#some characters get built so incredibly quickly and easily

[genspiel]

artifact farming for lyney and fischl is going about as well as expected (which is to say, terribly)

[ranticore]

visored longwing harpies & the hall of faces

I did say there was no exclusive global culture on Siren shared by humans of a certain body type, and I lied, because there is One.

The early settlers on Siren were the unaltered human workforce of a certain megacorporation. While an almost unlimited budget was poured into the dodgy gene programs, since that was why they chose to settle a planet so far out of the reach of The Authorities, everything else was done pretty cheaply, including the settling itself. In order to map out their new home planet, incredibly cheap mass-produced aircraft were used by pilots. These aircraft could be made quickly and easily at the settlement site because they lacked a flight computer or any real sensors - or any equipment at all in the cockpit. Rather than a multitude of different equipment loadouts on an aircraft that would take time and effort to swap out or maintain, the pilots instead used these visors which were universally compatible with the one-size-fits-all aircraft. It's kind of like how it's easier to just carry a phone around with a calculator app than it is to carry a phone and a calculator, even if the phone app calculator experience sucks by comparison.

The visors were the real expensive kit, each custom built to a pilot's exact needs and flight style, and they were built to last. the aircraft fell apart in the following centuries but the visors remained, hyperlight plastic powered by the planet's native star, and something interesting happened. The remains of the first settlement were largely inaccessible to anyone but longwing harpies, and these harpies had the right head shape to fit the visors. Many of the pilots had filled their visors with video and photo files from home, from Earth, like a worker decorating his cubicle with photos of his family. Some had been decorated on the outside, as well, resembling birds. The harpies that found the visors obviously tried to use them. They found themselves experiencing visions of strange worlds, recordings of long-dead pilots and ATC, and found that each visor can interface with every other one, no matter how far apart. Each visor came with its own callsign, its own name, which has remained for thousands of years - and because of this, each visor is considered by the cultures of Siren to be a named character with a distinct personality (eg. the swan visor was cygnus2, it is known now as Signastoo)

I keep posting the map and it needs to be redrawn but essentially every red triangle is an ancient telecomm tower. These became the only remaining waypoints on the visors' HUD and mapping software, meaning that 1. a true global culture could emerge, with longwings gathering at these sites, and 2. visored longwings became the gold standard for navigation on Siren. In a world that is basically just water, that's a big deal.

There exist only a few thousand visors (about 3k I'd say). The unused visors are kept in the Hall of Faces, the ancient aviation bay at the first settlement in West. Because of how water levels and land structures have changed over the years, this building exists on a mesa that rises another few thousand feet out of the water, with sheer sides, and is utterly inaccessible to anyone but a longwing harpy. When a visored harpy dies, the visor is returned here. If you want to claim a visor, you need to hold an interview with one of the elders at the site, who will test you rigorously to see if you can inhabit the character of one of the visors. If not, too bad. If you do get it, it's yours until either you die or you do something considered 'out of character' for the wearer of that particular visor. It is DEEPLY discouraged to steal a visor off anyone because it would be largely impossible, given how they all can communicate (imagine a gigantic worldwide discord server where the location & name of every person is known at all times... the drama is likely insane but at least if someone steals a visor, everyone will know about it)

not every longwing desires a visor because it comes with a lot of responsibility alongside its automatic prestige, and you can't really give it up once you have it. also there's always the possibility of being diagnosed with a super annoying, glitchy, or hated visor character lol. but among the roughly 2700 visored harpies on Siren there does exist a global culture exclusive to them. they chat to one another long-distance, engage in closed-practice ceremonies where they all get high and look at videos of Earth, and essentially become a class outside the mundanity of normal life on Siren. to the rest of the population, they basically become telepathic wizards

Terwyef's visor (first pic) is called Scrappercharlee and is one of the more common models, tho it has been decorated over the years with extra bits. Scrappercharlee is a bit busted and half the HUD is missing. Miakef's visor (second pic) Signastoo is one of the very fancy and well-known ones, it's shaped like a swan's head and likely belonged to a high-ranking pilot who could afford a bit of frippery and showmanship back in the day. Birds do not exist on Siren and harpies are mammals so the swan itself is symbolically meaningless, but the bird-style visors introduce the idea of 'a bird' in the abstract, and this has been imbued with its own form of meaning by harpies.

[dean-winchester-is-a-warrior]

Things Learned and Unlearned Ch. 8

Series Summary: Y/N has spent her life trying to outrun her mother's reputation. When she meets the rich and successful playboy, Dean Winchester, how quickly can he get her to stop running?

Pairings/Characters: Dean Winchester x Y/N, Sam Winchester, Jessica Winchester, Lucy Winchester (OC)

Warnings: Each chapter will have it's own warnings, but there will be smut, seduction, virgin!reader, playboy!dean, Edwardian era BS attitudes surrounding sex and women. (Technically it's set in 1900 and the Edwardian era started in 1901, but you get it.) Angst, Fluff, all the good stuff that regularly pops up in my series. 😁

Chapter Warnings: Bathtub shenanigans, sexy/soothing massage, thigh riding, overstimulation, multiple orgasms.

Word Count: 3,511

A/N: Here's Ch. 8. I so appreciate all the love and support you're all giving this series. Hope you enjoy the latest installment. ❤️

Series Master List || Main Master List || Tag Lists

Y/N sat down on the thick, satin blanket that covered the massive bed and ran her hand across the cool, smooth material, marveling at the room around her.

One thought came to her mind; Dean was definitely paying for this hotel. Sam and Jessica were doing well financially, but they could never afford something so incredibly luxurious.

The floors were marble, with thick, plush rugs placed around the room, warming it up both figuratively and literally. The walls were polished mahogany and home to pieces of art that likely cost more than her entire salary for three years. 

There was also a large, round, mahogany table and four, spindle-legged chairs that sat around it. In the northernmost corner of the room, sat two green, velvet-upholstered chairs with another small mahogany table between them. The chairs had wide seats and were so comfortable looking that Y/N wanted to immediately cuddle up with a book and spend a rainy afternoon eating sweets and not moving.

There were two tall, wide windows with window seats that allowed a person a perfectly unobstructed view of the beautiful hotel gardens. Because it was Christmastime, the evergreen trees in the garden were decorated with red bows, cranberries and strings of shiny beads. It was cheery and beautiful. Her suite did indeed have a private entrance that connected to these gardens and she couldn't wait to wander through them on a sunny winter day.

She also had a beautiful, private bathroom complete with a built-in bathtub that looked large enough to swim in.

Dean had told her that the staff was available to her day and night and that they would make her whatever meals she requested, she need only ask.

Y/N was trying very hard not to succumb, and immediately agree to Dean's offer. She knew she shouldn't be so easily corrupted by wealth and luxury, but she wasn't hypocritical enough to pretend that this kind of extravagance wasn't incredibly enticing.

There was a discreet knock at the door and Y/N went to answer it. When she opened the door a young woman in a maid's uniform stood on the other side. Behind her stood a very short man in an elegant suit.

Before Y/N could ask who they were, the gentleman pushed his way in, followed by numerous beautiful women dressed in stunning gowns. Y/N was somewhat taken aback by the opulence and beauty entering her hotel suite.

The man walked briskly up to her, standing very close. "My name is Mr. Lowen. I have the premiere dress salon in New York and Mr. Winchester has hired me to outfit you completely. Today we will measure you and get your opinion on some of these styles. Within three days we will have an entire wardrobe for you. You will love it."

Mr. Lowen had a high pitched voice with a southern drawl to it that Y/N found quite charming. She merely nodded, slightly dazed, and Mr. Lowen led her over to the window seat while they looked over the many gowns modeled by the women.

At first Y/N was shy to give her opinion, simply telling Mr. Lowen that yes, she liked this dress and that shoe. But he eventually managed to cajole actual opinions out of her. Yes, she loved that deep blue color, no she didn't like the puffed sleeve. She liked shoes that were simple in design, but made from fine materials.

After looking at the gowns, every inch of Y/N was measured, from head to toe, as Mr. Lowen made notes in a small notepad.

Before she knew it, two hours had passed and he was saying goodbye and kissing her on both cheeks. He promised to return in three days to personally deliver her new wardrobe.

Her guests left in a flurry of activity, and the silence and calm that followed felt soothing. Y/N decided to continue the decadence and began to draw herself a bath. The water was warm as it poured into the large tub. 

There were so many different oils and soaps on the shelf beside the tub that Y/N took quite a while deciding which to use. She finally settled on a lavender scented oil and a soap with a light rose scent. She poured some of the oil into the water before turning off the taps and climbing in.

A groan left her lips as the warm water surrounded her muscles. The gentle lavender scent of the oil made Y/N worry for a moment that she might fall asleep in the tub.

Then she heard the door leading from the gardens open and Dean's voice calling her name. Suddenly she was wide awake, her body pulsing. 

He came into the doorway of the bathroom and stopped. He slowly leaned himself against the frame and allowed a sly smile to spread across his face.

"Enjoying the facilities, I see.”

Y/N nodded, shy for a moment. But then she reminded herself that she was practicing boldness and trying out audacity, so she leaned back in the tub.

"Join me?" She asked, allowing all her desire to show in her expression as she opened her arms to reveal herself to Dean. She was thrilled at the lust that exploded behind his jade green eyes.

She licked her lips as she watched him strip out of his many layers of clothes. Finally he stepped, naked, into the tub behind her. Some of the water sloshed out of the tub as he pulled her back against him. It felt much nicer to recline against his warm, hard body than against the cold porcelain of the tub.

They lay like that for a while, Dean's arms wrapped around her and his chin resting on the top of her head. Eventually though, he sat her up and began washing her hair. He poured warm water over her scalp using the porcelain pitcher next to the tub. Then he took the rose-scented soap and lathered her hair before moving down to her neck and shoulders. He bathed all of her, and in spite of the intimacy of his touches, Y/N found only comfort there. She felt pampered and spoiled and it inexplicably made her want to cry a little.

After rinsing her off completely, Dean stepped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around his waist. He pulled open a closet Y/N hadn't even noticed before, and removed a plush, cozy dressing gown. He helped Y/N out of the tub and rubbed a thick towel briskly over her skin before wrapping her up in the dressing gown. 

He drained the tub and then led her over to the bench at the vanity. She sat down and allowed him to towel her hair before he began to run a brush gently through the strands.

All the while, through all of his ministrations, he talked to her; about his day, about his company, the rivals he was going to war with and the people he hoped to bring in as allies and partners. He told her amusing anecdotes about his employees and Y/N learned two new things about him. He was incredibly proud of his work, and he loved the people who worked for him. He talked about their families and knew all about their lives.

