#so as i remembered it you spent resources you had to grind for to get these packages that were full of extremely low tier stuff

[pie-bean]

I'm reminiscing about Pocket Camp and does anyone else remember the update that turned Gulliver into the most detested Animal Crossing character overnight? Wild times

[toreii]

✨Book 6 chapters 66-67 tips✨

I keep seeing people worried about this portion of the episode with book 6 coming soon. So, this is how I did it with the bare minimum of effort. Of course, there are better methods out there than my own. But, I went in blindly not knowing what was to come. I realized I had a problem, so what was I to do? Grind. A lot. Every two and a half hours, three rounds of lessons, every day.

Spoilers below the cut!

These are my three teams for chapter 66. I really should have put more thought into the characters I picked. When I realized my mistake, I decided this would be the hill I would die on. Boy, did I suffer. That said, I realized a few things as I was grinding, and then running off to lose against the Titans.

For chapter 66, your cards should at least be around lv 40. As you can see, I didn’t give Azul or Floyd much love, and I definitely ditched Trey after this chapter. But, at the bare minimum, I had my cards in their 30s.

The Titan for tower 3 likes to inflict fire damage to your life during your standbys, so bring someone that can heal. Preferably on all your teams, but definitely on the Riddle/Azul team.

Duo magic✨ Obviously, having SSRs will be a life saver. But, you can also be like me with Leona and use an R card.😂 I tried having at least an SSR that I could duo magic with to deal extra blows.

Max buddy levels. Make sure your buddy levels are as high as they can be. I will say this, Alchemy lessons will be your life if you are unprepared. So, while you grind for those books and notepads, get your buddy levels up.

The most important tip: magic levels need to be at lv5!! Again, you want to deal those extra blows. The sooner, the better.

Groovy all your cards. Even the R cards if you use them. This needs no explanation. You want that extra ATK and HP boost.

Study the phantom titans attack patterns. I eventually caught on as to how each Titan attacked, and it helped tremendously at picking the right attack against them. If you make a mistake, that’s fine. Try to keep it at one. Messing up twice is a bit too much, but still doable. Three, you might want to restart the battle.

I was mostly saying this to amuse myself, but survive. Survive during this chapter, and you will make it through.💖

For chapter 67, I mostly kept the teams the same. As I mentioned before, I dropped Trey and brought Idia on my Azul/Riddle team hoping to make a difference. Ahahaha….no.🥲 The tips for chapter 67 are basically the same. In this round, however, your card levels should at least be between levels 50-55. Preferably in the 60s.

As you can see, I eventually leveled up Silver to 62. I pushed Vil at level 72 at the time because I kind of grew a little desperate.😆 However, Vil only became useful to me when I unlocked his water magic at level 5. This is why I say it’s important that you do this. Aside from these two, you can see who my main twst team is. They were already in their 60s.

I spent a lot of saved resources. Books, notepads, starshards, gems, honeys, waffles, cupcakes, etc. Overall, this took me about two months to beat. It was basically trial and error, but it is doable so long as you put in work. There’s plenty of time before this part of the story comes. So, think about the cards you’d like to use, and work on them.

Remember! You can change your mind about which characters you will use, but if you make any changes in the midst of going through the towers, you will have to start all over again from the beginning. So, pick your characters wisely!!

I hope these tips bring you a little peace of mind. But, you know, twst recently came out with those reset tickets to make things easier. I haven’t used any yet. Maybe because I already beat book 6, so I can’t use them right now. I don’t know if the EN team will implement this feature soon. If they do, you have that option, as well.

Happy reading and good luck!💖

[jomiddlemarch]

on the cold earth under the cold sky

“Your feet are cold,” Joel said.

“You said you hated it when I wore socks to bed,” Grace replied. “And I don’t love it either. My feet get too hot.”

“It wasn’t a complaint, darlin’, just an observation,” Joel said.

“It seemed like a complaint,” Grace said. She wiggled her toes, which were cold, and let out a breath, which floated above her in a brief cloud. It was frigid in Jackson far earlier than expected, either a cold snap or the beginning of a long, hard winter, which reminded Grace of the Little House on the Prairie book where they spent the snowed-in winter grinding wheat in a coffee-grinder and she’d skipped to the end because it was so boring. Maria had asked everyone to conserve resources, bundling up instead of stoking fires. It worked okay during the day, but the nights were difficult.

“C’mere,” Joel said, pulling her even tighter to him.

“You don’t—sorry,” Grace mumbled. “Sorry for being a cold bitch.”

He laughed, a rich, warm sound like the Kenyan coffee she desperately missed though she’d never admit it, and jostled her into putting her feet between his shins. He was wearing a set of faded Black Watch tartan flannel pajamas over a white tee shirt and she should have found it hilarious when she saw him or almost homely, as close to sexy as Neptune, but should didn’t seem to apply since she’d left Before for Now.

“Never met anyone who’s less of a cold bitch than you, Gracie,” he said.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” she asked. She would have used all her willpower to keep from rolling her eyes if Ellie had said something similar, but she’d slept poorly since it got cold. It reminded her too much of the first winter after Kian was killed. Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone ran through her mind on a loop, the loop preferable to any other memory.

“It’s the truth. You can take it however you want it,” he said, completely unoffended by the sound of his voice and the gentleness of his embrace.

“No matter what I say, I’m wrong and you’re right,” she snapped. I think you’re a cold bitch and kind of mean at the moment, if that’s worth anything, dead-Lauren offered. Grace was well aware she was being surly and rude and why? Because she was tired of going to bed with cold feet and waking in the night with her nose and cheeks feeling half-frozen, because there wasn’t much she could do when people came in with frost-nip and fucking Dickensian chilblains, because she’d once tried to go back to where she’d buried Kian that brutal winter and she couldn’t find his grave, couldn’t remember where she’d first pressed the shovel into the barely yielding earth, putting all her weight on the metal, in a hurry, too full of cortisol to shed a tear?

Because however awful she was, Joel was kind and calm, steady, putting a cup of something hot into her hand when she came through the door, helping unbutton her wool peacoat, even inviting Ted and Beard, Tommy and Maria to come over and sit by the fireplace, Joel with his guitar on his lap, playing when they asked, playing “Father and Son” for Ted without a request, without looking up from the guitar’s belly.

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Joel answered.

“I’m tired,” she said. She wouldn’t explain, didn’t need to; let him draw his own conclusions.

“I think bears have the right idea,” Joel said. “Find a den, hibernate. Wait ‘til spring comes. Sounds good, now, for all that Ted has his winter wonderland plans cookin’.”

“They starve,” Grace said. “All winter, the bears use up their own bodies to stay alive.”

“That’s nothin’ new,” he replied.

“I already feel used up,” Grace said. It was an admission—of guilt? Weakness that he wouldn’t be able to stomach or respect? Ellie had started telling stories about Tess, how indomitable the woman had been, how determined. The admiration in her voice had been unmistakable. If Joel was around when Ellie talked, he nodded along, and there was sometimes something in his dark eyes, a gleam not unlike tears.

“I know. You just need a rest. Sarah’s mother could get like that,” Joel said.

It was a shock to hear him speak of her and so easily. Grace didn’t even know the woman’s name, whether they’d been married, together, exes who got along for the sake of the child, who hadn’t loved each other enough to break each other. Joel knew little more about Kian and not at all about the perpetual background conversation Grace had going with dead-Lauren. She supposed they were even.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t whisk her away to Aruba either,” he said.

Grace made a conscious choice she might later deeply regret not to pursue the her in favor of  Aruba.

“That’s where you’d take me? Where we’d go?” In another life, Before or the Before when cordyceps never happened, the mutation milder, stronger, ruining the grain before it could be consumed by anyone, Chicxulub taking a left turn. In a world of planes and flying coach but never standby, fluted red paper umbrellas, lemons, buying Joel a fancy white guayabera, glaring at the woman on the lounger with her crocheted bikini top untied at the back who was staring at him too long, too obviously.

“Yeah. Or the Keys. Somewhere your feet couldn’t get cold,” he said.

It would be easy to tell him she loved him there. To feel it, think it and speak, to leap without looking behind her or beyond him, a world crazed with a tiny thousand cracks, without the devastating fracture they’d somehow survived. She didn’t have to look at him to know grey he was getting at the temples and scattered throughout his beard. She didn’t have to reach up under his tee-shirt to feel the scar on his belly.

“They’re better,” she said. “My feet. They’re not cold anymore.”

She started to move away or tried to. Joel held on.

“Stay,” he said. “Keepin’ you warm keeps me warm.”

Another fic for @pedrostories​ 1K celebration, using AU, hurt/comfort and the quote “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

[misto713]

✨️Bullshit~✨️

1. it's not free unless you want to be the loser at the bottom of the rankings and never progress in the story because the end chapter of every mini arc of 6 chapters needs a couple MILLION more in power and you only get power by using a massive amount of resources.

2. ads everywhere, in fact. want to get just a little more resources? watch an ad. your cat randomly decided to run away? watch an ad or pay real money to get it back. spent hours grinding to reach 'dailies', a reward? hey, why don't you double it by watching an ad?

sure, you can get 10 skip ad tickets per day... with the paid monthly subscription! so no. not free at all.

3. the game is an expert at pulling money from its users. new dresses that cost ingots (60 ingots for... 2 euro? if i remember right). 100 ingots = 1 brocade. 1 piece of dress = 4 to 36!!! brocades. and you vet 5 to 9 pieces of dress to get the whole set.

or the game just directly asks real money for imaginary dresses. when i stopped playing, they started promoting the 'celestial' collection according to zodiac signs. each dress can be directly bought... for over 30 euros! for that price, you can just buy a real dress.

plus events - repeating events, dress events, mini story events, 'holiday themed' events. each requires ingots, and there's never enough ingots.

plus the VIP levels where support won't even really help you unless you reach some vip level. you reach vip by spending money. and you have paywalled confidants you receive after reaching vip levels. VIP16 would literally cost you at least a hundred thousand euro. not kidding.

and the lifetime pass and monthly pass and daily top up rewards and special packs and 'vip rewards' packs that cost even more money and ranking booster packs and event limited timr packs and i'm not even kidding! these are all in the game!

4. the community was great despite the game, not because of it. it's honestly the only thing i miss, the girls were great. but yes, the game gives you so so SO MANY options to be mean. and obfuscate their wording so half the players don't even know they're picking the hurtful options.

help 'harvest' a friends' garden? congrats! you just stole from them. 'compare notes' in the academia? congrats! you just stole their points and it takes 8 hoirs to get more. or ruin someone's banquet. or any random actions that half the time you don't even know are hurting others.

5. the story isn't even that good. starts with yoir typical 'revenge' cliché plot, then that gets resolved and it just sort of.. goes in circles. then MC is sent to some foreign country or something?? i don't know i stopped paying attention, it got boring.

6. the game does NOT value its players. at all. i played for over a year, reached an embrassingly high VIP level and then they just moved us to a slow server. ping of over one second, and considering everyone had 40-50 partners at this point and you needed to beat ALL of them in every debate, FOUR TIMES PER DAY!... every single action felt like someone's pulling my teeth, every move painfully slow. and support was no help of couse. "i'll ask the devs to check, my lady", they just lied to me - it was obvious that we were moved to a slow server since multiple people reported the same and it happened right after a sneaky unannounced maintenance.

my phone can smoothly run genshin and this little dressup with nothing more that static images with some minimal animations is slower? no. just no.

they just judged that our server doesn't make them enough money.

oh and of course, they create a new server every couple weeks. to get more people. and then they merge them to 'get more fun' mess up rankings and force people to pay even more money to keep their place among competition that just doubled. fun, right? (no, it wasn't).

