#some combos are not worthwhile

[priscilla9993]

Reese’s, we all know that peanut butter and chocolate go great together, but who in the heck decided pretzels or potato chips should go inside of one?! Who let that go out the factory after test tasting?

Terrible mouth feel and too much salt ruins the whole thing. It’s like they said let’s make this into a batter bc the normal combos are delicious and what people like, but they forgot how a batter doesn’t take into consideration the amount of salt and sugar from the other ingredients.

It’s a tumblr recipe all over again except replace the vanilla extract with salt and crunchy crumbs. 😭

[the-busy-ghost]

Um Duolingo, what the hell is this:

As if it wasn't bad enough that the new pathway removed a bunch of my progress (AND takes ages to move onto the next topic so I'm not improving), and that they removed the wordlist so I can no longer keep on top of vocabulary, now I have no idea whether I'm meeting my own daily target or not?S

[redheadspark]

Hi, this is first time I am asking someone for a story, but your prompts are so fun... Well my request is for Benedict and can you pla make a combo of prompt #2 & #19 (did you know its going to be this hot, write it to confirm 😅) and when its about Benedict it will be fun to read something smuty 😉

Hope I am not being very demanding ... Thanks in advance 💮

A/N - This was great to write, I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for the request!

Distract

Summary - Benedict knows how to distract you, even on a hot day

Warnings - Just fluff and a HINT of steam ;)

“Are you sure all the windows are open, dear?”

“Trust me, darling.  I have every single window open in attempts to give us some relief with the breeze,” 

You hummed, using the fan as much as you could as your husband, Benedict Bridgerton, was working away at his canvas and trying his best to finish the latest piece he was working on for a month.  You loved watching him work, it was a peaceful time when you two would be in his art studio while you would be working on your correspondence and Benedict was painting.  It was what you two would do every Sunday before you would have to start your hectic weekly schedules again. 

You’ve been married to Benedict for almost 5 years now, you two have known each other since you were young and were madly in love with one another in your teens.  Of course, you both had to wait until you both were old enough for Benedict to properly court you, then propose to you.  It was rather silly since you both knew even as early teens that you would be married to each other for all of your lives.  It was also a perk that your families were close friends, both sets of parents were already inwardly planning on your courtship when they saw the spark between the pair of you.  It was safe to say that his mother, the sweet and kind Violet Bridgerton, was beyond happy to gain another daughter in her household and with her name.

You were glad too.

Having a small apartment in the Bridgerton Estate was an immense blessing, having new siblings to get to know and be social with, your own space to share with Benedict, and simply have your time as a wife with him.  He was beyond an amazing husband, making things light in diet times, knowing when to make you laugh when you were sad or simply hold you when you needed physical contact.  You both had flaws, but talking through them together as a team made it all worthwhile.  

But now there was a minor heat wave that came through the area, and even the massive Bridgerton estate would not bring any relief that would help you anytime soon.  

“Did you know it was going to be this hot today?” You asked nonchalantly as you were scanning the stack of envelopes on the desk for you to peer through.

“I wish I did, then we would have planned a better outing,” Benedict answered.  

“Perhaps we should have escaped to the lake, like Kate and Anthony,” you hummed as you looked over another ball invitation while fanning yourself, Benedict chuckling from his spot at his easel while he was drawing a long stripe of blue on the canvas.

“I’d rather be in an audience of their…love for one another,” Benedict replied with a snort, making you giggle as you looked over in his direction.  He was still dressed somewhat formally, you both coming back from a luncheon with your mother-in-law.  His blue coat and undershirt brought out the shine in his eyes and the flushness in his cheeks, making him look even more enchanting than ever.  

Every once in a while you would get lost in his appearance: whether he was working deep on a piece of art and his skin was stained in ink or charcoal, or even when you two were chatting during dinner and he was ranting about a family story.  He had a way with you, a way to make you lose your train of thought or make time stand still.  

“Darling?”

You blinked, seeing that Benedict stopped his painting and was watching you with a hint of concern, “Are you well?”

You smiled and blinked slowly, placing your fan on the desk and resting a hand on your cheek as you tilted your head at him, “More than well, since I get a marvelous view of my husband being a marvelous artist,”

Benedict grinned, the smirk he showed you was enough to make your stomach flip.  You knew that look, something reserved for the pair of you out of the public eye.  He may have Benn posted as a gentleman when it came to his name and how to conduct himself, but it was a different scenario when you two were alone.  He knew how to make you cave from a simple look or sweet talk.  Benedict has always been a flirt, before you got together and then after.  But most of the time you were the object of his flirtations.  

Which you would never object to.

“Just marvelous? Oh, you wound me,” He replied, you ruling your eyes as he continued, “The words I would use for my wife would be far more expressive,”

“Oh would they?” You asked, taking the bait that he was dangling for you.  Benedict could only smile, placing the paint brush on the easel before he walked over towards you.  He went around the desk, his eyes still drilling into yours with a signature smile as his fingers traced along the top of the dress, almost making a mess of your letter pile while he was getting closer to you.  It felt like you were frozen in your spot in the chair, your fan staying still in your hand, Benedict reaching over to take the fan from your hand delicately.

“Divine…exquisite…intelligent….kind….angelic….” He laced every word with love and affection, inching closer and closer to you as he was now perched on the top of the desk, his eyes twinkled in the sunlight and your breath was lost in your throat.  You felt every single one of those words hit you along your chest, making you feel so loved and almost as light as air.  

As soon as he was close enough to have his lips brush against yours, you felt your stomach summersault as he eyed your lips for the briefest of moments.  

“Just to name a few,” He whispered, you eyeing his lips in return as you finally grinned widely at you.

You dived in, kissing him deeply as he was perched over you on the desk.  You both kissed, leaning into each other smoothly and with no hesitation while it felt like you couldn’t get closer than ever before.  This was nothing new for you two, especially when it came to the throws of love.  Benedict was an amazing lover, knowing which buttons to push and where to touch you with both his lips and hands.  There was never a dull moment with your husband when it came to pleasure, and he would surprise you in the best way possible.

“Take off your jacket, the hell?” You huffed against his lips as you reached to push his blue jacket off.  Benedict laughed, kissing you deeply as he threw off the jacket to toss it to the floor you spoke again, “You’re making me hot just by looking at you,”

“Just by my looks?” Benedict asked in a breath, you laughing as he reached to undo a bit of your dress with his nimble and skilled fingers, “I must be lacking then.  Perhaps I should brush up a bit more,”

“Yes you must,” You hummed in return, almost in a growl.  You both let the rest of the world slip away, just like your dress slipping to the floor as well as his trousers.  

That hot day was bearable after all. 

The End

July Prompt Session

[midnightsslut]

what did convince you he cheated? (Genuinely asking)

so to be entirely fair, i started to entertain this theory again after it went viral on twitter last night. that nod during should’ve said no was pretty damning to me because… what other reason could there be? I went into the surprise songs today with that in mind, and she literally combined three songs about a relationship ending because of cheating. august you may be able to explain away because they’re both jack songs and kind of associated with each other, but the other side of the door? she is essentially saying, ‘this person wanted to get out of this relationship. you weren’t mine to lose (because you were with someone else or perhaps because you had tuned out of the relationship already). was she worth this mess?’ idk, i think this was a very intentional foreshadowing of what is to come on ttpd. she then followed it up with this is me trying, which she notably sang about a week before they broke up. granted, she may not remember exactly where she sang it, but it’s clear to me that the original performance of that song (especially since it was paired with state of grace, which is about love being a worthwhile fight) hinted that she was really ‘trying’ in some area of her life (she said as much when she introduced the song). ‘it’s hard to be at a party when i feel like an open wound / it’s hard to be anywhere these days when all i want is you!’

overall, what i took away from tonight’s surprise song combo is, one of us wanted to get away. i was trying so hard to salvage this relationship, but you weren’t mine to lose anymore. was she worth this? idk idk. might be reaching but!

edit: also, the three songs narrate cheating from three different POVs. getaway car is told by the cheater, august is told by the other woman, and the other side of the door is told by the woman who was cheated on. that may be the only reason why she chose this combination, or it may hint at something on ttpd.

[nerdieforpedro]

Weekend Update 05/19/2024

Three weeks in a row. I should play the lottery, I might hit for some big money!

Nerdie, please. We think it’s fine that you play the lottery, but have you done much this week?

I will have you know, that I worked three 12 hour shifts in a row, one of which I was the charge nurse. Something I’ve never done before and only had a 4 hour class once. The person that was supposed to be training me was not there so I just did trial by fire. I also worked this weekend. 

Though the highlight of the week was Friday night!

What? You had a hot date? Good for you!

Huh? This is Nerdie you’re talking about, no. Not at all what happened. I got to see Hozier live in a concert! It was wonderful! I might still be singing all the songs, have played them for my coworkers and that one guy whose room I was in for 30 minutes getting him cleaned up and bed changed should know a fair bit of “Almost (Sweet Music)” and “Something New.” I think I also had a brunch with my family this week somewhere in there.

We have so many questions…did that man even know what you were singing? Is he now a fan? How was brunch? How did you even find out about the concert? Why wasn’t that the first thing you said?

Sometimes you gotta bury the lead. Brunch was with mama Nerdie and two of Nerdie’s brothers. I have three total. I’m the only girl. The concert was magical, I’m trying to figure out something for September but it’s likely sold out. I think I really lucked out last Friday. 

Nerdie, do you have anything fanfic related? We’re happy to know you’re doing well. We wonder sometimes, but you know, this is Tumblr.