As he pulled her hair into a loose braid, Y/N couldn't remember the last time she had felt this at peace and content.

Then his clever, long fingered hands found the lavender oil and began a slow, delicious torture.

He pulled her dressing gown off of her shoulders and applied warm, lavender scented pressure to her shoulder blades. Without meaning to, Y/N let out a groan that surprised her in its animalistic nature.

Dean seemed completely unsurprised and merely chuckled. He slipped her dressing gown down to her waist and caressed long, strong strokes of oil into her torso and down her arms. Strong fingers spread warmth and moisture into her breasts and Y/N felt the now familiar fire shoot into her core, and the tension began to build for real.

Dean stood her up, removing the dressing gown completely. He got down on one knee in front of her and, using more oil, ran his hands from her left hip, down her thigh and calf, his fingers brushing a burning heat into her skin before doing the same to her right leg.

Then, before she could blink, he moved to sit down on the vacated bench and pulled her face down across his lap. For a moment, Y/N thought he meant to spank her, and her mind both rebelled and thrilled slightly at the idea.

But soon she felt his fingers running across her backside, rubbing the oil into the soft fleshy skin there. Every time he ran his hand across a cheek, his fingers got increasingly close to the part of her that was dying for his touch.

She could feel his hardening shaft beneath her belly, pushing up against his towel, and it only served to make her even more desperate for him.

Finally she felt his slick fingers slip into the folds of her body. She was so primed, and she was so wet for him, that it took only a few passes of his thumb across the sensitive little button there, for her to cry out her release.

But Dean was far from finished with her.

Helping her to sit up, he positioned her so she was straddling his right thigh. She held onto his upper arms for balance and rested her forehead on his shoulder as she panted and tried to catch her breath. As she breathed in, deep and slightly shaky, Dean took hold of her hips, lifting her slightly and then pressing her down, hard and fast, against his thigh. 

Y/N gasped and caught his eye, a look of surprise and wonder in her gaze as he repeated the action, flexing his thick thigh muscle this time, so that her dripping center began to throb with pleasure, her sensitive skin rubbing against the soft towel covering his leg.

“Does that feel good, sweetheart?” Dean asked, his voice gravelly and heated. Y/N could do nothing but nod frantically. When he did it again, slamming her down harder this time, she cried out and dug her fingernails into the bulging muscles in his upper arms.

He took his hands from her hips and began circling both her nipples with his fingertips, making them pucker tightly. But she wanted him to continue lifting and pressing her against that hard ridge of muscle. She was desperate to feel the pleasurable pressure against her aching core again, and she whined at Dean as she rocked slightly on his leg. 

“Please?” She whispered.

“It’s up to you now, baby. Chase that feeling.” Dean told her, but she shook her head, burying her face in the crook of his neck, embarrassed. Dean pulled away slightly, slipping his forefinger beneath her chin. 

He spoke quietly, but firmly. “You know what you want,Y/N, and you know how to get it. So go on, follow what feels good. Admit what you want and find your pleasure.” 

He encouraged her by letting his hand fall between her legs to softly stroke the sensitive button there - enough to urge her on, but not enough to provide her the friction and pressure she was craving.

“Dean.” She gasped and tried to push down on his fingers, but he pulled them away. In frustration she lifted herself slightly and then fell back onto his thigh.

“Oh!” She shouted breathlessly as that same incredible sensation swept through her body. She moved her hands to his shoulders and used them for balance and as leverage to lift her hips and then slam herself back down on him, slowly at first, but with increasing speed and intensity. 

Heat swept through her body and her aching need became stronger and stronger the more she pushed and pressed against Dean's hard body. But after nearly ten minutes of chasing her climax she felt herself waning and she dropped, exhausted, against Dean’s shoulder, whimpering softly.

“Poor baby.” Dean whispered in her ear, sending shivers skittering across her skin. 

He let his lips drift down the column of her neck before sucking delicately on her pulse point. Y/N moaned and tilted her head so he could reach it easier. 

“I know you’re tired, sweetheart; do you want me to take over?” She nodded, but he continued quickly. “I’ll warn you though, if I do, I’m gonna keep you coming and coming over and over, till you can’t breathe for pleasure - till you’re completely spent and mindless, only able to scream my name.”

He pulled her earlobe into his mouth and spoke around it. “Is that what you want, beautiful? Hmm?” 

Y/N felt like her body was going to fall over the edge just listening to his rumbling voice describing his plans for her. She nodded quickly, desperate for him to pull her apart.

With her nod, he scooped her up and took her to the bed. He threw the blankets back and laid her down, moving between her legs before stretching out on his stomach. Pulling her thighs open wide, he held her in place as he dropped his mouth to her slick folds, licking and sucking her to a climax in mere moments.

But Y/N soon found out that he hadn’t been exaggerating when he said he planned on making her fall apart over and over. He brought on the explosions one after the other - endlessly. Occasionally he gave her a few minutes reprieve, one time he even stopped long enough to bring her a glass of water to rehydrate her. But without fail, he’d return to his place between her legs and continue his exquisite torment. 

Y/N lost track of the number of times the powerful, sweeping bliss spread across her body. But the pleasure seemed to go on forever and by the end she was shaking and weeping in ecstasy.

“Please.” She croaked to Dean as she pushed her fingers through his hair. “Can’t…anymore…”

“I bet you can.” Dean said wickedly before pulling the overworked little bundle of nerves into his mouth one more time and sucking deeply.

Sure enough, she exploded again, her limbs heavy and unmoving as her body shook with her release. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her whole body weeped with aching, exhausted pleasure.

Finally Dean moved up from his long-held position between her legs to pull her against his chest. He pushed aside the sweaty tendrils of hair that clung to her temples and forehead, dropping kisses across her cheeks. 

“How are you doin’, sweetheart?” He asked and Y/N could only groan in answer. She heard the smile in his voice as he kissed the tip of her nose. “That good, huh?”

Y/N shivered as her sweat-slicked skin began to cool. She shook her head and her voice was weak and muffled. “I need another bath.”

Dean just chuckled and shook his head. “N’ah, I like you just like this, dripping wet and sated.” 

He kissed her temple and pulled her closer as she drifted off. “And completely mine.”

***

For the next three days Y/N didn’t leave her room and, in fact, spent most of her time in bed.

Dean left her dead asleep in the mornings; she’d wake up to the lingering scent of him on the pillow, but only a cold bed beside her. She appreciated that he let her keep sleeping when he left to go to work - lord knew he exhausted her enough for her to need the rest. But she’d still rather he said goodbye before he left. 

Instead she woke up alone, late in the morning, usually around ten o’clock, and rang down for a light breakfast - toast and jam with a cup of hot chocolate or coffee. After eating, she’d wash and dress in her one and only dress. 

Her suitcases had finally been found and they were on a journey back from Boston, but the train wasn’t expected to arrive for a couple of days, by which time, her new wardrobe would already be there. 

When she was dressed in her gray governess’ uniform, she’d settle into the comfortable green chairs and read for a couple of hours.

Dean usually showed up for an hour or so at lunch, and inevitably her uniform would come off quickly and she’d end up back in bed, with Dean knocking her out for the better part of the afternoon. 

It was without a doubt, the most indolent and slothful she’d ever been in all of her twenty six years…and she was loving it. 

But she was still very happy when, on the morning of the third day, she woke up just as Dean was leaving the bed to dress for work. She reached for him and grabbed his wrist.

“No, don’t go.” She said sleepily, trying to pull him back to her side.

He chuckled softly and leaned sideways so that his upper body stretched over her, while his feet stayed planted on the floor. He kissed her gently and briefly before pulling back to smile at her. 

“Sorry, beautiful girl, I wish I could stay, but I’ve gotta go. And, I’m afraid, I won’t be able to come back at lunch today. I have a meeting at the club at noon.”

Y/N pouted, truly disappointed that she’d have to go all day without seeing him.

He grinned. “I know, trust me, I would much rather have a lunch meeting with you.” He kissed her again, deeper this time, before continuing. “But I’ve put off this meeting several times over the last few days and I can’t postpone it again.”

She nodded a little sadly and Dean kissed her once more, lingering over her lips for a moment and then pulling back reluctantly. “But I’ll tell you what, Lowen should be here this afternoon with your new dresses. What do you say you pick out a walking dress and come out on the town with me tonight?”

Y/N bit her lip, trying to hide both her excitement and trepidation. “Out on the town? Where would we go?”

Dean’s smile turned teasing. “Well, if I tell you, I'll spoil the surprise, but I have all the sights of New York to show you, so wear comfortable shoes.”

Y/N laughed lightly. “None of my shoes will be comfortable. Fashion demands otherwise.”

Dean nodded. “Then I guess I’ll just have to soothe your sore feet when we get back tonight.” He reached beneath the blanket at her feet and Y/N thought he might treat her to a quick foot massage, but instead, she squealed and yanked her feet away from him as his strong fingers began to tickle her toes mercilessly.

He laughed at her affronted expression before kissing her nose quickly and patting her bottom beneath the thick blanket it was covered in, and moving away to get ready.

Y/N dozed slightly as she listened to Dean moving around in the bathroom, enjoying the pleasantly domestic sounds of him washing and shaving. He emerged dressed and ready to leave, heading towards the door. But Y/N sat up and reached out to him, calling him back to her side.

“Kiss me goodbye?” She asked sweetly.

He came to sit on her side of the bed, leaning down to brush his lips over hers, ever so softly. “Goodbye, sweetheart. I’ll see you tonight.” He murmured against her lips, nibbling on them gently.

He smelled of shaving soap and tooth polish and Y/N breathed him in like an elixir. His hair was neatly combed and she didn’t want to ruffle it, so she slipped her hands up to his cheeks, sliding them along the smooth skin there. She knew that by the time she saw him again, his five o’clock shadow would be returned to chafe her skin in that most pleasurable way. 

He turned his head, pressing his lips into the palm of her hand. The action reminded her of the very first time they’d been alone together in the library. At the time, the brush of his mouth over her skin had seemed so scandalous, so brazen. But now, the relative innocence of the caress, the softness and affectionate nature of the gesture, solidified just how far they’d come - how far she’d come - in a matter of months.

And I can never go back.

The thought was fleeting and she banished it from her mind quickly, because it felt daunting; it felt like something too permanent. She didn’t want to think about the future and what it would look like, how it would feel. She wanted to live just right there, in that very moment, with Dean’s lips soft and warm against her skin, the scent of him sharp and heady. 