--

girls, if you ever want to try this game, i can only tell you this: don't.

this miserable excuse of a game isn't worth it and their scummy business practices and gachas are only meant to pull money from you. don't do that to yourself.

no matter how pretty the dresses are, they are just not worth the money or effort.

just buy yourself a real dress.

[lilysunarchive]

Obtaining 22 Million Event Points

Last week I made the ill-advised decision to spend my dia and sanity on obtaining the full five copies of Hot Limit Niki. I kept track of how much dia I spent and roughly how many hours I played. As a disclaimer, team-building and event spending in enstars is wildly varied due to the unique nature of each account and a variety of variables (team comp, event point bonus, etc.) so I recommend using an event calculator for true accuracy but hopefully this can give a slight idea into how much time and resources are needed to reach 22 million points. Think of this as more of a rough estimate of how many dias are needed and not an exact guide.

I spent about six months saving dia (all the way from the first Meowsketeer banner) and didn’t reach 3.5 mil on any of the events except for one. I have the monthly BP card active however, so if you’re F2P I’d recommend saving for about 7-8 months just in case. 

It’s important to pull for the event bonus cards if you’re going above 7.5 million points. Although the bonus might seem insignificant, it quickly adds up especially the more points you’re attempting to obtain. I’d recommend saving up all your dia scout tickets to spend on the banner, rather than wasting dia on it. 

I didn’t have a lot of tickets saved up and my luck was horrible on the event scout so I ended up only managing to obtain the 4* and 3* event bonuses. 

Two copies of Nazuna and two copies of Koga only gave me a 17% bonus (very painful) so hopefully if you’re planning to pull, you’ll be luckier than I was. This also means that the amount of dia I spent is *way* more than it should be. It would be much lower if I had pulled Adonis or more Nazunas. Think of my dia count as a highball estimate of how much you should have. 

My team lineup looked like this: 

Because every enstars account has different 5*s, I’d recommend using a calculator to see how your team would fair with the event bonus you have. Again, this is more of a rough estimate of about how much dia is needed. 

If you’re only aiming for 7.5 million points, it might be possible to do songs on 3BP to save exp and hopefully rank up sooner but if it’s beyond 7.5 million points, it becomes very time consuming. Especially if you don’t have the whistle pack active, I recommend playing through your best song on 10 BP. 

Real life is busy so I’d also recommend grinding up points on days where there’s an abundance of free time or you can leave your phone running on auto. For the eight days that the event is running, to reach 22 million points you would need to complete about 2,750,000 points a day so make sure to plan accordingly. 

The dia I spent and the points I reached per day looked like this: 

Dia without whistles is how many dia would need to be spent if you don’t have the monthly whistle pack which is about 3,000 more dia. 

I was busy towards the end of the week so I made sure to complete the bulk of my event points during the weekdays. The amount of hours I spent looks like this: 

I had the whistle pack active, however, so keep in mind that if you’re F2P it will take longer to complete the 22 million points because you can’t double rewards. I did the majority of my event point grinding Sat-Wednesday and only really logged in to do dailies the rest of the week. Make sure to plan around your schedule! Your health and sanity are infinitely more important than a gacha png. 

The result: 

Remember that this “guide” is really just a rough estimate of how much dia/time it will take to obtain a max event card and not necessarily accurate to your account. You might end up spending more dia, you might end up spending less it really is dependent on your account. I highly, highly recommend using an event calculator to get a better idea of what 22 million points might look for *your* account, it will always be different from my own. This is more so to get across an estimate + what the experience was like.

TLDR: a full 22 million event card can cost anywhere from 60,000 dia to 85,000+ dia, I recommend saving for about 6-9 months without spending on any of the gacha and participating in a minimum number of events, it will take roughly 40 hours to complete if you have the whistle pack and more hours if you don’t (praise autolive imagine doing this on the JP server), and remember to plan the event around *your* schedule not plan your schedule around the event. 

Happy dia saving everyone! Good luck on any events you might be planning for!

[osysfurniture]

Help! My Office Renovation Permit is Stuck! Here's How I Got It Moving (Singapore)

Anyone who's ever embarked on an office renovation in Singapore knows the permit process can feel like wading through molasses. It was supposed to be a smooth transition – a refresh for my growing team, a space that buzzed with creativity, and frankly, a place that wasn't lit by flickering fluorescent lights anymore. But there I was, weeks into the waiting game, my dream office renovation Singapore grinding to a halt because my permit application seemed to have vanished into a bureaucratic black hole.

The Permit Panic

Let's be honest, the office renovation permit process in Singapore isn't exactly known for its lightning speed. But between mood boards overflowing with ergonomic office workstation Singapore ideas and the excitement of my team, I was determined to get things moving. My initial optimism curdled into full-blown panic as the days bled into weeks with no update on my application. Visions of dusty contractors and a frustrated team loomed large.

Taking Action: My Permit Progress Plan

Knowing I couldn't just sit around and twiddle my thumbs, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Here's what I did to get my office renovation permit application back on track:

Double-Check the Documentation: The first step was to revisit the application myself. Did I miss something crucial? A missing document or an error in the application could be the culprit behind the delay. Singapore's Building and Construction Authority (BCA) website offers a wealth of information on the office renovation permit singapore process, including checklists and application guidelines. I spent an afternoon combing through the resources, making sure I had everything in order.

Contacting the BCA: Armed with the knowledge that my application was complete, it was time to get some answers. The BCA offers multiple channels to reach them, including a hotline and an online enquiry form. I opted for the phone, figuring a real-time conversation might yield some concrete information. While the wait time wasn't exactly thrilling, the representative I spoke to was helpful and professional. They were able to confirm that my application was complete and advise on the next steps.

Engaging a Qualified Architect: This might seem like an extra step, but hear me out. An architect familiar with the office renovation permit singapore process can be a lifesaver. They can not only ensure your plans meet all the necessary regulations but can also act as a liaison with the BCA if needed. In my case, consulting an architect helped clarify a minor technicality in my application that might have been holding things up.

Sticking with It (and Avoiding the Permit Panic)

The good news? My permit eventually came through, and the office renovation is now well underway. The not-so-good news? The entire process took longer than I'd anticipated. But the key takeaway? Don't give up! While the office renovation permit singapore process can be frustrating, persistence and a bit of know-how can go a long way.

This experience also highlighted the importance of realistic timelines when planning an office renovation in Singapore. Factoring in potential delays for permits is crucial to avoid disappointment and disruptions to your workflow.

So, there you have it, my fellow Singaporean entrepreneur. Here's hoping your office renovation journey is smoother sailing than mine. But if you do get stuck in permit purgatory, remember, a little research, a proactive approach, and maybe a friendly chat with the BCA can help get things moving again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a mood board filled with dream office workstation Singapore ideas to finalize!

[radar-of-minecraft]

Minecraft Items Challenge Attempt 2: The Pretty Scary Update Finale

I was looking through random chests to clean up my storage when I happened across an entire stack of note blocks I do not remember making, I do however remember 2 stacks of wood go missing right before I went looking for a Mushroom Island during The Adventure Update, during which I was really tired, so I must have turned them into note blocks, but I haven't the foggiest clue as to why.

I'm using the Alt+f4 duplication glitch to dupe bottles o' enchanting so I don't have to spent 10 years grinding at the slow mob farm, I am making a perfect set of diamond tools that I won't allow to break until mending is added in the Combat Update. I ended up filling nearly 4 chests with enchanted books before I got what I was looking for and put it in my ender chest.

Now I'm deleting the Region data for the Nether so I don't have to deal with awful Alpha Terrain. I actually got really lucky and my new portal is right by a nether fortress.

I made a mostly safe cobblestone path to the fortress, which in hindsight is completely pointless because quartz gets added next update so I'm going to reset my nether again.

I also made my first crafting table :*)

Here is what I will spent the next 4 hours hunting, and here is my weapon.

Here's the first skull, I entirely forgot that they started out as a 2D inventory sprite like cake and beds.

and here is four hours later, I want you to guess which two resources I will never need to look for again

I renovated my portal room, I will barely spend any time here, but now it's a bit more homey.

Here is my canvass to build a wither cage. I shall copy the one from my main world block for block.

Oh. Withers don't spawn like that yet. I need to look up a 1.4 wither cage.

Okay, I used the blockswap glitch to break some of the portal, giving me a free bedrock and the perfect roof for my cage.

Here's the new cage, you have to push the wither into the bedrock to stop it from breaking blocks, just like every wither cage, but before The Bountiful Update, you had to do that with a piston.

I mined some obsidian for beacons and other things we will need later, and then I returned to the Overworld.

I made my first beacon and put the bedrock in my ender chest.

In this post I added the Wither Skeleton Skull, Nether Star, and Beacon, completing the Pretty Scary Update.

I also realized that I never got screenshots with Shaders on since I finished the basic form of my house in 1.3, and it's going to change a lot over the next few updates, so I grabbed some screenshots of a copy of the world that I moved into 1.20

Up next is The Redstone Update, I will not be doing much redstone, if any at all

[quietmuse]

Echoes of the ginger touch, gentleness made the Lady of house Lannister frown. Internalising herself by some mean, daring to don an emotional armour. Held tightly around her heart and mind. Confession whispered upon the woman’s lips, Gisela then frowned at the apology. “Ser Harwin,” she drew her gaze to the helm and shadowed features beneath. “Your apologies are not words I wish to hear,” letting out a shaky breath. “It neither changes my position nor stance in the situation,” admitted Gisela with a soft tone, not once chiding nor belittling. Holding her tongue a moment, she attempted to blink away tears forming in her eyes. “Jason—-he’s not the one doing this, but if he knew… it’d be a matter of self preservation, for the name and house.” To marry and cover up the true legitimacy of the child.

Hand clenching a little in the crook of his elbow when the steps made her body bark. Bones in the broken foot protesting. Audible sound of the ligament and bone grinding with each step. Yet, Gisela hoped it was drowned out for Harwin. For the sake of hiding how bad the situation was to some merit; and the unpleasantness of it. Keen awareness of the Captain’s own web and the treasures protected. Offering the man a kind sad smile, she offered a light squeeze of his arm. “Thank you,” words were weak on her lips. The glisten of salty tears apparent on her cheeks. “It’s been so long… since it all started, in truth I don’t even remember how it started anymore.” Gisela admitted in a weak grainy voice. “They won’t believe me even if I said anything—-” Some years the younger to Ser Strong and the Crown Princess. Her life had been spent a between both Kings Landing and the Rock. Gisela’s confession registering on her lips, before her own awareness. Holding her gaze on the walls enclosed around the Red Keep.

The change to small talk had been her means to cope. Speak of something good amongst the bad; redirect. It had been the footwork and effort to another or event. Watching Ser Harwin’s reaction to the compliment she pat his inner arm, hoping to make him aware of his own reaction. “Ser, you see them more than merely the Princes, it has been very much apparent from the birth of Prince Jacaerys.” Gisela offered him a soft smile. “Merely, you’ve soon another to teach and watch flourish with skills. It’s quite an honour and attests to many virtues of your character.” She’d known the rumours, seen how this man held his heart on his sleeve. Knew to play the game to draw attention away from her. “There is no shame to have pride in influence when it is of positive impression.” Each step hurt more now, making her wince. “Perhaps even, shows what your capabilities would be if you were to marry and children in the future—not in the sense of responsibility and expectation. More what’s within your heart,” gaze wandering to her skirts noticing blood and the bandage loose.

