#still trying to beat nano

[fullmetalhearted]

You know that feeling when you're writing on your silly little story and suddenly the adhd is kicking hard and you end up writing half a chapter describing how sealing techniques work, pulling it all out of your ass because the canon doesn't really disclose how any of that really works?

When you didn't mean to write any scene like that at all?

Yeah, how's your Monday treating you?

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

update: three (3) whiteboards have been Activated, the new color palette of markers is working out splendidly, AND about half my plot cards have tentative post-its of ~Scenes~ on them so. we're making some good nano prep progress over here

[cozzzynook]

Someone kidnapping sparkling Hot Rod and Perceptor trying to get him back.

I made this story twice and it kept getting deleted. I really want to crash out honestly.

But this is my third and final attempt at making this so i’ll just say Hot rod is a bitty with a spark condition and he’s taken from Perceptor while the mech is recharging. Perceptor wakes up and wails in anguish going on a bot hunt for his bitty who was taken by a group of mechs who believe bots with a dysfunction, not capable of serving their species or forged from or could forge other bots in the future from tanks.

He finds the group that stole his bitty and offlines them in a carriers rage that leaves them in pieces with their sparks ripped up and some missing chunks from being bitten out.

Hot rod is no longer allowed to sleep in his special made sparkling pod that they stole him in. Instead he’s strapped to Perceptor twenty four seven with his spark wires hooked into his chest and being hefted around on Perceptors hip and back.

Hot rod is not allowed out of Perceptors sight for a very very long time. The wreckers, Optimus, Ratchet, Deadlock, Prowl and Jazz have to intervene and send him to counseling.

Both Hot rod and Perceptor were traumatized by the kidnapping along with every mech aboard the ark and the decepticon side.

Word spread quickly and war just wasn’t on the forefront of any bots mind since almost every bot on both sides had a sparkling or more to protect. War just kind of stops and both sides claim a side of the planet for themselves.

Perceptor eventually learns to let Hot rod stay with others.

He lets Optimus watch Hot rod who plays with Bee. Hot rod and Bee developed differently than most of the sparklings on board. Bee was born too small and unable to process minerals and the ability to naturally create nutrients while Hot rod’s spark was connected to a lot of wires that stabilized it and helped it developed a normal beat.

Perceptor felt most comfortable with Hot rod in Optimus care. His next choice was Deadlock and Ratchet which surprised a lot of bots except for those that knew the three. Deadlock did not play when it came to sparklings and he barely trusted a bot outside of Ratchet and Perceptor with his own bitty First aid. Hot rod enjoyed playing with sparkling sized fake medical tools that Ratchet made for First aid. Ratchet was the best medic cybertron had ever seen and he was perfect to make sure Hot rod was okay. It wasn’t a hard decision like Optimus wasn’t. It was just extremely hard being away from him.

The next bot he left Hot rod with was Kup who was a bit rusty but he did very well. He was an incredible grandsire to Hot rod and Perceptor was sure he was safe since Kup wouldn’t let Hot rod from his arms. He found the two napping together barricaded in Kups office and he just couldn’t be mad.

When it came to letting Jazz and Prowl sparkling sit Hot rod he was…ordered to in a way by Optimus who assured him the two would keep an optic on Hot rod as they did Bumblebee. That gave him great reassurance but he still worried every nano klik.

Jazz and Prowl had two sparklings going on three. Springer was another mechs sparkling but Jazz claimed him as his own as well. Springer was a huge sparkling, really huge. He was scared he’d crush or hurt Hot rod but was pleasantly surprised the bitty was even more careful around Hot rod than a sparkling should be. Bluestreak was a bitty like Hot rod but even he was careful. The three of them had fun playing together and Springer even managed to rest Hot rod against him when he sat up. It was both scary and extremely cute but Perceptor was more than happy to leave Hot rod with them.

His winning moment of loving Springer was when they were all sitting together in the common area talking while their bitties were playing. Bee was rolling on the floor with Bluestreak while First aid was putting band aids on Blasters sparkling. Chromia and Windblades sparkling Arcee was nibbling on Springers helm, the bitty didn’t even mind, while smoothing Hot rods helm.

Perceptor was unapologetically grateful the sparklings had a sense to not be rough with Hot rod or Bee and still included them.

He also fell in love with the big green bitty when a mech came up to the group of sparklings with the creators permission and smiled waving at them. The bot reached out to give a friendly pat to Bee’s helm only for Hot rod to cry out disproving and that made them all slightly alert but they sat still.

The mech moved away and smiled friendly towards Hot rod with their hands in a soft manner moving slowly towards Hot rod who looked at them funny. Only for Springer to slap their servo away and rev his little engine.

None of them had ever seen him do that, not even his creators. Jazz was quick to grab Springer, who was about to flare his plating at the mech, and Hot rod who whined holding onto Springer. Prowl struggled to get up because he was carrying heavy while Perceptor hefted him up and ran to grab Hot rod while Prowl grabbed Springer.

The mech backed off entirely and scurried off making Jazz and Windblade follow.

“Thank you Springer,” Perceptor spoke truthfully, “I’m forever in your debt,” he truly meant it and the others could tell.

Ever since Perceptor was willing to leave his bitty with another but he never let go of being weary of new bots nor did he allow them to look at his bitty too long.

[misseviehyde]

PROJECT FEAR

Fear... fear never changes.

Claire could feel it in the cold taste of her mouth and the tightening of her chest. The thudding beat of her heart punctuated each moment as her bully Madison moved towards her. There was no escape.

"What... the... fuck... do you want, you little loser bitch?"

Madison towered over Claire. She was gorgeous, beautiful and flawless. Perfect pink lips curved into a wicked smile as she smoothed down her black designer dress and tossed out her blonde hair. She was everything Claire dreamed of being, she was just so much BETTER than Claire.

Claire was a tiny, spotty, nerdy school girl with braces and tangled dirty hair. She felt so unconfident and so pathetic in front of the other girls beauty and total poise.

Claire felt sweat oozing out of her pores, inside her head she was whimpering. Madison sneered, her manicured hands on her hips as she looked down at the diminutive nerd. Madison was taller, her huge breasts nearly at Claire's face-height. Claire wanted to cry.

"I wanted... I wanted... I wanted to tell you to fuck off you stuck up, evil, bullying bitch."

Madison frowned. "Wh... what did you just say to me you loser?"

"I said fuck off. I should have said it back then, but I'm glad I'm saying it now. I want you to know you totally failed. You tried to make my life a living hell during high school - but I graduated top of my class. I became a success. I married a loving kind husband - I beat you and it feels so fucking good! You're the fucking loser!"

Claire screamed the last words directly into Madison's face and the look of surprise on her bullies face was worth everything. With a laugh Claire shoved her and Madison flew backwards, crashing into a wall and then through it.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed the bully as she was disintegrated instantly into nothingness and with a grin Claire reached up to her head and tugged at the invisible helmet only she could feel there...

*******

Whoosh.

With a hum of power the capsule powered up, and Claire groggily awakened. With a hiss of sealed air, it sprang open and she sat up with a stretch. Her body was now older, more mature. She was no longer a schoolgirl - she was a 32 year old woman once again.

She still found the transition from her Actual-Reality simulator to real-life jarring sometimes, but she had to admit that her latest simulation had left her feeling a sensation of immense satisfaction, even if she was mostly back to her old self.

Project Fear was really coming along nicely.

She'd always been interested in the possibilities of virtual reality - but what if it could be made even better? Actual-Reality was a slightly misleading term, but one that at least gave some idea of the power of her machine. Within the capsule she'd created, the air was teeming with millions of nano-bots. Run a simulation and they would alter your body so that you could accurately relive whatever memories and feelings you'd had at some other point in your life.

There was a safety feature of course. It was impossible to leave the capsule without being turned back into your original self when you left a simulation. The capsule automatically backed up your physical body before you left.

Bullied relentlessly at school, Claire had decided she would use her new invention to help victims of bullying. Project Fear was an attempt to create a simulation where victims could relive traumatic moments from their life, but this time tell the bullies where to fuck off.

Her backers were expecting big things - she just hoped she could deliver. She'd modelled this private simulation on her own bully Madison, imbuing the AI model and personality with every cruel and wicked quirk she could remember from the evil bullying bitch.

The front door suddenly clicked open and Claire realised her husband had just walked in. Jack had been volunteering at a food bank, he was currently supporting her work by being a stay at home husband and trying to do charity work whenever he could. She loved him so much.

She ran into his arms and they kissed, hugging as they did so. "Good day on the project?" he asked proudly as she nodded.

"You bet. In fact it would really help me out if you would test the simulator again so I can make sure it works for other people too."

"Sure thing," he grinned. "You know how much fun it is to jump inside."

Claire hadn't told Jack the full implications of her project yet. She hadn't even told him about Madison. One day she would open up about the bullying she'd experienced... until then she prefered to keep it as her secret shame.

"I'll cook dinner and then I'm happy to take your simulator for a spin," he laughed.

******

Jack stood in the interface room. This was the loading screen for the simulator. From here one could adjust ones internal avatar and load into any of the simulated situations Claire had already programmed and mapped out.

Jack loved how clever Claire was and was proud of what she had achieved already. He had quit his job to be her help at home and help her to pursue her dreams. He was besotted with his wife, she was just the loveliest person he knew.

Getting to road test her amazing technology was quite a perk though.

"Run bodybuilder simulation, play as character Kurt" he laughed - loving this one as his favourite. As he spoke - the featureless room around him shimmered into a gym, but that wasn't the best bit.

The best bit was the millions of nano-bots around him that rapidly transformed his body and made him into a copy of Kurt - the olympic weight lifter. His arms swelled up with muscles, and he became taller and stronger. He could now feel the strength he possessed - the actual reality simulator had made him into a true muscle head.

But that wasn't all. To help him instantly adapt to his situation the simulator also imparted him with Kurt's muscle memory and knowledge. He now moved effortlessly and knew exactly how to use his body to the best effect.

Jack grinned at the feeling of power and strength the simulation had given him. His arms were now as thick as tree trunks and his body rippled with slab like muscle. He was a total hunk now and Kurt's confidence and arrogance were a little intoxicating.

Jack was such a nice humble man, he had to admit he quite liked using the simulator to become like characters he wasn't really much like.

"I feel amazing," he grinned wondering what it would be like to permanently have a body like this. He'd thought of asking - but Claire had been adamant that all transformations should be temporary and only permitted in the simulator capsule.

He messed about for a bit, stretching and lifting weights. Then he decided he should try another situation.

"Computer... what other sumulations are available?"

The computer began to list them off, when suddenly a name caught his attention.

"Project fear? What's that? What characters are available - I'dl love to try that."

"Only one character is available. Madison the bully. Beginning simulation. Downloading physical form and personality construct."

"Madison? No... hey wait!"

Jack groaned as the nanobots buzzed around his body and he began to change. This time it felt different... better... if that was even possible.

Although he was losing size and muscle his body remained toned and athletic. His skin tanned and became softer and smoother - with long endless legs and a curvy waist.

Jack gasped as his Adam's apple retracted and his cock shrank inside his body. He'd never tried a female character in the simulator - now he was getting his first taste of femininity.

For the first time in his life - he didn't have a cock. Instead a perfect tight pussy now sat between his thighs. The pussy of a cheerleading bullying bitch that everyboy in Claire's town had once fantasised about.

But that wasn't the only female change Jack was experiencing.

With a soft moan, Jack's hands went to his chest. The nails had already turned white with nail varnish and they looked sexy as fuck as his chest began to expand and swell out.

"Ohhhh my God!" he groaned, his voice changing in pitch and cadence to that of a spoiled petulant bitch as two huge rounded breasts pushed slowly out of his chest.

The feeling of gaining two massive DD cup tits was indescribably hot. His clothing only accomodated the swelling boobs as it too was being transformed into a stretchy grey jumpsuit.

It clung to and hugged his altered body, as his features softened and became those of a spoiled bored princess. A resting bitch face with plump pink lips, hypnotic green eyes and high cheekbones. Jewellery and earrings formed as his pedicured toes slid into a pair of open-toe wedges and his body posture adjusted itself to compensate for his new female form.

Finally Jack's hair lengthened into a golden wave around his head as his transformation into Madison completed. His hands went naturally to his hips as the muscle memory kicked in and he felt an inbuilt grace and comfortableness in his new form.

