jaw. He's nearly in Jackie's lap, and Jackie pulls him the rest of the way to kiss him, deep and hungry, because Chase in a mood means Chase is going to tease and Jackie's not in the mood for waiting.

Chase hums, not surprised, but pleased, and gives as good as he gets; tilts his head and fists one hand in Jackie's hair to keep him there, the other one skating under his shirt to just-- explore, warm fingertips tracing over each scar.

He knows every story. Jackie has told him, each and every one of them. Knows him inside and out, and Jackie basks in being seen, for once.

Chase laughs against his lips, and leans back, mouth bitten all pretty and red.

"Thinking too loud," he murmurs, and Jackie twitches as his free hand skates down his side, again, dipping below his waistband. Chase knows him, inside and out.

He licks his lips, and tightens the arm around Chase's waist. "Gonna fix that?"

Chase's answering grin is nothing short of wicked. His chest hurts from how beautiful it is, watching brown eyes go dark, dark, dark, amber tilting whiskey-dark.

He lets Chase tug them sideways onto the couch, arms bracketing Jackie in on either side, and surges up for another kiss; this one is messier, hungrier, and Chase laughs, again; Jackie swallows down every last sound, greedy as he only ever lets himself be with Chase.

Somewhere in the midst, Chase's pulled down his sweatpants, and fuck, he's glad he changed out of those jeans, as Chase coaxes his rapidly hardening dick out of his boxers. He hisses, thin and thready, as Chase strokes down his length once, and nips a little harder at his lips in response.

They're going to leave this couch a damn mess. Thank the gods they invested in fucking leather.

"Love seeing you helpless below me," Chase murmurs, against his lips. He strokes again, to emphasize his point, movements firm and sure, and Jackie groans, softly, only Chase's weight keeping him from trying to follow the movement. "All laid out, like a fucking feast. Knowing I could do anything like this, and you'd- let me-"

He hasn't stopped stroking Jackie once while he talks, and Jackie's about half out of his fucking mind with sheer want, thoughts going hazy and sticky in the way that only Chase seems to be able to coax out. He pulls back- well, more like sinks into the couch with another long, soft keen, hand tight around the back of Chase's neck. There's a hard bulge pressing against his thigh, and he doesn't even have to tug at the strings to guess at exactly what Chase thinks of him, spread out beneath him, throat bared, heart pounding beneath his hand.

"Going to- have your way, then, sunshine? Going to take the world? You know I'd give it- fuck, Chase, please-"

Chase shushs him, gently, another gentle kiss to his lips, another stroke, before he shifts further down. It's awkward- they both barely fit on this couch, ancient as it is, but that's the least of his worries because Chase is licking a warm stripe down the length of his dick, eyes dancing merrily, and then he's swallowing down half of it without really any trouble at all.

Jackie shudders, and swears, one hand gripping the edge of the couch; Chase hums a laugh, and it turns into a vicious sort of cycle, Chase bobbing his head gently and teasing Jackie with his tongue, closer and closer to the edge, winding the heat in his gut tighter, and tighter--

Jackie peaks with another keen, vision dancing with stars, and Chase swallows down his spend with a grin like the cat that got the cream. It's over far too fast, but they've got the night ahead, and Chase is still very interested in the proceedings.

He just lies there for a moment, catching his breath, and Chase takes the opportunity to steal another salty kiss, strings humming with smug glee.

"Guess that answers what you'd want," he says, hoarsely, and Chase snickers, bright and amused.

"What if I said that wasn't all I wanted?"

He huffs a soft laugh, and wraps a leg around Chase; it's a small couch, but he flips them, carefully, all the same.

"Then I'd say," he breathes, "that it's a damn good thing that we've got the rest of tonight to give you what you want."

[tadc-harlequin-au]

When Pomni first meets Caine, she clearly hates his relaxed demeanor in the middle of their fight. Once the two begin working together, how much of Pomni’s reasoning is actual respect for the Puppetmaster and agreement with his ideas versus her just not being strong enough to say no to him? And how does their relationship shift from Pomni’s fiery self to love?

She doesn't exactly hate his relaxed demeanor, she keeps interpreting his actions as somewhat mocking to a fighter like her lol. Like she isn't strong enough to be taken seriously.

Which, she really was at that point. Caine was wayyyyy out of her level of difficulty; if I were her, I would've thanked him for holding back like that. But it was never Caine's intention to mock her status as a fighter, he truly was just curious and was observing the way she fought.

Once she does eventually calm down though and rethink about how the fight went down (which will be a recurring theme for the boss fights of this AU), she begins to recognize what he did, which was:

one) saving her life from herself, two) he seemed stronger than she initially thought; so perhaps learning a few tricks from him would give her more advantages, and three) he's giving her an actual purpose instead of something blind she keeps chasing. And a fourth reason that she can't understand yet, because she can't fully tell what her soul die is telling her.

