#which is a brutal question to ask when you have any power to set the terms of employment. blue collar jobs all over. mining culture.

[girderednerve]

The NFL began to institute reforms [in response to 2010s concerns about brain injury]. New on-field rules were put in place: Defenders were prohibited from lowering their heads to tackle an opponent with their helmet or from hitting “defenseless” players in the head or neck. Contact was limited during practice, and the league instituted a “concussion protocol” every concussed player must follow before returning to the field. There were now “spotters” at every game, whose sole job is to survey the field for players who might be injured, and independent neurological consultants to offer a medical diagnosis that would theoretically be uninfluenced by a team’s desire to get its players back on the field. Concussions were still happening every Sunday, but the league appeared to be trying to alleviate the problem and it became easier for fans to watch with a cleaner conscience.

The media also stopped covering the subject with the same urgency. “You know enough about the press to know that one reporter comes along and is able to gain traction with something, it gets exposed and then everybody moves on,” [Alan] Schwarz [a sportswriter who has extensively written about CTE among football players] said. Investigative journalism in the sports world has shrunk — the sports department Schwarz worked for at the Times no longer exists — and the NFL was now in business with practically every major media company. Even Schwarz admitted that it became hard to find fresh ways to write about the issue. “It got tedious — ‘Oh my God, another dead player had CTE,’” he said. “It got to be sort of, ‘Duh.’”

When we spoke, Schwarz said he could think of only one thing that might produce an actual recalibration of how Americans think about football’s risks. “Everything would be different if an NFL player died on the field due to head trauma,” Schwarz said. “If Tua were to seize up and somehow not recover, then that would change the entire conversation.” ... Chris Nowinski [a longtime activist focused on brain injury in football] wasn’t sure it would. “I love Alan, but a player can die on the field from a brain injury and it’s not gonna change anything,” he said. “People will say, ‘It’s only happened once in the history of the NFL.’ They’ll compartmentalize.” ...

Predictions that youth football would collapse as parents kept their children off the field have also not come to pass. Youth football participation steadily decreased for more than a decade after news about CTE started to break, but it is on the rise again. Roughly a million boys still play high-school football — twice the number that play either basketball or soccer — and it remains possible in much of the country to sign up your 5-year old to be a linebacker. Most surveys of parents find that they understand there are risks but that they also don’t want to keep their kids from playing. The enduring appeal of youth tackle football is often chalked up to the promise of a college scholarship, but for many parents and kids, football is simply the best of a limited number of options. Earlier this year, when student reporters at the University of Maryland visited the small town of Lexington, Mississippi, which is in the state’s second-poorest county, one parent pointed out the football team remains popular in part because the entire county has no swimming pools, no soccer fields, no tennis courts, and no YMCAs. (Youth-football participation has gone down more dramatically in wealthier communities.) Tackle football’s continued popularity among young people was, in this sense, a sign of a bigger failure. Last year, researchers found an advanced form of CTE in an 18-year-old high-school football player who killed himself. By early September of this season, three boys had died from brain injuries they suffered while playing high-school football.

Fans, it seems, have chosen to believe the NFL has largely done what it can. “They addressed the majority of the ethical issues — the stuff that made them look bad — and now suddenly the story is ‘It’s just sad,’” Nowinski said. “What people are missing is that football has gotten more ethical, but it’s not necessarily safer.” The point was that, because the NFL was no longer denying the problem, and every NFL player should now know the risk they are taking with their brains, a large part of the ethical burden on the league and its fans has been lifted. At the same time, while the number of reported concussions in the NFL has trended down over the past decade, they haven’t gone away: In fact, the number has increased in each of the past three seasons, and last year’s total of 219 is roughly equivalent to the total from 2018. (The total also doesn’t include the blows to the head that go unnoticed.) Because doctors can only diagnose CTE postmortem, after cutting into someone’s brain, we still have no way of knowing for sure whether CTE is developing in Tagovailoa’s brain or anyone else’s. But researchers have now examined hundreds of brains of former players and found that the portion who had CTE has remained consistent at around 90 percent.

Even so, Nowinski didn’t want to tell Tagovailoa what to do. “The reality is that the NFL doesn’t have to be safe,” Nowinski said. “If the players aren’t being lied to, they can choose to have a dangerous job.” The NFL’s chief medical officer, Allen Sills, said that the league would not get involved in Tagovailoa’s decision, citing “patient autonomy and medical decision-making really matters.” Football had entered its era of personal responsibility....

[burst-of-iridescent]

The Choice of Compassion: A Scene Analysis of Aang vs Zuko

should aang have killed ozai?

the age old question. the discourse secondary only to the infamous kat.aang vs zutara ship war. the argument that's been raging for sixteen long, long years and inspired dozens upon dozens of thinkpieces on either side.

so naturally, i'm here to add one more that no one asked for.

now, this debate keeps getting mischaracterized as The Side That Respects Pacifism vs The Side That Wants A Preteen To Commit Brutal Murder when, for the most part, i don't think anyone is really staking their life on the homicide hill. the real issue most people take with aang's arc in the finale isn't him sparing ozai, but rather the deus ex-machina mechanism through which he's able to do so. i agree with that, but i would also take it further to argue that the real problem is that aang's ending is not thematically and narratively consistent with the rest of his arc as set up in the show.

to illustrate this, let's take a look at another scene that plays with similar themes: zuko choosing to save zhao in the siege of the north.

the basics of both scenes are the same: both boys choose, against all logic and common sense, to spare someone who would never show them the same mercy. when it comes down to compassion versus violence, they choose compassion, even at risk to themselves.

but where the siege of the north differs from sozin's comet is that zuko choosing to save zhao is thematically consistent with his arc in season 1, and aligns with where it will go in seasons 2 and 3.

zuko's journey throughout the show is one of rediscovery. he has to find his way back to who he used to be, before his family and his nation warped his perception of right and wrong, and forced him into believing he had to become someone he didn't want to be. it's clear as early as the storm episode that zuko is fundamentally kind, and the person he is now is as a result of being indoctrinated in a culture that perverted violence and cruelty into honour and strength.

in trying to save zhao, the personification of the fire nation's worst qualities and most twisted teachings, zuko turns against the values he's been raised with most of his life and instead chooses to remain true to himself and what he believes is right. it's a triumphant moment because it's zuko returning to the heart of who he is, and who he's truly supposed to be.

and even though his decision may be logically unsound (why risk yourself trying to save someone who tried to kill you?) you don't see anyone complaining that zuko shouldn't have tried at all, because his choice here is a direct - even if brief - resolution to the internal conflict the show has previously established for his character. the narrative consistency of the set-up and payoff allows the audience to recognize the thematic cohesion of this moment in zuko's arc - which is what makes it so powerful and satisfying.

so, the question is: does the same apply to aang's choice not to kill ozai?

the argument supporting aang's decision is usually something as follows: "aang sparing ozai is his way of remaining true to his people and making sure they aren't forgotten. it's a powerful symbol of how he's keeping their culture and beliefs alive even though the fire nation tried to wipe them out."

now that's not a bad argument, in theory. the problem, though, is that if this is the resolution of aang's arc, it has to be a direct response to a conflict established in said arc... and remaining true to air nomad values is not a struggle the show ever set up for aang until the finale.

not once in any of the previous seasons does aang seem to be forgetting his people's ideals, or losing his identity through assimilation, or struggling to reconcile his air nomad beliefs with the ideas he's encountering in this new, changed world. there isn't a long-term, sustained arc about him being worried or concerned about air nomad culture dying out completely, or about taking on the burden of keeping it alive. in fact, the only episode that does reckon with this theme in any capacity - the northern air temple - seems to push the opposite message: that aang should move on and adapt to this changing world instead of remaining mired in the past, and protecting the culture of a people long gone.

(note: i don't like how the NAT episode handled this theme, but for the purposes of this post, we will take it as it was written.)

both zuko and aang are characters whose arcs revolve around change, but if zuko's arc is about moving back to who he truly is, then aang's arc is about moving forward. it's about going from the last airbender to the avatar - about drawing wisdom from different places, about immersing himself in the practices, beliefs and cultures of the other nations, and learning to value them as he values his own.

it's the classic want vs need: what aang wants is to be nothing more than a goofy, peaceful airbender but what he needs is to become a fully-realized avatar, the embodiment of four nations in one. and this conflict is established and re-established repeatedly over three seasons, most especially in his struggle to learn earthbending and firebending, both of which called for him to adopt new perspectives and beliefs contrary to his own.

this is why aang refusing to kill ozai feels so narratively unfulfilling, because it's the complete antithesis of what the show established for aang's narrative over three seasons. the plot point of his absolute pacifism not only comes out of left field (where was this problem when he was going to battle ozai during the eclipse?), it's also incongruous with the depiction of other air nomads in the series (both yangchen and gyatso don't seem to practice absolute pacifism) and with where aang's own arc appeared to be leading.

additionally, it also conflicts with the thematic clash that the aang vs ozai fight is supposed to represent: what was meant to be balance and harmony vs dominance and supremacy now turns into... air nomad beliefs vs fire nation beliefs, which runs contrary to the fundamental message of the entire show. not exactly what you want for the final battle between your protagonist and antagonist!

all of this is not to say that aang should have gone turbo avatar state on ozai and singlehandedly yeeted him into the spirit world. but there were a dozen other ways to handle ozai's end: give him a disney death, let aang learn energybending of his own accord and incapacitate him the way katara took down azula, or - my personal favourite - bring in the spirits in a neat parallel to the book 1 finale, and have ozai's death be a consequence of the imbalance he propagated in the world (i've always felt the avatar being the spirit bridge was a plotline that kinda got shafted in book three, and bringing back someone like koh, for instance, would've slapped).

the point is that for the resolution of aang's arc to be thematically consistent with the established narrative (the validity of this narrative, and whether it should have been different, is another point entirely, but it cannot be denied that this is what the show chose to go with), he needed to place the values and beliefs of the other nations on equal footing with his own, and win because of this willingness to draw from all nations instead of relying solely on his own.

