#strange new worlds: Asylum

[pikefied]

Just added this to my Audible library. Hoping for some juicy Pikuna in the story. 😉

[zepskies]

Against the Wind || Series Masterlist

Pairing: Alpha!Dean Winchester x Female Omega!Reader 

Summary: You wake up in a strange alpha’s cabin in the middle of a snowstorm, all with a busted ankle. He holds shadows in his eyes, even though his hands are gentle. There are iron shutters around his heart, even though he saved you. You might just save him in return.

AN: Another short series for @jacklesversebingo! This is a canon ending-divergent AU, but still an Omegaverse story within the canon SPN world.

Song Inspo: “Against the Wind” by Bob Seger

Jacklesverse Bingo24 Prompt: True Mates

Series Tags/Warnings: 18+ only! A/B/O dynamics, scenting, injuries, angst, smut, fluff and feels. Background Sam Winchester x Eileen (Saileen).

Chapters:

Part 1: In His Hands

Part 2: Seems Like Yesterday

Part 3: Nothing Left to Burn

Part 4: Running to Live

Series Complete

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Dean Winchester Masterlist

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@cookiechipdough

[sun-lit-roses]

Mood. I'm currently considering ruining my sleep schedule to dive into this 😂 I'm only on page 30 and already need to scream about so many things (complimentary).

just realized Star Trek Asylum is available in the U.K. and my kindle account is still set to the U.K…so guess who just downloaded it and plans to ruin my work day by staying up to read this book all night

[rewrittenwrongs]

Having thoughts about the League of Assassins. It’s pretty common among them to form hierchy/ranking around who’s a better fighter and who beat/killed who. I can’t remember if it’s canon but I like the idea that to prove your teacher has taught you all they have to teach you must kill them (not sure how that applies to history/math/whatever but. Moving on.) Working off of that idea, a lot of assassins in the organisation would already respect Tim for causing the death/defeat of the Council of Spiders; assassins that are so skilled they kill other assassins for fun. Him then TRICKING RA’S AL GHUL AND BLOWING UP (almost??) ALL OF HIS BASES, AND THEN OUTSMARTING HIM AGAIN WHEN HE TRIES TO DESTROY EVERYTHING BATMAN HAS BUILT, I feel like it’s reasonable to assume a lot of them would’ve decided Tim is the bigger threat or at least proved himself very formidable and a large threat. I imagine a lot of them would’ve sought him out in Gotham and pledged loyalty to him (kind of like Minions seeking out the evilest leader thanks for that thought brain), maybe doing full on traditional rituals to prove the transferring of their loyalty, like blood oaths or ritual spars idk, maybe giving him gifts or displaying their skills so he accepts them as allies rather than being disrespected and killing or maiming them since that’s the standard they expect in the League.

And Tim is uh. Very confused. Very surprised. And also trying hard not to show it. He accepts all the gifts and pledges and shit, because he sure as fuck ain’t gonna turn them back to Ra’s, but after that he doesn’t really know what to do with them. He hires a bunch of them at Wayne Enterprise and Drake Industries, tasks a bunch of them with working for Red Hood on the down low, maybe sends a couple on undercover missions to Arkham Asylum so they start treating inmates as actual human beings and stop using shock therapy or something, and makes sure to write them all up fair contracts and great pay with good work bonuses and plenty of leave, and makes sure most or all of them start going to therapy. The assassins love their new leader and would do practically anything for him.

But anyway, all that aside. I’ve had those thoughts in my head for more than a month. Something that just recently occurred to me is Mara al Ghul. Damian’s cousin. Another child raised by the League of Assassins, only this one never left.

Until, that is, she watches this freshly-immunocompromised vigilante arguably outsmart her grandfather twice, and decides he is the bigger threat, actually, I want to be on his good side when he takes over the world.

So now Tim is being forced into basically adopting this feral child, who’s only experience in American society was undercover missions to kill people, who thinks decapitated heads are reasonable gifts, who’s introduction to Tim was something batshit insane like dumping the Joker’s head in his lap because the Joker is Gotham’s most dangerous rogue and of course Tim will appreciate having him gone. But even with a well crafted facade she can tell Tim is unnerved and horrified, so she must be doing something wrong. Maybe it was because the Joker is Batman’s enemy and not Tim’s specifically? But Tim doesn’t have any arch nemesis aside from maybe Ra’s who she obviously can’t kill, so she does more research into Tim’s life and background and finds out Captain Boomerang killed his father so next she brings Tim HIS head and she can already tell he’s much more pleased this time. But there’s still that edge of unsettlement and wariness, and he’s acting so strange around her, so she digs deeper and finds out about the Titans Tower incident but Tim sent all these other assassins to work for red hood so they must be on good terms, and then she finds out about all the bad blood between him and Damian and Dick so she starts trying to kill them next, starting with Damian obviously (a mix of jealousy over him leaving the league and a good amount of cousin rivalry/cain instinct), but Tim stops the fight and tells her to stand down and now she’s scared that he’s going to punish her and Ra’s’ punishments were always so harsh and perhaps this time she can’t quite fight down the urge to hide.

Meanwhile, Tim is being dragged through a parent arc kicking and screaming, the bats are wondering why the hell there are suddenly so many assassins only after they scare off Ra’s, Jason is more or less vibing because he thinks the assassins are from Talia and the Joker’s dead so of course he’s ecstatic (even tho he wishes he knew who did it so he can thank them), Dick and Damian are still reeling from learning Bruce is alive/getting him back from the time stream when all of a sudden this masked child comes out of nowhere mid patrol and attacks Damian, and isn’t backing down even though Dick arrived quickly but when Red Robin arrives and yells stop she’s already three rooftops away by the time he’s done speaking. Everyone is tired and doesn’t know what the hell is going on except mayybe Oracle.

