#they would have to put some new rewards and options in there if they planned to put it back in

[thefirstknife]

Big fan of what I read in the thingy about plans for the exotic mission rotator, most of it sounds very solid to me

However

Since the focus seems to be on making the relevant exotic weapon craftable, do you think this makes it less likely we'll get whisper of the worm or zero hour back? Outbreak seems like it wouldnt be broken as a crafted but I cant imagine Whisper as crafted, that feels like a dangerous can of worms.

And also, as it seems unlikely Ada or Black Armory will have a story spotlight again, how would you feel about Niobe Labs getting reworked into an exotic mission, dropping craftable izanagi or le monarque, craftable black armory weapons, and then maybe some of those nifty modified foundry weapons but of the post-witch queen ones.

I thought about that too, specifically the potential to get Zero Hour and Whisper back with craftable Outbreak and Whisper. I really like the idea of craftable exotics with these missions and this idea would be the only real reason to bring back Zero Hour and Whisper. But how viable are they to be craftable is beyond me. I think in some way it might help, especially for Whisper, but on the other, it could make them too powerful, in this case for Outbreak. Balancing that would be incredibly difficult.

I'd like to see those missions returning however! Even if they don't want to make these weapons craftable. I just feel like they won't really bother going through that work if nothing of value can be added. A lot of people say that they want them back, but in reality they would not have much replayability without something to chase. They also might be too frustrating at this point; the Wicked Implement exotic mission being timed was a major point of frustration for a lot of people. But I would 100% enjoy seeing them back, with or without craftable exotics. In a way, it almost makes it more likely because at first it just made no sense to return those missions when the exotics are in the kiosk, but if they're going to be changed in some way, then it makes more sense. It's just on whether or not those two are viable for such a change.

Same thoughts on Ada and Black Armory. I think they did say at one point that they're looking into returning some old weapons, specifically Black Armory and Season of Dawn stuff, but so far we've not heard anything more about it. Your idea would be really cool. Reworking Niobe's Labs into a mission and adding a craftable Black Armory exotic would be really neat. No clue how likely that is to happen though; as of now, I'm thinking not very. But now that we know this stuff with exotic missions is possible, it's a neat possibility.

[duachai]

MR. CORAZÓN - TAEMIN | SHINEE

M/n, a BPM trainee gets handpicked personally by his idol to be his backup dancer for an upcoming tour. As the two get closer, M/n learns the importance of taking care of his body, and so does Taemin.

I need you to hold it 'til you can't, I'll reward you

♱ PAIRING : LEE TAEMIN X MALE READER ♱ CONTENT WARNING : This writing contains explicit sexual content and mature themes. ♱ AUTHOR'S NOTE : Last chapter was a text chapter, if you want to read it you have to read it on wattpad since the format doesn't translate. But you can do without it, but for some more context.

LINKS : Wattpad

Training under BPM Entertainment wasn’t the easiest career M/n could have chosen. There were so many other options for him. His parents wanted him to be a doctor or lawyer, his school friends were working at restaurants and fast food chains around the city, and others his age aimed for content creators or influencers. But M/n wanted to dance.

Dancing was his calling. His life’s purpose, he would say.

For him, dancing was his stress reliever, something that would make him happy no matter what. That’s why when he found out his biggest inspiration and honestly, his celebrity crush, Lee Taemin, would be signing with his company, he nearly fell out.

“Dude, you know Taemin is coming in today? He’s going to lead our dance class, and oh my God, do you think it’s lame if I ask him to make a TikTok with me?”

M/n chuckled, “You’re so easily impressed, Chanwoo. He’s not even here yet.”

Today, was Taemin’s first day he had free with the new company, and he chose to specifically work with the trainees. And on top of that, it was a rumor some trainees would get promoted to work with him for his re-debut EP.

M/n leaned against the mirror after putting his dance bag off to the side. Nest to him, Chanwoo stretched his arms to prepare himself for class. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime, M/n. We could get closer to our favs even faster than it would take for us to debut!”

“It’s just the fast route if you ask me. And it’s probably not permanent,” M/n whined, but even though his words came out nonchalant, he still had a bit of hope in the back of his mind. Maybe this was his break, a chance to get his face out there.

The next hour, the normal dance teacher began proper stretch instruction. For the next half an hour, the talk of Taemin coming dwindled as the end of the class came near. 

“I can’t believe he didn’t come. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into that choreo.” Chanwoo whined, stomping his feet and he dragged his body in defeat.

M/n followed behind dragging his feet as he rolled his neck and worked the kinks out of his neck. He wasn’t as nearly disappointed as his friend, but a part of him wished that maybe Taemin would come and check him out, as selfish as it sounded.

“Anyways, where should we go eat today? My mom brought some kimchi this morning, but I’m sick of it.”

“You should be thankful you have a mom to bring you kimchi, Woo.” M/n sulked, head still draped down as he kicked his feet.

“Uh, you might want to pause those lunch plans,” A voice said. M/n looked up and another trainee awkwardly tugged at his hair, “M/n, you’re being summoned.”

Being summoned was one of the nerve-racking things any trainee went through. It only meant a few things. Best case scenario, you were being picked to debut early. Worst was… you were going home.

M/n was in limbo about the reason for his summon as he stood in the elevator alone. Everything he did over the last few weeks was analyzed in his mind. Did he mess up a choreo? Does his body need to be more fit? Was he lagging behind?

His whole head spun and he started to get dizzy. How was he supposed to go back to his parents and explain he got dropped from what they called, “A silly dream.” At the sound of the elevator’s ding, it was time to face his worst fear. Or so he thought.

The hallway to the director’s office seemed longer than any other hallway in the building. M/n rubbed his moist hands on his sweatpants, adjusting his hoodie to seem more neat.

As he stepped to the director’s door, he could see in the glass panel door there were multiple people inside. Then he realized, this wasn’t a demotion party, this was a meeting of some sort.

“M/n?” His name was called out by a familiar voice. His dance teacher.

“Oh, uh, hi,” M/n bowed respectfully, still so very confused.

“What are you doing standing out here, go in!” The teacher rushed a smile on his lips. Either this was a super encouraging way to tell someone they were getting sent home or something bigger was around the corner for M/n.

M/n pushed the door to the room open, now he could see a clear view of the people inside. The director of course at the head of the table, then his wife who was his co-director, a few managers M/n had never met, the dance teacher taking a seat closest to the door, the trainee advisor, and well… Taemin.

M/n froze up, are all these people here to see him? This meeting seemed way too elite for him to even step foot inside.

“Shin M/n, right? Go ahead and sit down,” the director pointed at a seat down the front of the table. A seat right across from the star legend.

M/n spent a few minutes staring at the wooden glossed-over table, a few papers passing down his way. A couple of times he looked up, locked eyes with Taemin then looked away like a startled puppy.

“Okay, so before we get started, how about I let our trainee introduce himself. M/n, go ahead and stand so everyone can see you.”

M/n reluctantly stood up, feeling so small in a room where everyone was looking intently. “Um, Hi, my name is Shin M/n. I’m from the US. And I’ve been a train for about a year and a half now.”

“Ok and, tell us why you want to be a K-pop idol, M/n.”

Hearing this question M/n drew in a sharp breath. He’d answered this question about a hundred times, but now it was all something cringe and mush in his head in a room full of people where it mattered.

But then he realized, he mattered too.

—

“Okay! Run the song back, M/n.”

Hustling toward the Bluetooth speaker to restart the song the fifth time that night, M/n quickly reset the song and then ran back to his starting point. The song started, Taemin’s voice coming in smooth and sultry as the sensual and iconic beat, “Move” filled M/n and his partner’s ears.

They had been practicing the duo choreography for hours now, but the more they attempted the more frustrated his partner, Misun, got at him.

“Fuck it!” Misun let go of M/n and stomped towards the practice room door with his bag, “I don’t care if you don’t get it right, I’ll switch partners. You won’t embarrass me in front of the whole world.”

M/n took in a deep breath, as he pulled his hair. He was frustrated too. Misun had quit on him a thousand times during their time together. But now, their deadline was coming in close and the tour was not far away. The whole thing was just stressful.

Just as he was about to pack up, he heard a knock at the door. Taemin popped his head around the door frame with a smile, “Knock knock.”

“O-Oh, I didn’t know you were here!” M/n said, startled and embarrassed.

Taemin stepped closer to the dancer, “I saw Misun storm out while I was passing by, and wanted to check on you. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is fine.” M/n lied, thinking that knew that one of his dancers was lacking this skill and was dancing with two left feet after being picked solely for his dancing, he would be upset.

“No, no, you’re lying.” Taemin said with a pout, “Tell me what’s wrong.”

M/n sighed as he took a seat on the floor next to his bags against the mirror, Taemin sitting right next to him.

“Misun and I… just don’t seem like good partners. I know we’re meant to get what we get and don’t throw a fit like the director said, but working with her is like working with an untrained house cat. One day she’s encouraging, the next she’s clawing at me and everything I do.”

Taemin chuckled, “It’s like that. Working with others can be a lottery. But it’s nothing a little resilience can’t handle,” Taemin reached over and covered his hand with M/n’s resting on his knee, “You're a great performer, you hold yourself up better than most. You just have to believe in yourself. Because I already know I do.”

—

Taemin’s words rang in M/n’s head every second. It made him smile maniacally in the middle of conversations. After their talk, Taemin started monitoring M/n and Misun’s practices, making notes, and helping fix some mistakes. After Misun would leave, Taemin and M/n would go out and get food or drinks.

Their relationship grew closer and closer to the point where M/n had to ask himself, was he falling in love with his idol?

The deadline was due. It was the day everyone learned if they were going on tour with Taemin or being left behind. It was yet another nerve-racking day at the studio where everyone gathered to hear the results.

But when the director came in, everyone’s heart was crushed into tiny little pieces.

“Unfortunately, the tour has been canceled,” He announced, everyone’s shoulders slumping as questions started to form in everyone’s mouths. “I know, I know. But it’s impossible to continue on. Taemin was in an accident that sprained his ankle, so he’ll be taking a rest for a few weeks. He might even need a month to get back to his healthy self.”

As everyone whined about the loss of their gig, M/n’s lips pursed at the thought of Taemin being in an accident to cause him this much pain. The whole rest of the day M/n was anxious about Taemin, thinking of ways he could make sure he was alright.

But as he was sulking outside, a manager approached him. “M/n, M/n! Hey, I’ve got a super emergency, but I need to get this food and meds to Taemin. Could you possibly take it to someone else to give it to him?”

It was more like a request because before M/n could respond the bags were in his hand and the manger was off to his car. M/n stood there stumped for a second before smiling, this was his opportunity to go see Taemin.

It took about an hour to convince a staff to let him go see Taemin personally, he made up some bullshit about him being asked specifically to do this task, and if they didn’t help they’d have to answer to the director. It was stupid, but it worked.

M/n’s legs felt like complete jelly as he walked to Taemin’s apartment door. Traveling in Korea was nothing like the US, and even though he spent so much time there already it never felt to humble him as he got winded every time.

While catching his breath he might have accidentally walked into the door because a few moments later, Taemin opened the door slightly to see a hunched-over M/n clutching his chest.

“M/n? Are you okay?”

