#took me a LONG time to find a good quality full version of this

[dunmeshistash]

Dungeon Meshi Adventurer's Bible - Dungeon cross section

Details under the cut

Details cropped from this reddit post

[inaconstantstateofchange]

Who Builds Theseus' Ship?

This ties in to a greater discussion about Larian's changes to the game post-Full Release, and whether you consider those changes to be a good thing or a bad thing. Personally speaking, the quality-of-life and gameplay mechanics improvements were appreciated, while the direct changes to characters and especially characterization were not so much.

In such discussions, I often see people downplaying the actual changes to characterization that have been made thus far as "minor" things, but I often see one of the most glaring examples of a characterization change left out, because so many people aren't even aware of it ever happening:

Halsin.

For those who don't know, if you were romancing Halsin at the time of the original full release, and for almost four months afterward, if you took him with you to Act 3's orgy scene in Sharess's Caress, he would open up about a situation in his distant past. He would tell you about how he had briefly been "something between guest, prisoner, and consort" in a drow House, and been kept there for three years before escaping.

He stated that this was something that happened "a long time ago", when he was "a foolhardy young druid", which would mean it would likely have been between ages 100 and 245 — or at minimum 105 years ago, and at (likely) maximum 250 years ago. He closed the discussion with a line that really struck me, and that gave me such an appreciation for his character, and for the writers who had created it:

The passage of time has a strange way of polishing even the most arduous of memories into precious keepsakes.

As someone in their late-20s, with a number of traumatic events in my past, this resonated so much both with my experience of those events – once harrowing and haunting, now just simple happenings that do not affect me the way they once did – and as an inspirational message, that hurt would not necessarily linger forever.

Not only that, I really valued the insight it gave into Halsin's personality, further showing him to be someone who was deeply complex and meditative, always looking for meaning and something to take away or learn from any experience. It also served to showcase the likely reality of the relationship elves and druids both would have to the concepts of time and memory. (Another example of this is the experience of Shadowheart's father compared to her mother at the hands of the Sharrans.)

I started playing the game almost immediately upon its release in August, and was intrigued by Halsin from the start. He was someone who was kind and heartfelt, but also very settled in himself and with a simultaneously rigid and very flexible moral code. It was that complexity that drew me to him, and I appreciated the inclusion of a character distinct from the Origin companions, all at close to the lowest point of their lives.

It was to my surprise to find that this appreciation for his character and perspective on his Act 3 revelation was not unanimous. As it turned out, there was a vocal group of people claiming that this writing was problematic, and that Halsin clearly didn't even realize he was actually traumatized, and that Larian needed to fix it. Not everyone joining in with this crusade had even played the game.

And, ultimately, in a pattern they have continued to follow, Larian responded. They fixed it. At the end of November, as part of Patch 5, they uploaded an edited version of the scene with new dialogue, where the player could express this "reality" to Halsin, in one of the most gallingly patronizing statements I've ever seen.

Sounds traumatic. You may need to reflect on that.

(If someone said this to me after I had opened up to them about my trauma and my experience of it to them, we would not be maintaining a cordial relationship afterward.)

Halsin's new response to these dialogue options is a cringing, self-deprecating cascade of how the player is of course right, and he should have known better, and time could "prove to be a trickster on one's recollections" and that perhaps he had "lost perspective".

Quite frankly, it is a completely different character answering, and an almost directly opposing overall message about the role of time in healing, and the path forward when it comes to trauma. No more "one day these events will not hurt to recall the way they do now". In its stead: "only healing that looks a specific way and follows a specific path is acceptable - anything else and you are simply a poor fool lying to yourself."

The following quote is from a comment left on a video of Halsin's original dialogue in that scene, before the changes, and is just one example of how much that representation meant to more than just me to see:

That said, Halsin is trauma recovery goals for me absolutely. Being able to remember without actually being triggered? Being able to fully and freely engage HOW ID LIKE TO instead of being fettered by trauma responses? Goals. I don’t know if I’ll ever get there 100%, we don’t get elven lifetimes irl, but his level of healing brings me hope.

Ultimately, this post is not meant to argue that you should agree with me that one is better than the other. More so, I want to highlight that this existed — for many people, this was their experience of events and characters, and that is not so easily redacted. And I also want to just state, for the record, that Larian's way of approaching narrative and characterization changes to their full-release game has been incredibly frustrating. I did not agree, in August, to play an Early Access game with the inherent understanding that any potential narrative aspect might change at any time. I purchased a full-release game, and immersed myself in the story and the characters, to get to know them as the writers had originally presented.

And when Larian makes these changes based on fan feedback, they are explicitly making decisions about which fans matter, and specifically, which fans matter most. Rather than allowing everyone to experience the story they decided to tell, and draw from it what they take away, and let that spark discussion and engagement, they made the decision to defer to some fans over others, and prioritize their experience of the narrative — something that, no matter how well-intended, is always going to leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

[takerfoxx]

random thing, but I find it hillarious that Sayaka's two methos of flirting are "Spend quality time with them over a lengthy period of time" or "Die tragically in front of their eyes after knowing them for three days", and it was the latter that worked

Honestly, it was probably longer than just three days, but if I can take your silly concept seriously, there is something to be said why Sayaka/Kyousuke didn't work, but Sayaka/Kyoko did.

And that is that Sayaka and Kyousuke just really took each other for granted.

Like, Sayaka had grown up with Kyousuke. They've always been together, so she just sort of assumed that they were meant to be. After all, she was by his side through his recovery, always was there for him, so of course they were fated to get together. It never even occurred to her that she might have a rival for his affections.

As for Kyousuke, his focus was on his dream, and how he had suddenly lost it. Yes, he cared about Sayaka and yes he appreciated how she had looked after him, but to him, that was just his good friend being a good friend. His attention was elsewhere.

Meanwhile, whether it be wanting to take her out for being a dumbass rookie who dared stand where Mami stood, or trying desperately to save her life once she had snapped back to her senses, Kyoko was nothing but focused on Sayaka. She took every step of their relationship completely seriously no matter how things were between them. Whether her motivations were heroic or selfish, there was no doubt that Sayaka had Kyoko's full attention, even when Sayaka was so wrapped up in her own turmoil to notice.

But to make it kind of silly again, it was probably all kinds of hilarious when, after Sayaka had become an archangel and could see the whole picture, how it must have finally hit her that Kyoko had feelings for her. Like...

Sayaka: Damn, Madoka. You wanted a secret admirer for so long, and it turns out that you had the single most extra admirer in history! Girl was down bad!

Madoka: Well, so did you! I mean, Kyoko did lay down her life for you in the last timeline. That's pretty...extra, isn't it?

Sayaka: I guess you're right. Huh. That scruffy mutt turned out to be pretty all right after all.

Madoka: ...

Sayaka: Wait, what are you implying?!

...

Sayaka: No way. No way does Kyoko have a crush on me. No way.

Madoka: W-Well, I can see all of the timelines that Homura went through, and it does seem like it.

Sayaka: But why her? I spent so much effort on winning Kyousuke's heart, only to pull...her?

Madoka: What's wrong with Kyoko? I mean, she's strong, she's smart, she's really funny, and she's really pretty as well.

Sayaka: But she's a girl! I mean, okay, Homura's the single gayest person I have ever met, and that's fine! Um, and if you are too, that's okay! But I'm me! I like boys, not girls!

Madoka, who's known Sayaka their whole life: Er, Sayaka? Are you sure?

Sayaka: ...

Sayaka: Fuck.

Madoka: Well, it's not-

Sayaka: Why couldn't it have been Mami?!

...

Sayaka: I should go down there. Just, you know, to look after her.

Madoka: You like her.

Sayaka: It's not that! It's just...she did sort of die for me. I mean, it was another version of her, but even so. That kind of means something, right?

Nagisa: Just admit that you like her.

Sayaka: Stay out of this, new girl! No one asked you!

...

Madoka: ...and that's my plan to save Homura!

Nagisa: Will there be cheese?

Madoka: I mean, probably?

Nagisa: I'm in.

Sayaka: So, just so we're clear, you want Nagi and I to follow you into this fake Mitakihara City, where we will pose as ourselves as we keep an eye on Homura to figure out what's going on?

Madoka: Right.

Sayaka: And several other people that we all know and care about have already been lured into this labyrinth.

Madoka: Yes! Like my family, and Hitomi! And Kyousuke! And Mami!

Sayaka: And Kyoko.

Madoka: Oh. Oh! Um, yes.

Sayaka: Then I'm in.

Nagisa: Ha! Get it, girl!

...

Sayaka: ...and in conclusion, that is why you should totally move in with me.

Kyoko: Cool, let's go.

Sayaka: Wait, really? You really want to?

Kyoko: A place to sleep. Food. Don't have to clear out at the crack of dawn. Hanging with my best girl? I'm in.

Sayaka: ...

Sayaka: Was it really that easy THIS WHOLE TIME?! I mean, COME ON!

[greenerteacups]

do you have any thoughts on luna and harry as a potential couple post-canon? i was reading your post on harry/ginny and i really loved your perspective on it, especially when you said your vision for harry post war was basically just lots and lots of big dogs (i LOVE that mental image and i agree it would be SO good for him!!) but i was wondering if you'd consider luna and harry to be a good match for each other? personally i have a sort of soft spot for the pairing because of how fond harry is of her in canon, and i think if anyone was going to understand and be unfazed by all the difficult trauma responses and long healing process he's going to be dealing with for years after the war, luna seems like a good fit :)

My love for Harry as a character is kind of unusual to me, considering I go pearl-diving for ships when I read things, and I fall in love with dynamics as a conduit to falling in love with characters. That said, I don't really ship him with anybody. I just genuinely adore That Weird Little Dude. Same with Ron; I'm just as pleased to see them with a range of people, because (A) I believe they're good partners and can have great relationships with many people (Ron Weasley get behind me they could never make me hate you Ron Weasley), but also (B) I don't see either of their canon relationships as Definitive. Some characters I ship together because I sincerely believe they are (non-deterministic) soulmates, in that they bring out parts of each other that make them the freshest, happiest, most interesting versions of themselves. With other characters, I'll look at a couple and go: "Huh. Could work!" and smack my giant rubber [APPROVED] stamp on it, then get back to work on my blorbos.

Luna and Harry are one of those couples for me. As I mentioned in that other post, I think Harry's primary requirement in a partner is someone who can treat him normally, i.e. will be generally chill about the Became Wizard Jesus Twice situation. Which is a big ask. Luna is uniquely capable of doing that because Luna is not normal at all, and so treats all things, extraordinary and ordinary both, as uniformly dazzling and delightful. I believe this is why Harry enjoys her so much in their friendship, because he gets to feel valued and treasured without feeling unusual or othered — a hard line to toe, and one even Ron and Hermione occasionally trip up on. He seems to like hanging out with her a great deal, and I think it says something sweet that he asks her to the Slug Club party instead of any of the girls in Gryffindor from his year, whom he'd ostensibly know better.

