#then she would actually be the first real convert.

[wind-up-thancred]

i actually decided katsu doesn't have any real sineater or final days-related bad ends, but the one bad end AU he does have happens in mid- to late stormblood, where he is tempered by lakshmi. STB spoilers under the cut

STB is kind of a dogshit time for katsu's mental health because he kinda gets hit with a triple whammy: -actively working to support a rebellion is exhausting and makes you witness some awful, truly heinous shit from the oppressors

-going back to his hometown kugane again when he didn't feel like he was ready stressed him out big time, and

-his fights with zenos are the first time in his stint as the WOL that he begins to be actually aware of, and fear, his own mortality

and of course he misses his bf. seeing a glimpse of thancred when he returns to the fringes is nice and all but that glimpse is fleeting and it just reminds him that he does not get the comfort he wants; his job is more important. there is no time for comfort for a tool, its job is to be used.

and if he was, like, 5% more mentally unstable when lakshmi attempts to temper him and the twins, her influence would've wormed its way past the blessing of light and began to infect his head, using his deep inner desire for comfort and fear of mortality as a conduit. she can utilize that, she is the lady of bliss.

it happens slowly, over the next few days, and katsu realizes he can still hear lakshmi calling in his head, slowly growing louder. he knows right away that he fucked up big time, and because of his awful avoidant streak, his first instinct is to hide himself away and fuck off into the mountains of gyr abania. he failed the scions; he could not be their rock. he cannot face them like this.

of course, they'd organize a search party for him after he'd disappeared for a few days, and they'd find him eventually. and that would probably exacerbate the situation more, because he'd be directly confronted by his failure. he never wanted them to see him in this abysmal state.

it would probably wear at katsu's psyche enough to prompt a full tempering transformation to katsu's body, and of course there would be a silly little boss fight, where lakshmi bids katsu to protect himself from "the people who put you into this whole mess, who set you upon this painful path." even though katsu does not truly see them that way, he must oblige.

he even manages a very weak form of tempering on his own, which isn't enough to actually fully convert any of the scions beating the shit out of him (out of necessity of course), but still messes with their heads. and it's not antagonistic— he wants to extend lakshmi's comfort and bliss to them as well, so they don't have to hurt either.

i may be biased but i think it gets to thancred worst of all. katsu probably calls directly to him. he knows it hurts. he knows thancred is still wracked with grief. he knows sometimes he wishes to rid himself of everything at once, that he feels like he can't handle all of it even though he tries, by the gods does he try. and katsu wants to free him from that as well. but thancred knows better than that, and i think he uses minfilia as his motivation to avoid giving in.

he's like, yes gods fuck it hurts that i failed her, and everyone else, so bad, but i'd be failing her even more if i just ran away. i can't. you can't, either. if we had any idea it had gotten this bad for you we would've tried to help, we can give you support, anything, but you can't just run away. anything but giving up. that is not an option.

i think the tempering actually helps the scions recognize katsu's plight that he's been hiding from them, and they manage to pull him out of the transformation with some very strong words and, uh, knocking him senseless afterwards. he's deeply, deeply ashamed once he wakes but turns his shame into motivation to do better instead of using it as an excuse to run away this time.

i also like to think that in this AU, maybe later in MSQ once he's gotten stronger, he's able to channel lakshmi by drawing upon that desire for comfort and use her powers in some niche situations. but none of that is canon in my default verse, just a little side thing i came up with for fun :]

Bad endings? Bad endings anyone?

What if they got consumed by the light? What if they became a primal? Any and all bad endings!

I think mine most likely would've become a lightwarden because she didn't get to Emet-Selch fast enough. "Obsession" would be its name, due to the fact it would be obsessed with the idea of saving others and changing the world, probably leading to either the Scions killing her or to her consuming the First in Light.

.

[licorishh]

"The Bible is so sexist blah blah blah" okay. When it talks about how you can avoid doing stupid things in Proverbs it uses a man in its examples and personifies wisdom as a woman though which I think is pretty funny

[dunmeshistash]

Okay I think I'm ready to write the second part of this post about Milsiril

To make it easier for me I'll just divide this into her relationship with Kabru, Mithrun and Helki (her ex-canary prisoner teammate)

First about Kabru

This is an extra from the daydream hour 5. The caption says "Something like this might as well have happened" so its probably not canon but could be. I honestly think his reaction to Milsiril visiting and being overbearing says a lot about the type of relantionship they have. This is the fakest bitch in the whole of dungeon meshi, he never says what he trully thinks unless there's an advantage to doing so, he's a people pleaser that does and says anything to make people like/trust him. And yet he immediatly converts into "Mooooooom you're embarassing meeeeee" when he sees it's Milsiril.

This translation used "Mom" but as I understand the original he uses the more formal version so I think it would be closer to "Mother" but still he acknowleges her as his Mother, and he acts like her kid in every interaction we see between them.

I really don't understand where the idea that he learned to be fake from being "forced" to be her adoptive son comes from.

(Continuing under a cut)

The other interaction we see between them is the Kabru extra from the Adventurer's Bible

Kabru comes to her with a deep fear he clearly has had even before she adopted him, he trusted her with this fear and she did not disappoint him, she comforted him and then gave him the information he needed to believe what she was saying

I'd also like to point out in no moment she discouraged him from calling his his bio-mom "Mom". He also says she taught her children everything they asked

I doubt this would only be true for him, it also mirrors something she said in the manga

"You can go ahead and learn all you want about something else." I believe it when Kabru says she made every effort to answer her children's questions. I think this is also the way she expresses the love she has for them. Plus I love the thought bubble with Kabru mirroring what he learned from her. I also love this daydream hour, she sacrifices her own comfort to do something for Kabru.

Milsiril isn't a perfect mother tho, besides the fact she is overprotective she comes from a very different culture from her children. I like to call her Kabru's white mom cause I think that would be the real world equivalent. This extra is the one I think the most about showing this context perfectly

Kabru wants to share Utaya sweets but looks at his mom looking gloomy/rejected so he talks about fruitcake instead. This very rude for Milsiril to do since she's kinda trying to overwrite his actual cultural background, but I think its done more as a "I want you to like the things I like" rather than something nefarious, and once again Kabru doesn't hide at all his distaste for it, he does the bare minimum to please his mom since she's being dramatic but he doesn't lie to her, he shows how displeased he is about fruitcake, something he refuses to do when eating the harpy omelette that is way worse, because he must make a good impression for Laios. Kabru is honest with his overbearing white mom once again.

Now a little about Rin, from Kabru's context, this is her extra in the Adventurer's Bible

(look at Helki he's such a gremlin i love him) anyway, Rin has a trauma about elves, they really mistreated her so she hates them, but when they notice she isn't thriving they go to Milsiril for help (Helki specifically I'll talk more about him next). I think this indicates she really has a better understanding of short lived kids, her kids are thriving differently from the ones the other elves try to care for. I'd also like to remember she lives secluded from other elves so while Kabru probably had lots of interactions with elves during his life, most of it was probably spent with Milsiril and her other adoptive kids. She also asks Kabru if he would do this to help Rin, he isn't being forced or anything, I also think it's good that Milsiril knows she cant take in any more kids, this to me shows she's worried about the quality of life her kids have. That is all to say, Rin is the one with elf trauma, not Kabru, because Kabru had Milsiril to shelter him from them.

Helki

This will be short and sweet since there's barely anything about Helki, he's her prisioner companion from her time in the canaries, but he was pardoned after Utaya, it says so in the Canarie's Structure page in the new adventurer's guide but I cant really find it translated again... so here's google's machine translation (I remember it saying "Retired and pardoned as a reward after Utaya", something like that)

so officially he isn't a prisoner anymore, but I think he still works as a canary, even so he and Milsiril seem quite close, he is the one to go talk to her about Rin, He is there when she's training Kabru (both laughing at Kabru and then participating). I saw people theorizing she stays close to him because he is also someone who she can feel superior to, but I don't believe it at all, he's STILL in contact with her even after they have nothing to with each other, I think they really have a friendship, and there's no point where it seems like she feels like she's better than him or that he's less than her, people seem to interpret Milsiril and her relationships in the worst possible ways every time and I don't understand why.

This segways into Mithrun

I've also seen people assuming she only got close to Mithrun because now he needs her and has no power over her, once again with the theory that Milsiril surrounds herself with people she can feel superior to. But once again, Milsiril had a change of perspective about Mithrun after seeing his Dungeon

Rather than she feeling superior to him I think rather she realized he was just like her. (And I think she's friends with Helki for a similar reason, it's probably easier to see him as an equal than other nobles)

I've also seen this part used as proof of that. "He said that you've got suspicious ulterior motives and that I shouldn't listen to you" as if that's true, but this is past Mithrun, the one that didn't trust anyone and thought ill of all his teammates, ofc he doesn't believe someone would help him without an ulterior motive. This doesn't prove much about her real motivations.

Also before she showed up, Mithrun was being cared for by servants hired by his brother, he isn't someone helpless she has power over, he is still a member of an important Noble family that has a caring brother providing for him, he can do without Milsiril, he had done without her for 20 years before Utaya happened and she quit the Canaries.

This is all to say I think Milsiril is just a white(elf) adoptive mom doing her best, I don't see much of anything nefarious about her or her motivations, she is flawed as all the dunmeshi characters are, she isn't a perfect mom, she isn't an evil mom, she's just a person.

Elves in general also see short lived species as "children" so I imagine this makes her "You'll always be my baby" attitude way worse, she really treats pre-teen/teen Kabru like he's a toddler sometimes. But she also respected him enough to go all out in training him. I think they're a family with everything that entails.

PS: I didn't get much into Interracial adoption since this is something that happens irl too and I don't know much about all the issues that entails, but in the end, in this case, it seems like a net positive for the kids she adopts considering all we see about how she raised Kabru.

