#the only other option is that someone clicked on it and then found it funny and reblogged it. and even if someone somehow believed that -

[miiilowo]

im sorry i didnt mean to call you annoying personally i just hate when people do that to trick people who reblogged from them. and it was such a beautifully written post too :(.

im not trying to trick anyone either boss!! ! !

[tacharie]

Thoughts for The Montkraken Episode

so, I just finished the chapter and… wow I have a lot to say. I took screen shots for every part I wanted to talk about and I think this rant will be SUPERRRR long so bear with me. Tumblr won’t let me add screenshots so when I have better service I’ll edit the post to add them. These paragraphs are theories and side notes that I wrote after reading a certain section so you’re gonna see my thought process throughout the story. As always, spoilers ahead so I recommend skipping this if you haven’t read it already.

Alright so I was once a hater of this ship BUT… the Shobaru shippers may have a point in this guys 😭. LIKE.. I HAVE THE SCREENSHOT OF SUBARU BLUSHING UHHH. That is not a heterosexual stare feller 🤨…

AHHHHHHH THE FROSTHEIM DUO ARE BACKKKKK!!! I missed them so so much they’re so silly and deserve the best. Honestly the only two I trust in this school cause I CANT. I literally suspect anyone but them, but Imma be so disappointed if either of them are hiding something. I’ll be sad, but like I’ll help 🙄. I was actually so sad when the MC mentioned being the reason they could be in danger like GIRLLLLL DONT SAY THAT PLEASEEEEE. ITS LIKE THE ANGST WITH ADEUCE AND YUU LIKE STAWPOPP. Also when the Vagastorm kids were like “aw yeah Mido wouldn’t lie like that” it makes me happy that people can at least trust him enough to be honest and idk I found that kinda sweet :3. We’re also getting a bit of a timeline, like the One-Eyed Sleeping Beauty Murder being BEFORE the clash (sorry if this was already mentioned I don’t really remember stuff from the past chapters) which could’ve been a trigger.

Also, I feel like they’re trying to tell us that Jiro is Zenji’s brother because when he had that little laugh about the MC being scared of bodies, he said too. When you click the “too?” option, he just says that he isn’t the one afraid. It’s not Yuri as well cause he’s literally a doctor that is in the same room when autopsies are in session. Whatever the case, I assume he was referencing to Zenji, though it being a blurry memory. Little theory tho.

OK SO THIS IS JUST SO FUNNY TO ME. In Chapter 9’s title it says, “Girl Learns Shocking Truth About Monster”. I like to think the shocking truth was the fact he didn’t shower for 3 days 😭. CAUSE THATS THE PART SHE SOUNDS MOST SHOCKED. Idk that part was silly to me. THEY’RE OUTFITS FOR THEIR DORM IS SOOOOOO PRETTY. They ate I fear, a bit more than the other dorms. Also side note, they dropped A LOT of info with just how they word things. For example, Yuri saying “Jiro, you are well aware that I will not be associated with those germs AGAIN.” Soooo Yuri was in Frostheim? I don’t doubt it bc there’s another line that says “I’d rather not recall how bitterly cold that place is” which can MEAN TWO THINGS. I’m super sure that they’re implying that yeah, he was, but then something happened blah blah blah.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH HYDE AND DANTE??? Like ok bitches, spill your shot to us too don’t be shy. So, confirmed by them, Dante and Hyde used to go to school in Darkwick (which I assume the rest of the teachers are too). That explains their back and forth. WHAT REALLY CAUGHT MY EYE WERE THESE LINES.

Hyde: “…You really are a softie, Dan-Dan.” (Haha Dan- Dan)

Dante: “It would seem that way to someone as cold as you.” (???) “…There are lines that shouldn’t be crossed, Hyde.”

Hyde: “…I’ll keep that in mind.”

WHATTTTT. WHAT ARE THE LINES. GO IN DETAIL ARGHHHHH. This gives us more info on the character individually too. Dante describes Hyde as cold… DANTE. So, it was obvious that this whole happy go lucky attitude was fake, but I expected to be more like Haru’s kind of attitude not like that yk?? now I know how much of a cash grab this game is, but I really hope they aren’t going to stretch the story out too long to the point where you have to P2W cause I haven’t paid a cent and I don’t plan to. I still want to learn more about them and stuff so :(. On the topic of Dante, there was a small flashback where I missed a word in the sentence that Dante said while talking with Alan. “I’m the man you supposedly killed.” Supposedly?? Now, I didn’t my catch this in my first run, but now it’s like wdym supposedly?? Shouldn’t you know? This is giving hella Jiro vibes and honestly, I’m getting sick and tired of these characters having a bad memory.

SPEAKING OF JIRO- he seems to have problems remembering things and they come back to him in the very weird moments (honestly a kin moment). I would like the think that he’s just suffering from the damages he had to go through from the clash. His relationship with Yuri is so… sad to me. Yuri seems to doubt him a little bit and I feel like he sees him as just a specimen, not much of a friend. Meanwhile, Jiro smiles a lot to Yuri and listens to him like a master, like that’s what he’s supposed to do. NOT AGAINST HIS OWN WILL DONT GET ME WRONG. He’s just so neutral about it it makes me a bit like awwww :(. They’re cute tho idrc.

Ok moving on to Haku and Tohma. (Ok at this point I’m getting nervous cause why are we seeing so many characters now. That’s probably just a coincidence). OK THESE TWO HAVE GOT IT GOING. Like there’s tension when you get their chat in the campus but this is like woahhhh… Also I don’t like how Tohma says “our wheelhouse? I see..” it makes me think he’s like implying “so you think you’re a part of them now?” IDK THATS JUST MY LITTLE STRETCH. Also poor Zenji, he’s like “aw yeah I died in vain lol” LIKE OUCH.

Nicholas. I DO NOT LIKE HIM. I REPEAT. I DO NOT LIKE HIM FOR A MINUTE OF A SECOND. The only staff I like are the cats, the grocer guy, and MAYBE Dante. LIKE HES SO… NORMAL?? LIKE THERE’S SOMETHING WEIRD GOING ON IK THERE IS. When MC says “I can’t believe Professor Nicolas would do something like that” I DO 😡🙋‍♀️. I am in full support of Yuri finding crimes against this guy.

Also, little other side note, I just realized that Yuri and Jiro have matching earring in opposite ears. It’s so cute.

Ok I might have to go back to the beginning and see what the “goat like anomaly” Jiro is talking about when he mentions the prophecy, cause I said “… the chancellor is a goat??” BUT ANYWAYS. Speaking of the prophecy, I’ll jot it down.

“The whisper of the new moon shall lead the champion to the academy on the solitary island. So long as the champion resides there, the world shall be sheltered from profound tragedy.”

Stating the obvious here, but this is most likely referencing to the last cutscenes we get when we choose our characters. I’ve checked the cutscenes again and there’s no visible moon, meaning it could correlate to the “new moon” portion. (Search up new moon to see what I mean). Assuming Solitary island means death, that would also help with the theory. So, whoever we chose in the beginning might just be the person who won the Laurel Crown.Honestly, this is just a silly little Drabble for a theory and VERY vague. Maybe the champion resides in the events of the past that we still don’t know about but this kinda helps?? Idk I’m just putting what I think at the moment. I’ll probably reread the game so I can get a better timeline. Also, Yuri’s rant about demon particles… doesn’t exactly sit right with me. Were they chosen to be resilient or was it just a birth thing?? Idk but I feel like a lot is missing from his theory. I mean, we’re using human logic to a supernatural cause so I don’t think pacts acting as allergies would work. If they’re not chosen, could it be that the ghouls can make pacts with more than one demon? I wanna see what happens if that was the case. Please comment if I missed something 😭.

Ok Towa appeared. (Why are we seeing so many characters I don’t like this) and we went back to that tree… WHAT IS THAT TREE?? And what the hell do you mean the fruit grew? What is that fruit supposed to be? An anomaly going to birth?? Is it supposed to represent the houses?? Motivation?? It seems so weird to me cause we just got introduced to that tree last episode. Sighs.

OK REN AND RITSU. WHAT IS GOING ON. I GUESS SINCE THIS IS THE LADT CHAPTER FOR INTRODUCING CHARACTERS BUT LIKE … STOP. I feel like something is going to happen with the MC pls 😭. Anyway, those two talking about ramen is so cute please don’t ever change you virgin and lizard looking freak 🫶( with love of course). GROCER GUYYYYYYY. YIPPEE :3!! I love that the cat is the owner and not the human lmao.

Also I will always be a MC defender cause she is so relatable. “Why are hospitals so creepy at night?” GIRL IKKKKKK. Idc what y’all say, the fact that she’s normal is keeping me sane from these freaky deaky events. ILOVE NORMAL CHARACTERS! LIKE MATSUDA FROM DEATH NOTE OR THAT ONE GUY FROM MASHELE. Anyways, I love her little comments and everything she’s so silly. Idrc if she doesn’t have much of a backbone cause honestly, she’s surrounded by danger so the best she should do is listen to the people that are constantly surrounded by it.

ALSO NEW THING. (Well idk if it’s new but yeah).

mention of a Dionysia Breakout. <—— Idk what that is, but it sounds like a little more. I love little details and slip ups thanks characters <3!!

HA! HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA! I WIN NICOLAS 😈!!! YOU DO HAVE SOMETHING TO HIDE. AND I WILL FIND IT TRUST YOU WILL BE DELT WITH. I WILL KNOW THE PRIOR PAST >:(!! Also, Moby is being soooo annoying tbh. More character descriptions to add: competitive as a teacher. NO ONE WILL MAKE YOU HATE YOU JIRO ‼️‼️‼️ HES SO SWEET He literally asks if we’re scared and says we can hang back awwww. Though he doesn’t understand much, he can use logic and he can at least understand how we feel. It’s a nice sentiment :)!

I can’t take the transformation seriously I’m sorry. I’m still impressed by Yuri’s deductive skills and the transformation just sounded like he was constipated.

THE WHOLE BATTLE SCENE WAS EPIC!! MC HESITATING BECAUSE OF LEOS WORDS BUT STILL PUSHING FORWARD. YURI GETTING FLUSTERED. JIRO SMILING AND TRUSTING YURI’S ORDERS. THE FUNNY EXCHANGE ABOUT MUSCLE WHEN THEY WERE CARRYING THE POD. Those annoying ass pussy sticks we call Darkwick students 😡. JIRO LOOKING BADASS AFTER THE SHOT. URGHHHH I LOVE THIS CHAPTER.

HARU AND PEEKABOOOOO!! AHHHHH IM SO HAPPY I SEE THEM AGAIN!! I’m so glad he’s going to Hyde too cause I’m not ready. Also… the mermaid thing is so weird. For the Montkraken Mermaid, they seem to refer to it as “it” or “that mermaid”, but when they speak of the second mermaid, they use personal pronouns like “he /him”. Haru’s expression as well when he heard someone was abusing mermaid flesh… it’s a new one with a little crease under his eye. It’s such a sad face like, did he know this mermaid personally or was this fear?? Either way, I wanna meet him cause the other one was so pretty.

…You guys know the “I see who you are… you are my enemy” sound that’s on TikTok or reels or wtv? YEAH THATS SONG WAS PLAYING IN MY HEAD WHEN HYDE SAID WE HAD TO DO A SPEECH. HYDE IM IN YOUR WALLS. URGHHHH I HATE HIMMMMM. Call to action my ass IK either Taiga or Leo are gonna get their asses out of the door after the speech. OR BOTH. I’m starting to tweak.

NOOOOO THE SPEECH IS THE NEXT CHAPTER?? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I feel so bad for Zenji… like I’m so deadass. Dude he sounds so sad about how he’s dead it’s so.. URGHHHH. ALSO I CALLED IT. THEY ARE BROTHERS. AHAHHAHA!! Well it was kinda obvious cause everyone thought it too but WOMP WOMP. Also I love his real name, Taro Kirisaki. It’s pretty :)!! But these lines killed me

“and though I have taken my final blow, my brotherly heart can’t help but worry for my kin. … Not that he has any idea I’m still around.” YEOUCH?? I DIDNT COME TO CRY BRO…

I’m tweaking out because of this speech bro. I’m gonna choose the corniest stuff and hope for the best. “I feel bad please stop for me 🥺” headass.

Taiga is officially my enemy as well. I called that shit about him leaving URGH. WHAT A FLIBBERTYJIBBET!! His outfit eats tho so it balances out. LIKE DAMNNNN. HE LOOKS SO GOOD.

DOUBLE?? TRIPLE??? QUINTUPLE???? HELL I MIGHT BECOME A GHOUL TO GET THAT MONEY GOLLY 😍😍😍!! CAUSE IN THIS ECONOMY??Also thanks Jin you a real one twin. Bouta split this cash with my wife and I’ll send you a wedding invite.

EDWARD. ED PLEASE. STOP PUTTING ME IN THE SPOTLIGHT… well it’s out now so woopy!! I really wonder what the others have to say about that cause they just gave really vague surprised reactions. Well, Ritsu documented it. I love that little guy please don’t ever change you silly.

NUMBER ONE CORNELIUS HATER IDC. Unless I know your intentions I DONT CAREEEEE. YOU ARE AN OPP IT IS ON SIGHT WITH YOU. SAME WITH YOU NICOLAS!! “I didn’t know whether to tell you or not I’m sowwy 🥺” CHUPA MI PITO HOE 😡.

… you’re telling me I didn’t have to do that awful speech because DANTE AGREED?? IM DONE. IM WHOOPING EVERYONE IN THE ROOM AND AURING THE PLACE OUT. FIRST ONES OUT ARE HYDE FOR NOT TELLING ME, NICOLAS, AND CORNELIUS. ARGHHHHHHH. Also, dude, who is that Janitor guy like seriously.