Her respect for him went a little more higher after that conclusion, when it was at the negatives initially. LMFAO

As Caine would say, she is "an odd one". Because unlike other fighters, she knows when to respect a formidable foe if she encounters one, despite her instilled pride and confidence.

To answer the last question, their relationship begins to have a tonal shift more from Pomni's fiery self and pride, to love and pining when Pomni slowly starts reawakening her humanity.

And even she can't understand it initially LMFAO, poor woman.

[sarah-sandwich-writes]

MSPW Week: Fav Pitch Round-Up

Claws in the Canopy by @writeintrees

Bennett’s expedition is stationed in the dangerous forests of the planet Zora. Something is destroying their equipment high up in the mammoth atlas trees, and he knows that if he solves the problem, the council will finally be proud. What he doesn’t expect is to save the life of the mystery creature, breaking the tenets of their society, and being thrown into a mission to keep the untrained Ionan Guard alive as they cross the jungle. All the while, things are getting bad with import/export holds between two of the cities, and political tensions are rising.

Themes: found family, dumbest smart people you’ll ever meet, animal companion, queer love, and a diverse cast

finishing up revisions and looking for beta readers

Magicians and Puppet Masters by @valentinerose529

After being exiled from his homeland of magic for his uncontrollable abilities, magic thief Elijah wants nothing more to do with fame and adventure. But Ixora, an expert Stormcaster and the proud wielder of bad puns, chases action and adventure like he can’t get enough of it. When an easy quest turns into a high-stakes race, this unlikely duo has to work together with a ragtag team of magicians and mischief-makers to take down the puppetmaster behind the scenes.

Themes: high fantasy, urban magic, swords and sorcery, queer romance, the power of friendship, found family, rejected chosen ones

Current stage: first draft (incomplete)

Frozen Sands by @thecrookedwriterspath

Nashida, a young woman from the sands of the south, meets Halim, a clumsy young man with a knack for trouble, in the ice up north just in time for the Festival of Lights. However, Halim's family found problems with a pirate in the past, and he's about to cause some real trouble. Plus, Nashida is starting to find some unsettling clues about the origins of the lifelike statues in the area...

POC main characters, both bi, one trans with bipolar disorder and ADHD, the other with relationship trauma and anxiety.

Themes: Solidarity, Revenge, Pirates are gay, Family, Different is okay

Draft one complete, will likely need to be split into 2. Waiting to edit.

Songs of Decay by @thecrookedwriterspath

Tom moves to a small town with his daughter to reconnect with his dad, a retired bodyguard, and find a better life. Unfortunately, the eldritch abound in this town and he's soon helping rhe local Eldritch Anomalies Department (EAD) investigate a murder. Local widow Esther is determined to find the culprit as well, as the body was on her land. She does NOT get on with the EAD though, which leads to some of its own problems...

1910 or so, with a few automatons. Elritch inspired audio drama. Cowriting with 1 author.

Themes: Paranoia, Curiosity, Mental health and illness, Dealing with and caring for those with illness

Midst of 3rd draft.

[reaperkaneki]

started playing mahoyo. knowing vaguely some of the plot beats has led to moments that were definitely Not the Intended Reaction. like when aoko is running for her fucking life in a hall of mirrors while a curse-chanting doll chases after her, instead of being like wtf??? scary!! which i probably would if i was going in blind, instead im like omg wifeeeeee 💕 my wife is trying to kill her sister #girlboss 💕because im a touko stan. sorry your honor shes the puppetmaster that cursed my divk

[mechanicalinertia]

Bubblegum Black Chapter 8 is now live!

Hello all! It's been nearly three weeks since I posted this chapter, and I've been delaying writing the notes for that long while mostly because I wasn't sure how to talk about the chapter. The focus is Celia and Balalaika talking with one another and very little else, so what little worldbuilding details do I really need to highlight? I think there's some stuff, but by and large the chapter is about these two characters. So let's get into that.

Centara District Exterior: Can you tell I was playing lots of Phantom Liberty when I wrote this? You can, can't you! hasukashii na~

Balalaika's Dress: So this is actually inspired by the latest chapter of the New Girl In The Hood arc, where Balalaika is opening an Art Deco-vibes casino and wears an art-deco-ish dress. Of course, a year and a bit later, all her efforts have come to naught. A big fancy Balalaika figure, similar to the Revy Dominatrix one, has come to be released, by the way, and the dress she wears in that one is not the one I'm using here. According to a guy on reddit, said figure has sculpted and painted nipples underneath the glued-on dress. Never change, Japanese 'hobby' industry, never change.