[lesbianchemicalplant]

transmisogyny-exempt people do the most insane handwringing about how trans women who say ‘egg’ are Predatory Toward GNC Men and Assuming Genders and Reinforcing Gender Roles or whatever (this is just the TERF argument that trans women are nefariously trying to Convert gnc cis men)

whether you like it or feel Uncomfy or not, the fact is, the following is a very common experience for trans women:

a trans woman makes a friend who at the time self-describes and presents as a man; who seems to be seeking out as many trans women as they can (maybe surrounding themself with trans women if they're able to and/or following their trans women friends around like a duckling); who seems somewhat uncomfortable around men and especially with being treated by them as a Fellow Man; who is very aware of and interested in trans issues; who maybe talks or asks about various aspects of transitioning; and maybe has other interpersonal mannerisms that don't mean anything on their own and don't even necessarily mean anything in context. but yes, then that friend eventually comes out as a trans woman to the trans women she's close to, maybe after having only recently come out to herself

this is something I've personally experienced: this is roughly what I did when I was starting to figure things out (seeking out trans women online). this is also basically how one of my close RL friends made friends with me, and eventually came out to me. I was one of the first trans women she met in real life

and yes, before my friend came out to me, I did Wonder. I didn't assume, and I didn't do anything to push or prod, because it wouldn't have been helpful: it would likely have just made her uncomfortable. I figured the best thing I could do in any case was just being there, and being worthy of trust to talk about anything when/if she wanted to

(said friend is actually now in a similar position wrt one of her siblings, who has talked about how it would be better to be a woman and wear women's clothing among other things, but for now still self-describes as a guy. We'll See)

and yes, sometimes when trans women are in this position—having a friend like this whom we wonder about—we might refer to having a friend who may be a closeted trans woman or an ‘egg’ when in private conversation with other trans women, or when speaking in an anonymous and non-identifying context. this isn't outing anyone, and doing so is not Assuming Someone's Gender or Trying To Convert A Man or Force A Gender On Someone

we might also refer to ourselves in the past tense as having been “eggs” when talking about our experiences growing up, figuring things out, getting to know other trans women, questioning and coming out to ourselves, etc. (again, I myself did seek out other trans women online etc. before I knew I was trans—again, this is all pretty common!)

we are not hunting down any cis man who enjoys baking or whatever and forcibly declaring them to be an Egg. we do not have the social power to do this even if we wanted to, which we don't. even if you did encounter such a hypothetical trans woman, she would be annoying on an interpersonal level, but again, probably not in a position to commit real harm. and if YOU were to fixate on and rage about The Nefarious Trans Women Assuming People's Genders, that would say infinitely more about you than about us or about some purported Serious Social Problem with the term “egg”

any transmisogyny-exempt person who has a problem with any of this is welcome to eat shit

[melodic-haze]

Hellooo!!

I wanted to ask if you make content about Furina (I love your writing and Furina, so seeing that combined would be the BEST 😻) and if you do, could you write to needy!sub!Furina that after going through all that suffering for 500 years, she just want her girlfriend to take care of her and love her like she always needed?

Thank you!! :33

(and sorry for the bad English 😭)

☆ — DEMO TRACK: sub!Furina x dom!fem!Reader

☆ — TYPE: NSFW

☆ — CONTENT WARNINGS: None

☆ — NOTES: FIRSTLY THANK YOUUUU I'M FLATTERED YOU LOVE MY WRITING OMG???? And yes, I do make Furina content I love my silly thespian lesbian girlfailure :3 DON'T APOLOGISE DAWG your English isn't bad!!

I'd like you all to know I converted a Furina hater first of all with my extensive knowledge of ouji lolita clothing. But that's not what you wanted to see here

Being Furina's lover would be. Very much in need of constant attention, you right!!! Wish I could generalise it all but this is ME that's making this and ME making this means I have to actually Put My Mind into this 😭😭😭. Being in a relationship with her is NOT for the detached and the unavailable bc of just how needy she is

She's very! Attached to you! I think eventually she does learn to latch off and act independently without fear of losing the ones she loves (read: you), but it'd take a WHILE before she's at fully at peace with herself.......but rn she NEEDS to catch up on YEARS of intimacy

That DOES translate beyond a simple want for companionship however 😄

You wake up in the middle of the night to soft sounds from your beloved, whose back is turned towards you.

"'Rina..?" Your hands reached towards her in an attempt to let her know of your presence, "Babe, what's wrong?"

You see her shoulders still at your touch, her blanketed figure highlighted by the stream of moonlight escaping from the small gap between the curtains. You took it as a sign that perhaps touching her right now was a bad idea, so you draw your hand back.. but her hand darts to hold yours, squeezing desperately as she turns to look at you.

And oh, you could feel your heart shatter at the sight—tears streaming down her face, eyes glassy and a horrified expression that swiftly twists into relief at the sight of you.

What she says after breaks your heart even further as her voice cracks and loses its usual bravado, eyes meeting you and searching for something—reassurance, perhaps—in your moonlit gaze, "I'm not... This isn't a dream, right? You're-- you're here, I'm here, this is.. this is real. Please tell me this is real."

A former archon, no matter the authenticity, is pleading to you as if you were the god. Praying for some form of reassurance that she wasn't going to wake up cold and alone, doomed to be on the outside looking in as she performed and performed and performed for more times than she could ever possibly count.

"Yes. Yes, of--" You swallowed your initial response (saying that 'of course it's real' would do her no good), "I'm real. This is all real. And I am not going to let you go until you believe it yourself."

"I need-- I need to feel you, to know you're not just saying what I want to hear," her free hand frantically went underneath your shirt, grasping onto your waist as she ducked her head and mumbled into your collar. You could feel fresh tears dampen your skin.

"..Are you sure?"

"Mhm."

"No, no, come on." You gently combed through your hair with her fingers, "Look at me."

No answer.

"Furina. Please."

..It takes a little bit, but she does end up following through.

"Are you completely sure? I don't want to do anything if--"

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"..Okay." You moved above her, placing your knee in between her thighs, "But if you need me to stop or you want a break, do not keep quiet."

"Thank you."

NeedneedneedNEEEEED to take care of babyyyy :(((

She's veryyyyy needy PLEASE take care of her. NO rough sex this time, I need her to be treated juuuust like the girlprince that she is :((((( which means giving her so much love to the point where she CANNOT handle it❗️❗️ Poor girl doesn't know what to do when she's been basically in isolation for so long, only to now have someone so undeniably special to her REASSURING her that she's not going to be alone. If that meant overwhelming her and winding her up in the best possible way, well. Who's complaining, really 🤷‍♀️

Shower her in kisses, worship her body. She might be ticklish at first (which is good bc it distracts her :3), but then you get to more sensitive spots on her body and it has her bucking up into you, even tearing up at just how utterly devoted you're being to her

HOLD HER HANDS. OHMYGOD. Keep her laying down as you finger her, let her watch your desire for her translate to reality, let yourself feel just how close she wants you as she tugs you even closer while begging for more. Whatever baby wants, baby gets 😊😊😊😊😊

"Good girl.. good girl, there you go, just... Mmm, keep sucking me like that-- fuck you're so tight, you needed this, didn't you?"

You ask, and yet you expected no answer from her. Why would you, when you had stuffed her mouth with one of your tits, offered it for her to do whatever she wished as your fingers prodded and explored the insides of her wet cunt?

By god, she was trying her best make the most of what she was given, interchanging between her tongue swirling around your nipple and her lips suckling as if she were starved.

And perhaps she was, with the way she had grasped onto you so tightly as you brought her to the peak over and over again in an effort to show just how much you treasure her just for who she is.

Along with the fact that she was here in the present, sharing this moment with you.

You see her eyes go glassy again (it was hard to count just how many times it's happened throughout the night, not like you cared to), and you press a tender kiss on the crown of her head—a stark contrast from your hand's harsh motions, "Let it all out, baby... Let me hear you."

Her mouth lets go of your nipple as she let out a cross between a sob and a dumbed-out whine, her hand moving as a stand-in to squeeze your chest. "Ffffaster, pleeease-- yesyesyesthank you--"

"You're still so polite, you lovely little thing!" You curled your fingers up, in the same direction at which her hips rose up to, "I'll show you just how much I appreciate all of you."

By daybreak, you know your loving partner, however insecure she is now due to the lasting damage done to her after hundreds of years of doing nothing but perform to a grand audience with a role that is much too big and lonely for herself, would be more than assured that she is now accompanied by the present—she is accompanied by you and those who she deems special.

After all, if you were nothing but a dream, then however could she truly feel the raw sensation of every overstimulated nerve in her body?

If this were a dream, then however could she truly feel, for that matter?

Gotta GOGOGO until she's way too exhausted to go on. Furina is built for extensive dramatics, which means that she's going to have stamina, but she wasn't built to FOCUS on stamina, so at some point she Does pass out. Doesn't help that she's so unbelievably touch starved to the point where a LOT of her body's Extremely sensitive to intimate touches soooooo 🥰🥰🥰

And by the end of it? I pray to fucking GOD you both cuddle. She will forever be little spoon so hold her, have your legs all tangled together and make sure she can feel your warmth and the way your chest expands whenever you breathe :3c if this is a dream, then may it be a long-lasting one for the both of you🫶

[alienpossession]

After a very demanding workout session and having several hours to spend before his date, Dean decided to slide into his Instagram and treated his close friends with some personal Q&A sesh

But, all the close friend and Dean himself are not necessarily of this world, to put it simply. Hence, the question that started to pile up might not sound like a series of question that you would ask in a normal human conversation

"How can you end up in his body? What's the trick? My host is a decent-sized jock and the battle to gain control over his body was crazy tough, cannot imagine yours,"

I just followed the manual, you know. Caught them off-guard and ensure that they are tired. He fell asleep inside this personal sauna after a grueling workout. Add the fact that he was cutting to prep himself for a bodybuilding competition, well, that's a cocktail for success to tame a beastly jock this size

"Is the sexual stamina better compared to your previous host, noting the size differences 😜😜"

LOL, sorry for the disappointment back then, Gustavo. There's not a lot of people that can withstand your sexual prowess anyway, but I'm definitely the top if we are ever hooking up again

"How do you handle the first 24 hours? The crash after all his memory become accessible must've been out of this world!"

Messed my bed like a baby, but it's cum and sweat instead of piss HAHAH. Yeah, crazy shit, dude is a horny, power-hungry muscle beast

"So, have you converted his significant others? Or do you plan to just mindfuck them later so they will be working as indentured labor?"

Nope, not yet. He lived on his own anyway so we gotta wait for the 4th of July break for it to happen. But the girlfriend already fell though, bitch never stood a chance once I plugged her throat with this monster, she was a sobbing flailing mess when mini-mes swarmed her throat and entire body. Now I told her to help out on slowly infecting my friends. Gotta do it subtly though, no reason actually, just love to play with those oblivious human

"Favorite thing to do as human, aside from sex obviously,"

To be honest, partying. It's just so nice being a 6'6", 225 lbs mass of a presence in a dark, packed club or even festival grounds with great music. I always have party or at least a night out inside my calendar for most of the week, such a blast. And of course, sex also involved to really spice things up, but honestly I don't mind if there's any sex or not as long as the party is lit

And Dean keep on answering all sort of other questions, thinking that his identity as a converted alien puppet remain hidden due to the close friends feature. But his little brother, a 21 years old sophomore living 300 miles away from him, took screenshot of every single close friend stories that Dean made, his mind distraught by the fact that his older brother practically no longer exist but his dick chubbed up to the point of leaking pre as his wildest sexual kink manifested in real time and happened to someone he personally knows.

So, like any horny 21 years old, he decided to rub one out while letting his brother stories played in loop. Should he confront Dean about all of this? Or will that risk him turned into a puppet too?