Luna is a bit of a cipher to me, I admit. We know she's the daughter of an eccentric and probably traumatized single father, raised without a mother; deeply lonely, because of how she's been ostracized for her beliefs and hobbies, and the victim of some degree of bullying for it; and yet full of a passionate, almost effortless wonder and joie de vivre. She's also intensely loving (cf. painting her friends' faces on her bedroom ceiling) and very hard to embarrass. She likes Harry for understandable reasons; they share most of those qualities (Harry's more sensitive to others' opinions, understandably so), and the only point where they diverge is their actual hobbies and interests. Harry seems pretty fond of her nonsense, and I bet she could sell him on crumple-horned snorkacks given some time — maybe if Hermione took a vacation to Switzerland and left them alone together.

In general, what I find sweet about the idea of these two is they're so chill. These are two people whose chief ambition is to hang out, enjoy their hobbies, and see some cool magical shit. Date night is so fucking easy for these two. Plus, Harry is a hothead a lot of the time, and Luna just... vibes. Literally never bothered. Insane levels of not fussed at all times. Very helpful for Harry, who has a bad tendency to bottle up his feelings and then blow up at the first person to sneeze at him. Conversely, I'd hope that Harry would age into the kind of genial, confident dude who would be able to rock up with a function where people were talking shit about Luna and be like :) My wife? You mean my wise and beautiful wife? Surely you are not talking about my wise and beautiful wife. :) instead of doing what he'd do from age 15-17, which is get mad and stomp around sulking. Which, again: teenager. Orphan. Non-stop trauma gauntlet from age 2-18. Excuses are made. But still. Would think it best if Luna's husband were not perhaps so keenly sensitive to gossip, for Luna's sake.

Anyway, these are just some dissembled thoughts. There's also something in there about Harry, boy under the staircase, falling in love with the magical world and ending up the Most Magical person, i.e., the person who took believing in magic to such an extreme that she imagines magic that doesn't exist yet. And Luna ends up with the one person who's inarguably stranger than she is.

[tokiro07]

Was talking to a customer today about media consumption, specifically about the benefits and risks of binging

I've talked about this concept a number of times lately it feels like, but this particular conversation helped me realize a nice framework to look at it with: while binging is quick and to an extent feels good (i.e. "I finished this series in X amount of time!"), it greatly reduces the amount of anchor points that one can form to become attached to the media in question

For example, when I was reading Dungeon Meshi, I ended up reading all 90+ chapters in the span of three days; Dungeon Meshi is made up of a lot of small arcs, each lasting only a few chapters, and I ended up reading all of them in the same context (sitting on my couch at around the same time of day) with minimal exposure to outside factors (other readers, sharing what I was doing with my family or friends, etc.)

Aside from key moments, like those that were particularly funny ("an exact duplicate...?") or particularly emotionally impactful (the ancient magic, Senshi's youth, post-Dungeon Rabbits, etc.), I feel like I couldn't really relay the events of the story to someone else without missing a lot of the best bits because, again, by binging them I ended up mashing all of the events together in my mind. I didn't even end up reading it at a particularly noteworthy time in my own life, so reading it so quickly meant that it didn't end up connecting to my personal life either

Compare to say, One Piece, which I hadn't actually read in its entirety until Gear 4th was revealed; I realized that the significance of this moment may have been lost on me, so I decided that this would be a good time for me to fill in any of the gaps in my knowledge (i.e. Davy Back, Skypiea, Water 7, etc.) and read the full-color version

At just shy of 800 chapters at the time, this process took me approximately three weeks; some chapters I read lying on my bed, some I read sitting in a chair, some I read during breaks in college. Some I read while listening to Three Days Grace, some while listening to 10 Years, some while listening to Rise Against

Even though I was binging One Piece, the sheer amount of time it took me to actually do so ended up giving me a ton of opportunities to create anchors; I remember different contexts, outside conversations, and most importantly, the impacts that they had on me

Rereading Punk Hazard at the time was definitely the highlight, as it altered not only my reading experience but my involvement in the fandom and just generally how I lived my life. Because I was reminded of Monet, I started looking into the theories surrounding her, which led to me looking into other theories and finding forums like Oro Jackson. Monet herself became the ultimate anchor point for me, as she retroactively became the frame of reference that I have for my entire One Piece experience

Reading One Piece took so long that it ended up being a defining segment of my life in and of itself, whereas the time spent reading Dungeon Meshi was so small that it barely registers as a single event, despite the fact that I think it's extremely high quality and a story I highly recommend

It's like when you're studying for an exam - you can't just cram the night before, you'll wear your brain out and only really remember the first and last things you read particularly clearly; but if you space it out and give yourself time to rest, you'll have multiple beginnings and endings that you'll remember a lot better than you would have otherwise, both because they're each their own isolated incident that you can think back to while also giving yourself enough time to recover

So when you're consuming a new piece of media that you've really wanted to get into but you were too late for the live updates, please consider regulating your experience. Limit yourself to 10 chapters a day, or one arc per day, or whatever's the most conducive to that particular medium. Just resist the temptation of "just one more, it's so good and I've got time for it"

You may have the time for it, but like eating a bag of candy, you're going to end up overdoing it and regretting it because A) you don't feel as good as you would have otherwise and B) now you don't have it when you want it later

[bosskie]

Molluck in Leather

Man, I don't know how long I have been thinking about drawing Molluck in leather but it's probably been over a year... And I just had to draw it now. I started this at night and ruined my sleep rhythm, again... Just had to force myself stop drawing and I finished this later today. It was that leather jacket that took me so many hours... I have no idea how to draw leather, so it was like 'trial and error' like stuff... I wish to draw a proper version of this in colour, so this was a practice sketch thing. I got new colour pencils now since I didn't have proper ones for black paper. I haven't tested them yet but I got plenty of drawing ideas inside my head.

I do call pretty much everything a sketch that ain't rendered in a detailed and 'proper' way. A sketch can take me 5 hours but if I did a full piece out of it, it could take 10-20 hours more, so it probably makes sense why it's a sketch for me. Man, I used to do so detailed line art, shade with doing those little dots, do patterns... I kinda just couldn't stand my line art without much details, though it's still like that... I could give that style a try with fineliners. I wish that I had more time to draw since I kinda don't have time to draw but I wanna draw so badly and it makes me feel better. I basically started to draw this to calm down, gather my thoughts; drawing helps me to clear my mind.

But yes, I have just been thinking that black leather would suit Molluck. I'm not sure about his necklace but I wanted to try it out. I also thought that he could have his chest visible since he got nothing to hide there! I know that there are some flaws still but I tried my best. It felt like I l still earned new thing about Molluck's shapes while drawing this... His head is full of fine details! His expression is pretty random, didn't feel like redoing it. Oh, and now thinking this more, a leather jacket could make sense since maybe there could be some use for the skins of the animals/creatures butchered at his farm.

I don't know if there is more to say. I have been just having so many doubts related to myself and my stuff... I kinda also started drawing this to check if I can (still) really draw... Sometimes, it can just feel like maybe my skills have disappeared, maybe I have forgotten everything, because I don't really trust my own skills, don't even feel like I draw well... Man, mind can be so odd and twist things into so absurd thoughts... But they still feel real, even if I knew that it was just my mind's trick again...

And yeah, I don't feel like submitting anything to that OWI's 'fan celebration' thing since I feel like I got nothing proper to submit, been just doing mainly sketches and I'm not a fan of my 'proper' pieces... My whole blog is 'an Oddworld creation' I could submit but well, just too much stuff for them to check out. I wouldn't also feel good if they did a video about my stuff... I would just love to hear Lorne talking about Molluck but everything else... It just gives me anxiety and my impostor syndrome would bloom...

I just tend to feel embarrassed of my own skills... I have so much to learn, been drawing too little... I drew much more about a decade ago. Only if I had more time but this is a good start already since I barely drew anything last year; I have already drawn more this year! It has been also a big step to finally start using those unused art supplies I have had for so many years... Still got some more recently, like an eraser pencil. It's been very useful, something I really wanted to find! I should try to use some proper graphite pencils and stuff too since I have been doing these pencil sketches with a mechanical pencil and erasers. Just so much stuff to try out, man... I got like two packs of graphite stuff; yeah, should put them in use too...

Oh, and I'm sorry for the quality of these traditional things. Sometimes, I get a better picture but sometimes, it's just terrible... But I try to edit these as well as I can, and yes, sometimes I also like to add some colours digitally or do some fixes.

[maguneedsalife]

the state of digital media is pretty bad rn but it still blows my mind that i can watch an episode of the pokemon anime with a new opening a day after it airs, go on itunes, and buy a high quality file of the opening song right away with us dollars

to put this into perspective. in Ye Olde Days when an anime theme song aired, you used to have to wait upwards of two months for the full version of the song to even be released on CD, then crawl around the internet to find a semi-trustworthy site that MIGHT have an mp3 rip of it from someone who bought the disk. if you were lucky it'd even be good quality. (this was particularly true for pokemon songs; for some reason the site I used for other anime music refused to include pokemon music in its collection. i had to go to a specialized pokemon fan site and after a while they fell out of it and stopped adding new songs).

"isn't that piracy?" you have to understand. this was the 00s. for a lot of people my age there simply WAS no legal way to acquire this music. importing the physical cds wasnt really a thing at the time, at least not for a kid with no income or bank card. even when i *could* shop online, shipping was expensive, and many jp stores didn't accept non-jp credit cards or ship overseas. iTunes existed, but it took a VERY long time for the US store to begin offering Japanese music, and the JP store required you to have a japanese credit card (or JP iTunes gift cards, that was a loophole you could exploit, but it required jumping through hoops and getting those cards outside of japan required using potentially dodgy sites). It wasn't until fairly recently that you could legally acquire anime music digitally via US iTunes or other non-Japanese outlets.

all of which is to say. there is plenty of bad shit to say about the current digital media landscape (and iTunes/Apple has its own problems) but the fact that i can go online and legally purchase the full version of a japanese pokemon anime opening song, on the day it aired, with american dollars, feels a little bit miraculous to me

[roseaesynstylae]

Star Wars: Republic Commando: Hard Contact, Chapters 8 & 9

Chapter 8

"Her face was a study in blank surprise. It was also fascinating in a way he couldn't define. He had never seen a human female this close, this real. He was astonished by the dappling of small brown dots across the bridge of her nose and her cheeks, and the different strands of colors in her long, unkempt hair -- light browns, golds, even reds. And she was as thin as the locals. He could see blue veins in the backs of her hands, and she smelled different from anyone he'd ever shared space with. He wasn't sure if she was pretty or downright ugly. He just knew that she was utterly alien and utterly fascinating, as alien as a gdan or a Gurlanin. It was almost stopping him from concentrating on the job."

Despite my reaction to their first meeting, Darman/Etain is the only RepComm ship that I actually like, probably because it feels like it has actual buildup and chemistry. Ignoring Etain's actions in Triple Zero (which is a discussion for another day), I find them pretty cute.

I like the little detail that Darman doesn't know what freckles are.

Chapter 9

"There is something very touching about them. They look like soldiers; they fight like soldiers; and sometimes they even talk like soldiers. They have the finest qualities of the fighting man. But behind that is nothing -- no love, no family, no happy memory that comes from having truly lived. When I see one of these men killed, I weep more for him than for any ordinary soldier who has lived a full and normal life."

-- Jedi General Ki-Adi-Mundi

I was not expecting to see anything in this series involving the Jedi that isn't in some way bashing them, but this pleasantly surprised me.