The future was lifetimes away. It had to be. She needed it to be.

Jensen RPF and Any/All Characters: @lyarr24 @lacilou @deans-spinster-witch @globetrotter28 @suckitands33

@alwaystiredandconfused @evznackles @jackles010378 @impala67rollingthroughtown @krazykelly

@candy-coated-misery0731 @envyaurora95 @spnwoman @deans-baby-momma @luvr4miya

@arcannaa @viviwatchestv @winharry @ladysparkles78

Dean Fics Only: @roonthelittlespoon920 @slamminmine @zepskies @safiyas-world @aylacavebear

Any/All Fics Regardless of Character or Fandom: @kazsrm67 @slut-for-evans-stan @sexyvixen7 @nancymcl @hobby27

@waywardcheshire

Everything Incl. Fan Edits: @k-slla @leigh70 @eevvvaa @kickingitwithkirk @foxyjwls007

@notinthislife50 @roseblue373 @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @avanatural @mrsjenniferwinchester

@all-alone-he-turns-to-stone @deangirl96 @stoneyggirl2

[nathanbatemanfucker]

hey bestie! for your little blurb thing how about mountains with marc spector? i’m excited to see what you come up with <3

Searching

about this: marc spector x gn!reader. prompt: mountains. cw: meetcute, awkward flirting, coffee mention. wc: 918. not beta’d!!

send me a prompt from this list + a character!

There could be a lot of things wrong with the man in front of you right now. He certainly is much stronger than you, possibly faster. Usually, running into a person on these trails— especially a man— would make you bolt back the way you came. You come here for solitude, are always hopeful for safety. But, there’s something about him that’s different.

Endearing even.

He’s built well, with broad shoulders and hands. He’s holding a map, his thick eyebrows furrowed together as he attempts to read it. His full mouth is moving, like he’s whispering to himself, talking through where he is. He looks so incredibly serious— not to mention handsome— but even so, something about him seems calm. Gentle.

As you wonder how to approach him you shift slightly, and he looks up at the sound of your sneakers scraping together. All of that gentleness is overflowing in his deep brown eyes, and it sends a round of butterflies through your stomach.

The two of you simply stare at each other, like two startled animals. When you think about it…that’s exactly what you are. You smile at him sheepishly but still, your mouth moves to say nothing. You think he tries to smile back, though it seems he’s a little out of practice. It makes you curious, and a little sad.

“Hi,” He says finally, awkwardly. His voice is much softer than you anticipated even with your kind conceptions about him. It’s sweet.

You clear your throat, twisting your hands together, “Hi. First timer?”

He grimaces, “That obvious?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone with a map on these trails.”

He gestures around with one of his hands, the softest edge of playfulness in his voice, “Everyone just knows where to go, huh?”

You grin, shrugging, “Something like that. You aren’t from around here I imagine?”

“No. Chicago.”

“You’re a long way from home,” You murmur curiously.

He shrugs, his eyes going past you as if he’s thinking about something. Then he says, “Home is where you make it.”

Humming softly in agreement, you take another step toward him. “Want some help?”

Marc hesitates but then your smile widens, head tilting in encouragement. He sniffs, nodding, “If it wouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience.”

“Not at all. Where are you trying to go?” You ask, coming to stand beside him to take a look at his map.

“If I’m reading this right, there’s supposed to be a coffee cart about 10-15 minutes from here.”

“Yeah, here,” You agree softly, pointing to the landmark on the map. “It gets a little convoluted around this part with all the different shoot-offs. I was headed that way, I can just walk with you.”

Marc looks up from the map to glance over at you, his cheeks tinging a soft pink at your offer. It’s been a long time since he’s been interested in anyone, and though he doesn’t expect this to go anywhere his heart flutters in his chest. So far removed from any action that just a stranger simply asking to help has his palms sweaty— Steven and Jake will never let him hear the end of this.

“Sure. Yeah. I’d appreciate that,” He nods, quickly folding up the map.

You and Marc start the correct way, exchanging names as you put one foot in front of the other. You point out how confusing it can be to pick the right path as you all pass a bunch of off-shooting trails. It makes Marc feel a little better about being turned around, though your kindness has been helpful in batting away his shame.

The walk flies by, conversation coming much more easily than either of you anticipated. Marc is reluctant to let you go, wishing that the coffee cart would materialize a mile away. There are few patrons in line, waiting to order so you both linger— you’re not quite ready to end your time with him either.

“Uh, thanks for helping out there, usually I’m not so turned around,” He says after a few beats of silence.

“Hey, no problem. If you keep heading this way you should make it back to the beginning of the park.”

“Right, yeah. Thanks,” He holds out his hand to you.

“It was really nice to meet you, Marc,” You say earnestly, shaking his hand firmly— it’s warm, a little calloused, fits perfectly in yours.

“Yeah, you too,” He says, and he means it. For the first time in a long time, Marc is content to interact with someone other than his alters. It feels like a breath of fresh air.

You give him a genuine smile despite your disappointment in him not asking you to join him, the tiniest wave before you start back the way you two came from. He watches you, watches as the first person to make him really feel something in ages starts to walk away from him.

This whole hiking though the mountains, getting in touch with nature thing was part of his soul searching after everything. And though he hadn’t been completely sure what he was going to find when he stepped onto this trail that much is clear now.

“Could I buy you a cup of coffee? You drink coffee don’t you?” He calls after you before you can get too far.

You let out a breath you don’t realize you were holding in then, turn back toward him, the smile on your face returning. Nodding softly you call back, “Yeah, Marc, I drink coffee.”

[nctstar]

Hello! I saw that your requests are opened. Can you please write something or a smut with Doyoung siren? It sounds so incredible in the beginning of golden age 🤯

hi! I know this is SOO late but I'm still getting used to this whole request thing...hopefully will be much better at it next year :) anyway, I think it's probably different to what you envisioned but it does involve siren Doyoung so :D

the girl of the Surface

I leant over to kiss Doyoung on the cheek. Sure enough, the skin on his face felt wet against my lips, and he tasted like salt. When I pulled away, his cheeks were flushed deep orange.

“May I see you again, Doyoung.” I walked away after that, not knowing this was the start of an endless story, a loop, if you will.

pairing: siren!doyoung x fem!reader

other members: the 127 members :)

word count: 3k

genre: low fantasy, smut

warnings: sexual content so minors please dni! yes the sexual content is between sirens and humans so if that makes you uncomfy then don't read, penetrative sex, riding, kissing, fingering, profanity (use of the f word mainly)

disclaimer: this is a fanfiction purely from my (filthy) imagination. I don't know the nct members and don't claim that they act like this in real life. I also do not condone any of the activity by any of the characters in this fic. I'm also not a siren expert so feel free to educate me kindly if I'm wrong about certain things - I did do some research for this but there's obviously a lot out there on stuff like this

a/n: honestly i'm a bit iffy about the quality of this - I feel like it's not my best writing but I'm still eager to get this out bc I feel like it's intriguing at the least. I feel like subconsciously I adapt my writing style to suit whoever I'm reading rn - and rn I'm reading the starless sea so I tried to be more whimsical - but reading back on this I don't think I can pull off this style like queen erin morgenstern can so...anyway it's a work in progress :D also completely forget about golden age oops

also let's just say the jungwoo alien fic walked so this one could run lmao

Every day, Doyoung sneaked away to meet the girl of the Surface.

That’s what everyone else called her, like she owned the place. Nobody knew her name, voice, what she wore or even what she carried. The outlines of her face and body were always blurry, just out of focus.

He wasn’t supposed to go see her. Not on the first day, and definitely not on the days after that.

Doyoung mainly spent most of his days cooped up in his bedroom, nose buried in the pages of a book, words swimming around in his head at all hours of the day. While his siblings rushed here and there, tails flapping and knocking knick-knacks off the makeshift shelves he had built, gossiping about the latest happenings at the market, he travelled the world in his head. Not just the one below, but above the Surface.

Many nights were spent awake, wondering, what is so bad about the Surface?

One night, way before he had ventured above and first laid eyes on her, excited shouts had awoken him from a floaty slumber, and he swam out of his house to find the body of a human male falling through the water, his white shirt billowing out of his body, one shoe coming off his feet, threatening to be lost in the depths of the water.

His brother, Jaehyun, nudged him. “Hey.”

He nodded, acknowledging his presence, but his eyes never left that shoe, not until it fell off completely and started to float away. At the same time, he watched the water around the body stain red, spreading quickly like he imagined paint would on canvas. Above the Surface, of course.

“You think this is how it is above the Surface?”

“Like what?” His brother was eating already. Not the human – well, not yet, anyway.

“Do they also feed on-“

“Hey! Doyoung! Get over here. We need more sirens.”

∞

The day after that, Doyoung and Jaehyun were initiated and sent up for the very first time.

“Hyung, how are you moving so easily with these things?” Jaehyun rubbed his sides in annoyance, wincing when his fingers met the quickly hardening ridges of fins. “I can’t believe I’m going to have this for the rest of my life.”

Doyoung was quiet, the swish-swish of his body travelling upwards, closer towards the Surface. His thoughts were flooded, the voices of the other sirens refusing to settle in his brain. Do not rise above the Surface.

But the people in the books, with their dances and songs – different to the ones he knew. Songs that inspired, that brought peace, that declared love.

Not songs that represented betrayal, violent ends for the ones who dared to stop and listen.

 Would he be able to hear those songs?

“It’ll be fun. You know,” He caught up to Doyoung now, arms brushing as they swam in sync. “the others said you can have fun with them before the song ends.”

Doyoung looked at his younger brother, whose eyes were glinting with something akin to pride, or mischief. “What kind of fun?”

Jaehyun smiled at him. “Remember that time Johnny-hyung made that huge thing crash, and it had hundreds of humans on it? Well, he said he had a lot of fun that day.”

“It’s called a ship.” Doyoung looked ahead as the water began to lighten, signalling their arrival. “Those huge things are ships.”

“Okay…” He trailed off, frowning slightly before getting distracted by his new fins again, now fully hard and sharp enough to cut the skin of his hands if he pressed down too hard. “Anyway, we can always hope for people on the shore too. In fact, they say there’s a human who lives on the shore of the land nearby.”

“What land?” Doyoung watched the rays of the light source above, the sun as the humans called it, let beams of light strike through the water.  They moved on their own accord, freely, like how he pictured the legs of the dancers as they moved to music above the Surface.