“Huh?” M/n said instantly lifting and straightening himself up, “What, oh yeah, I’m totally fine! H-Here… medicine.” M/n exclaimed, awkwardly handing Taeming the bags of convenience store foods and painkillers.

Confused, but concerned about M/n, Taemin opened the door more and stepped to the side, “Come in, you look like you could use some AC and water.”

Resting on the couch together, M/n watched as Taemin devoured his meal as if he hadn’t eaten for days. M/n giggled at the food filling in Taemin’s mouth, stuffing his cheeks like a tiny squirrel.

“You’ve got something there,” M/n chuckled, extending his arm over to Taemin’s face as a bit of rice stuck to the corner of his mouth. M/n’s thumb swiped over Taemin’s lips to catch the rice. Stunned, Taemin froze as M/n lifted his hand to his own mouth, parted his lips, and sucked the flavor off it.

There was something so sensual about that movement, in Taemin’s mind everything was in slo-mo, M/n eyes gazing right into his almost like a seductive taunt. An invite.

Tempted, Taemin’s arm snaked up to M/n’s wrist and he pushed himself atop of M/n, hands now above him, “Is this what you want?” A shiver ran down M/n’s spine, his question burning his skin up. Is cozying up close with your idol really the move? But at this point, Taemin was more than just a celebrity. He was a muse, a sexy muse. But was this a mistake?

“I want to, I do. I just-”

“Thinking about if people will find out?” Taemin said, cutting out M/n’s concerns for display like he was inside his brain. But Taemin reassured M/n with a kiss on the forehead and a sentence that would change their relationship forever.

“Follow your body, it knows you want my touch.”

It didn’t take long for the two to be stumbling into the bedroom in each other’s arms, sloppy kisses and clothes parting with skin onto the floor.

As Taemin sat M/n down on the bed, his tongue worked around in his mouth as one of his hands lightly tilted the dancer’s chin up, the other wrapped around his neck gently squeezing.

“Look at me, baby,” Taemin sang pulling back away from M/n who whined slightly at the loss of the heat on his lips.

“I got you tonight.”

[horrorvale]

HorrorVale Development Blog: End of Year

Hello, citizens of HorrorVale!

As the year draws to a close, we (or more specifically me, Dustin) wanted to put together a little blog to talk about HorrorVale! How launch went, what our current and future plans are, and more!

(Note that this blog post does not receive audio, so if you respond I cannot hear it.)

Dream Colosseum

First, before I start talking about HorrorVale's Launch, I want to discuss an upcoming patch.

Currently, we're working on a massive patch for HorrorVale that will include the following:

Even MORE bug fixes

Brand new optional dialogue for every single party member in the game for main story cutscenes

More skill re-balancing

Other minor things and scenes I still wish to include

But most importantly... The DREAM COLOSSEUM!

I originally didn't think many people would bother with the "Secret Bosses" in HorrorVale, but since so many of you enjoyed them and also desired to get more opportunities to mess with party combinations, I decided to punish you horribly!

The Dream Colosseum is a brand new feature that will allow you to fight Bosses you fought previously, now all scaled up to End game stats, with new moves and quirks, and all very difficult.

If you've fought the "Last Secret Boss", now you get to imagine what a Dream Colosseum version might be like.

It will require you to 100% the game to access, but won't give any unique rewards outside of a cosmetic change to Alice's bedroom so people don't feel compelled to torture themselves for completionists sake. Naturally, there won't be any new trophies either.

Right now we're working steadily on this update, and hope to have it out very early next year.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about how launch actually went for HorrorVale...

HorrorVale Launch

After 8 years in development and 5 years since announced, HorrorVale finally released on October 1st, 2024.

This reception has been tremendous.

Leading up to release, I was anxious but overall feeling pretty good about launch. There were minor things I wish I had included or changed, but knew that delaying what was otherwise a feature complete game would be extremely silly.

I actually intended on releasing these things as a patch in the first week of launch, in the hopes of catching most people before they get too deep in the game.

...What I did not expect however, was the unfortunate discovery of several bugs, some of which were game breaking.

What made these bugs especially frustrating is that most of them were NEW bugs, created from me adding things right before launch, or fixing other unrelated bugs.

Due to these bugs and the massive influx of new fans, comments, reviews, and more I found myself extremely overwhelmed, and it ended up being probably one of the most stressful 2 weeks of my life after launch.

In the end, everything worked out and I was quick to patch the game...

...Multiple times.

Still, despite these issues the reception was overwhelmingly positive. Certainly some critiques here and there, but the general response was that the game was so enjoyable that even the most egregious critiques could be brushed aside. All of the wonderful things I've read by people who had fun in the world I created... It truly means the world to me. The... Underworld you might say.

I'm sure some people are also interested in how the game actually DID. Good reviews and positive reception are one thing, but this is also a product being sold, so how did it DO!? Did it SMASH RECORDS and become bigger than UNDERTALE? Did it FLOP???

Well, to be honest I'm not entirely sure!

Which is a strange thing to say, but it's difficult to gauge "Success" when so many factors can change what that means. For a AAA game, success means something very different to a small indie game with a publisher, which also means something very different to a ragtag team of people with no real budget, no publisher, no marketing, and especially no notoriety whatsoever. Not to mention as first time developers we have little to compare it to...

But that being said...

As of right now, HorrorVale has sold...

1,000 COPIES!

That's an INSANE amount of people. If all of you were in a big room crowded around me, I would be very scared.

That's 1,000 new citizens to HorrorVale that have entered its gates.

If we gauge success purely based off "did it make back what you invested in it?", then HorrorVale was absolutely a success!

However, unfortunately it did not necessarily meet the expectations we had.

Going into the launch of HorrorVale, I had 3 goals in mind.

To make back what I invested in it (out of pocket, not including Patreon earnings)

To pay Matt, the composer full royalties for the HorrorVale OST (since he created the entire 170 track monster soundtrack for FREE.)

To be able to devote myself full time to Game Development

Of these three... Only 1 has been achieved so far.

While I generally try to avoid discussing topics like these, I feel like it's important context for the next piece of discussion. The future of HorrorVale.

HorrorVale: Act M

HorrorVale: Act M is a small side story featuring none other than Mothman himself! This spinoff game was greenlit thanks to HorrorVale fans reaching our Wishlist goal for the main game. This game will tell the story of HorrorVale from Mothman's perspective, giving you new insight into his side of the story, as well as elaborate on events leading up to and following that story.

I think there's something really special waiting for you in Act M, and I want to use it as an opportunity to experiment with the HorrorVale formula based off of feedback from the main game.

No matter what, this project will begin development and it will be in your hands....

...At some point.

Which is where the previous topic comes into play, because naturally how long Act M takes to make is dependent on the time I have free to work on it. HorrorVale sales could certainly pick up, and I might one day be able to devote myself fully to game dev, but for now Act M will have to follow the same development process as "HorrorVale", which means it's difficult to give an estimate of how long it'll take to make!

What I can say for sure, is that Act: M will be much, much shorter than HorrorVale. Don't expect a 50 hour experience! I'm aiming for something more like 8.

And yet, you might be asking yourself dear reader...

"How can we help?"

Indeed, you asked yourself that exact sentence and in the voice of the King from Zelda CD-I no doubt.

Which brings us to the next topic!

Patreon Revival

My original plan after HorrorVale launched was to completely retire the HorrorVale Patreon as it seemed unnecessary at that point, but since:

We did not reach our expectations of sales so far

Several fans expressed a desire to support the game in some way because of the Steam Early Access debacle

I thought it made sense to keep it up and give it a little makeover.

Now fully dedicated to "Act: M", you can expect Monthly Progress Reports here, just like the main game!

Not only that, but we've added a brand new "Cryptid" Tier, that will allow you... Yes YOU! The ability to design a Creepy, Scary, or Starry for Mothman to fight in Act: M! We don't want Mothman to just fight all the same enemies as Alice! He'd naturally encounter foes she never even knew existed. This is your opportunity to help the game out and get to be a part of it as well.

(Please note that in order to participate in this reward, you must be 18 years or older and willing to give all rights of your design to Batworks Software.)

(Also please note that Mothman will kill your beautiful creation with a crossbow and it will hurt very badly.)

Since as of now I can't "live" off of HorrorVale sales, instead my plan is to put it and Act: M Patreon earnings towards Act: M itself and Mystery Future Project. This will help ensure a smooth development cycle as possible. If you're interested in helping out the HorrorVale universe, now's your chance!

Of course, forking over your hard earned candy isn't the only way to help though!

Just enjoying the game and telling your friends about it is a MASSIVE help. Without a marketing team, word of mouth is a tremendous help to us, and it's thanks to that that we're here at all!

Closing

In closing, I just want to say thank you to all of the HorrorVale fans that have supported us over all these years. The love that HorrorVale has been shown has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. As long as I'm able to, I'd like to read every comment and message I can, but I fear that if the game does get bigger one day I won't be able to see them all. Just know that the love you've given Alice and her friends mean the world to me.

Wait Stop Right There What Do You MEAN "Mystery Future Project"???

That's all for now goodbye!!!!!!

*The device he was speaking from explodes spontaneously*

[psycheetamore]

Another escape, another hunt 

Summary: Our lord has managed to get his Fremen prey into his palace. But she will not succumb to his desires so easily, even if her body wishes to do so. How he loves his game.

Tags: MDNI, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen Is His Own Warning, anticipation of smut, predator/prey - the author regrets nothing

Part 2 of 6 of my contribution to the predator/prey thrope for Kinktober of @lady-phasma - nr 1-4 are chapters of 1 story (1-3 Feyd/OC hunt related, nr 4 is the reward for our lord), and nr 5-6 is me sharing my favourite chapter that I have written to date with the hunt between Rabban/OC. The 6 bits will be posted through daily posts.

Word count: 1.8k

Losely based on chapter 11 of Choosing to Follow Destiny

His slaves were standing outside of his quarters, as the na-Baron sought entrance. 

“Is she readied?” 

“My Lord…” and the slave paused. “My lord, we could not get the cuffs on” as she fell to her knees and started to grovel asking for forgiveness.  

He kicked her to the floor and proceeded: “you are lucky. I am in a good mood.” 

Several minutes ago, the terrified slaves that had dressed the new interest of the lord Harkonnen, locked her up in a separate room in his quarters. It did not take a lot of effort to force the lock. She felt vulnerable, dressed in clothing that did not deserve that word considering how little of her frame it covered and that could be meant only for ladies of the Harkonnen night. Feeling the mark he had left on her neck, which seemed to have been treated. Her braids loosened to have her long black hear flow across her back. Horrible shackles the slaves tried to put on her. She could not allow herself to think what he was planning to do. For her sanity, and to keep control over her physical urges that seemed to long for him. She could still feel his strong fingers gracing her lips. Yet, it could not distract from the recognition that she needed to move. The longer she was in his vicinity, the more difficult it would be to escape.  

Feeling her heart throb in her throat, against the healing wound he had left, she surveyed his chambers for any weapons or other tools that could help her gain some leverage. But it did not come at a surprise that nothing was present. It could not be anything else than that he prepared for roaming around here. Fear started to seep into her bones as she started to understand the gravity of the situation she was facing. The second-best option was looking for heavy blunt objects. Something that could allow her to issue a blow and try to get away. As she was scouring as quickly as she could for such objects, she heard him arrive and talk on the other side of the door. She grabbed a plaid laying over his bed and scooted softly to hide in the darkness next to the door.  