Halting her movements, to look at the wounded limb. Staring at the linens wrapped and noticing stitches broken. Cold and clammy her skin became looking down. Moving her skirts to get a better look, but showing more of the marks pressed into her skin. “The Red Keep used to be a safe place, ironic for the viper pit it is. But, he was never there. His games remained outside of King’s Landing, people who knew I could buy silence. Maesters that were disgraced aren’t ones to discuss matters,” she admitted weakly with some thanks to that resource. “There’s been a few before this one—-“ she meant the child. Drawing that it hadn’t been the first and this likely not the last.

Eyes held on the figure of Harwin Strong, mildly illuminated by fire lanterns gracing the streets. Aiding in the warmth and visual aids. Gisela’s form no longer a sense of of secrecy amongst the mere ribbons left of her gown, and exposure to her underclothes. Marks scantly etched into her skin and small form—-the high collar of her gown no longer hiding the lines of fingers drawn into her pale flesh. Lannister green eyes, held a fearsome awareness to them. As much Lady Gisela was kind, she didn’t take to being exposed in an weakened state.

The guards movements caused the Lady to flinch, though her posture grew lax when the cloak from clasped free from armour. Her surprise was fumbling on innocent; vaguely unaware that kindness still remained within the dark world. “Thank you, Ser Harwin.” Spoke a solemn voice that the lioness didn’t recognise as herself anymore. Immediately taking to draw the cloak tightly closed by one fist, in the hopes to hide absolutely everything. At the notion of proper care, there was open anxiety to be met with others. “My cousin would learn of my condition,“ her voice was softly spoken and only for the guard. “I’d be then wed to the person who did this,” the lady gently tucked her hand into the crook of the man’s elbow.

Taking the first steps ailed the young woman greatly, yet she tried to push the discomfort down beneath the mask she’d been taught to hold. “I’m thankful for your kindness, Ser Harwin. The guidance back when its more a sway from your post. Which I apologise for the inconvenience,” polite as the daughter of a second branch was expected to be. Mindful of station, and the position of both their paths in society. Taking the walk back to the Keep with much ailing. Steps at one point then another, leading to unkept balance. Leading to a less than ideal presentation when gripping Harwin’s arm with an otherwise antisocial degree, if it weren’t for the circumstances. “I hear the Princess, expects another child. No doubt the Princes are quite excited for their siblings’ presence soon enough.” Gisela smiled softly at the notion, quite aware of the rumours. Thinking nothing of what it meant, drawn close enough to circle at one stage to understand. “From what I’ve seen, they’ve grown to fine young boys. You must be proud. I’m happy for you Ser.” It was a sincere comment from a woman who’d not known much of the woes of love. Nor the expectations of others. Much of pain and suffering. Finding a happiness within the comfort others had found in their lives.

[demonboyhalo]

The Technoblade Conspiracy

Even before Dream claimed there was a traitor in Pogtopia, there's been a lot of...suspicious activities happening in Techno’s streams. Others on the SMP are already distrustful of him, and the fans are as well, but I believe that we’re focusing on the wrong thing here. This thread isn’t quite a traitor theory, but rather a dive into what Techno has been hiding at large. I can say with utter confidence that the extent of what Technoblade has accomplished on the Dream SMP is being greatly underestimated.

I recommend looking at the sus Techno moments thread by @piggytechnobarb on Twitter for some of the stream clips I'll be discussing.

This is going to be fairly in depth, so the rest is under the cut!

1. There is another room under what Techno calls his "secret base"

I won't talk too much on how strange his choice of "secret base" is for now, but please do keep in mind how out of character it is for man-who-tracked-down-Squid's-college to settle for a home base so unprotected and close to Pogtopia's very well known location.

So, for some reason, there is Polished Blackstone Brick under the floor of Techno’s wall. He accidentally reveals this when a donation asks him to mine the exposed redstone in his wall, acts a bit strange for a good 15 seconds, and then never mentions it again. Sight of the brick prompts him to silently zoom in, fill the hole with stone (not cobble), and say "Don't ask questions".

This is only so strange because there's no real reason for him to have stone at the ready, or any blackstone brick at all. Techno is NOT a builder, and if a creeper blew up down there, he'd fill it with cobble and not give a shit about aesthetics. He doesn't use smooth stone in his base, and has never built with blackstone on stream. Not only are they unusual items for him to have, it's unusual for him to make a point to not have the viewers question it. Yes, it could just be Techno being dramatic, but why did he go silent for a straight 5 seconds at the sight of the blackstone?

Considering who he is as a player, it is completely in character for Techno to build a second base. The lake he lives under is incredibly near Wilbur and Tommy, and he's well aware that all an enemy has to do is watch his stream to infiltrate his base. Techno goes to the extremes when they aren't even required (Ex. His insane skill in party games, beating Skeppy in as niche of a game as Grinch Simulator, etc.) So I don't think it's a stretch for him to go the extra mile, and hide a bunker/resources/extra armour and what have you from even his own viewers.

2. The overpowered illegal villager farm

For those of you who don't watch Ponk, he recently stumbled across an area that is supposedly banned on the Dream SMP - a villager farm. In the clip, his voice is astonished and his confusion is palpable, and he goes so far as to say "It's a full scale arms race" because of how many good trades there are. The location is laced with traps, though he doesn't mention what exactly he had to get past to find the farm. Ponk's reaction is far too genuine for the farm to be his, but then that begs the question, whose farm is it?

...Who is willing to risk Dream's wrath by breaking his rules? Or, alternatively, who is capable of making a secret pact with the server owner to allow such a farm? The answer could only be Technoblade.

Ponk says it himself in the video, he does not have the time to build this. Whoever made this had to have carved out a hidden cavern, lead at least 14 villagers down there, breed them until only the ones with the best trades were left - all off stream, and without another player catching them. Whoever made this had to spend hours of work with no content to show for it, and who do we know has been grinding for DAYS on the server? Technoblade. Not to mention, all the villagers are numbered, and all but one are fletchers.

The signs above each stall are so important, because going so far back as SMP Earth, Techno has a history of dispassionately breeding mobs to his benefit, and then killing any mob not performing well enough. For example, his horse farm: where the horses stay in numbered rooms rather than all being named. The villagers in the screenshot above are numbered rather than named.

Wanna hear a fun fact about Fletchers? They're well known for accepting sticks for emeralds, but will also take string for that trade as well! And guess who has been seen waiting at the spider spawner collecting string by Sapnap, Awesamdude, Quackity, and multiple other players? Technoblade.

Technoblade also has every reason to be breeding villagers for special arrows and crossbows, because he's said on stream that he wants to try spamming multi-shot crossbows in combat to take out huge groups of enemies. He said at a later point that he had run into trouble with getting multiple crossbows with the enchantment multi-shot, and implied it wasn't going to happen. But has he ever been the kind of person to be stopped by something being challenging? Absolutely not.

Think of literally anything Techno has done - his Bedwars win streak, beating MC with a steering wheel, the Potato Wars - what I believe is really happening, is that Techno is lying about how equipped he is so that no matter what side he ends up fighting for, his enemies will have no true way of knowing how powerful he is.

3. Dream might be his secret ally (AKA The Glowstone Incident)

This brings us to a...confusing moment in Techno's stream that sparked a lot of questions. It pointed me towards 2 different, but not necessarily exclusive, theories.

The Glowstone Incident precedes as follows: Techno needs glowstone but can't find any in his chests, so he puts on his BRB screen. He says that he is "hacking" and asking Dream to use game mode to give him the glowstone. Typing can be heard, and then multiple chests are opened. Techno takes off the BRB screen and he now has three stacks of glowstone dust. This was absolutely bewildering to watch live, and was one of the most blatantly suspicious things he has done in front of his viewers. (You can find the exact clip on the thread I mentioned, it is...so weird)

Theory A: Though unlikely, Techno could be Dream's secret ally, and Dream really did use creative to give him the stacks. Or, he potentially gave Techno OP permissions so that he could get the glow stone (and any other materials he’d want) himself.

We all remember their meet up on that ocean hill, where Dream gives Techno golden apples, diamonds, and other such materials for the battle against Schlatt. It seemed to be a one-off gift that was more for Wilbur's benefit than Techno's, but there's potentially the chance that Dream saw an alliance to Techno to be more beneficial than working only with Wilbur, and contacted him off screen to make deals.

Going back to the Village Farm - for a player to get the exact enchantment they want for a reasonable price, breeding them is the most logical option. It's the route Techno would take regardless of Dream's rules on the SMP too, as he tends to show little regard for what the creators want (Ex. Taking over SMP Earth, exploiting Hypixel Skyblock, etc.) However, it could also be possible that Dream gave Techno permission to do this, and so the reason Techno is keeping the farm secret is so that the viewers don't know of their alliance.

Theory B: Techno has hidden resources in his base that he doesn't want anyone to have even the chance to see. Whether it is to hide from enemies watching (or to hide from Dream in particular because Techno knows he's breaking the server's rules) there are secret chests that Techno has with extra resources that can be heard loud and clear in the video.

They could be simple ones hidden in the walls...or in the blackstone brick base hidden under his floors. Saying he’s “hacking” rather than the reality of him just checking all his chests again is on par for Techno’s usual dramatics - yet we can clearly see that there’s no glowstone in any of his chests. This is why I believe he got the glowstone from some unseen resource. With the BRB screen on, Techno prevents his viewers from actually seeing how he got the 3 stacks of powder, and it keeps the location of his hidden materials safe.

Personally, I feel theory B is more likely, but there have been moments where Dream has acted Sus so...be on the lookout y'all.

4. Techno not participating in MCC

For those of you who watched Techno during the Potato War, many will remember that MCC 6 had a stressful undertone. Because of how much effort and time Techno had been putting into farming on Skyblock, taking a break to compete in another event was distracting. It ultimately led to him losing time that, from his perspective, would have been better off spent farming.

Techno might not be as blatantly grinding on the Dream SMP as he did with the Potato War, but it's undeniable that other streamers have seen him online for stretches of 10 hours and more. When asked about why he wasn't participating in the next MCC, Techno didn't say he was taking a break - something that'd be entirely reasonable and honestly well earned - he said "I don't want to."

It could be awkward phrasing by virtue of Techno's personality, but what I think is more likely is that Techno has learned from his past mistakes. Rather than "waste" time competing in MCC, Techno might be planning to use the time everyone on the SMP is gone to his advantage. He could sneak into enemy territory, set traps in certain areas, or maybe even perform some illegal acts that Dream would never allow. Either way, I suspect Techno has something planned for the 14th.

Honorable Mentions:

Dream poking fun, or blatantly covering for Techno?

This clip of Techno's secret Something??? next to the spider spawner, undeniably suspicious

Techno had around 5 stacks of wool in his inventory at one point - he absolutely could be bed mining the nether not only so that he has multiple sets of OP netherite, but possibly because he's preparing the gear for another person (cough cough Philza) or people

Techno's collection of ghast tears. He's studied Crystal PvP and made plenty of 2b2t references in the past (Look up FitMC for more info on those things) So it could be possible that Techno is hiding stacks of end crystals so that he can decimate multiple players in an instant

All in all, I'm 100% convinced that Techno has some serious plans hidden behind the scenes that he's not going to share until it's time for him to unleash utter chaos. We know he's keeping secrets, we know he's had the time, and we know he's capable.