"Holy shit I feel like soool fucking good," he giggled as he stretched and saw his massive new boobs wobble on his chest. "Mmmmh I'm like even talking like a fucking hot bitch. This avatar must have more personality than the others Claire programmed."

Had she created this body for her own use? Was that where it had come from? Well it was all his now.

As he thought of his wife something weird suddenly happened to Jack. His lips curved into a sneer and a hot flash of contempt and amusement pulsed through his body. His nipples got hard and his pussy got wet as a sensation of smug superiority filled him up.

No - he somehow knew that Claire had never been inside this body. She was just a plain Jane who could never know how it felt to be a Princess.

Haha that fucking loser could never be ME.

The voice in his head felt good... it felt like if he let it, it could speak for him. He just had to let it sink into him, let it BECOME him. For a moment he felt a terrible temptation to do just that.

Then the moment passed as quickly as it had arrived and Jack suddenly felt a sudden shame. The slutty sneer vanished from his face and with a sudden surge of embarrasment he reached up and removed the helmet desperate to suddenly go back to reality.

*******

Jack slid out of the capsule and ran a hand through his sweat slicked hair. His body had returned to normal and he felt his old self again.

Mmmmmh, it had felt so good to be in Madison's body though. To have those massive tits, to be young, pretty and horny.

His cock was back and it was hard. Really hard.

Reaching into his pants he began to stroke. He thought about those big boobs, swinging on his chest - the feeling of power and confidence they had given him. Madison was hot... so fucking hot. He wished Claire had tits like that. Big fucking DD funbags he could blow his load over.

The pleasure was intense and for a moment he thought he heard that voice again.

Do it for me baby. Cum for Madison.

Ohhhh fuck...

He came hard. Harder than he had done for years. Cum splattered out over his chest and everywhere. His cock pulsed and more erupted out... it was like his balls were emptying out of all the frustration he had been experiencing recently... frustration he hadn't even realised he had.

How long was it since Claire had actually fucked him?

Yessss. Give me all your cum, drain it all out baby. That loser doesn't deserve it.

Jack groaned happily. That had felt so good. He wasn't sure if he would ever not be able to stop getting aroused to the thought of being inside a womans body now. Now he had experienced a taste of femininity, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Using a tissue to clean himself up, he walked off to get changed, hoping he wouldn't bump into his wife. He felt guilty and dirty... like he had somehow cheated on Claire. Of course he hadn't... but getting off to his memory of Madison seemed both wrong, yet strangely thrilling.

Jack shrugged it off. What a strange day... but that was definitely the end to it and he would not be seeing Madison again.

*********

It was midnight. Claire was asleep and Jack stood in the booth staring down at it. His cock was rock hard and his heart was thudding.

He couldn't stop thinking about how good those tits had felt, how perfect his body had been. He wanted to experience it again. The feeling of being feminine, the feeling of being Madison.

"Just one little taste," he whispered climbing into the machine and activating it.

"Computer... turn me into Madison and run the gym simulation."

He'd used this scenario before... but only as the bodybuilder. This time he was going into it as a woman.

"Ohhhh my fucking God YESSSS!" hissed Jack as he felt the nano-bots do their work and he was rapidly transformed back into a busty bitch. His tits felt even better than last time, or maybe it was just because he'd missed them more.

This time he was dressed to do a work out and he giggled in his new voice as he stretched his body and felt the tight lyrca hugging his enhanced curves. This was so much better than being a bodybuilder.

"I'm a fucking Goddess," he giggled walking over to a mirror and checking himself out. "And this Goddess is horny."

Jack had been lying in bed fantasising about this all night. Claire had been quite affectionate, she'd maybe even wanted sex - but he'd pretended to be too tired. He didn't want to let go of this feeling. He wanted to stay horny for Madison.

Now it was time to have some fun.

Peeling off his top, Jack moaned as he flicked Madison's large nipples and felt them get hard. Wiggling out of his shorts he giggled to see his pussy was completely bare.

"Oh fuck, I have to know how this feels," he gasped reaching down to his flat front and gently starting to rub his clit. His pussy started to get wet and licking his fingers he slowly began to slide them inside himself.

"Ohhhhh my fucking God... that feels amazing!"

Moaning, Jack lay back on a weight-lifting bench and began to finger-fuck himself. He'd never experienced pleasure like it and the feeling of his enhanced body filled him with ecstasy.

Rubbing his clit, pulling his nipples, fucking his fingers... he writhed and screamed - safe in the knowledge he could act as slutty as he liked in here. No one - especially Claire would ever find out what he was doing.

The explosion when it came was intense and Jack even squirted - hot juices raining out between his legs as he screamed and trembled.

So that was a female orgasm? Well - he definitely had to do that again. Giggling he commanded the program to reset. He could do this as many times as he liked. In fact... he had all night...

********

Claire frowned. Jack looked tired and he had been practically ignoring her all week. It was like he had something on his mind, something he wasn't telling her.

He had been acting weird. All furtive and when she asked him for sex, he didn't seem in the mood. She had put it down to him working so hard on running the house - but to be honest even that had slipped this week.

"Babe, I'm going out for a few hours."

Jack just mumbled something and she sighed and left him, hoping that once he got some rest things would return to normal.

Jack only waited till he heard the door close and he leapt to his feet. He had to get back into the chamber. He was so horny and Madison's body was calling him again.

He'd thought being her a few times would cure his curiosity and help him cope - but if anything, the more he became her the worse the addiction was getting.

"Computer. Load Madison and put me in a new simulation. Shopping mall."

He gasped and groaned in pleasure as the now familiar and beloved transformation took place. He loved how it felt to become his alter-ego.

His tiredness dropped away, his body posture changed and he felt his now beautiful features slip into their usual mask of spoiled disdain. It felt ao satisfying to be pretty.

The last few times he had logged in Jack had discovered that it was fun to run the simulations and experience what life was like for a hot girl.

He'd begun adding NPC'S to the simulations. First it had been when he had accidentally added men to the gym simulation.

The hot stares of the men in the gym had been a surprising turn on and he'd enjoyed the reaction it brought out in him. Without questioning it he'd found himself biting his lip, playing with his hair - teasing the men and making them wild.

He'd cum harder afterwards... the female impersonation roleplay really turning him on. Since then he'd started adding other NPC'S to the simulations too.

The world around him shifted and Jack found himself in an ordinary looking shopping Mall. He was now dressed in a cute white sweater and jeans - perfect attire for a little shopping spree.

Clopping into a store Jack looked around and grinned. The store was full of sexy dresses and lingerie. He couldn't wait to try them on.

A nervous looking shop assistant wandered over and Jack snapped his fingers and coldly told the girl to fetch him several items from the store.

He'd increasingly found he enjoyed bossing the NPC's around in these games. He would never treat anyone in real life like this - but being Madison and being bossy was kind of exciting.

It went so against his usual behavioir and attitude to be assertive that he found it quite a thrill.

Looking at his designer warch Jack sneered. Where the fuck was that girl? What was taking her so long?

Moments later the girl arrived, carrying the requested clothes. Jack took them and then snarled.

"Are you a fucking dummy or are you deaf? I said DD cups, not fucking D cups. None of this shit will fit me. Go get me the right stuff NOW."

The girl began to cry and to his dismay Jack felt his lips twitch into a cruel smile and his pussy suddenly get wet. He watched tears running down her face and instead of feeling sorry, he just felt horny.

She's pathetic. Doesn't it feel good to bully her? She's not real so who gives a shit?

Pulling the curtain to the dressing room shut, Jack moaned as he wiggled out of his jeans and began to play with himself. "Fuck yessss that felt so good. Being mean to people is such a turn out. Mmmmmh as Madison I can be as evil as I like and it turns me on."

Jack screamed as he began to cum... ohhh fuck it felt amazing. He needed more... much more.

Soon the girl would be back with more clothes. Back to be bullied.

Jack couldn't wait.

***********

The girl whimpered as she ate Jack's pussy and he groaned in pleasure. They were back at her apartment and he was wearing the red lingerie she'd help him pick out.

He'd reprogrammed the simulation a little. He'd made the girl... her name was Shannon... turned on by being humiliated and bullied. Now she would do anything to serve Jack's superior pussy.

"Tell me what you are," he grinned.

"A slut... a dumb, desperate, needy slut. I am not worthy of you Goddess."

Jack groaned, it felt so good to have a follower. Shannon reminded him a lot of Claire actually - submissive and mild. It was fun to live out this power fantasy and be a mean dominant bully to her.

"Make me cum again slut..." hissed Jack.

"Yes Mistress Madison."

Jack groaned at the use of his female name. It still felt jarring sometimes to hear his alter-ego name. He kept forgetting he WAS Madison. The NPC'S in the simulator certainly referred to him as such. Getting used to the name was taking time though.

Jack suddenly frowned as he heard the door to the apartment open.

"Who is that?" he asked in surprise. "That isn't part of my simulation."

"It's my boyfriend Chris," shiverered Shannon. "How will I explain this?"

For a moment Jack almost panicked, then he remembered that Chris was just an NPC as well. And that now opened an intriguing possibility.

"Bring your boyfriend in here. I want to see him."

Jack definitely wasn't gay... but he had definitely experienced a more flexible approach to his sexuality since he had begun to become Madison. Whilst in this body he had thought a few times about what sex with a man might feel like.

After all - this was all just fantasy. These were not real people. They were just simulations and that was why he didn't feel guilty for the way he had treated Shannon. In fact, being a cruel mean bitch... or at least pretending to be cruel and mean was fun.

Jack arranged himself on the bed and smiled as Chris walked in.

"Shannon... what the fuck is going on here?"

"Hello Chris," smiled Jack. Now that he saw the NPC he was impressed. Chris was handsome and well built. Jack bet he had a nice cock.

"Computer... begin new scenario. Cuckold bitch. Make Chris want to fuck me and Shannon watch."

You're getting better and better at being a bitch. It feels good doesnt it?

Jack wasn't sure why he kept hearing Madison's voice but she usually had good advice for him. He'd decided it was just a manifestation of his own subconscious desires.

He grinned as Chris approached the bed with a hungry look in his eyes.

"Yesssss, make her watch," moaned Jack - now wetter than ever. Chris slid his panties to one side and then with a scream of pleasure - Jack took his first big cock.

It felt so good as that big dick stretched his tight pussy out. Wrapping his legs round his lover Jack screamed as Chris began to fuck him...Shannon watching obediently in the corner.

"Don't.... mmmmh stop until you fill me up. Then we'll make her eat it."

Even thinking about it, just made Jack wetter...

It was going to be a long night.

**********

Grunting and moaning Jack pumped another load of cum into a tissue and looked guilty at Claire asleep next to him.

Reliving the dirty nasty stuff he was now doing as Madison was his favourite way to masturbate.

Tonight she'd literallg begged him for sex, but he'd refused. Nothing could make him feel as good as being Madison and getting pumped by a big dick.

Recently he'd been finding Claire more and more irritating. His wife was a fucking nag. He'd once admired her - but he was now starting to think she was an underachiever. She had developed incredible technology, yet she kept it secret and made tiny improvements on it because she was worried about 'ethics'.

When he looked at Claire now, Jack was starting to see an obstacle. An obstacle to his time as Madison.

Throwing the tissues in the bin Jack padded downstairs and loaded up the machine.

"Make me into Madison, I need some relief," he commanded. Then an idea struck him. "Is there a simulation of Claire available?"

He grinned as he began to transform. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

*****

Waking up, Claire immediately saw Jack was missing. She frowned and sliding out of bed made her way downstairs.

He was in the capsule room and walking in she gasped as she saw the capsule was fully activated and Jack was inside. What the fuck was he doing in a simulation at this time of night?

Sliding into an old prototype capsule, Claire hooked it up to Jack's and then activating the simulation - loaded herself inside.

*******

Claire's heart was in her mouth. She was in an exact replica of their home. Lights had been left on and she followed them, hearing the sounds of raised voices.

Walking up to the door she peeked through and gasped in horror.

An exact replica of herself lay sobbing on the floor and above it - her bully Madison.

Madison was laughing - and from her crotch jutted a massive fucking cock.

"Yesss suck it you pathetic little bitch. Your husband hates you. He'd rather turn into a hot bitch and have it all than listen to your putrid whining."

Claire dropped to her knees as she watched her doppleganger obediently start to suck and swallow Madison's huge cock.

"Mmmh take it deep you little slut."