She noticed a body drop and the door opening. This was her one chance. As he walked in, she threw the plaid over his head and pushed him, making room to run away.  

Surprisingly, he was disconnected for a blink of a moment, just enough. She did not wait for a second opportunity, and dashed.  

The hallways were as dark as his room, the night having fallen and scarcely lit. There was no distinction between the left and the right side of the hallway, so intuitively she took off to the left. 

From a distance she heard him shouting: “run. Run as far as you can. Challenge me. We both know you will end up chained to my bed.” Shivers flowed over her back. 

She ran and ran. She should find some light coming from the moons anytime now. That would give her guidance on where to go. It felt like she ran for hours, probably mere minutes. Corridors went up and down. What was this place other than a maze, she thought, completely lost and getting out of breath. Functioning on pure adrenalin she forgot her fatigue and anything else holding her back. She just ran. 

Suddenly she heard footsteps coming from a corridor she was running towards. With muted steps she backed up against the wall, carefully peaking around the corner. A chance to sip some air, and perhaps more. A guard, dressed in a black Harkonnen uniform, was paroling. He did not seem to be on high alert. Perhaps her escape did not yet reach everyone. She pressed herself against the wall, waiting for the guard to walk past, so she could overtake him. Completely oblivious the guard walked past her. It took her one well-placed kick to the backside of his knees to get him to fall on the ground. He fell on his hands and knees, but it still made a terrible noise. This would surely attract other guards or Feyd-Rautha himself, so she immediately started kicking him to the head, bruising her feet, adrenaline masking the pain it caused. It took a few kicks for him to lay flat on the ground, allowing her to grab the bat and dagger he was carrying. She started to run in the direction he came from. 

After yet another corner she took, she lost the little sense of direction that had remained. But there was no time to worry. 

She continued to run until she abruptly recognised an imposing figure in the shadows from afar. The stance, the body, the clothing: it could be no other than her captor who had spotted her, staring at her with a tilted head and black smile on his face. She stopped, froze for a second, turned around and started running the other way around. Even with her newly acquired weapons she was aware that she would hardly be a match for him in these circumstances. 

Feyd-Rautha chuckled. Feisty and spirited. He was happy to see that she lived up to his expectations. He did anticipate she would free herself from the first room, and try to make a run for it. There was a reason he did not bring guards. He had, however, imagined that he would be able to keep her in, as he had carefully removed all sharp and heavy objects. A true fighter he was dealing with. And, by god, she even managed to obtain some weapons. Lovely. She clearly had not given up just yet, just like he asked.

His hunter instinct was kick-started by seeing her flee away. How he loved a game like this. With his longer legs, boots, and overall better condition, it did not take too long before she was within an arm's reach of him. 

She heard him gaining distance on her. His footsteps grew closer and closer. She gave it her all. She needed to outrun him. Her heart was throbbing in her throat from exhaustion. She needed to push through. Or find a way out. But where? No tangible options presented themselves. A sudden ambush perhaps. Short term, but still. 

He was just steps away from her, she could hear it. She decided to push for a last final sprint, to get him to speed up as much as possible, allowing her to suddenly divert her track and use his momentum against him. In the process, she managed to dart around him, while brushing the dagger across his arm. Now standing behind him, he turned to face her. Wearing his evening clothing, but still with boots and a belt with weapons, he showed her the blood on his fingers, which came from the wound she inflicted. Yet another wound he would have her repay.

“It is a dangerous game you play, little one. I have killed for smaller offences” he said menacingly, although his face gave away the joy he felt. "How is my mark on your neck feeling?"

“Kill me” she taunted. “Let's get this over with.” 

“No” he answered. “We both know I won't do that. You are far too lovely to meet such an end. In any case not such a quick end” as he grabbed a knife from his belt in a leisurely pace. He started to walk towards her, shifting his head from left to right, seeing straight through hear face into the inner workings of her brain.

She tried to maintain their distance by moving back as he closed in on her. But there was only so much space, as she was backed against the wall.  

He tigered around her, managing to get her into a corner. “Your strike, lovely lady. I will give you one strike” as he invited her through a gesture to come at him.  

She looked in his eyes and saw darkness. This was a dangerous man, with dangerous games. He was in control. Her only way out would be to disarm him, and hold him hostage until she could get out.  

She decided to make a go for it. Holding the club in her right hand and the dagger in her left hand, her strategy would be to get him to focus on her left hand, lose the club, switch the dagger to her other hand and strike.  

But her eyes gave her away. As she tried to execute this plan, he knew what was coming. He had seen every step that she had anticipated, and before she knew it, his hard chest, just covered with an evening tunic, had pinned her against the wall. She could feel his heart beat through the nothings they both wore. She could feel the heat flowing from his body to hers, as he kept her legs in check by pushing one of his between hers. His growing groin pressed against her bottom. Her body started to respond involuntarily, creating the moisture he craved. Forcing her hand to open, he managed to release the remaining weapon and kick it away. Only now did he turn her to face him, while holding her shoulders with an iron grip. 

She tried to kick him, causing him to push his entire body against hers to keep her still. As response, she pushed her hands on his upper arms. His strength was felt as she was pinned against the wall. His solid arms, his muscular torso, the growing excitement in his nether regions. It caused a further growing excitement in her nether regions as well, the likes of which she had never encountered before.  

“Why do you resist me? You belong here. You want to be here. You want to kneel before me and take everything I have to give to you.” Vile, tainted words came out of his mouth as honey, while his lips touched her neck and ears. He started to kiss, nibbling on her ears, allowing his warm tongue to roam over the ridges of the wound that was sure to become a scar from her ear to her shoulder, claiming her, marking her as his, while holding her head still. “Don't resist” he said with a chanting voice, feeling how her breathing located to the top of her chest. With nearly nothing covering her, she started to fear he would feel the warmth and wetness radiating from her body onto the leg that he had positioned so strategically against her most sensitive area. He wrapped his arms around her back to press her against him, as he softly bit on her neck. “Don't resist. Succumb to me” he continued to chant. He felt she was slipping away, as if her legs were not providing support anymore. 

“I can't” a small voice said with a deep sigh. His mouth on these sensitive areas, his vicinity, all the vile words that had left his sculpted mouth; she started to loose control. Breathing more heavily and rapidly, which he could feel through his chest that still forced her against the wall. 

He knew she was starting to break. All it took was a bit of affection. It was quicker than he had anticipated.  

He softly replied: “you can. And you will” as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. Pinching her bottom, awfully near her core with a mind of its own, he said: “you want to submit to me.” 

+++

Next parts listed on my pinned post

[katoska]

Ok, I know shippers are having a ball with the "psychic link" line, but personally, I don't think it's needed to explain Betelgeuse's new smoopyness (+ I don't like magic-induced/fated love, but you do you).

My personal theory is that Lydia subconsciously hit "block" on him so she can pretend he's gone forever. This is imo substantiated by the fact that she can't/won't see Richard - who's body was never found, and whose death was thus deniable as long as she did not see his ghost - either.

And while Richard was ok with not being seen because he was the kind of chill guy who would be satisfied with seeing his family to make sure they were ok, Betelgeuse... is not that kind of guy.

Betelgeuse is a huge drama queen who wants ALL the attention. He wants acknowlegdement. He's the ghost with the most, and you better not forget it.

So, imagine how he must have felt the first time Lydia showed up in a house he'd been hired to haunt ...and did not acknowledge him. Did not see him, didn't seem to see the monster he turned into that still had his face, nothing stripey or funny or with any of that personal touch seemed to register. Flying books, rattling cutlery, cold spots, all that boring generic stuff she could see, but nothing Juice-y.

He'd get fucking obsessed with making her notice him.

Which would mean making sure that he's there the next time she investigates another haunting, or luring her in by making a house look spectacularly haunted (coming to see her mere presence as a reward for a job well done in the process). And maybe, anytime a client forgot to banish him (do they even all get told how to do that?), he might have, if he was close enough, managed to drop in on her outside work, try to catch her off-guard. Which would mean getting awareness of her personal problems, again, and feeling empathy for her, again.

Cause I think that's the main emotion he felt for her back when she was a weird and unusual, deeply lonely, overty suicidal teen. I believe that very creepy tone he used when talking about "Edgar Alan Poe's daughter" was there to mask the fact that he was feeling sorry for her and felt a kinship with her because his existence also sucked. Cause, like, he's got a reputation to uphold, he can't be seen caring about some Breather's feelings or be seen relating to them unironically.

Except in this movie, Betelgeuse seemed to be in a far better headspace (while Lydia very much was not), so when he realised he still cared about her feelings, he couldn't put it down to projection. He had to acknowledge that he'd become attached. I headcanon that he figured out just how attached he'd gotten shortly after she started seeing Rory, cause... ok, hands up: Who else here, when watching the movie, had the thought "Wow, Rory sucks! She'd have been better off with Betelgeuse." Like, idc if you ship Beetlebabes or not, it's just objectively true that Betelgeuse would be the better option (even if you only think that's because the bar's in hell). I think that same thought would have crossed B's mind, too, upon which he'd have his "Oh. Oh. Oh shit" moment. He later made sure that Lydia too would become aware just how goddamn shitty Rory was, and he technically did not need to do that because Lydia already did not want to marry Rory, but y'know, it'd make B look better in her eyes if he made her aware of and helped her dodge this particular bullet.

Though actually, maybe this had been strategically unwise. Only if Betelgeuse had really planned on coercing Lydia into marriage ofc, which I don't buy in the first place. But for argument's sake: If Betelgeuse hadn't given Rory that truth serum, Lydia could have used the demon deal as a non-confrontational escape from her engagement. Which would have made her less inclined to pull any tricks to get out of her marriage with B, because even if she escaped him there would still be Rory. Ok yeah, Rory eventually got eaten by a Sandworm, but B couldn't have predicted that. But, speaking as a Code 699 truther (tldr: B knew the contract would be voided but either hoped Lydia would marry him anyway, or the whole song and dance was just about him wanting to declare his feelings), he could have predicted his marriage contract being voided. Though personally, I have doubts that Astrid would have been as quick to speak up if Lydia hadn't broken up with Rory and Rory hadn't got eaten.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

If you were to design a villain for a Legend of Zelda game, with the caveat that should said Villain grab the triforce, they would recieve Courage (instead of the always villainous power), what would they be like?

That is such a fun ask, thank you so much for the prompt!!

I think it would depend on the target audience of that game (basically are we 2D Zelda-ing it or 3D Zelda-ing it), but I see a couple different options right off the bat:

Treasure-hunter who wants to steal various trinkets from different tribes, mostly for the thrill of the achievement, regardless of whether or not there's any justification (or consent) to this hoarding (and perhaps even putting the tribes at risk since their magical protections are gone?). This villain would do every dungeon before you (and perhaps leave an even bigger mess behind that you'd have to navigate) and gather every artifact before you can get your hands on them (maybe leaving only some kind of ghostly trail of their presence behind, so you can still use these objects but in a limited way, or on limited time, or by paying with a certain resource...) until finally setting their fancy on the Biggest Possible Artifact there is... and being granted Courage as a consequence/reward for their reckless yet selfish adventurous spirit. And then you fight this villain, and they have the exact same equipment as you. I think this villain could make for a neat little 2D Zelda guy! Challenging but not lore-breaking or anything too serious.