[phoenixcatch7]

Deep in my ff7 rereads so here are my favourite fandom fics, hands down.

End as you mean to begin <- 130k+ of time travelling cloud parenting the remnants, seeking asylum in a war torn wutai to keep all four of them out of shinras hands while sephiroth is absolutely Going Through It in midgar. Great Genesis characterisation and cloud mothering his way to an international incident. Bonus gender hijinks, hilarious misunderstandings and zack. Unfinished.

The fear of falling stars <- 500k+ and soon to be completed. Cloud and insane!Sephiroth time travel back to their shinra days and I cannot emphasise enough how much cloud is Not Doing Well. Gorgeous wordplay and top tier banter. Utterly unhinged blood enemies to ??? to ?????? to lovers sefikura. It's E rated and probably the tensest I've ever been reading fic lol, it is not lighthearted! But it's incredibly well written and the characters are phenomenal (zack my beloved) so if you've got strong nerves (and like a quarantine pairing) I'd definitely recommend it.

Voice of the gods <- 170k+ of almost idyllic gods and avatars au. Slow, soft and full of world building, it's a lovely relaxing read of cloud getting anointed the envoy of sephiroth, god of war, and slowly growing into his role and joining the ranks of envoy. Lots of side characters take larger roles here, and sephiroth himself is a darling without losing his sharpest edges. Unfinished.

I CAN FIX HIM (series) <- possibly my favourite sephiroth characterisations ever. 130k and growing of pure shaking this man like a doll in a perfect mix of almost delirious crack and gutting angst (often both at once!). Very good writing, every single funny moment hits like a truck and keeps building until you're choking with laughter. Bonus points to ROADTRIP! for being utterly, utterly insane. I cannot emphasise enough just how GOOD every single character and their dynamics are written.

Just anything ff7 written by AimeeLouWrites, if you've been in this fandom for any length of time you'll have heard of her. Great concepts, great executions and aus for DAYS.

Five hearts to make him whole <- 130k+ of time/dimension travelling cloud getting sent to a world of soulmates - and his alternate self bagged all four soldier firsts. Alternate cloud also died violently a few years ago and boy did those soulmates (not) take it well. Our cloud, of course, was not read in on any of this. Shout out to the emotional support chocobo! Unfinished?

Shall I find rest <- another soulmate agszc (?) dimension cross but this one is 100k+ of post AC cloud and Tifa waking up and deciding to make it everyone else's problem. They're so done with all the drama. Bamf nibel duo to the end and Tifa is the mvp. Unfinished.

Advanced release <- 250k+ and it's sephiroth receiving the original game in a strange packet that appeared in his room. It spirals into a messy and painful exposure of conspiracy, lies and inevitable tragedy. Video game logic is a running gag and zack remains the only actually stable person in the whole sorry mess but he's also Having a Terrible Experience. Really well written!!! Unfinished.

On broken wings <- 160k+ of pure post AC sephiroth redemption from his pov. Him struggling to find his place in a new world and experience real human connection evolves into MOOGLE EMBASSY need I say more?? Unfinished.

With Great Power Comes Meddling Fucking Gods <- 470k+! Poly WEAPON cloud gets yoinked back to the past (feat agzs), dies for a few days and misses his family SO bad but he is determined to change the future for the better. Probably the most healthy and mature cloud ever lol. Unfortunately for him, insane!sephiroth is pulling a inner hollow and gaia herself isn't talking. If you like symbolism, whoo boy!! The dream sequences are a DOOZY (and drowning in eroticism). Wonderfully written, the divide between sane!sephiroth and his counterpart is really cool to see. E rated at times but it's absolutely DELIGHTFUL and WEAPON cloud is such a treat. And I cannot emphasise enough the symbolism. Zackkura (kinda) and slow burn! Unfinished.

A brand need not be seen <- 180k+ in a world of soulmates where the four firsts have clouds name on their wrists. Trooper cloud is tentatively, desperately hopeful. Then a smoking hot op af adult cloud appears, with no names on his wrists at all. It's a really cute flirty fic despite covering shinra politics, identity crises, huge self worth issues, lots of trauma, and finding your own place in the world. Unfinished.

Memory's struggle <- 250k+ of cascading time travel. Basically everyone goes back, which goes great XD. Everyone... Except cloud. I read this a while ago but I do remember poor cloud just getting loved and spoiled by literally everyone and freaking out about it lmao. He was so confused! Unfinished.

Additional edit:

A solitude of space <- a wonderfully soothing 90k complete of sephiroth getting resurrected and moving to stardew valley to become the farmer. It's sooooo peaceful and following him as he grows into his own person and experiences real normality and community is lovely, if a touch angsty. Eventual sefikura with cloud moving to the farm when he's not doing deliveries. It's just. Really nice. I think I cried at the end. Finished!

One-Winged Angel's Self-Saving System <- 55k+ sephiroth enters the Chinese fantasy Scum Villain world in place of the scum villain himself! (He's the third person to take on that role, but who's counting?) Reborn into a plant body he's set loose on an unsuspecting world with a completely different magic system (sentient swords! Immortality!), with only the guide of a mysterious hallucinated ai. Freedom to make his own choices! Aroallo seph rep! He messes up the plot so bad, recruiting accidental love interests with kill counts and resurrecting long lost immortals. It can get a bit heavy but it's really fun and sephiroth has no intention of ever going back. Unfinished.