This week will be a bit different. I did a lot of reading last week but this week, I didn’t read much of anything except beta reading for a couple people. So Nerdie will highlight some series she thinks you should peek at:

Symphony by @maggiemayhemnj (A wonderful series featuring Joel - who is having a moment with his new hair by the way. I did notice, how could one not? Has Joel and a female OFC in post outbreak Jackson.) Fun fact - one of my patients called me symphony so it’s going to be one of my many aliases now.

If Wishes Came True by @schnarfer (A Dieter Bravo trilogy. Our beloved trash panda is many things and has many expressions, some not so great. Can it turn into something worthwhile?)

Headshots by @secretelephanttattoo (Marcus Pike - being the sweet man that he is. The OFC is a photographer. Love blooms. It will give you warm fuzzies and you’ll sniffle. It’s totally fine to do so.)

Bloody Kisses by @perotovar (Shane Morrissey and Tim rockford are the combo I was not aware I needed and now I think about them. The longing, the realization, the understanding, the build up, and the growing pains. Just read it and you’ll get it.)

IRL by @grogusmum (A sweet Javi G fic. You and Javi have been chatting about your shared interest in movies and sparks fly. So much so that you fly to see him in person. How does that go? Read and find out.)

These are five series I’ve read, loved and will read again because I enjoy them. I hope you all do too. 

I believe I did post a Dieter one shot for the Dieter Bravo Brain Rot May challenge about aliens. 

Also @fhatbhabiee back! 💖💖

I was tagged by people for WIP Wednesday through Saturday so I’ll do something from my not titled Pero x Dragon fic (look - it was a thought I had and it morphed into this but it’s dialogue):

Darkness is beginning to take him as is the cold. Pero cannot feel his limbs nor tell if he’s moving them. “Hmmpf, you care nothing of your life? Just to let it slip away like this. You appeared to be a warrior of some sort. Do all human warriors lay on their belly and wait for their final breath? Such a pity.” This voice, such torture before death to be mocked like this, couldn’t he have died in battle?  “I’m already in hell only hearing this voice before I die. Goddammit.” The mercenary laments.  “Are all humans fools like this? Why will you not heed my words? I am not trying to reach you for simple vexation.” “Stop with your flowery words then. Say what you actually need. I’m not going to listen to you the entire time before I leave this earth.”

Pero is the type to curse and argue with demons, angels, monsters and Gods if it means he has the last word. I stand by this. Contrary to what this conversation reads like, Pero does not die. His fate could be worse than death, we’ll have to see. 👀

The Peeps who maybe tagged me? @tinytinymenace @connectioneverywhere @magpiepills @604to647 @djarinmuse

@megamindsecretlair and @for-a-longlongtime There are either people I missed or people who didn't tag me. My bad either way. 🤣

I’ve also been toying with which series between my Marcus therapy series and my sweet Javi P series to start posting on Tumblr. I’m not sure which one. Everyone one’s welcome to ask me questions about any of these WIPs, just know I may not stop talking about them like most fic writers. 

I think I do dialogue well in my fics, and wacky ideas, but I could use work on world building, smut, descriptions and other things. I think. Who knows, I'm just going to keep wiring and we'll see what happens.

Stay safe and hydrated everyone!

Love Nerdie!

[cirillka]

A lot of unnecessary banter from "fans" clogging up Witcher 4 posts when we should just be excited and enjoying trailer edits and fanart. It's tiring, but every complaint has a logical answer, there's no "ah-haa" moment in any of these complaints.

"Ciri can't be a witcher." Except she's called precisely that in the books and in the... Witcher Ciri ending of Witcher 3. Which the entirely of the game's plot suggested (I understand there's alternative endings, but the game's logical flow goes to Witcher Ciri ending). Ciri is a playable character in Witcher 3 alongside Geralt. She is in every way Geralt's daughter, apprentice and heir to his profession. This is a classic "did you not play the game/read the books?" response and I don't know who, with any bare-minimum inkling of the lore, would say this with any seriousness.

"She couldn't have gone through the trial of grasses." Her going through the trial is clearly new Witcher 4 lore, but it's not an unreasonable route. The reason Geralt was a "super" witcher was that he was able to take on more mutations for his trial because he is the son of a sorceress, which isn't supposed to happen as sorceresses can't conceive children (this due to their bodies undergoing changes when becoming disciplined in magic, not some sacrificial ritual that the show suggested). Ciri's bloodline is not just a sorceress bloodline, but the Elder Blood/Lara Dorren bloodline which is so coveted for it's magic prowess, it... was a central aspect in the books and Witcher 3 plot. It is reasonable to assume that she would survive the trial of grasses should she elect to pursue it, which she clearly did.

"She's OP." Trust that CDPR will write to accommodate this? From the trailer, it seemed clear that Ciri had to resource manage her Lara gene. She wasn't teleporting at all, we saw the classic green magic associated with it, and she chose to channel it into a lightning spell. I think that's a great balance. Besides, who wouldn't wouldn't want to play as a combo witcher and sorceress, do you hate fun? lmao.

"I can't play cause Ciri is a woman and I need the protagonist to be a man to relate to them." Skill issue, honestly. I understand the feeling of playing a character that is your gender identity (I am excited to play Ciri for this), but I've played plenty of games as a man and the narrative experiences are still enjoyable and worthwhile, Geralt being no exception. Literally my two guy friends who are the biggest into Witcher, read the books and played the games with me, cite Ciri as both their personal favorite character and are so stoked she's taking the lead in Witcher 4. People with any attachment to Geralt as a character should feel naturally excited his/your daughter is taking up the mantle.

"She is ugly." Incorrect. She looks older, mature and beautiful all in one. This makes her look different from her younger Witcher 3 self, yes (as we should expect?), and in all the best ways. I'm sorry you hate attractive women, that is a personal problem and I wish you future clarity.

"She better not be gay/woke." She already is. The Witcher already was. Even without the books, there is a direct dialogue choice as Ciri where you can specify a preference in women (referencing her girlfriend from the books). The game will likely write her as bi and let the player choose, so sit down and quit crying.

Edit for one more I saw: "She has a School of the Cat medallion, that's wrong!" She's had it since the books, it was a pivotal moment and big spoiler how she got it, but it hung from her belt in her Witcher 3 designs. She just wears it on her neck now.

[warsofasoiaf]

Overall thoughts about the Elden Ring DLC?

Overall, I consider it to be an incredibly high-quality production. It pushes the envelope when it comes to boss design, had gobsmacking lore revelations, and overall was a worthwhile addition to the series.

FromSoft's boss design remains in excellent form. The early bosses (Divine Beast, Dancing Lion and Twin Moon Knight Rellana) look designed to punish you by using multiple elements in their attacks, the early optional bosses (Blackgaol Knight, the giant Furnace Golem in the distance) look to hit hard and break you out of your comfort zone. You cannot sleep on these bosses, even if you're on a NG-multiple+ with a tricked-out build. These bosses are hard, they're fast, and they will eat you for breakfast if you don't treat them seriously. Some of the design appears to be specifically designed to counter early player actions, like summoning the Mimic Tear as soon as you step into the fog gate - the boss might charge you and hit you hard specifically to break you of your had habits. They may tag on an extra hit after a combo looks over to punish flask use. This is precisely what DLC and additional content for games is for, breaking the stale combat doctrine of the existing game in new and exciting ways, to punish uncreative players and force a change in strategy.

It's for that reason that the hoopla about the boss's extra difficulty falls flat with me. Yes, these bosses are challenging, but there are ways around it. Scadutree Fragments are the big ones - it's a progression mechanic meant specifically to make your game easier and reward exploration. With many players already possessing plenty of endgame-caliber weapons and spells, Shadow of the Erdtree needed to create other incentives to reward players for looking carefully. There are still great weapons and spells to be found, certainly, but the punishing difficulty, and the utility of the Scadutree Fragments with which to mitigate it, encourages exploration. People not using them and complaining about the difficulty is the whole Spirit Ashes summoning argument all over again. If you don't want to use the tools that you have in front of you, fine, but you're going to have a harder time of it. Don't leave have your equipment behind and complain that the task is too hard.

Of course, a lore nerd like me is positively giddy with the revelations that the DLC has provided us. Marika's past and ascension into godhood, and why she was so cruel to the Omens and the previous Crucible era. One possible source for the corruption of the Golden Order via the Two Fingers by Metyr, Mother of Fingers. The surprisingly grandiose master plan of Miquella the Kind. The return of a fan-favorite character. Revelations for everyone from Melina to the tiny dopey jar-people. FromSoft didn't disappoint, and I'd go so far as to say they were, by FromSoft standards, quite coherent on the story. I'm always prepped and ready for essays on the subject.

Thanks for the question, Mistland.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[wannab-urs]

The Spreadsheet Digest - Vol 12

Hi friends!!

I read a certain dark romance book this week and then also spent some time trying to catch up on all my lovely mutuals' fics (and there were many), so the rec list is only like 9 fics this week. I guess that's still a lot? It's no 27 fics though.

If you tagged me in a fic this week, I'm planning to get to those soon I promise. The actual spreadsheet with all my recs can be found here and the masterlist for my fic recs can be found here.