My mid-crazy level for a 3D Zelda villain would be: perhaps some kind of Zant-like figure, a sorcerer that had to face a terrifying entity and survived, but went insane and is now persuaded the world is too soft and wouldn't stand against the attack of the looming darkness trapped underneath the realm and planning to return, and so is devoted to plunging the kingdom into its personal hell as a preparation to face the Big Bad of the game, whoever that is, over-valuing Courage to the point of becoming cruel to softness and weakness and those who need protection (so basically making them through a living hell as a form of tough love). This villain would seek the Triforce as a means of defense against the perceived threat, not realizing perhaps the threat either: has been living inside of them all along and corrupting them from within, or that said threat was waiting in the shadows to seize the Triforce immediately after grooming that villain to do the work for them (wonder who that threat could be... nobody ever behaved that way in TLoZ canon before 😇). Perhaps that villain could be Sheikah, because that sort-of fits with their OoT characterization and that's cool and we could have dark!Sheikahs again and I'd be down for that a whole lot.

Okay final pitch, this one being the wildest by far: the spectre of an Ancient Hero, who would start the game with the Triforce of Courage already. Maybe this hero either fully vainquished Ganon or got trapped sealing that angry guy, and has been haunting Hyrule without clear purpose for eons. Maybe there's a new gerudo king, or maybe hylians start trying to become friends with a monster race that we used to oppose (maybe both!)... and a deep dark force begins opposing the effort, attacking everything deemed dangerous and impure. While this isn't nice and making things complicated, dangerous, and maybe needlessly traumatic, we would slowly cleanse different dungeons from fragments of that hero, hear of all the brutal things that hero went through and all the ways they shaped him, leaving him entirely lost and disconnected until he stopped being able to see nuance or think outside of the divine. Basically, the Hero's Shade becomes your antagonist, and you, as the new iteration of the hero, have to gently but firmly tell the Ancient Hero that his battles belong in the past, and it's now time to let go and stop clinging to his duty, and that you are more than capable of looking over the kingdom yourself. A kind of brutal passing of the torch between generations, with a brighter and more diverse and complicated future ahead (and perhaps we even squeeze in how the Ancient Hero refused to see Ganondorf's humanity in the last hour when he dealt the killing blow, and him haunting Hyrule is a result of Ganon's curse? just to squeeze in a complicated Ganon because of course <3)

Here are my pitches!! Thank you so much for the ask once again this was really fun and helped my brain filled with goo and tiny screeches <3

[gemmahale]

Lessons from taking a work-week hiatus from Tumblr:

Realization 1: I was more productive at work. Lots of downtime I was filling with Tumblr instead of doing other small things to make my life easier. (I was also choosing Tumblr over uh…returning phone calls. 😅)

Plan: Going to blacklist it on my browser and make it a reward at break intervals with a set time limit. Focus on my paid job first, hobbies second.

Realization 2: I don’t need notifs on. I don’t need to know about reblogs or likes; it prompts me to clear the bubble and distracts me. I can pull the notif screen up when I want to look.

Plan: Leave them on for select types of notifs. Limit the push notifs on my phone. Possibly remove the icon from the Home Screen to reduce temptation (make it extra steps to access).

Realization 3: I miss my friends. I felt a severe amount of FOMO on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday when Talk Shop, WIP Wed and the tag game came around. (I peeked, okay? I’m only human.)

Plan: ….still working on this. Pre-set my posts, jump in when I am on breaks, probably. Check in on specific people to see what I’ve missed and engage with them when I’m able.

Summary: Even though I had external contact for most folks, I felt like I had been put in time-out. I was pouty about not being “allowed” to log in.

For what? ….it’s complicated in my head. But I have been dedicating too much time to Tumblr when I should be doing other things. It was the “easier” option - endlessly scroll, see good ideas, be inspired, etc.

I was frustrated at a number of things: the consumptive culture of Tumblr, some jack-wagons harassing people I consider my friends, and that persistent voice that’s been in the back of my head since I was young whispering “you don’t belong”.

Could I tell you what fueled that voice to get louder this time? Not anymore. But when I decided to take a breather, I was worried no one would care. That I’d become a lost ephemera of Tumblr, friendships forged becoming forgotten and withered. (Obviously, that’s not true, and that brain worm has evidence against it now, suckah. It’s always had evidence, dumbass.)

Anyway, I’m back. Nothing of this sort is new to me, none of this is earth-shattering and record-breaking. I KNOW these things, I just needed a reminder.

[marcynomercy]

Fate written in blood

I have a doubt, do you think the narrative is running? Something very shallow? Please tell me that I will improve the writing.

Thank you @tragedybunny for beta-reading.

Summary: The blood has always been her way until the day that fate changed, After being kidnapped by mind flayers and the fall of the Nautiloid Calamity had a new opportunity for freedom and strangely her fate crossed with that of Astarion when the elf put that dagger around her neck. 

 Their fate until now was written by others, but now they would write with their own hands in blood. 

Warnings: Violence, blood, game events, mentions of trauma, distress/comfort, mention of abuse, flashback of torture. (That’s it for now)

Ship: Astarion and Calamity (Tav), Shadowheart and Carniex (Tav), mentions of other characters.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3.

Chapter 2 - Pleasant cold

They got up early and left the camp to continue their search, Calamity had previously planned their actions and done it in a way that they could readjust quickly if something during the day changed the plans. It was  something she learned in her work. Never rely on a single plan, always have options and anticipate possible setbacks.

 So first she decided to go behind the place that had the letter she found in that hidden Kagha chest. The Grove didn’t seem to be a bad place to have as a "resource" and it was a safe place, so it would be very bad if it was closed because of that ritual of thorns. Doing so earned them a fight with some guardians, but that was no big deal as the answers were worth it.

"Oh, apparently Kagha was really getting involved with who shouldn’t be." Calamity hummed with a satisfied smile on her lips.

"So... what are you planning?" Astarion asked, annoyed. 

"Something that benefits us in the long term until we find this Halsin." She replies holding onto the letter. "Now let’s continue and take a look at the temple that was infested by goblins. It would be good to take a look to make sure what we will face when the time comes."

 They were relatively close to the site so it wasn’t a problem, just before entering the ruined village they found the group of adventurers who were in the Grove before whose leader was the same guy that Calamity had punched. After a little dialogue with him and getting the information about a reward for a treasure called "Night Song" they made their way to that temple. The first time she used the tadpole’s powers was in the entryway  with the goblins by reading one of their minds and using that to get in smoothly.Then in a few steps before crossing a bridge they fell to the ground being crushed by a terrible power and a voice that oppressed them demanding obedience. They managed to get rid of it thanks to the artifact that Shadowheart carried. 

 Shadowheart was revealed to be a follower of Shar at this point Being honest, Calamity didn’t really care much for it, only worried about the artifact. What was he? Why did Shar want him? Because he could protect them? Who were those people in the vision they had? What did it all mean? Without these answers she could only rely on the cleric oath to keep this artifact safe even if it cost her life.

 They passed through the party and the guards, the temple desecrated with the goddess statues broken and destroyed, that yielded depressive and sarcastic comments from Shadowheart now that she felt more free to express her beliefs. A goblin was branding the followers with hot iron and turned to them with a certain enthusiasm. She called them "True Soul" and offered the brand - something that was immediately denied. Then a familiar sensation, darkness seems to swallow the temple, leaving them with a vision of the goblin priestess, receiving instruction from a handsome young man. One of the Chosen… The vision dissolves away. They stand before the goblin priestess in the temple once again, Calamity severed the connection abruptly, now she knew that this goblin also carried the parasite.

 She said something about shadows in her mind and offered to help.

"That’s a bit particular..."  Calamity replied.

"Of course we go to my chapel, where it is private, we don’t let others interfere in the dealings between us True Souls."

 They followed her to the place, the door was closed and the priestess called them closer.

"Ready to clear your mind?"

 Until that moment everyone thought that Calamity would make the stupid decision to trust this goblin, Astarion himself was rolling his eyes at the situation.

"Actually, I changed my mind..." Calamity smiled sweetly saying these words calmly and in the blink of an eye her hand moved and the goblin’s throat was cut. "I’m gonna kill you now."

 The priestess fell to the ground,blood gushed, and everyone was staring at the atrocious scene. And when she pulled that blade? The most disturbing was the smile she kept on her lips, a sweet and innocent smile that became disturbing in this situation. Astarion was perplexed by the way she hid her murderous intent, none of them realized, HE did not notice. 

 "True Souls, they’re infected like us but think they’re thinking talking to a god." she commented, rifling through the goblin’s body.

"Was this the intended destination for us? Blessed in ignorance to think we could talk to a God? What joke of bad taste..." He mocked angry in the end.

 When the priestess tadpole abandoned her body everyone was disgusted, but this power... her body moved on its own from the influence of the tadpole. Calamity just accepted it and kept the tadpole for now. She knew she should not trust this, should not accept, but at the same time, something within her wanted this power and desired more. Unfortunately they could not go very far after finding the secret passage, they began to feel some symptoms and preferred to take a rest at the camp. The heavy air, the sweat and the sore fingertips.

That was not good. 

 Lae'zel attacked Calamity by putting a dagger around her neck saying they were transforming. Everyone told her to put down the blade and stop it. Tempers began to flare, mixed with pain, fear, despair and distrust. Calamity’s head hurt again... she hated this atmosphere, this feeling. She was drowned in the same for many years and now everything could end up that way. No, she wouldn’t let me.

  She used the tadpole to spy on Lae'zel’s mind and felt the uncertainty and disgust. She used it to convince her that it was just a fever and that it would pass with a rest. 

"Gah, I don’t trust my own mind. So I think I should trust yours. I will wait. But know this I will be watching. If the sickness does not pass, come dawn... I will end us all." 

That threat was a beautiful knot in the stomach for everyone and that night was difficult. But then a figure appeared in her dreams... with the face of her brother.

 The dream visitor was wearing his face and said he was protecting her, this was a very low blow to her as she only trusted him briefly because of the face he was wearing. He promised that when she woke up she would be better and... really he did not lie. More questions hit her mind and when talking to all her companions the stories hit, same dream same message. 

 Unmasking Kagha was easy and quick, getting rid of the shadow druids was simple and with that they ensured the Grove as a safe point. Calamity talked to the druids about Halsin who had not yet found him, but did not believe he was dead . Her suspicions were that he would  be stuck somewhere in that lair since if they had killed a druid who could turn into a bear the least they could do was have his head was stuck on  a spear and displayed as a trophy. 

 Astarion remembered the scene from the previous day, the way she kept that same pleasant and calm expression while slicing the goblin’s throat. The slight smile drawn on her lips, the smile she was now using to be friendly to the druids and the tieflings... he was impressed how vile she could be and still maintain the appearance of "good girl". 

"We chose a wolf in sheep’s clothing as leader." He commented.

"I don’t think it’s bad, I even like this side of her is practical and makes people lower their guard easily." Shadowheart argued, watching her too. "And she doesn’t really seem like a bad person."