The SOLDIER General's Self Saving Shizun <- 73k+ of the opposite of the last fic: the scum villain (the 2nd) gets isekai'd into sephiroth! Shen qingqiu, aka the modern world native shen yuan, fails to resurrect into his prepared plant body and wakes up in a new fictional world, once again as the villain. With his limited memory of the games and his immense knowledge of cultivation (scum villains magic system) he tries to get a grasp on his new life while evading hojo, the president, his new subordinates and the war front while cultivating to immortality - something shinra is VERY interested in. When I tell you these two fics have a GRIP on me. I've written so many fic ideas around them. It's actually insane. The first thing he does is completely redecorate his rooms and buy a whole new wardrobe, which is totally not suspicious XD. Unfinished.

The fifth act <- 160k, it's a good ol' time travel fic - with a twist. The truest exploration of ripples in a pond, or how kindness, when true, can be returned in most unexpected ways. Or maybe how a single act of good can change the world.... Or maybe it's about how you must never turn your back on an enemy. Cloud has people to save and people to kill, and only time will tell which is which. Complete.

Of Things That May Be Only 'Verse <- another series! At 250k, it's about sephiroth resurrecting, only to, uh, slip and crack his head lol. This sends him spiralling through a vision of a cosy life he'd never dreamed, and when he wakes up? He wants it so bad. But that means behaving. Slow burn sefikura redemption, side Cid/Vincent (vincid?) which ngl did convince me of the ship, domestic fluffiness and found family galore! And the whole series is complete!!

Little seph <- a 160k series about the AC sephiroth revival going wrong. Stuck in the body of a kid, post AC sephiroth is a feral kitten carefully domesticated with the power of pancakes, wing preening, and deeply uncomfortable sleepovers. He's a brat, a pest, a murder machine, but he just wants to be part of a family even if he pretends he doesn't. Eventual sefikura, and overall just a very good read. Fully complete!

We are no heroes <- 70k series, about a secretly time travelled sephiroth desperately trying to save his friends and finally, maybe, rest. When I tell you this had me SOBBING. I was BAWLING. Extremely good, zack is best boy. This man is just so tired. Beautiful descriptions. And, again, complete! Yay!

[specialagentartemis]

THE FORTUNATE FALL RE-RELEASE IS OUT!

A cyberpunk novel from the 1990s that’s been out of print for years, and just got a new release, new cover, new introduction, under the author’s new name. And all of that FULLY DESERVED because it’s one of my favorite novels of all time. Cameron Reed only has the one novel and she knocked it out of the park.

Maya Andreyeva is a "camera," a reporter with virtual-reality-broadcasting equipment implanted in her brain. What she sees, millions see; what she feels, millions share. And what Maya is seeing is the cover-up of a massacre. As she probes into the covert political power plays of a radically strange near-future Russia, she comes upon secrets that have been hidden from the world...and memories that AI-controlled thought police have forced her to hide from herself. Because in a world where no thought or desire is safe, the price of survival is betrayal - of your lover, your ideals, and yourself.

Maya Andreyeva is a “camera,” a VR journalist who used to do real work and is now reduced to doing celebrity puff pieces and stories that don’t really matter. She does work she no longer thinks matters and goes home to an empty apartment and it’s a cyberpunk near future surveillance state where she feels like nothing she does matters anymore.

So when she stumbles on evidence of a massacre—a genocide— that the government would really rather have everybody forget, she decides she’s going to make this her swan song of a broadcast. Along with her new screener—a real-time editor she only knows from VR sharing her brain, who edits her raw experiences for broadcast—she’s going to expose these crimes to the world, and then maybe die or run away to claim asylum in Africa together, she doesn’t know yet and it almost doesn’t matter to her. Until it does.

It’s gay. There are whales. It’s weird and different and so worth reading. It’s bleak and sad and often harrowing, and does not shy away from what Maya finds out about the covered-up genocide. It’s about truth and justice and love and survival and journalistic integrity and the media, and it is so, so, so good.

[maxwell-grant]

I'm seeing several popular react to the Penguin show with "God I wanna see Batman kick his ass in the next movie". Which, for a show about a Batman villain, is probably an indication of succeess

Are you kidding me it fucking rules, there's no "probably" here, the show couldn't possibly have achieved what it set out to do harder.

I've talked with people, as Episode 7 was coming out, that they've managed to strike this perfect balance between making Oz the fun engaging protagonist to watch, and making him a villain that we'll want to face justice, opposite Sofia who tread the line between his Batman Villain arch-nemesis as well as the closest the show has to a hero. The camera loves her, the costume designers and hair stylists love her, the showrunner calls her the hero of the show, production folks who go on the podcast talk about how she was their favorite character to work on, while Oz, the protagonist, only grew darker and more despised and more fucked-up as the weeks passed, as we sit through 8 hours chipping away at all of his fun and charm and wacko comedy antics and motivations and all the scruples and principles that he turns out to have less and less of, that become less and less useful to him, until he butchers them all in the very end along with the heart of the show.

As I saw it around week 6, by the time this thing was over, Sofia would demand to be received with tragic applause and heartbreak and whooping cheers and love, but Oswald would have the children of the world booing and hissing and throwing eggs and tomatoes at him, and then asking him to come back so they can do it again. AND I WAS RIGHT, and also I WILDLY underestimated the degree to which that would be warranted, and I certainly didn't expect that, for the first time in my life, I would be unconditionally and enthusiastically on the same side as everyone who posted that Arkham scene, where Batman picks up Penguin and smashes him against a mirror, as something Battison has to do in the next movie. I couldn't believe what a stab to the heart that last episode was.