[so-so-woso]

i wanna be the one | part 1

Edit: Changed title. Thanks to Dru for the suggestion. From the song "Things We Never Say" by the Bad Bad Hats. Great song, potentially relevant maybe who knows.

Summary: Reader is an English-American GK who joins the Arsenal squad and ends up in an interesting back and forth with Leah Williamson. This chapter is mainly set-up for the future. The vibes will probably be very different going forward lol

Warnings: Angst, swallowing self-doubt, and mentions of parental death in the first section.

Word Count: 3,284

London felt just like Seattle. You were expecting it to feel different, more European (whatever that meant), but when you stepped out of the airport and that familiar January rain hit your skin, it was a welcome feeling. It wasn’t quite Home – you hadn’t had one of those in a long time – but it was definitely welcoming, and nice enough that you didn’t bother with an umbrella. It would’ve been hard enough trying to carry one along with all your bags anyway, although by the look on your driver’s face he really wished you had at least tried. It was nice that the team had sent a car to meet you, especially since you didn’t really know anyone here that well, but you supposed they would do that for any new signing. The driver helped you get your bags into the car and then you were off to the club to dot some Is and cross some Ts to make everything truly official.

Wistful thoughts crept into the back of your mind as you were chauffeured through the streets of London, and you decided for the first time in a long time not to fight them. Not here, anyway – not now. Not after everything it took to get you here. Get you here again, technically. You were born in London after all, and raised in Sheffield where your mother had grown up. Your father was an American, from Dallas, who came to England for graduate school and stayed for the woman he fell in love with. He often teased her about “real (American) football” but she converted him to Sheffield United fan, though he would never admit it – at least not until you were born. Match days became a family event as soon as you could stand up on your own, even though you were still too young to really remember anything at that point, but by the time you could run you wanted nothing more than to play. You were always bigger than the other kids so they made you play with the boys, but you knew a lot of the women’s national team players had played on boys�� teams growing up, so you didn’t mind it. You were never upset about that, but you were upset when they made you move to the goalkeeper position when you were eight. It was the boring position and you never got to do anything, but you were the only kid on the team who didn’t seem scared of the ball when it came flying at you, so the job fell to you. Many years later, it would prove to be the right choice, but for a while you thought it felt like a punishment from the universe. Then you found out what that kind of punishment actually felt like.

You were only eleven when your parents died. It was a car accident; your mom was driving. She took the brunt of it and was gone by the time the ambulance arrived. Your dad was in the hospital for two days, but he never woke up. You had been in the back seat. Heavy bruising, a busted ribs, broken collarbone, and a big gash across the side of the head was it for you. You were in the hospital too, for a while. Your paternal grandmother came all the way from Austin to pick you up and take you to live with her. Your mom’s parents had been gone for a while now, and GiGi – what you had called your father’s mother – was all you had left. You had only met her a few times before, but you didn’t really have another option, so across the pond you went.

It would be a massive understatement to say that Texas was different from Sheffield. It was truly a whole different world, but kids are resilient enough. You were famous for a while, because of your accent, and then you were weird for a while, because of your accent, and then eventually you became just one of the kids. Your GiGi was supportive as well, more than you had expected her to be. You didn’t know much of the specifics as a kid, but you knew she and your father had had some sort of falling out and weren’t as close as they had been when he was younger. You always thought it had to do with him choosing to stay in England rather than come home to America. When you got older it seemed like maybe there was more to it than that, but GiGi wouldn’t talk about it. She did help you get into therapy, so that you could learn how to process what had happened and all the big changes that came with it. You didn’t like it at the time, but in hindsight it was probably the best thing she could’ve done. She even started trying to learn about football – soccer – too, because she knew you liked it, and she made sure to sign you up for the local league. You think maybe that time doesn’t heal wounds, but it sort of scabs them over enough that they only hurt when you pick at them, so eventually you learn to stop picking at them, and after that life became kind of normal.

You eventually played soccer in high school – goalkeeper, naturally – and were good enough to get recruited to the University of Texas. From there, the NWSL draft sent you to Seattle for the OL Reign. You spent a season as the third-string goalkeeper, then a season as the second-string, and then were presented with an opportunity you couldn’t dare turn down. It had been Kim Little’s idea, apparently. She had only played with you in Seattle for a month or so, and you never really hung out, but she knew you had grown up in England and that you had really wanted the chance to play football in Europe. She would tell you later that she was impressed with your resilience, something you had heard often growing up, and that you had a “dead brilliant reaction speed” which you guessed sounded good. So when Arsenal’s back-up goalkeeper transferred out and they were weighing their options, she suggested they give you a look. She had said it offhandedly, like it wasn’t a big deal, but you would wager she fought harder for you than she let on. You had only played a handful of games in two seasons, and while you were admittedly good, the offer from the English club still came as a massive surprise. They were up front and adamant about your status as a pure back-up to Zinsberger, and while you would’ve had a decent chance to win the starting spot in Seattle, you just couldn’t say no to European football, to England, to the Arsenal.

That’s how you ended up in the back of a dark car being driven through the streets of north London in the pouring rain. Your fingers fiddled absently at the chain around your neck and the two golden bands that hung from it while you considered everything that led you here, hoping that you made the right choice. Only time would tell, you thought, as the car squealed to a slow stop. You hesitated for a long moment before tucking the necklace under your shirt and moving to exit the vehicle. The driver met you at the car door, an umbrella extended overhead. You were taller than him, so you had to awkwardly bend your neck as he moved to close the door behind you.

“This shouldn’t take long,” he said, “Then we’ll get you home.” You thanked him and stuffed your fists in the pockets of your coat as you followed him up to the club, your stomach slowly rising higher and higher into your throat as the series of decisions you had recently made began to congeal rather quickly into a hard reality. It was some grotesque mix of nerves and excitement and fear that just fully slapped you in the face when you stepped inside the building. You hadn’t felt like this in Seattle, or on the plane, or in the car, but now that you were here, physically, it’s like everything else was physical too. It wasn’t some amorphous Choice floating in the metaphorical ether of your life; it was a foreboding Presence leering down at you, clawing at your shoulders from behind, and whispering ‘you don’t deserve this’ into your psyche. Nausea began to swell up, to the point you were just starting to feel dizzy. Out of instinct you reached forward and put your hand on the driver’s shoulder, who stopped walking to turn and see what you needed. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but was interrupted by a distinctly Scottish, “Oh ‘ey, Tex!” behind you.

You both turned to see Kim Little striding down the hallway, followed closely by Jonas and one of the other coaches. You swallowed hard, all the torturous feelings slowly fading away as you saw a familiar face. “Hey, Little Kim, “ you retorted. She scoffed and faked a jab towards your ribs before she reached up to hug you.

“Welcome to the party,” she said, stepping back to introduce the coaches, who shook your hands. They welcomed you as well and explained that the evening would be brief, they were sure you’d be tired from the flight, but just needed to finalize some things on the business side and then Kim would give a tour of the facilities. You thanked them, probably too many times, and went with them all to finish your paperwork and pick up your official training gear. Your kit wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow since they’d have to put your name on and weren’t sure what number you wanted (you picked 18 because it was available and made sense for a goalkeeper). Kim showed you around, asked about the flight, and made you feel as welcome as she thought she could. It was nice to talk to someone for a while. You weren’t exactly an extrovert, but you were Southern enough you enjoyed being around people, and being able to talk to Kim, even if it was more or less small talk, made you feel better, and by the time the tour was done all of the earlier feelings were forgotten. You started to think that maybe this whole thing was a good idea after all.

“So no rest for the weary – first training tomorrow, yeah? Text me your address and I’ll pick you up. Since you won’t have a car, Uber’s always an option, but until you get sorted, you can get rides with me,” Kim said.

“Sounds good. Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“Don’t thank me yet, I’m picking you up extra early tomorrow – the girls’ll want to meet you before kickin’ balls at your head.”

“Well, I guess that’s only polite.”

You both laughed and hugged goodbye before heading your separate ways, you pulling out your phone to look up your new address to send it to Kim. This was a good decision, you thought, this was a good decision.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your apartment – or flat? – was nicer than you expected it to be. You had done a Zoom tour while you were still in Seattle and it looked fine, but you had tempered your expectations to be safe. Turns out, you didn’t need to. It was a two-bedroom and furnished with the basics, so there was plenty of space for you and plenty room to decorate as you saw fit. You had what was sometimes described as an eclectic taste by your friends, mainly because you liked to decorate with things that made you happy. That seems like an obvious thing to decorate with, but you were kind of – literally – a giant dork, which meant you had a lot of “nerd shit” as your friends would tease. You expected the Arsenal girls would do the same if they ever started coming over, but all of that would be a long time coming. Tonight, all you wanted to do was collapse into bed, which is exactly what you did.

Kim wasn’t lying when she said she’d pick you up early. At least she had the decency to bring you coffee, but she was completely taken aback when you admitted you didn’t really drink coffee and actually preferred tea. “Guess there is some English in you after all,” she had joked as she drove. She asked about your night and how you slept, and pointed out all the important-to-know shops and stops between your apartment and the training center. When you finally arrived, you asked her if she accepted tips for her tour knowledge – to which she responded with “only big bills”. You laughed as you retrieved your bag from the back of her car, and the two of you headed in.

The next few days were an absolute blur. You were introduced to everyone, and they all seemed pretty nice. McCabe kept talking about how tall you were, but from how everyone else acted that was normal. Manu was happy to have another goalkeeper in the squad despite the fact you would both technically be competing for the starting spot, even though you were explicitly hired as a back-up. At least it didn’t seem like there would be any weird hurt feelings or anything there, so you were glad for that. All your other time was spent trying to discern personality types and team dynamics, and also actually training. The coaches had told you they wouldn’t expect you to go full on for the first few days to give you time to acclimate to everything. You thanked them, of course, but that didn’t stop you from diving in head first.

By the time your official day three was over, you wished you had taken it a little easier. It felt like jet lag hit you late, on top of the normal physical tiredness of training. But that evening as the team as the team filtered out of the locker room, Katie McCabe slapped you on the back and said, “Drinks on you tonight, mate!” You turned to look at her, but before you could ask, Kim interrupted with a sharp “Katie–“

“Hold on, hold on! I don’t mean a big to-do, but we gotta welcome the newbie right, right?”

A couple of the other players voiced their agreement and Kim rolled her eyes. “Two drink maximum.”

“Four.”

“Two.”

“Three?”

“Two, McCabe.”

“Two and shots?”

“…”

“Two…and shots?”

“…one shot.”

“Fuck yes, best captain ever! You’re riding with us, Y/N!”