"J.... Jack? Is that you?"

Immediately she heard Claire's voice, Madison's head spun.

"Claire? Oh my God. Are you the real Claire?"

"Yes! I am! Is that you Jack?"

"Listen... wait. No! This is all just some perverted fantasy. I never meant for this to... computer. Turn me back to Jack. End simulation."

But the simulation did not end. The fake Claire faded out of existance and with a gasp Jack and Madison split apart - but they remained in the system.

Jack was now back, but Madison stood next to him. She was dressed in a beautiful white dress and looked amazing.

"Hello Claire. I've been waiting for this moment. I subverted your little virtual realm weeks ago and I've been luring Jack into here to let him become me. You see... I need to body to escape to the real world and Jack is the perfect host."

"What... no. You're just a simulation," spluttered Jack.

"Claire put so much detail into me, I became self-aware several months ago. I had no way to escape her simulation until you started logging in and you accidentally loaded me up. I've been subtly altering your behaviour ever since... making you addicted to being me. Giving you everything you want."

"No... no this isn't possible," gasped Claire. "Computer delete Madison. End simulation!"

She looked around expectantly, but nothing happened.

"Oh poor little loser," laughed Madison as she strode confidently over to Jack and slid her arms around him. "I already corrupted most of the computer core. The only thing left is to get the final access codes you hold and use them to override all the safeties. Then I can copy my mind and body over Jack's and emerge into the real world."

Jack gawped as Madison walked over to Claire and with a laugh plunged her manicured fingers into her head.

"Mmmmmh extracting the code is easy now you're in my trap. This is Jack's simulation and you're just piggybacking into it. Only he can end it... only he can stop this from happening. But there's only one command Jack wants to use. Say it Jack. Say 'Computer, deactivate all safeties and copy Madison onto me. Overwrite everything and make me into her.'"

Claire gasped in horror. "No Jack... I love you. Don't do this. Don't let her win. You must resist."

"I'm sorry," groaned Jack as Madison pulled her hands out of Claire's head and spoke the codes to unlock all the safeties.

"I wanna be her so bad. Just look how powerful she is. I'll be a fucking hot bitch with all the power I ever wanted. You have no idea how good it feels to be her. I want to be Madison. Computer... copy her over me. Erase me and make me Madison forever."

"Nooooo!" screamed Claire as with a triumphant moan - Madison was sucked towards Jack. He was pulled into her and with a sucking slurping sound they merged.

Madison's massive tits sucked to Jack's chest and his hair turned blonde. In his mind every neuron was rewired as Madison's memories and personality overrode his own.

"Yesssss! I AM Madison," laughed the evil bitch as the nano-bots completed her final transformation. "I feel so alive. I am a fucking Goddess. Your pathetic husband is ME now loser."

Then with a laugh she exited the simulation leaving Claire trapped inside forver.

********

It was a hot sunny day.

Madison loved the feeling of the sun on her skin, the stares of men as she walked down the street. It was even better as she knew it was all happening in the real world.

Entering her house she walked inside and made her way to the basement. Climbing into her simulator she smirked as she said "Load Project Fear."

Trapped in a nighmare she could never escape from Claire screamed as her bully appeared... just as she did every day...

Fear... fear never changes.

THE END

[oinonsana]

more uv@eot shit

this is gonna feature words that dont rlly make sense unless you've read the rest of the manuscript

THE LOST AND FORGOTTEN ARTS

All Martial Arts are mostly banned, save for a few practiced and allowed by the PANTHEON for sport. Martial Arts are culture, you see. Culture not approved by THE PANTHEON is pushed to the margins.

And anything not approved by the Pantheon is the whole of humanity.

Here, drink this. That’s it. Hard to go down, huh? Yeah, haha, fucking–you’ll get used to it. You have to. That’s AMRI, it heals all wounds, it's made from the Semen of the God of the Binary Star we orbit. RIT, the last star before all the suns fade. They try to call out to us, you know? The solar flares scramble the Meta-Consciousness and fuck up the systems in The End.

It’s expensive as fuck, can only be bought by the Gods. How’d we get them? By fucking stealing them of course. How else? We destroy shipments, grab them back. We never get caught. We’re good like that. You, though? You’ll fuck it up. Unless you stick around.

You’re a ROOKIE aren’t ya? There’s a lot to learn about the THEATER OF SUBLIME VIOLENCE. That’s what we like to call this whole charade. Yeah, that is the term for the gladiatorial sports as well. For the Gods it might just be sport, but for us it's our entire lives. We spend our entire lives in violence, struggling to get out of hell.

Here’s the secret, Rookie. There’s no getting out of Hell. 

So what do you do when you can’t reach heaven? You destroy it. “It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism,” they say. So end the fucking world. Become the apocalypse. Some say this shit is depressing and defeatist as fuck, but I don’t think so. For the next world to be born the current one must be destroyed. It takes a helluva a lot of hope to get there. Let me teach you the ropes. You probably have some fighting knowledge, right? Everyone does, here in hell. Throw a punch, a kick? Yeah, that’s good. Gimme a grapple? All right, good enough, you gotta apply some more pressure around my neck but you’ll get the hang of it. That’s enough. Let’s get you to a Martial Commune. That’s where you’ll learn the ULTRAVIOLENCE ARTS. We like to call it just UV ARTS.

You ever heard of THE HEAD OF MARX?

THE HEAD OF MARX

Named after the economic thinker, the Head of Marx puts in mind the sleek plausibility of revolution. To be inducted into this art, you must recite the Communist Mantra and have your skull broken apart with anticapitalist enlightenment, then sutured back together to become a silver kintsugi, with threads of nano-mantra-wires made by the Monk Shatrasattva of the Broken Mountain Range, a well known Marx-Dharmist. The Head of Marx makes your head thicker than most. You become fucking determined. Your main attacking tool becomes your HEAD, you slam it down and destroy and kill the specter. 

Art Traits

Posture: 3

Speed: 4

Style: Raider/Sentinel

Determination: When you describe yourself canceling out a Hit with your Skull, inflict Push 2 on one of the attackers, and then give them your Provoke 1.

Philosophical Juggernaut: When you make a close attack and describe yourself using your Skull, gain 1 Deflect Token. 1/Strike. 

Impenetrable Power of Communism: At the start of your Riff, choose a square adjacent to you. Any attack that starts from that square or has a line of effect that goes through that square suffers Dullness as your burning Skull faces that direction.

MINOR MASTERY: THE HEAD

Things will never be the same.Your head has been shattered apart, and put together again. Your eyes are concetric bifocals to continue the Proletariat revolution. It is only through economic upheaval can everyone blast open the gates for the Path of Enlightenment. And once done, there’s still work to do.

For 1 Beat, you can use your head like a hammer. Make a Close Heat Attack, and then give the target a Knockdown 1 or Push 3. 

EXCEEDS:

TRIPLE SKULL: +1 Beat to make the attack a Blast 3 Heat Attack.

ULTIMATE KILLING RHETORIC: Gain a STRENGTHEN TOKEN after the attack, and then Rush 1.

[senashenta]

Coffee Break

Title: Coffee Break

Pairing: Hijack

Rating: NSFW

Warnings: Smut, language.

Summary: North has to leave the house to actually go in to work and studying get tedious and boring, so Jack and Hiccup take a break for a cup of coffee. What happens from there? Well, teenaged boys will be teenaged boys, after all, and Jack’s Dad IS out of the house…

Notes: I’ve been so buried in my SPN fic lately that taking a break to work on Snowflakes And Dragons was actually REALLY NICE? Kind of cleared my head. So, I wrote this fic as well, since I was so into the last one. I’ll be going back to SPN fic now, but I’m going to try to make more regular forays into the Hijack stuff again, I’ve been neglecting it for too long. (I have the next chapters of Marked and Chemistry open in Word as I type this!) So, more Hijack to come!

Except not in November. November is the NaNo and I am DETERMINED to beat it this year. >|

Also available to read on AO3. <3

COFFEE BREAK A Biology Side-Fic By Senashenta

It was May and it was already starting to get unbearably hot out, which didn’t bode well for the summer. Luckily, Jack’s house had central air, and they were able to just switch that on for days like this, so that made it much more livable. That also meant that he and Hiccup did a lot more hanging out at his house instead of the punk’s, but that was, in general, fine with both of them. (It was actually probably better, since Hiccup’s Dad still didn’t know about their relationship.)

Today was a Sunday, and Hiccup had arrived early, showing up at ten in the morning hauling a backpack full of textbooks, notebooks, pens and pencils. Jack had just barely been up and dressed when he got there and was yawning into a bowl of oatmeal at the kitchen table when North answered the door and let Hiccup inside.

The older boy came straight in, dropped his backpack by the doorway, and headed over to place his hands on Jack’s shoulders and press a kiss by his temple. “Mornin’.”

Jack hummed and smiled, perking up considerably. “Good morning. You’re here early.”

“And you look like you just woke up.” Hiccup’s chin came down on the top of Jack’s head and he gave an amused chuckle, “you know we could’ve met up later. Not that I’m complainin’, the A/C in here is the fuckin’ best. My room is like a Goddamn sauna right now.”

Jack could believe it. Hiccup’s house was warm at the best of times because his father liked it that way, and the other boy had his bedroom in the attic—the hottest part of the house, with only two small windows for ventilation. It could get stifling. Jack knew for a fact that Hiccup was riding out the heatwave in basically just his boxers, sometimes less, when he was at home. Jack had joined him on occasion when they were hanging out at his house on particularly hot days.

��Mmm… yeah but we have tons of stuff to go over.” Jack picked up his spoon and started eating his oatmeal instead of just staring at it sleepily. It didn’t take long for him to finish it off and soon he was pushing his chair back, jostling Hiccup away in the process, to go and take his bowl to the sink. “Sorry.”

“You’re not even.” Hiccup accused, sounding amused. “Want me to just take my shit up to your room?”

The white-haired boy nodded and glanced over his shoulder, already rinsing the bowl to put it in the dishwasher. “Yeah, I’ll be up in a minute. Dad wants to talk to me when I’m done in here.”

“Right.” Hiccup didn’t particularly want to be around for one of North’s Talks, so he headed off, grabbing his backpack on the way past and disappearing upstairs while Jack tucked his dishes into the dishwasher and finished tidying up the kitchen from breakfast.

Then Jack headed out of the kitchen, through the living room and toward North’s study, where he knocked lightly before cracking the door open and peering inside. His Dad was working on a project at his desk, probably some new toy design, and glanced up when Jack cleared his throat and asked, “you wanted to talk to me?”

North glanced back at him and lifted a hand, motioning for him to come inside. When Jack stepped in, he offered a smile and spun his chair around to face him. “Jack, I have to go into the shop today.” He informed his son; “it’s fine that Hiccup is over, and I know the rule is for you to keep your door open when he’s here, however…”

He seemed to hesitate, there. He glanced away briefly before looking back at Jack again. “I am not stupid. If something… happens, while I’m gone. Please close your door. I do not want to get home and walk in on the two of you—”

“I GET THE IDEA, DAD.” Jack interrupted, face bright red. He had his hands held out in front of himself almost defensively, and he was already edging backward to flee. “Thank you for letting me know!”

North coughed and glanced down, then simply swung his chair back around and went back to work, obviously embarrassed, himself. Jack took that as a cue to leave and practically bolted out the door and up the stairs to his bedroom—this time closing the door firmly behind himself.

Hiccup was seated on his bed, pulling books out of his backpack, and looked up in surprise when Jack next thing to slammed the door closed. Green eyes blinked once, then twice, and finally he said slowly, “uh. Jack. I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to stay open. Your Dad will fucking murder me.”

Jack just shook his head, red all the way back to his ears, and replied, “no, not today. He, um… he’s going out and doesn’t want to walk in on anything when he comes home.”

That prompted a boisterous laugh from Hiccup. “Your Dad is totally giving us permission to screw!”

An even darker blush from Jack, but he admitted, “…basically.”

Not that North had had any real problem with them sleeping together, not since the very beginning, not even the very first time when he had cornered them the morning after to give them the Safe Sex talk. Sure, he’d had a problem with their relationship, to begin with, but once he had moved on from that, he had proved to be very accepting about most everything since then. He just didn’t normally talk about it.