Anyway recs below the Pedge

Adversity a Frankie/Ezra series by @the-ginger-hedge-witch

This combo... okay I'll just start with how unreasonably HOT this is. Like you got Ezra: protective, talkative, wild, a little feral, definitely likes to use his mouth, lean and impeccably dressed with that dumb little blond patch. Then you have Frankie: Established Canon Pussy Eating King, def talks you through it, broad shoulders and a cute belly, patchy beard you'd just die to have between your legs, broody boy. So obviously, I'm already about to pass out. And then!! Their relationship with each other makes me feel so many things. The way Ez pulls Frankie out of his fucked up head and the way Frankie settles Ezra UGH. And then!!! and then!!!!!!! The way they take care of reader and the way they all love each other and balance each other out!! The hints of the other TF boys in there is v fun also. I know this series is old, but I am dying for it to be added to. Every glimpse into this wonderful lil throuple was wonderful. <3333

i've got headaches and bad luck but they couldn't touch you - a Joel one shot by @tremendum

Brat tamer!Joel is sooooo fucking hot. This is filthy and I love it!

warmth - a Joel one shot by @grippingbeskar

ooooh i love how at first this is just a sweet lil fluffy thing and then you put *you can stop reading here if you aren't a whore. however, i am, so i will continue* LMAO. I'm obviously a whore so I obviously kept reading. This one is for my thigh riding girlies <333

the worthwhile fight - a Marcus P one shot by @swiftispunk

So glad you decided to write some sweet angel baby Marcus P!! And I love the lil twist with reader being the protective one, because.... I actually cannot see Marcus punching anyone. Like I'm sure he would if he had to, but in my head he's such a soft boy I can't. The smut, as usual, was just absolutely immaculate. Looking forward to more marcus from you maybe...???? (please)

Sparks fly - a Joel one shot by @ezrasbirdie

Ok listen... This is the second anal fic I've read in as many weeks that made me have emotions other than filth... How do y'all keep doing this to me. The story is adorable, I love it!! And then they eat each other's asses and it's hot and it's a good time. Honestly I'd still give this a shot if you're not into the idea of eating Joel Miller's ass bc there's a bunch of super cute interactions and some smut before that happens... If you're a freak tho... this is the one

Just a little taste - a Din one shot by @jksprincess10

I fucking love inexperienced!Din and I love when he tastes pussy for the first time and just goes absolutely nuts. This was so hot ugh.

Fire a Din one shot by @jksprincess10

Din Djarin Fluff Supremacy

Hungry Hearts - a Joel series by @atinylittlepain

Young Joel... in booty shorts... playing baseball??? Being a gratuitous flirt and a total asshole in the most frustratingly charming of ways?? Ok and then... he's also a MECHANIC... Slutty Joel is everything. Oh but let's not stop there! We also get girl dad Joel being the most stereotypical softball parent ever. Sarah and Ellie being so very Sarah and Ellie about the whole thing. Also like if you needed more incentive for some reason Joel gets hit in the balls while being a douchebag. I feel like I'm not selling this as well as I should be, but I don't want to give too much away. It's delightful. Read it!!

Peace - a Joel one shot by @swiftispunk

As a former John Green novel SIMP, I love the living eulogy thing. It has a special place in my heart and I refuse to apologize for that. This fic had me tearing up bc like... Joel Miller deserves to hear how good he is and how much he means to people and he doesn't really ever get that in canon. Not really. I am going to have a literal breakdown bye

----------------oldies but goodies----------------

The Appreciation of Fine Liquor - an Ezra one shot by @write-and-buried

poor baby - a Joel series by @walkintotheriveranddisappear

Just a little game - Javi P one shot @walkintotheriveranddisappear

quickie (boyfriend's dad!joel x reader) - a Joel one shot by @joelscruff

𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆, 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒆, 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 - a Dieter one shot by @psychedelic-ink

warm up - a Dieter one shot by @ezrasbirdie

Dieter Bravo x Library AU - a Dieter one shot @fuckyeahdindjarin

Bouquet, Bloom, Blossom - a Dieter series by @mypoisonedvine

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

Happy Reading

[pokemon-card-of-the-day]

Pokemon Card of the Day #3076: Tyranitar-GX (Lost Thunder)

Tyranitar-GX was meant to punish things. All its attacks were simply about damage, and anything that it Knocked Out was gone from the game for good. The power here was good but not great considering that this was a Stage 2, though softening up the opponent's Bench was a nice way to set up for other hits. You'd probably have to build around this to make it worthwhile, but at least there were some good traits to work with.

250 HP was no joke. Tyranitar would be taking a hit in almost every case, and if managing to play it in the format just before the Tag Teams came out it wasn't that rare for it to survive 2 due to 120 being a common damage number. The Fighting Weakness was actually worse in that SUM-On format due to things like Buzzwole and Zygarde still being relevant, with the Weakness not mattering too much afterward. The Psychic Resistance was nice against Malamar decks that weren't leaning on Ultra Necrozma-GX or Marshadow-GX, and the later Mewtwo & Mew-GX or even Dragapult VMAX could be annoyed by the lower damage in certain spots. The Retreat Cost here was 3, so having switching cards would be a good idea if you could fit them.

Lost Out was a really nice Ability. If damage from an attack from Tyranitar-GX Knocked Out an opponent's Pokemon, that Pokemon and all cards attached to it were sent to the Lost Zone. That meant having the chance to get rid of an important Pokemon for good, as well as lowering the amount of Energy that deck had access to in a lot of games. Tyranitar-GX didn't tend to KO Pokemon in a single hit, so it was kept in check by that, but later in a game this Ability could really shine.

Dusty Ruckus was actually quite solid. 130 damage was a good amount for 2 Darkness and a Colorless Energy, though it did get outdone a bit once Tag Teams were released. It also did 30 damage to each of the opponent's Benched Basic Pokemon, which actually did better with those 3 Prize Pokemon around since it got those into 2-hit range for Dusty Ruckus. You could theoretically win a game in 3 turns like that, with the obvious note that you were needing to swarm Stage 2's and get Energy onto them all against some strong and often fast Basic Pokemon. Not an easy task, even if the attack itself did the job.

Lay the Smackdown GX was there when you really needed more power to get a KO. The same 2 Darkness and a Colorless Energy and the use of the GX attack for the game did 220 damage that ignored all effects on the opponent's Active Pokemon. This would take down a decent amount of things on its own, and the rest just needed some prior damage which Dusty Ruckus was pretty good at. If needing the last chunk of Prizes, this could be here.

Tyranitar-GX would have been really good if it was easier to get Energy onto it. It sadly wasn't on the best type to pull off these sorts of tricks, likely needing both Weavile-GX and Naganadel to have a chance. While the deck was functional, that combo tended to have more like with the likes of Mega Sableye & Tyranitar-GX or Umbreon & Darkrai-GX just because those had to set up a bit less. While a set up Tyranitar-GX deck was indeed scary, it was pretty inconsistent and saw little serious play.

[olsenmyolsen]

Content

Part 1 of On The Inside With Elizabeth Olsen

Word Count: ~1.2K

masterlist

Y/N POV

"You just don't get it, Y/N. I'm tired. I am tired of coming home every single day and pretending to love you."

And just like that, I shoot up from my nightmare. Is it still a nightmare if you don't have dreams anymore, and the hell actually happened? I look myself over, and yep me, and my oversized white t-shirt are covered in sweat. I reach over, unplug my phone and look at the time 6:16 am. Greeaaaaat. I groan in frustration and shovel myself out of bed. I don't bother showering because what's the point of it all? Nothing says content like living with depression.

By the time I throw on my flannel, jeans, white vans, and make it out of my studio apartment, it's already 6:45. Just in time to rush to the train.

I don't mind the ride into the city. I keep to myself, so no one usually bothers me plus, you make it easier when you have the entire phone and airpod set going on, and it's New York, so people know how to handle themselves.

Right now, I'm trying to keep up to date on whatever news Twitter News thinks I'll enjoy. As I scroll down the feed, I spot something of interest. An article titled:

MCU STAR ELIZABETH OLSEN SPOTTED LEAVING SET OF THE DOCTOR STRANGE SEQUEL CRYING AND YELLING AT...

"Max lives for this kind of stuff." I awkwardly state out loud.

I wasted no time and sent it to my best friend and co-worker, Max. As I continue scrolling and scrolling, I find myself struggling to stay awake. So I close out of Twitter, open Spotify, and play my angsty/pop 2000s hits playlist. Nothing like Gives You Hell by The All American Rejects to start your morning.

Thirty minutes of songs later, a stop at Penn Station, and a ten-minute walk, I've finally made it to my place of work. Working in a coffee shop isn't for everyone, but it calls to me even on my days off; I find myself here... Like today.

As I enter our small coffee shop, I notice how it is filled to the brim. Is this normal? No. But days like these make the cash tips worthwhile, especially when Max is busting her ass on bar. Her red hair tied up into two buns with the coffee-stained graphic tee combo is always one of my favorite looks.

Max spots me as I shimmy my way to the employees-only section and playfully rolls her eyes. I reach down, grab my tips from the previous days of work and shove the amount, however much it is, into my pocket.  Max walks by me to throw some pitchers into the back.

"It's been nonstop."  Max tells me.

"How fun!" I cheerfully respond, earning a disgusted look from Mad Max.

"Excuse me! Sorry-Sorry Excu-. I just have to make my way! Please-sorry!" The plead from a struggling customer catches our attention.  Max walks back to the front to continue on drinks as that one customer squeezes her way to the register. To Alec.

Alec is one of our newer employees, and he's not bad, but I can tell this type of day is stressing him out.

Customer

Before Alec can even greet or remind the customer that there is a whole system of ordering called 'waiting in line,' she speaks. Now it's a little hard to hear over the people, music, and espresso machine, but I do manage to catch what she says:

"Hi, I'm really sorry, but I placed a pick-up order yesterday for checks watch twenty minutes ago, and I can't afford to wait any longer. So if I could just pay for it, pick it up, and go, that would be very helpful."She smiles, but I can tell she's not messing around. I look from her to Alec, and oh no, he's a deer in headlights. Max notices and looks back at me. I nod and head over.

Alec seems to get the message and backs up as I creep my way onto the register.

"Hey, so I understand you have an order with us?" I state, putting on my best face as I pull out a binder of call-ahead to-go orders. "Do you remember what the order or the name on the order was?"

"Yes. The order name was Liz." She proudly says. Though I can't see her eyes, I feel like I'm being looked all over.