ROMEO??? AND HYDE???? WHAT IS THIS ABOUT BUTTERCUP?? Wdym worked for him?? What is going on… SPECIAL MISSION??? SHO??? OH NAW. I CANT TRUST NOBODY ANYMORE 😭

Towa crying :(. What does the fruit shrinking have to do with it now?? I’m so confused.

ALRIGHT IF YOU MADE IT TO THE END WOW YOU HAVE DEDICATION. Yeah this is my personal yap session to this chapter and it’s so URGH. I’m so excited to see the next chapter and I hope we get to see more and more. Now with the Gala in place, we can finally start WORKING. Based on the timeline, we have about … 8 months left?? So hopefully, for MC’s sake, she gets cured. BYE BYE UNTIL NEXT EPISODE!!

[lyramundana]

No feelings involved...right?

Prologue and Part 1

Warnings❗: Implied baby trapping, dubious consent. It all happens at the end.

If their current predicament could be resumed in one sentence, it'll sound like a mother's voice saying "I told you so".

They didn't plan it. It all started with a small mishap, a consequence of their exhaustion and the amount of issues going on in their personal lives. Then the mishap repeated itself, and then they decided to turn it into a game for their own pleasure, no strings attached to her. Then the game grew beyond their control and became a mountain of lies, too big to seize them.

Jisung first met her through a friend of his, and although he found her beautiful then, she didn't catch his attention beyond that. They met frecuently, since they both ran in the same circle of friends, and after one night being left alone by their drunk friends, they spent the time talking and turned out they had more in common that he thought. They clicked, in a way it's hard to explain, but just felt like he knew her since forever. They went from mere acquaintances to suddenly having her name appear at the top of his contact list along with Minho's.

Minho met her through his boyfriend, of course. He first saw her when Jisung brought her home to hang out, without even warning him about it. Their introduction was pretty formal, quick. They shook hands, made some small talk and Jisung inmediatly stole her attention again. Minho wasn't interested in befriending her and viceversa, but Jisung was their common point and she eventually became a regular presence in their apartment, so they really had no option but get along. Forced proximity and all.

Jisung has always known a lot of people, plenty of familiar faces that tend to flock towards him wherever he goes, but few of them can say they truly know him. Jisung cracks jokes, plays long with them, but rarely speaks about himself. He keeps a careful, calculated distance, because he knows that despite all those smiles and compliments, they only see the surface, what they want to see, and don't care about the rest. Which it's okay, it comes with the job, and this facade actually helps to keep undesirable people away without being rude. But she...she's different. From the moment she spoke to him and he listened, he found there was more to her than what she showed. Like him, she never allowed people to see beyond the surface, simply letting them believe the version they liked to spare herself the headaches. She understood him. And for the first time in years, Jisung felt a genuine connection to someone besides Minho.

The funny thing is that they don't talk that much, outside those events where the whole group meets and they stick together to not get bored. And when they get to talk, it's mostly about stuff only they know and deep, phylosophical converstations where they discuss the meanings of life. Maybe, if he's in a certain mood, he complains about a recent argument with Minho and asks for advice, but that's not the norm with them. When he brings her home is to get drunk over petty drama and gossip, without the others. They just fall back in the comfortability of a quiet friendship where no small talks were needed and they could simply let go of their masks.

Things between Minho and her weren't ideal at first. The few times they interacted was when she was at their flat, usually drunk and leaving a mess, and he got mad at it. He could look past it when it was Jisung, but having a stranger doing it was something else. He made sure of letting her know after the drunk haze, barely holding back the bite in his words. He expected her to get offended or feel embarrassed, but no. She never showed an ounce of shame, instead replying him with the same snarky tones, and sometimes that small lopsided grin of hers that made his blood boil. But what started as mostly petty arguments and cold greetings turned into a sense of complicity when they realized their humour was similar and they both acted like Jisung's babysitters more often than not.

Minho is used to be misunderstood. His resting bitch face, his brutal honesty, his reserved demeanour and that perpetual indifference in his face that rarely expressed emotions. People were quick to form opinions about him and not all were good. He was considered cold, arrogant, a snob that didn't like to mingle with those he saw "beneath him", you get it. Most wondered how someone so sweet and cheerful as Jisung could fall for him. It's okay for Minho, he doesn't see the point in caring for what strangers may think. The people he loves know him for who he is and that's enough. Then she came, all carefree and playful and open-minded. Jisung only spoke good things about her, but Minho knew his boy could be biased. Until they started talking and he found out she was truly different. She wasn't intimidated by him, even though he pulled the worst of him sometimes with her around, but she never reacted on it. She was quick to stand up against him, all prideful and confident. And her lack of respect felt like a wheeze of fresh air. After being constantly misjudged, it felt nice to have someone apart from Jisung that made an effort to see through his facade.

Before they noticed it, she became a constant in their lives. Even if they didn't meet often, even if the phone calls sometimes got short, she was present and they felt it. Whenever they needed a favour, she was the safest option. When something juicy happened, she was the first person they called. Even when their fights got brutal and they had no one to seek advice from, her door appeared in front of their eyes.

She never turned down, although her complaints were very much heard. She acted as a bridge between them both when they refused to take the initiative, pushing them to apologise and communicate their problems and feelings. Minho was stubborn, but Jisung could easily win him at times, and persuade them to move past it was a pain. Nevertheless, she did it every single time, to the point the walls of her house and the natural scent that filled it became so familiar to them.

They genuinely don't know when things started to change. They talked it before and both agreed she was beautiful, easy to the eyes, but nothing more. Sure, she was a vital part of their lives now but that's all they wanted her to be. At least that's what they told themselves until that night behind that club, when they tasted her for the first time and found the missing piece they had been bothering them for so long. That annoying empty space in their sex life that have appeared coincidentally shortly after meeting her..

Of course, things couldn't be the same after that mindblowing experience, not like they wanted it to either. They planned the whole affair while she slept in their arms, dead to the world. It was easy to convince her, with her body still vibrating by the last events and her mind still waking up. Granted that wasn't exactly correct from their parts, but they were slightly desperate and the idea of letting her go after that sounded awfully wrong.

And so that was the start of their downfall.

Looking back, they asked for it. At first it was all very natural. They were still friends but now they also fucked sometimes. She was open to every kink and preference of theirs, and she also introduced them to her own tastes. No commitment, no explanations expected or needed. But when their encounters became more often it got harder to stay away from her, they had her sign an NDA to continue. Which was..okay, not something they accounted for but it wasn't necessarily a problem.

No, the problems started when their feelings began to get in the way of the commitment-free arrangement they wanted.

Their doll was a gorgeous creature, a delightful sight for sore eyes, and they knew it. She was like this when they met her and they had no problem with it, Jisung even admired it and made jokes about it, about how ridiculous easy those idiots fell for her charms, scrambling on their feet to get an ounce of her attention. But at some point, seeing such scenes evoked less amusement and more disgust. And following disgust, there was something else. Something twisted and painful and deadly that climbed to their throats when another worthless scum tried his luck with her. Minho could heard this tempting voice in his head telling him to rip their guts out and Jisung imagined a number of creative scenarios where he taught that bastard a lesson.

Sometimes, those voices told them to grab their precious doll and drag her away from those dirty hands, keep her near where they couldn't lose her, which was weird because she meant nothing to them. Just a close acquaintance they casually fucked from time to time very often. And yet...

These sudden, strange emotions were translated in their bed.

The sex with her was always rough and fast, and the only aftercare that ocurred was sharing a smoke in bed over some small talk. But suddenly, it wasn't enough. Their usual routine felt short, uncomplete, unsatisfying. The mouths started to trace her face, her body, the marks they left on her. Their movements turned slower, more gentle, more precise. They wanted to see how it was when she burst in pleasure, when she gave herself up entirely in their arms. They kissed, caressed, worshipped the entirety of her skin, and they whispered words of praise in her ears for the duration of it. And when it was done, they needed wanted her close, lulling her into sleep as their arms trapped her against them.

"You're doing so, so well, doll. Can you give us one more, please? You look lovely like this."

"Look at you, already crying and shaking. Shh, it's okay, love, we got you. Leave it to us, okay'"

But when they couldn't stand that twisted feeling in their guts, after seeing some other clown trying to steal her away, both men turned animalistic on her. They were all confused at this change, and the two of them couldn't explain where did it came from. They just felt the urgent need to cover her in bites, scratches and hickeys, in every place where those undeserving eyes feasted upon. ¿How dare those assholes? ¿Didn't they know she was with them? ¿Had they no shame? ¿Did they really think they stood a chance?

"That's it, keep looking at us, slut. That's where your eyes should always be. ¿What the fuck were you thinking, uh?"

"¿You wanted him to fuck you too? Is that it? You greedy whore. Clearly we need to fuck you more. We'll make sure you can't even talk or walk without our help."

And it didn't end just there. They started to bring her to their dates, inviting her everywhere they went, giving her their clothes. They had love-hate feelings towards her revealing dresses, because as much as they enjoyed the view, they hated seeing others do the same. She became part of their routine, outside the sex part. She was always there. And as time passed, it felt like she had been there since the beginning. They hardly remembered how things were before she came.

But they kept lying to themselves, lying to everyone. This wasn't anything. They could stop whenever they wanted to. There no other feelings involved. Of course not.

And things finally went downhill when someone asked them:

"So, that girl that's always with you two, what's the deal with her? Is there something serious going on? Because you have to introduce her to us, then."

That question struck them. Brutally.

They never thought too much about it. Things with her just...happened naturally, and they barely noticed it. They simply followed their instincts at the time, not realizing the weight those actions could hold. ¿What was the deal with her, truly? Granted, she was more than just a quick fuck, but still. And what was up with them? Why the fuck did they want to meet her? She was perfectly fine where she was.

At the end of the day, the three of them moved in different worlds. There were things about themselves they couldn't tell her, things she would never understand. Maybe that was better, they thought. To keep her away from that circus of drama and lies and dirty secrets they were part of. She didn't belong there. And to keep her far away from idiots butting their noses where they shouldn't.

So they quickly defused the situation. She was just an acquaintance, they didn't really know her, yeah. They already had each other, it had always been just each other. She meant nothing.

If she did, where did that leave them?

¿Were they supposed to know someone was going to post their answer on social media? Were they supposed to know she would see it and demand explanations too?

Yes

They never saw her so angry, so emotional. She was bursting in anger and sadness and dissapointment, and they could both feel how their hearts stopped at the sight. It didn't feel right.

When she started to speak, they sort of panicked. They couldn't control the situation this time, they couldn't control her, and they didn't have proper answers for it. At least, not the kind of answers that would help them.

Most of all, they were confused. As she confronted them with facts, about how their strange behaviour with her and their motivations, they were forced to acknowledge the reality of everything.

That she meant more than they thought. Way more than they wanted her to. It was a liability. A problem. An unexpected turn of events they weren't prepared for.

And because they weren't prepared, they simply said the words that sounded logical at the moment. Cold statements of what they all knew, of what they agreed on the beginning. They didn't truly mean it, as they would realize later, but they felt cornered. And at the moment, the only strenght they could rely on was their pride.

They foolishly thought she would stay after that. That she would see their point of view and calm down.

As expected, she didn't. When it fell on them the terrible error they made, it was late. She left the place. Emptied it of whatever part of her and blocked them from her life.

And as expected, the aftermath was fucking disastrous.

Being deprived so suddenly from her presence after getting used to have her near everyday was hellish. No more calls, no more dates, no more lazy afternoons in the couch. She was gone, leaving a gaping hole in their lives that they couldn't fill, no matter how much they tried. And god knows they did.

No vice or person could replace the feelings she invoked in them.

They turned down invitations, calls of friends, choosing to stay at home and just hang out by themselves. Staying at home too long drove them insane, but going out wasn't much better. She was everywhere. In the streets, in the shops, in the people. It was a nightmare.

When a close friend of theirs invited them to the opening of club, they only accepted in hopes for a distraction, and to keep appareances a bit. But the cold, boring night inmediately acquired a brilliant colour when they saw her.

More beautiful than ever, with her pretty dress and carefully done make-up. Her damned smile brightened the whole club and, for a moment, they felt in peace. Like nothing changed.

Until they saw she wasn't alone. Her warm arms, who used to be held by them, were now occupied by other men. Some they didn't know. A pair of strangers taking their rightful places, and she just laughed and danced with them like it was normal.

They spent the whole night like that, watching her and brooding, with that familiar green boiling in their stomach. She looked gorgeous, out of this world, and it wasn't fucking fair. That should be them. She should have been with them, filling their ears with her cute laugh and letting them wrap their arms over her.

Deep down, they knew they fucked up. It was solely their fault. They had their chance to make her stay, to trap her, and they messed up. ¿Why did things have to be this way? Why did they have to realize the size of their mistake in a moment of jealousy? It was stupid.

When they saw her walking outside alone, they exchanged a glance and they knew it.

They made several mistakes, but they learnt from them. Having her hating them was better than not having her at all, so they followed.

It was so easy to fall back into routine. She was already weakened by their presence, and it was the same for them too. Some yelling here and there, insults being thrown back and forth, a bit of fighting, but they ended up right where they wanted: Locked bathroom, against a wall, and the music covering their moans.

They didn't stop until she was bursting with their cum, pushing it right back inside where a drop ran down her legs. Until there wasn't a single trace of skin unmarked. Until she couldn't fucking walk without their help.

And when few weeks later, she showed up in their apartment with three positive tests, they pretended to be shocked and made her move in with them.