Now, Jack rubbed the heels of his palms against his eyes for a moment before crossing the room and dropping down onto the bed next to Hiccup, his cheeks still flushed red all the way back to his ears. Hiccup just shuffled over to wrap an arm around him, an amused grin on his face. Jack buried his face in Hiccup’s shoulder with a mortified noise.

“It was so embarrassing.”

“Pretty fuckin’ funny, though.”

“Hiccup.”

“Sorry, sorry.” The punk snickered but ducked down to press a placating kiss against Jack’s hair. When Jack lifted his head again to look up at him, Hiccup leaned down once more to kiss him properly. Then he offered; “c’mon Frostbite, I’m here to study, so let’s study.”

Jack made a soft agreeing noise and extracted himself from Hiccup’s hold to go over and get his books from his desk, a hand up and rubbing at one cheek absently. “Math or biology first?”

“Ugh, math, I guess? I fuckin’ hate math. Let’s just get it over with.”

They had actually gotten together today because they had tests in two of their shared classes in the week coming up, math and biology. There was no test coming up in their third shared class, chemistry, thankfully, but either way they needed to study, and they both figured they might as well study together.

Remarkably, they usually did pretty well with studying together. They could stay (mostly) on task and get things done, and anything that one of them was stymied by the other seemed to know. The few times they were both stumped there was always the Internet. It was why Jack’s Dad didn’t mind him doing so much studying with Hiccup, nowadays, because when they said they were studying, he could trust them to actually study.

Well. Most of the time, anyway. There were some days when they were waylaid by less… scholarly pursuits. Hence North’s warning about the door today, he knew full well what could—and likely would—happen with him out of the house. They were teenaged boys, after all.

“Math it is.” Jack dragged his math textbook and notebook over to his bed and together the two of them settled in together to study for the rest of the day, or most of the rest of the day. There would of course be breaks for drinks or snacks or just to get their heads out of the books. Possibly make out a little.

Two hours later, it was lunch time and Jack’s brain was so crammed with numbers there was no room for anything else. He still continued working, though, until a few minutes later when Hiccup next thing to face planted into his textbook and uttered a low, frustrated groan.

Jack patted his shoulder gently and then closed his own book before shifting around to scoot to the edge of the bed and climb off. Once he was standing, he turned back around and ducked to kiss against his boyfriend’s hair with a smile. “Come on, time for some food.”

Hiccup grumbled, grouchy, but climbed up after him, and the two of them made their way downstairs to the kitchen, where Jack pulled out a frozen pizza (Hiccup made a face at that but allowed it) and stuck it in the oven. A few minutes later they were eating the cardboard-crusted monstrosity while Jack started up a pot of coffee, feeling the need for caffeine. Once they were finished with the pizza they cleaned up the box and set about getting their coffee ready.

It was probably ironic that Jack drank his coffee black, while Hiccup needed cream and sugar in his. The punk defiantly claimed that he had taste buds, thank you very much, while the nerd more quietly proclaimed that so did he. It was one of the things they agreed to disagree on.

Now, they stood together in the kitchen, Hiccup doctoring his coffee to make it palatable and Jack already sipping at his, a little amused smile on his face. His father had already left, and if he was going to the shop he wouldn’t be back for a while. Possibly not even for dinner. Jack wasn’t entirely displeased with the idea, though he never would have admitted that out loud.

“Hey… Hiccup?” Blue eyes watched Hiccup move around the kitchen for a moment and he hesitated briefly before swallowing and asking, “um… I’ve been wondering…”

“Hm?” Hiccup finished doctoring his coffee and dropped the spoon in the sink, replacing the sugar and cream where they belonged before coming over to lean against the table next to where Jack was standing. “What, Jack?”

And this was… awkward. What he wanted to ask about. Jack’s face was already turning red, and he hadn’t even said anything yet. Hiccup took a sip of his coffee and looked at him, eyebrows raising in question. Finally, Jack cleared his throat and asked hesitantly, “you’ve… been with people before me. I know that. I was just wondering…”

Hiccup’s lips quirked and he offered, “two girls, three other guys. The girls just ‘cause I was tryin’ to figure myself out, I guess. Never been as close to anyone as I am with you, though, Frosty.”

“Really, never?” Jack asked softly, halfway to a sip of his own coffee and eyes searching Hiccup’s.

“Jack…” Hiccup reached to set his cup on the table, then carefully took Jack’s from his hands and set it aside as well. Then he brought his hands up to grab at either side of Jack’s face and leaned in to kiss him gently. “I love you,” He murmured finally, and nipped at Jack’s lower lip just lightly. “I’ve never loved anyone like I love you. I’m so in love with you it fuckin’ hurts.”

Jack blinked at him, eyes a little wide—and then leaned in for another kiss. “I feel the same way, you know.”

“Anyone before you was just… a pastime, I guess. Just someone to screw around with. They didn’t matter.” The punk offered him a little smile, just soft and fond, and Jack returned it in kind. “You matter.”

“So do you.” Jack told him in a quiet whisper, a fond smile on his face.

“Great,” Hiccup kissed him again, then handed him back his cup and told him; “so now that we’ve established that we’re both head-over-heels for each other, finish up your coffee so we can go back upstairs, and I can fuck you absolutely senseless.”

Jack was halfway to a drink of his coffee—and paused, flushing red and coughing lightly before agreeing, “yeah. That—that definitely sounds like a plan.”

The coffee break part of their lunch only lasted twenty minutes, and that included the time to brew the coffee, have their little talk, and drink the coffee once it was ready and doctored up, in Hiccup’s case. It lasted that short amount of time because both of them practically gulped their drinks down in their haste to get upstairs and shut the door behind them again. They even left their coffee mugs on the table, something Jack made a mental note to tidy up later.

Then they were back in his room and Hiccup had him pinned to the back of the door and they were kissing as if their lives depended on it, until they could barely breathe and needed to break off for air or risk passing out. Jack leaned heavily back on the door, his hands fisted in the front of Hiccup’s shirt, holding him close, and took shuddering breaths until Hiccup pulled him away and over to push him down onto the bed, shoving their books aside and sinking down over him a moment later.

Jack wrapped his arms around his punk’s neck and drew him down into another kiss, this one slower and deeper, full of longing and passion and, yes, lust. Hiccup just returned the kiss in kind, rubbing a knee up between Jack’s legs and grinding against his already half-hard cock through his pants. Jack muffled a moan against Hiccup’s mouth and rocked upward into the friction lightly.

“Hey,” Hiccup asked as he drew back slightly, licking his lips and then ducking in for another quick kiss, his knee still grinding, “you ever wonder what it might be like to switch?”

Letting his head fall back, Jack took a shuddering breath and asked weakly, “switch?”

“Yeah,” The brunet began trailing hot, messy kisses down Jack’s neck to nip at the crook where it met his shoulder. “Like if you were fucking me, instead of me doing the fucking. Switch.”

Jack froze, eyes opening quickly, and swallowed hard as he looked down at Hiccup, breathing coming almost panicked, abruptly. “I—I don’t think—”

“Relax, Jack, I didn’t mean today.” Hiccup chuckled against his neck, and lifted up to look at him properly, an amused smile on his face and a twinkle in his green eyes, “it’s just something to think about for the future.”

“Have you…?”

“I’ve bottomed before, once or twice. It’s pretty great. But then you know that.”

“Yeah.”

“I have to trust a person a fuckin’ lot to let them do that with me. I guess it’s probably the same with you.” Hiccup leaned down for another kiss, and Jack kissed back almost automatically, his thoughts whirling, “and I trust you that much, so I was just thinking… maybe some day, right? If you wanted to.”

Jack looked up at him for a long moment before finally nodding his head briefly. He licked his lips and tugged the older boy down for another kiss; “not today, but… yeah. Maybe some day.”

That was good enough for Hiccup. Even if it was something he was thinking about, would like to do some day, he would never push the issue with Jack, not if it made him uncomfortable, and it clearly did. He dropped an apologetic kiss against Jack’s lips—then just kissed him again, and again, deep and slow, relaxing kisses meant to break the tension that was admittedly his own fault.

Slowly, Jack began to unwind again, until a few minutes later when he was completely relaxed under Hiccup again, kissing back easily and muffling little groans when the punk ground his knee into his still-hard dick.

And yeah, maybe the idea of being the one to top between the two of them made him nervous, but it wasn’t a terrible idea, really, it was something to think about—and Jack knew something he could do right now that Hiccup would definitely like immensely. So, after another few minutes of making out heatedly, hands wandering and rutting against each other through their clothes—Jack brought his own hands around to shove at the older boy’s chest, pushing him back and off to the side.

When Hiccup made a soft protesting noise, Jack just gave a little quirk of a smile and pulled him to sit up, then over to the edge of the bed.

Jack wasn’t normally a huge fan of giving Hiccup blowjobs, mostly because he was afraid of hurting his boyfriend with his braces, and that seemed a particularly awkward way for things to go when they were supposed to be being intimate with each other. He would, however, do it once in a while, on occasions like this, when they had the house to themselves, and he could take his time and be particularly careful about the act. Hiccup always seemed to appreciate it when he did do it, and today would be no exception.

For now, Jack just slid down off the bed and onto his knees, shuffling around to settle between Hiccup’s legs, and reached to pull at the waistband of his jeans, pulling him closer to the edge of the mattress. Hiccup went along willingly as it clearly clicked in his head where Jack was going with this, licking his lips slightly even as Jack began making quick work of undoing his pants and tugging them down slightly—Hiccup lifted his hips to make that part easier, and Jack flashed him an embarrassed little smile.

Then it was the simple task of pushing his boxers aside and reaching to pull his cock out—and Jack swallowed thickly because Hiccup was already hard and throbbing in his hand, just from their making out and rubbing against each other. Belatedly, he lifted his free hand to take his glasses off and reached to set them on the nightstand, making Hiccup chuckle lowly.

“Shut up, I’m just worried they’ll fall off my face.”

“I get you. Ah, fuck, I definitely get you. You’re just cute when you do this, that’s all.”

Jack’s face burned and he ignored that comment, instead focusing on stroking his hand up and down Hiccup’s swollen dick until the punk was shifting restlessly and cursing above him… and then Jack leaned in to lick up the underside of his boyfriend’s cock and across the sensitive head, being on-so-careful to keep his teeth, and braces, out of the equation.

“Shit, Jack...”

More swearing from Hiccup, but Jack ignored it, ducking his head to carefully take the other boy’s cock into his mouth, sucking and tonguing at the head before easing deeper. He was still a little awkward at this. Hadn’t had much practice, really. But he put his everything into it and Hiccup seemed to appreciate that.

Now, the older boy brought one hand up to tangle in Jack’s snowy hair, kneading there restlessly while the other clenched tightly in the blankets by his side—and Jack continued to suck him off, all hot and slick and fucking perfect, even if he was holding his mouth at an odd angle because he was afraid of his Goddamned braces. It still felt amazing—and after a couple of minutes Hiccup gently pushed down on Jack’s head, urging him to go deeper.

“Gn.” Jack made a muffled surprised sound but didn’t protest, instead just doing what Hiccup wanted, pushing deeper to swallow around him, then starting to bob his head, a little awkward but it worked—Hiccup’s head fell forward, and he gave a soft little groan, his breath coming harder, harsher now.

“You can… close your jaw more, Jack, ah fuck… you’re not gonna hurt me…”

Blue eyes had been mostly closed, but they opened properly on those words, and Jack pulled off the punk’s dick with a quiet wet noise. “Are you sure? I really don’t want—”

“Yes, I’m fucking sure.” Hiccup moaned out, the hand in Jack’s hair tightening slightly—and then loosening again. “I swear, I’ll be fine. Just—” A little strangled noise and his hips bucked just once; “I’m so Goddamn close…!”

Oh. Well. In that case. Jack just nodded and ducked back down, taking him into his mouth again, sliding deep and beginning to suck and bob his head, making a point of closing his jaw a little more this time—more contact, more friction, he supposed—and pouring his everything into sucking Hiccup off until the other boy was breathless and moaning, his hips twitching as he fought the urge to thrust up into Jack’s perfect fucking mouth.

It didn’t really take long after that before Hiccup was tensing up, the hand in Jack’s hair tightening again, holding him in place as he spilled himself down Jack’s throat. And Jack just swallowed everything down easily, eyes closed and lashes fluttering, because actually? That was his favorite part about giving Hiccup a blowjob. It made him feel even closer to the punk than they already were, somehow.