“Hyung it’s called an island, actually.” Jaehyun smirked, teasingly flicking his tail against Doyoung. The pressure of the fins in his sides started to push into his chest, making him feel a little lightheaded. A human…on an island? Above the Surface?

“Yeah, well, it’s kind of a legend. Like, legend has it she exists, but she never responds to a siren’s call.”

Something turned in Doyoung’s stomach. “She doesn’t…” he whispered, looking down, thoughts plaguing him.

“Yeah. They tried everything, but…not a single time did she even step closer, or indicate she was affected by the call. Hyung, they even,” Jaehyun grabbed Doyoung’s arm, letting his body float around to face him. “rose above the Surface. A siren-hyung was desperate. And then-“

“And then what?”

“He was never seen again.” For a moment it was silent, Jaehyun’s eyes staring unblinking into his own. Then, his torso erupted in fits of laughter, the fins in his sides uncomfortably moulded to his shaking body. “I can’t believe you fell for that, Hyung.” Doyoung sighed, shrugging off the arms of his younger brother. Above him, the sun burned ferociously, the water lining the edge of the Surface getting lighter.

∞

I had no idea I would meet Doyoung that day at the shore.

I was expecting a stretch of time with nothing to keep me company but the sounds of the rushing waves and the mess of my own thoughts. But alas, the figure became clearer as I walked barefoot across the sands.

Stopping in my tracks, wanting desperately to have some sort of weapon handy instead of a hefty book (though, a book could easily become a weapon if you try hard enough), I called out, chest feeling tight all of a sudden. “Who are you?”

The man was naked excepting the wrap of brown fabric around his hips, and my eyes ran across the weird lines on the sides of his toned chest. He was completely dry.

He didn’t move, and, I couldn’t see his face yet, so it was a surprise to hear his voice for the first time. Not only because I didn’t expect him to speak, but because his voice came as a deep, sonorous sound right into my ears, as if I had earbuds in and had just hit play.

“My name is Doyoung. I’m a siren.”

I should have turned away immediately, ignored him, or even stayed in place, waiting for him to leave. But instead, I did the worst thing you could ever do in such a situation.

In storybooks, sirens use songs that capture you, much like a physical trap, until you’re so far deep you fail to comprehend what you got yourself into. Yet, Doyoung was silent after he finished speaking, after admitting the sin of his existence.

“Are you serious?” The feeling of his chest was rubbery and wet underneath my fingers, despite him looking completely dry. “How is this-“

“Why did you come to me?”

I looked up at his face. He was handsome, but not in the mysterious way that you would expect a mythical creature. Redness and scars peppered across his skin, eyes furrowed in human-like confusion, legs as long as sundown stretched for on this island. His hair was messy, lips tinted red, parted slightly as if he was really breathing. My hands ached to touch his face, but I held back, not wanting to fondle this random…male specimen I had literally just met any longer.

“You’re the girl of the Surface. Like in the stories.”

You squinted, the sun beating down mercilessly between your bare shoulder blades. Getting nervous ay once under his intense gaze, I toyed with the shell necklace around my neck, averting his gaze. “Um, thanks, I guess. But I’m just, well, I’m _.”

“Legend has it siren calls don’t work on you.” Doyoung kept speaking like a narrator in an old timey film, stating facts rather than working to keep a real conversation going. “You look really blurry all the time, but you seem to take on the form of a human female. A young adult one. In all the decades you’ve been here, no one has been able to take you to the seas. You’re an enigma. No one can figure you out.”

I paused, my brain refusing to accept any of this information, but my heart warmed with something gentle and forgiving. I leant over to kiss Doyoung on the cheek. Sure enough, the skin on his face felt wet against my lips, and he tasted like salt. When I pulled away, his cheeks were flushed deep orange.

“May I see you again, Doyoung.” I walked away after that, not knowing this was the start of an endless story, a loop, if you will.

∞

Days and days and days later, I lay down on the sand with Doyoung for the first time.

He lay on top of me, and I hooked one arm around his neck, pulling his face near mine so he could kiss me. He did not. Instead, he rocked his hips against mine, and I felt his hard-on against my clothed core, making me whine. Pieces of sand travelled through strands of my hair, settling on my scalp.

Was this wrong?

He sank his teeth into my teeth, making me shake under him. Iron grip around my wrist and arm, he sucked and nipped the skin of my neck, and I cried out in pleasure. “Oh my god, don’t stop, p-please.” He groaned, his nose nestled into the crook of my neck. Letting go of one of my hands, he brought one between my legs, both of us working together to shrug off my bikini bottoms. Fingers nestled inside me all in one go with no warning, I felt the length of his fingers push against my sensitive walls. I bucked my hips upwards, involuntarily letting him travel knuckle deep inside me. When I climaxed, I dug my teeth into the salty skin of his neck. His eyes were closed the entire time.

“Is this wrong?” Ironically, even as he paused, his hard-on pressed urgently against me, as if answering for me. I shook my head, wanting to feel him inside me, wanting no more than to let my mind and body turn into jelly, to be overwhelmed by sensations akin to ones that made my world shake. I kissed him deeply, fingers digging into his scalp. Despite being so obviously turned on, and proceeding to fuck me at inhumane speeds for the next hour, Doyoung didn’t make a single noise the entire time after that.

∞

You couldn’t stop reading, even as the clock on your bedside shone angrily. Beside you, your husband groaned. “Babe.” One hand was slung messily across his eyes, the sheets revealing a slip of stomach and leg as he shuffled, half asleep. “You’re not reading your diary again, are you?”

“Doie, it’s just so cute. I love reading how we met. And what we did.” You brought your face closer to Doyoung’s, his eyes now sharper, even in the dim lights of your shared bedroom. You made sure the moonlight hit the curve of your hips and ass as you moved to kneel next to him. From his lips to the skin of his face and torso, you watched his body breathe sleepily. So beautiful, you thought.

It had been five years since that day he had crawled out of the water and met you.

Now you were, as Doyoung would say, living life above the Surface, like commoners in a children’s story about witches or pirates. People who fell in love, got married, had babies, then lay to rest on Earth forever.

By some magic, Doyoung was no longer a siren.

But the thought that he might still be one, might still accidentally have trapped you all these years, haunt him.

As you felt Doyoung’s length fully sheath inside you, you frowned, moans spilling senselessly out of your mouth as you rode him. You knew him so well, physically, and emotionally. Leaning over, you kissed him over and over again, the sounds of your hips hitting his pelvis becoming louder as you tried to reach your high. “Shhh…baby…you’re perfect. ” A lone tear slid down his face as he stared into your eyes, as if they were endless voids and not the eyes of his beloved wife. He began to whimper, and the sound of him shaking as he came made you reach your high too, slumping over him as you heaved. “Fuck yes.” You noisily kissed him as your hips began to bounce again, making him throw his head back and moan loudly.

“H-how can this be real?” The ceiling was warping into swirls, and the air was getting hotter. The weight of your thighs that pressed against the sides of his hips were beginning to fade away, and he felt paralysed. Distant voices wafted into the room, as if a filter was suddenly being lifted. Someone shouting his name. He pressed his eyes closed, tight, his hips stuttering as he came down from his second high.

You were gone. But for some reason, he could still feel the smooth surface of the shell that hung from your neck tickle against his neck, as if you were still there on top of him.

“HYUNG!”

His eyes snapped open. He felt a rush of air. Someone sighing, their blurry figure materialising as he came to. “Fuck, you scared us!”

The sun bore down on his face, and Doyoung felt his skin burning under its unforgiving rays. Despite the ache that yelled angrily through his entire body, he sat up, now faced with the rest of his members. Taeyong squatted next to him, holding a cold waterbottle, droplets riding down the outside surface. “Here. Drink this.”

Johnny’s broad figure towered above him, still hazy, but as his face got closer, his voice became clearer. “Where did she go?”

Doyoung frowned, and Johnny matched his expression. Everyone was silent, Doyoung shakily responding. “What are you talking about?” Taeyong tapped him, bringing the bottle closer to his lips.

As the ice-cold liquid rushed down to his stomach, Doyoung was awash with a new sense of clarity. He physically shuddered, as hidden memories of the past five years came to light. His face dropped, his eyes filled with horror. “W-where is she? The girl?”

“As I said, she left after she saw me. It was strange…” Johnny paused, and then pressed his lips together, looking down. The others were silent, and Doyoung whipped his head to all of them. They were all holding back. “What is it?”

Taeyong rested one hand on Doyoung’s bare shoulder, making him flinch. Nodding apologetically, he continued. “She looked vastly different to all of us.”

Jaehyun scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I’m sure this is all an elaborate prank, Hyung. This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Hyung.” The maknae spoke, looking genuinely scared. Yuta patted him gently, as if silently agreeing with his next words. “Jaehyun-hyung saw Taeyong-hyung.”

“I wasn’t there, I swear.” Taeyong lifted both his hands up, his eyes watery and confused. “I swear to you guys.”

“Well, I saw Sarah. From my high school.”

“The girl that you lo-“ Doyoung stopped. Icicles formed in his stomach, the realisation making him sick. “Oh my god.”

“I saw Lavender, Doyoung.” He didn’t need that confirmation, but Taeyong’s voice was shaky now. “I saw her, clear as day. But…there was something off about her. I know this sounds crazy, but, she…she didn’t seem like herself.”

“But…whoever we saw,” Jaehyun still seemed skeptical, side-eyeing Johnny. “They all ran away after the first glance.”

Taeyong’s face was reddened by the harsh sun as Doyoung sat frozen in shock.

“Did she – or he – leave anything behind?”

As the words left his mouth, Doyoung’s hands were already inside the pocket of his pants. He let his fingers run over the shell in his pocket as the rest of the boys muttered their answers.

The words were becoming background noise, his thoughts all-encompassing, consuming him like water on a cold swim. He stood up, much to the surprise of the others. “I’m fine, guys. Meet you at the car? I’ll just be a few minutes.”

He would’ve found another way, even if his members hadn’t reluctantly left him that day at the beach. After all, you had left the necklace in his pocket for a reason. You loved him. You weren’t tricking him. You let him live because you loved him.

“Welcome home, baby.”

Right?

∞

To you, the stories had always fascinated you. The people of the Surface, with their friendly songs and parties, and stupid, blind trust in things that looked like them.

Especially things that looked like desirable women.

It quickly became your life’s mission to have as many as you could, not to share, never…to share. No, this was all for yourself. Nobody else got the Surface like you did. Nobody could scan and hunt on dry land like you did. You were always one step ahead, always planning your next move. In fact, the cute little maknae on the beach today was next on your radar.