They could already see the picture she would make. It was going to be perfect.

(i had this shit collecting dust in my drafts for a millenia and today i had a strange burst of inspiration to finish it. sorry for the waiting to those who asked for this part)

Taglist: @hanjisunglover @queenmea604 @linlinaert @bluducky @jinnie-ret @aalexyuuuhm @noellllslut @skzms @thightswideforhanin @aliensfoundthisblogl @k-krissten @stayconnecteed @hanjibug @roseykat

[januaryembrs]

SAVIOUR | Bucky Barnes x reader

Request: Hi congratulations on 1k!!!! Could i request a drabble for Bucky where he and reader like each other but are dancing around their feelings so reader tries to go on a date but it goes south and bucky's there to help? (yes i know this is a cliche but i am hopeless okay 😭)

Description: Bucky comforts you in between the odd grey area the two of you had found yourself in.

word count: 1.35k

trigger warnings: bad date, stalking behaviour, fem!reader

main masterlist

You shut your apartment door quietly, hoping the latch wouldn’t wake Mrs Addison across the hall, knowing you didn’t have time to receive an earful and catch your bus. 

You were already running late, this did not look good on a first date. 

You all but stumbled down the stairs in the high heels that had immediately been a mistake, but in the interest of making it to the restaurant on time, what were a few bruised shins?

You’d kept it together pretty well, for a woman who was multitasking between texting and running, and as luck would have it, it wasn’t until the final three steps that one of your ankles finally gave out, an ailment you’d been asking for. A short squeal left your throat, one hand flying out to try stop the damage the hard floor would inflict to your freshly brushed teeth, only to crash into a warm wall of muscle that seemed to groan on impact. 

Gaze snapping to your saviour, you met the icy blue eyes you tended to stare at as you both waited for your laundry, or even as you collected your mail, waited for the lift together. 

“James,” You breathed in relief, your heart hammering behind your chest at the near miss, and the word had a polite smile spreading on the quiet man’s face, “My god, you must have like superspeed or something, I didn’t even see you,” 

Bucky bit back the urge to snigger and reply with ‘Or something,’ his words dying in his mouth as he took in your outfit, the way the eyeshadow sat prettily on your lids, your lips painted a mauve that matched your necklace. 

“Off out?” He said after a moment, and it was then he realised he still had you hugged tight to his chest where leaped into action the second he’d seen your heel swerve. 

Truthfully he’d been just checking his mailbox, though he’d hoped the loud clicking of shoes running down the stairs would be you. And as luck would have it, it was. He’d wanted to tease you for clearly running late as he heard you cursing under your breath, wanted to joke that high heels were not a good option for an evening jog. He’d prepared himself to be funny, smoothe, the way he would have been before Hydra had him.

He still had an effect on women, he wasn’t blind and he certainly wasn’t dumb, but something about you made every suave move he might possibly pull fly out of his head all with just one of those smiles. 

The same one you gave him now, as he gently set you down on wobbly knees, hoping you couldn’t feel the way his muscles tense beneath your fingertips as they clutched his shirt. 

“Ye-yeah I got a date, and I’m late,” You replied, flicking a glance at your watch, before looking back at him with a snicker, “That rhymed,” 

He smiled, though he felt his heart stutter for a moment at the word date, a little green monster writhing in jealous as he looked at you again. You were dressed so pretty for someone else, were you trying to get lucky, were you going to bring him back here-

Bucky tried not to clench his jaw as he saw you pacing backwards towards the front door to your building, your own unreadable expression when he took a second to answer. You didn’t understand why you’d felt so guilty running into him, quite literally, when you were on your way out. As far as neighbours went, James was great. He watched your cat when you went to visit your parents out of state for a week, sent you cute little reminders when your washing was ready, he even baked you some poor attempt at banana bread the day he moved in, though you were quick to tell him you were pretty sure it was supposed to be the other way around. 

So, if he was just your great neighbour James, why did you feel so… dirty running off to see someone else. 

You were pretty sure you knew why, and the only remedy for it was a hefty dose of denial. 

“You going to be home late?” It wasn’t unusual for him to ask; another reason he was such a good neighbour, he checked in on you on the nights he knew you walked home from work, when the street lights were the only thing between you and any no good delinquent looking for a pretty lady and her purse. That is, unless they wanted the man who had seventy six years worth of rage pent up inside him on their ass. 

“Uh, probably. I’ll shoot you a text when I’m home safe,” Texting, another thing you’d been quick to pull him up on, eventually showing him how to open his messages, to which he had three from Sam asking if he was around, how his therapy was going, things like that, and two from you asking if he had spare eggs and if he’d heard the car alarm wailing down the street. “Gotta dash, have a good night, James,” 

You gave him a warm smile, almost forgetting the time entirely as you watched him grab for his own apartment door, waving back at you with soft eyes. 

“Be safe, doll,” He called after you as you pushed the glass open and step out into the cold night air. 

He waited by his cell phone for three hours before he convinced himself to sleep. 

–

Bucky damn near jumped out of his skin, at the sound of small knocks on his door, his super hearing making them sound like fists were pounding on the wood, the desperation clear even without his enhanced senses. 

He scrambled to look for his phone, another few knocks rattling his doorway as he caught a missed message from you sent ten minutes ago. 

I’m on my way home. Date was a mess. Walking to the bus stop now!

His heart plummeted, all but throwing the blanket off his legs as he headed for the door, hoping it was in fact you who had woken him and not a Mrs Anderson complaining about the sound of the TV coming through the floorboards again. 

Just as he’d hoped, he swung his front door open to reveal you, a little shaken and wide eyed as your gaze snapped from the glass foyer to where he drank the sight of you in with an alertness only a soldier could know. 

“James! I’m so sorry to wake you up, I know its late,” It wasn’t, it was barely ten. But the guilt had eaten you up anyway with every knock on his door, “My date turned out to be a total bonehead, and when I tried leaving, he followed me- I- I don’t want to go home alone,” You said, voice shaking as you kept flicking a glance over your shoulder to where the outside seemed a little too dark for comfort. 

Bucky couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t see anything moving outside except for the bushes blowing in the autumn breeze, but he was never going to tell you that when you seemed so frightened and jumpy, all but rooted in your spot. 

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but you wouldn’t mind if I stayed-”

“Ofcourse,” Bucky cut you off too quickly, stepping aside to let you into the apartment without question. He watched you falter for a moment, your eyes softening as if the weight of the evening melted away and you could finally take a real breath, the relief palpable in your expression. He was barely expecting you to throw your arms around his waist, but he caught you quickly, pulling you into him the same way he had before you’d even left the building. “Anything to keep you safe, doll,” He said, shutting the door behind the two of you as he let a hand card down your spine, stroking until he felt the muscles there relax too. 

“You really are my saviour, James,” You said into his chest, tucking your face further into his warmth. 

He knew then he was really a goner.

[imagine-silk]

i feel like varric is a classic platonic yandere.

do NOT fuck with his friends thank you.

》Honestly he's already halfway there. Also I'm gonna use a Adaar non!inquisitor.

》This has been so long in the making I am sorry TTMTT

He does a lot for his friends. He makes sure Merrill is unbothered by paying off people, even going so far as to pay people as pseudo bodyguards. Helped Anders stay hidden underground and stocked. As much as he teased Carver he made sure prices at the shops he went were more affordable, if you catch my drift. And at the Conclave he shut his mouth at the end of the story. The champion of Kirkwall vanished in the wind. Lie by omission.

Something about you though clicked in his head and rang it like a bell ten-fold. He would die for his friends, yes, but he would kill for you.

A Tal-Vashoth mercenary who was stranded. The reason you were working with them was to cover a debt you owed. So when your company died and you were the only survivor you knew they would tax you for it. There was no doubt they would keep you working for the rest of your life, no matter how long or short it may be. But the so-called Inquisition was housing the homeless and faithful. That included you because going back wasn't an option.

Cassandra used you to help detain Varric so when she saw you among the people she sniffed you out as not a refugee. She was going to throw you out but Trevelyan stopped her and offered you shelter in exchange for work.

It's a funny thing, you were the one to seek him out. You almost tripped over him and ended up jumping over him. He was always a sucker for interesting introductions. The next time you were going to apologize for how you treated him in his detainment.

He quickly realized you were seeking him out because he was a constant to you who never ever showed you ill will. That was the slope to madness.

Going out of his way to talk you was received as well as he thought it would, you were basically vibrating in your seat. After a few times of hearing his stories at the pub you realized what he meant when he said he was a liar, but you told him you found it funny.

He heard someone in Haven dragging the 'Mercenary Qunari' through the mud. See as there was a grand total of seven Qunari at Haven he knew who he was talking about. Suddenly they got the worst chores to do, separately.

Other than him you're pretty isolated. All your friends were dead, no family, and the people who wanted you also wanted you as a slave. For some reason that didn't make him want to make you some friends like he did for Merrill. Your time was his.

You making friends was by no means illegal but he would interfere. Maybe he needs you to read the newest chapter of his murder serial. Or somehow they get extra shifts that make them keep moving. He will never pull the 'I need some company' card but if you see him struggling he won't turn away like he would with others.

After Haven goes down he gets more serious in his attempts to help but also to keep you out of the limelight. The more he gets involved in the Inquisitor's inner circle the more he keeps an eye on you. There is nothing you do he doesn't know about, nowhere you get deployed he didn't allow.

At Skyhold you feel like he's the only real person you can go to and he does his best to reinforce that feeling. "Remember; you always got this friend in your corner."

Cole knows about all of this but because you are happy and so is Varric he doesn't interfere. He does say something to Varric about how this friendship feels different to him, more intense, but Varric dismisses it.

If Hawke is saved he introduces you to them and you two hit it off, Varric guiding the conversation as smoothly as it could go. After Hawke will remark to him in private how he seems very invested in you and he doesn't seem to want to go back to Kirkwall like they thought he would. He dismisses it. If Hawke was left in the Fade he is devastated, truly. When you go to console him he allows it to happen and he doesn't try to use this against you even if it would be really easy. He would let this one go unspoiled.

At the end of it all and he goes back to Kirkwall he takes you there. You might think he asked you but there was never any room for you to deny it. Taking down a Qunari quietly wasn't too difficult for a rogue like him. You would have been asleep in ten minutes and onboard in eight. When you get there you are basically confined to his estate. You're not locked in but he tells you not to go certain places and it's most of Kirkwall. You can go to the Hanged Man and everyone in there knows not to try and hassle you in any way. If they do at least twenty people will stop them.

[More when the new game comes out]

[sandyca5tle]

Slime HRT Story - New Beginnings

“Dragon HRT?” I mumbled aloud to myself as I scrolled, stopping on the post, the title intriguing me. I looked through it and mostly found myself in disbelief - HRT that could turn you into another species, let alone a mythical one like a dragon, seemed like something someone had made up for clicks.

I would’ve just disregarded it as exactly that, however, the post did cause some feelings that had been kind of simmering in the back of my mind to rise to the surface. I’d always liked the idea of being something more - no that’s not really fair - but something else than human. A few things had appealed to me over the years, although they’d only been more fleeting things back then, but recently I’d been feeling them more strongly. My guess is that, having sorted out my gender and some of the medical transitioning for that (nearly 3 years on feminising hrt), it allowed my brain to notice the other things that weren’t quite right.

Much like with the post, I had pushed them out of the way as an impossibility - people couldn’t just be animals, that sounded crazy… but then so had a boy being able to be a girl, and here I was now. And as much as I had tried to ignore it, I had noticed the occasional phantom limb, primarily a tail, but also wings, that made it a little harder to just push away.

I looked over the post again, nothing new jumping out at me, so I continued scrolling. But the post still sat with me, idling away in my mind as I laughed at some funny remark about my favourite show.

***

2 months after seeing that first post, I came across another from the same person and was surprised and excited with what I saw. They hadn’t been making stuff up for attention, they actually were becoming a dragon. They only had some scales on their hands, as well as the beginnings of horns and their eyes were changing colours, but the pictures seemed legit.

I was stunned. Was it actually possible for people to change their species? Could I change my species? What species would I even be?

I caught myself - I hadn’t expected the latter pair of questions to come out, let alone so easily. Was that something I wanted? To become another species? Just a couple months ago that had seemed like an insane idea, but now I was excited by the thought? The wagging phantom tail did not help the side of me that wanted to deny this. I decided I’d wait it out a little longer, after all, this must be a fairly new procedure, no reason to charge into it so soon, and i clearly need to sort out my thoughts on it anyway

***

So there’s puppy hrt now, and mouse hrt too, and the dragon hrt is coming along really well. I’d also spent some time and kinda figured out my feelings as well, had realised I didn't wanna be human if I didn't have to. Could I survive the rest of my life as a human? Sure. Would I be happy? Uncertain. Did the idea of not being human make me excited and happy, in such a familiar way to the idea of actually being a girl? Yes.

I’d also been thinking about what I want to be, if not human. Obviously dragon appealed, and matched up with the phantom limbs I had, but I only wanted certain parts of that, not quite the whole package, so that one wasn’t quite for me. I also found the idea of something more traditional, like a catgirl appealing, but that didn’t quite sit right with me, and again, I only wanted parts. I actually went through a whole bunch of options, and while bits and pieces of some appealed, while others seemed like they’d be fun to mess around with, but not as a permanent arrangement, I was struggling to find one thing I’d want to be. Honestly the whole process made me question if I was just making it all up in my head. However I couldn’t shake the desire to leave behind my humanity, so I continued to ponder on it.