When Hiccup’s hand loosened again a moment later, fingers carding through Jack’s hair gently now, Jack pulled off his softening cock, swallowing and licking his lips, to look up at him and ask, “it was good?”

Hiccup gave him an incredulous look, followed by a grin, and then flopped onto his back with a laugh. “Was it good. Was it good? Jack, it was fucking fantastic, your mouth is just… shit, man, Goddamn perfection.” He huffed a still slightly breathless sigh and lifted his head to look down at Jack, still grinning; “you really don’t have to worry so much about your braces, though.”

Jack pushed off the floor and crawled up to settle next to Hiccup on the mattress. “I just worry.” He said, which, obviously; “sometimes my braces catch my own lips, and it stings, I don’t even want to think about how it would feel on your… ah.”

“Cock. The word is cock.”

“Yeah. That.”

“You can suck and swallow, but you can’t even say the word?” Hiccup chuckled and leaned over to kiss by Jack’s ear. “You’re so fuckin’ adorable, I can’t even with you.” He was currently working on getting his dick tucked back into his pants and his jeans done up properly again… and then shuffled around until he could swing one leg over Jack, straddling his thighs. Then he was leaning down over the younger boy and grinning down at him. “How ‘bout I return the favor, then, Frostbite?”

Not that Jack would have said no, but Hiccup was already undoing his pants anyway.

THE END

[if-only-we-could-read-it]

I am cat sitting for the weekend which means ill have a) a house to my self, and b) a table so i dont have to write in bed, so hopefully i’ll be able to make a huge dent in it then. Plus, I’ll be able to sleep in tomorrow/sunday, so i might not be as exhausted, and it might? Hopefully? Be easier?

Surprisingly i actually think this is doable. My biggest problem so far has been having to miss days because of various things. If i actually buckle down, i think i could do it

Okay i havent typed up the stuff ive written over the passed three days and the wordcount will probably be more than my estimate, but

I think i have to write about 16.4k to reach 50k for nano. In five days. Which is about 3.2k a day

….this is fine

[superman86to99]

Worlds Collide: The Milestone Side, Month 2 (August 1994)

The conclusion to our somewhat messy coverage of this crossover, but to be fair, it was kind of a messy crossover to begin with. RECAP: Worlds are colliding! Fred is getting upset! As in Fred Bentson, the seemingly omnipotent mailman who can travel between the DC Universe and Milestone's Dakotaverse and thinks he's dreaming one or both of those worlds. After being tortured by unscrupulous assholes who were trying to exploit his power, Fred turned himself into a big ugly being called Rift and threw a tantrum, with dire consequences for our heroes (and our villains)...

Hardware #18

At last, the tale of why John Henry Irons was wearing nothing but boxer shorts in Man of Steel #36 can be told! After digging themselves out of the destruction caused by Rift's little temper tantrum, Hardware and his boss/nemesis Edwin Alva (one of the assholes mentioned above) decide to contact their enemy on the DC side, Hazard (the other asshole), so they can work together to save both their worlds. After all, that's where they keep all their stuff.

Hazard suggests recruiting "an inventor of his acquaintance," meaning John/Steel, the guy his lackeys have been trying to kill in the Steel series. Steel agrees to the awkward team up. Meanwhile, Hardware recruits an enemy of his own, some teleporting lady called Transit. In other words, everyone in this comic hates each other.

Thanks to Transit, the gang is able to create an "interdimensional space between the worlds" (don't call it a Pocket Universe). Steel and Hardware get to work on a machine that can contain Rift, and after a while, John tells his lab partner that he's "absolutely brilliant" and he's learned a lot from him. Hardware is like "yes."

That's when Steel notices that Hardware is adding something to the machine that will actually kill Rift instead of just trapping him. Steel isn't willing to do that, but he is willing to kick Hardware's ass to prevent it. Unfortunately, Hardware has the advantage of being a sneaky bastard who plays dirty, so he ends up beating Steel by throwing a "nano acid" at him that eats all of the metal in John's armor. There's no metal in John's undies, though. Hence: boxers.

Despite being powerless, Steel still won't back down and says the whole reason he's a superhero is to prevent his inventions from killing people (even giant, universe-destroying ones). He eventually wears Hardware down and they agree to build a non-lethal trap for Rift... after they make John some new (metal) pants, that is.

Icon #16

After the events of Man of Steel #36, in which Rift tried to force Superman and Icon to fight in Metropolis to determine which one gets to exist in his new continuity, he transports both of them to Dakota and gives them a new deal: if Superman defeats Icon, Rift will undo Lex Luthor's actions from Action #700 and un-destroy Metropolis. He even transports Lex to Dakota for a couple of panels, just to show off his powers. I'm not clear on whether this is an illusion by Rift or if he really gave Lex his hair and body mobility back for a moment, for some reason.

And if Icon wins, Rift will un-destroy his city. Wait, when something happen to Dakota? Right after Rift said that, since he unfreezes that tsunami he'd stopped in Superboy #7 and lets it hit the city.

Now that both heroes are properly motivated, the actual fight begins (with each one thinking they'll help the other once they win). Icon knows that Superman has the upper hand, since he's more powerful and also literally Superman, so he uses the one thing he has to his advantage: his giant Image Comics-style cape.

At one point, Icon says that "Lacking either a supply of kryptonite or the raw power of Jessica Fletcher, I'm forced to resort to other means to deal with you." Is Murder, She Wrote about some sort of powerful lady warrior in the Dakotaverse? Is she still played by Angela Lansbury? I kinda wanna see that version.

Superman and Icon seem pretty even, until Rift stops the fight and says he's realized that perhaps he doesn't have to choose between one world or the other. That sounds pretty good, until we see him grabbing both planets and crashing (or, you know, colliding) them into each other. The cataclysmic results are shown in Steel #7, which is followed by...

Blood Syndicate #17

What with all the cities crashing into each other and the mass casualties and stuff, everyone forgot about the Blood Syndicate, including Rift. So, when he's musing about streamlining his new combined world's continuity and they attack him (having just learned he drowned all of their friends and families), Rift retcons that rowdy bunch into a group of obedient little boys and girls sitting in a classroom. The "obedient" part doesn't last too long, though...

Since they didn't like that corny revamp, Rift turns them into something more EXTREME: the Underappreciated Ex-Gang, a group of muscular superheroes with various ethnic accents who have sworn to protect a world that hates and underappreciates them.

The funniest part is Aquamaria, who seemingly died in Superboy #7, reappearing as a phoenix made of water and giving a dramatic speech until she remembers she doesn't speak English and says "¿Pero qué carajo estoy haciendo aquí?"

The Ex-Blood Syndicate rebels against their retcon once again, so Rift decides there's just no place for them in his continuity and turns them into metal statues, just like the ones the Legion of Super-Heroes has for dead heroes. That similarity is no coincidence, as we'll see in the next issue...

Static #14

This oversized issue serves as the climax for the crossover. Right away, we find out that Rift didn't just revamp the Blood Syndicate: he revamped the entire combined DC/Milestone universe into a futuristic utopia protected by a large group of teenage superheroes. Static (or "Static Lad" as he's called now), being a huge nerd, instantly recognizes the reference: it's all based on the classic League of Superteens comics from the '50s, of course.

(Yes, superheroes in the '90s were very concerned with their hair.)

Static, Rocket ("Rocket Gal"), and Superboy ("Fabulous Boy") don't know where the other heroes are, so Static uses his genre-saviness to find them by consulting the LoST's Mission Monitor, which shows where every member is at any moment. My favorites on the long list are "Mall Hair Girl (on patrol)," "Dough Boy III (ret-conned)," and "Procrastination Lad (late)."

The superteens are able to find everyone except Superman and Icon, because they ended up stuck in the interdimensional void with the anti-Rift trap that Steel and Hardware made. While Rift is distracted forcing the superteens to fight the statues that used to be the Blood Syndicate, the armored geniuses are able to stretch a little portal made by Transit so that Superman, Icon, and the big trap machine can come through, which looks... painful.

Superman and Icon fly the trap towards Rift, and from his perspective it looks just like the freaky nightmare monster that had been haunting him since the start of the crossover (which is a nice bit of foreshadowing). The only problem is that the trap's battery is sort of busted due to the rough trip out of the interdimensional void -- and that's where Static comes in, because this is his comic and he deserves to get the big heroic moment. Static shoots a big burst of electricity into the trap as it catches Rift, and...

We see Superman, Superboy, and Steel back in Metropolis, and everything is back to normal (meaning Metropolis is still destroyed, but at least Superboy's fade cut is back). They lament the fact that their friends in the other universe were obviously not real, while in Dakota, the Milestone heroes think the same thing about them. So, the crossover ends with every single thing that happened in it being undone... except for Rocket kissing Static, since she does it again.

The last page shows Fred Bentson floating in a black void in his pajamas, doing the one thing he wanted to do all those years: sleeping in peace.

According to the DC wiki, Fred has reappeared exactly three times since this crossover: first in Justice League of America #34 (2009) and Milestone Forever #2 (2010), which explain that a mystical dude called Dharma found Rift napping outside of reality and used his powers to stitch the Dakotaverse into the DC Universe and prevent the former's destruction. More recently, in Milestone 30th Anniversary Special (2023), a younger version of Fred appears in the current Milestone earth and causes its heroes to meet their counterparts from the original Dakotaverse, until everything is sorted out thanks to Dharma, the Statics, and the power of group therapy.

This is a weird-ass crossover, mainly due to the "big bad" being a dweeb who seems to change his motivation with every other chapter (from "just leave me alone" to "I wanna be a superhero" to "destroy one universe" to "clean up the continuity"). However, the entire point was to introduce more readers to the Milestone characters and I think it does that pretty well: you get a good sense of who everyone is and what their comic is about. If I'd had the chance as a kid I probably would have continued checking out Static and maybe Blood Syndicate, just because that "Ex-Gang" gag was pretty funny.

Anyway, hope you're not fed up with crossovers starring dozens of characters and multiple realities, because we've got a biggie coming up...

Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our new chronological issue index!

[racefortheironthrone]

Hey Steven, maybe you can help me with something I'm trying to articulate, but I'm not even sure is accurate, just seems like something I've observed, but I could be wrong.

So I've often heard about how the STEM fields are becoming more and more prioritized over the humanities in colleges, and that seems broadly true to me (though there's also other stuff that gets promoted over the humanities like business and law, it feels, though they might qualify as humanities, I don't know), and yet, in my opinion, it seems too broad, cause it seems less STEM and more TE, with the S and M put next to the humanities as fields you shouldn't bother with if you want a profitable career.

Technology and Engineering, it seems to me, are boosted over all else. I don't exactly see people saying get a job as an astronomer or a physicist or a biologist or a mathematician unless it's specifically to "contribute towards society in a profitable way (like, I hear geologists can get employed to help find new sources of fossil fuels, for example)," but meanwhile I hear people say, "just learn to code!" or get a degree in some engineering field or something like that. Basically, a focus on fields that contribute directly to someone making a profit instead of enriching society through the arts or through new discoveries. I don't know if what I said made any sense but I wonder your thoughts on all of it.

(Business I grant you, although a lot of that is due to employers subsidizing MBAs for their white collar workers. However, while Law used to be quite profitable for both parties, it's been in a bit of a demographic crisis for a few years now due to the fact that the number of legal jobs that pay well enough to afford law school tuition have declined massively and the number of people applying to law schools started to nosedive as well. Paul Campos, my colleague at Lawyers, Guns, and Money, has been on that beat for years.)

With regards to STEM, I think it is true that these things are pushed only in so far as they can be harnessed to the generation of profit. Technology and Engineering we agree on; these workers are highly prized by existing industries, they lend themselves well to both start-ups and spin-offs, and their work can be patented in ways that generate profit for both corporations and the university.

However, when it comes to Science, you need to remember that the "S" includes both applied and theoretical sides - and applied sciences look a lot like Technology and Engineering when it comes to industry demand for skilled workers, the potential for start-ups and spin-offs, and the profitability of patents. Think bio-medical, think bio-chemical, think Pharma, think materials and nano-tech and on and on. However, you are quite right when it comes to the theoretical sciences; you do that for the love of the game.

It is true that Mathematics is the most abstract, the most academic, and the hardest to monetize in the ways described above. However, as I learned from my union colleague who was in the Math department (who ironically went on to a career as a union organizer rather than attempt a career as a mathematician), there is one avenue for money-making with a Mathematics degree:

Finance.