But Doyoung…Doyoung was so much fun.

And what is it that they always said?

Oh right.

You’re allowed to have a little bit of fun…until the song ends, of course.

The song was almost over for Doyoung. Despite everything, you were starting to feel…bad, something you had read about in human books. Guilt. You wanted to give him a chance, a chance to walk away, because he honestly seemed like a good human. But obviously, he liked you too much to forget so easily.

You forgot that humans could be naïve like that.

At least you tried. Now, as the sun set on the horizon, it was almost time to head home. You were quickly getting bored, and tired of singing for the day.

[ploppythespaceship]

Doctor Who Series 14 / Season 1 Review

Man, it feels good to be enjoying Doctor Who again. I haven't been keeping up with the show in years, but I caught up to see Tennant's return leading into Ncuti's run and I am so glad I did. This season is far from perfect, but it gets a lot of little things right and is consistently fun to watch, even if a lot of the details fall apart.

What I Liked

Ncuti Gatwa is simply phenomenal. He settles into the role so quickly and so easily, bringing such a fresh energy to the character. I love how distinct he feels, too -- when you're playing the fifteenth iteration of a character, it can be hard to find a new spin on things, but he's done it. He's also a fantastic actor, getting to show an incredibly wide range in just a few short episodes. I truly think he'll be remembered as one of the best Doctors.

Millie Gibson is also very good as Ruby, and her dynamic with the Doctor is a lot of fun. I appreciate having another Doctor/companion relationship that isn't romantic. They're just best friends, and it's very cute.

The show looks great. It's very clear that they've had a budget increase -- the costumes, effects, etc. are noticeably improved since RTD's first run.

Murray Gold's return as the composer is extremely welcome. His stuff isn't quite as bombastic as before (or maybe the episodes just have better sound mixing), but keeps a lot of the same leitmotifs. The result is a more subtle score that perfectly suits each scene.

Mel is so cool now. She was one of my least favorite classic companions, so seeing her worked into these storylines and feel more compelling is an unexpected delight.

What I Didn't Like

Ultimately, I think the season is just too short. Council of Geeks has an excellent YouTube video on this -- because there are only eight episodes, and a lot of them are going for bigger ideas and weirder premises, it feels like we don't really settle into a status quo.

The Doctor and Ruby's relationship also isn't as developed as much as I would like. If you pay close attention to the dialogue, there's actually a six month gap between "Space Babies" and "The Devil's Chord" -- we could have used another episode or two in that time period to really flesh out the beginnings of their friendship better. Instead the show jumps straight to them being best friends, without really showing us why that is.

I don't think the mystery box format of this season really worked. The mysteries were built up to such an extent that no answer could really be satisfying, and the finale really almost entirely on the big reveals that ultimately didn't amount to much. Ruby in particular feels like an underbaked companion, and I hope she gets more time to get properly developed.

Individual Episode Thoughts

Space Babies — This is easily the weakest episode of the season. It's not bad by any means, but it does remind me of some of the sillier episodes of RTD's first run. It felt like we were speedrunning the companion introduction, when things could have been slowed down and spread across a few episodes to feel more natural. The baby VFX also do not work and fall very firmly into uncanny valley territory.

The Devil's Chord — This one makes very little sense, but is entirely saved by Jinkx Monsoon being so iconic as Maestro. If you just go along for the ride, it's a ton of fun.

Boom — This episode is proof that Steven Moffat truly is at his best when he's writing self-contained stories under someone else's guidance. I don't think it's as iconic as Moffat's previous stories, and I felt like Ncuti was getting a lot of dialogue that better suited Matt Smith, but the entire concept was interesting and the execution was solid. Also, Ncuti acted his ass off without even being able to move.

73 Yards — Honestly, I'm mixed on this one. The setup is fantastic and eerie, and I enjoy the exploration of Ruby's character, solo from the Doctor. I like her experiencing this inexplicable thing, and deciding to find purpose in it to help others. But the story does fall apart for me at the end when it doesn't explain anything. I don't need every single thing handed to me, I understand the value of leaving things to the imagination, but the fact that the episode's last impression is "wait what?" does leave a bit of a sour taste. That being said, I do respect how weird and different this episode is, and how much discussion it prompted afterward.

Dot and Bubble — The trailers looked like a Black Mirror ripoff, and I was prepared for a shallow "social media bad" episode. Instead, we got something far more nuanced about the dangers of trapping yourself in a bubble of like-minded people and refusing to ever look beyond it. And the ending reveal that it's a society of white supremacists is so, so well-handled, because all the clues were there for you. If you're like me and didn't piece it together until the very end, it really challenges you to ask yourself why you didn't notice sooner. Also, another episode where Ncuti acts his ass off. My personal favorite episode of the season.

Rogue — Another with mixed feelings. Rogue himself is tons of fun, and I enjoy his dynamic with the Doctor, even if parts of it are pretty rushed. I really hope he comes back. The episode plot itself is serviceable but nothing special. My main complaint is the severe lack of Ruby. Her relationship with the Doctor doesn't feel sufficiently established, so the emotional beats don't really land.

The Legend of Ruby Sunday — This was an underwhelming finale, unfortunately. The first part barely even qualifies as an episode. It launches right into starting to answer the season's mysteries, but does so in an uncompelling and heavy-handed way. The Sutekh reveal is pretty epic in isolation, but...

Empire of Death — The Sutekh reveal doesn't really lead to anything satisfying. He doesn't have the presence of Toymaker or Maestro, he's just a CGI dog monster. This second part finally answers some questions, some of which are vaguely interesting, but it's happening in a plot so dull and so dry that I just can't bring myself to care. The episode is also just confusing? The plot points don't seem to flow naturally together, like multiple stories were smashed together with little rhyme or reason. The resolution is some of the most nonsensical nonsense that Doctor Who has ever come up with. Then we get to the reveal of Ruby's mother, which is so forced and it becomes clear in retrospect that things were added to seem more mysterious than they really were. And capping it all off is the Doctor's farewell to Ruby, which falls flat because, as I've said, their relationship is rather undercooked. It really does end the season on a downer, which is a shame because so many of the preceding episodes were pretty good.

[whomuses]

// Gonna do a lil like character building here and I wanna talk about how Caedes changes over the journey. Please note this will obviously involve discussion of durge stuff, blood murder vomit etc, also mentions (unintentional) weight loss so if these are things you struggle with, don't read!

When we first meet Caedes off the nautiloid, they're already not in great health. Having been tadpoled and dumped there by Orin, injured, they're still relatively strong physically. Mostly at a healthy weight; with some broken horns, scars and missing scales, the main issue is the chunk of memory that is missing. Whilst the road is hard and tiring, he actually manages to eat fairly well at first. They've always been strong but relatively lean, the nature of ... everything going on. The road means anything extra is fairly quickly stripped back, leading to the dragonborn basically being a block of muscle. But after Alfira... everything starts to really change. Caedes didn't reaelise before just how easily sleep would make him susceptible to the urge. They make no secret of the murder - not proud of it in the slightest, but he's also not going to lie. The others were warned, near the moment he met them, about the urge. Now they're scared to sleep. Still give in fairly regularly, but get less hours, stay up later, start to distance. It only gets worse as the travel goes on. When he starts getting close to Gale, Caedes lets himself come back into the circle again, but after a couple of close calls, they really shut down. By the time they reach the elfsong, Caedes very rarely joins them for meals, and sleeps incredibly little. It starts to really show it's toll just around the time they're getting to the tavern; having lost weight and gotten significantly weaker, whilst he's still tall and built, Caedes is surprisingly light.

The exhaustion, mixed in with the effects from Bhaal's rage at his perfect murder machine fighting so strongly against their nature, doesn't exactly make Caedes frail? But he's very fallible. Easier and quicker to anger. The urge bubbles much closer to the surface. And through all of this? They're trying to hide it. All of it. Always acting the strong leader, stoic and unbotherable. Even when he's struggling with aiming magic due to struggling to see, hiding away from the camp to cough up blood... only really spending any time with Gale, and even then, after they're done uh... distracting each other, Caedes would slip away to stay awake.

After the blood is removed, it takes... a few days before Caedes finally gives in and allows sleep. Even though, theoretically, the urges are gone; they still... don't trust themselves. It's Gale who forces him to come lay down, and promises to stay awake and watch over him. They wake up curled up together. No nightmares, no urge, just deep, exhausted sleep. After that Caedes is a little more sociable. Starts joining the group again.

In terms of my like overarching post game story, Caedes realises that something is 'wrong' just before they go to fight gort. And whilst he can't prove anything, that feeling doesn't go away. By the time they're in the bhaal temple he's nearly convinced but still somewhat in denial, because dragonborns and humans are not supposed to be able to breed. After the fight with Orin, though, what Withers said when he resurrects Caedes is what convinces him that he's pregnant. They truly believe that is what saved them, not his own ability. (Obviously Withers was not talking about the egg, but, y'know.) He means to tell Gale just before the fight with the brain, but when he gets pulled in for that kiss, he realises he can't say anything yet. Gale had not long ago said about not thinking he'd want to be a father; the words still linger, because Caedes isn't sure what to do. Right then and there isn't the time. They needed to make sure they lived and then... then he could say.

[microraptorreactor]

Time for random SftBT lore tidbits

Because there's so many little lore notes that didn't get included. Below cut because long!

Kaine and Kai (from chapter 15) are good friends! They worked together during V1 and proto-V2's production.

The external feathers mentioned in V1's segment in chapter 21 are a whole deal. That don't get mentioned because the only V unit who has the temperament to keep them nice and is old enough to even get them is Mirage. They grow in once a Viscera unit looses the brown markings on their internal feathers. V2 would theoretically get some around the time it enters hell, but those would get damaged or pulled off fairly quickly thanks to, you know, hell (Which is also why V1 doesn't have any during the actual game). The other problem with the external feathers is that, like real birds, Viscera units will try pulling them out if board/stressed. V1 was the worst about this since it got board easily. Feather pulling probably would have also been a problem for V2 if it had lived long enough.

Caladrius still has pilot bots! Post-war they are really more of a tourist draw, and there's only four, but BA-31 (the group) is still totally a thing. Mostly they are either used for airshows or to stand around historical societies.

On the theme of BA-31, British Pilots are one of the most common repurposed bots! But only if you're in Britain. The BA series is pretty well-liked and was a common robot to be assigned to. Which is exactly why assistant bots were based off them, lol.