ultimately, remaining true to his compassionate, peaceful nature is not a struggle in aang's narrative the way that it is in zuko's, which is why him choosing to spare ozai doesn't have anywhere near the emotional resonance or satisfaction of zuko reaching out to zhao. meanwhile, the conflict that does characterize aang's arc - being forced to become the avatar - never comes to a meaningful resolution the way that zuko's does. rather, it's thrown out the window in favour of a last minute plot point that robs aang of both agency and development, and destroys the thematic cohesion of his narrative for nothing.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Being a “centrist” sounds eminently reasonable, doesn’t it? A centrist is a moderate, right? Someone who is rational and practical and takes the middle ground. Someone who isn’t extreme like those crazy ideologues on the far right or far left. A centrist, logic dictates, is really what everyone should strive to be. But stop for a moment and ask yourself how you would define a centrist in more specific terms. When you start spelling out what the word really means, it becomes clear that it obfuscates more than it illuminates. The word does not describe a set of ideas so much as it reinforces a system of power. This, of course, is a feature not a bug of political language. As George Orwell wrote in his famous essay Politics and the English Language: “In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible. Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness.” Orwell wrote that essay in 1946. Today, 78 years later, it feels just as relevant. Look, for example, at the carnage in Gaza and the West Bank. Look at the statements from Israeli leaders that clearly suggest genocidal intent. Look at the tragedies that barely make a dent in the public consciousness any more. Last week, for example, an Israeli airstrike killed four-day-old twins, along with their mother and grandmother, when their father went to collect birth certificates in central Gaza. Look at the levels of brutality that barely seem to register any more: there is video evidence of the sexual abuse of Palestinians at a notorious Israeli military prison (though the more accurate term is “torture camp”) and, even with that evidence, we know there will be no real accountability. Look at the dead. Nearly 40,000 people in Gaza are now dead, including nearly 15,000 children. When you look at the scale of devastation, it seems likely that those figures are an underestimate. Further, counting the dead is excruciatingly difficult: kids are being blown into fragments so small that their surviving relatives have to collect pieces of them in plastic bags. Then there are the tens and thousands more who are now dying from starvation, or facing a looming polio epidemic. Look at the West Bank, meanwhile, where Israel has published plans for new settlements, which violate international law. Since 7 October, the Israeli army and settlers have displaced 1,285 Palestinians and destroyed 641 structures in the West Bank, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Ethnic cleansing is taking place before our eyes. Now look at how all of this is being justified. This war isn’t just being waged with bombs, it’s being waged with “euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness”. When you lay out what is happening in clear language, it is indefensible. So political language dresses all those dead and starving children up in euphemism. It obscures ethnic cleansing with vagaries. Don’t believe your eyes, political writing says. What you are seeing is far more complex than your eyes can possibly comprehend.

[...]

In order to defend the indefensible, politicians and political writers move away from concreteness, from clear language, and hide behind the respectableness of terms like “centrism”. Pro-Palestinian protesters are labelled the far-left or extremists. Continuing to unconditionally send arms to Israel and shield the country’s far-right government from accountability, however, is considered a centrist – and therefore reasonable – position.

[...]

As Orwell wrote, atrocities can be defended, “but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of political parties”. If the Democratic party were to be honest about why it is doing very little to stop the carnage in Gaza and the settlements in the West Bank, the bluntest argument would be along the lines of: “Israel is an important tool in maintaining US imperialism and western interests. The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is expedient to those interests. Human rights law doesn’t apply to atrocities enabled by the west.” Of course, being pro-ethnic cleansing doesn’t quite square with the do-gooding branding of the Democratic party. Instead, we are bombarded with the idea that massacring children is somehow a centrist and moderate position.

22 August 2024

[5eraphim]

Would you ever write something about Scout as a rabbit hybrid thingy? This question was inspired from your “Puppy Eyes” fic that I’m in love with

In my head writing this, Scout is meant to be a hybrid, but still goes through transformations cycles like a werewolf would, and isn't exactly in a fully human form when not a werewolf.

Rating: M (MINORS DNI, GO PLAY OUTSIDE)

Content Warnings: rabbit hybrid, yandere, exophilia, taboo fantasies/roleplay (CNC, cop/prisoner, cop/serial killer, incest, abuse of power, revenge sex), reader is kept gender neutral

MASTER LIST

TIP JAR

Highly prone to "puppy love," which makes him feel paradoxical guilt for lusting after you so intensely, and he genuinely struggles to work up the courage to ask you out. Partly because, despite his narcissistic personality, the idea of getting rejected terrifies him more than anything imaginable, and he can't help but choke up in the moment.

Because of this, he'll be looking for any excuse to get his hands on you as soon as you give them the green light. The brutal truth here is for your first week or so of hooking up, Scout is horny out of his mind but, unfortunately, unperceptive of your needs. Scout has too much pent-up frustration to give much pleasure on your behalf and can't stop bursting pretty early. It's a learning curve for both of you to get this right, but he's eager to please. (Once he can figure out how, that is.) He's got to do a lot of learning on the fly here because even if it's evident to you that he's pretty out of his league, he refuses to admit it.

He thinks it's cute that you assumed he would be 100% sub, someone you could order around and easily control, but Scout's pretty versatile and prioritizes variety above all else. (Blame his hyper-active imagination for this, as well as a shameful amount of time jerking off and daydreaming about sleeping with you.)

Unsurprisingly, Scout is extraordinarily needy behind closed doors. (He's a very hands-on person in public, too, but there's more desperation when other people aren't watching.) Scout is prone to nightmares about losing you if the two of you are apart for too long.

Gets embarrassingly aroused when you wear anything with a bunny logo on it. The Playboy logo is like crack to him.

When he goes fully cum-brained he'll have some of the most deranged taboo fantasies of the two of you, often gross, or sometimes just flat out weird.

You're a rookie detective agent given the assignment of a lifetime set to assist in the investigation of a serial killer targeting citizens like you alone at night in your hometown. Because you're so new and don't have much experience in the field, you try to catch him all by yourself and are given a grim reality check.

You're a prisoner, and he's a cop in charge of supervising your cell. You were put in solitary confinement for bad behavior, failure to follow the rules, and fighting with other prisoners. You're too far away from the others to call for help, and Scout knows that. At the end of the day, it'll be his word against yours. 

The two of you are step-siblings sharing a bedroom with overprotective parents. He's muffling you with his sweaty palm while using his other hand to keep your thighs apart while he thrusts inside.

He's a jilted lover who's holding you hostage, determined to babytrap you so you'll never have the option of abandoning him freely ever again.

Scout gets really nippy when he first transforms. No matter how many times he goes through all this, the rabbit teeth will hurt when they grow back in, and he goes through a semi-second mini-teething phase to get used to them. They usually won't hurt so long as you don't try to resist too much.

The transformation cycle fucks with his brain chemistry and hormones like crazy. Unfortunately, the main reason behind his intense neediness and proclivity for jealousy is due to factors largely out of his control. 

Related to the insane sexual fantasies he has for you, expect Scout to ask you some strange questions about the relationship, such as,

Would you be mad at me forever if I killed both your parents?

Would you still wanna date me if you found out we were cousins?

Would the two of us have been friends as kids? 

Is there any chance we would've dated in high school?

Would you still want to be in a relationship with me if you were the monster and I were the human?

The very first transformation of his into a rabbit as your partner would be the most painful and intense one of his entire life. At last he finally has met his own mate, someone to help keep his bed warm at night, to protect with his life, and to Scout you are synonymous with the future in life itself. But still, he was scared to death thinking about laying a hand on you in such a state. Despite what you might expect, he would put you and your safety first, at least for the first two or three months. His horniness simply cannot entirely surmount the hypothetical guilt of accidentally killing you or ruining his chance to get intimate in the future.

[qqueenofhades]

Extremely stupid and contradictory question that I still want an answer to, but what is it that makes people want a dictatorship with progressive values?

For that matter, why is it that nearly all dictatorships are so fundamentally built on conservative/authoritarian ideals and values?

Why doesn't genuinely good values ever end up being the core value that gets enforced with ruthless brutality instead of people twisting themselves into knots to justify always sinking to the worst possible impulses built on hatred?

Is decency just fundamentally anathema to it?

This is one of those questions where you're actually asking several different things at once, and it will take a lot of work for me to explain and contextualize everything that you're looking for. However, I do think this is important to understand, so I'll give it a shot.

First, if I may point out, you've answered a bit of your own question when you ask "why don't genuinely good values ever end up being enforced with ruthless brutality?" I think it's fair to say that if your values were actually good or something that would broadly benefit the lives of most people, they would not need to be enforced with ruthless brutality. This is the case regardless of which ideology your totalitarian dictatorship is built on; i.e. conservative Christian fascism or left-wing old-school communism/People's Republics. Because a dictatorship, no matter which values it claims to use to justify itself, never exists to benefit people. A dictatorship exists to vest supreme power in one person or system and totally disenfranchise everyone else, and it is not, regardless of what some people on the internet in 2023 seem to think, a tool of social justice. Marginalized groups who have a hard time in a traditionally white/culturally Christian Western democracy will nonetheless have an orders of magnitude worse time under a dictatorship, as will everyone else. It is not something you should wish for under any circumstances, and also represents a naïve Western privilege where, having grown up with the unpleasant consequences of late-stage capitalism, people go for the fallacy that old-school communism must be better! Except it isn't, and when you totally blow over and ignore the objections of people who actually grew up under those regimes and warn you that they're not so great, you're just straight-up projecting and wishful thinking. It has nothing to do with reality or history or what anyone should aspire to.

The idea has existed in human society for thousands of years that if you can just get a "benevolent dictator" or "merciful autocrat," who can be trusted to rule with supreme power, do what's right for everyone, and get rid of the messy and flawed process of representative democracy that never seems to quite fix society's biggest problems. However: this doesn't work, it has never worked, there have been countless wars fought over this question, and it would certainly never, ever work in a setting as complex as the globalized twenty-first century. The Online Leftists who want Bernie Sanders, an old white man, to be their all-powerful dictator -- that is, uh, not the Social Justice Flex (tm) you think it is. And as noted, a dictator of any stripe is fundamentally anathema to actual progressivism or social justice, and anyone who loudly wants one (or thinks that the American president should act like one) is exposing both their profoundly immature understanding of the situation and a worrisome thirst for tyrannical despotism as long as it has "the right ideas." This has, again, caused countless wars and numberless deaths, because "the right ideas" will never be universal, universally agreed upon, or anything else, and if they're enforced with violence, you have -- again -- a dictatorship! It's not great!

In chaotic and uncertain times, people tend to want a "strong leader" who they can trust to just fix all their problems and relieve them from the burden of governance or worrying how things are going to work out. This was first articulated in modern Western political philosophy by Thomas Hobbes, who wrote his Leviathan in the mid-17th century during the English Civil War. Basically, his idea was that the people should democratically elect an absolute monarch/leader, who would then rule with an iron fist and retain supreme power, because they couldn't be trusted to govern themselves. (Hobbes is also where we get the pessimistic description of life being "nasty, brutish, and short.") Because things are bad right now, people likewise tend to want an absolute monarch of either right or left political persuasion, but these are both very bad options and should be equally resisted.