I'l get into the specifics of why this worked more on the Episode 8 breakdown and, granted, it's a lot to conciliate still, it's genuinely a strange feeling to be onboard with everyone else who wants Penguin to be flattened and crushed and humiliated, to truly hate him as a loathsome monster for the first time ever even as I love him in so many new fucked-up ways. This is, make no mistake, the good version of the Joker's Asylum one-off, Pain and Prejudice, Bullies, all those modern stories that are ultimately about nothing more than reminding you of a super-duper serious evil bastard this funny little man is, stories I generally just find too dumb and reductive and ugly and tasteless and trying so very damn hard to be scary without working for it. This was Lauren LeFranc slam dunking everyone who's picked up this character since Jason Aaron in 2007, including Jason Aaron himself, and wherever they take him in the next movie, or if they can justify another season of this, they've fully set him up more than ever as a guy we will want to be exploded by the Batmobile, that he not only fully deserves it, but must, be defeated for good.

Beyond impressed, don't think I could have ever anticipated how much I wanted this.

[l3tm31nn0w]

Lessons in the Dark

Chapter 2: Angel in the Night

Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz x fem!reader

You’re a young woman interested in the fantastical world of angels and demons and you seek out Professor Von Franz to mentor you in more ways than one.

(Slow burn, eventual smut, age gap, mentor/protege relationship, reader is in her 20s)

Chapter 1

Breaking the news to your family went about as well as you imagined. Your father screamed at you and your mother simply refused to look at you. You had already pre-packed suitcases behind their back so the professor swiftly grabbed them from you and you were out the door, echoes of “you ungrateful brat” ringing in your ear as you walked back towards the professors house.

There was a relief that flooded through your body the second that his door closed behind you. You were truly free. Von Franz reappeared in the main living area after setting your things away and you engulfed him in a hug. “Thank you for taking this risk on me! You’ve changed my life, you’ve made my dreams come true.” The older man gently hugged you back, his touch gentle and almost fearful. You assumed he had spent much of the last decade as a full recluse so perhaps company would be good for him. “Well it’s going to be lovely to have someone so likeminded to bounce ideas off of! Sometimes I feel like I’m stuck in a feedback loop.”

“I could listen to you talk for hours Professor, I cannot wait to learn from you.” He smiled at your excited disposition. “Oh Fräulein if only the scientific community shared your outlook.” You smiled devilishly, excited to correct him. “Professor I must correct you, you can no longer address me as Fräulein, for I am now Frau Von Franz.” His eyes widened at this and a smile broke across his face. “Now that’s something I never thought I’d hear! Frau Von Franz it is, though I suppose just y/n works too. Please call me Albin, I know you are my apprentice, but it feels strange having my wife call me Professor. That’s all anyone calls me. I think you calling me Albin will make me feel more like a person.” You smiled at his vulnerability. “Of course Albin, it would be my pleasure.”

“Now, y/n, please tell me how you have come to the world of the occult. I know that you said it was angels that caught your attention so long ago. How did that come to be?” You had never told a soul the event that lead you down your path of angels and demons, fearful it would get you locked up. You took his hand before beginning your story. “Albin, I have never told any one of this, fearful they would lock me up in an asylum. You are the first person I trust enough to believe my tale.” He placed his other hand over yours and reassured you “My child I promise you’re in a home of accepting ears, please go on.”

“When I was a child I was enthralled by religion. I found the stories and the paintings in the church so miraculous and awe inspiring. Without a doubt I was the most religious member of my family which I think was an annoyance to them. When I was young, about 6, I first read the story of Isaiah meeting the seraphim and was shocked at the description of these mighty creatures.” You paused, preparing to continue and Albin cut in, perhaps as a reassurance. “Seraphim are definitely marvelous, I can imagine how a child’s imagination ran wild with that description!” You squeezed his hand and smiled.

“That’s the problem, it was not imagination that left me shocked. It was my reality. Ever since I can remember I had been visited by a seraphim once a month in the early hours of the morning. He would do nothing but watch me and then fade away. I would call out, beg for some sort of conversation or acknowledgment. This pattern repeated itself until I turned 18. My seraphim appeared on my 18th birthday and for the first time he spoke to me. Unfortunately it was in a tongue I had never heard, but his words were so powerful they filled my entire body with a warm light. He spoke a final sentence and then dissipated into a blinding light which engulfed me wholly. The light was painful and I screamed out. My mother found me writhing in my bed, bleeding profusely from my vagina. That was when the intense menstruation and pain around my womb began. When I was declared barren.”

He looked at you and was at a loss for words, which though you’d only known him a short time you assumed to be a rarity for the professor. “Dear are you saying that, well, how do I put it politely…” You cut him off with a polite smile. “I am saying that it is appropriate that I did not wear white on our wedding day Albin, for an angel took that opportunity away from me.”

“A seraphim taking a mortal woman? My god I’ve never heard of such a thing! I assume you’re familiar with the Book of Enoch and The Watchers, y/n?” You smiled, relieved that he had no judgement for you, just an instant academic interest. “Of course Albin. You can imagine that I’ve given every priest in Wisborg a dull headache by bringing up the giant bastards of angels and mortal women. I am not like the women from Enoch though for I did not become pregnant. Nor did I lay with the angel in any normal manner of human intercourse. I may be a virgin to humanity, but I know how sex works. What the seraph did was beyond human fornication.”

Albin approached you and grabbed you by your shoulders. “I will do everything in my power to uncover this mystery. There must be a way to free you from the pain you suffer. It is not right for you to bear this turmoil!” Moved so much by his words you threw yourself on him, engulfing him in an embrace and sobbing into his shoulder.