Ki-Adi mentioning family is a lot sadder when you remember that he lost all three of his wives and all of his children during the war.

"Atin took a bite out of the white cube and washed it down with a gulp of water from his bottle. 'He [Kal Skirata] never trained us. Heard a lot about him.'

'Trained Fi and Darman too. Our squads were all in the same battalion.'

'We had Walon Vau.'

'That explains where you get your cheery outlook.'

'Sergeant Vau taught us the importance of planning for the worst scenario,' Atin said, all loyalty. 'And maximizing your tech. Being hard is good, being hard with superior tech is better.'

'I'll bet.'

'I'd heard everyone loved Skirata, though. Even if he was a bad-tempered drunk.'

Niner had never been drunk and he didn't even know what alcohol tasted like. 'He cared what happened to us. He was one of us, pretty much. Not just because he couldn't cope with not being in the army anymore, or had to disappear. No, he was a good man.' Niner would have given a great deal to have seen Skirata come limping through the trees right then, demanding to know what they were doing lounging around like a bunch of Kaminoan nahra artists."

Oh look, our first mention of Walon Vau, problematic-est of problematic favs. (And, indirectly, my beloved Mird.)

Knowing how Atin actually feels about Vau, Niner calling him "all loyalty" here is pretty uncomfortable.

*Flatly* I don't love Kal Skirata. I love well-written fanfics with him, I do not love him in canon.

Apparently, nahra is the Kaminoan version of ballet, in which they express emotions they usually repress. Huh.

"'Why are we scraping maps in the dirt when we've got perfectly good holocharts?'

'That's what Sergeant Skirata used to do,' Darman said. 'He didn't like holos. Too transparent. He also thought that feeling the texture of dirt focused your mind.'

'And you don't need any technology to do it.'

'He was a great believer in intuition.'"

Any time Kal Skirata has any advice or does anything that I actually like (ie, anything that doesn't make me want to strangle him), I feel honor-bound to mention it.

I have to wonder if he had to explain what dirt was to his trainees. Omega definitely had no idea what dirt was when she first left Kamino. Oh, now I have this image of him reading the dictionary definition out to a very confused group of cadets.

"Etain hesitated. She had once heard someone say that they could never remove their betrothal ring, not until they died. Her Padawan braid felt equally permanent, as if her soul was woven in with it, and that removing it after so long -- even temporarily -- would rend the fabric of the universe and underscore her belief that she was not Jedi material. But it had to be done. She unfastened the single thin braid and combed the strands of wavy hair loose with her fingers.

She felt less like a Jedi than ever, and not even remotely close to a commander."

This is one of the examples of Traviss's writing that I don't have any problem with. If she stuck more with this, instead of the Jedi-bashing and Mando-shilling, I wouldn't have so much of a problem. This passage gets Etain's situation across very well. In particular, her reluctance to remove her Padawan braid despite the circumstances reminds me of how I tend to cling to specific objects no matter the situation.

Wow, I actually don't have much to pick at with these two chapters. I suspect this will occur less and less as the series goes on, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Jedi-Bashing: 15

Di'kut Count: 6

Main Post

[numetaljackdog]

what i'm listening to november 2023. the agony

spot. link//yt link

song notes under cut

Laura Les - Haunted: haunted. by laura les.

Garbage - Queer: stand up for the fag anthem. but also let's be real one of the main draws here is the music video where shirley manson pushes the pov character down to the ground and forcibly shaves your head while singing "i know what's good for you." i'm a lesbian

Chris Fleming - W.U.G.: i've met a couple wugs in my time but more than anything i'm just on my chris fleming shit recently. this one has been stucks in my head sooo bad and bsaically anytime i see the word "guy" it comes back with a vengeance

Limp Bizkit & Method Man - N 2 Gether Now: random lb songs will really just crop up in my rotation for seemingly no reason but really this one has so many good lines and the addition of method man brings it up by so much. it's comical on some level bc it's like why is he here, he's like. a real rapper. and fred sounds so out of his depth next to him. but at the same time they both do actually really pretty good. pull the plug and then jet. MIC CHECK.

Sloppy Jane - Bark Like a God: recommended by a friend. need to listen to the full album but this goes insane goes crazy i mean those damn vocals and the THEMES ugh i mean what else do you need in this world. don't even really know what to call this band but it good and i need more

Almeda Riddle - My Little Rooster: Gummo is a 1997 American experimental drama film written and directed by Harmony Korine, starring Jacob Reynolds, Nick Sutton, Jacob Sewell, and Chloë Sevigny. The film is set (but was not filmed) in Xenia, Ohio, a Midwestern American town that had been previously struck by a devastating tornado. The loose narrative follows several main characters who find odd and destructive ways to pass time, interrupted by vignettes depicting other inhabitants of the town.

Destroy Boys - Fences: mostly just real catchy. many such cases. but there is a certain doggish quality to it as well

Enon - Natural Disasters: hi violer :3 ooh ahh the song so catchy the riff so tastey and shiney

Limp Bizkit - The Truth: i watched the band's short film of the same name recently and was pretty underwhelmed. but it did make me wanna go back and listen to the ep! it's been said to death but it's easily some of lb's best work, and not just because it's the serious one or whatever

Repo! The Genetic Opera - Night Surgeon: tbh there should be more repo on here but there's only so much space and this is undoubtedly my favorite track from the soundtrack (although "at the opera tonight" comes pretty damn close!!) i could listen to anthony head go "i remember" like that allllll day. i have been having some serious repo fixation recently i won't lie. give it a watch it's a normal movie

Foo Fighters - Everlong (Acoustic Version): okay look you guys know at this point how i get about everlong. so when i was watching hit film little nicky starring adam sandman and a rather beautiful sequence took place accompanied by a sparse acoustic version still laden in the characteristic warmth of the original song, of course i was hooked. and that's a nu metal-ass movie, too, but this was the pick i ended up making. that's special

Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up To Boston: WOOOOO BOSTON!!!!!!!! GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GET ME A CUP O DUNKS!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! YANKEES SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <is not from boston but rather a different place entirely

Fefe Dobson - Unforgiven: why did nobody tell me about this fuckin nu metal x y2k pop fusion. this is like rina sawayama stfu but all the way back in 200-goddamn-3. fefe you were before your time

MGMT - Little Dark Age: i don't know mgmt that well but i heard a little bit of this song in a youtube video long ago and really liked it and could never find it and then i happened to encounter it again and was like oh hello my old acquaintance shall we get to know each other better

Billy Joel - All For Leyna: beginning to realize that billy is good actually. every little part of this song is crunchy and sweet and delicious for me. and god i sure am doing it all for leyna aren't i......

Tom Cardy & Brian David Gilbert - Beautiful Mind: tbh this was far from my favorite effort from either of these guys...... didn't really think it was all that funny. had a very lol random sort of appeal that just didn't hit me right. however it does sound amazing, really clean, and they both have nice voices. plus you know i love them harmonies

Taco - Puttin' on the Ritz: they play this a lot at a cafe i go to sometimes. i used to not like this song but it's really grown on me. it's one of those absolutely one-of-a-kind songs that could have only been a hit at the exact time and place that it was. and i like stuff like that! you might even say i think it's super duper :)

Violent Femmes - Breakin' Up: this song is dumb as balls. and it sounds way better in my head than it does to actually listen to it. but! the video is really cool, with that simple but effective camera trick. i enjoy that

Bowling For Soup - Girl All the Bad Guys Want: if the previous song was dumb as balls, this song is dumb as. like. the epididymis. or like a single sperm cell. i don;t know man it's a dumb fucking song. but it's about a cool rap rocker girl :3 and that's meeeeee probably. when i listen to it i like to rate each lyric on how true it is. watching wrestling? maybe now and then. creaming over tough guys? hmmm no i would simply not do this. but listening to rap metal? turntables in her eyes?? now we're fuckin talkin!!!!!!!!!!

[onim5]

Vampire Ace x Vampire Queen reader!!!!

Chapter 4

This is mostly a wholesome date. But in the end, you find something interesting. 

Warning: Blood, animal blood, mention of making out.

---------------------------------------------

"But you have made me feel so special. You have been so kind and patient to me. Queen Y/n, is it possible for you to see me as a potential partner?"

"Um, I'm. Uh, yes." You mumbled as you began blushing. "Really?" Ace asked excitedly. You nodded and felt a weird warmth on the inside. A warmth only Ace had given you. It started as a small candle, then it became a fire and grew. "So maybe a date?" Ace asked hopeful. "Sure, uh, when are we gonna go?" You wondered as what people call butterflies began swirling in your belly.

"Maybe today, right after we're done eating," Ace suggested. "Sounds good, but then I'm going to get ready now. It's not like I can go on a date as Queen Y/n." You sighed, then walked out of the dining hall. In the distance you heard Ace cheer with himself, he won. 

Fixing your hair and putting on clothes, you feel satisfied. The only time you use makeup was when you went out disguised as N/n with Ace. You didn't even use it to look more pretty, just so you had cool black marks on your face to hide. Using the lipstick Ace got you, you looked nothing like the queen, well you did. But not enough for anyone to realize. "Ace! I'm ready!" You yelled as you walked in the corridors.  A wall moved and there Ace where. "Hello, handsome." You said with a smug smile. Ace blushed clearly and hid it by looking away. 

The sky was lit up by all the city lights, so you couldn't see the stars. You and Ace walked over a bridge made of black stone. Ace ran up to the side and looked at the flowing lava under him. "This reminds me of Akainu. He's fleet Admiral now." Ace said as he looked up at the city. "Akainu is the guy who killed you, right?" You asked walking up next to him. "Yeah. He insulted Pops and I couldn't take it. So I fought back, it didn't go so well though." Ace told you as he looked at two vampires making out on a park bench. 

"Hey Ace, this is a date. Maybe we can talk about this kind of stuff another time?" You asked, taking his hands. "You're right, so what should we do first? Bloodpire is full of activities and stuff. Maybe we should go shopping in the Snake District. You suggested. "Uh, sure." Ace shrugged. Ace had never been in the Snake District before, and neither had you, but it was known for its shopping qualities. On a huge screen was one of the famous singers, from the Melody District. "Who would think vampires love, singing so much?" Ace mumbled as he took a shopping bag with a snake-like pattern on it.  "So this is why they call it the Snake District." You said as you looked at all the snake sculptures and details of snakes everywhere.  

You and Ace took a grip on the fence around the small platform. And before long the platform flew up. Once up a huge gate opened. It was a mall and around the whole place vampires roamed around. "Let's go try out clothes!" You cheered taking a grip on Ace's hand and dragged him away to a clothing store. "What about this one?" You asked wearing a black dress with white lighting marks on it. "Uh, it's good, but I believe the jacket version of it is prettier," Ace told you holding a similar jacket up. "Hmm, yeah, but I need to find matching pants if so." You huffed. "Excuse me, you two are a couple right?" A female vampire said walking up to us. She was wearing a snake as a belt and had a white silk dress. 

Ace glanced at you wanting to say yes, but maybe he would go too fast. "We are." You said happily. "Then maybe you two are interested in our couple section. "We can check it out." You said grabbing Ace's hand. "Maybe we should try these," Ace suggested. Pointing at a black pair of clothes with bat wing decoration. "I also wanna try out those." You said pointing at another pair of clothes with a beautiful pattern. The couple's clothes section had outfits for two, both being similar indicating a status of love. 