"No?" Astarion questioned.

"Look at her well." Gale said watching her talking to the children. "She saved that girl from Kagha, that boy from the harpies  and was being kind to the others Look into her eyes, see the compassion reflected in her and that’s something you can’t fake Astarion."

  Astarion said nothing more, really she had this compassionate look at that moment while interacting with the children and he became even more confused. How could a killer like her have such a side? Be so ruthless and at the same time so kind.

 The village seemed to have good resources and while exploring ordinary conversations became natural.

"So Calamity, do you have  some love waiting for you in the city?" Shadowheart asked humorously.

"I don’t have time for romance." It was an anticlimactic response for the group.

"Really? So who were you looking for?" Astarion asked curious. "It was impossible not to notice you scouring the rubble of the fall."

"I was looking for my twin brother, we separated before I was kidnapped, and maybe he was taken too, but after not finding him I think he was lucky not to have been taken."

"Or in the worst case, he is one of those ignorant people we meet." Astarion replied, hardly interested.

"Hope that’s not the case." Calamity warned. " My brother is as skilled as I am and much more brutal. Even I would have trouble facing him in a fight... and I would hate that." Her voice became a weaker tone and had a lot of regret, her feelings were clear. 

"It’s understandable, twin ties are often very strong I can only imagine how painful it must be for you to be in that position." Gale laid his hand on her shoulder and even though it was barely noticeable, Astarion saw the way she trembled even for a second in aversion to touch.

"Thank you, Gale, well let’s hope he’s had better luck."

Unfortunately not everything was quiet after all. A devil appeared, playing his game with rhymes of a poem and dragging them to a banquet hall.

"Great now I have a devil in my pocket? Continue with your rhymes and offerings, I will never accept." Calamity was firm in her words. 

"Still, I’ve a feeling you’ll change your mind before it’s changed for you. Try to cure yourself. Shop around - beg, borrow, and steal. Exhaust every possibility util none are left. And when hope has been whittled down to the very marrow of despair - that’s when you’ll come knocking on my door. Hope. Hahaha! Such a tease."

"Keep dreaming about it, no matter how much despair I’m in, even if it’s death before me, I’ll NEVER make a pact with you." The certainty she had in her words and in her eyes made everyone be impressed, even Raphael.

"Hahahaha, I’ve heard those words before and only one was true to them... hum."  He approached her and held her chin to better see her face. 

 The way Raphael looked at her, that he looked in the back of his eyes as if he were spying on his soul. Calamity pushed him in disgust.

"What an interesting twist."

"Are you done with your silly little game?" she mocked.

"I believe your words, but what if it was to save someone else? Your brother perhaps?" Calamity was losing patience to the point of moving her  hand to pull her sword.

 Astarion was faster and held her wrist.

"Are you crazy?! Think well before you act." He warned as he received an angry look from her.

" What a sad situation perhaps I should do a little favor."

"Leave him out of this devil! You made your offer and I denied it!"

"For now." Raphael, with a gesture, teleported them back to the village and the group looked in.

 Calamity was very upset, that devil quoted her brother and he was right... If it were for him, she would make a pact without hesitation.

"Now there’s a bloody devil trailing after us? This gets better and better." Astarion commented angrily.

 I think he wants something from us. Badly. " Gale commented thoughtfully and worried.

"Sure he does, but apparently he’s devoted special attention to our dear Calamity."

"No matter. We’ve dealt with every other oddity thrown at us lately - we can handle this one too. Now, as for this “Raphael”... He knows our secret, he claims he can help… what do you make of him?" Shadowheart asked.

"We don’t trust him, simple!" Calamity responded adamantly. 

"No doubts at all? Good. That’s what I wanted to hear. He’s clever, my order uses the same tactic when dealing with enemies of Shar. You don’t need a scourge or a rack to break people. Fear and self-doubt are sufficient. When actual pain comes, the victim’s already done the heavy lifting for their torturer. There were no right answers with that devil. He was toying with his food - us."

"I didn’t realise you were so… well-versed in mental and emotional torment. It’s a good thing to know."

"And it seems that you are very familiar with this, did not doubt and did not hesitate even though you lost the line by having your brother cited."

"What can I say, part of the trade. I just... Never mind, we need to focus on the current goal and prepare to kick a devil’s ass if we have to." 

 Back at the camp after an exhausting day, Raphael returned to Calamity’s mind. Her concern was turned to her brother but maybe Raphael is the least of the problems, two days... she had been missing for two days. What would they be doing with him now?

 Were they torturing him? Or worse? 

 The best chance is he’s chained up in his room... Shadowheart is right, fear and doubt is sufficient. She was too thoughtful even now in front of the fire listening to the conversation of her companions, her attention was not really there.

"So we’ve all talked a little bit about ourselves at least enough for this group to work." Astarion said looking at Calamity. "But our leader hasn’t said much yet Sorry darling, but I think it won’t hurt to say a little bit."

She stared at him but without any hostility and sighed.

"Well, what can I say? I’m an assassin in Baldur’s Gate... I’m part of the Assassin’s Guild, being more specific."

Astarion raised a puzzled eyebrow.

"Are you referring to the Assassin’s Guild of underworld city? The one that clashes with the Thieves Guild over business?" 

She agreed with a nod.

"Me and my brother... well they called us Black Dogs."

 Silence. 

 Astarion stared at her in shock, even he had heard of them. A pair of terrible assassins who accept any job, the nickname came on account of their unwavering loyalty to the Guild Masters. Without question, without hesitation, they did the work, and it was always so bloody that even the cultists of Bhaal were impressed.   

"You are very different than I imagined." Astarion broke the silence.

"I don’t appear to be someone with blind loyalty? Of course not, I was bound to be so. They recruited us when we were very young, we had no other option to survive and they took advantage of that. They trained us, tortured us, they no longer wanted subordinates with ambitions and opinions of their own." She laughed. "No... They wanted dogs that would obey any order without complaining or hesitating. And that would be happy with it, well that last part we learned to pretend very well. Funny, it was thanks to all this confusion I finally managed to think more clearly for myself after years... I ruined the night apparently, I’m going back to my tent." She got up and left.

 It was dark, she was back in that place, chained to the wall. She was facing the floor... what are they going to do with her?

"Hello little girl." A dark-haired elf entered the room and stood in front of her. " Look at me!" He ordered and she obeyed. "Much better, you know you’re going to be punished for letting that child escape, right?"

 Right, they were ordered to kill a noble family of the city... all of them without exception, but when she saw that crying child cowering in a corner felt pity and guilt, she helped that child escape.

"Can we get started?" A Drow entered the room dragging her twin brother with her.

"B-Brother? Wait! I WAS THE ONE WHO MADE THE MISTAKE! I SHOULD BE PUNISHED! PLEASE LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!" She pleaded, begged in tears.

"Oh my dear doll..." the elf bent down and held her face. "It wouldn’t be an effective punishment if I just beat you or tortured you, no...  it hurts you much more if he suffers." She was trembling in despair.

 The Drow chained the half-elf boy facing Calamity so that she would be able to see his face perfectly while he was tortured in her place.

"Caly, don’t worry, it’s okay." Her brother tried to comfort her, but then he screamed in pain as he felt  the flesh of his back being torn by Drow’s blade.

 The first cut was made slow and very precise.

"NO!" She fought, pulling the chains that bound her arms. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

 It did not help, the Drow continued cutting him slowly and agonizing. He screamed at every cut scratching his back while his sister was forced to watch and see his face in pain. 

"See? Your brother is suffering because YOU made a mistake! You are to blame for his suffering, every cut of his back is your fault!" The elf grabbed and pulled her hair, forcing her to keep her eyes on the scene.

"Brother... Carnifex... Carn... forgive me..." She cried his name as she watched the torture. "FORGIVE ME PLEASE!" 

 

Calamity woke up with a suffocating a scream. It was just a nightmare... a nightmare and a memory. 

 She wiped the sweat from her face and sighed heavily... hell. He may be suffering again that same way alone now, and it’s her fault... it’s always gonna be her fault. 

 "Carnifex my brother... You forgive me, don’t you?"

 She got up and left the tent. Looking around, it seemed that everyone was still sleeping. She walked quietly to the river near the camp and felt that near the shore, the water reflecting the night sky was a calm sight for a disturbed mind. 

 After that day that she watched her brother being tortured she never dared to have mercy on anyone... even if it was a child. 

 She was tired, but  didn’t feel like sleeping anymore, so she just took off her boots and put her feet in the water, it was cold but pleasant. Calamity hugged her knees and took advantage of the calm and cold sensation of the water against her skin. 

"Oh... I didn’t expect you to be awake." It was Astarion’s voice, but she didn’t move. 

 Astarion had gone hunting and decided to come down to the river to wipe his face that could be stained with blood. But he did not expect to find Calamity huddled by the river.

   Honestly, he didn’t know what to think about her, but he had thought a little about what she said. She was shaped to be someone without opinions or ambitions of her own, practically an object so to speak... it irritated him. Now seeing her shrunk there without saying anything, out of curiosity he approached her and saw her eyes full of tears.

"Are you crying...?" he asked, surprised.

"Me? Crying?" She hadn’t even noticed the tears running from her eyes. "Oh... It’s been years since I’ve cried."

 Shit... she looked so helpless. 

 The expression so sweet and sad, but her eyes were empty and cold as a doll... it could drive someone crazy. 

"Astarion... Are you a vampire?" He froze.

"Why the question, dear?" He was sweating cold.

"Well... I don’t see your reflection." She replied tone innocent, as she pointed to the water.

 Unbelievable, he was caught by such an oversight because he lowered his guard to this vulnerable face?! He had to agree with Shadowheart, Calamity had a knack for keeping people off guard.

"Don’t worry, I won’t kill you." She declared at last.

"Excuse me?" he continued, perplexed.

"I have no intention of killing you, Astarion." She stated again with the same empty look and innocent expression.

 He just laughed it off.

"Hahahaha, gods... you really are a figure, dear Calamity." He sat next to her. "What will you have in return?"

"Pardon?" she tilted her confused head.

"Well, you’ll lie secret in exchange for what?"

"Nothing."  She answered automatically.

 Shock again, impossible! She wanted something, everyone always wanted something!

"Don’t be shy, darling, I know you want something." He insisted.

"I don’t want anything." She replied again.

 He looked into her eyes and saw nothing, ulterior motives, malice, lies... nothing but emptiness.

"You..." He held her face and kept looking into her eyes.

 Was that it? She was broken?

"Do you really not want anything? Even after being free?" 

"I want to remain free, and I want my brother to be free too, I want nothing more than that." This could not even be seen as ambition. 

"Gods below... I really thought you’d have some ambition, apparently I’ll have to teach you to be a little more ambitious." Her eyes lit up with these words.

 She looked like an innocent puppy.

 Calamity leaned back a little from his touch and wet her hands in the water and then wiped his face.

"Your face was a little bloody." She explained quickly, and then she held his face gently. "I like the touch of your skin, it’s cold and pleasant like river water."

 Was she serious? Few would say that the skin of an undead is something pleasant, but her words were so genuine and innocent. What was that feeling? For some reason he wanted to take care of her, why?

Well that’s it! Thank you for reading the second chapter.