All which kind of led me to realise that what I really wanted was to be able to change at will, mix and match whatever I want - I wanted to be a shapeshifter… I.. was a shapeshifter, just stuck in human form by some accident of the universe or something I guess.

From there I began to look up where I could actually get my hands on some of this new hrt, and I found that there seemed to be one main doctor who was approving/handing out this new animal/therian hrt. However, when I looked him up, I came across 3 major issues 1) He seemed to operate out of this place called ‘Hyper City’ which I’d never heard of before, and couldn’t seem to find anything on any maps 2) He seemed unfriendly and had a long list of shitty gatekeepy requirements before he’d let you take the medication (seriously, how am I supposed to live as a ‘shapeshifter’ for two years?), which reminded me of stuff I’d read about similar ‘requirements’ for trans hrt that similarly ticked me off and 3) It was expensive and as I was already paying a bunch for regular hrt, that would be a problem.

However, my solution to similar issues with ‘human hrt’ gave me an idea to start looking into for this new flavour of hrt. As I mentioned, a lot of the clinics I originally looked into for my trans hrt had similar gatekeepy requirements before they would even consider you for hormone treatment, so I looked elsewhere and found a company who offered an informed consent model of treatment. So I decided to do much the same with this hrt, scouring the internet for any trace of a similar setup until eventually I found it!

It seemed like it had been set up relatively recently, but then given how new this therian hrt was, it only made sense. I spent some time looking around their website, checking what kind of things they needed (blood tests etc.) and how much this was going to cost (since apparently being yourself has to be profitable, even for people trying to help out somewhat better). While it was still a lot of money, it was less than the only other available, legitimate, method of doing this, so it at least seemed better.

Since one of the things they did require, asides from blood tests, was an initial meeting to ask some questions and check they understood what I wanted out of the treatment, I figured I could use that to also ask some questions of my own. So I booked the soonest appointment I could (fortunately they did video calls) and waited

***

“Hello?” 

A voice came through the computer as the video call lit up with the person on the other end, a youngish woman, late twenties to early thirties, dressed fairly casually, clearly sitting in some kind of home office. It seemed this would be the person talking to me to figure out what I needed. I was kinda happy to see that she had her pronouns (she/her) listed by her name (Anna) in the corner, but I would be lying if I wasn’t a little sad that she seemed to be human. I didn’t necessarily expect to talk to someone else like me immediately, but it would have been cool, and a part of me was holding out hope, but life’s not always so kind.

“Hello!” I replied cheerfully, smiling and giving a wave back through my own camera.

“Nice to meet you, Sandy, right? May I ask your pronouns?” Anna asked “Mine are she/her,” She added

“Oh, uh, yes, and uh, She/They,” I replied - I was always a little awkward whenever I had these kind of talks

“So… you want to start on humanity replacement therapy, that’s correct right?” She asked

I nodded, before quickly adding an assured “Yes!” in case the nod wasn’t clear enough on the stream “Good, right,” She said, glancing down to check her notes “And do you know what you would like to become instead?” She asked, making sure to look up at me as she asked this

“Shapeshifter!” I quickly blurted out, my excitement getting the better of me “I mean, uh, I’d like to be a shapeshifter,”

Anna smiled, “Shapeshifter?” She checked, looking back down at her papers “Well, I’m afraid to say we can’t do that,” I felt my heart drop, all my excitement rapidly turning to despair. 

This had been a possibility, in the back of my mind, after all even compared to a dragon, a shapeshifter was pretty out there. Being a mythical creature is one thing, being able to be any creature, or even anything seemed like a bit of a stretch.

However, it seemed that my dismay was premature as Anna continued to speak “Yes, I’m afraid we can’t do that unless you go on a different form of hrt first,” She explained, flicking through some of the papers “If you still want to go ahead with your humanity removal therapy, you will need to complete at least two years of a different therapy regime to create a base for the shapeshifter therapy,” She looked up to gauge my reaction

My reaction, of course, was happiness, especially after that moment of dread. Ok, so it was going to be a little while until I properly got on shapeshifter hrt, but 2 years wasn’t that long - it flew past for me on feminising hrt, so it should be fine here, plus, just ‘cause i wanna be everything, doesn’t mean I can’t survive a little bit of time as something else, first step is to just not be human

“Uh, you mentioned that I’d need to complete a different regime first, do I get to choose which one, or is there a specific one I’d have to take?” I asked, a little worried about the answer

“Don’t worry, you do get to choose,” Anna assured me with a smile “However you’ll have to choose from a selection, not all species are as suited for shapeshifting as others, I’ll send the link to a document listing them all in the chat,”

The link appeared and I opened it in another tab “Uh, should I read this now, or is there any more talking you want to do first?” I asked, not wanting to be rude, but my eyes would not stop flicking to the tab, nor would my phantom tail stop wagging from excitement

“You can take a moment to read through,” Anna gestured a ‘go ahead’ towards the camera

I flipped over to the tab, and was presented with a document. It started with a spiel about how these species are known for being able to naturally alter their physical properties, either in the real world, or in the mythologies they’re from, and so form the best bases for further shapeshifting hrt. I scanned the list, I noticed a few that I’d already looked at before I decided on shapeshifter, like dragon and kitsune, a couple i’d never considered but made total sense to be there, like mimics and squids, and some that i wouldn’t have associated with shapeshifting at all, like cats and snakes. 

However, despite all the many options that were available, there was one that really sang to me - slime. Seeing that there kind of seemed to slot the last piece I didn't know I was even missing into the puzzle - the idea of being a fluid being of goo just somehow seemed perfect to me, and I could actually feel myself getting a little emotional.

My emotions must have been obvious on my face as well, as I heard Anna chime in from the other tab “Is everything ok there?” She asked, although I could hear a slight smile in her voice, and I guessed I wasn’t the first one she’d seen through this

“Uh, yes, yes,” I replied, switching back over to the call tab “Just some, uh, unexpected emotions,” I told her honestly “But I think I’d like to be a slime,” I said, just getting the last words out around the lump of euphoria in my throat, and feeling a smile form on my face as I spoke the wish into being. 

Anna nodded, and a part of me was a little relieved that she wasn’t trying to contest me on anything, just talking to me and guiding me through everything, it was quite nice from what my fears had hypothesised. Anna shuffled through few more papers on her desk before looking back up at the camera “Ok Miss Slime,” She began and I felt a wave of both gender and what i’m guessing was species euphoria ripple through my body “Next you’ve gotta choose which kind of slime you’ll be,” She explained, dropping another link in the chat

I nodded, and as before opened the tab and looked at the options. This list was… much more extensive than the shapeshifting one had been, and there were categories and subcategories within subcategories. I hadn’t ever realised how many different kinds of slimes there could be. I saw ‘blood slime’ and ‘magma slime’ neither of which were appealing to me, metal slime did interest me a little, but it didn’t quite seem to sit right with me. I kept looking through at all the options until I came across one that felt right

“Uh, what exactly is the sap slime?” I asked “Just want to make sure I know what I’m choosing,” I added

“It’s exactly what it sounds like, a slime made of tree sap,” Anna told me “You can also pick the species of tree if you want to do that, or we can give you a more generic one,” She offered

I thought for a second “Do you have anything like maple syrup-y? I know that’s made from sap, so is there like sap-syrup slime? Doesn’t have to be maple if that’s possible, honestly I’d probably prefer it wasn’t maple if I can have a choice, while I don’t dislike maple syrup, it has a weird flavour I’d rather not replicate..” I half-trailed off, suddenly realising I’d been rambling a little

“I’m sure we can find you something like that,” Anna replied with a wry smile, adding some notes onto the paper before “For now I’ll put you down for a sap slime then, with a preference for syrupy,” She said. 

I smiled and nodded, confirming what she’d said.

“Well, that should be everything we need today, however I see you haven’t scheduled a physical examination,” Anna remarked

“Uh, yeah, I was going to do that after this, figured I’d see if I was even allowed before paying for the test,” I replied “But also a physical? I thought I just needed blood work?” I asked

“For simple human hormone replacement therapy, yes, however this is a little more extreme, and will completely change your biology, and so we need a more complete baseline to make sure your transition progresses nominally,” She explained

“That makes sense,” I replied “I doubt my GP will go along with this,” I added, knowing they hadn’t been ok with my gender transition, so they likely wouldn’t be with this either “So where will I take this physical?” I asked

“There's a clinic we work with that you can go to who will take the information we need and send it to us,” Anna told me, typing for a couple seconds before a link appeared in the chat “There’s the link you can use to setup an appointment for it,” She told me, as I copied the link for later “Do you know how to get to Hyper City? The clinic is there, so you will need to know how to get there,” She added

I shook my head “I’ve only see vague and weird sounding shtuff about it online, if it weren’t for the seemingly literal magic the treatment provides, I’d be inclined to believe that it was all made up,” I told her

“I can promise you it’s a very real place, I live there, and it’s where I’m talking to you from right now actually,” Anna replied, causing my eyes to widen a little ���Since you don’t know how to get here, I’ll tell you, and it’s surprisingly simple,” She paused for a second before continuing “Simply head 20 minutes outside of wherever you live, any direction, any method of travel - so long as you control where you’re going, otherwise it might get a little complicated - you’ll find a road you’ve never seen before. Follow the road and it will take you to the city,” She explained “Depending on where exactly you live, you might be able to see the city from further away, and it might have some strange interactions with the natural surroundings, but that’s nothing to worry about,” She added “As for getting back, simply leave through the archway you enter through and you’ll find yourself back where you came in,”

I nodded, before my brain actually started to properly process what she had said “That sounds… unbelievable, but again, I am trying to turn myself into a slime, so unbelievable is the flavour of the day,” I replied “So just 20 minutes out of town and I’ll find it?” I checked, receiving a nod of confirmation from the other side of the screen “That’s going to be interesting around here…” I muttered

“Regardless, if you set up an appointment and get your physical done, you can then request a prescription for your medications. They can be delivered to your home, however, due to some difficulties sending things from Hyper City to other places, it can be somewhat more expensive, so it may be preferable for you to collect them yourself from our associated pharmacy in the city,” She explained. I nodded, frowning a little at the idea of extra costs, however it did prompt a question I had been meaning to ask during this meeting

“Will I still have to take my ‘human’ hrt alongside this? Y’know, for, uh, trans stuff,” As i had spoken i realised I hadn’t mentioned that I was trans before, and while I assumed people working with non-human hrt wouldn’t have a problem with it, it still felt a little awkward to bring up

Anna however, seemed nonplussed, and simply took a moment to think “I’m not one of the doctors who understands the science of this, however, I do believe that there is a point after which your biology will have changed sufficiently that human hormones, and so human hormone therapy, will no longer have a meaningful effect on your body,” She explained “If you want to know the specifics, you can use one of the contact forms on the website to find out, since those can be passed onto the doctors,” She explained

I nodded again, I couldn’t expect her to know all the details of the medicine, and it was nice to hear that I could get a better answer to my question. It also made me surprisingly happy to hear that human hormones would cease to have an effect on my body, despite all the work I'd done to get on them in the first place.

“One more thing I need to ask about: Have you told anyone about your desire to transition, to be a shapeshifter and a slime?” Anna asked

I was a little caught off by her question, but I should have expected it “My partner knows, and is supportive, but, uh, outside of that no, no one else really knows,” I told her

“Do you live with your partner?” She returned

I shook my head “No, uh, we just talk online and stuff,” I explained

“It is highly recommended that you have a support network, and while online support can be very helpful, I am required to specifically recommend some in person support as well,” She told me, once again typing in the chat “I’m sending a link to a support group that’s started up for people taking non-human hrt, and I would highly suggest attending,” 

I took a moment to quickly copy the link to somewhere more permanent before replying “Thanks, I’ll, uh, try to make sure I go at some point,” I told her

“Good,” She responded “Well, I’ve asked all I need to know for this session, so we are finished if you have no more questions you want to ask?” Anna offered

“No, nothing I can think of right now,” I told her

“Well, then it was lovely to meet you Sandy, and I wish you good luck on your journey,” 

“Thank you! It was nice to meet you too, goodbye!”

***

I glanced at my phone again 20 minutes out of town, that’s what she said I thought to myself as I looked along the road, which of course had no pavement, so I had spent plenty of time over my, albeit brief, trek out here half-throwing myself into hedges to avoid cars. Regardless, I was coming up on the 20 minute mark, and so looked around for any signs of the city.

And I definitely found them.

As I looked to my left, over where normally there were just fields, I could see skyscrapers and lights jutting out of the landscape where normally there’d be clear skies. It was… weird to say the least, but at least it told me I was doing things right. 

I went a little further down the road, and eventually spotted a path that I was fairly certain hadn’t been there before, not to mention that it clearly led to the shining collection of buildings that seemed to have spawned in the fields. I figured by some sort of magical shenanigans that no-one else could see this as I suspected a city spontaneously appearing in the middle of a field would have drawn some kind of attention beyond my own, and yet no-one else seemed to pay it any heed.

As I crossed over and headed down the road, I couldn’t help but notice that the city seemed to intersect with a few of the hedges marking the field boundaries, however it seemed to pass through without either entity having issue, and honestly my mind was having an odd time trying to resolve exactly what was going on. I figured it was some kinda magic shenanigan and decided I could ask about it later if I really wanted to know about it.

Eventually I reached an archway, after which passing through I was greeted with a ‘Welcome to Hyper City’ sign just off the road next to me. I took a second to properly marvel at the city up close now, before pulling out my phone and opening the screenshotted directions to the clinic and beginning to follow them.

As I walked around, following the directions as best I could, I noticed a few shops that caught my eye, all advertising fantastical products and services that definitely seemed magical in nature. However, as intriguing as they seemed, I had an appointment to keep, and so took each turn my instructions told me. 