In the end, the two of you chose a couple outfits that were black and had small bright rubins as decoration, together with other red patterns. "We look fabulous!" You cheered happily holding Ace's hand. He blushed, happily, and then his eyes caught something. "Wait here." He said as he walked away. You stood there and watched as Ace came back with two smoothies. "We won't get drunk as they only have a little animal blood." He said giving you one. "Hmm, these are good." You smiled. Ace smiled too as he drank.

"Ace, now I'm hungry though." You huffed sadly. As you drank the last drops of it. "I know there's a restaurant somewhere," Ace mumbled searching around. You two walked out of one of the gates of the mall and over a bridge into another building. The building was connected to a lift that took one to the other districts. "Which one do you believe has the finest restaurant?" Ace asked looking around at all the lift entrances. "I heard the Lava District has one." You suggested pointing to that entrance. "Well, then the Lava District it is," Ace said grabbing your hand.  Going over Bloodpire in a lift was an amazing choice. 

"Ace look that's the Melody District." You said pointing down at all the vampires dancing to the singer. "Wow, look at all the party lights." He said as he analyzed. "And the platforms are moving around as the scene changes." He said surprised. "You wanna be the one who sings, don't you?" You asked with a smug. "Eh, maybe one day." He said. The lift changed so it was still straight while going down the line to the Lava District. "It's a dale," Ace said surprised. Lava falls flowed down and at the bottom were slides and different kinds of rides, reminding him of a waterpark. The only building was the lift tower in the middle. 

"Where's the restaurant?" Ace asked as you two walked out of the lift. "Somewhere under the lava." You said excitedly. You two took an elevator down. And as fast as the doors opened Ace's eyes widened. "Wow." He mumbled as he looked at the beautiful decorations. "Let's find a table." You said in a calm voice. You two settled down at a table. Ace looked with disappointment at the sticks in a vase. He wanted flowers instead. The waiter came and gave the menu, and then he poured a little lava in the vase and just like magic Ace watched as they blommed into beautiful red flowers. 

"What do you want?" You asked Ace. "Everything . . . . . " He answered shortly. "I take a Bloodpire special, and he wants everything you guys can offer." The waiter looked surprised at Ace. "We have 2070 different kinds of meals sire. Are you sure you want it all and that you can pay for it?" Ace looked at you, if he got stuck here eating for the rest of the night then the date would be ruined. "I can pay, but maybe I only take three meals instead, uh the same as her, Animal steak with bloodied sauce, and a meatbeast." He said. You looked at Ace surprised, he always eats like a giant. "Can't get stuck here the whole night." He winked at you. 

You and Ace small-talked the whole lunch and then you took a nice Lava bath in the Lava park, it was so comfortable and the slides and different rides were so fun to try out with Ace. "You need to go two in this slide." A vampire said as he prepared. Ace sat down first and then he got to have you in his lap. The guy smiled as he whispered to Ace. "What a pretty one, better mark her fast." Before Ace could ask what he meant, the man pushed a button making lava come at the slide swooshing you and Ace away. 

 Music started playing as the two of you enjoyed the moment. the slide went in under the lava and into a room. The room was lit up with stars and cosmos everywhere. Both of you stared in awe and smiled. Then the slide went upwards with you and Ace and boom where you shot out of the slide. You two laughed and went on with the date. You and Ace went to a bar and had some fun speaking with others and drinking. You both got a little tipsy, but nothing more. When back at the castle you said good sleep to each other and then went to your separate rooms. Virus, came to you and gave you the human blood bowl. 

At the revolutionary army. 

"Do you think this captain is willing to work with us?" Sabo asked holding the news about the new captain of the Red Blood Pirates. "No, but the first thing he did as captain was kidnap three celestial dragons and I can tell he's powerful. It would be a good alliance if they could have some celestial dragon hostages for us." Dragon said placing documents on the table. "He kidnapped the celestial dragons so openly it's honestly unbelievable. But no one knows where they're at, the government can't even act on it." Sabo said as gears in his head began to roll. Knock, knock. Came from the door. "Come in," Dragon said. "Hey, I got as much information about the Red Blood Pirates as I could." Koala declared giving Sabo the documents. 

In it were members and their bounties. The captain's bounty poster had a picture of a black-clothed man holding a marine at the neck. The face was impossible to see. The bounty was three billion. "That's a lot for a first bounty," Sabo said turning the page. "It's to be expected since he kidnapped three celestial dragons," Dragon commented. "They seem to only show themselves once a month and then they plunder food and kidnap people when they do. But it's impossible to know where they plan on striking." Sabo said, biting carefully on his nail. 

-----------------------------------

Oh ho, ho 

Comment to make me write the next chapter!!!

Chapter: 1 👇

Chapter: 2 👇

Chapter: 3 👇

[missguomeiyun]

AYCE K-BBQ & sushi @ Tatsu

Sorry, it's gonna be a super loooooong post I've already took out some 'individual' pictures so it's not as long :D hope you're not too hungry when you're reading this!

Back in April, several friends & I visited Tatsu Sushi AYCE for dinner. There were 4 of us. I tried calling to make reservations for a Friday dinner but they don't take reservations for small groups. We got there around 6pm but the wait for a table for 4 was approx 30mins. The place was actually packed! Both the dining area & the waiting area. If you plan to go in a small group, I recommend sending someone there early & putting your name on the list, esp on the wknd!

What's good about the process was that - also bcos the waiting area was full - you don't have to wait there. They actually give you a call once a table is ready.

Note: they have a strict 2-hr dining limit & it's mainly for the change-over of customers. This 2-hr is on the receipt that they issue at each table when they seat you.

Also note: AYCE per person = $39.95 for dinner. This is MORE THAN reasonable IMHO for AYCE. (Everything on menu included except for drinks)

Sorry, a 3rd note but no picture to go with it. This place uses an atypical system for ordering. The receipt I mentioned above that they place at the table has your check-in time, number of ppl, the table number .. PLUS a pin & QR on it. Someone at your table has to scan the QR code & order on the device. The pin is unique to your table/order. Once you 'submit', they'll prepare & bring the food out. You can submit without restrictions (or at least when I went anyway); with the exception of sashimi. Each round, you can only order max 3 pieces per person at your table (4 ppl = max 12 pieces were round of order).

The menu online through the QR has the same format as the paper menu they have at the table:

I am impressed by the selection for an AYCE. They have some rolls I've never heard heard. There is a good selection of appetizers/snacks. The K-BBQ section is kind of small but has the essentials!

Some of the items on the QR online version was not on this paper menu. Think they may have added items after. We made our 1st order & ordered drinks as well. Now waiting. ..

Each table has a K-grill like this HOWEVER does not have the vent/fan above it.

Despite not having the vent/fan, I didn't find the restaurant that smoky. Could just also be the area. We were in front of the kitchen. There are fans in there I'm sure- so maybe the ventilation here is slightly better than the 'outside' tables? When my friend came, she said it was SOOOOO bad.

Another plus: the staff:customer ratio & staff attentiveness. This place doesn't have a bell system so if you wanted water refills, you'd have to flag someone down but the staff were really on top of it. Every time someone brought food to us, they also checked our glasses for water supply/demand.

The food got here in a very decent amount of time. We also did not have problems with missing orders except for 1 item (ordered but didn't come during our 1st so we ordered on our 2nd round).

I do have individual shots but that would equate to too many pictures in this post :P

Left: our platter of meat. Steak, beef slice, short rib, pork belly, & salmon collar.

Side of kimchi: the kimchi here was good!!! It's not very fermented so it's more crunchy & sweet.

Top: beef tataki: good quality~ felt the sauce was a little bland but that's just me.

Salmon sashimi: I liked it even though I'm not huge on sashimi. Tasted fresh. No vein-y things. CLEAN.

Butter + vegetables haha this was the only vegetable we had. I wished they had lettuce for the grilled meats. Doesn't have to be a unique item, but just served with the wasabi & ssam sauce as a 'side'. You know, like in a small basket for every table.

The Maui Woie roll: tempura shrimp, smoked salmon, deep fried green batter crunch, mayo & unagi sauce. This was delicious!

Tempura shrimp: 9/10; deep fried gyoza (I didn't eat any so I don't know); calamari: 8/10.

Assorted sushi & nigiri platter. Spicy salmon was my favourite! Followed by chopped scallop.

Forgot what mine was called lol some lychee thing with some alcohol in it. It was refreshing~

Okay, the meats. The short rib was the only seasoned item out of the meats. A little too sweet for my personal liking but meat was fresh & the cut was good. Pork belly <3

The beef steak was my personal favourite. The beef slices didn't please me & I'm not sure why. Think it was maybe cut too thickly?

Steak =]

Salmon collar was interesting. It was so buttery. I have not tried this part of the fish before.

I did not eat this but this was the chicken skewer. (cooked; sprinkled with paprika).

Seared beef & spicy salmon nigiri.

2nd round of MEAT!

Dessert: mini bun with condensed milk & ppung-eo-bbang (aka taiyaki).

Susan's creation.

^ my dessert: coconut tapioca dessert & green tea ice cream. I asked if the coconut dessert was hot or cold & they said it was warm. I still got it & I guess my tone of voice screamed I wanted the dessert cold so I was served the dessert with added ice cubes. Very thoughtful!

Not gonna lie- the coconut tapioca & the green tea ice cream were both quite bland. I decided to mix the 2 & guess what! It was good! It was soooo refreshing, if anything.

I would definitely come back!

[frozenbound]

dragon hybrids anon here to say u absolutely knocked it outta the park w/ my request thank u very much. glad to hear ure feelin a bit better and even more glad to see more of ur excellent writing. ive got another request if u feel like it: time travel shenanigans where an older hanzo (around overwatch recall-ish age) ends up in the past somehow and gets seduced by a very needy younger version of his little brother (pre attempted fratricide) who has a thing for older men because of obvious reasons. maybe throw in some daddy kink and some mild identity porn if ure so inclined :3

I'm glad you enjoyed them, Anon!! Dragon hybrid Shimadas are just...so good. I really enjoyed writing it!

And now time travel shenanigans! Man oh man, I LOVE me some Shimadacest time traveling and identity porn, let me tell you!! Another high quality ask! Thanks so much for the request, I appreciate it!

Time traveling Older Hanzo with Young Genji, coming right up under the Read More!

Hanzo sprawled out on his back, staring at the sky through a canopy of pink and white cherry blossoms.

He knew joining Overwatch would be a bad idea. He just knew it.

As soon as he could breathe again, he was going to get to his feet, find Genji, and drag him away to…somewhere. Somewhere that wasn’t the middle of a battle between renegade Omnics and renegade heroes.

Genji wouldn’t be too surprised. As soon as he had finished giving Hanzo a tour of their base…a dilapidated, obsolete eyesore…and introduced him to his teammates…a ragtag group of overly-loud, overly-enthusiastic extroverts that had Hanzo itching to disappear at the earliest possible moment…Genji had brought Hanzo to a quiet rooftop overlooking the Mediterranean, sat him down, took off his mask, and said with an mirthful will of iron, “Yes, they’re insane, but so am I, and so are you, and I’m convinced this is where we can do the most good, brother.”