I hope you all enjoyed my research and feel terrified of what Techno could possibly have done off camera :D

If anyone else has different theories, corrections to what I wrote, or other moments where Pink was Sus, feel free to comment!

[han-shinsuke]

[ 🔞 ] m a k i z e n i n x f e m r e a d e r [‼️]

Exaggeratingly speaking, you were almost beaten into a pulp, like really. Tore hands’ bandages, few cuts on your skin, and a long shallow gash on your neck. It was only the beginning, they said. The first step towards death. You weren’t born with combative skills so it has been an easy task for them to knock you out of the ring with a single hit. In addition to the sufferings you’ve been through today, the newly appointed head of the Zenin clan made you stood in the target pit. She aimed a high calibre gun to your direction, firing directly at you. She surely gave you a lifetime reminder that you were no match for any opponents. With the skills you have, you better stay hidden. It’s just a gash but you bleed pretty bad.

“Maki, withdrawn you from the selection.” Mai Zenin, Maki’s sister, breaks the news for you. As expected, Maki decides everything for you. “She also relocated you to a new residence. You will be transferred tomorrow.”

Mai gives you a tap on your shoulder before leaving your room in the Zenin Household.

You touched the patch on your neck, stared at the ceiling and let out an exasperated sigh. Maki is clearly kicking you out of her life. You’re nothing but a cargo for her. You were no longer the teen she needed to look out for. You are on your own now. You must, at least, thank her for taking care of you when your parents died in a mission.

You packed your things first before heading out to talk to her privately. You banged her door, slid it open and jumped in as if nothing happened during the training today. She was already in her bed, holding a book, reading thoroughly between the pages.

“Maki!” you greeted cheerfully. As you should. She exhales tiredly, closing the book.

You sat on the end of her bed, back against her view. “What are you here for? I believe Mai have already told you.”

“She did told me. I’m just here to say thank you for all those years you spent with me. And also, I like you 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍, Maki. No matter how many times you tried to kick me out.”

You clutched on your chest and prevent the low whimper to escape your lips. So what if you shared the same gender? So what if she had undergone a surgery to remove her mammary gland. So what if she dated sophisticated women but never tried to gamble on you? Okay. You are not worth the risk. You are not her type.

“You said you’ll kill me if I end up liking you for real, about earlier, you purposely targeted me, right? You still remember what I said to you when I was eighteen, that I would ask you out. I’m twenty three now, so that was five years ago.” how come you still managed to laugh about it?

“And I’m seven years older than you, Y/N.” you turned to her. She was leaning her back on the headboard while staring at you.

“You care so much about numbers, Maki!” you pouted your lips and turned your back on her. Gah! You were screaming internally! Maki’s pixie haircut suited her well! “I would be really glad if you at least fuck me, ma’am before I leave for tomorrow.” You were supposed to keep those thoughts to yourself but you happened to say it loud.

“What the fuck, Y/N?!” you were startled when her voice boomed.

You raised from where you were seated, laughed maniacally and gave her a peace sign. “Oops! Sorry, Maki!” you were about to walk out but she stopped you.

“Fine. Come here.” She removed her eyeglasses. In a very fuckingly seductive manner! “come sit on my lap.” Also removed the warm comforter covering her lower body.

“You are so pretty, Maki!” you exclaimed before jumping on her like a kid you once were. She’s wearing a matching black pajama and damn! Zenin looks much prettier at close range!

“Do you even know how to kiss?” she’s not blinking while her hands are groping your sides.

You clapped on her face then told her about the guys you kissed before. “But I know you can kiss better than those men, Maki.” You leaned to her, brushing your lips against hers.

“I didn’t know you desire me this bad, Y/N.” a lustful look before the kiss you have been waiting for.

You held onto her shoulders, tilting your head paralleled to her. You were higher than her this time so you were in control of the kiss. You caved in her lips inside your mouth. Flexing what you have learned from your previous flings. Maki groaned in your mouth. Gripping your waist ever tightly than before. She tastes mint with a hint of sweetness. You opened your mouth a bit wider when Maki tried initiating a different pace. Her hands left your waist. It crawled inside your shirt, cupping your small breasts as soon as she dominates over the kiss.

“Maki~” you breathed helplessly when she latch on your neck. Licking a certain spot up and down. Her hands are not leaving your bosoms, in particular, your erected nipplesx she keeps pinching and tugging. “Aahh, shit, Maki!” you stopped her face first dipping comfortably on your neck before turning to her hands that seems enjoying it stay on your chest.

“What?” she asked against your lips.

“I would love to feel your skin on me. Can we get naked now?” you breathed again. What a desperate shit you are?

“Okay,” she laughed. Rolling you off your shell. Maki unbuttoned her pajama tops after you got naked on her lap.

The heat have risen to another level so you found yourself humping on her lap while she was basically devouring your titsx.

“Gosh, Maki! Bite me again please aah!” you lifted your body and pushed more of yourself to her hot mouth. Maki started sucking and biting you loudly and you moaned loudly as well.

You felt so fucking hot when her saliva drip down from your chest down to your navel. She’s creating a real mess out of you. And you fucking love it.

When she’s done painting your chest with her spittles, Maki went back to your lips, kissing you torridly. You protruded your tongue inside her mouth and she sucked it so good that you started sneaking a hand inside her panty to feel her wetness. Maki gasped from your boldness but she didn’t stop kissing you. You smiled against her lips before sliding your thumb between her slit. It’s your turn to gasp, you even moaned from how slick she felt on your touch.

“Y/N, stop torturing yourself.” said Maki as she pulled your hand out of her undergarments.

Before you could ask, Maki carried you in her arms towards the round table near the glass wall of her room. No one’s gonna see what you two were doing since the space from the other side are nothing but plants and flowers.

Maki put you atop of the table, spreading your legs apart. She can see how wet you were for her so she excitedly kneel down on the floor to lick your leaking folds.

“More, Maki~ more please~” you were deliriously squirming on the table when she started lapping you there, sucking your clitx loudly, popping a finger in and out of your tight anusx.

In just a minute, you drenched the table with your thick arousal but Maki didn’t stop rubbing her mouth on your heat. She kept doing her job. Giving your other lips frenchy that made you moan shit and that.

You were almost there when she stop licking you. You snapped at her.

“Fuck, Maki! Why?!” she just laughed.

“You, slut, spread your legs for me.” you followed her orders and spread wide for her while removing the last piece of cloth on her body.

Good thing that the round table can accommodate two people at the same so when she join you and hover her lower body on you to attach to your leaking lips, you worried yourself on how she would rock you in a very limited space.

But that’s Maki Zenin. She’s resourceful and skillfully talented.

In the end, you heard yourself moaning and crying her name from how well she grind and bump her cunt on yours like it’s nothing.

“Fuck, Y/N! You’re fucking dripping aahh!”

“More, Maki~ I’m near my peak aaahh~”

You helped yourself and mimicked her hips. You rubbed your cunt faster than her, grinding your drenched folds against her creaming ones. Maki breathed heavily and levelled with your pace and needy pumps. Rocking you harder and faster until you two come undone.

Maki kissed you on your lips and played with your titsx as she finished her loads. She went down from the tabletop and took something from her cabinet.

She adhered it near your convulsing body and it stands hard and proud.

Maki returned to her bed and smiled wickedly.

“Ride that thing, Y/N. You’ll look good on it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” your only reply before sitting your cunt around the long and thick dildo that Maki told you to ride.

On your last night in their residence, Maki made you ride it before fucking you again with it.

It may be your last night in the Zenin Household but not the last time you’d be crying her name from intense pleasure.

[milazka]

someone said they left together |𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝.

the less i know the better masterlist

main masterlist

harry and charlie polaroids

warnings: sex, swearing, choking, underrage drinking, little age gap.

last thought: sorry for the delay! i had to finish all my exams before starting this and i had the white page syndrom for a few days, but now i’m back! i hope you will like it! love, milz.

─── ° • ❀ ───

The warm weather of September had recently given way to the raining days of October. It has always been her least favorite month; first, she was forced to remain confined to the four walls of her home. Second, she hated halloween and everything that came with it. Third, her father always spent most of his time in the hospital due to limited staff resources or locked in his office with his patients files. Rain flowing down her window accompanied by Sweater Weather echoing in her dimly lit room only makes her boredom worse. She misses the summer evenings working on Marcus' motorcycle or staying up until the early hours of the morning, drinking cheap wine on the roof of her house.

Touch my neck and I'll touch yours

A shiver runs down her spine at the words. It’s been more than a week since his perfectly shaped face was buried between her shaking thighs; she can still remember exactly how his big paw-like hands gripping her thighs felt. Her face heats up and flush at the thought of being in that position with him again. It had been more than a year since she had orgasmed this hard with a man.

Realising her father will most likely be stuck in his office for the whole evening, she slips on her favorite oversized flannel over her black hoodie and grabs the camera on her desk before walking down the hardwood stairs.

"I'm going to be at Marcus'!" she shouts to his dad who looks at a white sheet of paper, eyebrows furrowed. "Just text me if you're leaving for the hospital so I know you need me to come back and take care of Brady," she pets the little dog on the head before closing the door behind her.

The droplets of rain glide along her face despite her hood pulled back over her head. As soon as she reaches Marcus’ bedroom window, she can’t help but laugh at his awkward position; he is laying on his bed, his head upside down in the void. 

“Are you drunk, stoned, or just stupid?” she looks amused, a smile slipping on her lips as she stands in front of him, taking a picture of him with her disposable camera. 

“All of them,” he smiles clumsily, patting the mattress on his left to encourage her to lay down by his side. Upside down like him, she feels the blood flowing to her head, making her feel a bit lightheaded.

“Why don’t we join Max and the others downstairs?” she suggests, sitting at the end of his bed, feeling the blood leave her head. “We have nothing else to do and you already smoked the last blunt without me,” she emphasizes the fact that he didn't wait for her, which amuses him.

“Alright, let me change and I'll meet you downstairs,” he sighs; he knows that she gets along with her twin and her friends more than him.

The multicolored lights flash to the rhythm of the music. Her eyes take a few moments to get used to the intense lighting while she pours some vodka and orange juice in a red solo cup. 

“Hey pretty girl, would you pour me one of those?” this voice, she could recognize it among hundreds. She turns around instantly, meeting two ocean irises and a smile that awakens millions of butterflies in her tummy.

“Harry!” she smiles, slipping her arms around his neck, burying her nose in the crook of his neck while his hands grab her hips firmly. The familiar fragrance of Giorgio Armani tickles her senses, bringing back memories from two years ago. “I thought you were still in Indiana?” she says, pulling back from the hug to face him. 

God, she missed those blue eyes and perfect blond hair. 

“I’m just visiting my family for the week,” his hands lightly squeeze her hips like he used to do, making her weak in the knees. “Jordan told me Maxine was having a little get together and I had nothing better to do,“ he laughs, deliberately omitting to say that he was hoping to run into her. 

“I missed you,” she admits, her thumb caressing his cheek. 

“I missed you too, pretty girl,” he kisses the palm of her hand, making her blush and lose the last ounce of self control that she had left. 

He was her first. 

Her first kiss.

Her first date.

Her first 'i love you'

Her first time.

Her first heartbreak.