I shuffle through our orders, and sure enough, three down, Liz. "Okay, order for Liz. 6 94oz coffee boxes, two boxes of a dozen croissants..." The more I read the order, the bigger my eyes get. I can't believe this! "And lastly, one vegan chocolate chip cookie." Liz gets a big toothy grin at the vegan cookie bit. "Anything else?"

Liz doesn't immediately respond and is smiling, caught in her own world.

"Liz?" I lean in.

"Huh? No, thank you!" She quickly responds as if embarrassed.

"Alright, well, slide your card when ready." I say in a less than enthused manner. I look to the other two around me. Max mouths 'what the fuck' as Alec, bless his soul, is trying his hardest to grab everything for this order. Man, this dude is really trying to impress this Liz chick.

I hear the chirp of the receipt printing. I tear it out and hand it over to Liz. "If you could just sign it at the bottom and no pressure to leave a tip, but it doesn't kill to be nice."

"Couldn't agree more." Liz says as she grabs a pen and marks on the paper. I'm too busy watching Alec struggle that by the time I turn back, Liz is gone. And the customer behind her is not a happy one.

Even though I shouldn't have, I helped with the morning rush. A part of me knows I did it because the thought of being stuck inside my house is a death sentence, and anything to take my mind off Naomi helps.

Once the dust settles, Max rushes over and gives me a huge bear hug.

"Oh my god. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You saved us today!" Max finally pulls out of the hug.

"For real, thanks, Y/N! And sorry, I kinda froze out there it's just once I saw who-"  Alec begins what I can only assume is a ridiculous apology.

"No worries, man. It happens to the best of us." As I make my way past him and onto the other side of the counter, I give him a thumbs up. He gives a shaky one back.

"Hey, did you see that article I sent you?" I ask Max.

"Oh shit, not yet. But are we still on for a movie tomorrow night? Maybe I can finally get you to watch the MCU?" Max holds her hands up as if she's praying.

"The MC - Who?" I sarcastically ask.

"The MCU!- Oh, you're fucking with me. Very funny, Y/N!"

"Always am!" I give Max a cheeky smile before plopping myself down at my favorite table. Oatmilk Latte in hand.

Part 2

[quirkwizard]

So I know you’ve done a post where you replaced the 6 ofa quirks. Could you do this but you’re limited to just mutant quirks. If this is too difficult then transformation, and if is still difficult the just emitters but your free to keep some like black whip for example

The issue with Mutant types is that they are too strong as they are, involve some physical enhancements, or just aren't that interesting. When picking out Quirks for this, I prefer the idea of weak Quirks growing stronger and that the new Quirks are worthwhile features, not further supporting the already immense power of "One For All". So I will try to stick to the two categories. I will give an honorable mention to "Beast" though. It is redundant with all the strength boosts, but hey, it could work as the dangerous super mode and could have a lot of fun design choices.

Zoom: Considering the lack of sensory abilities with the Quirk, this could help a lot with that. This could result in either growing to include more kinds of refined senses or being able to develop more kinds of senses in the eyes, either of which could be useful. Even then, it could have a cool to see it charged with "One For All", maybe going into a speed thinking state similar to "Overclock".

Jet: This is kind of redundant with Izuku's abilities, but I think would add another layer to it. Besides the consistent flight offered, it could be neat to see Izuku open up holes at any point in his body to project the air, using it to augment other parts his body, suddenly push himself around to redirect his body, or use it to make more focused, powerful blasts of his air attacks at any point.

Pliabody: This could wear a lot of hats for Deku. It's could help with ability to work in rescue, increase his survivability with evasion, and the stretchiness could a lot of fun options with the enhance physic. Rather then simply increasing the power output of "One For All", it simply gives the user more options to apply it. Think something like the various tricks Luffy has pulled off in his story.

Scales: I did consider "Hardening" because of how well it fit thematically, but I went with "Scales" since I think it had more to offer. Not only do I think that the grow scales could be fun to play around with, like making weapons out of them or firing them out on bursts of wind, they could have some fun combinations, like applying an effect through shooting out the scales, such as making bursts of air come out of them when used with "Jet".

Tape: While it could simply be my enjoyment of "Blackwhip" making me want to pick this, I think "Tape" can bring it's own to the table. Not only could Izuku use it to swing around and bind people, but I think would be great with rescue work, similar to how Sero uses it but on a larger scale, tying back whole structures together. Then it has some fun potential with other abilities, like using it with "Pliabody" to effectively make it act more like rubber.

Quad Arms: This may seem like a silly choice, but I think this would make for an interesting for one of the earlier Quirks for "One For All". Imagine instead of simply having two arms, it lets you duplicates parts like "Dupli Arms", but all around you body. Not only could this create so many interesting attack combos, but could be giving him more chances to apply the other Quirks, like more eyes for "Zoom", or combing the Quirks in other ways, like making super massive arms made from the "Scales".

[somethingwittyandweird]

So I finished Sea of Stars today (as anyone with me on their dash will find out as soon as they scroll past this post). Long story short, I loved it! It was a really solid experience from start to finish, and I'm going to take a moment here to sing some praises.

Early on the first thing that charmed me was the environment design- it felt like I could follow my character's journey visually on the world map through the zones when I entered and exited them, which just testifies to how well made the overworld map is. The environment designs were just great in general- every place was visually interesting and some of the backgrounds were absolutely jaw dropping.

I liked the combat system! It's not hard by any means but it's fun. It starts out slow to ramp up the interesting features and many times in the early game I felt like combats were over before I got to use any cool moves, but by the time you unlock all the mechanics it's a really dynamic system. I like the choice to flatten the MP bars and skill costs and put an emphasis on alternating spending MP on two-three skills and then basic attacking to replenish it. The live mana system gives another dynamic angle that ended up feeling a lot like Octopath's BP system in execution (again, setting up a cadence of small attacks to charge -> big damage attack -> repeat) but also interacted well with the lock system. The combo attacks are a highlight and the elemental lock system encourages nearly all of them to enter the rotation. The only gripe I have is that the Obligatory Indie RPG Timed Hits Like Paper Mario, while they do have good feel once you get them down, *really* could have used a timing example on first appearance, or someplace to practice using them. When a new party member showed up with a completely different attack pattern, it took me several fights of pressing A at random times during the animation to figure out where the right timing window was. Turning on the modifier that gave feedback on perfect timing was helpful to know when I had it, but I didn't like having to guess what part of the animation I was aiming at in the first place.

The characters were excellent- though I don't have much to say about some of them, others of them felt like they were aimed directly at me and the types of character I like. There were multiple times that I was delighted to see a new character get to join the ensemble and not just remain in place. I think they were all treated well by the story and most importantly, all had their moments to shine. On that, the story in this one was also excellent- some good twists and some *really* heartfelt plot beats that will stick with me. One visually shattering moment in the middle gave me that awe-struck "oh to experience that again for the first time" feeling whenever I passed through that area thereafter. Just an overall good story well told.

Like I said in my last post, I enjoyed the gamefeel of traversal, which is surprising since JRPGs aren't really a movement focused genre. But again, with the addition of verticality, climbing up ledges and rock walls, and later on the grapple hook to cross gaps, I was pretty engaged even when backtracking- though there was very little backtracking, since the world and environments were designed as very straightforward and easy to navigate. The collectibles and sidequests were at a good challenge level where they weren't free but they also didn't take dozens of hours to scour the world for the hidden door, etc. The game also gives you a modifier that gives a radar for collectibles too making it easy to get that nice shiny completion star. And the sidequests were all worthwhile too, especially the late game character-specific questlines. The full completion reward true ending surprised me at first, but I settled into it once the feelings started to flow.

It wouldn't be fair to the game to not mention the way it wears its love for Chrono Trigger and other SNES-era JRPGs on its sleeve. If "Guest Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda" wasn't enough of a clue, the story is tucked full of easter eggs and references, combo attacks and enemies and environments and plot beats that fans of Chrono Trigger would identify easily. But I think it handles the inspiration well, being an homage that still keeps up its own identity. The lore tying it to the studio's other game, The Messenger, helps with that. It's not just "hey let's remake this game we're all nostalgic for beat for beat" and more "hey let's do our own thing but throw in a lot of nods for us and for other people who are nostalgic for this."

Overall, playing the game was great to end 2023 and finishing the game is a killer start to 2024! A very hearty recommend from me.

[murdleandmarot]

hi <3

I felt weird just sending a message so I'm putting this as an ask for some reason, so it's easier to ignore if needed

I just want to say thank you for everything you've said, I hold on to every positive thing people say to me for when I'm in crises

I'm sorry I've been struggling so much lately ;; i feel so bad every time I call for help because I know it's nobody's place to. i probably shouldn't get into details of why I've been feeling like this because it's kind of a long ramble and I don't want to waste your time

I've been losing a lot lately and itzr4v3n and one other person on Discord seem to be the only people who want to talk to me anymore, so when they're not here I'm kind of on my own. I'm trying to make a name for myself in the murdle fandom but it's very hard because I'm not really making what the fandom wants lol

anyway, sorry for rambling... I owe you a lot, and I appreciate you so much <3

hi hello!!! thanks for reaching out, I’m glad my words have had a positive effect on you <333

I know it’s easy to get stuck in cycles of not feeling ‘good enough’ for fandoms-I feel this way OFTEN, mostly due to my own insecurities surrounding my art and my abilities. But you have to remember-it’s a FANdom and you are a fan. As long as you like what you’re doing, it’s worthwhile.