Julyen Ryker and Baeri/Sleet both have British accents. Nayea has a Russian accent. Saavi and Elber are both Finnish, and Kaine and Kai are American. (Kaine has a Chicago accent, specifically. Kai has a generic Southern accent.)

Not every Earthmover agreed to Hell's request. Solar-powered Earthmovers were excluded from it, and some more strong willed blood fueled Earthmovers also refused. New Requiem and Midnight Point are not some of those Earthmovers though. Neo Eclipse was, though.

Nayea has a whole-ass backstory that was never mentioned. Mostly because halfway through writing I realized that giving any more screentime to one of the characters with an incredibly horrific (although offscreen) death was maybe a little cruel. Long story short, she was not born on New Requiem, but was brought there as a freshly-orphaned small child.

Back to Nayea's death, she's super dead lol. All the Earthmover handlers are various flavors of starved if they got trapped inside the earthmover, or mauled if they managed to get out of it. Nayea was mauled a couple days into the revolution after she wiggled out an air vent and tried to get help.

Just realized I should write out Mirage's full deal here instead of referencing the lore from the AO3 comments. Mirage IS a real person in this au, and she is Proto-V2, specifically. After Proto-V2 was killed by V1, a wad of its processors were set aside for further study. That wad of processors contained her Kernel, some (incomplete) memory banks, and a simulation processor. In Kernel mode, Mirage slowly built her own reality based off what she had been told the outside world was like (mostly through TV shows the engineers showed her). That's how S-2 exists in this world, lol.

Koda has albinism. It's not really mentioned because V2 doesn't care about appearances, but she looks mildly demonic with red eyes, pronounced eye bags, and white hair. The irony lmao.

[russeliarat]

Okay before I forget because I'm really meant to be doing work right now, here's everything I know right now about my newest oc, Mizawt.

(Info under the cut)

Mizawt is an oc specifically for Avatar Way of Water. Basically, Mizawt's story currently takes place in some unknown time after the Sully family begin to live with the Metkayina clan. I haven't quite figured out the timeline of her story yet. Her full name is Mizawt Te Afoe Eisi'ite.

STORY SUMMARY

〜As a child, Mizawt was very close to her mother as her father died prior to her being born and she was an only child. Mizawt was fairly socially awkward but still had a few close friends and was very curious and generous yet stubborn, often arguing with others (especially older teens) about helping out with tasks and doing things her way. One day however, her mother disappeared and never returned, presumed dead after a long time searching, and Mizawt had to grieve her mother's disappearance. She stayed stubborn in her ideas that her mother was simply missing and in danger and needed to be rescued, that the humans she had heard about had only kidnapped her mother and she could save her.

Over the next decade or so, Mizawt became obsessed with the idea of saving her mother and wanted to always be stronger than everyone as she grew into becoming an older adolescent. She isolated herself to train, furthering her poor social skills and ability to connect with others, and often gets easily annoyed and frustrated when others interrupt her, leading to a lot of immaturity. She likes to hunt and often goes against rules put in place for her safety to chase the adrenaline. Despite this, she retained her eternal love of the ocean and usually swam to calm down.

Her life was shaken up when a woman washed ashore, who looked exactly like how she remembers her mother all those years ago, except she has five fingers and toes and calls herself Isla instead of Eisi. Her mother had her DNA taken and placed into the body of an avatar.

Throughout the story, Mizawt has to figure out how to grieve her mother properly, navigate through becoming a young adult with crushes and friends and new-found family, and destigmatise her beliefs against avatars to accept one who looks so much like her mother into her life.

MISC.

〜Here's some more artwork of Mizawt. Some art I'm not too happy with but it's all concept art I was using to figure out anatomy and facial expression and Mizawt in general. I think it's good to be open about my bad art sometimes.

(And the full page of some above images)

I think I decided at some point that despite her incredible short temper, impatient-ness, and sometimes down-right nasty disposition, I liked the idea of her being very shy and sweet looking at first glance to reflect who she truly is behind the tough, unapproachable, stubborn walls she built around herself, stemming from trauma. You see a much softer side to her with how she interacts with children, her crush, and eventually her stand-in mother, Isla, after Mizawt comes to accept and bond with her. It's all an act that she's become so dedicated to that even she's starting to believe it. It's Isla that takes her and everyone else beyond that lie to see who Mizawt truly is.

〜 A character sheet very quickly summing up how Mizawt is as a person.

Key- the pink is how she wants others to view her, the white-ish blue is how she truly is, and the medium tone blue is the way she acts that she cant/doesn't want to hide.

[blazehedgehog]

Is it possible to make a game like Sonic 3 today within the deadlines it had back then? Pixel art, physics and all.

Why wouldn't it be?

It was the third game in the series. They already had a very strong idea of what they were trying to do with the character, they already had proven technology under them that they could easily extend and upgrade. They had been doing this on Sonic for three years already, and some of the people had been working for Sega even longer than that.

These were talented, experienced people. Professionals. Having the prior knowledge to be able to say, "if we do X, then we get Y" allowed them to work quickly and efficiently.

So I would compare it to, say, what I did with OverBite. OverBite was a game I made for a Clickteam Fusion Game Jam in 2016. We had from like, September 30th or even the 29th up to October 31st to make an entire game. It came out to something like 33 days.

So I made this game where you play as Dracula. I wrote all the code, designed all the mechanics, made all of the sprites, and built all of the levels. Alone. By myself. A single person. The only other person to help me with anything was my old friend Malcolm Brown, who handed me some music.

I had JUST bought Clickteam Fusion 2.5 on Steam, which means it had 0 hours of usage registered. I used it to make OverBite, which means I could track exactly how many hours I spent working on the game, and though I don't remember the exact total, I remember after doing the math it ended up shaking out to between 9 to 11 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 33 days. It was more than 300 hours total.

Again. For one person. I'm not saying it's the greatest game ever made. The level design in particular was extremely last second -- literally, I was down to the last day, only really had finished the gameplay engine, so I cobbled together four levels in a few hours and put it up seconds before the deadline at midnight. But the point is that I had worked in Clickteam Fusion for a decade and a half and could execute on my needs very well. I knew the software and the process like the back of my hand.

Now imagine having two people like that. Or five. Or ten. "300 hours of work in one month" suddenly turns into 3000 hours in one month. Using tech they already have, and proven gameplay concepts they have a lot of familiarity with.

It still wasn't easy, mind you. But the concepts that made it work back then not only still work today, they probably work even better because you aren't fighting to squeeze things down into such limited hardware. Like, the entire reason a game jam can even exist as a concept at all is because at a certain level of development, things are just easier now.

A game jam in 1994 is an impossible concept to think of because the tools had to be so super specialized to an incredibly narrow kind of work environment. You had to be a genius computer scientist to get something like Sonic the Hedgehog to function, never mind how much money it would cost to get something like a development kit.

Today, literally anyone can pick up a copy of Godot or Unreal 5, watch a few Youtube tutorials, and make a game from their bedroom with consumer tools. And those tools are faster, easier, and more intuitive to work with than anything that came before. It cannot be understated what a huge concept that is, and how that used to be totally impossible 15-20 years ago.

(And before some British dude rolls up like "yeah well you could always do that with the amiga" -- that's true, but it's also still different, and the fact that you can just give Microsoft $20 to unlock "Developer Mode" on an Xbox and start pushing Unity and Unreal games you develop on your PC to a console is still mindblowing in context.)

And it trickles down, too. If you know the conversion process, you can use these nice amazing modern tools to make proper retro games that run on real retro hardware.

All of this is to say that just because it's easier doesn't mean it should be done. OverBite absolutely slaughtered me. 11 hours of game development a day, 7 days a week, for almost five solid weeks was deeply unhealthy, physically and mentally. I haven't come close to finishing any game project, ever, since OverBite. It fried me.

And on Sonic Team's side, Sonic 3 was so massively stressful for them that they quit making Sonic games for almost half a decade. Crunch time development like that hurts in many ways, both visible and (mostly) invisible.

But yes, it could still absolutely be done.

[siriuslysatorusimping]

I'm a little afraid to write this because English isn't my native language, but I feel the need to say what I feel with this story.

The truth is that I wasn't even looking for a long story full of layers when I stumbled across yours. Let's just say that I have traumas with long fanfics, because it always seems to get lost at some point or everything goes wrong and I leave shaken (laughs).

But in my search for something about Gojo, I came across the synopsis of "I Say "Sayonara" and it caught my attention so much, it gave me a feeling of wanting to know more about it and how Gojo could be involved in this drama, so I went all out to consume his story.

And seriously, the first chapter I was so excited, it just made me love everything in the first second, Rinko is so endearing, so unique, she's determined and that's incredible, but she knows her limits and wow, she really knows something that could easily be in the original work, Rinko she fits incredibly in this universe.

In the rest of the chapters, I was already completely caught up in it, glazed over waiting for more, everything is exciting and makes me want more.

Rinko and Gojo are really perfect and I love the way this relationship is built, how everything starts from pure ego and goes up to something more intimate, at first they are friends with benefits, and they really work, that's incredible, it's not something we look at and think, "gee this isn't working" negative, this is working very well.

Well, I'm loving following this, and you're so quick with the updates, I confess that when it takes a little longer than usual I'm already anxious and looking forward to more.

I'm so apprehensive about what's to come, how their relationship will go through this whirlwind of emotions, how they'll have to deal with it all and still be there for each other.

I thought I was looking for a story about Gojo, but actually I needed Rinko, I found a unique and perfect character that I love very much.

Please don't abandon us, I need more of this, thank you also for being so communicative with your community, I love being here reading your answers.

That was long, sorry (laughs)

And once again, sorry if it wasn't all very clear, English isn't my strong suit.

Thank you for this incredible work.

Oh, oh my dear, dear sweet Anon.

This is the best message I have ever received.

First, you are incredible and there is no need at all to apologize for your English or how long your message is. You came across perfectly clear. I used to teach college English and please believe me when I say your message was easier to understand than some of the papers I used to get(this makes me sound so old, but I'm NOT 🥹 it was in grad school). So please, please don't be so hard on yourself!!

I am including the rest of my response beneath the cut. But thank you again, sweet Anon. You are truly an absolute gem.

For others, if you haven't already, you can read Another Level on AO3 💕

This message made me smile so much and it made me so genuinely happy. Thank you so, so much for sending it.

I cannot express how touched I am that Rinko means so much to someone. Rinko has quickly become one of my very favorite characters that I've ever written.