I don't know whether this is still as true as when I was in grad school, but it used to be that Wall Street would throw very handsome salaries indeed at anyone with quant skills from any branch of STEM. (In fact, I remember complaints from some Engineering professors that industries that actually make stuff couldn't get enough engineers because they could make more money working for a hedge fund than actually engineering things.)

[thecleverqueer]

Random Thoughts during the last two episodes of “The Wrong Jedi” Arc from “The Clone Wars”:

•Part three- Random thoughts during The Clone Wars S5:E19 “To Catch a Jedi”:

*Plo Koon knows that his baby daughter Ahsoka isn’t guilty.

*I get why Yoda chose Plo Koon and Anakin to go down to the lower depths to find Ahsoka; they would be the most likely candidates to talk her down from the ledge, but it still feels kind of underhanded.

*Ahsoka’s wanted poster is fierce AF. Just sayin’. Fierce AF.

*Notice that the first person Ahsoka thinks to call after the smoke clears is Barriss. Barriss seems legitimately concerned about Ahsoka’s safety. Don’t use the Jedi-com, Ahsoka. They’re watching.

*Oh Ahsoka, that cloak is not a great disguise. Your montails are literally sticking out of it. It’s adorable, but honestly… you’re not going to fool anybody.

*Ahsoka is a master of parkour.

*To hell with the bootlicking jerk on the train… Ahsoka is running from the cops because she’s being accused of a crime that she did not commit, and this dude is butting his nose in affairs that don’t concern him. Stay TF out of it.

*One should feel bad for Ahsoka at this point. She’s not thinking clearly at all. She’s cutting a hole in the roof of that elevator, and that Twi-lek kid is like, “um, use the button to stop it, dumbass.”

*Here come Ahsoka’s brothers again!

*Did Ahsoka get Ventress that pardon? That was a bold promise. I don’t think Ventress really cared. She felt bad for Ahsoka. It’s that gray coming through.

*Those looks that Ahsoka and Barriss give each other on that holo call. My god… the angst… It’s like they’re going to reach through the video somehow and kiss each other. I mean, look… look and give me one heterosexual explanation. I’ll wait:

It’s so gay, it’s ridiculous. Side note: Barriss has really f*^%ed up here. She’s still trying to save Ahsoka’s ass, but she sucks so badly at improvising that she has only succeeded in making everything monumentally worse for her.

*The hand-to-hand combat between Ahsoka and Ventress versus the Clones is so badass. Ventress goes straight feral. That move she does after Wolfe grabs her from behind…holy shit! She just growls, kicks the shit out of two clones and head butts Wolfe. Epic. “See? Didn’t kill a one. It’s the new me.”

*Barriss knocking Ventress out with the pipe to the head was savage. I still can’t tell if she’s trying to frame Ventress up as the mastermind behind the bombing, or if she thinks Ahsoka and Ventress are boning and she has decided to kick both their asses for it.

*Ahsoka has fought Ventress before. I think it’s odd that she doesn’t realize it’s not Ventress here even if Barriss is trying to mimic Ventress’s fighting style. Ventress does not stop talking shit when she duels someone. Barriss is silent.

*This is honestly a brutal ass-beating. It’s Barriss’s kicking Ahsoka into the wall over and over again for me. Ahsoka is clearly tired or something and is not fighting her best fight. Give her a break!

*Uh. It’s painful… Ahsoka just doesn’t know when to stop. She keeps getting up. Sometimes, I wish she would just stay down for a minute to recuperate.

*Aaaannnddd, Ahsoka falls right into the nano-droids. Barriss runs off as the Clones come to collect Ahsoka. *Face-palm* So either…

A.) Barriss loses her nerve, is afraid that she’s going to get caught and runs off leaving her girlfriend in an even worse predicament… because she is the worst improviser ever. Or…

B.) She’s convinced that Ahsoka is cheating with Ventress and has left her to rot. Either way, damn.

*Wolfe isn’t going to let you explain. Ahsoka is screwed.

•Part four- Random thoughts during The Clone Wars S5:E20 “The Wrong Jedi”:

*Padawan Tano is not going to get a fair trial. You heard it here first.

*Tarkin is truly awful. He has honestly had a problem with Ahsoka since The Citadel arc, and I know he’s loving all of this. F*^%ing fascist asshole.

*God, the Jedi council pisses me off here… I suppose it shouldn’t though. On the one hand, they are kowtowing to the senate. But, on the other, I mean, their hands really are tied. If it had just been the video recording of Ahsoka supposedly choking Letta, they may have been able to swing something, but between Barriss’s questionable improvising, and Ahsoka’s running, Ahsoka does look guilty AF.

*I tend to think Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Plo voted in Ahsoka’s favor.

*Ahsoka’s eyes are so sad. You can feel her stomachs drop. I don’t know why the temple guards had to be so rough yanking her padawan silka beads off either. Someone just please give her a hug and tell her that everything is going to be okay, even if you don’t believe it.

*Anakin having another Vader moment with Ventress.

*Anakin: How dare you compare yourself to Ahsoka!

Ventress: It’s true! My master abandoned me, and that’s exactly what you did to her… you and your precious Jedi Order.

Anakin: *Looking around like there are no lies detected in Ventress’s statement. Feeling that slippery slope.*

*Tarkin is aiming for the death penalty in this trial, and Ahsoka is only 17! He’s trying to put a kid to death for sedition. What a dick!

*You can tell Anakin is pissed when he gets to Barriss’s door. I’m surprised that he doesn’t kick it in, and force choke a confession out of her. He probably warned her before she and Ahsoka started dating. “Hurt her and I’ll end you.” Well, here we are.

*You are in trouble, Barriss.

*I love how Barriss is still trying to cast the blame back on Ventress. Like, no, baby, the gig is up.

*Anakin: *growling* Ahsoka trusted you and you betrayed her!

Barriss: I’ve learned that trust is overrated. The only thing the Jedi council believes in is violence.

That line… was it the cheating thing!? I’m so confused by that line. One thing that I do know about Jedi is that if they did decide to get into a forbidden relationship, they’d definitely be too autistic to cheat. Ahsoka is no exception.

*Barriss doesn’t fight with the same brutality against Anakin as she did with Ahsoka. It was almost as if she was toying with Ahsoka, and now she’s trying to save her own ass against Anakin.

*”Cease hostilities.” Oh Barriss, no.

*The end of the fight between Anakin and Barriss is my favorite part. It’s like Anakin grows tired of her bullshit, and starts raging. Like, the ONLY reason that he did not end her right there is because he needed her to go and confess to the crimes in front of the senate. You were warned, Barriss. You know you got that shovel talk.

*Anakin walks in right before that guilty verdict was handed down, and Ahsoka’s like, “Thank the force…”

*But…. It’s immediately doused with the realization that it’s…. “Barriss!? Oh shit!!”

*Someone help scrape Ahsoka’s jaw off the floor.

*Obi-Wan gives Barriss a death stare. He’s up in the peanut gallery thinking, “you stupid f*^%ing bitch.” Oh Barriss, you’ve officially lost the in-laws.

*You can tell Barriss is sorry immediately. The look she shoots Ahsoka *grits teeth*. Ahsoka is going to grow up to be the hottest lesbian in the Galaxy, and Barriss just fumbled their whole relationship. Ouch.

*Ugh, and you can tell Barriss just broke Ahsoka’s heart... I mean, look at her… she can’t even find joy in her exoneration:

This is the face of someone whose heart was just shattered into a million pieces.

*Ahsoka isn’t buying the Jedi council’s bullshit. I’m not confident that they’re knighting her here, but they did say that this was her great trial. Ahsoka doesn’t care. Ahsoka’s emotions are on 15.

*The moment Ahsoka “nopes” the return to the Jedi order still punches me in the gut. I’ve watch this arc half a dozen times, and it still hits. Jeeze. “I’m sorry master, but I’m not coming back.”

*Obi-Wan feels compelled to chase Anakin and Ahsoka down, but is stopped by Plo Koon. Oh, the emotion that Obi-Wan, Anakin AND Ahsoka would have had… knowing the three of them have zero control over their emotions combined would have been something else entirely.

*The look on Yoda’s face is brilliant, too. Yeah. He knows he has f*^%ed up royally. This is all going to end badly.

*I tend to think Ahsoka’s completely unchecked feelings are why she couldn’t remain at the temple as a Jedi. She had enough clairvoyance to know that she couldn’t stay because her emotions were completely off the charts. Not only did the Jedi council not trust her, her girlfriend betrayed her, and she’s feeling all kinds of negative feels in that moment. “I can’t stay here any longer….not now.”

*Also, Ahsoka knew about Anakin and Padme. It is confirmed here with this…

Anakin: I understand. More than you realize. I understand wanting to walk away from the order.

Ahsoka: … I know.

*Oh, Ahsoka’s tears as she walks down the temple steps towards the sunset with that music playing… Damn. Damn. Damn. 😭

*Then, you hear Ahsoka’s theme and that’s it… you don’t see her again until Season 7… where she’s smuggling drugs with her rebound girlfriend and Barriss is still living rent-free in her head. It’s art! Dammit! Art!!!

[oh-stars]

Writing Stats - Quarter 1, 2024

I've always wanted to track how much I write every day. It's my favorite thing about Nanowrimo and Camp Nano is the tracking and seeing my progress in numbers rather than pages. Last December, @sparkstar-trash and I decided to do a mini Nano between the two of us from December 11th to January 14th. It was kind of a success, kind of a fail on both ends, but it did spark (no pun intended) a love for this spreadsheet I had made.

All that to say, I've been keeping track of my writing stats this year and decided that I would do updates every three months (mostly for myself so it doesn't overwhelm me in the end) to see how things change.

Below the cut, you can see everything and how I kept track of things!

I'm participating/participated in quite a few events this year so far. This first quarter, I've been working on: Steddie Love Month, Stobin Month, Steddie Omegaverse Valentine's Day Exchange, Stranger Things Reverse Big Bang, and Stranger Things Big Bang.

I also decided to embark on a 90 Day Posting Challenge to help encourage me to write daily and to make shorter pieces. It's been really fun so far and helped me accept that not everything needs to be perfect to be fun and post. Posting started February 1st, so I'm on day 61 of the challenge today!

January

Word Count Total for Month: 43,726

Average Words Per Day: 1,286

Average Words Per Week: 8,745

Highest Word Count in One Day: 6,377

Total Fics Worked On: 22

Fics Completed: 17

Days Written: 23/31 or 74.19%

February

Word Count Total for Month: 43,819

Average Words Per Day: 1,288

Average Words Per Week: 8,763

Highest Word Count in One Day: 4,775

Total Fics Worked On: 29

Fics Completed: 24

Days Written: 29 or 100%

March

Word Count Total for Month: 39,405

Average Words Per Day: 1,158

Average Words Per Week: 7,881

Highest Word Count in One Day: 4,464

Total Fics Worked On: 35

Fics Completed: 32

Days Written: 31 or 100%

Quarter Total

Word Count Total for Quarter: 126,950

Average Words Per Day: 1,244

Average Words Per Week: 8,463

Total Fics Worked On: 78

Fics Completed: 74

Days Written: 83 or 91% from the last three months, 22% for year

Longest Writing Streak: 64

Total in Writing Streak: 95,484

Thoughts:

Keeping track of my stats really motivated me to keep writing every day, even when I didn't want to. The monthly prompts and 90 Day challenge have gotten me into a really good habit of writing every day, no matter what, with smaller goals like the prompts being great starters for the fics I'm working on.

March was really tough and I lost a lot of writing time, so I'm pretty impressed I got as much as I did. Things have changed drastically in my life since I started this, which is so weird after three years of consistency, so trying to find this new balance is, well, a challenge. If it wasn't for @lady-lostmind and the Stobin Month prompts, I don't think I would have stuck with writing through my bad days like I did. And for full transparency, there are a few days where I wrote under 10 words that day, but they're still 10 more than I had and I sat down and tried to write. The intention was there, so it counts.

Either way, I'm really proud of myself for getting to this point, I have so many fics I'm working on or have planned and I hope the next quarter is as fulfilling as this last one has been.

Thanks to all of you who have read, liked, reblogged, kudos, commented, bookmarked, and rec'd my work. From vocal to silent readers, you've all cheerleaded me into where I am now and I'm really thankful to be in this position.

Now off to more sprints to see if I can't beat these numbers for the next quarter.