And your series is so cute!! I don’t engage with it much, simply because I’m not not as active on here as I used to be, (combo of school medication and general depression baybeee), but know I am cheering you on from the sidelines :)

Don’t feel bad about asking for help, ever, because otherwise people might not know anything’s wrong. I wish I could be brave enough to express feelings and doubts and insecurities on here without constantly worrying about validation-we’re all just trying our best, and you don’t have to be sorry or feel bad for admitting that life sucks for you at the moment :(

That got a lil ranty, my bad. The point is: I love you, keep doing what you’re doing, and don’t be afraid to ask for advice or anything! I’ll be happy to say what helps me with mental health stuff (or just catharsis-sometimes having a favorite sad song just to get the feels out is really helpful lol).

Sorry I was very much assigned yapper at birth, I LOVE YOU 🫶🫶🫶

[unproduciblesmackdown]

speaking of how going wheeee joe iconis halloween kicked off the combo move of not only "wheeee joe iconis oeuvre" but also the very funny identification process of being like yeah hang on jeremy morse what am i thinking of here & in a one-two Voice Smile recognition going like hey yeah oh my god the 7pm krampus, ft. cyril even here, & how fantastic it's even once again a funny little roles duet with your supernatural kindred spirit you're also fucking, wherein then i also end up going oh yeah bloodsong, finally time to get into that proper....also the resulting humorous thought like well first of all genuinely fascinating when the Funny Little Guy performance i [standing saluting >:'I ] for is put into a duet like that, where there's plenty of overlap like [role you could expect could go to will roland = to jeremy morse; vice versa] like both jeffing, jeremy of frequent similarly "now who's this funny little guy. uh oh is he okay" andy's songing (also was wondering like is Kevin in this vein? & just it also generally not being Unexpected like ah what if someone who can do fun & harmless turned out to really be doing Oh No, This Sicko, except also everyone of any initial apparent effect can be doing the Sicko pivot lol so. but there is at least One potato filmed jeremy morse kevin of yore) but like okay & so what happens Together lol

and what happens is what is fun about Funny Little Roles Together in a context in which a comedic lens is applied to Everything rather than being like ha ha with this lens you can burn who you turn it on, there's a boundary between who can be laughed at & who can do the laughing & Never be laughed at, & i'm remembering the other day like "wait people really have bad dreams about Oh No Everyone Laughing At Me??" b/c i have literally never had anything like that despite basically constant anxiety scenario dreams but there's also not these High Stakes like oh god what if i'm Laughed At as an expression of like negative judgment / contempt b/c like oh a tuesday 11am? nothing to do w/the general anxiety of "it's pathologized if you're anxious when potentially being around Anyone Else at home at school at work in public is indeed Unsafe; but if people find themselves unable to see a movie in theaters like they want to b/c they can't find a pal to chaperone them lest absolutely anyone think they look like a Weirdo or Loser or Geek or Whatever then that's just called being Normal & they should go pwn someone for finding phonecalls out of reach while also liking text messages too much etc" where was i. Not having a boundary between What Can Be Laughed At and You Yourself, who can safely Never be laughed at, or indeed the need to Wink at the audience like ah we're both in on it & both would never really be of [whatever is laughable], not the need for anyone to signal being Above It in whatever way, or for material worth taking seriously to be Not Comedy, or for like some end goal / truly Worthwhile way to be comedic being like ah it's just me being so good at Laughing At & passing that along to an audience whose laughter is "you're so right" & Knowing i could never be worth laughing At, not Really, my expertise in regardless creating that Effect, like when it's considered Actor Prestigious when like supposed states of Inferiority similar to "can be laughed at" like what if someone was Disabled or Ugly or Poor or Fat or Trans etc is performed by someone We All Know To Be So Totally Not That in a as to be typecast as Worthy Leads / Heroes lol & it's all done in a solemn dramatic fashion like wow what a Feat then

lost in the sauce back to What If Two Executors Of Funny Littleness when there's no presumed Boundary of [can be laughed at / L] vs [can Never be laughed at / W] (also like. well a tangent i'll set aside for now lol. heroically) & that it's so interesting & lively the Range therein because nobody's held back from "do NOT give this role depth like they have feelings & character too" so we don't get confused about who's the Real person in this scenario, & more specifically like if we look at the Straight Man role as like, not "try finding someone in the iconis zone where i don't assume everyone's gay unless & until like ah i see married to a woman for what that's worth, anyone can do anything lol" but like let's say the person in a scene who gives the audience Reference for what their Expectations are, so that a context is created where someone can do the Unexpected & there's your comedy. & it's fun how not only is it Already Flexible like well i'd say when the cyril / krampus scene started off last christmas it was the krampus who starts off in the straight man position while cyril is Doing The Unexpected. but then naturally it's the singer in my best friend's a skeleton who gives us context for what to expect, yet including introducing a bit of tension already like what's it mean that your best friend was heard coming from miles away cuz his bones make a ruckus when they hit the ground? & the A Skeleton is the unexpected. but then like even gets in the way of comedy when there's More Expectedness like we can expect the straight man to be the site of What We Should Expect & whomever to disrupt that, & that like really when that boundary is kind of there like the blessed can't be laughed at (save as punishment) vs barbarous can be laughed at (for existing, perhaps Gifted with being taken seriously one moment ever) (cough, e.g. billions) it's those who are Laughed At-able who get more thorough capacity as characters really rather than held back by the scruff of the neck in the realm of supposed guaranteed [everyone will always see you as Dignified & Admirable & Worthy] like yeah have fun

& so the way also that even within, say, a comedic duet / two-person scene, who is operating within Expectation & who is bringing the Unexpected can pass back & forth a bit & even be left entirely behind by both parties b/c the audience still has enough context for what all is going on to not simply be at sea in confusion as to what the effect is even supposed to be, though not suggesting a [??] moment/effect can't be humorous too lol & like i just love that for us. everyone can break out the range b/c nobody has to be the Not Laughed At Ever role & everything just becomes much more flexible, kind of like the range & flexibility granted to any & everyone in any situation where there is not a context of the worthy vs unworthy Lol Lmao, how about that

anyway this comedy commentary was all kind of a tangent as per my original joke being like yeah my sorta humorous thought like "big cabaret won't let there already be dozens of will roland jeremy morse funny little duets b/c they're SCARED" (of the power that would have) but then just last night while hopping around some vaguely relevant videos like omg THAT one yeah i KNOW her!!! you rang

(speaking of will ending up morse so the straight man role but not entirely. & obvious also less joke answers like even with "try finding funny little people who Don't perform delightfully together & have dozens of Recorded & Uploaded instances of this" but & like oh hi also one of the classic sam salmond "in new york" performances where will's singing the So You're Alone while jeremy is in the barbershop quartet, or this apropos cabaret "celebrate christmas (with me)" video....even One nice long crisp number like this like if that cup don't runneth over. while understanders in the comments like speaking of Big Cabaret Is Scared where it's also like well two for two beautiful love songs, someone identifying this as such, or the person right on the same page about this power whose coincidental use of the word bomb got a bath bombs reply lmfao & in that very vein of "source of many views on this vid from '16" someone a little confused but got the spirit in being like shoutout to the other guy, drew! like no & will is not alex. shoutout from Me to the whole thing obvi but also physical comedy or just Acting like parallel threads of what they do during giving the reins a Slap or the subsequent Just Two Dots On A Map which gets a nose (ft. vocal) Boop at one point & then later with more successful affinity a fist bump [slap] & returned form of the boop being Got Your Nipples [two dots on a map] like fantastic lmao. comedy so appropriate that when jeremy inexplicably like clacks his teeth as a Choice does will smile as himself or his role? as he gets to be this fun little guy who still also gets to be the "more normal" one for intents & purposes when you're not Guaranteed pushed into "oh You're the one we Laugh At" & we're not really doing that dichotomy anyway & there's only more surprises & possibilities for all roles & audiences if at any given time any given role might Not be contained within "well, doing things wrong. comedy" gay baby jail)

[aeymii]

Also imagine the trio ending up in the grand meetup of the other Komas and their ship clubs. And because he's a protagonist in his verse, and has so much ship teasing going on with like a quarter of the cast, Protag!Nagito has doppelgangers on all sides insisting that he join their club.

Matsukoma Nagito: "You're not one of those Mikan-loving Komaedas, are you? There's only one truly worthwhile medical partner. Even if he's dead in your verse, Yasuke is irreplaceable."

Protag!Nagito: "Now wait just a minute! I'll have you know that Mikan is a lovely person, and a very dear-"

Komamiki Nagito: "ONE OF US! HE'S ONE OF US!"

Protag!Nagito: "Wait, wait! I didn't say that-"

Matsukoma Nagito: "You didn't say that you weren't either. Well?"

Protag!Nagito: "I...But..."

Roulette Nagito: "Hold the phone! We saw footage of that hotbaths scene with Gudham. You seemed to be quite enjoying yourself there."

Protag!Nagito: "I was just really happy to be included as one of the guys!"

Soumaeda Nagito: "Kaz was there too!"

Roulette Nagito: "...What if he's in a poly relationship with Gundham AND Kaz?"

Soumaeda Nagito: "Ooh! I don't think we've had that combo yet. Or maybe with Gundham, Kaz, AND Sonia. He seems to get along very well with her too."

Protag!Nagito: "What?! No, you've got it all...I mean..."

Komazumi Nagito: "Oh come on. We've seen you've had some cute bonding moments with Mahiru. No one can smile quite the way she does. And those freckles!"

Protag!Nagito: "Mahiru...is important to me. But this is all so very sudden!"

Komanami Nagito: "NO! Stay loyal to Chiaki to the very end! Even if it means waiting until the next life!"

Protag!Nagito: "Aargh! Leave me alone!"

All the while main Nagito and Nagiko are just laughing in the background eating popcorn. Just to be clear I treat main Nagito and Protag!Nagito's OTP as "Insert preferred ship here". It could be Komahina. Or it could be something as wild as a resurrected cyborg Yasuke for the Matsukoma diehards.