“Der Liebling why do you cry? Have I upset you?” He whispered as he stroked your hair. You were able to regain a bit of composure and you brought your head up so that you were looking him in the eye. “Albin, there is not a soul on this earth who has ever put my pain at the forefront of my affliction. It is always ‘we will do our best to make sure you can carry a child.’ Your kindness is the greatest gift I have ever received.”

“You stand here before me, a fully formed creature of god. Why should I concern myself with your potential unborn when you are suffering? Worry not, we will figure this out together.” You embraced him again before finally releasing him.

“Now shall we figure out how we sleep? I fear I have only one bed, but there’s a recliner in my office area I often sleep on so I don’t mind giving you the bed and taking that.” You frowned at his generosity. Sure he was being gentlemanly, but you didn’t want his old frame stuck on a recliner. “How large is the bed?” You asked. “Oh big enough! I have plenty of room and you’re even shorter than me so I think you’d be comfortable.” He replied.

You smiled at him. “Albin why don’t we just share the bed? You already know my deepest darkest secrets, I don’t think seeing me in my sleeping gown is all that crazy. After all we are married!” His eyes widened. “Only if you’re sure, y/n. I suppose it’ll be easier to study and aid your fits of pain when they occur as well.”

“Then it’s settled! Show me to our room Albin.” You said with your arm drawn out. He grabbed it and guided you into the bedroom. It was as eclectic as every other part of the apartment, filled to the brim with occult books and symbols. The bed was even larger than he led on, there would be no concern of anything unsavory.

You left the room to prepare for sleep and returned in your nightgown with your hair down, the pins and combs of the day cast aside.

You climbed into bed and found that your new husband was still out in the main living area, fiddling away with whatever had caught his fancy. You left him to his own devices and fell asleep nearly as soon as your head hit the pillow.

Albin came to bed an hour or so later. When he saw your sleeping form he had to hold in a gasp. You were a thing of beauty. Not for him, he reminded himself. Your beauty belonged to you to do whatever you saw fit with. As he watched your chest rise and fall he understood how even an angel could fall in love with you.

[theresattrpgforthat]

I'd be interested in any dieselpunk or clockpunk recommendations you have, particularly if you play as some sort of inventor.

Theme: Clockpunk & Dieselpunk

Hello friend, I’ve got a decent number of Clockpunk or Dieselpunk settings, and while I think there might be be individual character options that allow you to play something of an inventor, I don’t think there’s anything in which you solely play as inventors. Perhaps some of my followers know of some though!

Tomorrow City, by Osprey Publishing.

Tomorrow City was one of the cities of the future, built to usher in a new age of prosperity, seizing upon scientific achievements at the dawn of the twentieth century. Then came the War. Radium-powered soldiers assembled, diesel-fuelled nightmares rolled off production lines, city fought city, and the world burned in atomic fire.

Tomorrow City still stands, an oil-stained beacon of hope, part-refuge, part-asylum. Beset by dangers from both within and without, a secret war now rages on its streets. Diesel-born monstrosities stalk the alleyways, air pirates strike from the wastelands, mad scientists continue their dark work, occultists manipulate the city’s strange geometry, and secret societies plot in the shadows.

Tomorrow City is a roleplaying game of dark science and dieselpunk action. Swift and simple character creation and an easy-to-learn dice pool system places the emphasis on unique personalities and the momentum of the plot. Join the Underground and fight the crime and corruption at the heart of the city. Sell your dieselpunk tech, occult knowledge, and sheer grit as troubleshooters for mysterious paymasters. Hunt down spies, saboteurs, and science-run-amok. As weary sky rangers, fringe scientists, and radium-powered veterans, you might be all that stands between a better tomorrow and no tomorrow at all.

This is a game that pools together your positive and negative character tags, has you roll for both and aim to come out on top. Gear is very important here, and acts as a great vehicle for communicating the kind of world that you’re living in. I don’t own this game so I can’t speak to much more than that, but if there is a big focus on gear, I’d assume that having a character that can create that gear or make it better would be fairly easy to make in this game.

Age of Steel, by Isolation Games.

Age of Steel is a dieselpunk roleplaying game set in the world of Neres; a world not unlike our own in the first few decades of the 20th century. Neres has just emerged from its first global conflict; the ‘Great War’ in which hundreds of thousands of men and women died in the mud and horror of the trenches.

Technology in Neres has taken a slightly different route to our own world; personal mecha powered by diesel engines are used for numerous applications from war to common labour; huge airships ply the airways; bipedal automata act as servants for the rich and gadgeteer inventors construct homemade ray-guns in their basement laboratories.

In the wake of the Great War, Neres is a hotbed of political scheming and economic growth. Industry and commerce have come to rule the world which, thanks to the airship, aeroplane and radio is rapidly becoming smaller. Little do the majority of people know but an ancient evil is at the heart of the conflict in their world. Eldritch monstrosities from before the dawn of time seek to unmake reality, aided by cults of insane worshippers. Into this world come the heroes -the players- who are the only thing standing between the cosmic evil and all that they hold dear.

Age of Steel uses d6s as the base for their rules, and characters are built using a point-buy system, meaning that instead of character classes, you can custom-design your character as you see fit. I think that since everything about your character is customizable, there may be some options that would help you construct an inventor-like character.

One piece of your character is your backgrounds - that is, what assets your character has to pull from as they play. Some of these assets include Cash, a Job, a Reputation, and a Personal Vehicle. Since the release of the base game, the designer has also added a free supplement called Better Backgorunds, which also includes some more character options when it comes to assets.

Steel Horizons, by Wandering Pilgrim Games.