@spacebarbarianweird @spacesquidlings@thechaoticdruid @vixstarria

Who wants to be tagged in the next chapters please tell me in the comments.

[watchinghallmark]

Guess I'll be keeping my Hallmark + subscription after Christmas due to The Way Home news. Not sure what I think about it though. It will be tough for those who don't want to subscribe to another streaming service to avoid spoilers. I also hope Hallmark has another good series planned for later in 2025. With WCTH & The Way Home airing at the same time, two shows I really enjoy will be over after the first 12 weeks of the year. I'd rather they not air at the same time.

There's very little fandom for The Way Home so I don't think it'll be difficult to avoid spoilers for those waiting for the fall. On here, it's literally just me and a couple other people who post some gifs.

I would prefer it was staggered a bit too but I can see why they'd want to release TWH in January since that's when it has premiered for the last 2 seasons. We're also getting Ripple on Hallmark+ at some point. Not sure what the plan is for Hallmark Channel in the spring and summer. Maybe Ripple will make a quicker jump to main unless the plan is to leave that on H+ exclusively. Or The Chicken Sisters. We'll have to see. Maybe they'll put some new movies on Sundays too. It's been said that they're doubling their Christmas content for next year (unconfirmed officially) so maybe we'll get Christmas throughout the year.

Cable is dying and rapidly at that. Ratings for Hallmark are way down and it was one of the last networks hanging on to decent ratings. Everything is moving to streaming whether we like it or not. I understand the frustration but that's just how things are now. It's a new world to adjust to. Having several streaming services is cheaper than cable for most people. Maybe they have to pick and choose which ones they want and what fits into the budget but at least Hallmark+ has free gifts and rewards. What other streaming service is giving you money? I currently have $16 in rewards to use in the store. That's worth a couple free months of the service. You can send a free card that they'll mail every single month. That's basically worth the cost of the month when you factor in the price of a card and a stamp and you don't have to leave the house to do it. It's definitely worth it for me and I've really been enjoying the new content. But everyone has to make that choice for themselves. There's the Hoopla option for those it's available to but you don't get the perks that way (you also don't if you go through Amazon, etc. so make sure to sign up directly through Hallmark+). You can get H+ outside the US if you use PayPal and a VPN too.

[blam-marie]

Hey tumblr have a look at this scene and let me know what you think about it please thanks :)

IT’S NOTHING PERSONAL, Chapter 01

Tristan Jones stared out of the café windows at the cruise ship moored at the docks with the same unnerved trepidation he imagined straight people must feel, just before they married someone they would proceed to jokingly call ’the ball and chain’ in their wedding vows. He didn’t want to get on the ship. He was going to, and he had been reliably informed that he was expected to have a good time while on it, but he personally remained dubious that such a good time could be achieved.

For one, he would be far away from any means of repairing his electronics if they broke, and his electronics were his life-line. For two, the planned itinary of the ship was set to take him into several areas where he would be completely outside of signal range, which was worse. He hadn’t even known such areas still existed in this day and age of magically-boosted satellites and wizard wifi. For three, he was supposed to go on the cruise with Klaus Reed, of all people. Now, it wasn’t that Tristan had anything against Reed. He liked him well enough, had even worked together on occasion. But Reed was excited about the cruise, and a mismatch in attitude like that was always a pain to work around when you were trying to settle into a new cover identity.

Oh, right. There was also that: Tristan Jones wasn’t going on the Three-Months Dream All-Around Tropical Wonder Cruise as a vacation or anything of the sort. He was going on it as a spy working an undercover assignment against his will.

Think of it like a reward, his boss had told him, because he was an asshole. You’re my best agent, so you get the best assignment. In agency parlance, that meant: ‘you pissed me off somehow, but since you consistently bring in results, I’m not allowed to punish you. So I’m going to send you somewhere very scenic, for a mission that will be either mind-numbingly boring if you’re lucky, or extremely fucked up if you’re not.’ And since Tristan was an experienced agent, and he had a sense about these things, he could already tell that the second option was the most likely, even though he’d hadn’t even set foot on the godforsaken boat yet. He’d only needed one look at the mission brief to be able to tell.

According to the files he’d been given, half of the passengers of the cruise were set to board today, and another half at the next destination. Given the speed that the tickets had been sold, the lack of publicity for the cruise, and previously gathered data on some of the passengers, there was a high possibility that most if not all of the people about to board already knew each other, and may be involved in some manner of scheme. Unfortunately, what manner of scheme remained unclear, and it was one of the things that Tristan was here to uncover. With his luck, it might turn out to be anything from a terrorist plot to a weird sex cult.

Tristan scrunched his eyes shut and shuddered at that last thought. In the back of his mind he prayed to whatever deity oversaw spies (like all good spies, the god of them probably knew better than to let anyone know its identity, so he never put a name on his prayers and trusted that they reached the right godly department anyway) to not let him walk into a sex cult. Or at least not while partnered with Reed.

Once again, he didn’t have anything against the guy! And it’s not like Tristan was a prude or anything. He just… not with colleagues. Or other agents, even if they weren’t colleagues. Never again. That was a hard limit that he had set for himself years ago and he was going to hang on to it. It made his whole life so much less complicated.

Speaking of Reed, he sure was taking his sweet time. Tristan checked his watch. It was very fancy and very obviously a knock-off of an expensive brand, and would likely break down on him halfway through this mission. You’d think that would be annoying, but he knew that it was a feature, not a bug. Nobody thought that you were an undercover spy with military-grade equipment if your phone screen was cracked and your watch was a piece of shit. (That wasn’t the reason why he had been given it, though. The reason was that the hacks who worked down in Equipment hated him. It wasn’t his fault if they got offended when he returned his gear with obvious improvements in the softwares and hardwares. He wasn’t trying to insult them, he just needed shit to fiddle with on long boring stakeouts. He was a technomancer, of course he was going to mance the tech! What else did they expect?)

At T-minus-30 minutes to departure time, Reed still hadn’t shown up and Tristan was fidgeting with his undercover identity’s cellphone. He wasn’t actually supposed to turn it on until he’d boarded the ship, to reduce the risk that his movements before embarking could be retroactively tracked. But his partner was way beyond late now, and Tristan needed to know what the fuck was going on. Reed had been delayed, obviously, but Tristan didn’t think it was a catastrophic — or permanent — delay, or he would have received some signal to abandon mission and gtfo. So, what, was Reed just stuck in traffic? Did he slip on a banana peel and twist his ankle? Had he misread the briefing packet and was waiting in a completely different coffee shop? Tristan’s thumb hovered over the phone’s home button. He was just going to text him real quick using the café’s wifi, and then hack into the router to erase his tracks. With his skills, he was reasonably sure that no one but his partner would ever see that message.

The café’s door jingled. Tristan glanced up and away, reflexively, then froze. He slowly put his phone back down and shifted, ready to spring up from his chair. Right, so the mission was fucked-fucked. Good to know.

[purplesurveys]

1948

How have you been doing? Ball of nerves as ever, but it being 2:48 AM at the moment is helping. I'm usually at my happiest these hours of the day, because I feel like nothing can disturb my peace ever.

Anything you're looking forward to? My dad is coming home tomorrow! :) I'll also be catching RM's docu in the cinema twice this week – once with Reena, once on my own. I think I'll also be seeing Andi this weekend. Then next month, I'm seeing Seventeen for the second time!

Do you or anyone you know play the violin? I know JM's sister was taking lessons when we were still often in touch, but idk if she's kept at it.

Do you have a nice view out of the closest window? I wouldn't call it nice – it's just an ordinary view as it's the neighbor's house.

What is one of your favorite breakup songs? Speaking directly from experience, I listened to Hayley Williams' Why We Ever nonstop when everything was still fresh. There was nothing ahead of me but pain and anguish, and that song was just the precise outlet I needed at a time when I had no other agenda but to cry and keep crying.

Thennnnn when I was taking the steps to want to start feeling better, I found that Hayley's Dead Horse and The All American Rejects' Gives You Hell helped a lot.

Do you know anyone named Georgia or George? No but I know a Georgina.

What age did you learn how to ride a bike? I never learned how to, lol. I cannot balance myself on two wheels even if my life depended on it...which is ridiculous because I like roller skating and ice skating.

Are you currently listening to music or watching TV? Yeah I'm listening to some music while doing this.

What is your morning routine? The first thing I usually do after checking the time is to open Reddit to check if there's any breaking news I should know about. Once I'm done checking my feed, I go to either Facebook or IG to watch Reels to put me in a lighter mood before having to get up.

Between 8:30-8:55 (it depends how lazy I am that morning lol) I'll get up so I can take a shower, let the dogs out to pee and play with them a little bit, make my coffee, then it's off to work I go until 6 PM.

Are you someone who gets easily agitated by hearing someone chewing? Tbh no. There are other sounds I find much more annoying.

What was the last text you sent? I was asking Angela if she knew any spots in our area that's open til late so I can pick up a meal – at the time, I had on-ground work til 12 MN and was feeling like rewarding myself with food. But yeah where we live most places close like 9 PM or 10 PM so I wanted to see if there's any option where I can grab a bite past midnight.

What did you last have to eat? Pizza and nachos at the KTV bar we were at earlier.

What's your favorite kind of oatmeal/porridge? Pass to oatmeal. I had that every single morning from the ages of 4 to 9 and told myself I'd never have another single solitary spoon of oatmeal ever again. I've kept to that promise the last 17 years and plan to keep it up hahaha.

Have you ever ate a whole pizza in one sitting? I've ordered a box of pizza all to myself but I have never finished the entire thing in one go. That sounds kinda gross lmao like imagine how much your face would grease up? :((

What are some things you are grateful for? Having a home; and beyond having a home, living in a home that has remained consistently safe from typhoons. Having a job, and one that pays well enough for me not to worry about going hungry or going broke (unless I get into a medical emergency, but that's a different story). Speaking of health – I'm also grateful for my immune system. I'm generally very healthy and am not vulnerable to illnesses, not even cough or colds. Having access to quality education all my life. Having a car and never having to think of commuting. Having clothes. Having access to clean water and electricity. Never had to resort to being a breadwinner. Christ there's so many things I enjoy on a daily basis that others need to work 10x as hard for, and it's both frustratingly unfair and a reminder to be grateful everyday.

What's the last thing you done while outside? *Did. Well I was at Makati for work today, and a quick synopsis of the work needed to be done was that we were at a karaoke bar and had to ask patrons if they wanted to join this singing contest that one of my brands is currently holding lol. We needed to hit a quota of 15 so we were there from 8 PM to 12 MN looking for interested parties.

How often do you do laundry? Twice a week.

Have you already had your birthday this year? Yeah, it was 8 months ago. HOLY SHIT it's December? I'll be 27 in 4 months??????????

Last thing you done before this survey? *Did. Played with the pets.

Do you like sleeping with multiple pillows? Yes, I need two to sleep comfortably. 

How many candles do you have in your bedroom? I don't have any. In theory, having scented candles would be nice, and I did try having them around for a certain period of time; but I've had a lifelong fear of fire so candles and I were never meant to be a match, hahaha.

What emojis have you used the most here recently? Eh just the ordinary :)

What color is your favorite shirt? My current favorite shirt is white. It has purple text in front and some super vibrant and colorful graphics at the back.