I do also have this one idea I've mused about for Nagiko's flings. Generally speaking she actually doesn't hold the many Kamukuras of the multiverse in high regard. Feeling that the novelty wears off fast, as once you've met one Kamukura, you've met most of them. Channeling Stillwell from the comic The Boys and thinking like "What have you thought of to do that the lowest speck of humanity couldn't, were they to be granted your level of power?". Being especially unimpressed by the ones that try to assuage their boredom by joining Junko or doing something else she considers equally dull and unproductive.

But there are exceptions to that. Like one Natsumizuru that she took a fondness to. Who had a bit more of a spark in her than a lot of other Kamukuras did, and channeled her talents in more productive ways to stave off boredom. I have this one mental image of Nagiko trolling main Fuyuhiko by not-so-subtly implying she had a thing going on with an alternate superhuman version of his sister. Being all like "Man she was rough, if I didn't have a reinforced skeleton that girl would have demolished my spine."

Komas unite for real HAHAHA, EXACTLY like, the protagonist always gets the best ships in this franchise!! I can't even pick a favorite Saihara ship- I have like 4 favorites?!?!

Nahh Koma's not gonna defend her- I WILL DEFEND HER!! WHADDYA SAY TO MIKAN PUNK?! hehe, Go Yasuke lol, YEAH TELL EM PROTAG- ONE OF US AHZDVA IM DYING HAHAHAHA THIS IS HILARIOUS!! Y'all calm down maybe he's a Matsukomamiki something haha!! YOOOO HE'S EXPOSED 💀💀💀💀 GET EM GUYSSSS‼️🗣️ AND KAZUICHI WAS THERE TOO!?!? EXPLAIN YOURSELF BWAHAHAGA

THIS SHEET EPIC!! AND SONIA'S THERE TOO LOL<33 poor PROTAG he can't even catch a break, that's crazy!! GET HIM Y'ALL!! IMMA GRAB THE POPCORN 🍿 🍿 OMG Mahiru smiling?!?! That's a rare one and she's so adorable<33 HAHA GO KOMANAMI NAGITO!!

AND THEY JUST LAUGHING IN THE BACKGROUND LOVE THEM!! I agree!! FOR DA KOMAHINAS!! AND THE DIE HARD MATSUKOMASS AND ALL THE KOMASS THE SHIPVERSE LOL!! YEAH Nagiko slayy queen!! She don't give two sheets about Izuru<3 yeah it wares off after a while I mean there's like the whole different versions around, she don't care about nobody hahah love the girlboss NATSUMI I MISSED HERRR YASS, OOOO SHE HAS THE HOTS FOR HIS SISTER?! go women yayy OOOOOO this is just pure epicness I LOVE IT YOUR IDEAS ARE SO GOOD MY FAV ANON, have some cookies!!!! 🍪🍪

[skylermadness]

A Gain in Power (Roquefort TF/MC/CRPT/HY)

(Original Date of Upload: February 5, 2023)

Original Description:

I may have written this in two days. I played Hi-Fi Rush a few weeks back and it's a very good game! Roquefort has been my TF obsession since then. Australian accent, corruption mood, robotic werewolf. All-in-all, really fuckin' hot and I needed to write a TF story of him as soon as possible. This story is a bit different to me, it's kind of experimental since I'm doing a lot of different things in it that I haven't before. Especially on the subject matter of hypnosis which I have never done in a story before up until now, much less non-consensual hypnosis that requires a lot of resistance. I think I did it kind of wonkily but I'm still proud of the end result nonetheless. The post-TF is definitely a little awkward though, I wasn't quite sure where I wanted to go around there. Overall this is all just a bunch of new concepts that I haven't tried before, but I am trying now! And overall I still think it turned out rather well! Also the story title is a pun. I hope someone gets it.

   "I put my stock in futures… but not yours, kid."

   How many times has Gerald heard this line? It felt like about ten or so now. A little embarrassing to think about, really, the knowledge that it's been taking this many attempts to beat this boss.

   Left stick forward, light attack while the boss is still transforming…

   He wasn't really rhythmically inclined. That might've been the largest issue here, although even then the penalty never seemed that dire before. They were at least able to connect certain cues, especially with parrying, but something about this boss was… tedious, to say the least.

   Ignore the "Repeat" penalties, just go with what works. X, X, X, and… fail to time the last beat properly. Try again!

   Try again. That's what Gerald tells himself. All the other bosses were a walk in the park! Except maybe Mimosa but he didn't die to her as much as he died to this Roquefort fellow. Could it be the size? Could it be the irregular attack patterns? Could it just be that he's on Normal mode and should've just gone with Easy like his gut told him before this game started?

   25%, just as long as- Ugh, crap! The stupid dive attack always-

   He's not using his entire arsenal, is he? When's the last time he used Peppermint, or really called on any of the allies? He hasn't used a Special Attack in a long while either!

   Shit, why does the boss deal damage while swimming through the money??

   Maybe he should use more combos? Or actually try to be in beat? So many thoughts, so many things he could try and do. This boss shouldn't be this hard, it really shouldn't-

   Music's ramping up, Chai is near a fist, Roquefort's about to jump and dive at him, aaaaand… there!

   At least he's able to get a good few hits in when the boss is incapacitated. Although he himself is somehow at half HP. Maybe buying those things that increased his max health would've been a worthwhile investment.

   Grapple to him, somehow start an aerial attack, miss half the hits, the boss misses an attack that would've rushed towards him. Grapple again, forget to listen to audio cues, get hit, repeat. 50% health on Roquefort, about 45% on Chai…

   He sighs. He likely won't be winning this fight today, meaning it'd probably be a good time to give up and take a break after he inevitably loses this round. That's… fine (he's lying to himself). He needs to blow off some steam (he desperately wants to beat this boss before he ends this session).

   He gets hit again, a pang of fear emanating through him as he notices how low his health is. Roquefort's voice then echoes through Gerald's headphones. "Hmph. Giving up already? Weak."

   Is the game taunting him now? It usually only does that when he game overs. And that's a new voice line too. Usually he hears the man say 'Money is power!' or something every twenty seconds.

   The fight gets uneventful from here, maybe because Gerald is already sure he's losing. He's slipping. He's getting greedier with his attacks, he's trying to end things quickly when this isn't the game for that.

   "Ya ain't gonna use all that's at your disposal? This could have been over easily."

   There was something unnerving about the tone of that. Why did it feel so targeted? It was… discomforting. He didn't like that. 

   Another simple combo: X, X, X, and… ah, perfected that last hit for once! Excitement is fleeting, though. 25% on Roquefort, 20% on Chai. Even worse…

   "Prepare to get blown away!"

   …the QTE.

   The worst segment of the battle, if not the entire game as a whole. If his inability to get into the rhythm wasn't going to fuck things up, his inability to discern buttons at an ungodly pace would.

   They always went so fast. This didn't feel like the Space Channel 5 segment of Mimosa's fight that was just a bunch of calls and responses. This was what felt like an unfair rapid fire of required inputs. It hurt, it really hurt.

   He was pretty sure he didn't even get past the halfway point. His own health gets decimated in what feels like seconds.

   It's over. He lost.

   The screen steadily fades to black, except this time Chai is missing from it. The only additive the blank computer screen has is a short taunt from Roquefort.

   "Your struggling gets pitiful."

   The lack of Chai on the screen didn't really phase him. A part of him would've assumed it was one of those 'you die [x] amount of times and get an Easter egg' kind of things.

   Gerald sighs, staring at the black screen. A self-deprecating smile crosses his face. It was pitiful, wasn't it? Whatever, guess if the game was blanking he should take a break. He just has to wait for the option to Leave to show up.

   It never did, though. The screen remained black, and it did so for what felt like a long time. But those lengthy few seconds ended as something finally did appear on the screen.

   Steadily fading in from within the void was what looked to be a solid gold metronome. The pendulum seemed to already be active, swaying left and right to a soft, constant click that rang through the headphones.

   Left, click. Right, click. Left, right, left, right. The clicks that practically reverberated through his ears had mesmerized him. The swinging of the pendulum was practically hypnotic. He was so fixated that he didn't really notice the opacity of the metronome fade, the object solid on the screen of his computer.

   It was then that an all too familiar voice broke the audio immersion. "Beautiful, ain't it?"

   Gerald's eyes remained fixated on the pendulum, but his mind still functioned enough to speak. "Wh-huh…?"

   "It's a nice metronome. Costed a pretty penny too. But that ain't what I'm here for…"

   Gerald knew this voice. Thick Australian accent, a strange yet powerful tone to its demeanor. "Roque…fort?"

   "Heh, look who's on the money! Not as dumb as I was expectin', considerin' that pitiful performance of yours in our little… 'battle', if you could even call it that."

   Gerald wanted to blink. "I'm… sorry?" He wanted to articulate more than that. To ask what was going on, or how this was even happening. Yet the metronome, the swinging… left and right and left and…

   "I'm going to be blunt with ya', mate. You're weak. It's pathetic to watch, even more pathetic to endure when you're the one constantly tasked with fighting such a disappointment."

   "It was only ten… times. Wasn't that bad…"

   A sign echoes from Gerald's headphones. "You're that accepting of it, huh? You're even more of a disappointment than I thought. But I'm going to rectify that…"

   "What do you…?"

   "You need to be made stronger. You need to be made better! You… you need to be shown what true power feels like."

   The swinging of the metronome's pendulum starts to increase in speed. It's only subtle, but when it's the only thing the eyes focus on you can feel it.