Democracy is flawed, imperfect, slow, cumbersome, and contradictory. It can be badly hijacked and corrupted (as we've seen in the last few years) by money, misinformation, bad-faith actors, and more. It is also still always, 100%, all-of-the-time preferable to a dictatorship. People still fall for the idea that having an absolute monarch who just "makes things happen" right away without the cumbersome apparatus of congresses or senates or supreme courts of judges would be "better," and totally ignore the massive and systemic disenfranchisement it would impose on everyone else. Especially in our current misogynist white-supremacist homophobic etc. system; the dictator WOULD be a rich white dude and let's not even pretend otherwise. Even if he made a play at being "progressive," it would not be true and it would not last. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, etc. etc. I do not want a dictatorship. I do not want to live in a dictatorship. I don't care what Good Intentions (tm) anyone has, because I think that anyone who wants to be a dictator or to live under a dictatorship has a very different idea of Good Intentions than I, or indeed most sane people, do. The end.

Yes, America is a deeply flawed country. Yes, it is built on systemic and ongoing racial and cultural white-settler-colonial genocide. However, where modern leftists struggle the most is the idea that two things can be true, because they're so deeply sunk into black-and-white, zero-sum thinking where if one thing is true, it rejects all the others. If we have a flawed democracy, the solution is to fix that democracy, not to just throw it out the window and cavil for an absolute monarch. You can be fiercely critical of America's imperialist actions, unnecessary wars, racist violence, and everything else while also realizing that if the first and oldest presidential democratic republic in existence was dismantled or turned into a fascist autocracy, it would be absolutely terrible for many, many countries around the world, and humankind in general. You do not have to subscribe to the nonsensical, navel-gazing tankie "logic" that America is the only country with (evil) agency ever, and everyone else in the world is just its helpless pawns. You do not have to subscribe to the idea that any work within the system, or accepting basic political realities, makes you a "bootlicking neoliberal shill" or whatever they're using to insult anyone who doesn't just live in their distorted bubble of self-righteous ignorance. You don't!

As I always say, the only people who really want a dictatorship are those who know that their ideas aren't popular enough to win a free and fair election, but think they "deserve" to be in power anyway, because etc. etc. My Ideas Are Better! (Spoiler alert: they are not.) This is the same whether it's the Republicans trying to outlaw elections or the Online Leftists who sanctimoniously refuse to engage with the civic process because it's "contaminating" for their Pure Ideas to make any compromise with reality. And yet those so-called progressives are utterly dependent on us Normie Liberals who actually vote against the rabid fascists, and are (just barely) holding the line. Because yes, in a liberal democracy, they do have the right to be sanctimonious, useless, toxic, holier-than-thou ideologues who sit on their asses and contribute nothing to the actual dirty process of change. But if the Normie Liberals haughtily refused to vote in the same way the Online Leftists do, the fascists WOULD be in complete control by now, and trust me, it would be grim.

To be frank, I think most, if not all, of what calls itself "Western leftism" has categorically and completely failed as a moral, political, or practical opposing force to right-wing fascism. Much of it is dependent on savagely backbiting even those people who already agree with you, refusing to take basic steps to enact change even incrementally (i.e. voting), and attacking the establishment liberal party, i.e. the Democrats in America, while vocally supporting foreign dictatorships as long as they're "anti-American" or ancestrally "socialist." We've seen the utter failure of Western leftists at developing a moral stance on Ukraine, a consistent opposition to Trump, or pretty much anything else that requires them to come down from their high horses and accept a more complex reality than their abstract purity tests or outright nonsensical clichés. And when you're attacking the Democrats nonstop and backing foreign dictatorships, that is, uh, pretty much the exact same thing that the fascist Republicans are doing. Which means both of these groups are profoundly and dangerously anti-democratic, anti-liberal, anti-intellectual, and anti-humanity. There's no way around it.

In short, so-called "progressives" want a dictatorship because they too have given up on democracy, don't believe that people at large are as "smart" as they are, and don't want actual praxis or the effort of making change within a flawed democracy. They subscribe instead to the magical thinking that an absolute monarch will instantly and benevolently fix everything, which has -- as noted -- been violently disproved over and over in human history, and they think that "leftism" consists of having the most "pure" views. They do not care about or actively deplore any idea of making compromises to put them into practice, they gain moral superiority by excluding more and more people to make a smaller and smaller in-group, they refuse to accept any information, history, or factual evidence that contradicts their beliefs, and they're just as angrily anti-intellectual as the worst Christian-fascist-nutjob-right-winger, because reality has a bad habit of being complicated and not fitting into neat boxes. And if you think, as I do, that it would be a very, very bad idea to trust these mean, vindictive, constantly-want-to-punish-everyone-who-is-not-exactly-like-them people with absolute power, then you'll have to move to the idea of accepting that for all its flaws, democracy is still the best and most just system we have yet invented for governing ourselves, and the idea is to fix ours, not get rid of it entirely. So yeah.

[cherienymphe]

I Spy With My Little Eye (Aemond Targaryen x Reader)

WARNINGS: DUB-CON, attempted NON-CON/ mentions of, power imbalance, jealousy

➥ banner by @maysdigitalarts​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​|  ➥ divider by @firefly-graphics​​

summary: To escape prince Aegon's clutches, you make a deal with the devil.

~

Your skin was aflame with heat from a violet gaze.

Prince Aegon was always watching you, it seemed, and you would be a liar if you said it did not strike fear in you. Princes could do as they pleased, always had, and no consequences would befall them. Ever. Dyana’s absence, a good dear friend of yours, was proof enough of that. Everyone knew what had happened between them. Or more importantly, what he had done to her.

You feared that you would be next.

The prince is known to pinch and fondle any servant girl who strays within his reach.

That was what the other serving girls had told you on your first day. You had not given it much thought since you knew you would not be assigned to the prince. You were fortunate enough for that, but then… He had attacked Dyana, and the queen had sent her away, and now you were to serve him in her stead.

Keeping an eye on him at all times was starting to become exhausting. You knew that was all it would take, one moment. One moment in which you did not keep him in your line of sight. One moment in which you were not hyper aware of his presence, his position. One moment where you would let your guard down…and then he would have you.

And there would be nothing you could do about it.

None of the other women would ever take your place, and truthfully, you would never ask them to. Everyone knew what he was like, and you could not in good conscience subject another girl to this. This waiting game. This game of simply biding your time and faux peace until the prince got what he wanted…because he always got what he wanted.

One way or another.

You swiftly left his chambers as soon as you set his food down, thinking to yourself that it was not fast enough. Once you made it to the other side of the door, you let out a breath you had not realized you’d been holding, swearing to yourself that you had heard his footsteps close behind all the way. You had not even realized how unsteady your legs had become until you began to walk.

This was your reality everyday now.

You woke up, got dressed, and prepared yourself to tend to the prince. You would stretch yourself thin to focus on both the task at hand and Aegon’s ever watchful eye. Sometimes you would dress he and Helaena’s children. Sometimes another servant would tend to the task. You would leave, fighting the urge to hurl or pass out the entire time, and prepare to do it all over again the next day.

When you turned the corner, you were startled by the presence of none other than prince Aemond. The queen’s second son may not have had his brother’s reputation, but he was no less frightening for other reasons. His brutality and cold demeanor was enough to make you shrink before him, apologizing profusely.

You were in the midst of said apologies when he reached out with both hands to steady you. You were shocked by the action, looking at him with wide eyes and parted lips. He did not say anything at first, staring you down so intensely that you started to wonder if you needed to fear prince Aemond in the same manner you feared his brother.

He hummed as he looked you over, one of his thumbs seeming to absentmindedly trace patterns into your arm.

“Is my brother in his chambers?” he wondered, voice low, and you were quick to nod.

He studied you for what felt like another long minute before his eye narrowed.

“…is he decent?”

His tone was different now, and you knew what he meant by that question. Much less nervous now, you nodded again without hesitation.

“Of course, my prince.”

Prince Aemond seemed please by that for some reason, looking you over with a small nod. He let you go, but not before brushing his fingers down your arms as he did.

“Good,” was all he said before brushing by you.

You found yourself looking after him with a small frown.

You did not interact with the younger prince much, but the few times you did, he always did seem uncharacteristically kinder to you. It had always made you suspicious, but he never gazed at you in such a salacious way like his brother, so you quickly put those fears to bed. However, before today, he had never taken an excuse to touch you in any way either…and so you wondered if you buried those suspicions too soon.

You quickly convinced yourself not to read too much into it.

Even as weeks passed, and you found yourself running into him more, you still brushed those fears aside. Every morning when you left prince Aegon’s room, prince Aemond always seemed to be there, seemingly waiting for you to leave to enter his brother’s chambers. Sometimes he brushed by you without a word…and sometimes he asked that same question.

Is my brother decent?

It was apparent that he suspected something between you two, but you did not have the heart nor bravery to spew at him that he knew what his brother was like. That if anything should happen between you two then it would not be of your own desires, but his. You assumed that he was only looking out for his sister, or at the very least, wanted to be there to clean up whatever problem his brother would inevitably cause.

It was almost laughable, the certain attitude he had that prince Aegon would create another mess to clean up.

You did not realize how wrong you were in your assumptions.

The queen’s firstborn did in fact do what he was known to do. Or at least, he attempted to. With your mind on Aemond, you had been too distracted to be so aware of his brother, startled into knocking a nearby chair over when you turned around. You had not heard him approach, and your mouth dropped at his close proximity.

“You are much more jumpy than the last one.”

His words made you bristle, swallowing with a frown.

“She had a name,” you heard yourself saying, watching as he raised his eyebrows.

You quickly hurried to school your features, momentarily forgetting yourself.

“…and I have no idea as to what you mean, my prince. If you will excuse me…”

Prince Aegon did not let you step far, content to block your path. His white hair was rather messy in the morning, stray strands falling into his face, the rest curling underneath his ears. Your heart felt as if it had sunk to your gut as he stared you down, face mirthful despite how serious you knew he was. You took a step back, almost tripping over the chair.

“Your royal highness, I…I have other duties I must attend to,” you forced out with a half bow before attempting to leave once again.

The blond prince was faster, yes, but he did not consider just what you were willing to risk in order to escape him. You did not glance back as you tipped the other chair behind you, cringing at his painful yelp. You knew it would only make him angrier, spur him on, and you could not reach the door fast enough. However, upon flinging it open, you were not prepared to fall into the arms of another.