Do you currently smell food cooking? Nope.

If you were given $1,000 to spend at one store. What's your store of choice? Nike.

How much sugar do you consume on a daily basis? Not much. I barely eat as it is but I also don't like sweets, so.

Do you have any ice cream in your freezer? I don't think so.

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "chaos"? Politics.

Do you own anything that has an animated character on it? Sure.

Have you used a microwave today? Yes, I've used it to heat up my breakfast + Max's food.

What's the last book you read? I can't remember which one but it was definitely one of my Ambeth Ocampo books.

What's something that always makes you cringe? K-pop fancalls. I cringe at all of them, even the non-problematic, wholesome ones. It's a Me Thing, I guess lmao, but I just have a hard time visualizing the idea of getting to interact with your actual favorite celebrity. I know I'd run the fuck away if I hypothetically had the opportunity to talk to BTS HAHAHAHAHA let me admire you from a distance!!!

What's a word or phrase you say a lot? "What the fuck" and variations of it "what the f" "what the freak" "bruh what" "what the heckity" "dafuck" hahahaha

What's something that always makes you emotional? Jungkook's reaction to the Love Letters fan song. Literally have never watched that segment without me crying along, especially during the part where he finally breaks.

How many times have you changed clothes today? Just once.

What's on your mind currently? Well now I'm thinking about the Jungkook video because I talked about it, haha. I'll probably watch it again (and cry again) after posting this.

In what ways have you changed over the past year? I'm...idk. A lot more jaded, deflated, pessimistic? I've run out of fucks to give, too. I've grown apart from my teammates because I feel they don't like me; and after a year of trying to be close to them and those efforts being unreciprocated, I've stopped caring whatsoever. At least I can tell myself I tried. In short, being a director sucks and has stripped me of emotions. I hate that.

Do you really care about others opinions of you? ^ Clearly, no.

What's your favorite pasta? Fettuccine.

Do you currently see anything yellow? Yes.

What did you last try to do and failed? Not get scratched by Max.

Does your bathroom have a certain theme or color scheme? Not really.

If you have Netflix or any streaming service... what's your favorite shows to stream? Friends.

Are you currently wearing anything red? Nopes.

What was the last thing that caught your eye while shopping? This cute cheetah print bag. Maggie's Christmas wishlist was anything with cheetah print so I went ahead and got it.

What's a social media site you have no interest in? Threads.

Have you ever tripped and fallen in a public place? Sure.

When did you last buy a dairy product? Friday.

What's the last song you sang out loud? Ikaw Lamang by Silent Sanctuary.

[letsplaydcttrpg]

@aducknamedalfred very reasonably asked what happened to Harry Black after he fell into the river and we got side tracked by other things.

The answer is... Nothing. As far as I can find, he's not mentioned again in the module.

This is probably just be an oversight (there are definitely some errors, including a whole section with the wrong number header). Obviously realistically that fall is probably lethal, but we would have survived it per the rules given, and we're operating on Comic Book Physics where falling into water is less dangerous and usually implies people live (even if that's very much not true to life), so I think it's fair to assume he took a beating but survived to soggily crawl home with a headache and a lesson in not picking fights with vigilantes.

I say I think that's fair because I think it's in keeping with the spirit of the game. I'm going to ramble a little about combat rules!

DC Heroes is fundamentally intended to be played as a hero. As such, the default mode for encounters is non-lethal combat (called Bashing Combat). There is an option for Killing Combat, but it must be declared beforehand and if you initiate it as a player you lose all of your Hero Points, the currency with which you buy new abilities, new gear, and buff your stats during gameplay. You can retaliate with lethal force if a villain starts it, but you get a bonus reward if you keep it non-lethal.

The GM manual specifically advises that while you should not be afraid to put your heroes in danger, the point should never be to actually kill them. Villains should have other plans, or elaborate traps or schemes the heroes can at least hypothetically escape. Death is possible, especially if players make very bad choices, but it shouldn't be the goal.

It's an interesting contrast to a lot of games where lethal combat is the assumed default!

[psycheetamore]

Choosing to follow destiny

Chapter 9 - Improvise, adapt, overcome

Pre notes with this chapter: Feyd-Rautha has been in reactive mode most of the time. Let's give him a more active role, doing what he does best: hunting. First published on AO3

Tags: MDNI, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen Is His Own Warning, the typical Feyd tags (smut, violance, non-con/rape etc), imaginary suicide, see for full tags: chapter 1 - the author regrets nothing

Word count: 2k

Link to previous chapter

+++

Feyd-Rautha decided he needed to set a trap. He needed to find Paul Atreides. He also wanted to find the person that was starting to occupy part of his brain.

By now they would be expecting him to pop up at their raids, so taking that route no longer was an option. He needed to find a way how he could surprise them. Meet them at their place where they laid their heads to rest before and after their attacks. He wanted to do to them what they had done upon him.

He realised their stings followed his crawlers. They would position themselves at the locations where his machines were planned to go. They fled by foot, showing that they could not go for away.

His guards never made a priority to follow them. Rather, their priorities were with securing the harvesters and the spice already collected. He would change that priority. Hunt them down to where they fled.

But thinking that through, they would never stay where his men followed them to. And he would never be on time to find them off guard.

What other options were left?

He decided: if he could not follow them, he needed to join them. There were risks. Risks only made the reward more pleasurable. He was already enjoying the prospect.

+++

It took a while before a Fremen stillsuit was located that fitted Feyd-Rautha's muscular and tall frame. He could cover his face and hands in cloths, a mask and dirt to prevent his pale skin from showing. A large enough quantity of locally forged weapons was available to suit his preferences.

+++

While the raid was ongoing, he made sure two of his guards killed one of the fighters, to prevent a higher number of people retreating than were present at the start of the Fremen assault. To add to the conviction that he was one of the Fremen, he then killed these two guards while ensuring he was being seen.

He was surrounded by fighting Fremen. It was an impressive sight to behold. Both individually and forming part of a group each of them was well trained. Everybody knew their role, and was sufficiently flexible in manouvering to another role if necessary. They were excellent warriors, and well prepared.

It did not take long before the group dispersed. He had managed to identify the leader of this surge, and followed the relatively large portion of fighters joining them.

He was surprised with how long the group walked. Several hours past. Fortunately, nobody spoke. Nobody walked near each other. On some stretches people walked with a distinct movement to prevent calling worms, something he only read in books.

By the time the desert was dark, they reached their hiding place. He kept track of the stars and moons to have a general feeling of where they went and where Arrakeen was located. Probably he was already outside of the reach of the tracking device he had through which he could call for his ride back.

About 10 people were sitting outside of the cave structure, and another 20 were inside. Clearly this was a grouping station, from which several attacks were organised.

His heart started racing, followed by controlled breathing to get himself to calm down again. Most of the warriors had ditched the coverings of their face, but enough did not, allowing him to only partially uncover his face. In the cave it was dark enough that the soil he had put on his face hid the paleness from his skin. The only thing he needed to do was observe from a safe distance, and avoid any interactions until the only noise in the cave was the slight snoring of his new comrades.

+++

After the post-mortem of their stints, Paul, Yaina and Bakyi spoke some words of encouragement to their warriors. They spoke in Chakobsa, which Feyd-Rautha had a basic level of proficiency in.

"You fought well today. With the fearlessness of a lion, the ferocity of a hyena and the precision of a hawk."

A subtle nudge towards the symbol of the house of Atreides. From the dark corner he had retired to, Feyd-Rautha asked himself whether that was Paul speaking. He has already concluded that the person speaking was the uninvited guest that had spoken to him. The sounds of his voice was all too familiar, and the piercing eyes removed any doubt he may have. Now he could see his full face, the resemblance from a family portrait stashed in the library of the palace became uncanny. He noticed the movements of a trained fighter. Paul was electrifying. Paul commanded the room. Feyd-Rautha was impressed.

It was Paul's father, Paul's family, that was murdered in cold blood in the very rooms were Feyd-Rautha now resided. That have caused pain, and still cause pain, to Paul. Good, Feyd-Rautha thought. That would give Paul an edge when combatting him; he liked a challenge.

The fighters slammed the palms of their hands on their stillsuits. Feyd-Rautha could do nothing but join. He felt part of the group, it was exhilerating.

Another person continued, causing Fremen to hurdle closer to the centre of the main cave: "We took losses, but the Harkonnen pests took more. We have noticed their approaches are changing every day since the Beast was ousted. But we are seeing new patterns of repetition."

These observations were made by the person he spoke to recently, the person he managed to find in the rocks. Now he could see their face as well. The face was nothing like he what he had expected. He was not looking at a Fremen native. The face he saw was androgynous. Sharpe features, yet soft. Years of adversity showed, but did not hid any determination. Easy to look at. When recalling the uninvited visit, he could now also picture faces.

It appeared at least two of their leaders were not Fremen. Good to know, their acceptance of otherworldly people could provide opportunities.

He joined at an excellent moment, as he was gaining a lot of information on how to improve spice harvesting. The second person spoke for a long time and shared the observations they made, and effects it would have on future strikes. This person had a book in their hand from which they every now and then spoke. That book must contain their battle plans and so much more. He needed to get his hands on that book.

By the end of the monologue, the Fremen slammed their palms on their stillsuits again and shouted: "Yaina Sadus, Yaina Sadus, Yaina Sadus". By the third time, Feyd-Rautha had joined the chanting.

+++

During the few hours to follow, Feyd-Rautha kept to himself. Once the group was asleep, he silently stalked around looking for his prey.

Yaina was the person who frisked him, who spoke with him, who saved him. Yaina was the person who truly commanded the room. The person that set out the strategy. Yes, Paul was still alive, but if he could choose, he would want to approach and awe Yaina. The bigger target. This would have more impact.

It took a while in the maze consisting of caves and hallways, and with a few guarding Fremen here and there, before he found Yaina sleeping.

They were alone.

He looked around in a nearly empty cave. Yaina slept on the ground, covered by the cloths that they had worn during the fight. Above their head were a couple of daggers. The stillsuit was thrown in a corner, together with a backpack. Apart from that, the cave was empty.

He wanted to straddle the sleeping person, put his hand on their mouth and a knife to their neck. Force them on their knees. Have them experience the humiliation he encountered. However, he considered that he did not really have an exit strategy. He did not know the layout of the cave, he did not know how to get out quickly. An important information gap compared to the 30 fighters that were ready to charge at any moment.

It was a safe bet that the backpack would hold the notebook he needed. He now gained knowledge on where they slept. With everything he already gained, including the contents from the backpack, the moment to leave had arrived.

+++

It took about another hour to leave the cave and venture into territories where his tracking device had connection again. Within another 15 minutes he was collected and flying on his way back.

+++

Within a few hours after Feyd-Rautha reached the comfort of his chambers, Yaina had turned the cave upside down. She was very careful with her backpack. It contained strategic information. It held the few items that could give away her gender. Most importantly, if the last thing that connected her to her parents and her origins was included therein: her golden ring.

Despite all her efforts, the backpack was nowhere to be found. It was a mystery. She could not decide whether she made a mistake of displacing it somewhere in the maze made of up caves and paths, or whether someone took it. But everywhere where she looked, every person she scrutinized: her backpack was not to be found.