Steel Horizons is a Dieselpunk TTRPG set on the continent of Algara. It has been 43 years since the discovery of the powerful mineral, Pyricium, which jumpstarted technology ahead decades and began the 3rd Age.

In this new world, the nations of Algara have barely survived the Great War, fought over the precious Pyricium deposits, and now seek to rebuild themselves even greater than before with the might of their technologies and cultural advancements. Using the combined power of diesel fuel, pyric energy, and the brute strength of man, the world presses ever forward.

You play as a Wanderer, a traveller making their way across the land in search of their own legacy. By choosing your own Archetype and customizable Background, you can create the Wanderer you want to tell the best story!

This is a custom system that uses d12’s for all of your rolls. While Steel Horizons is meant to be a complete setting, the creator’s overarching goal appears to be a core set of rules that can be used in a number of different settings. Currently there’s the Quickstart Guide (linked in title) that is meant to bring you through character creation and gives you some example encounters, but you can also get the Lore Keeper Codex for the Hydra System, which is the base rules without setting details, as well as the Player’s Guide, which introduces new character options for you to play with.

Clocks and Punks, by Ikari.

You are misfits in the mega city Meccavena, dwelling in your precious hideout, the Sanctuary, looking for your next gig. Your gang leader, Archelle, has dosed into an endless sleep after she stole the Anomaly Device from the Clockmaker's tower. Now, it's your job to regroup and explore that crazy, conspiracy-infused, clockwork powered city, and maybe find a way to wake Archelle up!

Clocks and Punks is a rules-light, clockpunk inspired hack on the Lasers and Feelings RPG by John Harper. As is the standard for games of this type, your characters will enter play with a goal already in mind, but how they decide to go about achieving that goal is up to them.

If you want to create an inventor character you certainly can - there are Artificer and Alchemist roles that might fit that niche, and you can create a character goal that encourages you to create or invent. You can also make your character better at CLOCK tasks, giving them an advantage when performing tasks that require precision or technical aptitude.

This game is best for a group that wants a short session, or minimal bookkeeping. It’s probably also easier to run if you have experience playing ttrpgs before, just because there’s not a lot of room for GM guidance on a single page,

Flying Fortress, by Planet Gnome.

Flying Fortress is a trifold pamphlet RPG about pulp adventure, diesel punks, and airship pirates.

This is a hack of Into the Odd and Electric Bastionland by Chris McDowall, and should be compatible with any other Mark of the Odd games.

What I really enjoy about pamphlet games is that they provide a lot of neatly organized information that is easy to navigate. This game has your character sheet on one tab, rules on another, gear on another, and then information on the back for the person running the game - things like potential enemies, factions, and roll tables. There’s no particular inventor role per se, but there are Aristocrat and Mechanic options that I think you could tailor to be more about invention if you wish.

The biggest downside to this game is that it dedicates all of its space to game info, and leaves no room for world-building, so the setting you place yourself in is going to have to be crafted whole-cloth by the play group. Then again, if your GM is a natural world-builder, maybe that’s an asset rather than a downside!

Goblins in Shadow, by Color Spray Games.

GOBLINS IN SHADOW is a roleplaying game about goblin resistance and revolution in an age of elven oppression. It’s a world of clockwork and magic, of smoke and shadow.

Players will take on the roles of a cell of goblin revolutionaries, working to undermine the elves and humans who have conquered their homeland and built an empire on its corpse. They’ll advance their goals by taking on scores, missions that gather sympathy for their cause or take direct action against their oppressors, ending in a final attempt to assassinate one of the elven ministers ruling the city. To do that, they’ll need to avoid being caught by the Watch or the Hounds, the elite special police of the city; they’ll also need to balance their obligations to the various factions of the city, as well as their own personal obligations.

The rule of elves will be broken by goblins in shadow.

As a Forged in the Dark game, this will likely be familiar to anyone who has played Blades or similar games. The core of this game is about combat, and the setting around it is clockwork. If you want to play an inventor type character, there looks to be a playbook called The Hand, equipped for sabotage and front-lines engineering. Just through skimming the playbooks I feel like a lot of pieces of the world around you are baked into your playbooks - for example, the Hand might have been branded by an entropic form of goblin magic that allows you to invoke rapid decay or drain life. Now that’s evocative!

[quinnyundertow]

About Me

Quinny F/30, She/Her

Obsessions: Jujutsu Kaisen, Genshin Impact, Pokemon, Gundam/Mecha, My Hero Academia, Yuta Okkotsu, Figure collecting, Writing.

Quinny's Masterlist

AO3 Account

My Works Below

Series

Title “Picking up the Pieces” (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Choso x Reader Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy ending, strangers to lovers.

Manga Spoilers - Battle vs Sukuna is over

Words: 12,000+

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

Title "When I Catch You Gege " (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Summary Reader is Isekai'd into JJK with the determination to change canon and make sure she rights the wrongs of Gege. Oh and enjoy her time there...yeah that too. No manga plot spoilers. Reader x everyone. All characters 18+ unless otherwise stated.

Content Warning: Canon typical violence, torture, suicide, Non-con, extreme bullying, angst with a happy ending.

Pairings: Reader x Nanami Kento, Haibara Yu, Gojo Satoru, Geto Suguru, Junpei Yoshino, Okkotsu Yuta, Toji Fushiguro

Genre Fix It, Reverse Harem, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Angst w/ Happy Ending Status Ongoing Length 40 Chapters / 180,000 + Words Chapters Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Title Sanity's Last Stop (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Summary Forced to work after the death of her father y/n finds themselves filling a nurses role at Hillsboro Asylum for the Criminally Insane. The patients and workers alike have her questioning her own sanity in this new insular world during WWII.