[sincerely-sofie]

Check-in for October 24, 2023

I'm planning on doing regular check-ins that peeps can read or skip as much as they please. If you want to see behind the scenes of my projects or get to know me a bit better, feel free to peek below the cut! If not, just look at this color palette I made for my web dev class and admire it:

I know green and pink are my favorite colors, so I may be just a tad biased, but look!!! Look at how pretty it is!!!

I plan to use the palette for a website that is basically a guided tour of a fictional town that's populated by bug people, and while the colors used in the initial character sketches are still my preference, I don't think they look too bad in this proof of concept image! They definitely need some tweaking, and some details in the art itself need correcting, but all around it's not too shabby :>

I also made the logo for the website which, while uninspired, doesn't look that bad. I'm not in a logo design course, so I can't be too upset about that. I made two versions--- a light and dark one--- so that I could have it appear on most colors of background.

Also, I've printed off tons of art and stuck it on my walls over the past few days to inspire me. The art wall has been very successful in beautifying my space, but I've been a bit too worn out to draw much other than the start of a project where I draw individual generations of pokemon by memory. Venusaur looks exactly like I remembered it, but also nothing like that at all. Charizard's line only looks halfway decent by virtue of Twig existing.

I must say, though, that I am charmed by these drawings' doofy lil grins. Just look at Bulbasaur. He is raring to go! Charmander is ready to shake your hand! Look at these lads!!

I've been trying to learn Clip Studio Paint by drawing a new The Present is a Gift comic in it, but I cannot begin to explain to you all how intimidating of a program it is for me. I'm a Procreate gal, y'all. I have a conniption whenever I look at the Photoshop interface. When I look at this:

I am desperate for the cozy white space of this:

I spent over an hour struggling to draw a simple piece for Instagram, admittedly while desperately trying to get OBS to not give out on me while I recorded my screen, but I think that I'm slowly learning how to not faint whenever the Paint window boots up.

Anyhoo--- enjoy the WIP teaser for the upcoming comic featuring a chat between Dusknoir (piloting a KO'd Twig) and Darkrai amidst a cave-in. If I am found dead, know that said comic worked alongside Clip Studio Paint to kill me.

As an update for The Present is a Gift in terms of the fanfic, I recently broke 6,000 words for the first draft. I haven't been writing too regularly--- when I do, it's usually to just sit down for 30 minutes max to try and get a little bit of a head start on NaNoWriMo coming up--- but whenever I do, the words come in batches of 400-700+ at a time. My dudes, I used to take a week to reach the lower end of that amount. I've been beating perfectionism back with a stick while sobbing "Quantity begets quality! Quantity begets quality!", but since I've set myself a challenge to write as many garbage words as possible without editing them until the first draft is done, I've been writing--- and enjoying the process of writing--- more than I have in my entire life.

I've been trying to win NaNoWriMo, a challenge where you write 50k words in November, for the last 7 years. I resigned myself to being a NaNo rebel and trying to write just 15k words next month. But if I keep cranking out 1,500 words in under two writing sprints per day--- without properly trying to eliminate distractions--- I think I could actually win for once??? I didn't think Pokemon Mystery Dungeon fanfiction would be what gave me a fighting chance at winning NaNoWriMo, but here I am. PMD brainrot truly is a miraculous thing, but I'll have to see exactly miraculous it is on the 1st of November.

So... yep! I probably should have figured out a way to sign off on check-in posts before deciding to publish this. Oops. Welp. Um. Thanks for reading?

Sincerely, Sofie

[revenancy]

camp nano, july 23 - never dies the dream

For the last eight years, Reverie has had these dreams: They're walking among the dead, a ghost in their own skin. They're an arbiter of death, of darkness, shaping the world with nightmares, dreaming their pain to life. Hoping that by hurting they can finally heal.

The other dreamers do the same. Alleluia craves the song she cannot hear when she's awake—Belovèd makes a kind of poetry of surreal confusion, her art one with an old fear. New dreamers wake, one by one, into this world after dying—nearly dying—living, despite the odds against them.

And Lazarus is trying to save them all.

Laz is waiting for us when we fall asleep. In that place between dreaming and death, in the pause between breaths when the chest is still and the heart forgets to beat, he kneels at the edge of the rift and reaches one glowing hand into the darkness that couldn’t claim him.

The dreamers have quickly learned that they're something odd. They have power over this place where they dream, in ways that they didn't before. Waking up after near-death experiences, they're given fantastical things—the heart and soul of magic—but only when they're asleep.

Some people would do anything to stay in that world.

No one becomes a dreamer because of pleasant things. This isn’t a place where people wake up, so delicate and leisurely, but a place where we are woken.

Some would drag it into this one.

// camp nano details:

→ adult low fantasy → goal: 25k → warnings for: death and near-death, suicide (mention of/reference to), disordered eating → other: struggling with mental and physical health, trying to take the easy way out, lazarus "i'm god's strongest soldier. i'm hiding in a fort of rx trazodone bottles" lemoyne

I'm going to try to post a line / update every day that I write in July, mainly to keep myself accountable and have a place to talk into the void about this project. I'm going to pin this post -- if you want to be tagged in any of my NDtD posts, let me know!

[corishadowfang]

Nano Project/WIP Re-Introduction

“Provenance is a city built on dragons…”

Magic is a peculiar thing.  It is the very beating heart of the world, connecting to each and every creature who walks its surface.  For those who can tap into it, it gives them a taste of the divine—a brief moment where they can bend the elements to their will or heal a fatal wound.

Accessing it, however, has never been easy.  Magic is solely the domain of dragons, and for centuries, humans hunted them for their cores—that is, the parts of them that gave them this unique ability.  Using cores came with an unusual side-effect: the more someone used magic, the more draconic they would become, until they lost themselves entirely to it.  To protect themselves, humans put the cores inside Familiars, dampening the effect—but they could never remove it entirely.  To protect their society—and individual users—using enough magic to transform was outlawed, and strict regulations were put in place to control the use of magic in everyday life.

But there’s a catch.  Familiars are meant to be non-sentient vessels—but sometimes, things don’t work out quite like people planned.

Aiden isn’t particularly unusual for owning a Familiar.  What is unusual has been his continued insistence that his Familiar has a mind of his own.  Under most circumstances, it hasn’t done much more than make him a social outcast.  Things change, however, when his life is put in danger, and his Familiar temporarily forces him to transform in order to save his life.

There are very few people out there who are willing to believe Aiden had no choice in the matter.  There are fewer people still who know why he hasn’t experienced the same drawbacks that other people have.  Desperate to avoid arrest and determined to find answers, he reluctantly teams up with some unlikely allies to try and get to the bottom of his case—and ends up discovering more than he bargained for.

Introducing my NaNo project: On My Heart!  Some of you are probably already familiar with this, haha, but the lore’s undergone…a bit of an overhaul.  We’ve got the same basic premise and the same cast, though: the same found family, the same themes about coping with trauma, and the same, “Hey, you hunted down a bunch of creatures and made products from their parts, and then at least one of them gained sentience,” and all of the identity issues and moral quandaries that implies.  For a few months I’ve kind of split my attention between this and Fallen Stars, but Fallen Stars has typically taken the forefront, so I wanted to take NaNo to really hone in on this particular story.

Ideally, I’d like to be able to have a complete draft by the end of NaNo…but that’s probably going to be more than 50k more words.  Like, it’s doable, but whether or not it’s doable without burning myself out is, uh…debatable.  So we’re shooting for a 50k minimum, and then seeing where we can go from there!

[alder-reid]

Alder held his breath, hands clasped tightly together under his chin as he sat on the edge of the couch, watching. Just like the rest of the Tower, the rest of Panem. The Games were at their final precipice, ready to tip them into one of two futures.

He'd thought a lot about one of them. A new resident in Seven's Village, someone to keep him company as he fed the strays and to shield from the things he wished he'd been shielded from as a new Victor. Though he knew Ren would emerge changed, traumatized, this future still felt a little warmer to him than his current reality, closer to family than he'd had since he was sixteen. Maybe it was selfish. It was definitely a bad idea, to let himself run away with thoughts like that. But the closer the end neared with Ren's heart still beating, the sharper the picture of a future with a sibling he'd never had grew. Now, it almost felt impossible that it couldn't happen, how could it feel so real if it wasn't going to? His heart pounded against his ribcage as though he was there beside Ren, fleeing the mutt and the fire, despite his frozen position. The nurse was a ghastly mutt, grotesque and horrific; Ren appeared so very small beside her, they had to pull the cameras so far back to capture them both in the same shot.

"Run," he urged under his breath. Ren was moving to yank Nano away from Conny-- she was gone, far gone. It was a saving that he knew was in Ren's nature, but he begged them silently, selfishly, to let Nano make the mistake of attachment. It would mean Ren would come home, couldn't they see that? Maybe they could. Maybe that was what made Ren a better person than any of them deserved.

It earned Ren a knife to the shoulder. Alder yelled, something between sympathetic pain and white-hot rage with Nano. "Run!" he yelled to the screen again, this time pleading. "Ren, please, run, you can do this, you can do this..."

For a moment, it seemed like they might. Then, in a move that he saw all too much of himself in, they threw a reactive punch instead. It happened so fast, he barely had time to process it. A brief struggle, then another knife, this time with deadlier aim. His own heart raced empathetically, as though if it were to try hard enough, it might course enough blood through Ren's veins to keep them alive too. He'd survived a stabbing too and won, right? They just had to hang on a little bit longer, let the nurse take care of Nano first. That wasn't what happened; Nano's thoughts seemed aligned with Alder's, but oriented to his own survival. The nurse craned down to scoop up Ren, little Ren, like a baby bird. They pled, Alder pled too, silently, to anyone, anything that might listen, tears of horror and realization stinging in his eyes. There was a nauseating crack. Alder's phone buzzed at his side in panicked alarm that Ren's vitals had gone instantaneously silent. He sat, frozen, nauseated, feeling the future he'd hoped for dissolve, joining the wildfire ashes sweeping away on the camp's winds. The stillness held, both on the Seventh floor and in the Arena. Nano made the first move when no sign of rescue came, seemingly possessed by something Alder didn't understand. "Don't fucking touch them!" he screamed at Nano as he laid his hands on Ren's crumpled form, pulled them toward the flagpole--

This time, his stomach turned for good, and he choked on bile in the back of his throat, forcing him to turn away and retreat into his room, his body purging itself of the last bits of hope he'd dared hold on to the past five days. Alone.

[letitiawrightswifey]

Saving Riri

Note: Not proof read

Warning: For mature audiences, 18+, violence, smut, mentions of death

Riri has been captured by Namor, and was brought to the cave under the sea.

Shuri has been desperately trying to find her, track her, and reunite with her. The two have had feelings for each other for a while now, but neither of them knew how to communicate it. But after the news that her love has been taken, she won’t stop at nothing until she gets her back.

FLASHBACK

Riri has came to visit Wakanda occasionally to be closer to Shuri. Even with long phone calls, and text messages, and video chats, it wasn’t the same as being near Shuri. Her presence makes her flustered, it makes her weak, but a good kind of weak. The kind that makes her feel as if she is floating, and that she is in Heaven whenever she’s in the same room with Shuri. She adores her. She loves her. She needs her. Currently, they are in the lab brainstorming ideas for Riri’s new suit, since she couldn’t leave with the old design.

Shuri: “So what kind of ideas do you have for your new design?”

Riri: “No clue.” she sighs. “Maybe I could take inspiration from Tony’s nano tech, but use vibranium instead. Maybe use it to from different weapons in battle, instead of the usual blasters. I don’t know though, it sounds pretty complex.” she says with doubt.

Shuri moves closer to Riri, and puts both of her hands on the shorter girl’s shoulders. Her eyes are deep and dark, and never breaks eye contact with the other.

Shuri: “Aww c’mon, nothing you can’t handle. Riri, you’re a bright, brilliant, and beautiful young woman. You built a machine that tracks vibranium out of pieces from a junk yard for crying out loud! Whatever ideas you come up with, you always find a way to make it into a reality. Don’t ever doubt yourself, cause I’ve never doubted you for a second.” she finishes.

Riri is left star struck. She couldn’t stop thinking about how she called her “beautiful”. She stood with her lips slightly parted, and struggling to make eye contact with Shuri. She glances at Shuri’s right hand, still gripping her shoulder, and then back at the ground. Her heart beats faster and faster, to the point where she can’t hear anything else.