It’s probably the emotion of the moment mixed with the alcohol flowing in her veins, but her eyes get lost in his and their lips collide in a fiery kiss. She can taste the last bit of beer on his lips when she bites his bottom lip, stealing a grunt from him that makes her core throb in desire. Both of his hands cup her face as his tongue slips into her mouth to move in sync with hers. 

“Take me to your place,” she whimpers against his lips, pulling on his belt so that their crotches collide. 

─── ° • ❀ ───

“Have you seen Charlie?” Marcus asks Abby as he pours himself a drink.

“Last time I saw her, she was with Harry,” she answers, grabbing a few cans of beer in her hands. 

His heart tightens at the mention of this name. Harry was Charlie's first boyfriend and her first heartbreak. Marcus clearly remembers the day he picked her up in crumbs after they decided to break up because Harry was going to Indiana to play quarterback for the University of Notre Dame. Marcus never really liked him; Harry had always had a reputation for sleeping with girls and wasn't the type to have girlfriends. It surprised everyone in school the day he arrived hand in hand with Charlie. She was the first girl to win his heart. Six years younger than him, she had him wrapped around her finger for two years. 

“Do you know where they are?” he tries to look unaffected by the whole thing.

“Someone said they left together,” Brodie shrugs, taking a sip of his beer, not noticing the way Marcus' face drops. 

─── ° • ❀ ───

As soon as they reach Harry’s room, his lips meet hers while he waste no time to sit her on his old school desk. Her fingers lace across his hips, pulling him close to get the friction she is desperate for. Her hands find their place at the back of his neck while he grabs the bottom of her black hoodie, peeling it off her body in no time and does the same thing with her jeans. Charlie starts to grind on his crotch, moaning silently at the feeling of his hard on. 

“Fuck… you’re…so hot...” his jaw goes sharp in hunger as he takes a look at her perfect boobs squeezed in a forest green lace bra. She almost rips his shirt off when she pulls the black clothing from him, biting her bottom at the sight of his toned chest. His lips are reddened and swollen from the kiss, hair messy like she loves. Her hands roam his chest, feeling his abs tense under her touch. She squeeze her legs around his hips, sending him a clear message of her intentions. 

“Eager, ma’am?” he teases her, slowly unzipping his belt until his erection is only contained in his briefs. He presses his hard on against her core, rubbing himself up and down. The whimpers leaving Charlie’s parted lips are like music to his ears as his lips suck the sensitive skin of her neck. “Fuck, I’ve missed this…” she moans, tugging at the roots of his hair while his mouth works wonder on her neck.

In one harsh motion, he lays her down on his bed, hovering above her until his lips crash against hers. His hand slides down into her underwear, running two of his fingers up her slit. She groans when his fingers graze her clit, slowly circling the bundle of nerves.

“Please… I want you,” she begs, her hands grabbing his biceps. 

“Say it again,” he demands, applying more pressure on her clit until she starts to squirm under him. 

“I want you,” she cries out. “I fucking need you.”

Charlie’s legs spread open on either side of him, he grabs the lace underwear off her body, lifting her legs up in the air as he slides the material off her ankles. Completely naked on his bed, she remembers the first time they did it, how safe she felt with him. She blushes when she notices the way he bites his bottom lips as his gaze travels down her body. He pulls out a silver square foil from his jeans pocket, ripping the corner open. 

“You sure about this?” he asks one last time in all seriousness. She nods quickly, lifting herself on her elbows to kiss his plump lips. A smirk curves up his face as he wraps one of her thighs around his waist and throws the other over his shoulder, kissing the ankle bone next to his head. He takes his tip, running it up and down her slit in tease. Holding himself in place, he slowly push his hips forward, a whimper escaping the back of her throat at the so desired feeling. He lets out a heavy exhale when his hips meet the back of her thighs. 

“Fuck Charlz...you feel so good,” he cusses in pleasure.

He slowly pulls back and rolls forward, letting her get adjusted to him. She feels lightheaded; she missed this feeling of fulfillment that he had always given her and the way he can be gentle and rough with her at the same time. 

“Harry...fuck, harder…” she moans, eager for him to rock his body into hers. He immediately picks up speed, sending a wave of warmth pleasure in her lower stomach. Trembling whines leave her parted lips as he rolls his hips in a perfect rhythm. He had always known what angles and speed felt good for her, he loved to watch her lose control under his touch. Her stomach starts to spin, the familiar warm feeling starting to grow in her lower abdomen. 

“Shit, right there!” she cries out, her nails digging into his skin. 

“Are you gonna cum for me, pretty girl?” he encourages her, squeezing her hips firmly to the point of leaving a dark red mark. She hums, eyes shut under the pleasure. His hands slide further up her body, meeting her throat where he wraps both hands. The pornographic moan that escapes her lips when he applies pressure around her throat makes his dick twitch. 

“You missed being choke, didn’t you?” he whispers darkly, rocking his hips harder to hit the right spot. She whines in response, clenching around him as his grip on her becomes tighter. He crashes his lips on hers, kissing her without slowing down his pace. She digs her hands into his hair, yanking it hard. He moans into the kiss, his hand around her throat tightening. 

“You still like it when I pull your hair?” she says in a cocky way, pulling his blond locks harder. She knows he likes to be in control. He grunts into the top of her shoulders, rocking his body roughly into her. He brings his thumb in her mouth, lubricating it with her own saliva before bringing it between their bodies. She gasps at the sudden feeling on her sensitive nerves, whining as he starts to circle it with the pad of his thumb. It doesn’t take long for her to start feeling the familiar feeling of her orgasm. Her jaw drops as she feels the wave of bliss rolling up her body. 

“Oh shit!” she screams, her core pulsating around him and her head getting filled with hot air. 

“Give it to me, pretty girl,” his raspy voice sends her over the edge and he soon follows, thrusting fast into her as they both ride out their orgasm. His forehead crashes to her chest in total exhaustion, heavy breath leaving his parted lips. They both catch their breath, his hands engulfing her sides. He slowly pulls up and locks his eyes into hers. 

“I’ve really missed you, pretty girl.”

─── ° • ❀ ───

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[capricioussun]

So I'm writing a fic with UF Papyrus rn and I came across your ptsd and happiness post about him and I thought it was really really interesting. What kind of ptsd do you think he would be experiencing? How would it affect him? I think it could crop up in occasional doubts that their happiness on the surface was going to last, and that would lead to him still trying to look out for Sans and Undyne and keep them safe first, even at the expense of his own happiness, do you agree? I would like to think that he'd eventually be able to trust fully and actually relax, but I do think it would take a good long while. Anyway. Any head canons of your own? Examples of ptsd? I'm really curious what your thoughts are.

Hello and welcome!!

I would like you to know you are very actively opening a gigantic can of worms asking me because, and I am not exaggerating when I say, 99% of what I’m thinking about at any given time is Underfell Papyrus.

Though, I’d like to start by wishing you luck in your writing, and that I hope you find whatever I say helpful!

To start off, I personally have multiple different versions of UF in rotation in my mind, and several different pasts and experiences the brothers have lived through. The underground varies in levels of severity as far as how bad conditions are, or were initially, but for the sake of this response not becoming a literal novel, I’ll focus on The Most Standard one I am usually speaking about when answering asks and whatnot!

The trick with writing things like trauma and ptsd is primarily understanding where it comes from. I have a very solid grasp on Papyrus’ childhood, teenhood, and adult life, what it was like for him, what he experienced, his perspective, the perspective of others around him, how they impacted him and vice versa, and how everything comes together to shape who he is.

I’ve written my thoughts on Papyrus as a character in general before, on my old writing blog (talesofdivergence), and this, too, plays a big part in the way things specifically affect Papyrus. But incredibly long story short, in the context of Underfell, Papyrus is still heavily affected, of course, but not necessarily always by the same things as most others from the ‘verse.

Unsurprisingly, Papyrus has C-PTSD, complex ptsd, essentially meaning he was exposed to recurrent traumatic situations. For most of his life. He had a…bad childhood, lived on the streets of a dangerous city in his pre-teens with only his brother (growing ever increasingly distant with him) for support and guidance, and then spent his teens living in a house that only had electricity or heating after a lot of work was put into it, scavenging at the dump for resources or things to sell, very little food, surrounded by a town of other monsters struggling just as much, if not more so, recurrent food shortages and scuffles in the street that lead to dustings or arrests, began having to take more responsibility for his older brother’s well being when he was still barely a teenager, joined the guard too young out of self imposed obligation to protect his brother, and got to watch him slowly crumble into a shell of his former self over the years, put up with all the constant fighting and death being in the guard brought directly into his life, worked and lived under a corrupt and at times cruel king, all the terrible lessons distilled in him, beaten into him, over and over and over again.

And I also headcanon Papyrus remembers resets, which is its own whole hell unto itself.

So he dealt with a lot of that on top of the [REDACTED] issues that…I won’t get into detail, but I will say that he essentially experiences delusions, sort of tied to his relation to Gaster.

Basically. No one in Underfell is having a good time at all, but we’re specifically talking about Papyrus, and Papyrus was especially not having a good time. There were not really a lot of pros to his cons. Most everything was just a daily grind of things varying from unpleasant to traumatizing, and having to constantly repress his own personal problems because others depended on him. Sans depended on him.

The way I headcanon him. Papyrus has a huge complex about being useful. He exists…for a reason. That reason may change, somewhat, over time, but deep down, he is driven by the desire to be useful. It was heavily distilled in him by Gaster, and then growing up the way he had, only further imprinted it on his psyche. Even after surfacing, even after facing a potentially much easier, much happier life, his self worth hinges entirely on what he can do for others. This is a direct, albeit mutilated, reflection of UT Papyrus’ desire for love and attention. In order to be worth something, he has to earn it.

The examples you gave, yes, yes times a hundred. I fully believe he would struggle deeply to actually believe things would be easier. They’re not easier, just different. Now that he’s graduated to working with the embassy, it’s his responsibility to keep them safe. Of course it’s not always going to be easy. Between prejudice and other monsters’ own struggles to acclimate, the transition to surface life won’t be a walk in the park, and Papyrus would feel a lot of the brunt of that. Not just that, but especially protecting those he cares about, Frisk, Toriel, Sans, Undyne, Alphys, Flowey, Mettaton - all of them.

He’s already acclimated to working himself to the metaphorical bone (to the marrow?), working underground was ten times as physically challenging as what would later become expected of him on the surface, the flaw in this logic being that he shouldn’t view them congruently, there is a far cry between the life of an overworked guard in a cesspool and an ambassador on a moderately peaceful surface. And perhaps he can be more openly direct about his concern for others, but all this does is make him feel even more responsible for their well being and taking care of them now that he has more room to.

The underground wasn’t just a place it was a mindset, for him especially, and breaking all those bad habits would be hell. Especially considering overworking is one of his few methods to keep control. He slows down, he thinks too much, and suddenly he doesn’t have as firm of a grasp on his panic disorder and sensory problems as he did back underground. He becomes vulnerable. Which is terrifying. Which makes the problems worse. And feeds into itself.

It’s already well established UT Papyrus rarely sleeps, and has “least favorite dreams”, so I think it’s safe to say both him and UF Papyrus are solid insomniacs. Which only gives you more hours in a day to fill with something. Has to be doing something…

Not to mention how your own headcanons on LV and if Papyrus has any come into play. I headcanon Papyrus has…a fairly hefty amount of LV from his time in the guard (for many reasons, but let’s not get into that), and this, too, feeds in to a lot of his problems. It worsens nightmares, contributes to possible night terrors, aggravates his “delusions”, and makes it difficult for him to quell his temper a lot of the time (which I’m sure you can imagine makes it very hard for him as an ambassador, at times). Though, regardless of if your version will be an ambassador or not, any of these problems can easily translate into how difficult it would make it to maintain any jobs.