Hanzo had scoffed. “You may be insane,” he’d grumbled, looking out over the orange water towards the setting sun, “but I am not. What makes you think I’m staying after seeing all that?”

“This,” Genji said simply.

And he had leaned forward and kissed Hanzo.

With tongue.

Then with moans, deep, drawn-out moans as Hanzo pressed forward and laid them both out full-length on that roof, chasing the flavor, the feel of Genji’s mouth.

At last. At long, long last.

There, under the open, darkening sky, Hanzo had, with trembling fingers, pushed his trousers down and then felt and poked and prodded between Genji’s legs, finally fondling Genji’s cock and ballsack that fell into the open air when his little brother released his codpiece, and sighing when long-held yearning was finally relieved as his fingertips found the soft, clenching muscle of Genji’s entrance.

By the time the sun disappeared under the horizon, Hanzo was buried in Genji, holding back sobs at how good he felt, how perfect he was around him and laid out under him, so willing and relaxed and buzzing with desire, desire for him, Hanzo, which he had only dreamed might exist in his little brother’s heart.

Then, after Hanzo had thrust his way to both their completions, Genji spilling across his own stomach and chest untouched with a cry that echoed Hanzo’s as he erupted deep inside, they had lain there together under the stairs, wrapped in each other’s arms.

“I’ve wanted this,” Hanzo murmured into Genji’s hair, drawing him closer to his chest, “since the moment you earned your dragon. You looked so handsome, bathed in light and power. I knew then I wanted no one other than you.”

Genji chuckled. “I wish,” he said with a trace of trepidation, “that I could say the same. Don’t get me wrong, brother, I’m flattered that you’ve wanted me for so long, but the world might’ve been kind to keep us apart so long. I’ve always admired you, looked up to you, but would I have returned your affections? Well…not until I saw you again in the castle.”

Despite having Genji here in his arms at last, it was something of a blow to hear that Genji hadn’t shared his feelings as long, but that wasn’t anyone’s fault, much less Genji’s. However, curiosity piqued, Hanzo asked, “Until you saw me there? Why?”

He felt Genji sigh against his chest. “I’m a little wiser than I was in our youth, brother, but one thing hasn’t changed.”

Hanzo furrowed his brow. “What?”

“I’m still as shallow as ever. When I saw that you were…” Genji fell silent and shifted around for an uncomfortable moment, before he awkwardly laughed and continued, “that you’d grown into a DILF, into an oji-san, I instantly got hard as a rock and stayed hard during that entire fight.”

Genji chuckled when the skin pressing against his face warmed up. Hanzo’s blushing was so intense it had reached all the way down to his chest.

“I am not…” Hanzo mumbled.

“Yeah, you are,” Genji said with a laugh. “Accept it. Be grateful for it. Once I caught the oji-san bug when I was nineteen, I’ve chased them all my life. Now I’ve got one for my very own, and I’m not letting go.”

Hanzo was silent for a few moments, before he ventured, “So…if I had…confessed to you earlier…”

“Honestly? If you had confessed before you hid that long chin of yours under your beard, automatic no, and I wouldn’t have been nice about it. After you grew your beard, I might’ve been up for being fuckbuddies, but I suspect that wasn’t what you wanted.”

“No,” Hanzo agreed, his heart clenching.

“I think,” Genji said gently, “that we could’ve had something that wasn’t perfect, but good enough…maybe…to last until you aged like a fine wine.”

“Humph.”

Genji shrugged and stroked his hand up and down Hanzo’s flank. “I’m sorry, brother, but I’m only being honest.”

“I know,” Hanzo said with a huff. “And I accept it, but I wish many, many things could have been different in the past.”

“As do I,” Genji said softly. “But I wouldn’t change this, right here, right now. Never. Not for anything.”

And for one perfect moment, Hanzo was content. With everything. Past, present, and future.

The moment had passed, of course, but with Genji at his side and in his bed and in his heart, much of that contentment managed to stick around.

But enough was enough.

After being forced to return to Hanamura to face an alliance of Hashimoto and Talon just in time for a Null Sector attack to send everyone, friend and foe, scrambling for cover, enough was finally enough.

The battle against Null Sector had been hard, but ultimately successful, and Hanzo had even allowed himself to be briefly impressed by this ragtag group of heroes…then a lone Null Sector omnic soldier had reared up out of its hiding place and blasted Hanzo off his feet, along with Tracer, the time-traveling, hyperactive poster child of the new Overwatch, right into one of Symmetra’s teleporters.

Hanzo attributed the sudden silence and abrupt change of scene to the teleporter. The only place there could be this many cherry blossoms was on the castle grounds, so they were evidently not in Kanazaka any longer. 

So he could afford to lie here for a little while before he finally got up and made the long trip back down the hill and find Genji.

“Well, well! What do we have here?”

Hanzo started at the familiar voice, his eyes widening, but no…that was impossible.

“Another drunkard left behind after the Golden Week crowds, huh? You’d better get up, old man. The Shimada family may open the grounds to the public out of the goodness of their hearts, but most of them aren’t as laid back and…forgiving as…I am…”

There was a moment of silence…charged silence, as Hanzo felt eyes rake up and down his body.

“Hey there.”

Hanzo sat up with a jolt when someone crouched beside him, and the sight was as impossible as the sound: Genji.

Young, unscarred, fully flesh, looking down at him while licking his lips.

Seductively.

“G…” Hanzo started to say, breathless, astounded, shocked to the core.

Then he picked his jaw off the floor, clicked his mouth closed, and scowled, because the answer came to him in a flash.

He was dreaming. The blast hadn’t thrown him into the teleporter after all; it had thrown him into a wall and he had suffered a major head trauma and he was hallucinating-slash-dreaming.

It took him a moment to realize what was happening because Genji, young, whole, untouched, hadn’t appeared in his dreams since the real Genji, with every mark Hanzo had carved into him, had dropped out of the shadows and back into his life.

Before then, however, he had appeared often enough…and wearing that exact expression, exuberant, confident, and utterly shameless as his lively eyes traveled up and down Hanzo’s body, lingering on his torso and arms because each muscle was outlined by his skintight, longsleeved compression shirt.

He licked his lips again, in that characteristic way that always forced Hanzo’s eyes to watch the perfect lines of his mouth.

“Well, oji-san,” Genji said in a voice so low it was nearly a growl. “I don’t think the guards know you’re here. What will you do if they find you?”

Hanzo’s hackles immediately raised at the word oji-san. This was the Genji who would have rejected him if he had confessed his feelings long ago, precisely because he wasn’t an oji-san.

And this Genji knew that, because this was a dream and Hanzo’s subconscious delighted in torturing him at every opportunity.

And indeed, Genji smiled teasingly at Hanzo’s deepening scowl. “Oh, yes,” he drawled. “Lucky for you, I think I could be convinced to help you out a little, if you were to do me a little…favor.”

And Genji reached out to trace his finger down Hanzo’s arm.

Hanzo snorted.

One of these dreams, huh? he thought as he watched Genji waggle his eyebrows suggestively.

Fine, then. If even Dream Genji preferred DILFs, then he’d get one.

“O-oy!”

Hanzo surged up to his feet and, grabbing Genji by the shirt, hoisted him to his feet and slammed Genji harshly against the nearest tree, causing the blossoms above them to quiver.

Normally, he had enough propriety not to kiss his little brother out in the open.

Here, though…

“Mmf!” Genji tried to shout past Hanzo’s lips, but like so many times before, he struggled for only a moment or two before his eyes rolled back and his lips and mouth and body relaxed under Hanzo’s, and Hanzo permitted himself a thrill of triumph as he sought to get a taste of this Genji, the one who had enraptured him for so long.

He tasted shockingly similar to how Genji tasted now, despite everything…

But reality bleeding into his dreams was to be expected. Hanzo had always been overwhelmingly practical, so that even when he was lucid dreaming and had the power to do literally anything he wanted, he was content with Genji’s soft lips under his own, with Genji’s skin under his hands as they roved under his shirt, and with Genji’s sigh, so relaxed, so accepting of this oji-san version of his older brother sticking his tongue down his throat and pinching and tweaking his nipples and pressing the whole length of their bodies together…but only for a moment.

Then Hanzo was sliding down, breaking the wet kiss even as Genji chased after him, before his little brother gave up and threw his head back and let out another long sigh as Hanzo pressed kisses to his throat and to the swell of muscle underneath his shirt until his knees hit and ground and he was facing the bulge in Genji’s short shorts.

He deftly unbuttoned and unzipped them and was not the least bit surprised when Genji’s heavy cock fell out, uncontained by any underwear.

And Hanzo drew in a long, indulgent sniff, filling his lungs with Genji, before he opened his mouth and effortlessly let Genji slide past his lips and tongue and straight into his throat.

“Fuck!” Genji yelped, his hands clamping onto Hanzo’s head, his fingertips curling into his graying hair. “Fuck! Fuck!”

Hanzo would have chuckled if Genji weren’t blocking his airway.

Then he would have sneezed, since Genji’s pubic hair was tickling his nose.

But he managed to suppress it as he drew back, hearing Genji’s breath catch as he stopped to nurse right on the head of his cock, drinking in the precum that was all but spurting out.

Then he laid his hands over Genji’s, still fisted in his hair, looked up at his little brother, and nodded.

Genji was impetuous, self-assured, and most of all, intense when he had been this young.

Dark lust dimmed Genji’s eyes.

His grip tightened.

And he slammed his cock back into Hanzo’s throat.

Hanzo would have sighed in utter contentment, if…

As it was, he had to steal what gulps of air he could in the split seconds of freedom, between the brutal slams of his little brother’s cock into the warm, slick, tight confines of his DILF older brother, so pleased to have found such the perfect little cocksleeve he’d always needed.

Hanzo started to make obscene and wet noises every time his airway was clear because he knew the fire it would set in Genji’s blood, the carnal conflagration, the absolute need to fuck and pound into that welcoming mouth until he shot his boiling load straight down into Hanzo’s stomach.

Genji shuddered and thrust Hanzo’s face into his pelvis, burying his nose into his pubes one last time, and Hanzo was a practical man; all he wanted was to be this close to Genji, with Genji’s length pulsing in his mouth and throat, and Genji’s heat blooming and burning all the way down to his core.

Black spots danced in his vision and his fingers tingled and his blood screamed for oxygen, but nothing could come between him and this most intimate moment that he craved more, much more than air.

It was Genji who eventually drew back and allowed Hanzo to suck in a long, deep breath.

Then Genji reached down and tilted his wet, drool-covered bearded chin up and they locked gazes for a few endless moments, simply staring, with Hanzo panting, open-mouthed with red lips, and Genji had something akin to worship in his eyes.

Once Hanzo had caught his breath, Genji tugged him back to his feet and kissed him, gently, licking over his sensitive lips.

And with his free hand, he pushed those short shorts to the floor and stepped out of them.

And he pulled Hanzo forward.

And he unbuttoned and shoved Hanzo’s trousers down just enough to free his weeping, rockhard erection.

And he urged Hanzo to press forward harder, to press Genji firmly against the tree trunk, and to support his weight as he wrapped his legs around Hanzo’s hips.

And he guided one of Hanzo’s hands down and under the curve of his perfectly muscled, round ass…

…to the soft flared rubber handle of a buttplug.