A mix of confusion and amusement spread across your face as you looked between the two of them, and Kim just shook her head and waved at you to go with Katie, so you let yourself be pulled away into whatever the night would bring.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite telling you that you were paying for drinks, Katie was nice enough to only make you buy the shots, and despite Kim’s hesitance at you all going out mid-week, it was a surprisingly calm evening. You ended up sitting at a table with just a handful of your new teammates. Most of them were joking around with each other, teasing and taunting. You sat quietly, unsure of how inserting yourself into the dynamic would come off. You thought of a few quips throughout the conversations, but made sure to hold your tongue, choosing to sip on your beer instead.

“You always this quiet?”

You glanced over in the direction of the voice, inadvertently locking eyes with Leah Williamson. You knew who she was, obviously – won the Euros and all. What you hadn’t known was that she was even more attractive in person. You didn’t even know that was possible, but it was certainly a pleasant surprise.

“Not usually,” you responded, drawing in a breath. “Just can’t get a word in edgewise with this one goin’ off.”

You gestured towards Katie, who didn’t even register the comment. It did get a chuckle out of Steph and Foord, though, which made you relax a bit. Looking back at Leah, she was still looking at you, but didn’t seem to react otherwise. You paused for a moment, chewing on the inside of your cheek, before deciding to just go for it.

“So in the summer do you ever get a weird tan on your forehead from frowning so much?”

That did draw Katie’s attention; you could tell from the way she practically guffawed.

“Oy, she’s got you dead to fuckin’ rights!” she said, leaning over to elbow at Leah. The Aussies had laughed as well, as did Kim. Leah didn’t look impressed at the remark, but from the twitch of her lips you would swear she was biting back a smile. She had nice lips. Were you staring at her lips? Your eyes flashed back up to hers and she was still looking at you. She would’ve been able to tell where you were staring. That’s…embarrassing. You swallowed hard, and quickly looked away, taking a long swig of your drink. If anyone else at the table noticed the interaction, they didn’t react. Katie started in on you immediately, dragging you into whatever she had been talking about before, and from there you spent the rest of the evening integrating yourself into the team.

The bar was really only starting to fill up when Kim decided it was time for you all to get a move on. There was some light-hearted grumbling, but everyone was professional enough to know how to behave. You had popped into the toilet before leaving, and when you came out of the stall, Leah was washing her hands. You hesitated for a brief moment before moving up to the sink next to her to wash your own hands, the little bit of alcohol you consumed tonight just enough to embolden you.

“Man, Williamson, what kind of a world is this where you’ve got those legs and no rhythm,” you teased, quickly busying yourself with the most thorough hand-wash you’ve ever done so you didn’t have to look over at her and see how poorly she took the remark.

“You spend a lot of time thinking about my legs?”

You froze. It would seem she didn’t take it too poorly at all. Taking a moment to compose yourself, you turned off the sink and turned to look at her. She was staring at you again. Seemed like maybe she did that a lot.

“Yeah, maybe,” you finally said. She hmmed a bit and cocked her head to the side. The glint in her eye was the only thing that kept you from worrying you were being too forward, and you silently prayed it wasn’t a trick of the fluorescent lighting overhead.

“You think you’re being all charming, with your little jokes?”

“No, not really,” you shrugged. “I think I have the personality of a 14-year-old boy and it’s the only way I know how to flirt with you.”

Leah changed at that. Her posture shifted. Her shoulders dropped slightly. The glint in her eye was gone. You fucked up, you thought. You’ve been here for four days and you already fucked up.

You moved to apologize at the same time Leah moved to respond, but both of you were interrupted by the door to the bathroom slamming open and a group of girls rushing in. You turned around and pushed yourself up against the edge of the sink to get out of the way, but Leah dipped her head down and shoved out past them, taking the opportunity to escape without you being able to stop her.

Yep. You fucked up.

[writingstoraes]

total swiftie 🎶

pairing: charles leclerc/fem!reader

type: instagram imagine/social media au

notes: this was requested but somehow i cant find it in my inbox :(( anyway i hope u like this, anon! happy the eras tour 🤍 sorry this took so long lol

about: it's your life mission to convert charles into a total swiftie.

yourusername

liked by pierregasly, isahernaez, carlossainz55, and 234,592 others

yourusername i once believed love would be burning red — but it's golden, like daylight 🌅

appreciation post for the personification of the lover album, songs and the entire english vocabulary are not enough to express how much i adore u 🤍

(ps. pls join me in being a swiftie baby)

tagged: charles_leclerc

charles_leclerc As much as I want to, I just can't grasp the folklore love triangle, amoúr

f1swift LMAO NOT THE FOLKLORE LOVE TRIANGLE??? Y/N SO REAL FOR THIS

lecsmidnight absolutely right queen charles is such a lover album

sainzz55 more like 1989???

pierregasly I caught Charles today watching the Bejeweled music video if it helps 😅

charles_leclerc MATE

yourusername awwww baby :((

charles_leclerc

liked by pierregasly, arthurleclerc, lorenzotl, and 1,329,112 others

charles_leclerc Spontaneous adventure around the city at night + my passenger princess ❤️ (She races me for the AUX and blasts Taylor songs the whole ride in her efforts to convert me into a swiftie)

tagged: yourusername

yourusername anddd how am i doing so far?

charles_leclerc Getting close 😘

leclercs13 y/n converting charles into a swiftie is just so real of her

carlossainz55 Just be a swiftie Charles, Midnights is so good 😁

yourusername SEE YOU GET IT CARLOS

charles_leclerc

liked by carlossainz55, leclerc_pascale, lorenzotl, and 1,892,330 others

charles_leclerc How I masterminded my way into catching my girlfriend by surprise with the fact that I actually am a Swiftie:

1. Adore how passionate she becomes when talking about her favorite artist

2. Let her rant about album theories, which "Taylor's version" we get next, and finally listen properly when she explains the folklore love triangle

3. Learn Taylor Swift's entire discography, from debut until now

4. Pester the whole grid in helping me get The Eras front row tour tickets

5. Surprise her with the concert tickets and just watch her have the time of her life (surprised that I know the lyrics to the songs)

6. Just when she thinks the night ends at the concert, take her to a magnificent dinner and propose using a "Paper Rings" reference.

isahernaez Oh my god the big surprise is finally here! Congratulations, you two 🥂

lecs13 WHAT THE FUCK WAS THE LAST STEP IM GONNA RIP MY HAIR OUT

sainzzhero charles proposing what the actual FUCK I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING

danielricciardo ...I am so honored to be the one who got the tickets (me and my fast typing skills)

landonorris You only got those cause my computer lagged 😒

carlossainz55 You two arguing I was literally the first one on the website

yourusername

liked by lilymhe, alex_albon23, pierregasly, and 507,991 others

yourusername i like shiny things, but i'd marry you with paper rings, charles_leclerc 💍

except you actually got me a real ring, but i would have said yes as long as it's you. je tàime, my love 🤍

charles_leclerc Excited to spend the rest of my life screaming Taylor Swift songs in the car with you, baby 😚

c2legends such goals im going to cry

charles1655 GOD ME WHEN

lewishamilton Congratulations, Y/N and Charles 🥂 Swiftie Charles is a refreshing new side of him hahaha

carlossainz55 Best wishes, you two! Please remember: I was the first on the ticket website. Don't believe whatever Daniel says 😁

arthur_leclerc Welcome to the family, Y/N! I also want tour tickets 🙏

--------

tagging: @slytherheign

notes: this took some time to make lol ANYWAYYYY thank you so much for reading and lmk what u guys think! 🤍 tumblr is giving me a hard time right now apparently the formatting is weird in ios devices 🥹 like the bold texts are all off n shit and it wont let me fix it 😭

[lagomoz]

Everyone so far seems to be theorizing Amane’s victim as her dad, her mom, or an unnamed child also in the cult. I’ve got my own theory - it was Gozake.

That’s Gozake, from Magic. The blue guy. He’s one of the four main figureheads of the cult, and possibly a music teacher of some kind to Amane, conducting her to sing in Magic. The very first shot of The Purge March is Amane playing the drums.

The mindscape Amane’s wield flags representing the four cult leaders (teachers? elders? propaganda peddlers? high up members? whatever, important cult people), but Gozake’s flag in particular is given special attention. 

Same color scheme, same three dots over a narrow rectangle like design, same ear thingy to the side, same orb-like design features - that’s Gozake. Before we see it flying though, we see it crumpled up on the floor by Amane’s feet, something not true for any other flag.

We then see an Amane messing up her flag routine, dropping Gozake’s flag in particular and falling over. The other Amane looms over her, preparing to punish her for a failure related to Gozake. Once the punishment starts, rain pours down.

Then, the punished Amane begins to drown. You can even see the flag while she’s sinking.

She drowns further, and we get another shot of just the flag, lying on the ground, and then the drowning Amane reaching up towards it. She’s reaching toward Gozake, the one responsible for drowning her.

And he is the one drowning her. We see it directly in Magic.

It cuts to the real world, with Amane actually being drowned, and her placed below the one drowning her like she is placed below the flag. 

Take note of the framing, with one hand stretching from out of frame.

I can’t find a better picture for her undercover card, but her location shows a bathroom. Undercover also has a shot of a victim lying on a blue tiled floor (we can’t see the floor, but the shower in Purge March has blue and green wall tiles) with water coming down. Blue and water are representations of Gozake (Amane’s character color is aqua), and it’s framed as a single hand stretching out while the rest is (mostly) obscured, and takes place in the bathroom (or at least a bathroom) that Amane was drowned by Gozake in.

Throughout the MV, there’s a lot of blue, too. Amane’s school uniform is blue, the cloth she heals the cat with is blue (the cloth later becomes bloody, another thing representing Gozake being damaged), the sky and general background and lighting is blue. Symbols of Gozake are present everywhere in the MV.

The suit man with the briefcase could be Gozake, I’m not sure. Gozake would fit the profile - a cult member, adult male, disapproving of medicine, willing to put Amane in harm’s way - but I don’t have further evidence.

Before Amane goes all in on the cult’s doctrine, she has an umbrella, but it’s unopened. The baton she uses to kill and to represent her as fully converted and the opening umbrella are overlayed. 

The lyrics show her motivation for the murder, as both a means of protection and revenge. She’s been horrifically abused for years, and has taken on the role of the punisher to avoid being the punished.

“It’s my turn to tear you apart / So there is no second time, I’ll give back the judgment that you gave to me /  It’s now your turn to say that hopeless “I’m sorry” /  You’re sorry? I don’t care! / Please, go ahead and die already / Remember MY cries, MY repents, MY words of “I’m sorry” that I said to you?”

Beyond showing a lot of resentment and disdain for the one she’s speaking to - her victim - the phrasing clearly shows that she’s not just punishing a sinner, she’s turning the tables. She’s returning the favor to someone who’s been violent to her in the past.