   Gerald's jaw clenched. "I… I don't…"

   Roquefort cuts him off. "Let's start with that thing in your hand…"

   Eyes still unable to tear away from the metronome, Gerald couldn't see what was happening. The controller within his hand shook for a few moments, his grip slowly fading as the inanimate object seemed to shake at an increasingly faster rate. As the object convulsed, it seemed to melt in a way. Buttons lost their defining features and melded into the mass. Both sticks liquified into raised bumps on the strange lump of goo. 

   Once everything was smoothed out and gone the controller shape steadily compressed into itself, reshaping and losing all uniqueness to its features until it was a lumpy, black, gooey-looking sphere floating innocuously in his hands. Shortly after that, it began to reshape itself yet again. Lengthening horizontally, its sphere shape changes to something more slender. Getting longer still, one end shines with a gold coloration while the other end gains a T-shape to it thanks to two new blunted protrusions. After a few more seconds the object hardens, its material changing to a metal with a pure black coloration. The golden nub at the end shines softly while another bit of gold forms an inch beneath where the protrusions formed. 

   Gerald couldn't see it, but his controller had been morphed into a cane. It dropped into his hands, both of them curling around the strange new object. The metal felt cold.

   "What did you… do?" Gerald inquired, his eyes still trapped to the rhythmic swinging of the metronome.

   "I gave you something a little more… refined. It'll also allow what comes next to be easier. Now just sit back and accept this… gift, of mine."

   Gerald hissed as a sudden shock zapped his fingers from the cane. His entire body shivered in response, a strange feeling welling up inside it, meanwhile his hands started to go numb. He tried to move his head away from the computer, to look at what was happening, but it felt rooted. His eyes remained affixed to the metronome's swinging. "Ngh, need to break from… this trance-"

   He grunts as he tries to do so, and while that happens things begin to change in his body. The numbness in his hands was caused by their physicality being shifted. His skin started to take a darker tone as the warmth in it steadily dissipated, soft flesh hardening to a cool metal. His fingers softly twitched to the clicks of the metronome in his ears, each finger segmenting at the joints as the metal washed over them. At the same time his hands were beginning to increase in size, stretching out larger and bulkier; fingers getting thicker and blunted. 

   The twitching in his fingers gained a subtle mechanical whir to them, the now segmented joints gaining a black hue to them. A robotic feel seemed to wash over the entire area, his hand already having become a bronze coloration, perfect for its now entirely metallic composition. Small nubs had even emerged from his knuckles, hardening into an elongated hexagonal shape as they practically powered out with a light blue glow.

   A geometric line etched itself around both wrists as the changes to his cellular structure jumped to his forearms and beneath the sleeves of his hoodie. The region numbing, the bronze washing up them and the skin hardening to metal. Both forearms looked to bulk up in size as these absurd changes courses through them, sleeves steadily filling out with this new size. The internal muscles shifted to wiring and convoluted mechanisms while the bones hardened to a shining metal. Another line ran across the now metallic casing, bisecting it unevenly before moving to his elbows and segmenting them from his arms as well.

   The changes on his upper arms mirrored those in the lower arms perfectly. What were once his bicep and tricep muscles were replaced with inorganic, advanced technology; but still filled out the region and expanded it within his sleeves and stretched them out slightly. As his flesh shifted to metal it got bisected unevenly as well with yet another casing split. And as everything steadily reached his shoulders, his shirt got a bit more snug as the area got bulkier with mechanics that were once his deltoids filling his new metallic chassis. Lastly came one final casing split in the area separating his arms from his torso, the axilla, creating a clean divide between the limbs and his body.

   The numbness in his arms steadily faded, the areas feeling cold and lifeless. Yet he could still move them, albeit weakly since he wasn't acclimated to these new limbs. 

   "What are you doing to me…?" Gerald said, fear in his voice as he was still unaware of what his arms had become. They just felt cold and it was uncomfortable and terrifying.

   "Eh, I ain't one for keepin' shit like this a secret. I pity you, kid. You're weak, and all I'm doin' is fixing that for ya', like someone else did for me. I'm transforming you into the stronger one between us."

   Gerald was left confused. "Wha…?" Transforming him into the stronger one? Was Roquefort implying… 

   "Y-you're making me into… you…?"

   "Clever boy, you catch on quick! You'll be me in both body and mind… gives me chills just thinkin' about it! Usually I'm the one transformin', heheheh…"

   Roquefort was clearly enjoying this. Gerald, on the other hand, wasn't. He wanted to protest, but that could worsen an already bad situation for him. He just had to break away from staring at this damned metronome!

   He grunts again, trying harder to break away from this trance all while his body continues to change even more. The skin tone on his chest begins to shine a deep bronze while the warm skin itself reconstitutes into cold metal. His clothing fills up again as his entire body starts to expand, widening out to a larger width than it possessed before. His chest steadily rose up, previously unimpressive pectorals expanding into a larger and thicker size. A small dent formed where the cleavage would be while straight lines formed beneath his pecs and around his body to break the chassis apart and separate the upper body from the lower. Strangely, a bit of fluff formed on the midline of his chest, an attempt to give his chest some kind of chest hair. Three spikes of clumped fuzz poked from this new fluffy growth, stylizing it a bit.

   His back possessed less impressive changes than that of his front. While the smooth metal ran across the entire area, there were still slight segmentations like a pair of parallel ones, each split running roughly two inches away from his neck. Those splits stopped at the horizontal run that parted his body in half.

   In contrast to the implied musculature his body possessed, his belly changed in a different manner. Bloat filled it up, the hem of his hoodie riding up it as it grew thicker and fatter. It got a metallic sheen as it enlarged, the region seeming to segment four times at regular intervals in an attempt to give it a more mobile look. His hoodie continued to move upwards, revealing this segmenting and confirming his belly had swelled into a firm robo-gut. It steadily moved with his breathing, rising and falling slightly in its new larger size.

   Gerald felt this strange gain in weight, although at this point he was feeling a chill throughout his entire body. His torso felt like it was churning as well, his vestigial feeling strange as if they were warping around and shifting. Complex robotics were filling his body at a rapid pace, things shifting and changing within him as various systems of mechanics began to flow throughout his changing form. Soft glows emanated from the various holes in his casing, different colors representing all the new systems implemented to his currently cybernetic body. A soft red glow put his body's internal heating system online, filling it with some semblance of comfort in contrast to this slightly horrifying predicament. Then there was a soft blue glow that signified power fully coming online, Gerald slowly being able to move his hands properly as he tapped his fingers on the cane he was still grasping.

   Wait. He could move his hands.

   It was a momentarily glimmer of hope. Gerald was quickly able to unhand the cane and move his hands upwards to push his headphones off his head, the appliance slipping down to his neck after he did so. His eyes still remained fixed to the pendulum, but he could still reach his hand over and use the keyboard. Maybe if he forced a Ctrl+Alt+Del, he could…

   "Still resisting I see…" Roquefort's voice reverberated from his computer's speakers.

   The pendulum began to swing faster, and the speed was starting to feel disorienting. His fingers hovered above the keyboard, though. "I just have to-"

   "Hm. You'd usually be more intuitive than this, Roquefort."

   "What-"

   "You'd never do something so predictable."

   "You called me-"

   "Roquefort. That's your name."

   Gerald swallowed a lump in his throat. He knew that wasn't his name, but the weird confusion he's being given by the swiftly swinging metronome was making him feel strange. His hands started to inch away from the keyboard. "That… can't…"

   "Doesn't it sound so familiar though? Roquefort Wolfgang, Head of Finance at Vandelay Technologies."

   "Head of… Finance…" Gerald repeated, the last word in that sentence sounding slightly off. Sounding a pinch deeper, rougher. 

   "Good boy. Go on, think about it a bit more. Recall all you can…"

   Gerald's hands fully retracted away from the keyboard, the man giving a single nod as his eyes remained on the golden metronome. All he was given was being the Head of Finance at a technology corporation, but that seemed to be enough that he started searching his brain for information. Something about that had begun to feel so right to him it was… 

   "Urgh…"

   His head aches, things are feeling conflicted. It's both right and wrong… which ones which? Gerald shudders, his mind now in turbulence. As he tries to put the pieces together, the changes start moving downwards to his waist and below.

   His jeans were already in the process of straining thanks to his much broader form. The button held itself tightly as the zipper tried to keep itself together. His belt was doing quite a lot of work as well, although it was the only part of his attire that felt like it was properly constricting him.

   The region around his waist had strange shifts when it came to its casing. The region at the base of his spine seemed to gain an interesting mechanism within it. The region around his rear seemed to gain a strange way of segmenting while the roundness of his ass seemed to increase and fill the seat of his pants. If anything it looked like he had two round pieces of metallic plating.

   As with the rest of his body, the changes within his legs were effectively the same. Skin tone changing, skin composition morphing. Much like his arms, the casing of his thighs bisected unevenly. The internals of the area shifted to wiring and tubing and hard metal bones, the region bulking up as a direct result of that. Lines formed around the knees where the chassis cleanly broke for the joints to work. 

   Changes in the lower legs were effectively the same, although the casing splits seemed more vertical than horizontal, at least for the first half of it. Things reached an interesting change towards the lower half of his leg’s crus. While still possessing its newly metallic shifts, the color shifted to a darker red with thin black stripes running vertically downwards, giving them the weird look of emulating the visible portion of a pair of socks.

   This didn’t last for too long though as once everything flowed down beneath his shoes and onto his feet, a more drastic change occurred. A deep shade of black entered his feet, subsuming the fleshy tone of it and deepening it to something completely inorganic. The size of his feet steadily expanded, his footwear starting to bulge against the growing size of the appendages. A strange sleek smoothness entered the metal, nullifying any imperfections and exacerbating that feel of inhumanity in the area. His heels dug into the heels of his shoes as they hardened, ankles smoothing and digging into the sides. The soles of his feet swelled yet smoothed as they looked like they emulated the soles of a shoe more and more. The strangest change came to his toes, each one melding and squishing with the other as they smoothed out into the toecap of a shoe. 