You looked up in a mixture of shock and gratitude.

Your knees would have hit the floor if not for prince Aemond. His hands were tight on you, and you only just realized how bad you were shaking when he forced you to stand upright, pulling you closer just as prince Aegon stepped through the threshold. You felt yourself clinging to his younger brother as he took a step back, taking you with him.

You looked over your shoulder and flinched at the sneer on Aegon’s face.

“Your timing is impeccable, brother. She was not quite done with her duties,” he said, reaching for you. “Hand her over.”

You shrunk in on yourself, pressing yourself closer to the man before you. You looked at his face again, scare at what you might find, but only his familiar cold demeanor remained. He was quiet for some time, and the longer he remained that way, the worse your fears became. Surely, he knew what his brother intended.

Would he just…hand you over?

With a deep exhale, prince Aemond maneuvered you to stand behind him, much to your surprise. You could see that his own brother was surprised too from over his shoulder. Aemond’s arm was slanted back, a hand on your waist, something you found oddly comforting in this situation.

“No.”

His answer was simple enough, but prince Aegon had no intention of accepting it, it seemed. His expression grew uglier, and you hid yourself behind your savior some more when he turned his lilac eyes onto you. You wanted more than anything to make yourself scarce, but prince Aemond’s hold on your waist was rather firm.

And truthfully you were too scared to even move.

“No?” prince Aegon scoffed, a humorless chuckle leaving him. “She is-.”

“She’s mine.”

The younger prince’s words shocked you both, and you were sure that your expression was comical if you could see it. You stared at him in awe, frozen as he lied for you. Prince Aegon looked positively infuriated when you looked back to him, and you were unable to hold his gaze when he glanced at you again.

“Yours?” he scoffed. “Since when?”

“I do believe that is none of your business, brother. She belongs to me, and that is all you need to know.”

You did not understand where this was coming from, but you were not going to question it. The silence seemed to stretch, and you foolishly thought that would be the end of it.

“Even still…she is nothing,” prince Aegon sneered. “I am sure you would not mind-.”

“I would, actually,” he quietly told him, fingers digging into you. “I very much would, and I doubt you are prepared to duel with me over someone who is supposedly…nothing.”

The silence was deafening.

“We both know who the better swordsman is…”

You could hardly believe what you were hearing, and you were tempted to look up again when you heard prince Aegon curse. You flinched when the door slammed shut, and countless ‘thank you’s’ were on your lips when prince Aemond turned to look at you, a finger pressed to his lips. You swallowed your words, allowing him to pull you away, and it was then that you looked over your shoulder.

The elder prince’s door was parted just a tad now, and you quickly turned back around, clinging to your savior.

“My brother does not like to be slighted.”

Prince Aemond’s words were deafening in the stillness of his chambers. Only a few candles and the glow of the moon provided light, and you once again wondered what you were doing here. After the incident, when he had told you to meet him in his chambers in the dead of night, you knew then what he wanted. You knew then that perhaps he was not much better than his brother, but you also knew the why.

Prince Aegon would not let it go, and his brother’s interference would prevent him from letting you go. No, you imagined that the oldest prince did not enjoy being slighted, and with Aemond being Aemond, the only person his brother could take it out on would be…you. Prince Aemond’s protection would not come without a price.

Only…you did not know why he did it to begin with.

However, when his hand met your face, it occurred to you that maybe it was a part of a bigger picture. Prince Aemond was not touching you like someone who only wanted your body in return for his protection from his brother. He was not looking at you that way either, and beyond the slight disgust you felt at how orchestrated this whole thing seemed to be…a part of you welcomed the prince’s touch.

It was gentle, far gentler than you imagined prince Aegon’s to be. Thoughts of him had a shudder traveling down your spine, forcing you to press closer to the prince before you. It seemed wrong somehow, but you knew that if you wanted to walk these halls and do your duties in peace…you would need him in your corner…would need his protection.

Prince Aemond’s long hair was loose, flowing around his face like strands of moonlight. It had taken you by surprise when you first arrived, and it served to distract you now. His nose brushed yours, and he seemed to be taking his time as if giving you the option, the time, to back out. But truthfully, what choice did you have?

A lot went unsaid between you, tonight, but you both knew that prince Aegon would not let his go so easily. You knew what would await you if you did not go through with this, and once faced with the options of being brutally violated by Aegon or…whatever this was with his brother… The choice, or what semblance of a choice you had, was easy enough.

It was just as cruel in a sense, but once his lips met yours, you realized that Aemond’s actions were driven by desperation…not cruelty.

“I have watched you, you know,” he confessed against your lips, hair curtaining around your face as he laid you down.

His words somehow both shocked you…and didn’t. You simply stared at him when he pulled away.

“They replaced Dyana with you…and I knew then it would only be a matter of time.”

His words were soft in the dimly lit room, and your lips parted as you gazed up at him. You did not know what to say as he confirmed your suspicions. The prince wanted you, long before Aegon decided he did too, and you did not know how to feel about it. No one had ever wanted you before. At least, not to your knowledge, and here was a prince prepared to go toe to toe with his brother just to have you.

The question was…did you genuinely want him too?

In retrospect, you supposed that it did not matter, nor did you have time to answer that. The Targaryen prince kissed you again, and you had no choice but to welcome it. The lie that he had told Aegon earlier in the day, he had every intention of making true, and you shivered at the feel of his hands on you. With every article of clothing that fluttered to the floor, you grew more and more nervous.

You found the courage to reach up and touch his face, finger brushing over the patch on his eye. You did not know if he was surprised or angered by the action, but even though he did not pull your hand away, he did press his lips to yours again, and your arm fell.

Aemond did not ask if you were untouched, and you supposed that it was obvious. If it was not, then it certainly was in the way you squeezed your eyes shut and clung to him as he slowly pushed his way into you. The head of his cock poked between your folds, and you sharply inhaled. You could feel his unwavering gaze on you, the weight of it making everything so much more intense.

You confirmed your suspicions when you managed to peel your eyes open. Any pain you felt slowly faded as you became distracted once again, gaze fixated on how the moonlight bounced off of his hair and skin. The fairness of both was eerie, beautiful in a way that was hard to put into words, and you only just remembered the position you were in when he started to move.

You gasped, back arching a bit as he pulled out before slowly thrusting back into you. It did not seem real, the position you found yourself in, and you felt almost separated from your body in a way. You felt full in a way that was both unnatural and natural. It was foreign, weird, and yet your body seemed to welcome the feel of him the more he pressed his hips to yours.

“You watched me?” you quietly questioned at some point, his words still on your mind.

You pressed your hand to his chest, fingers dancing along his dewy skin.

“Why...?”

You followed the question with another question when he didn’t reply.

Prince Aemond leaned in then, kissing you again and sliding in and out of you. Of its own free will, your body seemed to cling to him, determined to keep him within you. The act made him exhale into your mouth, a deep groan leaving his lips at the feel of you clenching around him. He pressed his face into your neck then, kissing the skin before lifting his head to meet your gaze.

There was a possessive glint in his eye that frankly should’ve scared you.

“…because you are mine.”

He said it so simply that you believed it yourself.

There were so many things you wanted to say. Most of them along the lines of how you were your own person, and just because he was a prince, it did not mean he had some claim over you. Part of you even wanted to tell him that he was no better than his brother. After all, you could hardly refuse his protection against that entitled, violent man, now, could you?

However, you did not say any of that, because the way Aemond stared at you…and the way he touched you…and the way he fucked you and kissed you… You could only think that it felt good to be claimed by him. It felt good to have him take what his brother so violently wanted. It felt good to wrap your legs around him, cling to his cock, play with his hair.

Aemond’s hand rested on your jaw, tilting your head back. Your lashes fluttered when he leaned in to pepper kisses along your neck, your toes curling and legs trembling. The pain was not completely gone, but it was so overshadowed by the pleasure that it became inconsequential. You heard yourself moan his name, focusing on the feel of his lips on your skin.

“You will never have to fear him again…not while I am around.”

His words gave you pause, and only then did you consider that this might not be a one-time thing. It did not occur to you that prince Aemond had every intention of taking you repeatedly, possibly even making you something more than a servant but less than royalty. But when he lifted his face and stared into your eyes, ordering you to come around him, you found that you did not mind the thought.

[thearchivtheantichrist]

I wanted to participate in Mermay for once in hopes ppl will care about my art

LOOK AT MY MERJON AU ITS A JONTIM AU PLPSPLSPSLSPSL

Click for better quality

Lore

The previous captain of a ship Timothy Stoker now lead was Daniel Stoker, the captain died from drowning after falling overboard during a storm that many think is due to merpeople who rule the seas

It is not related

Tim vows to avenge his brother when he takes over as Captain, hunting Merpeople and killing them mercilessly since he believed that's what they did to his brother

Jonathan Sims is the Prince of the king of the Seas, Jonah Magnus. (among other names, as his appearance is as fluid as the water they inhabit.) Jon chose the Last name ‘Sims’ to distance himself from his father, whom he was never that familially bonded to.

He learns the abilites to Know and the ability to Force people to Speak from his father, who teaches him sparingly but brutally (he abuses Jon in training sessions). He learns to shapeshift, only minutely to give himself legs and lungs if needed. His father has not yet promised to continue helping him with the rest of his abilities.

Jon owns an archival institute underwater, gifted to him by Jonah.

Jon has a friend Who is killed by the infamous pirate and Merperson hunter of the seas, And Jon turns to use his powers for once and hunt the captain down. Which results in the Captain’s crew being threatened with death and Jon forcing Tim to either die or let Them die, he uses his powers to know why Tim was doing this but it doesn't stop him from saying “you would let your crew die like you let Danny?” and Tim takes that as implication that Jon was the one who Killed Danny.

Jon is not allowed to kill humans, not publicly, as ordered from the king, so he just sets the seas to be harsh and full of tides. This results in many of Tim’s crew dying and yet Tim and some do not. They now know that at least one Merperson has these abilities and is set on killing him.

When they meet at another standoff, Tim’s crew is gone. And so is many of Jons people in his kingdom. (not from tim). Which he visibly showed little affection but still cared for.

Jon moves the ocean water to circle Tim, making him unable to escape. Tim would think Jon is going to propose he get in the water and drown like he had years ago, and instead Jon just asks one simple question and suddenly Tim is spilling his guts and then Jon looks horrified and pleased at the same time

Jon says that he nor any of his people killed Danny, to which Tim does not believe. Jon would show tim Dannys perspective of what happened, and then does he realize that Jonah was the one to have done it, and jon seems far more horrified than Tim.