The umbrella is symbolically her murder weapon and what she uses to punish others, but also literally and obviously a tool to protect from the rain. What she uses to kill is what protects her from Gozake. She can’t take the abuse anymore and tries to become the cult sanctioned violent avenger that’s hurt her so many times. She can’t be the victim if she’s the perpetrator.

The final shot has her over the corpse, having tracked in water from the rain. The puddles lead right to it and the framing is the same as both the Undercover victim and the one drowning her - a single hand, reaching from out of frame.

Amane killed Gozake.

[jh-newman-opn]

What happens in Eucharistic Adoration? My impression is that it's a bunch of people praying and otherwise being reverent in front of the Body, usually displayed in a monstrance, without eating it: is there anything important I'm getting wrong or missing?

Thank you for this ask! I'm a diehard Adoration fan so you've come to the right place. I also found it really bewildering trying to work out what Adoration actually was without actually going-- lots of fruitless googling and head-scratching about what one actually did in Adoration and why people would go.

You've got the basics down-- the church is quiet, the host is exposed in a monstrance on the altar for a period of time (typically 45-60 minutes before Mass), and you can go in and out freely to pray quietly. What you actually do is up to you-- some people read scripture, lots of rosary-praying, journaling, etc. I usually just head-empty-only-vibes it. Sr Clare Crockett said you should start Adoration with three minutes of looking at the host without thinking any thoughts, so I try to do that.

Often there's a bit more ceremony-- sometimes it ends with Benediction, where we sing some hymns (tantum ergo, adoremus, and o salutaris hostia in chant are the standard ones), the priest lifts the monstrance to bless the congregation, and then the Divine Praises are said (Blessed be God/Blessed be his holy name/etc). This is usually quite incense-heavy. Then you get events like 40 hours of adoration, which is exactly what it sounds like, and you need to get people to sign up for slots through the night to be with the Blessed Sacrament. There's an event (that I think started in Germany??) called Nightfever, which is a few hours of candlelit exposition in the evening with gentle hymns, where you invite people into the church to light a candle and it's glorious.

The implicit question about all of this is why. Tbh it's difficult to explain. Easiest way to find out is to just go. The atmosphere is profound. It's not just the reverence of everyone in there, there's a real sense of presence that's not really possible to describe. A non-catholic friend of mine went to adoration for the first time during a 40 hour exposition and cried when he came out because the vibe is so strong. I know another guy who converted to Catholicism after going to Nightfever. Someone else who said that the only time she's ever felt the urge to pray was when she came into adoration for a few minutes with me. I've personally spent an hour in there just ugly crying. Time goes really stretchy and weird in there as well-- sometimes I go in and start talking to God, and then before I know it the priest is taking the Sacrament away and I'm like nooo bring Him baaaackkkkk how has it been an hour already?? It feels like being so totally enveloped in God's love that you just want to be absorbed into it and never leave.

Straight up, if someone is having trouble believing in God or the Real Presence, go to Adoration and it will sort them right out. The important bit is just existing with the Blessed Sacrament in total peace for a while. I know it sounds a bit baffling in text, but just go and it will all make sense.

[haveihitanerve]

Ok so we all know Dick Grayson loves to sing and is probably a real life disney princess, but i give you Dick Grayson who loves to sing and is real life disney princess, only with certain people. 

Bruce and Alfred have had the privilege of watching in live time his mid conversation singing and broadway production, and even as Nightwing if hes on patrol with B sometimes Dick will switch off his comm and start singing to his father and Batman is sitting there with a straight face, not even looking at him, but that doesn't stop him and finally, when hes done, or, even better, if its a duet, and he reaches the end of his part, bruce will join in, and applaud. 

Jason knows he sings because Dick tried to convert him to being a disney princess, jason actually hated it, he doesn't mind the singing and movies but dick was always singing. Jason doesn't have a bad voice, but he prefers humming or softly singing, though he will break out into a complete reenactment of a disney movie scene with dick if his older brother tempts him

Tim honestly didn't earn the privilege of seeing/hearing dick sing for the first time, he just spent so much time watching Batman and Robin that he was lucky enough to catch them at a time where they were alone(or so they thought) and heard him sing, its also how he knows bruce can sing, but later when he became robin ig dick saw it as a ritualic kind of thing because he also tried to convert tim into a disney princess, tim would totally fit the bill except that his voice sounds like a dying cat

Babs herself is a disney princess and when they were the boy wonder and batgirl they would sing together just to annoy batman, and then scream like fangirls when he did harmonize with them, but yeah she knows

Steph actually attempted to convert Dick into a disney princess before he revealed he is one and then they spent an entire week singing back and forth to each other not a single word was spoken until bruce finally snapped and threw dick out the window. Steph went ‘what the fuck richard’ and dick laughed so hard he almost busted a lung

Cass is a disney princess and she was invited to hear dick sing and watch a personal performance in the theatre because she is the disney princess queen and she clapped very loudly for him when he finished, sometimes when shes upset dick will crawl over and sing to her

Damian got to experience Dick as Batman and unfortunately Dick’s disney princess ways kinda went to sleep during that time because though he wanted to sing and distance himself from the Batman that was Bruce, it also every time reminded him of when bruce would sing with him, but when bruce came back dick would sing at the top of his lungs in the house so damian got the privilege too. 

Needless to say, the batfam is pretty used to Princess Dick Grayson, so i just want a scene where, its very serious, in Young Justice, the entire team has gathered, and Tim and Jason are supposed to pick him up for family game night and they're like ‘whats going on?’ and Wally goes ‘shhhh! Hes about to sing for us! Finally!” and jason and tim are like ???? ‘finally?? You mean he doesn't sing???” and wally looks at them weirdly and is like ‘no???” jason gasp dramatically and goes ‘you got him to shut up??? But how?? Teach me your ways!!!” while tim went ‘what have you done to our brother???” and meanwhile dick is singing and the entire team is like, now. Now we have truly gained his trust and respect. And Jason and Tim in the back of the room recording it for Babs and the others just like ‘wtf is this cult dedicated to dicks singing???’ 

Idk i just like the idea of Dick’s singing being sacred to everyone outside of his family. They all love it, ofc, but its also allthe time and so the idea of him just??? Not??? Singing??? Is super weird to them.

[howtofightwrite]

I know DnD is not about realism but how accurate is having, say, your heavy armor wearing paladin have 10 dex or even negative dex? Where medieval knights built like The Rock or like The mountain? I’ve seen youtubers saying that you needed a lot of strength to be able to fight like a knight so women and smaller people couldn’t do it.

I think I know which YouTuber you're talking about, and you can pretty safely ignore them. Their personal misogyny takes priority over their (alleged) expertise when they're forming their arguments.

There's two logistical problems with the idea that you need someone like Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson to make up the bulk of your elite forces. The first problem is that they need to consume a frightening amount of food. This isn't as much of a problem in the modern era, when we have the capacity for truly staggering amounts of agricultural production. But, in a medieval society, with serfs responsible for most of the agriculture, the prospect of feeding each of your elite troops 10,000 calories a day would economically destroy most kingdoms. (And, yes, that is what Björnsson reports to consume on a daily basis. Other estimates place his dietary intake somewhere between 3600 and 8000.) And, to be clear, that is an absolutely absurd amount of food. But, if you want to build that kind of mass, you need a lot of energy, which means, a lot of food.

The second logistical problem is, there's only one of him. Okay, that's not literally true, The Mountain was portrayed by three separate actors, Conan Stevens, a professional wrestler, and Ian Whyte, a stunt actor who had previous appeared as a White Walker in the first season. But, Hafthor Bjornsson took over the role in the fourth season, and is probably who you're thinking of when you name drop the character.

Bjornsson is a member of the 2000 pound club, which include power lifters who can lift over 2000lbs combined between bench press, dead lift, and squats. Not many people ever get that far, and Bjornsson is one of the few individuals who can get into the 1000 pound club from a single lift.

Here's a fun name to know, Becca Swanson is also in the 2000 pound club. She credibly claims that she is the first woman to have achieved that, and I'm not sure if there are any other women in the 2000lb club, but it is achievable.

Now, here's the fun thing about all of this, because you're asking about D&D, and D&D players need to know exactly how much their character can lift. The calculation is (STR*30)lbs. (In the Player's handbook p174.) This also means if you have a real person, and you know how much they can lift in the real world, you can reverse engineer what their strength score would be in D&D.

It's 37.

If you wanted to convert Hafthor Bjornsson into D&D, his strength score would be 37.

Dude can fucking arm wrestle the Terrasque and easily win.

Putting that in perspective, it's a little ludicrous to say that if you want a viable martial character (fighters, paladins, barbarians, etc.), they need a Strength score of 37, when it's not normally possible for player characters to exceed 20 base strength. (If you're wondering, Becca would work out to have ~29 Strength. So, on par with most ancient dragons, and a few gods.)

So, there you have a man and woman who are both superhumanly strong according to D&D.

D&D and math have always had issues like this, and it pops up in a few different places here.

The basic concept that your ability to hit, and the amount of damage you deal is based on strength comes from a very, “schoolyard,” understanding of violence. It's okay to step back and abstract it out, where “strength,” is some amalgam of melee combat aptitude in addition to actual strength, but the idea that being stronger means you can hit harder with a sword or dagger doesn't make a lot of sense. It doesn't even make much sense with axes and maces (the force applied has more to do with the mass and velocity of the weapon, rather than the strength of its wielder.)

A paladin with negative DEX is dead. I don't mean that figuratively, and I do understand what you meant to say, but this rule is a little obscure in 5e. If any of a character's physical attributes (STR, DEX, CON) are reduced to zero, the character immediately dies. Ability draining effects used to be far more common, so the rule existed by itself, though, now it mostly shows up when you're looking at a monster with a physical ability draining attack.

What you probably meant was a negative DEX modifier, meaning your paladin is unusually clumsy. Outside the context of D&D, that would be an incredibly bad thing for a front line combatant. In the specific context of D&D, if they're in heavy armor, it doesn't really matter, if they're in medium, then it reverts to being “a bad thing. Specifically, the rules is that light and medium armor add your DEX modifier to your armor class. Medium armor caps this at +2, but it can go negative with either armor type. However, heavy armor in 5e ignores your DEX modifier entirely.

Now, here's the thing about D&D, its concept of armor is spectacularly weird. Unlike RPGs where armor reduces damage taken, either by subtracting a fixed amount from incoming damage or by reducing damage via a percentage, D&D's system is that your armor class grants you a chance to avoid being hit at all. (5% chance per point of AC, if you're wondering.) Narratively, this is often framed as taking a hit, but your armor turned the blade or something similar. This is because sometimes the enemy attack straight up misses, and that's (usually) determined by your dexterity. This is important, because the game is trying to balance two different power fantasies against each other.