Ryoumen Sukuna has become a fixture in solitary confinement for the last seven years. His sanity was barely there before but now it is frayed beyond redemption. A good will gesture brings him and y/n into a strange secret relationship

Okkotsu Yuta swears he isn’t insane he didn’t hurt anyone it was Rika who killed those people. Just because no one else can see her doesn’t mean she isn’t there. You believe him right?

Pairings: Reader x Ryoumen Sukuna, Reader x Yuta Okkotsu

Genre Horror, Angst, Eventual Smut, Angst w/ Happy Ending Status Ongoing Length 5 Chapters, 18,000 Words Chapters Chapter 1 Chapter 2+ on AO3

Title Cult Leader’s Quarry (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Summary You’re living an average non-sorcerer office workers life when you catch the eye of a certain unstable cult leader. The more you pull away the more trapped you become.

The first time Suguru Geto saw you was also the first time he wondered if the girls needed a mother figure in their lives. Not that he was considering you. No, never, his lip curled at the very notion. Even the passing thought of a monkey like you around his precious daughters was enough to make him feel ill.

Pairings Suguru Geto x Reader, Slight Gojo Satoru x Reader

Status Ongoing 21,000+ Words

Chapters Chapter 1 ,Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 Chapter 5, Chapter 6

One Shots

Title Kick-Off - Goalies Turn (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Genre Comedy, Fluff, Smut, Soccer AU

Pairing Reader x Choso

Fic Recommendations

Jujutsu Kaisen

The Gallery (Fanart & Commissions for my Fics)

[tabbyofwisdom]

Ummmmm…..OMG

[ansonmountdaily]

Strange New Worlds 2x02 "Ad Astra Per Aspera" behind the scenes - The Pike/Una hug

"We've talked a lot about our relationship off-screen. We feel that we've known each other a long time. We think we were actually in the same class at Starfleet Academy together and I'm just the one that happened to get the commission, but I couldn't captain without her. She knows me better than probably anybody, I think." - Anson Mount, Filmtopp interview, July 6 2023

"It just speaks volumes to the level of trust they have with each other, the level of admiration they share for one another, the fact that he was able to provide asylum for her, the level of guilt she feels by putting him at risk that way, but, ultimately, old friends, you know? We really enjoy those scenes [when we're on set together]. I feel like we offer each other real groundedness whenever it's just a two-hander, when it's just the two of us. I mean, in all of our scenes together, but when it's just the two of us, it feels very grounded. He's a delight to work with." - Rebecca Romijn, The Ready Room interview, June 22 2023 (clip of the hug is at 17:43)

[edgessunflower]

Got another request for ya :D

May I please request headcanons for Bruce, Damian, and Dick reacting to their female S/O surprising them after a long, hard day by wearing lingerie and pampering them in various ways?

Ooooh this is new for me! Hope you enjoy! 😊

Surprising and pampering the boys after they come home ❤️

Bruce

He was exhausted from the long day of dealing with crime in Gotham and fighting the Joker yet again putting him in Arkham Asylum now just wanting to be in bed with you and sleep

What he didn't know was as soon as he left you planned out a surprise for him no matter how late it was when he came home even if you were both tired you were determined to have the surprise happen

He at first thought he was seeing things when after hugging you he saw you in a pale blue lingerie nightgown that showed off your figure but also wasn't revealing in a sexual way

He also noticed the candles lit in the room and the smell of vanilla that seemed to strangely calm him down abit once he smelled it in the air slowly stripping out of his suit only in his boxers

You patched him up while listening to music getting in the shower together using hot water but not too hot massaging his shoulders and back knowing that a lot of the time he would have pain from all the fighting and getting injured over the years

After washing his hair and his body you massage his shoulders and back again focusing on the knots and releasing all the pressure

You had massaged him and calmed him so much that when you were done asking if he wanted to eat he was dead to the world asleep shaking your head quietly laughing waking him up and both of you getting under the covers going to sleep

Dick

He came in feeling heavy mentally dragging himself through the rest of the mission he and the team he was on and all the way home after talking to Bruce for quite a bit about the mission along with Tim

He tried to be quiet thinking you were asleep then confused when he heard the water from the bathroom running going in the bedroom you both shared seeing you in a matching pink lingerie pajama set checking to see if the water was warm

You smiled turning to see him home hugging him and sharing a quick kiss as he stripped out of his suit soaking under the hot water while you carefully washed and dried his suit placing clean sleep clothes at the edge of the bed

You lit an white sage incense which had a really nice and calming affect on you which you realized did the same thing for dick when he came in the bedroom putting the clean clothes on while smelling the scent oozing the stress out of him as put heat and cold patches on his body providing immediate relief making him slowly lean into your arms after getting under the covers

You watched movies occasionally rubbing the patches making him groan in relief as you both fell asleep with his head on your chest and the side of your face on top of his head arms wrapped around each other and legs entangled

Damian (Aged up)

He was so frustrated and tired that he practically didn't even argue with bruce or dick getting a ride home instead of walking on foot like he normally would after patrolling or being out all day

He walked in the apartment you and him shared expecting you to be asleep or even at work with how your schedule had you working the past few weeks but instead he nearly died right on the spot

He saw you watching tv in the bedroom sitting on the bed eating chips turning when you heard the door open seeing Damian very bright red on the floor groaning and mumbling things you couldn't understand

He lost his ability to exist seeing you in the yellow lingerie pajamas that wasn't sexually revealing in a way but admired your body shape and enhanced your figure in a beautiful way that he always loved whenever he saw you wear it