   The size increase coupled with these strange developments resulted in the cloth of his already existing footwear to rip apart, revealing the sleek shining metal beneath. Even the shoe strings weren’t spared as the bridge of his foot grew a protrusion that acted as the tongue of a shoe, pushing the strings while they ripped against his changing feet. This new size of his feet allowed them to slightly break from the crus of his legs, making them appear to be separate articles of clothing from that of his weird socks. Even weirder was what was happening to the internals of his feet, bones and muscles morphing and rematerializing to become a strange internal mechanism of metal and wiring. Something had definitely formed beneath his feet-turned-footwear.

   All while this occurred, Gerald’s mind was in a confused rut. “M-my name is not… Roquefort? Is… it…?” As he stammered, his voice cracked. Deeper still, a huskier tone entering it through his doubts.

   A bright blue glow flickered into his irises, his head was pounding. He placed both hands on his head, the now slightly warm metal of his palms ebbing into his temples. Yet his eyes remained locked onto the metronome’s pendulum. Gerald’s voice temporarily returns to normal, a moment of clarity and resistance coming through. “Nnngh, n-no, have to…”

   “You’re stronger than this, Roquefort.”

   Ugh, that name. It feels more familiar every time it’s said. “My names- urgh, my name’s Ger… ald…?”

   Even with his resistance that name felt wrong. That declaration was wrong.

   “Stop actin’ so weak!”

   A growl practically exited Gerald’s throat. “I ain’t weak!” he said defensively, his voice running lower again, sounding more rough and powerful. An accent was even beginning to crawl in there.

   “Ooh, fightin’ back now are we. Finally showing some initiative!” The pendulum starts to swing at a faster pace again. A part of Gerald tries to look away again, but it feels so entrancing. “Come on, boy, repeat after me…”

   “Strength is valuable, financial strength is invaluable.”

   “S-strength is valuable… financial strength is invaluable…” The accent in Gerald’s voice gets stronger, noticeably Australian. This is accentuated by changes in his neck. A split in the metal circles around his neck as the deep bronze creeps up in. It slowly flows up his shifting skin, replacing it with metal as his neck widens.

   “Costs are all that matters.”

   “Costs… are all that matters.” His voice cracks less, getting overpowered by the deep huskiness of Roquefort’s. The value of strength, the value of money, both are filling his mind rapidly as well.

   “Money is power…!”

   “Money is… u-urgh-” Everything begins to waver for a split second. “N-no! Not… right… I’m not…”

   He was too far down the mental spiral though. Something about those phrases felt so accurate. Something about all of this felt so… right. He may have been weak before, but he was being granted this strength. Power. So much power, but so much knowledge as well. He could feel his mind filling with all that information needed for proper financial handling.  It would be rude to turn down such an 'offer' of high value being granted to him!

   “Would you like to try that again, Roquefort?”

   Gerald(?) lets out a low chuckle. “Of course. I ain’t one to give up so easily!~” he said with a smirk.

   They both then spoke in unison.

   “Money is power!”

  At this point the metal had gone up from his neck and started to etch onto his face. The pale tone of his flesh is ebbed away as it’s replaced by the bronze, just like it was with the rest of his skin. As his organic flesh was being converted to artificiality, the structure of his face changed entirely. His jawline smoothed and sculptured itself, roundness sharpening into a more angular shaping. His entire head seemed to get slightly larger, the shape of it squeezing slightly to appear slightly rectangular. His nose got wider and blunt. Eyes got smaller, edges sharper. Eyebrows got thicker and bushy while getting slightly crooked at the end. Even his ears got slightly altered as they became slightly pointed. 

   The robotic nature of his new form became more clear as the last of his skin was subsumed by the bronze mental. The chassis that made up his head was divided in two right on his face, a split running above his cheeks and stopping beneath his bottom eyelids. It started back up at the upper eyelids and created a clean trapezoidal shape that ended on his forehead. Roughly an inch above the split diagonally came two protrusions that poked from his head, slowly hardening into a definitive hexagonal shape before alighting with a bright blue.

   The last of his physical changes came with his hair. He raised a hand to the apex of his scalp and, in one fell sweep, wiped a good chunk of his hair off the top of his head and left it with a significant bald spot. What remained around his head started to restyle itself, straightening and combing itself together as it changed into a style that prominently poked out both sides of his head (alongside a tuft that poked out the back). Large tufts of hair that from a frontal view looked like the pointed ears of a wolf. All the while, the coloration was becoming a deep brown. Stripes of gray had also etched into his hair, starting at one temple and stretching around the back of his head all the way to the other.

   Brown fluff then started to trail further down the sides of his head. Growing on the sides of his jaw and flowing downwards onto his chin. The further down it went the thicker this new beard seemed to get, the style also seeming perfectly angular to that of his jawline. Fuzz had also arisen towards the ends of his mouth, moving upwards to above his upper lip and then running sideways to meet underneath his nose. A nice thick mustache was what graced that region as a result.

   The changed man couldn't help but give his beard a nice stroke. His eyes, still fixated on the pendulum, had also gained a glowing blue coloration in their irises.

   "Feelin' a lot better…" he spoke with a smirk. His new mindset felt right at home in his head. Some would say it's greed, but he's just making the choices that bring the most profit. That's what he did to that weakling after all. Gave them the form that was most profitable. So much stronger, so much better.

   For once he blinked. He had no reason to take into account that metronome anymore. As far as he was concerned, he was done with it. Almost. A few finishing touches have to be done after all.

   Finally broken from the screen, Roquefort looked down at his body. A hoodie, some jeans, a pair of headphones hanging off his neck. He pushed the chair he was in back and kicked off the tattered remains of his previous selve's old shoes. His cane had also found itself on the floor, likely due to whatever futile resistance he had also tried to put up. Whatever, he needed something more refined.

   He stood up from his chair and picked up his cane, a hand grasped onto the handle firmly. "Now that that little distraction has been dealt with, I have some work to get back to doing."

   The tip of his cane touched the ground, both portions of gold that were on it glowing in response to his desires. The room had rapidly started to shift, reality warping around him as deep purple unfurled on the carpet while bright golds and rich wooden browns formed around the walls and ceiling. The room around him was getting significantly larger.

   At the same time, his clothing was undergoing its own changes. His hoodie started to split down the middle, buttons emerging along this split. The hood receded as the neck deepened into a deep V shape, the hem raising to a smaller V shape. The sleeves retracted into the hoodie, leaving it sleeveless and marking it more as a vest now. Lastly came the coloration, a rich purple color soaking into it as thin white stripes formed.

   Concurrently, a new shirt seemed to form beneath his changing hoodie. As the hoodie sleeves retracted a new set of sleeves, white in color, unfurled from beneath the vest and ran down his arms before rolling themselves up to above his elbows. The neck deepened, the hem shrunk, and the new shirt materialized across his body. Its hem went over his rounded belly and tucked itself into his pants, a buttoned up shirt placket noticeably visible from the middle of it. As the neck of his hoodie finished descending, a rather large collar unfurled from the shirt beneath and splayed itself across his chest. The neck of his shirt collar was deep enough that his chest fluff was visible. The headphones that were strewn across his neck thinned, shrinking and snaking around his neck as the black coloration shifted to a red and pink striped pattern. It got slightly longer, tying itself into a loose knot before it finished changing into a tie.

   The final change came with his jeans, denim softening to a nice purple cotton while the pockets became larger and more noticeable. A jagged yellow stripe ebbed into the material at the base of his legs as well. His belt got slightly wider and loose enough that it fit around his waist properly. The buckle expanded, a normal belt buckle enlarging to a thick chunk of silver with a gold V in the middle. Two silver V shaped notches had also formed next to two belt loops while another formed on the portion of his belt above his rear. A strap slowly snaked from the back notch, snaking upwards before branching out diagonally and slithering to the front of his body. From there the straps went downwards and connected to the two frontal notches, giving his pants some suspender straps.

   One final finishing touch to his attire was a monocle that materialized in front of his right eye. With a sigh, he adjusted his monocle before placing a hand around a suspender strap. "Finally, something that fits. Now for…"

   He looked around, the room continuing to expand around him. The walls were lined with various bouts of information; one side holding stock info and graphs while the other held a vault door with multiple clocks hanging above it. Chandeliers draped from the ceiling while portions of the carpet leading up to his newly materialized desk were lined with samurai armor in glass casing. At this point the room has become ginormous, a lot larger than himself (at least while he's human).

   "There's my office!" he says with a smile. The walls finally harden, the massive wall behind him having become a door with a massive golden V on it. In front of him was his desk, a few holographic screens being projected from the top of it. More importantly…

   At the middle of the desk was a metronome. An object Kale had given him months ago, one he didn't really care for necessarily. He didn't expect to use it up to now, but he would be lying if he said he didn't welcome what he had just used it for. It was… interesting to say the least.

   Roquefort looked down at his hand, curling and uncurling his fingers over his palm. "Hmph. This feels good. Strong. I think I'm going to be enjoying this…"

   Of course he's going to be enjoying this. Admittedly, his mind has become an odd mesh of knowing of his former self and having always been this self. It's contradictory. Confusing, admittedly. He'd never really do this kind of thing again, that was for sure.

   He looks up and stares at the screens on his desk. He has a meeting with Kale in a few hours, then he has to deal with Zanzo and their annoying creativity budget bullshit. They could've sworn they dealt with that already, damn it.

   "Time to get back to work, then!" Roquefort said aloud, pulling his chair forward and taking a seat on it. 

   He's got a lot of work to go through now, and something about that makes him smile. The financial control, the profits to be gained, and all that money.

   This is going to be good…