One thing that I think has made her meld so well with canon is how broken she is as a person lol

But really, almost every work of fiction has holes. It can't be perfect. So really, I'm just using Rinko to help patch those holes up a bit. And it's wonderful and humbling to know that she's become important to someone other than me, or the beans in our lil JJK universe.

As for how well they work, they really do don't they? Better than I thought they would from the beginning.

To be 100% honest, we are coming up on the hardest times for these two.

They're both going to be tested and they're both going to fail a few times. But they'll eventually come out on top. I've said their ending is a happy one, and I'll stay true to that word, it's just going to be after quite a few more big bumps in the road.

I have their story planned out, it's just getting there that I'm struggling with a bit, so updates might slow down a bit, but I'm not going anywhere if I can help it! I intend to see these two idiots in love friends with benefits through to the end 💕

Thank you, sweet Anon! You have truly made my day. Seriously. As soon as I post this I'm going to send your message to my best friend and maybe cry.

You are a wonderful, beautiful person, and thank you again for your kind words.

I really, really hope to hear from you again in the future if you're comfortable with messaging again! 💕😊

[ambyandony]

Cloud Nine Contrails: Supporting Character; Molly Mallon O'Malley

Context for Cloud Nine Contrails

Molly Mallon O'Malley

(モリ・マロン・オマリ Mori Maron Omari) ✈ 24 years old ☮ female, she/her ☮ 180.34 cm (5'11") ☮ Metro Popper ✈

Modified transcription of above profile:

"Loud, chaotic, high-strung, Irish punk butch. One of the most vital Metro Poppers in the faction due to her incredibly powerful Stand.

Like Adam, she joined the Metro Poppers after coming into a disadvantaged position upon moving to America. Unlike Adam, she lives with her family. Kinda.

Possibly the boldest gangster in the faction, openly disrespectful and incendiary towards the faction's boss, but she's a harsh person and often shows affection in a rather mean way, so it's hard to tell if she's being genuine or joking sometimes.

Known best for hotwiring cars and furthermore for apparently not knowing how to safely drive them, and also for eating fruits decidedly wrong (whole and unpeeled, even the apple cores).

Outside of gang activity, she mostly does mechanic work. She's no expert, but she knows enough to get the job done and do it well. Which is probably why she steals cars.

She smells like gasoline and tyres."

Molly came to America with her family, and there's basically a bunch of people in one house, though Molly doesn't talk about them much.

Coloured and uncoloured full body references, back and front; profile and 3/4ths view headshots!

Personality description from my wiki page for her (needs an update):

"Molly is chaotic and uncontrolled, often doing things on impulse and not minding consequence or social response. She's friendly but hyperactive, very confident, and incredibly stubborn. Despite seeming to hardly care what others think, having very little filter, and being very overwhelming, she does genuinely care about certain people and tries to support them as best as she can. She does, however, unfortunately, employ a sort of 'tough love'. She wants what's best for her friends, but she is blunt and refuses to be delicate about issues, and tends to roughhouse. Will fight for someone, and will fight anyone. She seems to have very little fear and is very reckless, and will throw herself into danger to protect her friends. Of the members of the faction, she's the most aggressive and insubordinate towards their boss. Though not terribly complex emotionally and critical of the gang's structure, she does have a strong view of loyalty, and though she believes she could easily leave the gang and never have to worry about being gone after, she doesn't want to betray the loyalty she's built".

Her wiki page is one of the ones I've yet to fully update.

Design notes for Molly to help me stay on model.

//mild body horror warning

「Devil's Dance Floor」

Devil's Dance Floor - Stand of Molly Mallon O'Malley

Modified transcription of above profile:

"Devil's Dance Floor has dermakinesis, the ability to generate and manipulate skin and flesh. It can create new skin and modify the properties of any existing skin. Combatively, it's incredibly powerful and agile, but a glass cannon; it can barely take a hit, so it tends to dance around its enemy, getting close to land a barrage of hits, then quickly pulling back to avoid any retaliation. Its fragility may have some relation to its bony appearance and exposed 'muscle'; its 'clothes' appear to be nothing more than loose skin.

Unsurprisingly, it is also incredibly unpleasant to touch."

Power - S

Speed - A

Potential - D

Range - D

Durability - E

Precision - B

Modified transcript:

「Devil's Dance Floor」, reflective of its ability, appears as a skinless being covered in some kind of jumpsuit made of loose skin, most of the Stand's body appearing to be comprised unsettlingly of nothing but exposed muscle, with parts also resembling a skeleton.

The mask is, presumably, just a part of its face and can never be removed. Its 'eyes' appear as weird feminine-shaped black voids with a tiny white pinprick pupil on the right and a yellow pupil with red iris on the left.

Two points on the right side, the gap above the eye is like a bat wing with two divots.

On left side, two small spikes at bottom, one large spike, then two small points at the top on the back part of the mask.

The left side profile view of the mask vaguely resembles an actual face.

The back part of the mask is a different colour from the rest of the mask.

The mask also curves around the face, so the actual face (presuming it has one) is never seen.

Its face, where its mouth should be, is twisted oddly.

It’s very asymmetrical. Its skin-suit hangs off its shoulder, slightly folded over the breast on the left, a long sleeve on the right, and on the left, the sleeve is torn off just past the elbow. The left hand is partly covered by a fingerless glove, while the right hand is just fully visible. Both ‘pant legs’ are short, the right one ending at the knee, and the left one cutting off a bit before the knee. On the left leg, it has a skin boot, and on the other, it has a flip-flop with a skin “sock” that stops at the ankle.

Sometimes depicted with a single tiny bat wing. It only ever has one, never two, and it serves no purpose other than aesthetic.

It tends to favour kicks to punches, but either avenue of attack it uses, it’s incredibly fast.

(idk the vision is here you just have to squint. I still dont know how to draw stand fights)

「Devil’s Dance Floor」 is around the same size as Molly. It’s less muscular but certainly more muscular.

Three bleeding heart motifs, one on the left glove, one on the right thigh and the apple on the chest, which also serves as a heart.

The left side of its skin suit has a lot of tears and holes. The right side does not. Notably, the left “sleeve” has two jagged holes at the torn end, one on each side of the middle, and the left pant leg has one jagged hole at the end, around the centre.

It also has a cliché devil tail, but it’s rarely seen from the front.

You can assume the skin boot is held up by a tiny gross strand of sinew or something.

The back of the Stand is fairly plain other than the raised patterns in a U-shape from horn to horn, with a line going down from the bottom and an upwards-pointing arrow in the middle, meant to resemble a pitchfork.

The jacket dips in the back, revealing both of its shoulder blades. It has two tiny light- coloured bat wing markings on each shoulder blade.

The pants seem to be attached to the jacket in the back as well. The boot is attached to the pants to keep it held up.

The devil tail is generally only visible from behind like this. It, like the wings, only serves an aesthetic purpose and has no use in combat despite its sharp appearance.

Perhaps its most terrifying ability is its “dancefloor”, which is some fucking horrifying carnal horror silent hill type shit which makes a “living” room, a room made of flesh that pulsates and appears to have a pulse, in which she traps opponents to make it harder to fight her. The only way to fight on the dancefloor is to keep rhythm, which is best done by, of course, dancing. The room isn’t actually alive, it doesn’t respond to stimuli and has no internals despite its pulse, but it can bleed.

Though open about her Stand and what it does, Molly doesn’t have 「Devil’s Dance Floor」 out very often. When she does, it doesn’t seem to display many sentient behaviours. Most of its mannerisms are reflective of Molly’s own, or the occasional non-complex reaction to stimuli.

Molly, aided by Alesana, is pretty much the closest thing the faction has to a medic. 「Devil’s Dance Floor」’s ability can be used to seal wounds, graft detached limbs back on, reconstruct damaged body parts (as long as nothing too complicated is missing internally) and, most of all, it can keep people quiet.

Molly also uses it to toughen her own skin, and is able to do so to an extent that, shockingly, her skin can become bulletproof.

To clarify, she makes her skin so thick that the bullet would generally just catch in entry and lose momentum in seconds. Reasonably, she doesn’t keep her skin like that all the time, so she could be shot to death if she were caught off-guard but she’s thus far still alive somehow. It’s also entirely possible that she doesn’t feel pain due to changing the properties of her own skin.

[adultqueerbookrecs]

Book Rec: A Marvelous Light by Freya Markse

Book 1 in the The Last Binding Trilogy

This may have been the most exciting book that I've read in a very long time. It's the book that got me back into reading after a very long slump - so much so that I read it twice in a row, and then again twice more via audiobook. I cannot think of a single miss-step in this book. The descriptions are rich and vibrant, a perfect blend of character voice and wit and image. The characters are beyond charming, and the villains straddle the line between melodrama and realism that makes every victory a delight and every loss heartbreaking. The plot is perfectly paced, a perfect parlor drama for someone who grew up reading Agatha Christie.

Plot/Character: The main characters are the new Sr Robert Blyth (Robin), the newly appointed (and sole) Assistant in the Office of Special Affairs and Complaints, and Edwin Courcey, the magical liaison with whom he'll now be working. Only, Robin has never heard of magic before, and Edwin is focused first on finding what happened to Gatling, Robin's predecessor. (Who is, by the way, very dead. We know this. It's the prologue. They don't. That's plot). Everything is complicated when Robin is cursed by Gatling's killer, who is looking for something called The Last Contract, and then it's off to the races (Courcey's family home in the country) to find a way to un-curse Robin, who is now subject to random bits of pain and alarming dizziness. Robin is a delight, trying to balance the untimely (possibly welcome) death of his parents, and the social-and-financial mess they left behind (unwelcome), with the revelations of magic and the magician who introduced it to him. He's easily characterized as a privileged jock, but his socially impeccable smile hides a large heart, a clever wit, and a deep love of art. He also boxes. Edwin might be my favorite character (with the exception of Robin's sister, Maude). He first appears as a tight-ass, and is quickly revealed that his tightness is born of both a need for control and an astounding lack of it in his personal life. He is magical, but "only just" and in a world where might-is-right, has internalized a lot of negativity while dealing with the external negativity of his family - his brother is a cruel bully, and his sister (and her friends) are habitual bullies. He compensates by living in London and studying *how* magic works - he is one of the most well-read magic users in the book. Perhaps because magic is a special interest - Edwin is also one of the best examples of an Autistic character that I have read. The development of the relationship between these two, while dealing with increasingly deadly stakes, is perf3ectly paced. It simmers and sparks, and it's so wonderful how they each fill needs the other has as well as desires. World building: The best word I have to describe it is immersive. From the very first chapter you get a sense of the history and presence of this alternate society that feels organically grown even as it is unfamiliar. The details are perfectly placed, the slight alteration of language - of common expressions beyond the terms used for the magic system itself, really ground this fiction in a sort of reality. Not to mention the *incredibly* fascinating magic system, built on contracts and cat's cradle and *consent* And speaking of consent, this book has some of the best written spicy scenes that I have seen in published fiction. These scenes break tension, forward emotional arcs, and explore characterization while being genuinely sensual and without the awkward phrasing that can sometimes be so off-putting. 10/10, no notes. Ultimately, I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy a healthy bit of drama-plot in their romance, or romance in their fantasy.