You giggle as he gets up taking his suit off and going to shower in order to get the dirt and grime off him being mindful of the bruises but what he didn't expect was for you to get in with him massaging your fingers in his scalp and washing him

He does the same for you loving how intimate but also domestic the act is now knowing some of the feelings his brother and some of his friends felt with their partners caressing your back causing a shiver to run down your back as he stops but sweetly smiles realizing how he made you feel

You both dried each other off and got back in the pajamas while he puts boxers on laying on the bed while you put small ice packs on the bruises while listening to music on low volume on the radio you had in the room

After awhile you both ate takeout watching episodes of bleach and then the mummy movies before he falls asleep with you on top of him falling asleep not too long after he did under the covers safely in his arms as you gently rub his side with your thumb

[vaspider]

Well, I knew that I was going to have big fucking feelings about this week's Strange New Worlds as soon as I heard the use of the verb "to out," as in 'Una was outed as being genetically modified,' but I thought we'd just get a ham-fisted metaphor.

Turns out we're in the "point right at it and say it" era of Trek, and I'm here for it. We had an entire episode in which the politics of passing, the brutality of law to oppress people who are different, the way in which xenophobia ramps up, the concept of asylum… like… and it wasn't 'let's use this as a metaphor for queerness and transness and race and antisemitism', no, let's just FLAT OUT SAY "so they put the Illyrians in a ghetto, and some of us could pass, so we hid," and let's just SAY "hey this law is unjust, fucko, just like these other laws which discriminated against people because of their race, their queerness... Not a metaphor. Just an actual fucking conversation.

Trek has often struggled with their metaphors being ham-fisted because they don't just outright link point A to point B. The best Trek actively says 'this is the problem.'

Also, I love any episode where I can hear the "when did Trek get woke" crowd frothing five minutes in. That's when you know you have a good episode going.

Plus, holy shit, actual lawyers! Not captains showboating!

[legok9]

I love that Strange New Worlds is getting novels, but can they please get a better cover designer?

The High Country by John Jackson Miller (2023)

Asylum by Una McCormack (2024)

Toward the Night by James Swallow (2025)

Other recent novels have some great covers!

Revenant by Alex R. White (2022)

Lost to Eternity by Greg Cox (2024)

Firewall by David Mack (2024)

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

Tell me something Miller gave up

Do you ever think about media and stories reflecting the anxieties of the cultures that create them? Or how sci-fi sometimes predicts or inspires technology? Do you ever think about Halo and Aliens and Starship Troopers and disaster movies and real life and

I poured my brain out onto a page stream of consciousness style so it's a mess, but a fun, terrifying one I hope

hi

-

There's a lot of buzzwords people throw around. People saying one thing but meaning seven different things. The difference between sacrificing and giving up. Victory at any cost, pyrrhic, hollow. A play for time.

Sacrificing something is good and noble and for the greater need of the many. Giving up is cowardly and shameful. These words are black and white, most of the time. Other words like risk, are more complicated. A risk can pay off or it can put everyone in danger. A risk can be a sacrifice or it can be worse than giving up.

Miller's from a generation that doesn't know what it's like to live without war. To live without the threat of surveillance, both foreign and domestic, enemies listening in or sacrificing privacy for the greater good. Some planets get labelled with the words too, once they're glassed. As a kid, Jared thought it was strange to think anyone gave up their planet, their home, or that somehow the planet gave up. It was the bad guys.

The bad guys are scary and if they find you they will kill you. They destroy your homes and your way of life. They might eat you! They speak a different language and have technology that can kill you before you can blink. That's why you need to be careful and a good citizen. The UNSC is doing its best to keep the colonies safe, but if they would just listen then the bad guys wouldn't get them. That's why you can help be a good citizen and fight the bad guys. All you have to do is sign up when you're 16! You can be a marine or a pilot or drive a tank or maybe even meet one of them. The UNSC needs you, but also it is doing great on its own! The war effort requires everyone! But do not panic, panicking is weak and cowardly and helps the bad guys.

The bad guys are unstoppable, but also weak and stupid. They can't stop the UNSC's greatest weapon.

The Master Chief is a hero and he stops the bad guys. There are other Spartans too and they always win. They never give up. They never die.

Miller enlists. He works hard. He's an asset, not a drain. He won't give up.

The war ends. The news around Master Chief quiets. Miller becomes a Spartan IV. There's always still more work to be done. There are different bad guys now. Some of them look like him.

Miller learns that not every alien is a bad guy. There are asylum seekers on multiple worlds, even Earth. Refugee is another word for asylum seeker.

Miller's in an early enough class of IVs to become a mission handler. He works intelligence and planning. He keeps his head down and ears open. He learns more than he wanted. Sacrificing children. Giving up homes? Childhoods? Giving up requires a choice in the matter. He thinks about it. Sacrificing also implies a choice.

IVs have a choice. He was an adult when he signed on. To be a Spartan. He was still under 18 when he joined the UNSC but that's okay. He knows other Spartans who are in the same boat. Other IVs are older. They have even more skin in the game, they've been fighting the bad guys longer.

The bad guys have changed but that's okay because while they're strong they're weaker than Spartans and Spartans never die. Except Miller has lost Spartans. He's seen whole Fireteams wiped out in an instant. He's heard people dying on worlds a million miles from home for no clear reason.

The bad guys are there because the good guys- the UNSC - are there. Spartans are the UNSC's gun they point at the bad guys. Some of the bad guys are humans again. Some of the aliens are good guys. Why is there still a war? Why do they need Spartans for this? Manufactured conflict.

Sacrifice or giving up? Wasted or Spent?