As I got closer to my destination, I also began to notice another thing of note: there were people, but not simply human, I could see people with scales, furs, ears, tails, and horns, albeit all in various stages of development. It warmed my heart to see others out in the world who had taken the same path I was trying to start on, while at the same time also sparking some envy that they had already started, while I was still stuck in this human form. In an attempt to avoid staring too much, I focused my attention back onto my phone, settling for courteous glances at any other interesting people I saw along the way.

I did eventually, of course, find my way to the clinic, walking through the doors and giving my name over to the receptionist so she could find the information for my appointment

“You’ll be with Dr. Othek Inn, please wait in the waiting room to be called up,” She told me, and I promptly did as instructed

I continued to people watch in between scrolling on my phone, spying more people who were clearly also here for similar reasons as me amongst all the humans. It was sad to see that some of the people were looking at them with looks of disdain and displeasure, but I guessed even here there wouldn’t be escaping that kind of prejudice, which deflated me a little. 

It wasn’t too long until I was called up to my appointment. I walked into the room I was directed towards and was met with Dr. Othek, a tall, darker skinned man with longer black hair pulled back into a professional looking ponytail 

“You must be Sandy, correct?” He asked me, his voice deep but quite jovial as he looked up from the computer he had just been typing on and gestured to a nearby seat. I nodded. “And you’re here for the full physical in preparation for taking humanity replacement therapy correct?”

I nodded again “Uh, yes,” I told him

“So what kind of creature are you?” He asked, and I felt a euphoric burst at the acknowledgement of my inhumanity

“Shapeshifter,” I told him, my voice a little excited from the euphoria, which i quickly toned down before adding “Uh, but I have to become a slime first, since I guess the human body doesn’t respond well to the shapeshifter treatment or something,”

“Shapeshifter and a slime? Interesting, think you’re the first one with that particular combination that I’ve seen,” the doctor replied

“Couldn’t pick one form, so why not have any I want,” I said, a little jokingly with a shrug and a smile

“Most people would wait until they had a clearer decision before heading into something so life changing,” Dr. Othek pointed out, and while I didn’t particularly feel any judgement in his tone, the words still stung

“It’s not really ‘indecision’ though, it’s that I’d feel trapped in any one form - human, dragon, shark, tiger, even something like slime, although that would at least be somewhat bearable,” I explained “I need to be able to change, shift, flow, and alter myself at will and on a whim, become as tall as a building and as small as a mouse just because that’s what I feel like, and being stuck in one form feels like a jail made of bones and sinew,”

The man chuckled a little and smiled “Forgive me, you clearly have thought about this, and made a very clear decision,” He replied, and I blushed a little, suddenly realising I’d been rambling and gushing to what was essentially a random stranger, even if he was a seemingly supportive medical professional

“Sorry, I just have kinda strong feelings about it,” I told him sheepishly

“As you should, this is who you are, and it’s important to be assured of that,” He replied “And to that end, shall I proceed with the examination?” He asked

“Oh, uh, yes,” I replied

Over the next  hourish I was poked, prodded, stabbed, and otherwise measured in all the various medical ways needed to ascertain my bodily health ahead of my transition. Fortunately I managed to avoid fainting when my blood was taken (as I am ever prone to do - nothing to do with the blood, I’m just kinda prone to fainting in certain conditions), only needing to lie down for a little while, so all of the tests we completed without issue.

We sat back down after the final examination, and Dr. Othek finished entering the last of my details into the system before turning back to me.

“Well, it looks like you’re fairly healthy, a little overweight, but nothing that infringes on your health, so, besides from getting the results of your blood test, I can safely give the greenlight for you to start your transition,” He told me

I beamed, feeling my phantom tail wagging behind me, a little grateful that the doctor couldn’t see it, even if my face likely showed it just as much “That’s awesome! Well, asides the overweight thing, but if that’s not a problem, I’ll focus on the positives,” I said

“Yes, well, you’ll have to wait a couple weeks for the blood tests to be finished, and once those results have come in, you can be allowed a prescription to actually begin your medical transition,” the doctor explained

I nodded “Gonna be a long couple of weeks,” I replied with a slightly pained smile

“I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait,”

I bid farewell shortly after that, and headed back out, ready to wait until the blood tests were done, and I could truly begin my foray into inhumanity. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, I decided to kinda rewrite the start of slime hrt, and this is the new 'start' of it. Technically the next thing will be the first diary entry type part, but i wanted to do this story form first.

Next

Tag list under cut (lmk if ya wanna be added!)

@calliecwrites, @friedsputnik, @now-entering-the-goop-zone, @scrubbinn, @lilacinthefog

@mint-and-authoress, @losttodreams, @redroversendjayover, @ariathelamia, @kanithedemoncat

[melodich4n]

When It comes to me as a human I really am a weird case. My humor or my personality overall is as literal as you see here online for my everyday life. There's nothing for me to hide about who or how I express myself but when it comes to interests. By that means.

I'm on the spectrum. I have ADHD and ODD too.

I don't often click with characters. For those I do, I LOVE them. Be it I haven't posted them here out of preference I just really like to stick with One Piece for content making or original characters (can change). Yet when it comes to me being obsessed or clicking with a series. Especially with a character that becomes either a comfort or a special interest of mine. It happened to be Caesar Clown.

In my entire life from all things possible for me to enjoy. Caesar makes me most interested. Be it, I find myself already into topics such as science or medical care that cause me to naturally enjoy a character like Caesar for his role he has as a scientist. Being I can remember the time as young as 8 I wanted to be a virologist and help work in a lab on viruses. I even tried considering to research a cure for cancer. Be it since then the career changed on wanting to be in something art related as I ALWAYS loved art too. My second option and third was to take the job as a therapist or surgeon. Even a mortician as an option as death or the human body is something I've come to find fascinating and I'm not saying this to be a shock content person. I just really am intrigued by concepts like mortality/birth/death. Anything within those segments I'm a huge fan of. Remember being fascinated and still am a fan of COD zombies. The only thing that stopped me considering the medical field in any way was because I didn't want to spend that much money and time to get a job I might end up realizing I just enjoyed it as a hobby to research instead.

Yet the topic of anything relating to science and medical stuff makes me adore characters like Caesar anytime. Yet what specifically lured me more for him than other doctor or scientist characters was his sadistic nature and his *personality* in extension within Punk Hazard and even in WCI. I'm a fan of the topic of sadism, I'm not sadistic myself. I enjoy the fictitious aspect of how far you can push violence though. In themes or just because. As I was for some reason the kind of kid who watched 5+ hours of Happy tree friends and Fluffy pony content or make my 1037727 read of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac after I got home from a math test that pissed me off half crying still and then laughing about it because fictional violence is and will always still be funny to me.

I see fiction as fiction and a way to study things from a view of my own as someone with autism to pick apart on. I don't know why but the fact I just enjoy picking apart characters and themes, stories. Even music. I found myself adore him.

Caesar Clown though, I can see why others don't like him as much. There are many reasons why I can understand. Though for those that dislike him and choose to dislike me also from that, I don't care about those people.

Caesar's genuine intelligence is also something I enjoy looking at. Vegapunk is of course gonna always be smarter and more successful but Caesar has genuine feats of his own. He just goes into a clear route of selfishness that involves a lot of violence and he's not normal in the head. Far from it. Either because he grew into it or was born like it.

Which I enjoy the fan ideas people bring for him. I like people's own ways to take his character for their enjoyment.

I like taking him and either putting him into work that lets me express my mind and ideas for him. Or to put him through pain or anguish that always intrigued me again in the fictional lens.

My love for him likely comes from a sense of self relatability in his vindictiveness and behavior I used to have when younger myself (be it I'm far from it now and did not kill people just can grasp that sense of anger he has) that I also have respect also for his work. I want to see him do his experiments and partaken as a viewer of his work.

Also his own song, his theme? It makes me think of Earthbound and Earthbound is a massive comfort game for me. Specifically the Belch Factory for Caesar with the Belch's theme to his in the 2nd to 3rd stage of his theme. So that's just another random thing to throw. It's out of Character from the music of OP.

His design also feels like something I'd have made when I was younger, and when I feel or connect with a design I will cling and draw them pretty much anytime I think of them.

I think there are so many opportunities with a character like Caesar .

He has also broken Devil Fruit Abilities. I tried genuinely hard to see what his Gas Gas fruit was in terms of Elements on the periodic table. There was no direct one I could match with. I tried. Genuinely. I'm no chemistry nerd but my understanding of how certain elements have ways they react to exposed climates and other elements is what I researched into.

Also the fact he used himself to make experiments. It's fucking metal. Sick shit. I've written that into my own works myself before I got into One Piece as someone who wrote religious sci-fi horror. Where you use your flesh, or your body... Imagine being a part of your stuff? For your gain. To hurt others like some bad guy would do like Caesar.

To contort yourself easily...

It's very cool.

I think that's what I have my thoughts on so far I got for the man. I don't know what else to do or say. I'd love to converse with others here as long as it's civil and respectful about my thoughts or questions, and any form of discussion we can have. Though I do not support those who pick on others just because they "understand or don't understand" Caesar as well as others can or don't. He's fictional. Let's not be crazy.

That is all for me.

- Sally/Melodi

[vegalume]

A little rant because I'm annoyed.

Facebook keeps suddenly restricting my account and I don't know why and it's driving me insane! 4 times this month! I can't even like a post made by my mom without immediately getting a warning about how liking a post didn't follow the community standards.

I'm only reacting to friends or pages I follow, and it's not like hundreds of reactions in a short period of time either. It's maybe 30 in a 24 hour period.

No random friends requests. No following loads of new pages or communities I'm not a part of. Strictly the same friends and pages as always.

Not anything at all different than what I've been doing on FB for the past 15+ years I've had my account.

Now one little care reaction and I get an hour long restriction.

Sometimes I'll share stuff to my own page that others have posted, usually things I'll want to see later, and on occasion I'll post something of my own or reply to a post.

Like the last thing I did was I commented and added a gif to a question a local radio station asked. "What funny event would you like to see at the Olympics?" The gif was of a woman sock-sliding across a floor of a dining room. (she was completely, fully dressed in a long sleeve shirt, leggings and socks)

Bam, 19 hour restriction.

The dumb part of it was that I found the gif by clicking the gif option in the FB comment section.

And if that had been the issue FB didn't remove the comment because later whoever it is that runs the radio station's FB page gave the comment a laughing reaction, so they obviously didn't have a problem with it.

I couldn't even send a Happy Birthday to a FB friend who had their birthday yesterday.

I haven't even opened FB in the last 2 days because I know I'll be tempted to like or react to someone's post and possibly end up with another restriction, or worse, loose my account altogether.

I've not been told what I've done wrong, so how can I avoid doing it again?

I have reported that I believe the restrictions were a mistake and even sent a message through help & support, though I have no indication that they've received anything. Not even an automated something to show they've received my message. (no support ticket to my email or in the message center on FB help & support)

I've also looked under my alerts and there's nothing there to indicate what the issue is, only four, 2 to 4 year old posts that had been mistakenly flagged as spam with "Sorry we made a mistake, you post is back up"

I'm so freaking annoyed by this. Guh!

[valiantvillain]

You let me into your house and so I am asking - you didn’t expect Miraz to romance Astarion, so what was the point that you know it was happen (and was it a different point for them?)

Okay, this might get long bc now I have an excuse to ramble about these two.

It's an interesting case of yes and no with Miraz and Astarion. When I was making her in the character creator I had the idea for her to try the Astarion romance for no other reason than I thought it would be funny. A fairly lawful good paladin trying to teach morals and values to a chaotic hot mess of a vampire with all the energy of a cat owner lecturing their misbehaving pet as they carry from their most recent shenanigans by the scruff of their neck. But then I actually started playing with Miraz, and as a character, she just started to really click for me with an ever-growing backstory and I found myself having a lot of interesting roleplay behind her decisions, including those with Astarion. They were still hilarious but roleplaying Miraz being well aware he was trying to manipulate her (inspired by a passive insight check very early in the game with him) it added this really interesting element to their dynamic. Someone using flattery and flirtation to assure their own safety with someone more accustomed to being dismissed as ugly (bc let me tell you, some NPCs are not shy about calling a half-orc Tav a brute, ugly, "maybe you can use those cutters on the rats in the cellar") and was just plain skeptical of him due to her own history of being manipulated by her noble relations for years.

But even though Miraz distrusted him, like it or not they needed him and to leave one of their tadpole squad behind was not an option to her. Because at her core, she is a paladin, someone whose job it is to protect people...even from themselves on occasion. And she felt somewhat compelled to see what exactly was the objective of this long game he was playing with her. And in act 1 she fully expected him to chicken out when it came time to consummate all that flirting bc well...she's a half-orc. She's done this before, sometimes played along like in this case to see the inevitable moment where her potential partner realizes they didn't actually want to commit to this. But then he didn't follow the script and pride demanded she not be the coward. Thus in playing chicken, she ended up eating crow and much to her chagrin, enjoyed it. Even the bite.

I think the point where I knew they had transitioned from just kinda funny joke pairing to something more meaningful for me personally was in act 2. Particularly when Astarion starts trying to figure out his scars and is willing to deal with Raphael to do it. Miraz wanted to smite this smarmy cambion from the moment they met him. But he was their only lead in translating the contract, so even though she had so many bad feelings about the whole thing she let Astarion do it. After all, you gotta be desperate to seek aid from a devil. To me, that signified a small but significant shift in their relationship, with Astarion trusting her with the information about the contract and her trusting him enough to negotiate for himself with Raphael despite all her reservations. And I just thought to myself "oh, she IS warming up to him at this point, or at the very least trusting him a bit more, this is a thing now".