Hanzo chuckled into Genji’s mouth as he tugged on it.

This really was a dream come true.

Then he swallowed Genji’s moans as he slowly, excruciatingly slowly, pulled it out, stretching Genji’s rim until it popped free.

And Hanzo tossed it aside and lined up his cock with Genji’s loose, lubed, and welcoming entrance and drove in as deeply and easily as Genji had driven into his throat.

“Ah!” Genji cried out, breaking their kiss.

He sounded so sweet that Hanzo didn’t resume it; instead, he latched onto the side of his neck, sucking and raking his teeth and mouthing and licking as he gently rocked in and out of Genji, as gentle now as he had been the first time they’d made love, because Genji was the wild and ferociously free brother who wanted to bust his nut into his devastatingly handsome older brother and mark him as his as quickly as possible, and Hanzo was the practical and patient brother, and he wanted the slick, velvety heat of his little brother around his cock for as long as possible.

“Ah! Ah!”

Genji sounded wonderful. Divine.

He sounded almost as good as he felt.

So hot, so smooth, so perfect, molding around him as though he was made to be the lock to Hanzo’s key, his body parting and opening to Hanzo’s gentle yet insistent nudging and chasing after him as he glided out, and Hanzo felt like he had all the time in the world, here under the cherry blossoms, to work his way gradually up to his pinnacle, the smell of his and Genji’s sweat and arousal slowly intensifying and combining, their breaths getting increasingly ragged with Hanzo’s being particularly raspy in his abused throat, a constant reminder of the contrast between their radically different yet complementary styles.

“O-Oji-san,” Genji panted, right when Hanzo was on the edge.

“Say my name, Genji,” Hanzo bit out harshly, teetering.

Genji blinked rapidly.

Then, slowly, “H…”

Hanzo paused and waited.

“H…Han…Hanzo…” Genji breathed.

“Again,” Hanzo ordered.

“Hanzo.”

“Again.”

“Hanzo!” he yelped as Hanzo bucked his hips, burying himself balls-deep in the first abrupt movement he had made since crushing their lips together at the beginning of this sweet, teasing dream.

“Again, Genji,” Hanzo panted. “Never stop.”

“Hanzo! Hanzo!”

He followed the rhythm Genji set with his name, spearing up into him and punching that sweet call out of his little brother…

“Hanzo! Hanzo! Hanz…ah!”

…until he felt Genji’s hot essence erupt between them, soaking their clothes, seeping in to wet their skin, as Genji again shuddered and trembled all around him.

He drove in one last time, seeking to surround himself with Genji as much as possible.

“Genji,” he hissed as he flooded into his precious little brother, painting him, filling him, marking him as his, as he always was, as he always would be, as his cock throbbed and his nerves sang and the need he had to unite with his brother, to always be united with him, was sated…again…for a little while.

His orgasm slowly tapered off, leaving him as content as he had learned was only possible when he was here, in Genji, buried in him and covered with him and holding him both deep inside and in his arms.

He bent his knees and lowered them both to the ground. When the motion eventually popped him out of Genji’s sloppy, red entrance, Hanzo returned the gentle favor Genji had bestowed on him by lifting his hips, nearly bending him in half, and burying his face in Genji’s musky valley and laving his tongue over the red skin, licking up the errant white ropes of cum leaking out until Genji managed to wink closed and keep the rest deep within him, where it belonged.

Then he lowered Genji’s hips to the ground, his legs splayed on either side of him, and they just looked at each other silently for a few moments, breathing slowly, the smell of sex heavy around them.

Genji suddenly smiled, lopsidedly, and opened his mouth.

There was a flash of white light.

And Hanzo slammed against a wall.

“Oof!” Tracer grunted alongside him, and then, with a flash of blue light, she was gone and suddenly thirty feet away, on her feet, uninjured, and flashing away, firing into the rogue Omnic’s sides with her pistols.

Hanzo laid on the ground, nearly catatonic with whiplash and confusion.

What…?

And suddenly Genji was there, all sleek and white and metallic with his cybernetics, crouching beside him…

…tucking his flaccid penis back into his trousers and buttoning him up…

…then gathering him into his arms and running, carrying him to safety and the warm glow of Mercy’s healing staff.

Later, hours later, when the battle was over and the sun had long since set and Hanzo was as well as circumstances permitted, he went in search of Genji.

He found him on the rooftop, gray against the night sky.

They stood side-by-side for a moment, looking up at the stars.

Hanzo turned to Genji, opening his mouth to speak…

…but Genji was already pushing him down to his knees.

Hanzo let out a little annoyed huff, but he supposed they could talk later.

For now, he simply kept his mouth open.

[luigi-mcdingle]

a while back, out of sheer morbid curiosity, i went back to beta version 1.7.3 of minecraft (the earliest version i could find new records of people playing) yknow, to see what was different and if it was still any good that far back it was. um. not? i mean i guess i see the appeal but i couldn't play without the ability to sprint, no end, no enchanting, no hunger? but that's just me, again i see the appeal then, again out of morbid curiosity, i upgraded to version 1.0.0, expecting a similar experience i now have 142 hours on my 1.0.0 world. | v

this version of minecraft is, compared to today's vision of minecraft, simple so many things we tend to take for granted aren't there, like stained glass, hoppers, maps, item frames, villages, horses, stone walls... you get the point

i didn't expect to put more than an hour or so into this world before going back to my heavily-modded 1.16.5 world or making a new 1.20 world, but something about it just kept me entranced there were simple goals and simple ways to reach it, but the basic gameplay was just so fun

i've always thought modern minecraft was kinda bloated, and this really cemented that feeling; we didn't need frogs or ocean monuments or horses or redstone comparators or any of the stuff that has been added since that time

yeah, it'd be nice for some of the modern quality of life features to be available like pressing ctrl to sprint or sheep being able to regrow their wool, but it's not needed minecraft became popular because the concept is perfect as is; your imagination really fuels things before i realized i was having so much fun, i was doing things i had never done before in my thousands of hours of minecraft, like building functional mob grinders, mining out slime chunks, and making elaborate redstone contraptions

(the walls of the lower room in this pic ^ are made of mushroom blocks... that i had to manually push into the room one by one with pistons because silk touch only gave solid brown mushroom blocks, no red ones) when i decided i was getting bored of this world, i went to good ol curseforge and downloaded about a hundred mods for 1.16.5 and played that... for maybe five hours, then i went right back to 1.0.0. yeah, i know, those are kinda polar opposites in terms of content and bloat, but it says something, right?

(yes that's the animal crossing train station) the one thing i ended up doing in this world that i had never done, that i honestly thought id never do, was go to the end and kill the enderdragon. yeah, in thousands of hours playing this game, i never once beat it. id always make a world, dick around for a while, then stop playing and eventually come back and start the whole process again... that or id play on multiplayer servers. remember mineplex? i should ramble about that one day...

i had known about the ending poem, especially since the whole thing with it becoming public domain (have you read the author's blog post about that situation? where he talks about how he took a bunch of shrooms in the woods and God told him what to write, and the end poem was the result?) but i never read it because... well, i just never felt like it, really. reading it for the first time after my long playthrough of this simple, fun version of minecraft that i so quickly grew to love so much was... something else. id say you should read the poem (it's available online, obviously) but it really doesn't work nearly as well without the experience of a full minecraft playthrough backing it up.

all this talk and im not really sure what my point in all this is. i guess it's something along the lines of "you don't need everything to enjoy life. limitation breeds creativity, and simplicity can bring happiness." or something. i dunno, it's fuckin' minecraft. maybe try making a new world. and having fun.

oh yeah, also i never really got that "creepy feeling" most people seem to get in these older versions of minecraft. i got a little creeped out while strip mining but that's just me not liking corridors.

[jellalism]

Alhaitham x Reader fic: Brilliant

You've been working on your thesis so much that Alhaitham feels it's time to intervene: you need to take a break. Fortunately, Alhaitham has special, exciting plans for what you could do to 'relax'.

Word count: 3957

Genre: Erotica, comfort

Characterization: top!Alhaitham, bottom!Reader, Dom!Alhaitham, Sub!Reader

Contents: Oral sex, anal sex, cockwarming, feminization (see below), slight degradation

Reader characteristics: The reader has a penis. They are not referred to with third-person pronouns. They are referred to with feminine terms ("bitch," "good girl," etc.), but it can easily be read as feminization and not a reflection of the reader's gender (it is how I intended it, anyway). The reader has hair of grabbable length.

Read below or on AO3.

You sigh again, as you do often these days. Poring over ancient texts, comparing translations and even extant versions of the original—it’s enough to drive you insane, even if it's just a little. To the unassuming reader of the text, a single character isn't going to make much of a difference, but when you're a scholar, that one character might just decide the difference between completely irreconcilable interpretations of the whole work. And how do you decide? Is there even a 'true' version of this ancient text, or is any extant version as good as any other? Another long, tired breath escapes your lips.

Suddenly you feel a hand on your shoulder. "Too difficult for you?" Alhaitham says teasingly. He has entered the room without you noticing. He probably hadn't been particularly quiet, but you sometimes find yourself completely focused on your work.

You turn around on your chair to face him. "Nothing is too difficult for me!" you say, full of confidence. Then, a bit more demurely, "Only some things take a while for me to figure out."

He smiles—most people would think it a rare occurrence, but you have the pleasure of seeing it quite often. "I wouldn't expect any less of you, of course. But you should also take a little time off. A sighing scholar is never a good thing."

You sigh again—not even on purpose. Alhaitham is right: you've been exhausting yourself beyond your limit.

"Good thing I just made us dinner. How convenient." He tries to play it off like a mere coincidence that he finished cooking just when you badly needed a break, but you know better—and he knows you know.

"All right then," you say, getting up and following him out of the room.

When you finish the food, all you want to do is take a nap. Alhaitham's discerning eye doesn't overlook it. "You look tired. You should rest a little longer."

"But I really have to continue working on this paper... What if I don't finish in time?"

“Honey, what do you think will happen if you don’t finish in time? Every day there are people who miss a deadline. They don’t die when they do. It’s your choice in the end, but I would prefer it if you took good care of yourself. And remember, I’ve been in this business a while. I guarantee you it’s fine to take a break now.”

You sigh, but this time it has a different quality. It’s a sigh of letting go, of relaxation. “Fine,” you mutter. “I’ll take a break.”

“Then, allow me.” He grabs your wrist and leads you to the sofa. Then he sits down and, with a pull, pulls you right beside him. His arm wraps around your shoulders comfortingly.

“But in an hour I’ll go back to work, OK?” you say. Your mind can’t help but feel the pressure of the impending deadline.

Besides you, you feel Alhaitham tense up in response to your words. Suddenly, he turns towards you, takes your chin in one of his hands, and turns your head, forcing you to look at him. His piercing gaze is focused on you and you only. “Listen to me,” he says sternly. “You need a damn break. Take it. No more work today.”

It doesn’t hurt, but your head feels immobilized by his hand. You can only nod slightly to indicate your understanding—and compliance.

He lets go of your chin and relaxes again. You relax against him, resting your head against his chest.

“Thank you.”

“Mm?”

“For taking care of me.”

“Don’t mention it. You’re one of the few people I like having around, so it’s the least I can do in return.”