They become somewhat allies on a quest to kill Jonah Magnus, who takes the name of Elias Bouchard at this Time, Tim distrustful of him rightfully and Jon more focused on how hes being hunted by the people who either want him due to his status or his attempts to kill the king.

Overtime Tim learns to Befriend Jon, who looked positively dead inside after a year of this, and eventually fall in love.

They come to a head when they are at the Kings lair, known as the Panopticon, and they have a conversation. It goes a lot differently being,

Tim: are you sure about this?

Jon: [small laugh] No. But I love you.

Tim, without missing a beat: I love you too.

(this is the first time they admit their feelings, which gives them both a sense of dread.)

They kiss, and Jon goes to kill Jonah. This crowns him as the new king, and he is flooded with Knowledge and abilites that locks him into a coma for six months due to his body's inability to process this change. Tim copes poorly.

Jon wakes up and him and tim reunite, Jon has better control over his abilities. Jon and Tim talk about Tim becoming a merperson himself, Jon explains his reasoning for this question is because Jon genuinely loves Jon. And merpeople have a far longer lifespan than humans. Tim hesitantly agrees after Jon explains that even if he does make him into a merperson, jon can teach him how to shape-shift, with the promise that “where you go, I go” and they live together happily, not without loads of ptsd tho!!

[90s-belladonna]

would it be okay to request Bakugou's reacting to another hero trying to recruit his assistant who he has a crush on? I need a jealous Kacchan

Explosive Disposition: Katsuki Bakugo x Fem!Reader

I apologize in advance if it isn't the best, I still have terrible writer's block but I've got you anon!

word count: 3992

He doesn’t know when it happened but he couldn’t stop thinking about you whenever his mind happened to have a free second away from his hero work. He figured it was just that he found you funny or that he was beginning to appreciate all you did for him. However, deep down he knew that something had shifted as he had always been appreciative of your work since he hated filling out paperwork for the cases he solved, yet you did it for him without a single complaint. No, perhaps it was that he was finally becoming aware of his feelings, feelings that had always been there.

“and then (name) said ‘Dynamight doesn’t answer any stupid questions so before you open your mouths ask yourselves if your question is stupid. If you doubt it even a little do yourself a favor and just keep it moving because it won’t get answered today.’ It was hilarious! The reporters were trembling after that.” Kirishima lets out a chuckle as he recalls the events from that morning’s press conference. Their agency had just solved a huge case involving a criminal organization, and naturally, the media had a lot of questions. However, as Katsuki’s assistant, your main task was to constantly shield him from anything that could set him off to avoid a PR nightmare. 

You honestly didn’t mind the responsibilities that came with the job, you appreciated that Bakugo didn’t feel the need to put on a fake persona for the media just to come off as more likable, and you agreed that a lot of the questions they asked heroes were useless and unimportant. You quickly adapted to working with someone like Bakugo as both of your personalities were very similar, the key difference being that you were a very direct person who could communicate your thoughts and feelings easily and professionally. 

You were fond of Bakugo. Most of the tasks in your old job consisted of helping sleazy businessmen lie to their wives and cover up secret families and affairs, so working for someone as brutally honest as Bakugo was a breath of fresh air. When you finally had enough and decided you didn’t want to waste your degree working for shitty people with even shittier morals you got the email notification that they were accepting applications for administrative positions at a hero agency that was about to open up, and that’s how you ended up working for Dynamight. You quickly adapted to the explosion hero’s even more explosive attitude, and you’d be lying if you said the way he carries himself didn’t amuse you. 

While you could remain cool as a cucumber in stressful situations, Katsuki on the other hand was undoubtedly a hothead. While he likes to think he’s direct and honest with his thoughts, everyone knows that couldn’t be further from the truth. You enjoyed the job though, you got to come off as “Dynamight’s bitchy assistant” which came with a lot of power and respect, and that reputation kept people from approaching Bakugo with any stupid questions or comments knowing they’d have to deal with you and your attitude. You were the number one hero’s shield and everyone who knew Bakugo knew that much was true. Every action you took was meant to advocate for him and keep him in his comfort zone so that any useless interruptions wouldn’t affect his hero work.

“Oi idiot! Enough gossiping with your girlfriend we’re here for my issue!” Bakugo grumbled as he glared at his friend-turned-business partner. “Yeah, Yeah, honestly what can we even do anyway? The dude is untouchable. He’s the commission’s golden boy.” the redhead head argued before taking a bite of his food. “I can tell him off that’s what I can do. Call him out on national television. That’ll show that shitty knockoff.” Bakugo was fuming. He put a lot of work into developing his brand so for some nobody to come and rip it off, that truly pissed him off.

“No. It wouldn’t be a good look for the number one to bash another hero in front of the media like that.” Tsubaki argued, she was the head public relations agent for the agency and had made it a point that both heroes, especially Bakugo, ran everything by her. “WHAT THE HELL THEN? THAT ASSHOLE NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON! OR FIVE!” the blonde yelled causing everyone in the restaurant to look his way, only to quickly look away the second he slammed his hands on the table. “Relax. I have a better option for you. We can always have an anonymous digital team spread info online with enough proof to back it up about how he’s trying to copy you. Reputation is everything for a hero and this will ruin his. The bonus side is it won’t get back to you so it’s a win-win situation.” the raven-haired girl suggested with a smirk.

Bakugo couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “That’s a coward’s way of handling shit.” is all the blonde let out. “Well, then we’re back to square one where you can’t do anything about it. He’s a prodigy and has the hero commission’s full backing. I mean come on it’s obvious they’re trying to have the kid kick you out of your number one spot.” Tsubaki argued, however, the blonde could not be reasoned with. “She’s right bakubro. They’re turning that guy into the general public-friendly version of you. I mean he started off as a wannabe hawks like a year ago, and now he’s changing every aspect of himself to mimic you. This needs to be dealt with quickly and efficiently.” The redhead tried to reason. Bakugo knew the two were right, which only served to piss him off more. 

“This is bullshit.” was all the explosion hero had to say regarding the situation. He hated feeling helpless. It pissed him off. “Hey I know you and (name) are roommates but please don’t let this get back to her. You know she goes into rage mode whenever someone pisses Bakubro off.” Kirishima pleaded with the tall woman sitting next to him. “Don’t worry. I keep client info confidential. Plus (name) isn’t much of a gossip, she doesn’t take her work home. It’s very much out of sight out of mind with that girl. God I love her, she’s so chill!” Tsubaki couldn’t help but gush about her friend, it wasn’t every day that someone so effortlessly cool befriended someone as wild and hyper as her. 

Bakugo couldn’t help but let his mind wander off to you, a small sense of peace passed through him at the thought of you being so protective over him. The truth is he didn’t need anyone to protect him, never had and never would, but he couldn’t lie to himself and say there wasn’t a strange feeling in his body that came with being cared for by someone. Even if it was just your job to do so, it strangely comforted him to know that someone had his back without question or hesitation.

“I don’t know if chill is the word I’d use to describe her, but she’s definitely a joy to have around the office.” Kirishima chuckled as he began to remember all the different times you had gone off on someone for trespassing on Bakugo’s personal space. The blonde can’t help but notice the doe eyes the taller woman gives his friend. “I know I requested the lunch meeting… but why do I feel like I just got tricked into paying for one of your dates.” He asked out loud as he observed the couple scoot closer to one another. “Maybe because you are!” teased the ravenette with a giggle following closely behind. He refused to show it but he was glad his friend had found someone that made him so happy. “Whatever.” he managed to grit out as he rolled his eyes and reached for his drink.

“All jokes aside, we do need to deal with this issue. That dude is just awful.” Kirishima stated, this made the explosive boy’s crimson eyes go wide. “See! Even shitty hair hates him, and he stupidly likes everyone!” Katsuki spoke, a delighted tone in his voice as he felt vindicated in his opinion of the up and coming younger hero. “Well, he certainly makes it hard to be on his side with that fake personality he puts on.” Kirishima explained. “I’ve been saying this shit for the last month, but neither of you idiots ever listen.” the blonde grumbled, only to be shot down by the public relations expert. “yeah well you hate everyone soo…” 

A few days had passed since the meeting with Tsubaki and Kirishima, not much had progressed regarding the issue of his copy cat so he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong. “You need to relax. It’s your day off. What good will you do the public if you’re always on edge?” Katsuki had been invited to, well more like forced, to attend a beach day with Shoto and Sero. “I’M ALWAYS RELAXED FLAT FACE!” the blonde fumed at his raven-haired friend. “sure you are big guy.” Sero quickly dismissed his friend’s uncontrolled temper knowing there was nothing he could do to diffuse him when angry. “Perhaps you should join us for a swim. Water can be very calming, it might help you forget about what’s causing you grievance.” a tired set of blue and grey eyes met his crimson ones, he always hated how the heterochromatic boy could tell when something was upsetting him.

“I’ll forget about it when bitchass Dynamic is buried six feet under.” he managed to grumble, this caused Shoto to hum in understanding. “I can see why his existence would upset you. Dynamic doesn’t come off as sincere, His energy seems brittle, as if he’s wearing a mask that could fall apart and crumble at any second. I would assume that factor paired with his attempt to mimic your personal fashion style as well as his rapid rise in the hero charts would only upset you more.” Sero watched in awe at how effortlessly the fire and ice hero was able to decipher Bakugo’s thoughts. “Tsk. I worry about you half and half. You’re becoming perceptive in your old age.” The blonde’s comment had Shoto perplexed. “So swimming?” Sero asked again in an attempt to move the conversation along, he was well aware that left to their own devices his two socially awkward friends would just sit there staring at each other in silence. “I’m not getting my hair wet.” “Oh right.” were answered simultaneously.