The point for them was still act 2, just a bit later in it, after encountering Adaj Oblodra in Moonrise Towers. Miraz in her mind, was doing the natural thing, the expected thing, "he said no, the answer is no, he's not drinking your blood". Then came the confession afterward where Astarion admitted he had been trying to manipulate her and his history with using sex as just a tool in the kit, and in that moment it really struck Miraz how much all of his behavior stemmed from being in survival mode. With all the implications clicking in her head, she understood the motivation behind it and figured that this would be the natural conclusion to their little situationship and that they would probably just be allies, maybe even friends after this. She could be content with that, it's not like she really expected this to go anywhere anyway, although to her surprise she found the notion stung a bit. However, to her even greater surprise, he expressed a genuine desire in continuing to explore a relationship with her, and suddenly a hug and a holding of her hand felt more intimate than anything Miraz had ever done with anyone.

So yeah, sorry for the very long answer but I was articulating so many thoughts I had throughout that run, and like Gale, I have a tendency to be quite verbose, for better or for worse.

[whumpflash]

cw: forced drinking/intoxication, adult language, held at gunpoint, violence, unintentional misgendering (Evyr is female)

masterlist ///// next

×××

The sun burned hot over cracked earth, and Judd scowled down at his shadow. He'd been up at the asscrack of dawn when the news broke that a supply craft had gone down over the wastes, but even after hours of combing, he had nothing to show for his work but a few protein bars and some scrap metal. Crash was already picked clean when he got there.

Lousy tip. He should've just left in the middle of the night, taken his chances in the dark like all the other scavengers apparently had. 

Judd briefly considered going back over the remains, checking for anything he might've missed, but dismissed the idea. It was too hot to put out any more effort. Better to get back and try to get a good price on the metal.

As he turned to make his way back to camp, a shape in the distance caught his eye.

A crate, he saw as he drew closer. Some scrawny kid was bent over it, trying to pry it open with a knife. Judd came up from behind just as the kid managed to get the top off, keeping quiet as he got a look at its contents.

It was a full crate of wine, of all things. Luxuries intended for the rich assholes who lived in the floating cities. Shit like that would fetch a huge price if he could find someone who could afford it.

"Whatcha got there?" he said, and the kid jumped a foot in the air, scrambling to his feet and standing protectively in front of the crate. Like he actually stood a chance at fighting Judd off if he decided to claim the goods.

"Nothing," the kid said quickly. "It's– it's mine. I found it fair and square."

"That so?" Judd looked past the boy, at the crate. Sixteen bottles. A fucking fortune, and it was in the hands of a twerp who'd gotten lucky. "Looks heavy. Maybe I should do you a favor. Take some off your hands."

The kid had the balls to put a hand on his knife—a tiny thing that looked homemade—and glare up at Judd.

"Finders keepers," he said, and the man laughed.

"You must be new to this," he said, enjoying the way the boy paled as he drew his own weapon, a knife with a blade the size of his forearm. "Finders keepers only works when you're strong enough to keep the big kids away."

He didn't realize they weren't alone until he felt the muzzle of a gun on the back of his head.

"Haven't heard that particular rule before," a low voice came from behind him. "Fancy yourself a big kid, do you?"

Judd heard the click of a hammer being cocked. He dropped his knife.

"That's what I thought. Get on your knees."

Seeing no better option, Judd obeyed. The kid looked irritatingly satisfied with this development. Couldn't he see that this was worse? He was only going to claim half of the bottles. This new fucker would probably take everything.

"Thanks Skye," the boy said.

Or not.

The gunman—Skye—moved around, putting himself between Judd and the boy. And the crate. He wasn't much bigger than Judd. Definitely a bit older, with a weathered, scruffy look about his face and a grim set to his mouth.

"I know your type," he said. "Loud-mouthed asshole who thinks he can bully anyone smaller than him." He raised an eyebrow. "How's it feel to be on the other side?"

Judd kept his mouth shut, staring the stranger down. Skye, who didn't seem to be after an actual answer, continued.

"Folk like you are the reason living down here is such a hell. Preying on the weak like you're the poster child of 'every man for himself', 'stead of building up the community."

Skye was right about the wastes being a living hell, but how the fuck was that Judd's fault? He was just trying to survive, like everyone else. Unlike the kid, he didn't have a fucking knight in shining armor to watch out for him.

"You gonna shoot me?" he said, glaring up at Skye.

"Not unless you make me," the other man replied. "Scavs need to stick together. Funny as it may sound, I'm not your enemy here."

Sure you're not.

"But you still need to be taught some manners," he continued, glancing around as if searching for an idea. "How about… Ah." His gaze landed on the crate behind him. "Y'like wine, bully?"

The fuck was he supposed to say? It wasn't like he was trying to drink something that could keep him fed for weeks.

"You were so eager to snatch it away from Evyr here. Must mean you're a connoisseur, no? Tell you what. You can have a bottle. Evyr?" The kid darted back to grab one from the crate, handing it to Skye. Judd watched warily. Whatever was about to happen, he knew he wasn't gonna be let off with a fucking party favor.

Skye uncorked the bottle with his teeth, a feat that wouldn't be possible were it not for the crack in its neck, running up to a chipped rim.

"Here." The man extended the bottle to Judd. "Drink."

"What?"

"Did I stutter? Drink." He shook the pistol, as if Judd were capable of forgetting it was there. 

He grasped the bottle with one hand, taking a slow sip. He'd had booze before, but never wine. It was tarter than he'd expected, like someone had mixed rotten fruit with vinegar, and it burned his throat like the cheap alcohol that got sold at market sometimes. Judd lowered the bottle, trying to hide the way that one sip made him cough. 

"Did I tell you to stop?" Skye said, pressing the gun to Judd's head when he made no move to continue.

"Fuck you," he muttered, but he drank.

And drank.

And drank.

He tried to ignore the burning in his throat, the dizziness that was already beginning to reach his head, tried to focus on the cool barrel of the gun. 

The bottle was half gone, and still Skye didn't give any sign he should stop. Was he supposed to drink the whole thing? It was at least a liter, if not more, and even a half-drunk bottle was worth its weight in gold.

But the pistol in the other man's hand insisted Judd finish it.

So he did, letting the bottle drop once it was empty. The world spun around him, worsening the nausea that now built in his stomach. When Skye at last holstered the gun, Judd dropped forward, catching himself on his hands. Then, with a surge of brazen stupidity, he lunged for the older man. 

Skye sidestepped his graceless attack easily, dealing him a swift kick to the face that rocked his head to the side and sent him sprawling.

He didn't try to get up.

It didn't cross his mind to struggle as his hands were moved behind his back and tightly bound.

"Gotta leave him on his side," Skye was telling the kid. "Should keep him from choking." He clapped a hand on Judd's shoulder in a manner that was almost friendly.

"You rest up now, bully. The walk home's gonna be real shitty."

[saturdaymournings]

somedays i grow very close to becoming vegan, so im going to ask you how you became vegan.

I’m really happy about this ask !!! I hope my story can be of some help to you, I’ll add a bit of my own advice also :)

For me veganism was always something that appealed to me. I didn’t really understand why it was considered normal to eat animals and I did try to not when I could as a younger child. Of course though as someone who mainly eats what your parents cook for you it can be difficult to make such a lifestyle change and nothing really happened for me until around 2 years ago.

In the March of 2021 I was actually scrolling through tumblr when I saw that one of the antifascist graffiti accounts I was following had posted a picture of awoke graffiti that interlinked antifascism and veganism and it just clicked for me to be honest that being vegan was punk as fuck. I decided in that moment that I would go vegan when I moved out of my parents’ house, because that seemed like the most viable option for me.

I started doing a lot of vegan baking because it sort of validated the thought in my head that I was going to do it or something, idk to be honest. Eventually my family started catching on to the fact that the baking was vegan (not actually because of the taste but they started reading my recipes lol) and my mum asked if I wanted to go vegan and I was relieved honestly and told her yeah.

I later found out that she thought it was only going to be a phase, which is kinda funny looking back after almost 2 and a half years.

I originally didn’t even watch any documentaries pertaining to veganism before beginning to change my habits and I was going to go into the whole thing doing “baby steps”, but one night I watched dominion and Jesus fucking Christ i have not willingly eaten an animal product since seeing quite literally the horrors, so understandably after that I was not easing myself in out of fear that I would vomit or cry myself to sleep 🥲

The transition to veganism was luckily very easy for me. The uk is probably one of the best places you can be vegan right now so there has never been any shortage of options for me. I found that the best thing you can do is eat the substitutes of things that you already like eating, but not cheese I think you have to wait a couple months at least for it to not taste weird to you. The easiest things I would say are definitely substituting milk and butter and yogurt, so most vegan versions of those are fair game. If something tastes bad, there’s probably a million other versions of it out there so don’t worry !!!! All hope is not lost :D

You might also find that a lot of things you already eat are vegan !! The easiest way to find this out is getting an app on your phone that scans barcodes or searching up if it is, but checking if it says it is on the packaging or just plain searching up every ingredient also works.

I wish you luck if you do go vegan, and if you have any more specific type questions please ask me I love talking about this !!!!! 🌱

[chasingpj]

HEYY OMG CONGRATS ON 1K <333

can i have a **bow and arrow emoji** please? she/her, cabin 6 (athena cabin), no powers but preferred weapons are throwing knives. uhh idk what else to say, ig im pretty intelligent and very, very sarcastic?? ive also been told that im funny, and in terms of mbti im an estp, enneagram type 8, and a capricorn if any of that helps lol. tysm, and congrats again!! oh yeah and i have adhd, which is one of the reasons why i love pjo sm loll <3 tysm!!

HEYYY! Thank you so much!

okay first of all, you being a capricorn and then reading your personality type matches up so well lmao anyways, i hope you enjoy this!

Cabin/Friends

i can see the athena cabin is a very tight knit group because you guys can truly regard each other as like-minded individuals

with that being said, i think your closest friendships are with your siblings

judging from your personality though, i think you and annabeth would be pretty close! 

annabeth is the one who does your orientation and sets you up with everything you need 

at first the two of you were very neutral to each other as you settled in 

the beginning of your friendship started in mythology class when Chiron asked about a myth you really enjoyed

you raised your hand at the same time as annabeth did and chiron took a moment to decide who he was going to pick 

he picked you

it only felt right since this was your first time in class... 

annabeth had already spoken plenty this year

you shared some details and answered his question flawlessly

but annabeth, of course, had to chime in

suddenly, you were in this back and forth with her. a silent competition on who knew more about the topic 

you won, obvs...

and annabeth is a sore loser

from then on, you and your sister had started your friendly, but not so friendly competition and slowly, it did bring you closer to her

Finding your Niche

you found your preferred weapon from your competition with annabeth as well 

even though you just arrived, you confidently sparred with her after some lessons 

you got beat up a few times

actually, a lot 

but it only motivated you to get better

at some point, you kinda felt turned off by the whole sword fighting thing

it didn't feel right and when you told annabeth, she suggested maybe you should try archery

you had some impressive aim

the apollo kids were quick to claim you as their surrogate sister

with some training, you were doing well with a bow and arrow but after a while, it didn’t feel right either

it wasn’t until you took it upon yourself to head to the armory

you figured that maybe looking at the many options would help since the first few times you were in there, you had quickly decided on a sword or the bow and arrows 

nyssa saw you at the displays of weapons  

as time passed and you were still there, she decided maybe she could help you

you say it was fate because in her hands was a sling that was designed to hold four small daggers across your chest 

something in your brain just clicked and she was more than willing to give it to you, happy you were so excited for something she made

It was history from then on, you picked your daggers with care and soon you were flinging them at bullseyes with precision 

Reputation at Camp

everyone knows you and Annabeth are best friends

at some point, in your early years at camp, there wasn’t a time where someone saw you two apart

as you flourish into your own person however, i think you’d be recognize for your leadership skills, and your humor

i think the Stoll's would have a good time around you

the banter would be unmatched and your snarky, witty remarks definitely keep them entertained

with the younger campers, you’ve volunteered enough for programs and events at camp so they all know you 

a lot of them look up to you, hoping they’d be as confident and as good as a fighter as you

especially during SOM when the borders where down, you played a big role  

capture the flag was hard for you to participate at first because you can’t really throw knives without impaling people

beckendorf gave you a solution though and made you replicas of your daggers but they’re completely plastic and blunt

so you’re also known at the girl who throws plastic daggers at people during capture the flag lmao

the best part is that some of the campers will make a scene as if they’ve actually been impaled and throw themselves on the floor

it’s always fun 

still training in the archery fields, you’ve established yourself with the apollo campers pretty well 

they’re always a fun crowd to hang out 

they make you participate in karaoke, always 

also reprimand you when you’ve been up studying, or reading all night 

fletcher makes a comment on your eyebags, literally all the time, even if you’ve had a good night's rest

overall, you’d be well acquainted with everybody

being close with annabeth means you took on many projects together and it helped setting your reputation 

Quest

your first quest would be a few years into camp 

unlike annabeth, you weren’t as eager but a part of you knew you were ready

you were strong and capable in your weaponry and fought plenty of monsters at this point 

you fought annabeth pretty often and recently, you’ve been kicking her ass so you were definitely a lot more confident 

the quest was to retrieve Athena’s aegis breastplate 

It was a pretty big deal 

Especially since you were specifically chosen for it 

Annabeth was excited for you, willing to go but she was caught up with Percy’s stuff

Chiron told you to choose wisely about who would come with you but you already had two in mind

Bringing your brother, Malcolm was a no brainer 

After you and Annabeth he was the best fighter in the cabin and being older, he had a lot of knowledge that could be useful 

Your second? 