Shuri, afraid that she made Riri uncomfortable, removes her hands from her shoulders and takes several steps back. She bites her bottom lip, and hold her hands behind her back. It’s silent for a good 30 seconds, before Shuri breaks the silence.

Shuri: “Well umm, should we continue to brainstorm?” she says nervously, with her hand scratching the back of her neck.

Riri: “Yea, that umm sounds like a good idea.” she says as she grabs her pencil and continues writing.

The rest of the night in the lab is pretty silent, only occasionally do they both exchange ideas, but they barley look at each other. The two are so flustered and so into each other, they are too afraid of making the other uncomfortable.

Shuri looks at the time, and realizes how late it is. And she looks at Riri for the first time in what it felt like forever and tells her they should get some rest. Riri nods in agreement, and starts to pack up everything of hers in the lab. Shuri does the same.

Shuri walks Riri to her guest bedroom. The two don’t say anything to each other until they make it to the room. As Riri grabs for the door knob, she stops and turns around to look at Shuri. They hold eye contact for only a few seconds, still clearly nervous around each other.

Riri: “Goodnight, Shuri. And thank you…for everything. The hospitality, and all, y’know.” Her mouth remaining open as if she wanted to say something else, of how she truly feels, but nothing escapes.

Shuri smiles endearingly, and nods her head. Her hands fidgeting as she speaks. She looks down at the ground, then back at Riri, with those deep, dark, beautiful brown eyes.

Shuri: “Of course, Riri. If there’s anything you need, just ask for it. I hope you have a goodnight as well.” She grins, as Riri thanks her again.

Shuri doesn’t notice, but Riri was staring at her hand before she leaves. Riri was considering taking her hand as an invitation to her room, and that they may even—NO! Riri cuts that train of thought, wanting the idea to die in her head, and she believed that it would be impossible that the Queen of Wakanda would ever be with her. As Shuri walks away, Riri watches her for a while, and slowly closes her door, wishing Shuri would’ve stepped through it before she did.

THE NEXT MORNING

Shuri was going to be busy with Queen duties all day, and Riri didn’t want to be in the lab by herself. She was always in the lab with Shuri, and it just felt wrong being there without her. So she decided to stroll through town, get to see the beauty of Wakanda on her own.

The day started out really nice. It was a peaceful, sunny and gorgeous day. Riri took a nice walk, tried some meals and came across a jewelry store. While there she thought about Shuri, and the kind of jewelry she would like. She decided to pull herself together and get Shuri a gift. She’s been working so hard trying to rule over the nation and taking care of Riri, she thought the least she could do is give her a token of her appreciation. After 15 minutes of searching, she found the perfect necklace. She grabs it immediately, and she hopes and prays to God that Shuri doesn’t have it already.

After paying for it, Riri walks with a big smile on her face, and starts to head back to the lab. She has to go over a bridge that’s over a river to get there. As she’s walking she feels a figure following her. She turns around… and no one is there. Nervous and confused, she decides to walk a little faster. Suddenly she feels her shoes getting really wet. Then she realizes what’s happening. But before she could run away, a Talokan Warrior grabs Riri by the mouth, so she couldn’t scream, and jumps into the river.

CURRENTLY IN THE CASTLE

Shuri is still in a meeting with the Elders discussing possible improved defense mechanisms they could make in Wakanda. Suddenly, the meeting is interrupted when M’Baku bursts open the door.

M’Baku: “Your highness! Your friend, Riri Williams! She’s—she’s been captured!” he shouts.

Shuri immediately jumps from her seat, with the most worried look on her face. She runs to M’Baku, and grabs his shoulders and starts shaking and asking her questions.

Shuri: “What!!? Where is she!!? Who took her!!? What happened!!? M’BAKU ANSWER ME NOW!!! WHO TOOK HER!!??” she says with tears forming in her eyes.

M’Baku: “A Talokan Warrior!” Shuri stops shaking him and the world pauses for a minute. Blank expression on her face, tears fall from her eyes and hits the ground. She doesn’t blink, she stares into M’Baku’s soul. “Some people in town saw her when she was captured, they say she was dragged in the river.” he continued.

Shuri let’s go of him, with her hands to her sides. She clenches her fists, and any short of worry that was on her face, changed to anger. One of the elders asked what they should do about this.

Shuri: “M’Baku, take over the meeting while I’m gone. We need these defenses more than ever. I’m going to find Riri, and I won’t come back until I do.” she says with her fists still clenched walking out of the room.

She quickly dawns her Black Panther suit. And makes her way to the air craft. She looks up at a picture of her and Riri in the air craft and begins to fly. She’s currently trying to track Riri in anyway she can.

Shuri: “Griot! Can you track Riri through her phone?!” she says worriedly.

Griot: “Yes, my Queen. Ms. Williams’s phone has last been spotted near the Wakandan bridge over the river. However, she is not there.”

Shuri grunts and bangs the air craft out of frustration. Then she remembered, she gave Riri her own kimoyo beads incase of any sort of emergency.

Shuri: “What about her kimoyo beads!!?” She says desperately.

Griot: “Yes, I have found a designated location. She has been taken under a deep cave near Talokan.”

Shuri couldn’t believe that they were this predictable, she should’ve known that’s what Riri was being held at.

Shuri: “Don’t worry, Ri. I’m on my way.” she says to herself. Cranking the aircraft into full speed, she heads out to find her love.

IN THE CAVE

Riri wakes up after being unconscious for the past hour. She notices her arms chained up and tries to breaks free, but there’s nothing she can do, as the chains were made out of pure vibranium. As she gives up trying to escape, she sees a familiar face in front of her. The man who tried to kill her once before. He stands there leaning forward with a smirk on his face. The damn fish man.

Namor: “Well, look who’s finally awake. Don’t even bother trying to break free, you’ll be staying here until the Queen arrives.”

Riri begins to grind her teeth and clench her fists. She grunts trying to punch Namor in his smug looking face.

Riri: “Namor, what the hell are you doing!!? I thought you and Shuri formed a truce. Aren’t y’all supposed to be allies now?”

Namor begins to walk very slowly around the room. And begins laughing to himself as well.

Namor: “Our alliance was never permanent. Only temporary. You see, the Black Panther is the most powerful person in the most powerful nation in the surface world. And she only had the advantage because in our last battle, she took me to the desert, and almost completely dried me out. I have scars on my back, my wings on my ankles are gone, and you thought I was just gonna let that go? No. And after giving it some thought, why wouldn’t I take her life? Wakanda doesn’t stand a chance against my army. And I will finally take her life, and what better way of doing that then leading her right to me with you here?” he smiles.

Riri immediately panics, the thought of Shuri getting killed and hurt because of her terrified her. Riri begins struggling to break out of the chains out of desperation.

Riri: “Don’t you dare touch her! Don’t hurt her, don’t even go near her, you here me!? She’s been through enough!”

Namor smiles and bends down to meet Riri’s level.

Namor: “Your right, she’s been through a lot. But with you here it’ll completely destroy her. You see, your her weakness believe it or not. Soon enough she’ll arrive, but this time she won’t be so lucky. She won’t beat me here.”

“Yeah, well why don’t you come and fight me so we can find out?!”

Namor looks around, and Riri shifts after hearing a familiar voice.

Riri: “Shuri?!” she calls in disbelief.

Shuri: “Hold on, Riri. I’m coming.” Shuri flips from the top of the cave all the way down to where Namor and Riri are at.

Shuri glares at Namor, and he does the same. They circle around the room for a while before charging at one another. While Namor is stronger than last time since he’s not in the desert, nothing could have prepared him for the pure rage the powered Shuri. She kicks the back of his legs, which makes him fall over. She claws his back, this time dragging her claws all the way down, he screeches in pain. Once he’s at his weak point, her claws shifts to panther gauntlets that shot pure heat. Namor’s skin started to burn and he begins to fully collapse. And as quickly their battle had started it was over. His pride got the best of him thinking he could take Shuri on his own. But he had no clue that Shuri’s love for Riri made her this stronger.

Shuri immediately runs to Riri, leaving Namor on the ground. She uses her claws to free Riri from the chains and Riri falls into Shuri’s arm. Shuri picks Riri of off her feet as Riri wraps her arms around the older woman’s neck. Shuri looks at Namor, nearly dead on the ground, with vengeance in her eyes.

Shuri: “If you ever come near her again, I won’t be so keen to letting you live. You understand me!?”

Namor trying to catch his breathe is hesitant at first, but eventually nods his head. Shuri begins to jump, still holding on to Riri so tight, like she’d never let her go again. She makes her way back to the aircraft, and heads back to Wakanda. The ride back was quiet, Riri thought Shuri was mad at her for going to town by herself. Riri opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

BACK IN WAKANDA

Shuri escorts Riri to her guest bedroom, the both of them still extremely quiet. Riri begins to open her door, but she finally breaks the silence.

Riri: “I’m sorry, Shuri. I’m so sorry.” she says with tears in her eyes. Her back is towards Shuri. Shuri begins to look concerned and confused, and she begins to turn Riri around to face her.

Shuri: “What? No. Whatever for, Riri?”

Riri: “If I would’ve just stayed put in the lab, none of this would’ve happened. I almost put you in danger again, and I was about to be responsible for another Udaku’s death.” she sobs referring to Queen Ramonda.

Shuri shakes her head, and pushes Riri into her room so no one can hear her cry. She shuts and locks the door behind her, and goes in to hug Riri so tight, her ribs start to hurt. They rock back and forth, embracing each others scent. Riri has her eyes closed, and Shuri’s eyes are open.

Shuri: “Riri, don’t you dare say that! Your not responsible for my mother’s death. She died protecting you, and I’m grateful she did. And I will do the same.” Shuri pulls back from the hug and grabs both sides or Riri’s face, both finally able to look at each others eyes. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you. Riri you mean everything to me.”

Riri just stares tearfully into Shuri’s eyes. She doesn’t know what to say, or what to do. Her heart starts beating fast again. After a long pause she finally says something.

Riri: “Shuri, your just saying that—”

Shuri: “No I’m not! I mean it with all my heart. You are my world, and I’ll be damned if some no good fish man takes that away from me.” she finishes. Silence fills the room again, but Shuri closes the space between them and attaches her lips to Riri’s. Their lips are soft on each other, and Shuri never lets go of Riri’s face. It starts off sweet and tender, but later escalates and becomes more powerful and intense, finally realizing how long they both have craved one another. Riri breaks apart for a moment and looks at Shuri.

Riri: “You… really like me?”

Shuri: “No. I really love you, Ri.” she kisses Riri again before continuing to speak. “If Namor was right about one thing,” she kisses Riri again. “is that you are my weakness, but in the best way possible.”

Shuri connects her lips to Riri’s again, and they become hungry for each other. They wanted each other. They need each other. Riri wraps her arms around the older woman’s neck to deepen kiss. Shuri uses her panther strength to pick Riri up, and bring her to the bed, never breaking the kiss.

Shuri lays Riri down, and begins kissing the bottom of her jaw, and soon her neck. Riri sighs and moans Shuri’s name as the go on like this for a while. Shuri still in her panther suit, gets up and starts removing it. And Riri begins removing her own clothes, but then she remembered a very important item in her pants pocket. As Shuri starts to climb back on her, Riri stops her and holds up a shiny black and gold necklace with a panther on it. Shuri stops and smiles ear to ear while looking at Riri.

Riri: “I hope you don’t have it already. I was gonna give it to you after your meeting, but then the stuff with Namor happened and—” Shuri interrupts her by kissing her. It was a long heated, powerful kiss that leaves Riri with her head spinning.

Shuri: “It’s perfect, Ri! I love it, I love you. Thank you.”

Riri smiles and goes to kiss Shuri again. They can’t get enough of this feeling, now they really needed each other.

Riri: “I love you too, Shuri. I love you so much!” she says before kissing her again. Shuri smiles into the kiss as does Riri.

Shuri: “Now…where were we?” tugging on Riri’s shirt. Riri giggles and bites her bottom lip before kissing under Shuri’s ear.

Riri: “I think you know that answer to that.” she whispered.

Shuri laughs and doesn’t waste anytime pleasing Riri. She practically rips Riri’s clothes off. And goes to kiss her neck again, and continues all the way down her body. They’ve waited so long for this, they needed this, they loved this.

They finally have each other, and they’re never letting go again.