It had been about twenty minutes since the other two boys had gone out to swim. As much as he hated to admit it Sero was right, Katsuki had managed to relax a bit as he sunbathed and read his most recent favorite book. He had caught a lucky break as not many people recognized him when he was out of costume, his wearing sunglasses certainly helped with that too. It was looking like it was about to be a great day off away from work and all the worries that came with being a pro hero. That’s until his nose caught wind of a familiar sugary strawberry scent, he knew that perfume anywhere. Sure enough, within seconds your friend and you had settled in a spot in front and to the left of the spot Shoto had chosen for his group. The placement was perfect so that Katsuki didn’t have to outright turn just to look your way, and you wouldn’t be able to notice he was even there unless you looked back long enough. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to swim with me? It’ll be fun!” Asked a girl with pink hair, who Katsuki could only assume was your friend. “You’re lucky I agreed to come at all,” you spoke as you pulled a book and a bottle of sunscreen out of your weekender bag. “I’ll be fine, you enjoy yourself okay.” goosebumps covered Katsuki’s arms, a reaction to how sweet your voice was. He watched as your friend walked towards the water as you laid a towel on your chair and began putting on sunscreen. Being vigilant over you was like second nature to him, he didn’t even have to think about what he was doing, he just knew he had to make sure you were safe. After a few minutes, his brain accepted that no one was going to come to harm you, he could accept that you were at least safe enough to where he could go back to focusing on his book. As the minutes passed Katsuki felt himself relax. He didn’t want to assume anything, but something in the back of his mind was telling him his zen state was due to the proximity to you. He could feel his eyelashes fluttering shut and his vision becoming blurry. After such a stressful day he finally felt relaxed. Something about your presence brought him a comfort he’d never experienced before. 

About twenty minutes passed and the blonde hero was suddenly woken up, it was like his mind could sense you were upset. “it’s literally my day off, and I hate when grimy bastards bother me so fuck off.” your tone was not the usual bored tone you used on people you didn’t care for, instead it was a vexing one. This shift in you caused him to look over at who had you so exasperated just for it to be the one asshole who’d had him annoyed all week. “Look all I’m saying is why stay with a barbarian like Dynamight when you could be working for the next number-one hero?” The man said with a dastardly smirk. The blonde had to hold himself back from interrupting the conversation, you weren’t in any immediate danger and he would only prove the copycat right if he were to punch him for offering you a job. “and why the hell would I stop working for the number one hero in the country just to work for a loser like you?” You didn’t expect a response, you were hoping he could read social cues and notice the disgusted look you were giving him. However, you were far too optimistic.

“I’m so glad you asked! First of all, I can double whatever you’re making working for that… guy, and you would get to help build me from the ground up as the greatest hero in the country. Isn’t that far more fulfilling than doing busy work from a terrible boss?” Katsuki hated him. He hated his audacity, he hated his face, he hated the terrible blonde dye job on his hair, he hated his shitty voice, and most of all he hated everything he was offering you. HR will eat me alive if I interrupt him… But I’m dying to punch that bastard.  “Terrible boss? Who told you all that? More importantly how the hell did you track me down? We’ve literally never once spoken but let me make one thing clear. I will never and I mean NEVER choose you over Dynamight as a boss. I rather gouge my eyes out than have to listen to your infuriating voice ever again. This is why Bakugo is the number one. He actually cares about his work instead of running around trying to put on a fake image like you do. He’s the number one hero because he deserves it, he put in the hard work to earn that title. Now leave me the hell alone because I have no interest in working for an idiot like you.” To say he was shocked would be an understatement, it was obvious no one had ever spoken to the hero hopeful like that, and to rub salt into the wound everyone around the area was now snickering at the public rejection. Bakugo was also taken aback, he knew you had his back during working hours but to see you respected him enough to also have his back in your free time, that was a different development entirely.

Embarrassment aside, the up-and-coming hero had a mission to complete. He had to take you away from Bakugo. He had to take everything that made him who he is as a hero. So he resorted to the only option he had left. “Well, how about a date then?” Your face instantly gave away your abhorrence for even the suggestion of a date with such a clown. The younger hero’s audacity had Bakugo seeing red, his blood boiling, and every vein in his body popping through. “ew. stay away from me you damn loser.” you nonchalantly let out as you looked down in an attempt to pick up the book you had been reading which you accidentally dropped when the fake blonde approached you. You thought that was the end of it and that he would walk away soon only to be forced to look back up once more when you heard a loud smack. “WHAT PART OF STAYING AWAY FROM HER DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND IDIOT?!!?”

Your (color) eyes instantly met crimson ones. You didn’t even get enough time to process what was happening as you looked down at Bakugo’s hand only to see it grabbing Dynamic’s wrist. The younger hero couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight, almost as if he had realized he’d committed a great mistake and was trying to play it cool to avoid further embarrassment. “We were just talking. I wanted her attention is all, we were planning a date before you intruded.” “Ew, as if I would ever date someone with a bad dye job and no skincare routine.” you absentmindedly let out.  “You heard her. You weren’t planning shit so fuck off!” the blonde growled as he let the younger man’s wrist go and stood protectively in front of you. Dynamic clicked his tongue and put on yet another irritating smile. “Whatever. We’ll discuss our date later cupcake.” he spoke before dashing away so as to not further piss off Bakugo. “NO. YOU’RE STAYING THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!” The blonde yelled after the obnoxious man while you cringed at the fact that someone had dared to call you cupcake of all things.

You instinctively grabbed Katsuki’s wrist when you noticed his quirk beginning to activate. “He’s gone. It’s okay.” was all you needed to say, your soothing voice mellowing his explosive disposition. The blonde let out a huff before visibly relaxing, you took this as your chance to address him. “You sure take your job seriously huh? Coming to my rescue on your day off and all.” You snickered in an attempt to lighten the mood. “You wouldn’t need saving if you weren’t out finding trouble. Damn brat.” was all the blonde could manage to respond, he was well aware that he was being a dick in an attempt to keep you from noticing the blush beginning to dust his cheeks. “Who would’ve thought Dynamight was such a big softie? Protecting his sweet angel of an assistant from an awful man. The public would swoon!” You teased wanting to see just how far you could push your luck with the explosive boy.

“I’m territorial is all.” His voice was gruff, and he had a stern look in his eyes, almost like he was saying exactly what he was thinking for once. “I don’t like idiots imposing on what I consider mine.” Bakugo’s confession left you perplexed. You didn’t want to assume he meant his words to be interpreted romantically so you opted for attempting to diffuse the situation. “Yeah? I mean I can understand why, what would you do without me? I’m the best, a very efficient assistant if I do say so myself.” You spoke with a giggle, however, your heart betrayed you by acting on its own. The beating was completely out of control, as if it were running a marathon with no end in sight. His crimson eyes searched yours, as if your eyes could tell him what you were thinking or what you were attempting to do. After a few seconds when he felt like he was caught on he finally decided to speak. “Well, you don’t suck.” With that, he decided to walk back to his spot. You watched as he picked up his book and continued to read as if nothing had transpired, as if his words and his gaze hadn’t just set something inside you ablaze.

Two days later you were back at work. Your days off did nothing to help you relax, rather they had your mind in shambles as you thought through every possible scenario that could’ve happened had you responded to Bakugo differently that day at the beach.  It doesn’t matter anymore. I just need to focus on work, I’m probably just imagining things. There’s no way he could… He would never think of me that way.  You had never considered Bakugo as a romantic prospect before, however ever since he protected you, you’d be lying if you said the thought hadn’t crossed your mind. 

”Pro hero Dynamic has just announced his new official colors as orange and black! He also tells his fans to stay on the lookout for a new costume he will debut later this month incorporating his new colors!” The mention of the annoying man from a few days earlier caused you to look at the screen which typically had the news playing all day at the agency. Sure enough, it was a reporter standing next to the fake blonde, he had styled his hair in a spiked manner, which was a big difference compared to the slicked-back style he had at the beach. You couldn’t help but feel disgusted as you watched the man smile on the tv as if he wasn’t a complete and utter sleaze bag. “Ugh. I hate that guy.” Both you and a gruff voice said at the same time.

You turned towards the door only to be met with none other than Dynamight. “You’re very cat-like these days. I didn’t even hear you coming, maybe we should get you a bell.” You joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Try it and you die brat!” He joked back in a crude tone causing you to shrug as you gave him a mischievous smile. Something had shifted ever since your last conversation and you both knew if. It was an unspoken thing. Bakugo felt bare as if the walls he’d spent years building were slowly crumbling. “By the way… you should have the marketing team sue him. He’s clearly trying to profit off of your image. It’s creepy. You should crush his aspirations.” you let out as he began to walk toward his office. His eyes went wide at your comment. “I knew you’d understand… And that you’d have a solution that wasn’t stupid.” His comment had you lifting a brow making you wonder if perhaps he was already aware of the situation.

The pro hero turned your way and examined how your eyes looked at him as if you knew what went on in his soul. “If something or anyone bothers you… tell me. I don’t care how insignificant you think it is, you have to tell me. I’ll come to rescue you. I’ll protect you.” His voice was soft, unlike his usual tone, but he wasn’t asking. It was clearly a command. You weren’t sure how you should respond so you just nodded. Eventually whatever you two had going on would have to be addressed, but for now, the unspoken tension was all either of you could realistically handle. It wasn’t like either of you could read minds, and yet you understood each other perfectly. Both of you also understood the only obstacle keeping you apart was a fear of rejection, on both ends.

☆ Master List

☆ Oneshots

[sorcerous-caress]

Happy new year! Long time no see!

I’m glad to see the human kink has been spreading lmaoo. Anyway I have been thinking about how human dark urge made so much sense actually cuz humans represent all the things Bhaal would like. Human race represent everything he want—humans kill, a lot and they are a race that reproduce in a ver fast rate so they are everywhere killing more.

So the human dark urge will be a symbol of power, fear and brutality but also a symbol of lust and desire.

— RED anon

I think the best thing about human durge is the fact it could be any of us.

Like think about default dragonborn durge, everything about them screams murder and blood. Which is a really cool design and a self fulfilling prophecy.

But imagine if it was one average innocent looking human, everyone and their grandma will open the door to you and invite you over for cookies. Elves wouldn't be on their guard around you, and gnomes will talk about their secrets in front of you like it's nothing.

No one expects a human to be the chosen of a death god. No one expects a relatively "harmless" and plain race as humans to birth the mass murder of the century.

Especially when you have no special ability, no elven magic or gnomish dexterity. No dragonborn intimidation or dwarvish endurance. No tiefling resistance or githyanki knowledge.

You're just...a human. A cute one, yeah, but you really can't harm other races, at least that's what they think. The most you can do is bite with your teeth. Even then, they're pretty blunt except for two. A tiefling sharp teethed bite would hurt much more.

You can blend no matter what setting you're in, humans are everywhere. Even at the place you wouldn't expect them to be like the underdark, you can chalk it up to ditzy human curiosity and people won't question you.

Your bag full of knives? Oh, you just collect them because you think they're cool. Yk typical humans with their weird collections of rocks, spices, and yours are knives.