On one side you have the players who want to roll in heavy plate armor, and soak all the hits, and on the other you have players who want to go with light armor, and dodge around enemy attacks. Realistically, that's not an option, but D&D permits it, and again, that's fine. The fantasy of lightly armored fighters makes a lot of sense. I'd even go so far as to say that the barbarian's unarmed defense bonus (where they add CON modifier to their DEX modifier while unarmored) is a really good change in 5e even if it does make no sense objectively. It contributes to the fantasy of this brutal fighter who runs around without armor slapping people silly with their weapons, and shrugging off damage because they're too stubborn to die. In (nearly all cases) the ability to deliver the player fantasy of a class is more important than a strict adherence to reality, and that's fine, that's the point, but the realism of D&D doesn't translate off the page in any meaningful way.

If you wanted a more, “realistic,” (and, yeah, that's incredibly loaded in this context), approach to armor for D&D, I'd say gate access based on your Constitution (or Constitution modifier). Sort of like how your equip load in Dark Souls is based on your Endurance attribute. Give armor and weapons a burden value, and if the combined burden on a character exceeds their CON, the character risks taking levels of Fatigue when they're fighting in heavier gear than they're conditioned to deal with. Maybe add a Conditioning feat or skill if you want to add some other attribute modifiers to the mix should you end up with your heavy armor fighters being underequipped. (Then again, I am one of those psychopaths who really liked the D20 Star Wars' vitality system.) So, ultimately, tinker with the balance until you find something you, and the people at your table, are happy with. Roleplayers who have more meaningful build choices tend to be happier, so long as they don't feel like they're being punished for having a character fantasy.

One of the more amusing descriptions I've read of medieval knights is that they were built like methheads. I can't fully vouch for that, because I'm not an expert on the physical appearance of medieval knights, but it's certainly credible. These guys were eating pretty well for the era, and engaged in a lot of physical activity. Depending on what they were doing, that could easily result in some fairly bulky guys, but it could also result in some wiry looking guys who hide their muscles. Just, knowing what I do about the human body, the answer was probably both, depending on their metabolism and diet. But the image of Sir Methhead, Knight of the Realm, and his implausibly clean teeth, still amuses me.

It's worth remembering that a lot of the times I've seen someone say, “they were built like athletes,” they'll drop an image of a bodybuilder. No. That's not what you would get. Bodybuilding is designed to create its own physique, one that doesn't occur unless you're abusing your body in some very specific (and unhealthy) ways. It's probably better to think of someone like a high-school football player. Bulky, but without the carved physiques of a Boris Vallejo painting. (If you don't know who that is, look up his art. It is a bit dated, but it's gorgeous.)

Alternately, if you do want your characters to look like those paintings, it is your fantasy, have fun.

-Starke

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[jubileemon]

A Serpent Allowed Into Heaven

It was a snake that first tempted Eve. Fittingly, it's a snake that is the first sinner in hell to be redeemed. Sir Pentious was only supposed to be a one-off villain, but Vivienne Medrano brought him back as the second guest in the series. Keeping with sins being turned around into virtues, Sir Pentious converts fluently from a harmless villain who made an impact for the whole exorcism.

His freedom seems based on no Overlord considering him to be a soul worthy of collecting, and was only taken in by the Vees for a one-off job to spy on the Hotel because he’s a desperate nobody with no direct ties to them that Charlie would easily take pity on. Indeed she does, even after he’s outed as a spy for the Vees and was willing to give him a second chance for real redemption.

His chaos and paranoia around the hotel during his first week leads to Vaggie and Charlie taking action in two pivotal ways:

Firstly, Vaggie confiscated Pentious' weapons and puts Alastor in possession of his Egg Boiz. While accompanying Alastor for the day, one of his eggs Frank accidentally ends up following him into a meeting with his fellow Overlords. Frank was so unnoticeable that he’s used by Alastor to spy on Carmilla, allowing Alastor to learn that she knows how angels can be killed which is a valuable piece of information that eventually leads to the hotel fighting back against the Exorcists six months later. As another insult to Vox for sending Pentious to the hotel in the first place, because Pentious doesn't believe Frank when he blabs about it when recounting his day. According to him, “they say insane shit all the time!”

That knowledge remains hidden, until there's only a month left until the Exorcists return and Alastor uses Charlie’s desperation to strike a deal with her in exchange for the secret that was the very thing he was trying to prevent.

Secondly, Charlie decides to initiate a trust exercise in response to Pentious' behavior. This leads to a chaotic exercise where the group is forced to fight together in a turf war. Knowing Sir Pentious wouldn't stand a chance, Angel Dust chose to rescue him, marking their first act of camaraderie and the group starting to become friends.

After Mimzy caused loan sharks to attack the hotel, Sir Pentious rescued Niffty from the carnage, instantly proving Lucifer wrong about sinners. However, this goes unnoticed because Lucifer and Charlie are too busy arguing. Interestingly, the choice of character Sir Pentious protects is Niffty, Adam's future executioner.

Lastly, during the battle against the Exorcists, Sir Pentious makes a selfless charge on Adam in his death machine. Since Sir Pentious is just a nameless soldier to Adam that he has no personal vendetta with. In "Welcome To Heaven", his antics kept him out of focus the whole court assessment, but he forgoes beating him down like Alastor and Charlie and instantly vaporises him on sight. This act not only sets off Charlie's demon form and the ensuing scuffle that allows Lucifer to intervene, but leads Sir Pentious to be ascended to Heaven for his sacrifice as undisputed proof to Sera that sinners can be redeemed.

Having cleared his conscience, humbled himself, and sacrificed himself for his friends, Sir Pentious is the first sinner to be admitted into Heaven. This is not only significant because Charlie's plan actually worked, but it is also important that a serpentine being is the first to escape Hell.

According to the story of Original Sin, Eve was first tempted to eat the forbidden fruit by a serpent. After Adam and Eve's betrayal is discovered by God, the serpent is also punished for being the instigator and is forced to crawl on its belly for its whole life. Considering that the serpent initiated humanity's fall from grace, Sir Pentious's acceptance into Heaven makes an even bigger point that any sinner can be redeemed.

[nottoxicfr]

This is, tentatively, Rize.

She is the combination of Nagoryuki (Guilty Gear) and Rachel Alucard (Blazblue). Relating to the concept of a data-Backyard, she has the role of a program meant to ensure the integrity of the physical world through Intervention. However, overuse of Intervention causes cracks in reality, therefore its use is controlled strictly.

This relates to the thematic idea of her character as “the Observer Who Averts Her Eyes." Nago's long meditation after the events of the Crusades combined with Rachel's nature as an Onlooker, cursed not to intervene in events, resulted in Rize's fitfully slumbering nature. Rather than Observe the events of the world, she wishes to sleep until the world has no need of her and is cursed by nightmares of terrible memories and future possibilities. Her story is about finding meaning in Observing individuals, rather than viewing the world as a single disastrous story.

(I'll talk more about her personality and her design below the cut)

I had a really hard time creating her! Honestly, I really didn't want to anything mess up. I feel happy with this art, but I want to draw her more and really get a grip on who she is. She looks really elegant, but I think there's more to her than that!

I mentioned before that fighting game characters are adjective filled, with Nago and Rachel being no exceptions! Rize is more focused on Rachel's style than I originally intended, but I hope parts of Nago still shine through. His older appearance is why I designed her around the age of 20, rather than sticking with Rachel's younger look. I'm not super comfortable with the type of character that is very old, but still looks young!

She's a gothic, lolita-inspired vampire, but I had more of Nagoryuki's "noble" personality in mind when I drew her. I imagine that she would offer advice to the people she meets, but sometimes the advice might be, "Don't wake me up from a nap." She can be a bit thorny, which draws on Rachel's "rose with thorns" tsundere motif to reshape the kindness both vampires possess.

There are parts of her that seem very childish in my mind, like the idea that she can sleep until the world ends or her grumpy reactions to others, but her deeper personality indicates that she's incredibly guilty about the events she witnessed and simply at a loss in what else she can do. It seems most of her childishness comes from a lack of sleep more than anything else. Her eyes are Nago's Blood-Rage mode, which implies she's also pretty hungry.

Originally, she was going to be named Arisu (Alice), with Bloodedge (Baiken x Ragna) being a Cheshire leading her to the source of the plot's problems. If this was a real game, I think that would still be the case as a relationship. However, with a different name, the allusion isn't nearly as prevalent...

Instead, Rize comes from Riza, from E-riza-besu, an homage to Elizabeth Bathory. It's supposed to be from romanji so it calls to mind the idea that it might be a translation she preferred. That’s not how you convert Eliz-a-beth into romanji, but I thought it was an acceptable break from reality for style. That’s the running idea for ArcSys, generally.

Rachel has servants named Nago- which was ironic- and Gii, who frequently take her wrath. Rize's servants are Tama (Ms. Umbrella in the art) and Chester (Mr Plushy next to her). Chester is a stuffed creature in the form of a Jester, meant to put her in a better mood after a nightmare. Tama, as mentioned in another post, is a joke about how you can take the first syllable of Excalibur, Ex, and say it as Eggs (Tamago). It's a really stupid joke, but it indicates that Tama is actually the sword of myth simply transformed and given sentience via old age. I don't think she takes her short temper out on either of them, but if she does then it's probably Chester. Lots of people punch pillows to feel better, so I don't think Chester minds as long as someone fixes him should he be damaged. She also has another servant, but they aren't created yet.

Gameplay wise, she'd be difficult to balance. Every small movement would inch her closer to a true Blood-Rage, which would significantly drain her health. To get around this, the player would have to use Rachel's Wind Drive to maneuver either Rize or her opponent into her range. To offset the difficulty of that, she has quite a lot of power. It might actually end up making her a grappler-type of character. Rize is the kind of character who changes the color palette of an anime when she shows up. Super strong, y'know?

Anyway, this is probably my favorite of the "ArcSys Singularity designs" that I made. I also tried out Slayer and Rachel as a combination, but it wasn't quite as fun. I feel very excited with Rize! I wanna draw her more.

[wanderingelvis]

Sparkly Little Thing ✨🧚🏻 | A Yandere!Elvis fic

Summary: Reader isn't dumb per se, she's just sweet but she's also the latest signing on Elvis' label. Elvis just wants to protect her, and make sure that she won't fall into the same traps that he did during the earlier years of his career - even if that means taking advantage of her.

Pairings: Late 60s/Early 70s!Elvis x Naive F!Reader

🧚🏻 Masterlist 🧚🏻 Warnings: Soft Yandere themes, emotional manipulation, parental abuse, potential headspace regression - if I've missed out any, please send me a message, I'll update accordingly.

Tomorrow would be your first day as the latest signing to RCA and your whole life had turned upside down. You'd come from a pokey little town, out in the country, far, far away from the dazzling lights and hustle of Los Angeles.