I guess what I’m trying to say, is that Papyrus, the way I see it, basically has his head literally stuck back in Underfell. Leading to severe anxiety, sleep loss, derealization episodes, getting triggered by things like being touched unexpectedly, loud, crowded places, explosions or others using magic abruptly, being overly sensitive to others’ Intent, possible flashbacks or episodes of confusion (especially in correlation to sleep problems), strong distaste and distrust of things like hospitals and labs; anything stemmed directly from previous, specific experiences he’s been through, too, like feeling nauseous from specific smells (especially teas), or I’ve seen interpretations of him that have a phobia of spiders or needles as a trigger because of events involving Muffet or Gaster.

He’s never had to take care of himself properly before, never really even had the opportunity, so how on earth could anyone expect him to know how to do it now?

A few examples of things I’ve Thought About Too Much:

Getting anxiety about waking up Sans, afraid he’s Fallen

Having to stifle LV and/or Panic Attacks if someone doesn’t answer their phone first time or reply to a text quickly enough

Almost throwing someone with blue magic who moved to touch Frisk

Hating things like elevators, or anywhere someone could spring a sneak attack

Also hating being driven by someone else that isn’t someone he trusts explicitly (for similar reasons)

Hiding in closets during panic attacks A to help stifle sounds B protection from all angles C out of sight should someone be looking for him

Toriel learning of his sensory problems (I’ve literally written a fic on this) but knowing how to help because Chara had them as well

Finding somewhere he and Undyne can spar, both calling the other whenever they need to physically blow off steam, sharing an unspoken understanding

Waking up from nightmares with sleep paralysis and ghost pains

Sans working toward being a better brother by helping Papyrus with dissociative spells, Papyrus letting him

Always wears tactical shoes. Always.

Frisk and Toriel getting Papyrus to adopt hobbies that don’t revolve around work in some capacity

Recurring nightmares of having a LV episode and killing Sans by mistake (tied to a specific incident when younger)

Recurring nightmares of Gaster (usually followed by a derealization spell)

Chronic pains from improperly healed injuries and trying to hide any pain or illness in general

Late night quiet conversations between Papyrus and Flowey about things they can’t tell anyone else

So many things. So so many things. I could just keep going. But I won’t. I’m normal I’m completely okay I think about Underfell Papyrus a normal amount

But anyway.

I completely agree that I think, with time (a lot of time), he could absolutely come around to being a lot softer and happier, especially with Frisk’s influence, and everyone else learning how to cope and do better, and be better to those around them. And hopefully therapy. I think he’d be a lot like Rus but more mild, and less silly. Still spicy, but more…content. And I think he’d love to foster cats.

Even trying to be a bit glossy and not overly wordy I’ve managed to write an essay. Oof. I really hope this made even some sense, and you’re completely welcome to ask any more questions!!

Also! I feel a very important need to add an addendum: I am not a psychologist, psychiatrist, have any special training in regards to PTSD or the treatment of it, and as far as I know, do not experience it. I do however have personal experience with dissociation, trauma, and panic disorder, so please take anything I say on these matters with a grain of salt!!

[thebonerpit]

a little extra padding [fic]

a little extra padding

Starker, 1515 words, [E]

TW: sexual ageplay/regression, diapers (no watersports!)

Honestly idek. I wish I could fit this in somewhere on my Bingo card but I can’t. Basically, Peter likes wearing a diaper when he’s little and Tony indulges him. No pee/poop involved, just... other fluids. Enjoy the filth!

“Alright Petey, which ones do you want today? Paw Patrol or Disney?”

“PAW PATROL!”

Tony chuckles as he lifts Peter up on to the changing table. “Ok, ok, inside voice, remember?”

“Sorry,” Peter whispers, hiding a cheeky little grin behind his hands.

“You’re trouble, you know that?” Tony says, settling him back and removing his overalls.

“No, ‘m good boy Da, you said!”

“Did I say that? Hmmm I don’t remember saying that…”

Tony reaches into the pouch of the changing table to pull out a fresh Paw Patrol diaper. Luckily, he has enough resources available to him to obtain adult sized diapers with any pattern he could possibly want, without any questions. They had tried normal ones at first but Peter was having trouble fully regressing in the plain diapers made specifically for adults, so Tony pulled some strings. Anything to make his boy happy.

“’m always a good boy,” Peter says, pouting a little as Tony lifts his bum to slide the diaper underneath.

“I know sweet pea, I’m just teasing. You’re behaving so well right now, look, we’re almost done!”

Peter kicks his feet a little but Tony manages to get the sides taped together before he really starts squirming around.

“All done? S’ghetti now?”

Tony reaches down and pulls him to a sitting position so he can tap him gently on the nose with one finger.

“Remember how to ask politely?”

“S’ghetti… please?”

Tony smiles, and Peter smiles right back, a big toothy grin that gives Tony butterflies every time he sees it.

“Spaghetti it is. Let’s go, pumpkin.”

Dinner goes well. Peter is messy but since spaghetti is his favourite he eats every bite without complaint. And it just means that Tony can sneak kisses in between each wipe with a wet towel over his face, which makes Peter giggle. He even behaves while Tony is busy cleaning up the dishes, so he figures he deserves a reward.

“I think you get to pick a movie to watch tonight, mister,” he says, ruffling Peter’s soft curls. He expects an immediate response and mile-a-minute suggestions but instead all he gets is a soft ‘hm’. Frowning slightly, he kneels down so he can be at eye level. “Everything ok, Petey? Does your stomach feel icky?”

Peter shakes his head.

“Hmmm… you don’t want to watch a movie?”

Peter shrugs.

“Sweet pea, I need you to talk to me ok? Use your words.”

“Hm. I just… I just wanna… up?”

Ah. There it is. Tony should have noticed, really, but he was preoccupied with dinner and trying to keep spaghetti sauce stains off Peter’s favourite yellow jumper. Now he watches him squirm in his seat, hands pressed in his lap, a pretty pink flush on his cheeks, and he knows. The diaper isn’t always a sexual thing for them so he never wants to assume, but he knows how much Peter enjoys the sensation of wearing one. And he knows exactly what to do to make him feel even better.

He leans in to kiss Peter softly, chastely, on the lips, and then scoops him up in his arms and settles him on his hip. Peter wiggles a bit until he finds a good spot and then sighs softly.

“Is that better? You like it when Daddy carries you like this?”

Peter nods. His limbs are all wrapped around Tony like a little octopus, and he nestles his chin on Tony’s shoulder.

“Ok then. Let’s walk around for a bit, hm?”

Although Tony isn’t that much taller than Peter, he’s definitely more solid, so Peter feels light in his arms. He carries him from room to room, patting his padded bum with one hand and soothing his back with the other. It doesn’t take long until Peter starts squirming against him more insistently, and he can feel hot breath coming out in little pants against his neck, so he starts bouncing him as they wander around.

“Look up there, Petey, see all the stars?” he says as they stop in front of one of the huge windows in the penthouse.

“Da,” Peter whimpers, obviously not even paying attention to what he’s saying. “More Da, please.”

Tony can’t feel if he’s hard or not through the diaper but he knows he is. He knows Peter likes the feeling of pressure through that padding, the duller sensation making him work even harder to get friction. Sometimes he’ll just grind against Tony or his pillow or anything he can get his hands on for hours until he’s teary-eyed and desperate.

“Does this feel nice, sweet pea?” Tony asks, his voice quiet and intimate as he noses at Peter’s face.

“Feels nice,” Peter echoes. His face is bright pink now and he mouths at Tony’s skin, his neck, his chin, his lips. They aren’t really even kisses, just Peter trying to get even closer as he grinds against Tony’s hip.

“You’re so pretty, baby boy, so cute, hm? Look at you, look at daddy’s little boy…”

Peter whines high in the back of his throat and rocks so hard he makes Tony stumble a little. Tony chuckles and pats his bum – “so strong, baby” – and moves to lean against the back of the couch. Peter slides off a little which makes him fuss but Tony quickly extends one leg so Peter can nestle up against his thigh instead.

“Come on, that’s it Petey, you’re doing so well. Almost there, baby.”

“Feels… feels so good, Da,” Peter whimpers. God, Tony could listen to those sounds forever. And the way he looks… he gets this sort of wild-eyed expression on his face when he’s so regressed like this, as if he barely even understands what’s happening and all he knows is that he doesn’t want it to stop. Tony plasters kisses all over his face as he shoves his little hips up and down against Tony’s thick thigh, humping him like a bunny rabbit. Tony himself is hard in his jeans, the zipper pressing painfully against his erection, but he wants this to be all about Peter.

He knows he’s close when his face scrunches up and he pulls so hard on Tony’s shirt that he almost rips the fabric.

“That’s it baby doll, make a mess for Daddy, come on,” Tony coos.

Peter trips over the edge of his orgasm with a high-pitched squeal, shuddering and shaking in Tony’s arms. He’s so sensitive that it takes him a good while to settle so Tony just soothes him, lets him come down softly, until he’s practically boneless against him.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, sweet pea,” Tony whispers. Peter makes a tiny noise of assent but winces when Tony hoists him up again.

“Wet,” he says, sticking his tongue out. “Yucky.”

Tony laughs, not about to mention how much Peter enjoyed getting to the wet and yucky part.

He settles back on the changing table again without complaint and lets Tony remove his overalls. The diaper is next, and Tony gently opens each side and peels down the front. His cock throbs in his jeans as he looks down at Peter’s own member, spent and small and covered in cooling come. He looks absolutely debauched and absolutely perfect.

“Da, wan’ binkie please,” Peter says, his voice a bit sleepy now.

“Just a minute, Peter,” Tony replies. He fumbles with his belt and shoves his jeans and boxers down hastily. His cock is nearly purple with need and he hisses as he finally gets his hand on it. It’s too dry, though, so he scoops up some of that mess his boy made and slathers it on himself. The sensation is incredible and he licks his lips as he quickly starts pumping his hand.

“Da. Da, binkie!”

He can see Peter starting to fuss, rubbing at one eye with his fist, but he can’t see a pacifier anywhere around them and there’s no way he can stop now.

“Here, baby, suck,” he almost growls, and shoves two fingers in Peter’s mouth. The boy’s eyes widen with surprise at first but it seems to calm him a little and he starts licking and sucking almost immediately. Tony groans at the sensation and his hand moves even faster on his dick.

“You make Daddy feel so good, baby, god, you’re such a good boy for me,” he groans. Peter hums happily around his fingers and that’s what sends Tony over the edge. He comes with a grunt all over Peter’s tiny cock. Thick globs of white mix with the viscous liquid that’s already there, and Peter whines and wiggles when he feels the warmth of it on his belly. He lets Tony’s fingers slip out of his mouth.

“Da made a mess,” he says plainly. Tony huffs out a laugh and pinches at his thigh gently, just enough to make him jump.

“I did, didn’t I… guess I’ll have to clean it up, then,” Tony responds before leaning down to swipe his tongue through their come, humming with pleasure at the salty taste and the twitch of Peter’s cock against his cheek.