No one suspects the human in a murder scene, you are either the background or the poor human who got caught in something bigger than them and now they need protection.

Even when you're acting suspicious or out of social norms, only other humans would notice that. For the other races, all humans are weird and act out of social norms so you don't stand out.

You were caught following a tiefling back home down a street? You come up with a quick excuse on how you never met one before and just wanted to ask if you can touch their horns, but you were too shy to.

They smile at you and step closer to the cute human, unaware of the dagger behind your back.

[lilith-little-world]

Hi, if you still do request I was thinking of a reader x swk or sem. The reader is a sort of time traveler (much like the guy from that movie the butterfly effect) in which she can posses her past selves bodies by looking at picture, video, or reading her diary from that current version of her. During those possessions of get past self her current self (who she posses has no memory of that time of being possed "blacks out") the whole reason for the diaries. She posses an old version of her after her body had previously been dying killed by possed swk during the lbd fight. So she had lived through everything previously and knows whats going to happen.

Ahhh, I can smell the angst from here, I love it! Also don't worry, I'm still doing requests, just been busy and my had to switch from writing on my phone to my laptop, since my Grammarly keyboard officially broke on my phone...

Had to deal with my mom asking questions about what I was writing, since it was now obvious I was up to something.

Anyway, I'm sorry if this wasn't how you expected it, I got too caught up with the angst.

Saving Myself Then You|| Oneshot

Fate is cruel, and the path that leads to it is more brutal. Never have you thought of the person you cared about most trying to take your life. Well, in his defense, he was being possessed and was forced to. However, that didn't stop the fear rushing through your veins. Those piercing, cold blue eyes never left your fearful ones. Yet bravely facing the ruthless creature that brought havoc to heaven itself. Even so, you caught glimpses of the man you love trying to break free from that demon’s control, yet it wasn't enough. 

Nezha happened to be trapped in a thick layer of ice, stuck until someone got him out. Mk disappeared to who knows where, one moment was right behind you, and now he was gone. Which left you to fend for yourself, to survive on your own. You mentally pat your back for lasting this long, questioning if you have gotten good at dodging or was just pure luck.

“Well, at least I got to say I went up against the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven… You're not going to kill me, right? I'm on the ground, defeated. You win.” You said weakly. 

It didn't take a genius to realize things were about to get messy. You didn't want to believe it, trying to last long enough for Wukong to break free. Be that as it may, there was one thing you had forgotten. You were going up against a being that had fought the celestial army and defeated it with ease. 

In other words, you were getting your ass kicked and will not last long enough. Wukong steadily walks towards you. Ready to finish this fight, once and for all. 

“And here I thought, I was never going to use this power.” You mumbled.

Wukong glances at your hands when he sees you pull out the small diary. Quickly, he lunges at you, trying to tear the small journal out of your hands. 

Perhaps, you shouldn't have said that out loud in hindsight.

He pins you to the ground, putting his entire weight to keep you from moving. The air from your lungs forcefully escapes. The heavy pressure on your chest prevents you from taking another breath. Panic floods your mind, trying to open the journal. Any situation was better than this. You tear out a page from one of the recent entries. Wukong expression never changed from the intimating stern look. He glances at the book, casting it aside before settling on the torn paper. Your lungs burn from the lack of air, putting every last energy into reading the text. Your vision fades as it changes to the once-familiar setting.

You gasp loudly. The burning in your lungs serves as a haunting reminder of the future. You fall to your knees with tears falling from your eyes. Not only that, but you try to take as much air in your lungs, afraid of losing it again.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Tang gently places a hand on your shoulder.

You wiped the tears from your eyes. Finally, register where you ended up. Everyone was staring at you, worried. However, you stare at the person who tried to kill you in the near future. His lovely golden eyes were wide with worry. He was close to the cliff, ready to fly off to fight LBD. You push yourself up and rush at him, anger written on your face. Clasping on the hem of his shirt, you brought him down to your level.

“You better sit your ass down and listen! We are not doing this again!” You shout, letting your temper take control. 

Wukong stays silent but nods. Yet you didn't dare let go of his shirt, your glare never leaving his nervous face. 

“I’m assuming, from your mood right now. I failed to defeat the Lady Bone Demon.” Wukong laughs nervously, hoping that your foul mood lightens up. It did not.

“What do you think?” Your eyes narrow.

Wukong didn't say anything, silently cursing his future self for upsetting you. A sigh escapes from you, finally breaking the death glare. You let go of his shirt and wrap your arms around him. 

“Please don't go.” You whispered, leaning close, locking your lips with his.

Wukong body was tense, before relaxing and returning the kiss.

“I won't go, alright? Don't worry, I’ll be right here.” He said softly, resting his forehead on yours. 

The two of you, enjoying the small moment. Tears once again fall from your eyes, not from sadness, but in relief. 

“Sorry to ruin this cute moment, but please tell me you have a plan.” Mk said.

You let go of Wukong, wiping the tears away, and face the bruised-up group. 

“I- do not… I kind of nearly died.” It was your turn to nervously laugh.

“You, WHAT?” Everyone yelled in unison. 

“It wasn’t fun and I rather avoid that, so Wukong, stay here and come up with a decent plan this time.”  You glance at everyone, seeing their shocks faces turn serious but determined. 

“Any ideas?”

[lullabyalikpoptarot]

Ateez' Thoughts on Being an Idol

So, this was requested, and this was something I wanted to do with TXT and Enhypen first, but since it was requested for Ateez I will start with them, so I will ask four questions about their career, what they like the most, what they dislike (I will make an intention to exclude saesangs, because well, duh), What they could change about the past/what they experienced so far and lastly, I want to know how they feel about the fans, so let's see what I get.

Disclaimer: Just a reminder that there are no facts here. When I channel I get wild messages, and I go with what I get, unless I find it very uncomfortable. Just throwing this out there, because these messages took me places I did not expect. Anyway, enjoy the ride lol

Hongjoong

What he likes? (Queen of Swords) The first thing that came to mind, is his position, that is interesting, what does that mean? I felt I would get something more creative honestly, this is more logical, intellectual here. I am getting his ability to learn, his power, I am also getting ability to speak his truth, which can they? I mean idols got to be tight lipped, so what is this? Interesting. Is it through his music, does he write a lot of their songs? It is like his words have power. Okay, I am going to move on, because this will take forever to finish, got a lot to do here.

What he dislikes? (10 of Swords) Jesus, oh fu** the card in this deck is brutal, so umm, the mental hell and exhaustion is what he hates about it. The blood, sweat and tears that come to it. I can see from these cards though, he is very mental, since we see both questions have swords. I am getting some betrayal and backstabbing here, so there could be that too.

What can he change about the past/what he experienced? (9 of Pentacles) So, the person in this deck is nude, so this gives me a sense of vulnerability and exposure he has as an idol, there is a sense of independence he has gained. There is a sense of freedom he may want. He may have wished he focused more on the simple things, than chasing money and fame. Maybe to enjoy more of what he has, rather than chasing things. I think overall he is proud of what he has been able to build, although not at the pinnacle of where he wants to be.

Thoughts on fans? (Knight of Cups/Queen of Pentacles) He gave me two cards here, so let's see. This looks cute. He adores and loves the fans. Does he show a lot of love to the fans? Because the cards give me that, or he may not show it, but he does feel it. It seems the fans are precious to him. He appreciates the effort you put into making them successful. He knows all that he has gotten is because of the fans, this is sweet.

Seonghwa

What he likes? (10 of Swords) Umm, why is he giving me this for his likes!? I don't understand this. I am getting, you gain something from the hurt, is this boy secretly a masochist? like why is this a like? The light at the end of the tunnel, I am getting, but really, this is what you like most? It is like he likes to rise from the pain, or down times. I don't understand this thought process here. I wanted to clarify this, so got the Ace of Pentacles, there is like an opportunity he can make out of it. Ya'll this is wild, but if any of ya'll know Dragon Ball, and you know how Saiyan's get stronger when they are defeated, it is giving me that wtf Now the song I get knocked down, I think the next phrase is something like to get back up again, sorry old school song, bruh this is so weird. Man, he is on my list of deep dives, got to figure this out.

What he dislikes? (8 of Swords) The inability to act on things, the mental traps set up. The limitations set on him. The 8 of swords, usually gives me someone who puts limits on themselves, they are free to do what they want, so it is more about him. I get he feels trapped at times, if not, most of the time. I get as an idol he may not be able to do the things he really wants to do. It is like he limits himself out of fear of doing something wrong.

What could he change about the past/what he experienced? (Ace of Pentacles) I am getting, not taking opportunities, not being practical. Not being able to build or start something. There is a door of opportunity for him that was given to him, but he hasn't reached the pinnacle of what he wants. He has the opportunity he must take it. I am not sure what any of this means though.

Thoughts on fans? (Page of Wands) They are curious, passionate, adventurous. He sees them as creative. He finds them a bit timid and cautious. They have creative power, but do not use it to their full potential, interesting, not sure what he means, I just go with the messages I am getting.

Yunho

What he likes? (The Chariot) His confidence, his courage, I guess his ability to face his fears and face things head on. He might find the idol life challenging, but that is something he may like, he seems to like a good challenge, boy is an Aries, so well, makes sense.

What he dislikes? (10 of Cups) Not seeing his family, missing the family at home. The lack of community or commodity. I am not sure why I got commodity, that is an exchange of goods, the input isn't always worth it, once again, what does that mean?

What does he want to change about past/experienced in past? (6 of Pentacles) Once again, I am getting a card about exchange. This card is about giving and taking. I am trying so hard to understand this, there is some exchange in the past he may have not been happy about. Give to others, take what you can take. What's fair is fair. None of this makes sense, all I know is some exchange here he may have not liked. I am done trying to get this.

Thoughts on fans? (Queen of Pentacles) He appreciates their efforts. He finds them very nurturing and giving, very supportive. He values what you have giving to him and created for him.

Yeosang

What he likes? (3 of Wands) Traveling to other places. Being able to carry out his dream and passion. It is like he likes the journey of it, he doesn't really look at the end result here.

What he dislikes? (The Magician) Weird card for dislikes. The Magician is a person who can manifest things and make things happen, someone very skilled, it maybe he isn't able to do so, which is why this is in his dislike. The powers that be came to my mind. Whatever that means, maybe he knows his power, but just can't utilize it, but idk he gave me someone with confidence issues in his dynamic reading, so idk, boy confuses me tbh.