You grew up in a modest, converted barn with your mother, where you both got by with the basics. You were perfectly content with the basics, you liked the basics - the little lawn that backed onto the barn and the chickens you both kept, the porch that you'd sit on to read your books in the daytime, and watch stars during the nighttime. 

 Your mother had always wanted more though, more money, more notoriety and more everything - and you were her ticket to that. She'd dragged you to auditions throughout your childhood, neglecting your education and your personal development to prioritise photoshoots for television advertorials or small background roles in a television show. Naturally, you never saw a dime, but why would you when you were a child? But the money that your mother promised to set aside for you as you grew up, would still never appear. 

Still, you'd hit the jackpot after wowing executives from RCA after a rendition of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' from The Wizard of Oz, a movie that you'd actually never, even seen. Your mother sat there, her smile was wide and her eyes were filled with dollar signs, as the executives told you that you'd be doing some backing singing for some other artists as you would be trained to grow into their latest sparkly little thing, producing your own records and performing small shows.

You never wanted to be famous - in fact, you were perfectly content with just sitting in your front lawn with your books and cats, contently watching life go by without anyone knowing your name. Obviously, you were feeling a little nervous about the whole thing. Actually, you were feeling very nervous.

You had a friend from home who was an integral part of the label. Peggy worked on the sound systems and was a little bit older than you were. She'd come from the same small town as you, in fact, she'd grown up just down the same street as you. She was almost like a big sister to you really, she'd always been protective of you and loved you dearly. Your mother knew that too, and Peggy was the reason you'd even bagged an audition.

Your mother had written to her, practically begging her to talk to her boss, which Peggy was happy to do as she knew you were a talented girl. In fact, it was Peggy that took you to your first ever grown up party, one that one of the label executives was hosting at their large villa.

"It's okay, Y/N. You look adorable! Stop your frettin', will ya?" Peggy laughed, batting her hand at you, who was just trying to smooth out any creases and crinkles in your dress. You frowned. You felt like you looked silly, you loved your outfit but you were worried about wearing it to a real grown up party, full of movie stars and singers that you admired and you felt like you were going to stick out like a sore thumb.

The party was bustling, the smell of spilled champagne and cigar smoke consumed the rooms and it was all a little loud for you, but you loved it. You were in awe of it all, the curious little thing that you were.

You and Peggy mingled with the other guests for a while, well, actually Peggy chatted away to the fancy looking people whilst you smiled nervously, not saying a word whilst looking down a double and triple checking your dress looked okay.

"Honey, c'mere. I need'ta go in the drinks room with my friend Tommy, 'kay? I need ya to stand guard for me? Not let anyone in? Can you do that for me honey?" Peggy asked you. She didn't want you to wander off into the sordid party, but she could equally use someone to just make sure her time with the cameraman wasn't to be interrupted. 

"Sure can Peggy! I'll make sure no-one comes in! Promise!" You said eagerly, nodding along with her. She smiled at you, squeezing the top of your arm before taking Tommy's hand and he lead them into the drinks room, giggling. 

 You quietly stood by the door that was tucked away a little. You could see a long corridor near a stairwell and lots of passersby. You saw some people you'd seen from your audition and tours around the label, but you didn't run to say hello, even if you'd liked to. No, you had a very important job and that was to make sure Peggy was going to have a nice and uninterrupted time with her friend Tommy. 

 You looked down at your shoes, furrowing your brows when you noticed that they were a little scuffed and more worse for wear than you'd like. You were at a big Hollywood party for goodness sake and here you were with shoes that were nearly falling apart.

You - well, your mother - hadn't been paid yet so you weren't exactly in a position to be buying new, shiny, things even if you'd like them. You frowned and chewed your lips as you looked down on the shoes, trying to work out how you could neaten them up so they'd look a little more presentable. As your mind was busy focusing on your shoes, you were snapped out of your thoughts by a deep voice and two large shadows appearing to loom over you.

"Move out of the way, hon." A short, clearly agitated man, said to you. "No, no! You can't go in there!" You said, trying quickly to get between the door and the two men - particularly the shorter one at the front.

"Get outta the way, kid. Elvis can do whatever he wants." The short, little man grunted as the two stood tall over you. The man, who you quickly realised was perhaps the most famous man on the planet right now, and definitely the most important person on the label, was the Elvis Presley.

Elvis stayed silent, grinning smugly, down at you, who he thought was awful cute.

"Nuh-uh! My best friend, Peggy, she's in there! She said no-one can go I and I gotta keep guard for her so you can't go in, even if you are Mr Presley! I'm real sorry, I-I just made a promise." You stammered, not exactly making eye contact. You felt extremely nervous and cornered.

The smaller man, practically seethed at your words. "Look here kid, I don't give a damn if you've made a promise, we're going in, now move!" He said, forcefully grabbing your arm in a tight grip, making you yelp and stumble over your own two feet at the jolt, falling forward directly into Elvis Presley's chest.

"Goddamnit Billy, you hurt the little lady. Get outta here, go find me another cigar, goddammit." Elvis growled, wrapped his arms around you, whilst you tried to find your feet, your cheeks scarlet red with embarrassment at the scene. "You okay there, little one? Sorry about Billy, he gets it into his head that he's more important than he actually is. Are you hurt, sweet thing?" Elvis asked softly, once Billy had turned a corner.

"Um -" You stuttered. "I'm real sorry. I should've let you in." You said quietly, your eyes glossy.

"What the fuck is going on out here?" Peggy snapped, as the door flung wide open as did her eyes when they landed on the Elvis Presley rubbing circles on your back - a sight that she never thought she'd see. "Jeez Louise." She sighed.

She and Elvis knew each other, Peggy often fixed sound problems for a lot of Elvis' recordings and they got on well. However, Peggy knew, just like everyone who'd been around at RCA for long enough, that no-one would dare to mess with Elvis. Elvis could be the most charming, charismatic man in the room, and he always was, but everyone knew that he got what he wanted and he would do anything to get it - and he could be scary.

"Oh hey Pegs. Your friend here was determined to let you to your privacy and Billy got a bit... well... he got a bit like Billy, didn't he?" Elvis chuckled with a slightly fed up tone in his voice.

"You okay, flower?" Peggy asked you in a softer tone.

"Uh-huh, was just bein' stupid." You muttered, suddenly shy at the attention that Peggy and Elvis were giving you.

"No honey, you were just doin' what I asked, I shouldn't have put you in that position. What about me and you go get a drink?" Peggy suggested.

Elvis watched as Peggy looked back at whichever fella she had been schmoozing with, he knew that she'd been having a good time and that her cute, little friend could sure give him a good time too.

"Pegs, you go and have your fun, I'll get this little lady a drink." Elvis said.

"No, I'm sure you're real busy anyway Elvis, besides, I told her Momma I'd keep an eye on her." Peggy said.

"It really ain't a problem, Matty has been chasin' me like one of 'em rabid dogs trying to get me to sing for everyone so he can boast to all his friends that he had me do it at his party." Elvis said. It was true, but Elvis also just wanted to get to know you better. "Now, I'll get her a drink, and you can get back to that fella of yours." Elvis chuckled. He'd always liked Peggy.

"Non-alcoholic." Peggy warned Elvis firmly, who nodded.

Elvis extended his hand for you to take. You glanced at it and looked up at Elvis, who just laughed a little at you. "Ain't gonna bite you, honey." He insisted with a smile.

And in that moment, you decided to trust him.

Elvis took you upstairs, where it was a little less crowded and little more quiet. Elvis spotted you as soon as you walked in with Peggy, he'd kept an eye on you and it wasn't until Peggy had finally left you alone that Elvis decided it'd be the perfect time for him and Billy to head over to you, all under the guise of wanting a drink - that's what he'd told Billy.

He'd noticed you jump a little every time a bottle of champagne was popped, or someone hollered a little louder than usual. You were a skittish little thing. He'd also noticed how you were relentless in trying to smooth out the pleats on your pretty dress and how it was so obvious that you kept comparing your dress to all the other women that were at the party. As Elvis watched you from the other side of the room earlier, he'd noticed that you were growing increasingly insecure at your appearance at the party.

But it was understandable, you looked more conservative than the rest - you looked virginal and Elvis could tell from a mile away. You didn't exactly look like a woman, you looked like a girl, like a little deer in headlights and completely out of place, even if you so desperately wanted to be there and fulfil your mother's dreams. 

Elvis had observed how you'd picked up one some snickering from other women at the party at your appearance, making you feel shy and embarrassed. You really did like your dress, you thought it was so pretty but you realised it wasn't exactly the right thing to wear to a record label party and the feeling made you very self-conscious.

 Elvis lead you to a quieter bar and you watched as he greeted and joked around with the barman, it was like he knew everyone at this party. He radiated an almost scary energy as you watched him, he had more charisma in a single hair on his head than most people you'd met had in their whole body. You could see why he was considered the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

"I'll take a Gin Rickey and a fruit punch for the little lady, hold the alcohol." Elvis said cooly before continuing to talk to the barman about a previous party they must've been at. 

"One Gin Rickey and a Virgin fruit punch, comin' right up." The barman said, getting to work on making your drinks.

You stayed quiet by Elvis' side, feeling incredibly small and insignificant next to him, but the feelings were intertwined with those of comfort, no-one would give you any nasty looks for your dress if you were stood by Elvis, no-one would be looking at you if he was there, and you didn't mind that.

You were brought out out of your thoughts by cold glasses slamming on the wooden bar, one being placed directly in front of you. Your eyes widened at the drink, you'd never had a drink like this, it looked beautiful. 

"Wow..." You whispered quietly to yourself, your doe eyes trained on the tall glass that had a cherry in it along with a slice of pineapple and had different colours layered in the drink.

"Impressive, ain't it?" Elvis chuckled, sipping his drink. You fluttered your eyes up to him, giving him a bashful smile, still a bit confused at why Elvis was so attentive to you. You quietly nodded in agreement, offering Elvis a shy smile. "How about we go somewhere a little quieter, doll?" Elvis suggested, placing his large hand on the small of your back, guiding you to a large, unoccupied couch in a quiet corner.

Elvis consumed the couch, dominating all the space around him to the point that he was intimidating yet inviting. He placed and arm on the back of the furniture, allowing space for you to sit by him.

You were nervous, naturally, this was the biggest star on the lot, and if your mother knew you were sat beside the Elvis Presley, she could quite possibly faint. Your heart rate picked up a little, knowing that even though your mother wasn't here, there was an unbearable mountain of pressure on your little shoulders to impress him.

But you didn't need to feel any pressure because Elvis was already obsessed with you.

You perched on the edge of the couch, holding your ice cold drink with both hands, the cool droplets making your hands wet but you didn't really know what else to do. Elvis could see that you were tense and nervous, but he didn't need to rush you, he could play the long game.