[fitzefitcher]

faction conflict soapbox, pt. 2

school 2: I’m tired of faction conflict, in general

@alldepressednshit​ said: To be honest, it feels overdone. Also, it keeps getting sidelined by *insert world-threatining asspull* BfA could’ve been great if it was an actual civil war. Like a baron zemo type setting out to destroy the horde and alliance from within.

@ashyteg​ said: I wish we could all hang out and play hearthstone

@baenling said: annoying as fuck. should have been over in mists of pandaria. literally zero reason for the faction war to continue

@swampgallows​ said: i just like being a zombie lady with a conscience and an ability to be hugged by huge monster people who are my family and would never hurt me

Anonymous asked: I wish people would stop bickering over which faction is worse, admit both factions are problematic and stop trying to morally high road the other for faction pride.

Anonymous asked: Hi yes I have come to talk about Horde vs Alliance. Honestly I use to be a big fan of it back in the day. Two big factions, warring over resources that would occasionally have to realize there are bigger threats. Thought it was fun, had faction pride in grinding up PVP reps to be like: Yes FOR THE HORDE. I just think things took a big downturn in Mists. Before it felt kind of balanced, sure Garrosh was "bad" but at the time i thought: well Varian started the war back in Wrath. 1/?

Having the war break out across the continents when before it was sort of like a cold war with a few active fighting spots was cool! I didn't think the Horde was being portrayed as 100% evil! But after that... I don't think the Alliance has really been shown ever in the wrong or negative. And that's just fucking boring. Not to mention literally punishes half the player base for preferring one faction. The Horde has so much creative potential but they never use it. So really sours it. 2/2

so I think the core issue with this is probably less that the faction conflict itself is happening, and more that it's happening but without any sense or meaning, and that it's happening in such a way that feels extremely unbalanced on either side. faction conflict, when it's done well, can be an extremely rewarding and memorable experience.

 like, anybody that's played vanilla will tell you how fun an experience the scarab wall event was, and I myself remember how fun the thunder isle event was. and I think what worked for those events was that they were less like. Dark, Gritty War Conflict, and more played like a high school field day. Like there's certainly competition, and faction pride, but it's actually fun because it's more focused on Achievement than it is on Active Conflict. Like, people meme on the Argent Crusade Sponsored Renaissance Faire, but tbh that's some the most fun I've had with wow, and it ended being a really memorable experience for me and many of the people I was playing with at the time, in part because it was so light-hearted and silly and campy. in my opinion, wow is at its best when it leans into the stupid, silly camp, and that's why hearthstone has a better handle on warcraft and its characters than wow does lmao.

But I will acknowledge that this doesn't always work beyond just gameplay mechanics and overall experience- I love the argent tournament, but as a story, it's dumb as fuck, and at the time, felt extremely out of place for the wrath storyline. Like, we did naxx, then ulduar, and we were revving up to do ICC, which was (and still is, for the most part) regarded as one of its most serious story arcs, and it held a lot of gravity to it in terms of buildup, and the sort of consquences it would have afterwards. Whether or not those consequences were actually addressed afterwards are another issue entirely, but the point here is, ICC is an extremely memorable raid, and was very rewarding as an experience and story end (for the most part, let's stay on topic though), and it absolutely would not have worked if they had leaned into the campy silliness that worked for other things in wow. Here, the grim seriousness does work, because there was plenty of setup and payoff for it. like, even well before we get to ICC, or even wrath, there's buildup for the scourge starting in vanilla, and even in w3.

I think the wrath expansion in general was very very memorable, bc it was an expac where the stakes were pretty well-balanced in terms of alliance and horde content. like, the alliance's bone to pick with scourge is fairly obvious, and while the horde's was less so, the forsaken's was even more obvious, and there was planting and payoff of how the horde needed to go, both because the forsaken are their ally and this is their time of need, and that the scourge are a threat to everyone. truthfully, the alliance side of things I don't remember quite as well, but it was more staged as like, the alliance sort of acknowledging that Arthas (and that many aspects of the Scourge including KT and the cult of the damned) are very much problems that stemmed from the Alliance, and that they had a sort of responsibility to take care of it and make things right, even if they weren't necessarily Directly responsible for Arthas himself. So, there's equal setup in place for both factions, and equal stakes, even if they're not the same, and what faction conflict that does happen within the storyline has a setup and payoff. like, let's look at the wrathgate: a rogue faction of forsaken unleash hell on everyone at the battle of the wrathgate, whether they be scourge, alliance, or horde, and there are immediate consequences afterwards for each faction that feel engaging and meaningful. horde-side, you have to drive out the traitors that turned against your ally and retake one of your core cities, and alliance-side, you're taking immediate action against a faction that just completely fucked you over at a really key battle against a mutual enemy, a particular part of that faction that was already on thin fucking ice to begin with in terms of like. doing morally questionable, reprehensible things. and the ending, while daunting and honestly a little emotionally frustrating, neither punishes nor rewards either faction, and amps up the conflict in a way that feels realistic given the circumstances. And I think that this was really memorable as a questline, and as an expansion, because again, there was setup and payoff, but also, the prior two expansions weren't super focused on the faction conflict as much as wrath had started drumming up.

yes, there was conflict, obviously, but it wasn't so all-consuming as to make it tiresome or overwhelming or frustrating, and didn't feel particularly unbalanced or unfair. I think it should also be noted that faction conflict had never taken the spotlight so strongly in this way before, so it was this novel thing still being explored, and again, working off of things that had previous setup, felt like reasonable or realistic consequences, and above all, were balanced in what sort of story beats were being explored for either faction. wrath for the most part felt like a very natural, very organic step forward in the wow storyline overall, and while I don't agree with every decision made with it, particularly towards the end, I cannot deny that it was definitely one of if not my favorite expansion, and was extremely formative for how I engage with wow, and with stories as a whole.

all that being said, I think it's a fairly reasonable conclusion to draw that faction conflict in recent years has been souring the game for a lot of people, and I can't really blame them, as I, too, have a bone to pick with it. bofa in particular was pretty rough for a number of reasons, but I think the number one reason is how unbalanced it felt in terms of storyline for either faction. bofa imo sortof works as a synopsis for why Horde Bias(TM) is such a huge point of contention between horde and alliance, in that the horde faction spent most of the expansion losing characters, whether that be to character death or death of character development, watched their faction tear themselves apart for what feels like dozens of times now, and basically felt as though that the Evil label was being forced on them, and that they had no choice in the matter for any of this. The alliance faction, meanwhile, didn't really get much of anything. Kul Tiras isn't really as rewarding a leveling experience as Zandalar is in terms of the individual zone stories being strung together, the allied race factions they got didn't feel as fun or varied as the ones the horde got, and seemingly had no actions, issues, or consequences with any sort of serious examination. It's hard to have fun or get any sort of emotional satisfaction from a story that doesn't really let you do anything, and doesn't really show that your actions have any consequences at all, whether they be good or bad, and seemingly is spending all of their time and attention on the other faction. Like, the horde is suffering, and that suffering is definitely, wholly unfair, but the alliance seemingly isn't getting any sort of attention, at all. But because they're not constantly getting a bat to the head story-wise, horde players (including myself) just get really frustrated when accused of favoritism, because like. There is literally no benefit whatsoever to having blizzard's attention, when all blizzard does is take away everything you love lmao. This, I would say, is a matter of violence vs. negligence. Both are forms of harm, but they are radically different in terms of how they hurt you, and neither is inherently more hurtful than the other.

I think if I were to propose a solution to this, I think that the first step should be to pull back on faction conflict as a major component to the story, which they have at least partially. But I think the next step is to give a fairer distribution of attention to characters. Like, I complain about the Horde losing characters, and I'm not taking that back because it's True, but it would be remiss of me not to touch on the fact that, for how many dozens of characters the alliance has, the only ones who really get the attention are like. Human Males. In particular, Anduin. And if they're not Anduin, they're usually characters within Anduin's immediate peer circle. And then the characters that aren't human men and do get attention are usually ones that are getting shafted, somehow, or are getting painted as Wrong and Violent and Stupid for Disagreeing With Anduin- i.e., tyrande. And before Anduin, the only character that really got any sort of serious attention was Varian, which is probably why alliance players as a whole took his death so hard. It's hard not to feel some kind of way about losing a favorite toy when that toy is damn near the only one you functionally have lmao.

I know shadowlands as an expac has been pretty polarizing to people in terms of experience, but tbh I think this is a good step forward in resetting the stakes, and making things in either faction feel a little more balanced. I do think that the consequences of the conflict in bofa has to be addressed Eventually, and I'm honestly a little afraid of what they're going to do next, but this is alright for now.

[transhoverfish]

Just curious..

What do you like and don't like about each of the Subnautica games? (If there's anything to hate about these games, they're amazing)

tbh i dont have many complaints about either game, although i have felt that playing both quickly after the other does,,, make the differences super noticeable. things in sub1 i never had a problem w or didnt bother me much have become more bothersome now that ive played bz

like the battery meter on tools and the option to choose where each go in the slot? having to mess w all my tools to get them the EXACT order i wanted (for maximum efficiency of course) was always sort of annoying to me but nbd. now i can barely STAND how the tool menu works/looks in sub1 bc the bz version is.... so much better

I ALSO have a few gripes w bz that have slowly started to bother me more and more as i play. and by a few i mean one thing specifically. the CRASHING. obvs both games have a bit of a crashing and framerate and pop-in issue, but bz is just,,,, so much worse when it comes to crashes.

ive had sub1 on pc and ps4 for like, 3 years now?? and ive dealt w maybe around 5-10 crashes total in those three years, very sporadically? since ive bought bz less than a month ago ive dealt w at least 30 crashes. if i play for an hour it crashes at LEAST 1 time, usually 2 or 3 on average. i quit playing due to crashing more often than i quit after a save and exit. and although ive played sub1 considerably less on the switch, its still not crashed a single time, which makes me think it might be a bz problem and not a switch problem, but idk. i save often enough that i never lose more than 10 minutes at worse, but still,,,,,the crashing is constant. if the loading times were as bad as sub1's (which thankfully they are not), i would probably only play every once in a while bc i just cannot get more than 30 minutes in w/o a crash.

speaking of loading screens holy SHIT sub1 takes like 3 minutes at best to load in a NEW save. i could literally get up and make myself lunch and be back before it loads up on a save with more than 1 small tube of a habitat built in. bz has sped that up a lot which makes the loading screen feel even worse (once again, fixing a problem and then going back to that problem in sub1 just accidentally makes the game a bit more frustrating)

other than those few technical problems, most of which could very well be due to my own old ps4, laptop that doesn't quite meet the spec requirements, and attempt to play subnautica on a SWITCH of all things; the only genuine complaints i have about both is the ending in sub1 being 'make the rocket' after the lost river/lava zone segments is the worst part of the game and i almost never fully finish playthroughs bc that much resource collecting and grinding at the v end is hell! aaand the ice spires can compete with the dunes for "large open area full of death and bullshit that nobody ever wants to go to" bc i spent an hour and a half in the arctic spires the first time i went there in survival! and despite exploring it extensively in creative and having a base right outside in survival i STILL get lost constantly. for the record im usually good at navigating back to somewhere in these games w/o signals, esp if ive been there multiple times. i just get lost in the arctic spires constantly. the ice worms dont help!!!