[druidshollow]

who is flowers ex wife. did I miss content about her?? I need to know who is she.

(im actually not gonna add too-too much new stuff in this post and am mostly just gonna link back to other ones) ((EDIT: I Was Wrong.))

her name is Flight to the Sun, Homeward Descent! her and flowers went to university on Sliver of Straw together and gained government positions together

she's one of the three characters i talked about in-depth in this post, but i'll make her a fast facts doodle as is customary

descent was estranged from her family and grew up in poverty below the clouds with a small found family of other disowned youth and runaways. (this found family consisted of three other ancients, Moving "Blade"s of Grass ((he/him)), Thirteen Heavy "Stone"s ((he/him)), and Three Great "Mural"s ((she/her)). id sketch them up but i dont have the energy rn sorryyyyy) she was intrigued by the iterator project and wanted to be a part. the only chance she'd ever get, since she hadn't been born into privilege, was to ace an entrance exam. she spent all her savings to get to the exam, and she was able to manage it and was enrolled into the School of Solutions and moved to live atop Sliver of Straw on the campus grounds. this was where she met Flowers. they got along right away.

her and flowers were married for a considerably long amount of time. they are genetically modified to live very long lives, sometimes spanning up to 600 major cycles. flowers and descent were together for almost 100.

they dated for around 5, got married, built everlasting fire (i speak in depth about fire in this post- theres quite a bit about descent here as well!), demolished everlasting fire, then stayed together for only about 5 more majors before descent split off from him.

descent left flowers for a lot of reasons. their relationship was unhealthy, neither of them were incredible at communicating, flowers was self-centered and had a controlling streak, and since they were both very headstrong they devolved into fighting easily. descent became afraid of flowers after he designed the demolishers (leviathan-like creatures purposed for destroying iterator structures) and helped bring down everlasting fire. his perspective and behaviour towards iterators was dehumanizing and unempathetic, conflicting entirely with her morals, and his willingness to help destroy the person she'd considered their son was sickening to her

shockingly (dripping with sarcasm), flowers continues to be the worst, slimiest fucker alive

after descent leaves flowers, she is entrusted with project lead for a new iterator project. this is when she constructs A Fleck of Flame. they trusted eachother very strongly and were very close.

Fleck becomes sick with unstable neuron disease, the same ailment as Eleven Rivers, and Descent dedicates a large part of her time into trying to cure it. this also becomes Fleck's primary goal beside the Great Problem. descent's mistakes with Fire motivated her to be as humane to Fleck as possible

eventually, she meets Rivers through Fleck, since Rivers and Fleck became very good friends very quickly. this is when Flowers re-enters her life. she becomes extremely concerned for Rivers when she becomes aware that Flowers is in charge of him, and only becomes more worried as Wander comes to her out of concern for Rivers.

(this comic is pretty old now in the grand scheme of things but still applies lol)

she wants to help Rivers and even reaches out to Flowers to ask him to show the iterator some mercy. Flowers isn't helping Rivers with his illness and is cruel and demeaning to him. but descent reaching out goes about as well as you'd expect, and instead of getting better Flowers doubles down, becoming violent with Rivers by exploiting his illness. ( :( ) Descent wants to do more but Rivers isn't her jurisdiction and there's only so much she can do.

when the warning for the mass ascension goes out she isn't surprised, having very little faith in the High Council Collective. with her last moments she relinquishes administrative control to Fleck and leaves him with supplies like slag keys in case of emergency.

[disneyanduniversalnews]

Guide to Storm Force Accelatron at Islands of Adventure

Like so many kids, there is nothing I wanted more than to be a Super Hero, especially a member of the X-Men. Created in 1963, the X-Men are a team of young mutants who, under the tutelage of Professor Charles Xavier, use their superhuman powers to save the world from evil mutants like Magneto.

As a kid (and subsequently an adult), I had no superpowers. I wasn't bitten by anything radioactive; I'm not from another planet; and I certainly don't have billions of dollars. The X-Men gave me hope, though, that maybe someday I could be a Super Hero if I just developed some cool mutation. I waited and waiting, but nothing every happened. Laser beans from my eyes? Nope. Telepathy? Uh-uh. I can't even parallel park! I thought for sure that my dreams of being a Super Hero were dashed. that is until I discovered Storm Force Accelatron, the best kept secret at Universal's Islands of Adventure.

The Story

Tucked away by the entrance to The Incredible Hulk Coaster, Storm Force Accelatron is a spinning ride that was added to Marvel Super Hero Island in the summer of 2000 and has been delighting guests of all ages ever since.

It turns out that the evil Magneto is up to his usual tricks of plotting to take over the world using his magnetic powers, and it's up to Storm, Professor X and ME to shop him. Storm is a veteran member of the X-Men with ability to feel and control the elements of weather. For this mission, however, she needs our help. You see, Professor X has built a generator that harnesses the energy of ordinary park guests to enhance Storm's mutant ability. Together, we're the only thing that stands between Magneto and an all-out attack against non-mutants. Don't they know I can't even parallel park?

The Queue

When it comes to the ride queue, I've got good news and I've got good news. The good news is that there are big, beautiful comic book panels explaining the ride's story to guests while they wait in line. The great news is that you might not have time to read them because the line moves so quickly. When I was there, the sign said it would be a five-minute wait, but I was able to walk right up and get into my vehicle. This attraction is truly the best kept secret in the entire park. In fact, I've probably already said too much!

The Ride

It's a Super Hero twist to the classic theme park spinning ride. Guests step inside circular purple or yellow vehicles with a large wheel in the center. Storm and Professor X then make an announcement, informing guests of their goal to stop Magneto using power generated by our Accelatrons. The faster guests turn their respective wheels, the more collective power they produce to theoretically defeat Magneto and put an end to his plan for world domination. As your vehicle rotates and revolves around a spinning track, thunder booms and lighting flashes from the overhead power generator. At the ride's conclusion, Professor X lets guests know if they were successful at defeating Magneto. I won't spoil it, you'll just have to find out for yourself. If you get motion sickness easily, this might not be the ideal ride for you. But don't worry about it; Magneto will just take over the world and destroy all of humanity..but you do you.

Pro Tip: If you get the chance, try to ride at night when the lightning is especially vivid.

Ride Details

There is no minimum height to ride, but riders under 48" require a supervising companion.

This ride does have a Universal Express Pass line

The ride is covered making it one you can enjoy rain or shine

Storage for your items is available in nearby free lockers for up to 30 minutes.

Explore Marvel Super Hero Island

While Storm Force Acceletron has no gift shop, it is conveniently located near Marvel Alterniverse Store. Here you can load up on Marvel merchandise, including clothing, toys and collectible featuring some of your favorite Marvel Characters. If you're looking for a munificent meal, Cafe 4 is located right next to the ride and features Italian favorites. If I may offer some unsolicited advice, you might want to eat after the ride.

You may not think that a theme park ride can change your life, but I'm proof that it can. I still may not be able to fire laser beams from my eyes, I'll never move objects with my mind, I don't think I can even do one chin-up... But for 90 gloriously dizzying seconds, my dream came true. I got to be a Super Hero.

Is Storm Force Accelatron your favorite ride, too?! Tell us if you'd rather ride it during the day or at night in the comments!

[roach-works]

i probably haven't hit 10k yet. WHO WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT THE SEA OTTERS.

so obviously in the decades of environmental collapse and crisis, a ton of ecologists tried a ton of dubiously ethical, appropriate, or effective shit to try to re-anchor various ecosystems, or kickstart new ones.

one of those projects was rounding up a bunch of sea otters from all over their remaining range and resettling them in new york harbor. see, new york wanted its waterways clear and its harbors (re-)remediated.

thanks to sea level rise chewing away at big stretches of city, there were now miles and miles of shallow shorelines full of shattered brick and concrete, and wave turbines could easily supply a little electricity to provide the kind of charge that kickstarts reefs. so there's plenty of bivalves around and the fishing is maybe okay outside blackwater bay--the big crater carved out of queens is an exclusion zone but it might as well get planted with kelp anyway. it's still going to filter shit and anchor seals and fish and dolphins. and everyone's a little radioactive now, so, whatever.

anyway some kelp farmers were like 'we need otters up in here' and whether or not they were right, there the otters went.

sea otters can live twenty years and weigh a hundred pounds, by the way. and they're weasels, so they're clever and inquisitive as hell, and they're one of the very rare *tool using* omnivore mammals with hands out there.

did they stay out in the harbor, with the kelp farms?

no

did tourists read any of the signs warning them that sea otters have jaws bigger and stronger than a bobcat?

ALSO NO

are sea otters now basically everywhere, like incredibly muscular and toothsome sanrio characters the size of toddlers and the smartness of toddlers and the athleticism of arnold schwarzenegger?

yes!

anyway new yorkers hate tourists and one of the things they hate is having to forcefully pick up tourist children and carry them very fast away from the sea otters, because the sea otters are basically if you built a teddy bear with a terminator skeleton inside and if it wasn't a citywide blanket policy to short-term kidnap any children in the vicinity of a sea otter, the sea otters would very quickly realize that baby skulls have a lot more meat in them than a sea urchin.

a couple tourists get severely mauled every year, but due to the grouchily benevolent kidnapping conspiracy, it's mostly drunk 20-somethings who get bits torn off.

anyway this is why sometimes at a beach or pier you will see the day's most irritated new yorker power walking away from the water with someone else's child under their arm and a screamingly confused midwestern mother trailing along behind.

the most recent michigan fleet novel is out and im ecstatic that everyone's so pleased with the characters and setting and to them i just want to say

I WANTED TO INCLUDE A BIT ABOUT THE CROSSBOW WIELDING STREET SWEEPER GANGS OF MANHATTAN AND I WAS **OUTVOTED**

i am fucking dying to infodump on this cool future new york we spent a year building, someone please issue me a permit