“Thanks,” you murmur again, while his hand plays with your hair.

“Now that we agree about you needing a break, we are going to sit here and relax.” His mouth moves to your neck and places a kiss there. It tickles a little and gives you goosebumps. “Relax,” Alhaitham repeats.

“How can I relax when you’re—ah!” you exclaim in surprise as one of his hands surreptitiously enters your pants and fondles your genitals.

“Sorry, what were you saying? I didn’t catch that.”

“Oh, so that’s the kind of mood you’re in.”

“Perhaps. Will you indulge me?” He hasn’t stopped stroking your testicles. “I promise I’ll take good care of you.”

In between your irregular breaths, you whisper: “Take me.”

He takes his hand out of your pants in seconds and positions himself over you, one leg on each of your sides. Still clothed, he presses his pecs to your face for a moment. “You like those, huh? You can admire them all you like tonight.” His muscles are relaxed, making them a little squishy—but you know that if he were to tighten them, they’d be hard as stone. He smells a bit like jasmine, but the scent of sweat is also noticeable with your nose so close to his skin. Rather than it being unpleasant, it turns you on a little—this is the smell of Alhaitham when he is ravenous for sex, ravenous for you.

He moves his chest away from you and then bends over to press his lips upon yours. His tongue impatiently makes its way into your mouth, trying to explore every part of it. His right hand rests at the nape of your neck, keeping you close to him. His other hand trails downwards and slides into your pants again. This time, he plays around with the tip of your cock. You’re itching for his hand to slide up and down your shaft; inadvertently you try to move your crotch towards his hand, but with him sitting on your lap, you are unable to. You’re at his mercy; it’s like everywhere he touches you, he’s immobilized you.

Finally, he ends the kiss. His hand that was at the nape of your neck now slides to the front to hold your chin. “This is just the beginning.” You swallow in anticipation. He removes his upper body clothing. His clothes always allow you to see the outlines of his muscular torso, but nothing can quite prepare you for the fully unclothed version. He is breathtakingly muscular. “You should remove your clothes as well.” He wastes no time and starts pulling your shirt over your head. He’s a bit rough, impatience leaking through. His mask of composure is slipping.

Once your shirt is off, Alhaitham places his hands on your chest, pushing your back into the backrest of the sofa. “You are going to relax as I told you, right?” He places his thumbs on your nipples and starts rubbing them softly.

You already find yourself breathing heavily. “I don’t think you’ll let me.”

He smirks. “With your permission?”

You can’t suppress a smile yourself. “With my permission.”

As if it were the start sign, he immediately dives into your neck, kissing you passionately. All the while, his hands are undoing your belt. Then he gets up from the sofa, kneels, and pulls your pants off.  Your underwear goes with it too. You’re fully exposed to him and feel your face flushing red. Alhaitham stands up, towering over you with a satisfied, almost sadistic smile. Then, he removes his pants too. He first leaves his underwear on. “You want this?” He grabs his crotch, rubbing it a little. You can already see the outline of his balls and long cock through the cloth. “Answer me.”

“I want it, Alhaitham. Please give it to me.”

Perhaps he wants to see you beg more, but his impatience gets the better of him, and he slowly slides his underwear down. His dick springs out suddenly. Half-erect, it points right at you. Once he slips the underwear off his feet, he takes a step forward and lays a hand on your cheek. “You’d better get to work.” His cock is staring you right in the face now. You look up to see Alhaitham’s imposing body. He is looking down at you with a proud look on his face—like he has power over you. You both enjoy that playful imbalance.

His hand buries itself in your hair and then pulls your face closer to his dick. “Suck it.” You obediently place your lips on the tip of his member. Then you use your tongue to tease it. Alhaitham doesn’t say anything, but you hear his breathing growing deeper. His hand still grabs onto your hair—not quite aggressively, but certainly in a firm manner.

You don’t tease him for too long—he wouldn’t let you, anyway—and soon place his cock in your mouth. It isn’t thick, but it is long. You try to ease his member into your mouth, first taking only the tip in, then a part of the shaft. Moving up and down, taking it a little bit further each time. Then, Alhaitham grabs your head with his other hand, too. “Fuck,” you hear him whisper under his breath.

Soon enough, you find that his cock reaches far into your mouth, but you’re not at the base yet. Meanwhile, his long wood pulsates, a sign of Alhaitham’s that he’s nearing his climax—but that he isn’t quite there yet. You try to relax your throat and let his member slide in even deeper. Just when you think you can’t take it any further, Alhaitham’s hands start doing their work. He gets a bit rougher, moving your mouth up and down his dick at his own pace, as deep as he wants it to go. Deeper than you thought you could take it. When you start choking, he leaves his cock in your mouth but stops driving it in deep. “Relax your throat,” he reminds you. You make an understanding noise and try to re-relax. He thrusts into your mouth again. At first, not as deep as he just went, but he soon picks up the pace and depth again. He goes deeper and deeper, and you feel yourself being filled up with his large and warm member. His breathing quickens.

Then, with a raspy voice, he commands: “Drink up, bitch.” He thrusts his cock deep into you, and you feel the slimy warmth of his sperm shooting into your throat. Alhaitham grunts—music to your ears. While he is coming, he continues to hold your head firmly in place, making sure that every drop of him enters you.

When he finishes, he slowly slides his member out of your mouth, while you use your tongue to clean up the last of the drops of cum on his shaft. “Good girl,” he coos, stroking your cheek. After a few moments, he adds, “but we’re not done yet. I think you deserve a treat.”

He scoops you up and carries you to the bedroom, where he gently lays you down. Before you can settle, he flips you over on your belly, leaving your behind fully exposed. While he pressed his hand on your back, keeping you firmly in place, you hear him rummaging around in a drawer. Soon he finds what he searches for and he puts it down next to you. From the corner of your eye, you see it is a bottle of lube.

Before you know it, he starts pulling on your pants. They seem to fly off as if only all too eager. It’s the same story with your underwear. Then, you feel him position himself over you, wrapping his legs around yours, sitting comfortably.

“I seem to be saying this all the time, but I’ll say it once more: relax.” You breathe out deeply, trying to drain the tension from your body. The tension flows out, but something else seems to go in. Alhaitham’s lubed finger plays around with your anus. Softly massaging the rim, and then going in just a little—just one finger, not even that deeply, but still a jolt of electricity seems to run through you.

“Oh?” Alhaitham chuckles. “You seem to be quite hungry for my cock today.”

You involuntarily grunt. “I can’t help it. I just love being fucked by you.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” he says in a low voice, and then slips his finger in deeper.

You can’t suppress a moan. He knows all the sensitive places. To feel him rummaging around inside makes you squirm in pleasure. You instinctively raise your ass a little bit, moving it towards Alhaitham—anything to get his finger in deeper.

Then, you feel it. Another finger. Simultaneously, he lays down on his side next to you, propping up his head using his other hand. You try to look at him, but you often find yourself closing your eyes in pleasure and surprise at his practiced movements inside you.

“Mmm… You look so sexy like this.”

You are unable to answer. Instead, you just pant.

Another finger enters you. A small exclamation escapes your lips before you can contain it. But he says: “Let it all out, baby. I want to hear you.”

“Haah…. Make… me.”

His fingers pause. From the corner of your eye, you see a dangerous and amused glint in his eyes. “So that’s the game you want to play today. Fine then. Don’t expect me to hold back.”

And just like that, he takes out his fingers and repositions himself. He places his legs on each side of your body as if capturing you. You see him take the bottle of lube again—this time, it’s not for his fingers. He places his hands on your hips and pulls them up, arching your behind further toward him. Then, you feel the tip of his length at the rim of your anus. Slowly it presses its way in. You feel his deep breaths tickling your back. It goes further and further. It hurts a little, but the pleasure is greater.

“Ah!” A sound spills from your lips.

Alhaitham pauses. “Don’t give up. We’re not at the base yet,” he says matter-of-factly, and immediately he continues his way in. You grunt in pain and pleasure, head pressed into the soft mattress. It feels like he’s filling you, like the inside of you is on fire, all nerve endings activated.

“There. We’ve arrived.” His voice still sounds strong, but a little less steady than usual. He’s getting worked up, too. Meanwhile, you are panting heavily. “Are you sure you want me to make you moan?”

It takes a moment for you to catch your breath. “Yes,” you say determinedly.

Then, he bends over, letting his whole body rest on you. You feel his crotch on your buttocks, his abdomen on your lower back, his chiseled chest on your shoulder blades, and his lips at your right ear. His voice is soft, a threatening whisper. “Do you want me to make you scream?”

Your erect member replies by twitching enthusiastically, and you heed its call. “Do it.”

He moves his cock out a little before thrusting it right back in, deeply. With each thrust he lingers, making sure to go deep, hitting your sweet spot. Despite your best efforts, you can’t keep silent. Each time he plunges into your depths, you grunt softly.

“Ha ha… you’ve so easily turned into my little bitch,” he growls in your ear. His arm coils around your hip, his hand moving to your crotch. Then he firmly grabs your wood. “I guess I’ll have to take care of this too.” And just like that, he starts moving his hand up and down your shaft.

“Ah… Alhaitham…” His name spills from your lips. He wordlessly continues thrusting into you. Stimulated both front and back, it almost becomes too much for you. You try to hold back, but the sounds make their way out of your mouth louder and louder.

Suddenly, he grabs your chin with his other hand. “Let me hear you scream.” His voice is low and clear. You can’t hold back anymore, and you let your voice spill out without restraint. With each deep thrust, a scream rings out. In response, Alhaitham’s cock seems to grow even bigger inside you. “Take it all, cunt,” he whispers in your ear. “You like it rough, don’t you?”

When you don’t find the opportunity to answer in between his merciless, relentless movements, he forcibly turns your face to the side so he can look you in the eye. “Don’t. You?” he asks intimidatingly.

Between pants and screams, you stammer out a response. “Yes… Ah!... I… love it! Aaah! Fuck… me up… Ohh… Do whatever… you want... to me.”

Suddenly, he pauses. “Oh?” You don’t need to see his face that he is grinning maliciously. “As if I weren’t going to do that anyway.” He slides his cock out of your ass, rolls off you, and sits up. “Sit. Now.”

His commanding tone simultaneously scares you and turns you on. You scramble to get up, and when you do, you realize he intended a specific place for you to sit. In his lap. On his beautifully long, erect cock. You swallow in apprehension. That position will make him penetrate you even deeper—you’re not sure you can handle that.

“I said now.”

There is no time to be afraid, and you crawl toward Alhaitham. You place your hands on his shoulders, and, facing him, position yourself over his lap. You swallow again. You can feel the tip of his penis already touching your buttocks, but you hesitate to lower yourself onto it.

“What’s wrong? Are you perhaps afraid?” He flashes an arrogant smile.

You nod quietly.

His expression changes; the act drops for a moment. “Don’t worry, my love. I’ll take good care of you. If you find that you can’t handle it, just let me know. Is that all right with you?”

You nod again.

“Brilliant.” He places a kiss on your cheek. “Then, whenever you’re ready.”

You take a deep breath and lower yourself onto his member. Alhaitham holds his cock so it slides right in. Thanks to the previous position, your ass has already gotten used to him, so it doesn’t hurt much. But near the base, you slow down. It goes deeper than you dared dream. You breathe deeply and take your time. Alhaitham length, on the other hand, seems to be growing a little impatient.