Connor Stoll

It was only right 

Who would understand a thief more than a thief himself?

Connor was also so hype to get on a quest

Overall, it was pretty smooth 

If you ignore the few hours you were trapped a cell 

Which could have been completely avoidable if Connor had noticed the bobby pins in your hair sooner 

By the end of the quest, Malcolm was sick of you two 

Between you and Connor feeding off each other’s energy causing you two to be absolute menaces and then bickering on top of that? He was so ready to get this done

After a long journey out west and then a long journey back to NYC, you had returned the shield 

Athena had thanked you and a few days later, you were gifted a breastplate that was identical to the one you retrieved for her 

Annabeth was a little jealous 

But couldn’t help and geek out with you about how cool it was

Legacy

Your quest really set you on the map

I mean, you have a really bad ass piece of armor that you wore all the time 

The face of aegis right on the front of your body, it’s intimidating 

You helped lead in the wars as well 

In the Battle of Manhattan, you were leading the chunk of CHB on the other side of the city and wiped out plenty of monsters

All in all, you have the reputation of being a great leader and soldier 

The younger campers in your cabin and even the campers that will come years later will know your name along with Annabeth 

Plenty of them strive to be recognized by your mother and hope to receive such an honorable gift such as your breastplate 

When you leave for New Rome and retire from the demigod life, you can be proud of the reputation you left behind 

[astralartefact]

Anyways, let me talk about Jeuno for a second

I did another run for fun and because I already got my drop for the week I left my room at the end for a minute to do something. When coming back I realized I forgot to pass on the pieces I couldn't get anyways. Mortifying.

Can we keep Prishe. Can we just. Give them Alisaie or something. Prishe at least has the decency to call someone names.

#1 Raid Mechanics

I think this is the exact right difficulty I want them at, they're chaotic (well...) they're visually impactful and not just in a cutscene that halts the entire momentum for no good reason (direct eye contact with Nald'thal) (both of them) and they're not going to be boring the second time you do them because each boss only has 3 (relatively) basic mechanics that immediately loop in the exact same way you've already seen them in (Thaleia; exception being Llymi)

Because as much as I think they could go further I was just stuck for 30? Minutes at Shadowlord - which I find is easier than the Ark Angels, the biggest difficulty is that the cleaves are kinda weird - and this is just not the content for something even more involved. That's why they're doing Chaotic after all.

Special Shout Out to the Ark Angel HM mechanic where you have to kite him. That's so goddamn funny.

#2 The German Dub

I did my for fun run with german voice over to hear how the Prishe from the trailer turns out in the game and well...

She's amazing. The voice actress nailed the assignment. Please set your voice over to german for her fight even just once (you can just do that in-game in the system options in the instance, you don't need to download new data for that or reload or something) because you too can learn the power of SCHMACKES!!!!

If I figure out OBS for next week's gear run I'll record her and post it here, because I'm a fan and I need you to be too (the one thing I miss about playing on PS4 is quick record ._. can just click a button and save the last few minutes of whatever you did. kind of weird that they actively record what you're doing but so convenient)

Anyways, I ended up doing the entire run in german and I have to say, the entire raid's german va work is pretty good! I really liked Bakool Ja Ja's Voice Actors, they are a bit more your usual stiff german Anime/Video Game Voice Acting, same with the Ark Angels, but it's not stiff enough to be weird or anything.

Now Shadow Lord however. That guy.

After doing the fight to about 80% three times in a row I have to say I really like the voice actor's performance, it's definitely a different direction than the other languages but he really sells it.

#3 I found my new (second) least favorite thing about FFXIV my least favorite thing is still Myths of the Realm, fuck eulogia

This is a Shard Metaphysics Tangent.

I hate it. I don't know what they're thinking they're doing with it but I don't care anymore, it's something I roll my eyes at whenever they feel the need to go pseudo-scientific deep lore about it because they can pretend all they want, it does not make sense anymore because of weird mini retcons nobody asked for that weren't even necessary.

Imagine doing this whole cutscene in Shadowbringers where you show us exactly what happened to which shard in which order and then instead of working with what you establish there you bring it up after two expansions but now everything is labeled differently to conform with whatever whim you thought up and you just act like that's not weird at all - and not only that you also condescend to me about how look, it actually has to be this way because there's this other vague lore rule that we arbitrarily decided is more important. What, don't you know the lore? If you paid attention you would know we said this! what do you mean "other stuff"?

What fun to imagine that! Am I glad I cared about what you wrote when putting together my OC Lore in satisfyingly canon-abiding ways!

Minor Spoiler for Interphos EX, but since the ground in the Ice Phase is once again a Roman Numeral (making Wind -> X / 10, Earth -> II / 2, Ice -> III / 3) it does very much imply that those are the shards Sphene is connecting with (unless nobody in development noticed that the ground shapes are all numbers in which case... okay). Problem is of course that that doesn't make any fucking sense from any direction because the 2nd Shard succumbed to a Fire Calamity, the 3rd to Earth and the 10th to Water - and - the 2nd Calamity was Lightning (which was on the 12th) and the 3rd Fire (10th doesn't exist so don't know why I brought it up).

It's kind of impressive they didn't even manage to hit one of those.

But even pretending that Graha just labeled his Shard Power Point wrong and the Calamities are just in another order and on different shards it still doesn't make any sense because Alexandria being the Ninth and not the Twelfth is from a writing perspective - hopefully because otherwise the only reason for doing that is "Look, FF9" and that's a really stupid reason to upend your lore for - solely built around the "fact" that the Rejoinings leave nothing behind... but if Alexandria is from the 9th because LM can't be in the 12th "since it's rejoined" how is Sphene connecting to the Elemental Nothings of 2, 3 and 10, which are all Rejoined and therefore shouldn't exist anymore? So what you're saying is that there is a Twelfth Lightning Nothing that Living Memory could have been in!? So why ruin the Ninth with a Failed Rejoining you never mentioned before instead of just making this easy on everybody??? Ugh, I hate it.

Anyways. The reason I bring this up is that they're clearly setting up Vana'diel's place in this world building mess since they talk about it a bunch to set up the mystery they will presumably solve at some point and they show the ruins of Amaurot in that one Shadow Lord Attack (i'm assuming? it looks like ruined amaurot and what else should it be) to tie it all together - and I'm somewhat concerned about that because they made it very clear that despite what we're seeing of it being "fake" (we'll get to it) it still all comes from actual FF11 Vana'diel - and making FF11 a shard after all of the "The Shards are just mangled copies of the Source/Sundered World" you ended up doing would be so disrespectful. Like, no, you cannot do that, the things that would do to stuff like Altana and Promathia. The only thing of the sort I will accept is if Vana'diel is the sundered world in the far far far far far far faaar flung past - which would make Shadow Lord prevailing to stand in Amaurot's crumbling ruins even more metal btw - otherwise do not make Vana'diel involved with the Shards in any way shape or form!!!! DON'T DO IT.

#4 The NieR of it all

That's a Shadowlord Reference, right. This looks like Amaurot but Snow in Summer. They made a NieR reference, right. They connected the two Shadow Lords :)

Well... It's more likely than you think.

I want to boldly predict that this story line was written by the person who wrote Mamook (who I previously theorized to be Megumi Onozuka and who I assume was involved with Y:DA which means she know her stuff and is NieR-adjacent) and I want to be right about that because I want to be that person's biggest fan, I want to curse their name in delight when nobody else does

I get why people wouldn't be keen on them establishing that the Walks are just copies made of Electrope instead of just making the Eleventh a Return-to-Ivalice-esque Vana'diel or something where whatever's happening here won't disturb the original world. As established above I'm not particularly keen on it either but if this is going where I think it's going I think it could be an amazing idea and worth wobbling the lore for.

First of all, I think this is an Isekai. I think Alxaal is a Player. Not a player character, a Player - Prishe makes a clear distinction he isn't the PC of FF11 she knew - which is important because I think these memory constructs aren't built on the actual "facts" of FF11 which just happen to invoke Memories of the players but literally on the Player's Memories of them, all of their subjectivities included. Like, this is not just FF11 Prishe, this is basically the collective unconscious version of Prishe constructed through the audience of FF11 - which at the end of the day is what she is if this isn't directly written by the writers who wrote her.

But that's not the exciting part to me, that's not why this is the NieR part of this post. The reason for that is that doing that they set up a situation where we pose the worth our memories of what happened against the facts of what happened. They literally start a thing about Prishe having to figure out what she's worth knowing that she is a copy - but with this added nuance it becomes "What is this version of Prishe, the Prishe someone remembered, worth if she isn't the "Real" Prishe?" - and that feels very NieR to me, especially since looking at FF11 and FF14 it's a very topical discussion to have.

Compared to "normal" RPGs both FF11 and 14 are uniquely in the position of also providing a sandbox for players to make memories in - memories that the developers haven't planned in the form they can plan story moments and the like. This would be a very interesting way to acknowledge that - and affirm that those memories, that "subjective" view of Vana'diel (and Eorzea for that matter), is just as real as the factual version the developers created. And I think that's a really neat thing for a cross-over of 11 and 14 in particular to be about, since it is something only these two share among the other Final Fantasies.

In a similar vein both of these games are inevitably going to "end." Even if they somehow get an offline version that version will be different, the "original" FF11 will not exist once the servers are shutdown - and honestly it already doesn't exist anymore since playing FF11 nowadays is a whole different beast from playing FF11 back in the day. "What is this version of Prishe, the Prishe someone remembered, worth if she isn't the "Real" Prishe?" can just as well be about that.

So with all these thoughts bubbling in my head I'm very excited to see where they're heading with this.

I just really hope they don't pull a Myths of the Realm on me again and end this with the stupidest conclusion anyone could ever come to, maybe something like us having to delete our Prishe specifically because she's not the real one. As always, fuck eulogia.

Also, just to say it if that is what they were trying to do with that Shadow Lord attack above, I really love the idea of people that played FF11 and NieR using their chance to connect the two, even if it's just because of the name. Like now you can say "Oh yeah, 14's FF11 Shadowlord kind of has a NieR reference attack" and FF14 people did that. I think stuff like that is neat :)

[stolencrownsofplenty]

@dcynight : x

His head turns on it’s side in an inquisitive manner. Optics scanning over the little sandwiches on the platter with intrigue. Were they real severed fingers?? No– Probably not, huh? Hm… They were still pretty neat to look at nonetheless. “You made these… Yourself?” He picks one up between spindly digits, staring at it with a curious grin. After a moment, he lifts it up to his mouth, as if to taste it, before it’s promptly bumped against the unmoving teeth of his faceplate and he pauses afterwards. Oh…. Right. A flicker of an unfamiliar emotion spreads across his face, his smile twitching some before he sets it back down on the plate in silence.

In the kitchen, where the usual vibrancy of the pizzaplex had seemed pretty retracted in any places where customers were restricted from visiting, replacing the walls with a faded red, many of the lil hotdog bread rolled finger sandwiches practically littered the gray metal countertop on the Lamb’s left.  The stove had been still sizzling with its flickering gas fire flickering near Emmy’s front, with a worn copper pan resting atop the metal grate, cooking another set of dogs; boiling it slowly with some sink water it seemed.  In place of their crimson cloak, where it would’ve been deemed a safety hazard to even wear, they had seemed to be wearing an old pink apron that probably had been more suited for a small human than their own bulky physique.  The multitasking storyteller could only let out a light hum in reply to the other’s curious query.  A smile softly adorns their features that instant.

“Would ya believe I managed to convince someone to unlock the kitchen for me, just this once?”  Maybe convincing someone could’ve been short of stealing the new, rookie security guard’s keys for a little bit, even if they just happened to only snag the key specifically… But it wasn’t like people really needed to know that.  The cooks hardly ever did their job when people came in at any odd hours of the day anyways.  “I was just lucky enough to find a good pack of hotdogs and buns in a place that normally makes pizza on the dime.”  They chuckled a bit as they spoke.  “But yeah, ya could say with a bit of internet searching, I found something the little kiddies might enjoy during snack time later.”

With a metal pair of prongs in one hooved hand, they idly use it to stir their pan some, disturbing the bubbling water in the hopes to keep the bits of hotdogs from simmering up too quickly on one side.  “I probably could’ve gone for some bat cookies myself if we had the frosting, but…”  An ear flicks at this stated annoyance.  Their tail flicks as the many bells that clung to their form ring out with a twitch.  “.. Our supplies are limited during this time of the year.  So this was our next best option to really add something to go along with your guys’ lil pumpkin painting.  They’re just the cutest things, aren’t they?”

With a light pause in their speech, their ears perk up to the slightest clicks of their companion’s gears taking a more curious study of their work.  An eyebrow quickly raises, they offer the other an inquisitive glance.  Their tail sways again.

In just one short moment, it did not take the other long to pick one of the finger sandwiches and try to grasp it for a quick bite.  The cooked smell of sodium nitrite was supposed to be alluring as a treat for humans since it was a part of their natural diet.  But they didn’t think Moon would try and grab one to taste test for himself!  Well.. at least he tried to, from the looks of it.  One kinda forgets they can’t really eat, nor have the stomach to properly digest most things.

Well, not without a bit of help at least.  

“.. Here, let me help ya a bit with that.”  They say, promptly making their old prongs to their right hand as they speak.  “Ya probably are a bit hungry anyway, huh?  This might just take me a second, but bear with me on this, I could use the taste tester on these funny things.”  Allowing for a beat to pass between them, the short lamb casually reaches over for the plate the other had previously picked up for his own sensible interest; with the hand just barely touching the surface of this little finger food.