Father's Corporate Princess: This is kind of important, but I'll likely have Balalaika explain it herself later. Suffice to say that I'm not doing some sort of 'she's part of the Neo Soviet Union', and so Balalaika comes from an oligarch clan tied to a real Russian corporation. Again, though, this is information that shouldn't be buried in the notes.

Celia And Her Cause: I actually have read not one but two fanfictions, both from the 90's era of BGC fic, where Celia pops off a suitcase nuke in GENOM Tower. And goodness knows the idea of Celia trying to only keep GENOM 'in check' is an idea as old as its proposition in Scoop Chase. Look, scroll back through my posts and you'll find me going on a rant about how The Sabers Can't Win just pisses me off as an idea, okay? It's... it is what it is, I guess. Some people will say that it's the only valid interpretation, or will even delight in describing how GENOM collapsing would make everything worse. Fuck, look, this is the same thesis I've advanced in Anatomy of a Lovedoll. You read my fics, you know where I stand on stuff like this. And hey! It provides a good foil to Balalaika, who believes that the world cannot be changed, and desires only to have her little niche on a dying planet.

Dinosaur Meat: Look, if we can 3d print synthetic meat, we can 3d print meat that no longer exists as a gourmet novelty. I am completely serious about this. Also, the Psittacosaurus is a dinosaur that just looks edible:

Yeah. You see it too, don't you? Like a little piggy-chicken thing. Heh.

Islamic Combine: A political entity founded by the Emiratis attempting to unite the Sunni and eventually Islamic world into a new caliphate. Pushing the Russians out of Central Asia to control its mostly-Muslim population was what lead to the Kazakh occupation by the Russian military, and that went supremely badly for all parties involved. Of course Balalaika despises them. About a week or two ago, by the way, I came up with the idea of a third metacorporation besides the Japanese GENOM and the Chinese World Prosperity Corporation, the puppetmasters of the IC, called Sunduq Alkhilafa, or Al-Sunduq (In English: The Caliph's Fund, or The Fund). I'm probably not going to do much with this organization for now, since D-Company is their primary puppet in Roanapur, and as we've seen D-Company is on its way out...

Various Megacorps within the Concern: Okay, here's some Deep STMPD Lore Bullshit to play around with. Fuck all that tragic character stuff with Balalaika trying to impress Celia and failing, we megacorping up in this hizzouse now. Yo. For realsizzles. - Black Orb is basically a spoof of megafunds and private equity giants like BlackRock and Vanguard, predatory funds who in the 2060's control most of the US's economy indirectly. Their practices haven't changed much since the present day, leeching the life out of industries and companies and turning competitive fields into stagnant monopolies where genuine innovation goes to die. - Verdanse I think I already covered, but they're basically Biotechnica in Cyberpunk 2077. They're food monopolists relying on single-celled vertical agriculture to manufacture bioproducts and petrochemicals of all kinds, ostensibly based out of Africa. They relied on old European seed capital to make it big, though, so they're... let's call them African cosplayers. - The Dangote Group is a massive Nigerian industrial conglomerate IRL, and while in this timeline Nigeria's economic fortunes are not what they could be due to the lack of demand for petrochemicals compared to the metals the Congo possesses, I put them in anyway just because I could, and also because it's nice for pasty dudes like me to remind myself that Africa has industry, has government, it's not just Le Dark Continent. Give it a few decades and I imagine the Western perception of Africa will change drastically. -Bharati Megacorps: Well, who survived the Indo-Pakistani nuclear war? Reliance? Mahindra? TATA? Take your pick!

HCLI: I did explain this, right? Remember, Koko's from the animanga Jormungand, where she's part of an arms-dealing / logistics conglomerate called HCLI. Here, though, she's left said corporation for greener pastures in GENOM. Celia's saying she thinks she could play the rest of her family off against Koko, keeping her unable to control the Redevelopment Concern. This goal - Get Koko - will animate much of the battle against the Concern in chapters to come. Of course, the Sabers won't just be fighting the Concern. Things keep getting in the way...

I Woke Up In An Old-ish Bugatti: I know Bugatti only does models on limited runs, instead of doing annual runs. That was a goof on my part.

Bamboo Network: A shorthand for the Chinese business networks of Southeast Asia, which basically run the region. Check the Wikipedia article:

Anyway, that's it. That's the nerd shit. Which this chapter wasn't really about.

Anyway! Next chapter is a big long fight scene, the first battle for Roanapur. It will take time to write, probably until like mid-March or so. I'll do what I can to put it out but IRL demands are ramping up so don't expect anything anytime soon. See you then!