I JUST REALIZED IVE TYPE. A LOT OF COMPLAINTS. SORRY ABOUT THAT AKRBKABRJRBS ILL GET TO THE THINGS I LIKE NOW I PROMISE

the soundtrack in both games is AMAZING and i geniuenly just listen to them both for fun and get the songs stuck in my head sometimes. theres one from bz in my head right now it plays in the lilypad islands and i cannot remember what its called rn.

the sound design is both games is also really good?? i sit on the bz start menu and listen to the pengwengs, and sub1 in particular is like my favorite sound design in anything ever. i go in creative and just chill next to the creatures SO OFTEN. crabsquids, warpers, and sea dragons specifically sound so nice i could fall asleep to crabsquid noises they're so nice??

the ways the pdas are used for story telling is super nice, and ive always loved the little insights into the characters lives it gives u!! figuring out what happened to sam in bz and listening to all the final pda's in sub1 is always one of if not the favorite part of the games, i listen to every single pda every single time i play, i always feel just as sad for ozzy and keen and fred and the mercury crew and AAAAAA im very attached to these characters <33

also marguerit maida. need i say more.

SO if i talked about everything i liked in these two games i would b here for 3 hours so know that there is much much MUCH more i adore about them and my complaints about the arctic spires and crashing and loading times very much pale in comparison to all the good from the two!! bz is still very recently released so i believe the crashing issues will be dealt w in the future!!

i have many strong feelings for both games AND ive heard that apparently they've already confirmed a 3rd in the making? 👀 didn't look that up admittedly but if it IS true ill 100% b backing it up bc i ADORE this universe and its silly little fish and the silly little people i wanna hug. im full of love and subnautica takes up at least 67% of that love its my whole entire world i cannot imagine shutting up about them and ryley and robin anytime soon <3333

[thebakunawa]

Paint me in trust

Cross posted from my archive I’m just here to vibe and be gay

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“I don’t settle. I’m not made that way.” You smile, flagging another drink for yourself and raising it to her as she smirks. “Then what will it take to change your mind?” “A lot more drinks, for starters.” She smiles back, her teeth seemingly glinting under the light of the bar and you nod, clinking your glasses together. “I can do that.” “What do you want, demonio?” Revenant chuckles, his voice the familiar cold and steel that haunted her nightmares. He leans against the doorframe of the room they were in. His cold eyes looking over the room where the USB is located. She notes this, because her hand goes to her little pack, securing it. “Relax.” His voice echoes in the room. “I’m not after that,” “Then what are you after, demon?” She sneers. “Why are you here?” “A little courtesy call.” He says standing up properly and grinning. “How are you and your, pet?” She immediately tenses, her expression cold. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” “Don’t play coy with me, girl.” He tuts, stepping over a dead body. Loba doesn’t move back, instead standing her ground as Revenant moves a little closer. “We know about her, your little, pet.” “Whatever business or interest you have with her, you can conduct.” The bitterness is in her voice. “I have no care about it. What she does with her life is on her.” Revenant laughs, and Loba finds herself cringing, the hair on her arms rising in a mix of fear and barely contained anger. “If this concludes our business, then I suggest you leave. We’re done here.” She turns on her heel, walking out, pulling out her Jumpdrive, and readying herself to go when Revenant speaks up again. “Did you know she did it for you?” The words make her pause, and she berates herself for turning around. For looking at the obvious trap the demon had set but it was interesting news. “What do you mean?” “We’ve all heard of what broke your relationship,” he sounds happy with himself, his voice reeking with delight it makes Loba’s guts sick and twist. “And I know what happened.” “You sound like click-bait.” She deadpans. “It’s done. It’s history. She made a mistake and I moved on from her.” She tries not to betray the emotions that swirl in her chest, the sharp ache that never leaves every time she is reminded of you and your treachery. “Tsk, little girl, you never learn.” Revenant laughs and before Loba can tell him to fuck off or any other variation of it, he tosses her another USB. She catches it easily, the device cold to the touch and Revenant has stepped back, making his way through the door he entered. “I suggest you watch it.” He says, pausing to looking behind him and offer her one last smile. “I’ll tell you when I find her—you might want to be present at least for her funeral.” He disappears soon after, just before she can reply. She grits her teeth, and sighs, looking at the USB in her hand and it’s decorated to look like a wolf head. She considers breaking it for a moment but Revenant has never gone this out of the way to offer her anything. Against her better judgment, she pockets the USB, readying herself before jumping out and throwing her Jumpdrive. Letting the air rush past her calm her as she runs back to her home.

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You’ve known for months they’d come for you. You did your best to hide. You’ve laid low, survived off of the odd jobs here and there. You’ve also killed your fair share of people, garnering a vanishing vigilante/mercenary that never lingered too long. But you were new to this game, you weren’t a seasoned outlaw, nor were you blessed with the resources some of the hunters hunted you with. More than once you’ve only barely managed to save yourself from walking into a trap set by hunters for the device. You’ve killed even more when you entered them without meaning to. Somedays you wonder if any of this was worth it. After all, you’re dead to her. If you ever showed face to Loba she’d probably greet you with a bullet and a kick to the groin. Then again, given what you’ve gone through, the idea sounds a lot more tempting and needed. But you know you owe it to her, she trusted you. Even if you did betray it, you intend to see the promise through. You remember the hurt in her eyes, the way she had pushed you back and you knew, you’d never reach through to her. The smiles you’ve gotten, the secret vulnerability she had shared, all a memory now, and you’re left with the cold, heart-wrenching memory of her pulling her gun out at you. “Go.” She says, the laser dot in between your eyes. “Consider this my mercy.” But you both know you didn’t deserve her mercy. You ran from her like a coward, you knew she wouldn’t believe you. Not after you had gone behind her back to give crucial information. Not that you were held at gunpoint or tortured for it. Your mind lingers to the burn marks at the base of your neck or the hot iron on your thigh. You sold her out, the worst crime to do. At least that’s what everyone thought. You gave them enough information to make it factual, but you gave it in disorder. You gave half guesses and half-truths, and you knew the moment they found out you had actually lied they’d sent people after you. It was only time they’d send Revenant after you. You know he’s there before you even open the door. The cold that seeps from the other side makes the hair on your arms rise. You’re exhausted, having barely escaped from a skirmish earlier and a part of you wants to ignore it and simply let yourself get taken but you know it would be a fate worse than death. So you pause, looking out at the window, wondering if you’ll die if you’ll be injured if you fall—and test it out only seconds later when you hear the familiar hiss of his Silence and you immediately launch yourself out the window. Your eyes close and as you break the glass, falling for a few seconds before you open them and roll safely onto the ground. There’s screaming in the apartment, a gunshot was fired from where you were standing moments ago and you run. Your feet hitting the pavement, your blood thundering in your ears. Everyone starts running inside, not keen on getting caught in a firefight. You can hear Revenant’s distant cursing, and you make a beeline to hide under the bridge. Traversing through the confusing huts and houses all strung together. You don’t hear him coming after you but it doesn’t mean you're out of the woods yet. You’ve slowed your running into a walk, you're exhausted, your bones feel like they’d grind themselves and your breathing is harder, much more labored. Your joints ache, and you have enough energy to check your bullets, revealing you’ve only got 32 left in your Flatline and your Mastiff only has 6. In short, you’re truly and utterly fucked. The people under the bridge don’t dare talk. Fear of Revenant has kept them cowed and you have to get out of there quickly. It wouldn’t be the first time you had been squealed on by a passerby. Not that you blame them, the Syndicate had sweetened the deal for your capture and your appearance was a signal for a mess. But you’re tired, dead tired. The ground seems to be calling to you and it wouldn’t be safe for you to pass out here in the open. So you push yourself up, not realizing you had fallen to the ground, you force yourself to crawl until you could walk, trying to find a place where you could pass out in. It took a lot of time, time that Revenant spent hunting you down. You’ve barely made it to the edge, walking using your Mastiff as a cane when a gunshot is fired and it bounces right in front of you. “Well, well, well,” Revenant says, a coffin on the ground next to him. “Caught you, girl. Time to go.” You manage a snort, “I can’t believe you’ve actually brought a coffin.” You smile, much too tired and delirious to take the situation seriously. “Nice to know you keep your promises.” “If it suits me.” He replies amused. “Now get in.” “You know I can’t,” you muster your bravado. “Got the good ground calling me into bed.” “Get in so I can shove you in the dirt then.” Their amusement is waning and you can hear the edge in their voice. “I’m taking you in this, whether you like it or not.” “Pass.” You say and you pull your Mastiff back, brushing a smoke grenade you hadn’t accounted for, and throw it—using the last vestiges of adrenaline you have to run. Revenant doesn’t seem too concerned and it worries you—only realizing why when you feel a bullet tear through you. For a few moments, there’s no pain. Just a fleeting feeling of something passing through you, it was like going through Wraith’s portal, except the bullet was the one passing through and you fall onto the ground, biting down onto your lip, barely suppressing the screams. You hear his footsteps, and see his feet before you’re suddenly on your back, the air knocked from your lungs and you’re gasping for breath—the action making your lungs burn. “I have to admit, softie, you did well.” He says, stepping on your chest, and you struggle to breathe, weakly trying to push it away but you know it’s futile. “So tell me, where is it?” Your vision is dancing now, the red is occasionally taken by black. “I—won’t...talk....” you wheeze out. “Rath...er...die” You hear his laughter and you don’t know if you scream, you feel him crack a rib. “You will die. Just not quickly.” Revenant promises, and you feel another rib crack and you’re sure you’re screaming because your voice is hoarse. “I’ll ask again. Where are the codes? Where did you place the map?” “F...fuck—off—!“ You say and you feel another crack and snap and his growl. “I have no patience for this, girl.” He sneers. “Every time you deny me—I can have you killed and brought back to life. Again and again, and again.” His voice has a sharp glee in it. “So answer me. Where. Are. The. Codes?” You can barely focus now, the exhaustion and the wounds have taken a toll on you. You manage to meet those glowing eyes, the cold expression, and weakly make an attempt to spit at him. “Fuck...off...” His boot deepens on your chest and you pass out promptly after that. “Wait until you see what I have in store~” You turn around to see Loba smiling at you, her hand outstretched and you take it. She’s smiling, the same smile you’ve seen on her when she had found some rather good loot or when she had time to visit you. It’s a quick trip down your apartment, loading up into the cab she must have called and you lean against her. “Aren’t you affectionate?” She teases, nudging you slightly. “You utter poor fool.” “Better a fool for you,” you murmur and you smile against her, feeling her tense up before relaxing. “Besides, I’m your fool.” “That you are.” The words are laced with more affection and you bask in it. “My, poor, pain-loving fool.” This time it’s you who flush. “Excuse me! I’m not—" you pull away to continue your sentence but she places a hand over your lips. Her eyes glinting with amusement. “Not all secrets need to be spilled,” she purrs and you sigh, leaning into her touch as she strokes your cheek. “So where are we going?” You ask after a while, pulling away to smile at her. “I hope I haven’t forgotten anything important.” “For your sake, I hope you never do.” She hums before turning her attention outside. “Be patient.” She tells you. “I’m not patient.” You grin and lean against the chair. “But for you, I’ll do it.” “You do a lot of things for me,” Loba says, and she turns to look at you again, appraising you. You hadn’t seen her look at you—not when your eyes are closed and you’re covered in the lights of the city—a myriad of different colors that somehow brighten your features. “You’ll see.” “Okay, Ms. Andrade.” You snort, opening your eyes, barely missing her quick glance at your direction. “Wherever you go, I’ll follow.” She smiles, hiding it by looking outside and she holds the vault key to her own treasure vault tightly. “Good. I’d like to keep it that way.”