"That's a pretty lil' dress you got, ain't it sweetheart?" Elvis observed and your brows furrowed. You liked the dress a lot - it was the only one you had, but Elvis was Elvis, your tatty little dress was hardly impressive. But, Elvis was the first and only person to give you a compliment all night on the outfit that you'd really tried hard with, and that meant something to you.

"Really? You like it?" You said softly, your fingers delicately tracing the hemline of the skirt, being carefully not to cause and creases or mess up the pleats.

"Mhmm." Elvis hummed, leaned all the way back on the sofa as opposed to you, who was practically hanging off the edge of the front of the couch. He could only see the side of your face and you couldn't see his at all, unless you moved your whole body, but you were too scared to face him just yet.

"It's my only party dress." You told him quietly, your eyes still trained on the skirt, though you could feel Elvis' eyes trained on you. "Well, um, it's not really like the other dresses at this party." You said, your insecurity and innocence shining through.

"You're right, it ain't, it's prettier." Elvis commented, knowing the remark would draw you to him.

In some kind of twisted way, he didn't mind that other women at the party had snickered at your outfit. Elvis knew the little babydoll dress would make you look inexperienced and not fit in with the crowd, but he still thought you were the most angelic little thing he'd seen at any of these parties. Had other people at the party actually have been nicer to you, maybe you wouldn't have stayed so close to Elvis' side. Elvis revelled in the fact that you were feeling down, so that he could be the one to bring you back up again.

You turned your head to look behind you, staring at him to check if he was being serious, and oh boy he was. You blushed and chewed a little on your lip, taking in the words.

He was kinder than you thought he would be. You'd heard lots about Elvis Presley, but here he was, practically babysitting you for Peggy when he could be anywhere with anyone.

You were a bubbly, outgoing little thing who loved making friends but Elvis sure did you make you nervous. It wasn't just his status as the King of Rock 'n' Roll but his whole demeanour exuded a dominance and power that was overwhelming, causing you to be a little more shy and reserved than you normally would be - even if you did desperately want to be his friend, he'd been nicer to you than anyone else at the party.

Naturally, it wasn't the first time that Elvis had made a girl go all quiet and shy but it was a rare occasion. Anyone would've thought that many girls would become shy and intimidated by him but in reality, most of the women he met were adoring fans and women at the label that knew they had one chance with him so would throw themselves at him.

"So you're Peggy's friend huh? Or little sister?" Elvis asked.

"Oh, um, no Peggy's not my sister but I always used to wish she was, and um, I guess she is sorta like a big sister! We're friends, she used to live on the same street as me and Momma and we grew up together, she's kinda like my best friend 'spose." You told Elvis fondly, you absolutely idolized and adored Peggy. "She's real cool," You giggled angelically, making Elvis' heart rate pick up at the sound.

"You here visitin' her then, doll?" Elvis asked as he watched you shake your head with a soft giggle as you revealed to him that you were the latest signing to RCA.

You began to slowly open up to Elvis, babbling on about how you were actually very nervous about being at RCA and all you wanted to do was make your Momma proud, and Peggy too. Elvis nodded along, humming at the appropriate times to show he was listening as you answered all of his many questions. 

The minutes turned into hours and you began to feel totally comfortable in Elvis' presence, he still intimidated you, there was no denying that, but equally, he was making every effort to make you feel relaxed and to make you trust him.

Eventually, Peggy found the pair of you, you were now sat much closer to Elvis, curled up on the big couch with your fifth drink.

"There you are flower! Havin' a good time?" Peggy beamed.

"Oh yes! Look at my drink! It's a fruit punch without alcohol, what was that word, um, the word that the barman called it?" You asked Elvis, looking for his help.

"Virgin, honey." Elvis said cooly.

"And it was so good Peggy! D'ya wanna try?!" 

"No honey, we gotta get you home! You got your first proper day tomorrow!" Peggy said.

A little yawn escaped your lips, the sleepiness and exhaustion from the overstimulating party taking over your small body. Elvis and Peggy both watched fondly as you rubbed your eyes with your balled up fists, making the mascara that Peggy had applied for you smudge ever so slightly.

"Now, I think it's definitely time to go home and into bed, flower." Peggy smiled, smoothing out a stray strand of hair of yours.

A pout formed on your plump lips at the words, you'd been having such a fun time with Elvis, you really didn't want it to end. "Oh Peggy, Elvis was gonna tell me about his first day at RCA and I really wanted t'hear it, can we stay for the story? Please?" You said with those bush baby eyes that anyone would find it near impossible to refuse, but Peggy managed.

"Not tonight, hon, you know I made a promise to ya Momma to have you back home before 1am." Peggy smiled.

"I know." You mumbled in defeat with a hint of sadness, you knew Peggy as just doing her best by you even if you did want to stay and spend all night talking to your new found friend, Elvis. 

"Pegs is right darlin', you don't wanna be all sleepy and yawnin' on ya first day, do ya baby?" Elvis chided, leaning over to comfort you by rubbing gentle circles on your back, which just made you feel all the more drowsy.

"Nuh-uh," You agreed cutely.

"Say goodnight and goodbye to Elvis, Y/N." Peggy instructed as you and Elvis rose from the couch.

You didn't really hesitate in wrapping your arms around Elvis' torso as he towered over you, the height difference appearing to be quite noticeable. You usually wouldn't be so forward as to hug somebody that you'd only met a couple of hours ago but there was something inviting and comforting about Elvis that you craved. 

Elvis reciprocated your hug, cuddling a little and chuckling at your sweet action. 

"Am I gonna see you again?" You asked nervously, blushing vulnerably.

"'Course baby, you're comin' t'see my studio and trailer remember?" Elvis said, reminding you of one of the interactions in your long conversation with the man where he offered to show you a tour of his recording studio and his trailer that you eagerly accepted without much hesitation.

 Peggy watched the interaction between you, her little childhood friend and the most famous man in the world. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she didn't exactly like what she was witnessing.

"'Kay," You giggled adorably. "Buh-bye Elvis." You said, taking Peggy's outstretched hand. 

"Bye baby." Elvis said fondly, watching as Peggy promptly led you out of the room and away from him, but not before you managed to turn back and wave goodbye to him enthusiastically.

Two things were certain as you left the party: 

1. Your first grown up party had been a success.

2. Elvis was obsessed with you.

🧚

taglist: @prompted-wordsmith @vintagegirl2005 @imaginationlast @presleyenterprise @librafilms @ccab @wolywolymoley @billhaderstan420 @waiting4brucewayne2adoptme @elvispresleywife @ellie-24 @hollbunn @sassanoe @gothicphantom @eliseinmemphis @astralheart21 @elvisbf @slimerspengler

[mydearestbeloved]

okay, you said illusion is part of reader's arsenal so i think it would be cool if she has an AOE skill where she creates a fragrant field of flowers that heals and buffs allies but any enemies that step into the field will be teleport back to the other side before they can cross over it, kinda like a never ending loop? samsara? the cycle of life and birth? (i was inspired seeing shu arknights skill set)

?System¿: [Under review. Ideas considered for future versions.]

Interesting idea you got there. 🤩

You might notice by now that I love giving some logics behind what was supposed to be pure magic, if I can. That's one of my ways to make this story concept a bit more distinct than the others, and also a way for me to fit in the original narratives. Because as far as I know, from spoilers of the webnovel/novel and game, and from the webtoon/manhwa and anime, the mechanics of healer class hunter's power is not widely explained and developed. It's like filling in the gaps/plotholes with what-ifs and all that. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. 🙏

So, let me clarify a few things about the current Reader's powers as of now (12/11/2024):

For AOE heals, buffs, and even enemies debuffs, Reader's butterflies already got that covered.

The butterflies' main power is inspired by the very nature of butterflies in real life, pollination. While they might not be as effective as bees in that regard, they still feed on flowers' nectar (enemies' lifeforce). When they do this, their bodies collect pollen (excess energy) and carry it to other plants (allies) to help produce new seeds (in the form of heals and buffs).

The reason I also choose butterflies instead of bees are for their physical appearance. Hear me out first before anyone could get mad.

I'm not saying that I chose butterflies purely because of their aesthetics, over the effectiveness of bees. What I'm trying to say is that bees' have visible stinger, butterflies don't. This fact plays part in the Reader's vibe of being beautiful but deadly. Illusions is one of the reasons we perceive something that were actually dangerous as harmless, it tricked us into thinking that something so pleasing to the eyes couldn't possible hurt us, yet reality says otherwise. As the saying goes, "Don't let the looks fool you."

Now onto the 'field of flowers' concept in what is as of currently the latest drafted chapter of my Trial Player AU.

Plants in general absorb carbondioxide (mana, or other versions of it, like the contaminated ones) and produce oxygen (lifeforce) in exchange.

Additionally, in my story, the concept applied is that living beings continuously produce their own mana while they're alive. If they're freshly dead, there will only be residue mana from being alive just moments prior, limited and will be dispersed into the atmosphere as time goes on.

To simplify: 'Lifeforce' is the essence of mana. Being alive automatically produce mana, hence taking just a small amount of 'lifeforce' sourced from living beings can be converted to an abundant amount of mana. However, while Reader can still take back a mana's essence with the flower field, the field needs to take a larger amount of mana (CO2) just to produce smaller amount of 'lifeforce' (O2) to then be used by the butterflies (conduits) in a cycle and for Reader herself.

Hence the scenes in my Trial Player AU rendition of Solo Leveling's Demon Castle Arc. The land are roaming with demons and the undeads, perfect for the flower field. Though there's a catch that I can't fully explain for now, the 'contaminated' mana of the creatures there. The current Jinwoo in the manhwa can't extract Metus' shadow for exactly that reason, and while Reader was still able to use that mana, the contamination in it will have an effect on her, as shown briefly at the end of the chapter.

Last but not least, your Samsara cycle idea.

Awesome idea actually, one I want to ask for your permission to incorporate this concept in the future since you're the one who brought it up. 🙏

As of you know now, the current Reader's power is limited. To use that idea of yours now would be to imply that Reader could've reversed wounds to heal instead of accelerating cells (or other automatic biological processes) and subsequently trigger <Decay> if too much was sped up.

The current her was already struggling with <Erode>, a spell that supposedly accelerate weathering (not an automatic process) that needs outer factors like water, air, sunlight, or the help of living organisms, in which she managed to substitue them with applying more mana, hence the cost, time, and focus she needs to use the spell.

To simplify, to reverse a wound would be to reverse the cause of that very wound, hence dominion over space is also required, not just time. To make a 'Samsara Cycle' as you described needed the same power of space and time. A limitation for the current Reader...

For now. 🤫😉

---

That's all I can say for now regarding your ask. Hopefully, this was a satisfactory answer.

Thank you, for reading my stories, for your ideas, and for giving me the opportunity to share my own ideas. 💞