Alhaitham’s lips form a single word, barely audible. “Please…” His eyes are closed in ecstasy and desire. That’s all the encouragement you need, and you lower yourself further, fully sitting down. His erect cock is now deep inside you, filling you up, and you can feel its every pulsation. With your arms around his neck, you place your lips upon his. Alhaitham greedily answers. His tongue slides into your mouth immediately. He keeps one hand on your lower back, and one on the back of your head.

His cock twitches and he breaks off the kiss. “Why don’t you start moving now?”

You smile. “How polite. But I think I’m all right now. You can say what you want to say.”

Alhaitham chuckles. Then, his demeanor changes. “Move.” The command sounds so authoritative that you do as he says reflexively, without a single thought. You start slowly, only going up and down slightly. One of Alhaitham’s hands slides to your thigh, gripping it firmly, nudging you to take it. He takes your cock in his other hand, gripping that firmly, too. “Listen up.” He looks you straight in the eye. “If you want me to move my hand, you work for it.”

In response, you increase your movements, going up and down further than before. His large cock inside you is an intense experience. It feels like your insides are on fire. While it hurts, it also gives you indescribable pleasure. As your movements grow more intense, the sounds coming from you do too. Each time you move down and his cock plunges deep into you, a cry escapes your lips.

“Yeah, like that. Let me hear you,” he whispers seductively. His hand has sped up, so you are now assaulted with pleasure from both sides. “Go deeper now.” It seems he’s fed up with letting you do the work because he also starts moving. His hand on your thigh becomes more insistent in guiding you—faster and further. His breathing is shallow, and his forehead is glistening with sweat. Sometimes, you hear him grunt softly.

Suddenly, he stops rubbing your penis and places both his hands on your back. You look at him in surprise. “Prepare yourself. I did say I would make you scream.” And just like that, you fall on your back under his guidance. His cock is still in you, and his muscular body is hanging over you. His hands grab yours and pin them to the mattress, a little above shoulder height. You’re completely in his power, and the position makes you feel exposed, fully vulnerable. Immediately, he starts pounding into you. Fast, but thoroughly. He bottoms out completely, and you feel his balls slapping against your buttocks.

“Fuck,” he murmurs. “You’re so hot. You like me deep inside you, huh?”

“Yes,” you answer with a breaking voice before you let out a scream again. “Fuck me deep!” And again you scream. With each thrust, he penetrates you to your core, and you let loose your voice—you have no control over it. Alhaitham, too, seems to be at the edge of reason.

“Damn… Take it, slut. This is what you want, right?”

After a few more exclamations, you scream his name in ecstasy. “Alhaitham!”

He speaks your name in return but doesn’t let up one bit. He continues pounding into you mercilessly. Suddenly, you notice you are close to release. “Alhaitham! I’m… I’m gonna come,” you stammer. He grins again and only redoubles his efforts to enter you as deeply as possible. The spot he’s reaching with his length is so incredibly sensitive and such an everlasting source of pleasure, he doesn’t even need to touch your cock to make you cum. You feel yourself reaching orgasm, the sperm shooting out of you, all over your belly.

“What a horny bitch you are, coming by only being stimulated in your ass.” He huffs. He seems to be getting out of breath, but he isn’t ready to slow down just yet. He keeps nudging that spot inside you, the one that almost makes you lose yourself. “You like it, don’t you?”

“Yes, Alhaitham,” you scream. Screaming is the only way you can let your voice out now—his length draws out every single sound inside you.  With each thrust, you can’t help but scream. His cock goes so deep, so pleasurably, so intensely, you can’t control the sound of your voice.

“I’ll let it all out inside you,” he says with a raspy voice. His thrusts become irregular, lingering at your depths. His body spasms a little, and you feel a warm liquid filling you inside. His body releases its tension and he sinks down on you. He is heavy, but pleasantly so. His skin is damp with sweat. His cock is still pumping out the last drops of cum inside you while he lays on top of you.

You both breathe deeply, exhaustion coming over you.

“I think I’ll just fall asleep like this,” Alhaitham mutters with a sleepy voice.

“What? Alhaitham, you’re still inside me!”

But Alhaitham doesn’t answer anymore, having drifted off to sleep. Try as you might, there’s no way to move the man on top of you—damn, those muscles are heavy. And you don’t have much energy to try anyway.

Soon enough, you drift off to sleep as well, with a man for a blanket.

[otwdfanfic]

For the wip ask game!! Dude both For the Dancing and the Dreaming and The Susan Problem intrigue me so much (I don't think you've ever mentioned For the Dancing and the Dreaming LMAO)

As for The Susan Problem, that's always such a good premise. I adore Narnia and have been interested in that particular part of the story for ages now!! I'm very curious as to how you're gonna tackle it!!

If you don't mind, would you like to share some things about these wips? <333

Phew, sorry I took so long to respond but I was rushing all week to make a costume for the new hunger games movie premiere! I finished it just in time to see the movie yesterday

I don't wanna accidentally spoil plot stuff but For the Dancing and the Dreaming will be a short Snoggletog focused fic, sort of the otwd version of Gift of the Night Fury and Homecoming but it will progress the plot. No huge drama but a lot of interpersonal drama and cozy Snoggletog vibes (idk if you can tell from itpn but I'm just obsessed with the vibes of Snoggletog on Berk). There's 3 things in this fic I'm really excited for:

It takes place a full year after itpn, so we get updates on how everyone's doing and there's a larger time jump between itpn and totg that this fic sits in the middleish of

It's split between the POVs of the whole gang, not just the 3 (including Baldur in his fic) POVs we've seen so far. However there will be 1 new POV in itpn, so there's really only 1 new one left for this

Cute new outfits! Idk if I'll have the energy for the usual fancy character portraits but I'll at least sketch them all like I did for Zephyr's Thawfest dress.

The Susan Problem is named after Gaiman's famous "The Problem of Susan" essay. I don't agree with the idea that there's a sexism problem with Lewis's portrayal of Susan rejecting Narnia in the last book since she's based on his own experience losing his faith as an adult and then returning later. He said that Susan would find her way back to Aslan's Country on her own, so I tried to imagine what that story might look like if he'd written it:

After a year or two living in America, Susan returns to Cambridge for Christmas with her aunt and uncle. She tends to avoid painful memories after her family all died in the book 7 train crash, but oddly her aunt finds her bow and horn in the attic storage. When Susan curiously blows the horn she accidentally brings some of the things that couldn't be destroyed with the rest of Narnia, like the gods Tash and Bacchus, into our world along with some of her vague Narnian memories. I include a lot of strange things like moving stained glass windows, snow sprites dancing in a blizzard, and Peter's voice which is revealed to be the god Apollo acting as a sort of guardian angel guiding her to save our world from some of the darker entities that have crept through the door. Inspired by Lewis's writing about Apollo on a trip to Delphi, the inclusion of greek myth in Narnia, and use of sun imagery with Aslan and Peter, Apollo here is actually another form of Aslan.

I LOVE Lewis's strange, abstract and Hellenistic portrayal of Christianity in Narnia. The borderline fever dream quality it often has feels very me, like Nuffink's dream about the three suns and tall grass and the red man. So I really enjoyed creating my own Narnia story with a Christmas fever dream quality to it! Here's a snippet of my favorite part:

The spectral form became more and more solid, like a person walking toward you with a spotlight behind him. The light dazzled her eyes, and she squinted into it. “Susan,” he repeated. As he stepped forward she could just make out his brilliant golden hair and magnificent shining crown. “Peter!” she shrieked, rushing towards the light and into the very glow that surrounded him. “Oh, Peter, I knew that you were only—” But she stopped short, because within the light he became clear, and she realized with a start that the man wasn’t her brother at all. His crown was rays of pure golden rippling light, not rubies and oak leaves. His hair flowed around his collarbone like Peter’s once had a long time ago, when he was much older than the age he’d died. This man looked her brother’s age though, and his face had the youthful but strong, honest, kingly look of Peter’s. She felt all kinds of sorrow and longing and curiosity. Wariness, too. “Who are you?” The specter smiled softly. “Gentle Susan of the Horn,” he greeted her with a deep, familiar voice. “I am called Apollo, the destroyer.” She frowned. “The destroyer,” she repeated, taking an unconscious step back, but his smile only grew in a way that reached his eyes, light crow’s feet crinkling with amusement. She found that when she stepped away, he became more obscured. “Do not worry,” he told her. “I am the lord of plagues and truth, but I am also the bringer of cures and protector of the herd. The bow you carry is mine, for I am the lord of archery. I am the southern sun, sworn to you. Harm will not come to you by my hand.”

[a-moth-to-the-light]

Comeback Celebration: Current Top Ten Purplekiss Songs

I've spent basically the entire summer waffling about the order of this list (only my top two have stayed solid this whole time), but I know I have to post this now, before I get too attached to the songs from the PERFECT single album they just released and have to knock even more of my old favorites out of the top ten.

For my Purplekiss stan cred: I've been a fan since "Ponzona", and a mega-fan since the "memeM" album--it's been so fun to watch them get more and more attention over the years!

1. Love Is Dead

That beat is something ELSE, and layered on top of it is yet another solid horror-concept Purplekiss song--the combination is killer.

2. Ponzona

The instrumental is such a standout--it's a luxury version of G-IDLE's fantasy concept music, which was already like my favorite thing ever.

3. Cast pearls before swine

mera from YouTube got me into this one, and I haven't looked back since! It's so full of catchy, joyful moments that make it super sweet on first, and second, and third, and infinite listens. Even after a couple of years, when I really should be at least slightly bored, I still find this song a bit overwhelming, though not really in a bad way!

4. So Far So Good

I still don't like the cabin fever album very much--most of it doesn't even feel like Purplekiss to me--but this month, I've finally been able to admit how much I love "So Far So Good". I have a feeling the chorus will be instantly recognizable to me for a long time to come, like my favorite songs from my childhood.

5. Hate me, Hurt me, Love me

There is absolutely no reason I should like this song as much as I do--the production is unusually sloppy, but my addiction to its chorus probably (and embarrassingly) makes it my most-listened Purplekiss song. No other chrous does it quite like this one!

6. Can We Talk Again

I didn't get it when it first came out, but I get it now. This is just a very well put-together song, neat and tidy but given life by the group's vocal style (and a super-catchy rap verse).

7. Pretty Psycho

This took over my life for a good while when the album dropped--it's such a great balance of their horror concept with a fun dance track, though the production feels a tad bit too shallow. It still has some really great qualities, but I feel like "Love Is Dead" does the same thing better, so it's fallen from the #1 spot over the past year.

8. Can't Stop Dreamin'

One of my comfort songs--like "Can We Talk Again", this is a great reminder that Purplekiss have some incredibly solid vocalists to match their (usually very impressive) production quality!

9. Oh My Gosh

Speaking of production quality!!! A new discovery, but I just couldn't leave it out--it's a perfect pop song, neat and tidy and addictive.

10. Twinkle

This one might have beaten "Sweet Juice" for the tenth-place spot solely because of my leftover affection for Mamamoo's "Starry Night", but I can't pretend I haven't listened to it an embarrassing amount of times--and the raps are pretty great, too!