She had no leads to go on, no basis for a hypothesis. It bugged the hell out of her, even more than her feeling that she could have sworn the number of people still in the cave compared to the people in yesterday evening was off. However, she, Paul and Bakyi did not come up with any names of people who were missing, other than the comrades that fell yesterday.

+++

Despite an intense day and night, Feyd-Rautha could only capture sleep when the light of the morning was already slipping through the cracks of the blinds. The bag he stole presented the cherry on top of the pie he got yesterday. The briefing he heard yesterday only gave a hint of the breadth of all the written information he obtained. He had observations on Harkonnen tactics and machines, high level overviews of the active Fremen squads, nicknames of quite a few fighters, plans about attacks, potential counter attacks and counter-counter attacks. This was a gold-mine.

However, he really got worked up about the personal belongings he found in the bag. He found typical Fremen clothing, but also what he recognised to be a breast band, underwear suited for females, thin rags and a golden ring.

He felt delighted, as his fingers caressed the soft materials.

Yaina was a woman, there was no doubt about it. She wore these items. They smelled like her. Her natural scent, not the smell of otherworldly luxurious elixirs his clothes were manipulated with. He closed his eyes and savoured the scent of desert summer from her clothing.

He held the ring in his fingers. It was beautifully made, with carvings that reflected the sea. The bottom side of the ring was flat, while the upper part was flowy. Another ring could be put on the top to come to a complete ring. There was an inscription inside in a language that he could not decipher, or perhaps they were symbols he did not know. The ring was held in a little bag and was well polished. It had importance. He tried to put the ring on his smallest finger, but it would only pass the first knuckle.

He tried to think how this ring would look on the soft yet cold fingers of Yaina. Never had he experienced a woman like this. They were servants or Bene Gesserit witches. The latter may have been appealing, but off limits and not really human. The former broken into compliance and therefore without true appeal to start off with.

He now understood that he needed to find a woman to soothe his soul.

He had never been so close - so fucking close - to finding a woman who truly fascinated him, yet never felt so distant.

He was not waiting patiently. He would make her his.

+++

Link to next chapter

Post notes with this chapter: I can't help myself. I just needed to add a few little references here and there to Depeche Mode (well... it’s a bit more than just references to It's No Good and Soothe My Soul) and Peaky Blinders.

[paceplace]

while im obv glad that the plushies exist and i wouldve bought them w/o the goals in place i still can't help but be a little disappointed in how they went about the stretch goals even if i Get why they did it this way this time around

like, dont get me wrong: i def acknowledge the fact that they weren't expecting buck sales to blow up the way they did and they were likely under pressure to come up with rewards that were better than the ones they already came up with AND make milestones that, while difficult to reach they were not entirely unrealistic (remember: the original milestones for the campaign were 200/300/350/400/500 all of which were met within 21 minutes of release and when we surpassed that the new goals were 1000/1500/2000 because we hit 1k sales within 5 hours of release. these are some pretty insane numbers for a character from a fan project) they def had their work cut out for them back then and so to prevent putting too much on their plates again they gave out less rewards/bigger milestones.

this is something i'm completely fine with as, above all else, i'd rather the people on the team not overexert themselves. my issue is they made the milestones too big and haven't rly said anything about it. i reckon they assumed that people would buy flint + graham due to their popularity, but overlooked the considerable amount of people who could only afford to get one as well people who just... can't get them at all whether it's due to the cost or them living in unsafe/unsupportive environments (the pride capes arent optional). if i were to be in charge behind setting the milestones w/ these factors in mind i would've adjusted the numbers so that it would've been 750/1500/2250/3000 -- decently challenging, yet still manageable.

where we're at rn it took us 27 days to reach 2k sales and by the looks of it we're probably not going to reach 2.5k. i don't know if they're going to address the fact they overshot their goals, or give out one or both of the rewards as pity, or do either of those things but even so i would hope this wouldn't discourage them from launching similar campaigns of other characters and that the outcome of this campaign will be used to help them plan out better milestones-- people have been vocal about their support + safety concerns for this campaign and some have even donated to the trevor project themselves. i'm happy that these plushies are real, i look forward to when they come home, but at the same time can't help but feel some level disappointment since the bar was set too high to begin with and no matter how you twist it getting a nameplate and a few stickers out of it is pretty underwhelming

[manonamora-if]

Project Status and Plans

All projects and their relevant links are listed here or here.

2023 Resolutions:

Get things off my desk and shelf it for good.

Avoid starting new ones, or at least starting new WIPs

Continue to do Word Crimes (and maybe Code Crimes)

Under the break:

Project Status and Current To-Do's

Future Projects

/ . /

Project Status and Current To-Do's:

Meeting the Parents

Remaster Completed - Maintenance when needed

Crimson Rose & White Lily

Hiatus - Correct bugs - Redesign the Codexes - Complete Scene 5 (and Scene 2 variations?)

Exquisite Cadaver

Hiatus - Fix UI - QoL update of textbox and translated text - Add missing scenes and Endings - Fix Endless Mode - Look into French localization (unlikely) - Fix the blog

SPS Iron Hammer

Complete Future: remaster with complete story and gameplay

The Thick Table Tavern

Complete - Update Planned - Fix UI (look into mobile scaling) - Fix coding bugs (esp. Arcade Mode) - Re-writes of current text - Add missing storylets - Include recurring characters

The Trials and Tribulations of Edward Harcourt

Work In Progress - dependent on writer - Complete next round of edit and code - Package as a completed product

La Petite Mort

Completed - Update in the Works - Fix UI - Add missing rooms, content and endings - Correct the Inventory Mechanic - Fix display of elements - Translate into English

Goncharov Escapes!

Remaster Completed - Maintenance when needed

P-Rix - Space Trucker

Hiatus - Fix animations (esp text) and autoscrolling - Add the missing content - Look into French localization

DOL-OS

Remaster Completed - Maintenance when needed

The Rye in the Dark City

Hiatus - Fix UI - Double check Act 1 and fix errors - Add Act 2 and 3

The Roads not Taken

Complete - Update Planned - Iron-out the UI + display element - Fix parser gameplay (esp direction) - Add missing element/actions - Look into French localization

Entre-d’œufs coquilles An Eggscellent Preparation

Complete - Update Planned - Fix current bugs and issues (wrong text display and main puzzle) - Retranslate to French - Repackage into one page - Upload to IF Archive + GitHub

The Dinner

Complete - Update Planned - Complete missing courses and Final Beat - Add alternative options + rewind endings - Look into French localization

Templates and Guides

Work In Progress - unlikely to be complete - SugarCube Guide: add missing APIs, commonly used blocks of code, functionality, UI changes, JavaScript code; fix some small errors, add SGDocu theme - Templates: make more for fun; planned: title page. Also add the missing pictures of the templates on itch.

Complete - nothing will change here - Tweego Guide - CScript to SugarCube Guide

Tiny Games

Le Jeu de la Dévotion: fix the typos + English translation

À La Campagne

Collision

Intersigne

Clarence Street, 14

Other To-Do's

Prompts: put them in separate collection

Empty Inbox

Re-design itch pages: consistent style between main games

Re-format Tumblr intro posts: consistent style between posts

Continue to Host Jams

Continue to Play and Review Games

Take care of those damn wrists and hands.

Future Projects

Those projects are TBD in everything. They would probably start then the above To-Do has decreased. The titles are WIP titles. This is not the complete list I have hidden in a drawer or other desk bunnies. They might not be Twine games, or IF games either...

Quest Town

A RPG-style adventure, where you play as a beginner adventurer on the road to greatness and treasure. Along the way, you encounter people needing your help, with promise of rewards in return.

This would include a leveling system, inventory system, combat gameplay, travelling back and forth between location, storylets...

Project Status: Not Started

IFComp/SpringThing 2024-5?

A puzzle-focus escape-room, in hypertext/visually interactive form. Multiple rooms with different puzzle and interconnectedness. Story with mystery.

I technically have a title for it, and the pun is still making me giggle. But keeping this in my sleeve.

Project Status: Mock-up, some puzzles coded.

CRWL Side-quel

A Razac-focused story, either as a prequel, during the event of the games, sequel, or plain alternate universe. Mainly because I've been playing him in a TTRPG session and he's a fun character I want to explore further.

Project Status: Not Started

Sword Vigilante F/F Rivalry

Because there are not enough of those, and I can just go all in with the humour, camp, gushing, innuendos and puns, and of course... betraaaaayyyaals. Think Zorro but with more sword ladies.

Project Status: Not Started

TTTT Sequel - Bron(m?)'s Quest

Essentially a similar gameplay from TTTT but with food instead of drinks. Help Brom(n?) prepare food for the customers.

Project Status: Not Started

[happyhealthycats]

I'm bringing home a pair of 4 month old kittens on Wednesday (21/2) and I'm so nervous.

I think I've got everything they need; shallow bowls to avoid whisker fatigue, litter boxes with removable hoods, roomy carriers, three different types of scratcher, puzzle feeders, quick release collars, *so many* toys, beds and blankets.

But I still feel so unprepared. This'll be the first time I've been solely responsible for anyone and I'm so scared I'll mess up. I want these boys to be the happiest, most well-taken-care-of cats in the world, but I struggle to take care of myself as it is and I'm terrified I'll hurt or neglect them unintentionally.

I'm sorry for rambling but basically what I want to ask is, is there anything I've forgotten for them? Is there any important advice you can think of?

First thing's first - Take a minute to relax! I know it's easier said than done, but you're doing a GREAT thing by bringing two cats into your home. It's a big step, sure, but it's very rewarding! Keep this in mind - Every single cat is unique with different needs. You can buy every single toy on the wall and bring home the one cat that will absolutely not touch any of the types of toys you got them. When they first get home, their job is to grow confident in their new surroundings and be there for each other, and to continue to eat and to their business and other healthy cat-behaviors. It's also time for them to learn the rules of the home, right? I don't mean actual rules, but think about it - "Why is the human going to bed? Why are they staying here instead of going home after turning off the lights?" They have to get used to a whole new way of life, and it can be stressful! So this is why a lot of folks warn about cats being skittish/shy/scared right after coming home. Some cats go on litter box strikes. Some go on food strikes. It's all part of getting to know each other. So following that idea, you want to learn about your new friends! Watch them play, watch them interact. Give them a variety of options so you can see what they prefer, and it already sounds like you've got that covered! You may find that the cats don't like the litter you picked out, or the food you got. It's important not to see it as a failure, but as a learning experience. I WILL give you some basic advice that I wish more folks would give - have an emergency plan in case someone gets sick or eats something they're not supposed to. Know your emergency vet number - or put it on your fridge. You don't need to have a stack of cash, things like Care Credit exist for this very reason, but don't put off thinking about 'what if's when you're in a good headspace to do so. This would be a good time to look into pet insurance, and honestly I'd say it's worth checking out as an option if it's something you can swing financially. Get some blood work on their files at the vet as soon as you're able, just so you have a baseline to refer to in the future. Find your veterinarian now if you haven't already! Shelter vets and rescue vets are fantastic and do amazing work, but you want the vet who will continue seeing the animal into the future to get more familiar with your pet sooner rather than later. Vets can also have great resources for you at a new pet appointment. All in all, watch and learn from each other and you're going to give those cats the very best life they could have possibly hoped for.