…

A light spark of electricity jumps over their scarlet fingers.  A soft buzz fills the air for a moment, a faint hiss quickly follows.  FIZZZZZZZZZ!  POP, CRACK, CRACKLE!

In a flash of yellow light, before one could properly see what Emmy was trying to do, the Lamb suddenly grabs a hold of SOMETHING!  Sparks and electricity still swirling amongst their knuckles for a moment, and with the quickest turn of their wrist, a pile of colorful pixels dances upon their palm as an object generally forms within their grasp.  The object in their hand warbles and sways for a moment, uncertainty lingering as it seems to warp from yellow to a bright white until… HUH?  Steaming out from the cradle of their hand, an orange colored replica of their so-called finger sandwiches rests within Emmy’s hand.

They let their head tilt then, with only a light hum to follow suit in turn.  “Hmm… It isn’t much, but I figured I’d test a few features when the company left me with all this ol’ AR tech at my disposal.  Did ya know we had something called a phantom hunger all this time?”

[distopea]

Persistence could be either a quality, or when misplaced, quite a flaw. Astra thought that he was potentially facing the second option. He had never liked to spend too much time around during his open lecture, his mind definitely devoured by other business that had nothing to do with space and stars. Yet, he knew that he still needed to sound pleasant, which wasn’t too hard, he was a good deceiver after all and it was basically the same as training his students. He clicked his briefcase closed and eventually observed her features. 

“My apologies, I didn’t realize you were interested in astronomy. Or is it physics perhaps? Quantum, mechanics or mathematics, even? Unless you’re seeking an answer regarding a very specific domain, I have only presented the basics and the information you may have found in the article co-written with my pair.” He offered a smile, but nothing could be read from it. His emotions, true emotions, were hidden behind that same veil of cold and distant politeness. “As I stated in the introduction of my lecture, this was simply a presentation of the article with a few explanations.” 

He paused, as he wondered what kind of person she was. Entitled, for sure. Definitely young as well. She had the aura of those who believed that only because they want something, people should give it right away. His time was as precious as hers, and if she had the slightest respect for his work, she wouldn’t have come to the meeting late. He remained there for a moment, lost in front of her curious demeanor. He could almost tell that she was pleased with the way he had talked to her, even if there was no compliment and no other purpose but to know the identity of this intruder. He would rather find a way to entertain himself, even if it was through games that were only in his mind. 

“That’s a very distinguished name. Very well known as well.” And it explained a lot. Her attitude, her mannerism; she was only reproducing what she had learned from her family. He found it pleasantly ridiculous, even more when she thought he could write poetry. For a socialite, she truly didn’t know when to recognize politeness compared to real and meaningful compliments. Young again. Naive, that was even more a certainty. “It may explain your heavy schedule. Your father has contributed a lot in the expansion of this small university, and I can only be thankful regarding my research. I'm honored to meet his daughter.” 

What a funny little mouse. Squeaking and openly talking while he was agitating his cobra’s tail with appetite, ready to devour her whole if it meant earning more power over this city. She had a name that made him thrive in dark desires. He had never thought about approaching someone like her father, but she suddenly revealed herself as the perfect toy for another design; another kind of expansion he was more concerned about, the very one of the Cleaners. He gripped his pen and opened the magazine, before he looked back at her with softened eyes. “Nunnally it is, then.” He rolled her name onto his tongue, delecting himself from the venom he would offer, before he signed with elegance and eventually placed the glazed paper back into her hands. 

“Alas, I’m not that comfortable talking in front of a microphone, if this is what you want from me by interviewing a professor like me.” A polite chuckle, but full of charm. His attitude was definitely warmer than before, offering the perfect illusion that her name was important enough to have power over him. Giving her the sensation that he was inclined to listen as much as she wanted to talk. “However, please, indulge my curiosity… But would the daughter of Mr. Ambly de Ayvelles wants to join our university? Is that why you attended this lecture?” He briefly looked at her fingers brushing other documents. Now he was truly curious. 

Continued from [x] with @distopea

Professor Queen was charming. His smile was charming and it put Nunnally into a light and cheerful mood despite her awkward apologies. Were they perceived awkward? Was she perceived awkward? She was aware that was often the case outside her social bubble. But she was not sure she could do anything about it without losing the demeanour that was so useful in the world, where she belonged (or had to belong). Nunnally was also aware of her not-so-good time management, but it was not something that would get used against her. At least most of the times. She was just about to proceed with her questions (and she hoped for the discussions following her questions) when Professor Queen started to talk (or perhaps she should call him Anthony?; she was more used to that).

His words – in her opinion – were in a clear contrast with the tone of his voice. With his demeanour. Was he scolding her for being late? Belittling her knowledge on the subject? Why? She didn't have much troubles to follow the lecture. She came prepared. She had read his essay before coming to the lecture as well as some of the other works he cited. So, why these words? Clearly suggesting (in her mind at least) that she had not read his work before coming here. But doing that would be a waste of her and his time, right? Was it again because of how she looked? Was it because others usually considered that if you're pretty you cannot be smart? That she could not be interested in (and knowledgeable about) science? That all her qualities were her looks and her fate was to simply become an arm candy of a rich and powerful man? Well, they were wrong, but it was neither the time nor the place (and perhaps also not the person) to prove the world wrong.

Nunnally was usually not the one to cause commotion in the public. So, she kept her polite (although now not so genuine smile) as Astra was continuing to talk. However, if he was a careful observer, he might have noticed that her eyes suddenly stopped sparkling and were almost lifeless, dull for a few moments.

“I understand. I understand that you are busy. Perhaps another time then.” – she said politely; her voice gentle, but distant – “…but I am afraid I will not find answers to my question in your essay…I have read it before coming here and I was triggered by some of your ideas that I wanted to discuss further…” – perhaps she should not mention that; perhaps just the first part of her reply should have been enough, but Nunnally couldn't resist the desire to hint him, to let him know she was not what (or who) he was thinking her to be – “I just thought you might have elaborated on some open questions that seemed to be there in your essay…”  

His next words were able to lighten her mood ever so slightly. She offered Astra a small smile when he – perhaps unintentionally – compared her with a star. Nunnally was used to getting compliments, but this one (if at all meant as a one) was a refreshing one; one she had never heard before.

“It’s so beautifully said, Professor Queen. You now made me wondering if you also write poetry…” – she had that unexpected thought that she would like to sketch him, but she was aware that asking him to become her model, especially now, when he implied he was busy would be awkward. Not to say simply rude. She wondered for a few moments if she truly wanted to give him her surname. Nunnally avoided that as much as she could as it immediately stripped her (in her own view) from being a person of "her own" and instantly making her “her father’s daughter”. Which she disliked, but accepted as the years passed. But she knew who he was, and it was also not a secret who she was (perhaps he might have known and it was just a way to verify, to confirm his assumptions). So, she simply decided to grant what he so nicely asked for: --

“It’s Nunnally. Nunnally Ambly des Ayvelles.” – it wasn’t technically a lie. In fact, it was what her birth certificate said, although her family, or more precisely her father, in his public and professional life used the second segment of their surname. So did she. To make it seem less aristocratic? Less high-class? Although Nunnally didn't expect him not figure out the connection, she still hoped that perhaps he’d not notice that. Or not care about it – “But now when you have all atoms and neutrons in front of you, would you mind simply signing it for Nunnally? I would appreciate it, if it would not make you uncomfortable, Professor Queen.”

Now when she was able to brush off her first disappointment, Nunnally made a gesture as if she wanted to take another paper out of her folder, but she changed her mind stopping her hands in the middle way. She smiled to Astra again: --

“Professor Queen…do you give interviews?” 

[marlynnofmany]

A Peaceful Upheaval

The mutiny started politely enough. This was a courier ship, not some rowdy bandit cruiser, and the dozen or so people onboard approached the situation with all the calm levelheadedness of businessfolks at a board meeting. The captain was new. He was bad at this. He’d only gotten the job because his cousin had recommended him, and she was probably regretting that.

“We will discuss the matter with Captain Kamm when we land,” said Piercing Sunlight, the lizardlike Heatseeker with bright yellow scales. She was taking point in the conversation.

“Kamm doesn’t have to hear about this,” objected Captain Pockap, his green tentacles lashing in agitation. “All of you need to go back to your stations and reconsider how you talk to your captain.” He looked like an octopus with freckles, and he sounded like a petulant child.

“Did you not hear the statement?” Zhee asked with an irritated click of his pincher arms. His patience never seemed lengthy, but now it was getting shorter by the minute. “You are no longer our captain. We have decreed it.” His exoskeleton shone with purple glory, and he radiated annoyance.

The rest of the crew spoke up, agreeing in one way or another. Teeth were bared, and body parts I didn’t have made increasingly urgent threat displays.

I, the only human and the newest arrival to the team, stayed well in the back. This really wasn’t my business. I didn’t have much of a say. And I didn’t like the direction it was going.

When Pockap the ex-captain started yelling, I gave up on playing silent witness and ducked into the next room. I’d seen him pull a tiny stun gun out of nowhere before, hidden among his tentacles, and I didn’t like the odds of him opening fire on the crew.

Just as I thought that, he yelled “Who emptied the charge in this??” Then came the loud slap of a tentacle against someone’s face, followed by insulted gasps and an open brawl.

I edged farther from the door, looking around and realizing I’d trapped myself in the storage room where the extra stun guns were kept. Great choice. Stellar. And there was only one door.

Time to be a hide-and-seek champion, I thought as the sounds of alien violence grew closer. Somebody else gets to wrestle the octopus with the gun.

My hiding options weren’t great: under a table, behind a crate, maybe inside a cabinet, and the ventilation shaft was too small. The table and crate were terrible coverage. The cabinet with the stun guns was close to the door, but the one against the far wall looked big enough. I dashed over and flung it open.

Yup, that’ll do. Only the bottom shelves were full; the top three held just a couple stray tools, and I knew from time spent cleaning that the shelves were removable. I yanked out the top ones, stashed them below, then climbed in to curl up in a space that was roomier than my childhood closet. I crouched among wrenches and whatever, watching through the air slits as I pulled the door shut, making sure to keep it from latching. Locking myself in was another problem I didn’t need.

Speaking of problems, I thought as Pockap spun into the room, his green tentacles thrashing against Mur’s dark blue ones in a cartoonish tumble. I’d never seen two Strongarms fight before. It was kind of funny. They were slapping at each other’s faces and going for eye gouges, which meant neither could see where they were going. They knocked over the table and spread tools all over the floor before anyone else caught up.

When the twin Frillians waded in to break it up, followed by other beefy crewmembers, an unfortunate development happened: Pockap found a stun gun.

“Back off!” he shouted, blasting the nearest Frillian in the face and wriggling free of Mur’s grasp. Mur ducked behind a box while the other Frillian caught her frozen brother before he could hurt himself against the floor. Pockap froze her too, then brandished the gun at everyone else, yelling about how much the stun would hurt when it wore off, and how they had better respect him or else.

I held very still inside my cabinet.

What can I do? I thought. Too bad I can’t call the other ship from here. Nobody’s told Kamm yet. I shifted in place to keep my feet from falling asleep, and nudged the random tools I hadn’t cleared out. I froze at the scraping noise.

No one heard; they were all busy shouting at each other.

What even is this one — Oh hey. I rested my hand on the distinct shape of another stun gun. Whoever put things away last time did a terrible job, and I thank them for it.

I held it up in the dim light. Half power. Good enough for self defense. Or…

“One step closer and you’re spending the rest of the trip as a statue!” Pockap was yelling. “Only thawing out to hurt before getting frozen again!”

I opened the door just enough to snake my arm through, aimed, and zapped him in the back of the head.

Pockap froze mid-rant, and slowly toppled forward. Stunned silence filled the room until somebody saw my hand.

“Ha!” Sunlight laughed. “Is there a human in there? How did you fit? Great shot.”

I opened the door the rest of the way to loud approval, with half the crew exclaiming over the way their tall new crewmate folded up so well, and the rest dealing with Pockap’s mess.

“No amicable splitting of ways for this one,” Mur declared, cradling a sprained tentacle. “I won’t be writing him a reference.”

“No, I don’t think any of us will,” Sunlight said. She gazed at him thoughtfully as I climbed down. “Let’s call Kamm. No point in waiting til we land; she’ll want to know.”

“I’ll put the stun guns away,” I volunteered. “This cabinet is full of things in the wrong place.”

“Thank you,” Sunlight told me. “How did you fit in there? You have bones. Have you practiced hiding in tight spaces before?”

“No more than the next person,” I said. “Though I was really good at hide-and-seek as a kid.”

The lizardy alien blinked at me. “Hide and what?”

“It’s where everybody hides and one person has to find them,” I explained. “Then the last person found has to take a turn as the seeker.”

Zhee tipped the table back upright with his pincher arms. “Half of that sounds like a standard predator game, but I can’t imagine taking turns being prey too. How embarrassing.”

I shrugged. “If you say so. It was pretty useful today.”

“Yes,” Sunlight said with a smile. “You’re only prey until you decide otherwise! That’s the spirit. Well, we’re grateful for your childhood practice today. Let’s get this  unworthy individual locked up, then talk strategy. I have some ideas of how we can improve on Pockap’s business plan that I think everyone will be on board with.”

I had no doubt. Captain Piercing Sunlight would be a much better leader than her predecessor.

She started off by giving me a bonus for putting my skills to good use, so clearly she was very wise.

~~~

The further adventures in backstory for the book! There’s more to come.