What does he want to change about past/experienced in past? (The Empress) Honestly, knowing his creative power, recognizing that, it is like if he saw that in the beginning he would be in a better place or have created something better for him, okay, now it is all making sense now. If he took care of himself, nurtured himself, loved himself, he would be in a better place. Oh, this is kind of wild. If you see this card, in it, the woman is planting seeds in the water, it is like if he planted the seeds, it would have grown bigger by now, wild. If he watered it, nurtured it, took care of it, he would be good.

Thoughts on fans? (The Star) The fans make him feel good about himself. They heal him in some sense. I get a sense they can exhaust him at times, he pours a lot of himself for them. He may feel vulnerable around them as well. Maybe he feels his insecurity pops up when he is around them. They can also give him hope and make him feel important. I love how he takes you to both ends of the spectrum here.

San

What he likes? (8 of Swords) Why, is this a like bro!? Omg, you know what I got, so he can escape himself. That's wild. So, he can blind himself to what is going on. It is like an escapism for him to be honest. What he is escaping, idk. It is like so I don't have to see what is in front of me, I don't understand. Like the person on the card, their eyes are covered and looking away, it is like he doesn't want to face something, this is kind of deep and dark tbh.

What he dislikes? (King of Swords) Well, whoever this KOS's is, he doesn't like him. It is someone with a lot of say and pull. Someone who can be stubborn and a know it all. This person doesn't listen to anything he says or takes anything he says to consideration, so this person's presence is a big no for him. This could represent someone whom he doesn't like in the industry as well, maybe not a specific person, but people like this in the industry perturb him, had no clue what that means, so if you also don't know, it means, to disturb, confuse, make uneasy or anxious, or worry someone. It can also mean thrown into a state of agitated confusion. So yeah, he may have dealt with someone like that, or people.

What does he want to change about past/experienced in past? (6 of Pentacles) Pretty similar to Yunho's energy here. I just heard, similar, bur different circumstances. Omg, I am hearing, giving me pennies, giving me scraps, well it seems he got the bare minimum in the past. It is like this man in power sees it as him being fair, but he sees it as him giving him scraps, that what the card gives me here.

Thoughts on fans? (5 of Pentacles) Yikes, not a card I wanted to see. Umm, does he think ya'll are broke, what is this? There is a sense of isolation, neglect, darkness here, this makes no sense to me, why would I get this card? Ah, lack of support. he may feel there is a lack of support, that is kind of harsh man, ya'll remember, no facts here lol I am not sure why he is giving me this energy.

Mingi

What he likes? (Page of Wands) Okay, this seems plausible for him. He likes that he is able to explore new things. That he is able to be creative. To try new things. To step outside the box. It allows him to explore more of his creative side.

What he dislikes? (The Hierophant) The company, the power that be, the people who run the industry, they can be stifling, to predictable, conventional for his taste. He likes them to change things up or change their system of doing things. I am also getting from this card that these people like to pin others against one another, maybe the fandom, maybe the groups, members, who knows, but he doesn't like that either.

What does he want to change about past/experienced in past? (3 of Cups) Okay, so maybe he entertained women from the past, had a bit more fun than he should and regrets doing that, because this deck got 3 naked women on it, so yeah. I needed a clarifier, and the Knight of Cups came out, now how I positioned the card, the knight is moving away from the 3 women, so it is like he is trying to move past that, or emotionally distance himself from that.

Thoughts on fans? (The Sun) He is a Leo and the sun represents Leo energy, so the fans make him feel like himself, lol I am getting they boost his ego, they make him shine and feel like a star.

Wooyoung

What he likes? (Queen of Pentacles) His ability to be independent, to create his own career out of it. It seems he is proud of what he has created. He feels proud of what he has achieved, seems pretty basic and simple here lol

What he dislikes? (Queen of Swords) Cold women that can cut you deep. I don't know if there are people, it could be specific to women who offer criticism and judgment he may not like. They are pretty cold and calculated and lack emotions. He doesn't like that, they don't care or are not that emotional to his needs I am getting. Like they are straight to the point and matter of fact. It could be a specific person, or just there are lots of them around him.

What does he want to change about the past/Experienced in the past? (The Sun) His youth, his innocence. His childhood. To keep his childhood and his youth, what!? What is this!? The light within him. Like has it dimmed, does he regret not keeping it? I don't get what he means here tbh

Thoughts on fans? (2 of Wands) This kind of gives me he can find fans attractive. He has chemistry with them. They fuel him. He seems to learn from them, to gain a broader perspective of things though them. It seems he thinks about fans a lot, they energize him and bring out a passionate side of him.

Jongho

What he likes? (8 of Pentacles) The work he is able to put into, the effort. He enjoys the work he does. It just seems he likes putting in the work, straightforward and simple tbh

What he dislikes? (The Lovers) What is this!? Why this card? The Lovers can be about contracts, so he may not like that. Yo, the weird places I get sent too with channeling, so does he not like skin ship or doing stuff with other members? Because this is giving me he doesn't like that stuff, where you get shipped with a member and you have to put up a facade for fans that you two are closer than you are, this is giving me some are contracted to do this for the fans. Because in this card you have two boys holding hands, it is like I get the contracts tells them to act a certain way with a member, omg, this is weird, why did this take me there. That is so funny.

What does he want to change about the past/experienced in the past? (Ace of Wands) I am kind of confused and stumped here, maybe things he has done in the heat of the moment without thinking? Is he hot-headed or have a temper, getting that vibe too. Creating stuff out of the blue, not sure what that means, moving on.

Thoughts on fans? (Wheel of Fortune) Well, they bring him money lol They bring him luck, they may keep him moving, they keep growing. This card doesn't give me much, there is growth and positive movements forward. He may also think you guys move on very quick.

Whew that was more interesting than I thought, but did take much more time to do, thankfully I had an extra day off to do this week to do this, although this will be posted a week after I do this. Hope you enjoyed the ride, because I did. Enhypen and TXT will be next.

[theadventurerslog]

Quest For Glory II: Trial by Fire | Part 7

The Adventurer's Log

It was Raseir hours. I guess some time to explore while waiting for nightfall to talk to Signor Ferrari again. I went first to the fountain plaza to find several soldiers there and they were blocking off the other route out.

At the other half of the plaza...once I remembered I could keep going to see the other end, I found Ugarte being arrested for smuggling water.

He got dragged off and I was warned again to follow the rules or Khaveen's dungeons.

As I was headed back, a woman peeked out of one of the side streets and asked me to follow her.

She turned out to be Zayishah and requested my clothing and visa so she could escape the city.

She didn't believe in any preamble, but I was able to ask her questions.

Turned out she was the daughter of the current Emir, Ali al-Din Hasan. They had to get an 'Ali' in there somewhere! She doesn't believe her father would ever overthrow his brother. He's just a puppet for Ad Avis. He was her uncle's Vizier and we know how that worked out what with a certain saurus hanging out now with Aziza. Ad Avis wants complete Power and complete Control. As if that wasn't enough Zayishah will also be forced to marry Khaveen, a brutal awful person himself, so she's trying to flee, thus the need for my clothing and visa.

Conveniently Shema packed me an extra set of the same clothes so I was able to give her that and my Visa. No more leaving town for me I guess. In return she gave me a mirror that I could show any woman in the palace and gain her aid.

The other woman is Mayzun, Zayishah's servant. She was ready to kill Khaveen herself before she'd let him have Zayishah. She also told me there would be a place of safety in the palace for me. The Harem would welcome me for aiding Zayishah. Mayzun would tie a veil on the battlements at night to guide me.

I figured maybe now I'd explore while waiting for evening. With some routes barricaded maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Ha.

I got hopelessly lost almost immediately. Thankfully I did manage to somehow fumble my way back to the inn before nightfall, but I was getting close to reloading.

Signor Ferrari was not terribly heartbroken about Ugarte being arrested. He said it was more of a warning for me as they've known about Ugarte's water smuggling, but he went asking questions in the wrong places and here we are.

If you try to cast magic in the inn, Wilmer the bartender kills you. Good to know.

The night was young and I thought Ferrari wanted to talk to me but every time I tried sitting with him he'd ignore me. I waited until the middle of the night and he still ignored so I don't know why he said that in the first place. I know thieves can do a thing, but I'm not a thief!

So I went to bed.

And he continued to ignore more in the morning other than a brief greeting sort of was a pleasure to do business.

Also, I happened to go in my inventory and noticed I was carrying 95 pounds when my max weight is 87. I don't know why I'm not slowed down at all. I have a load of rations from Shema. I probably hadn't need to buy more myself. Oh well.

I stepped out of the inn... and was immediately arrested.

Thanks Khaveen. "Breaking the law" huh?

I lost all my stuff except the sapphire pin I got from the katta. I guess that weight isn't a concern for now! Not that it seemed to be anyway. I wonder what the margin of being too much is.

Anyway, I had a cell to check out and a katta to talk to.

The katta wouldn't talk to me until I showed him the pin, which is actually magic and can only be seen by a friend, so this was proof I could be trusted. He is Sharaf the katta Shema asked me to find and he's part of the Underground.

We just needed to get out but that's what an Open spell is for. Outside the cell I was able to get my stuff back--except for my money! I think I had over 300 dinars! Ahem, and Sharaf showed me a secret passage. He warned me the Underground were planning to attack the palace and overthrow the Emir tomorrow night.

He supposedly led me to a place near the inn, but I can't with these streets so I once again wandered lost and aimless until I ran into a very good friend.

The more he talked the more I was hypnotized, I mean taken with my lovely trustworthy friend. It was my new friend Ad Avis!

He helped me escape the dungeons and together we would rescue the Emir because he's a good and trusted Vizier. We would need to go out into the desert to find the Forbidden City. There would be a magic item, the statue of Iblis, that could break the enchantment over the Emir. We could do it!

If he saved me from anything it was getting lost in these damned streets. Because, the game moved us automatically out into the desert where there was a door Ad Avis was trying to open.

The door wouldn't open, which was very rude to my friend and he was getting increasingly angry. He was sure he had the prophecy correctly translated but was stuck with a 'stupid Hero' like me.

"For one thousand years and a year Iblis will be bound..." He was sure he had that right. "Beneath the tombstones of the city that he once did found." And this was the correct place. "Then comes a Hero from the Northland, led unto despair..." I was the only Hero he found recently and he was threatening me with despair before he was through with me. I'm sure he didn't mean it and was just lashing out. "Passing through the door unopened, that he will find there." But why couldn't I enter? "When the moonlight shines between the Dragon's jaws... And is caught and held there by the Scorpion's claws." The moon wasn't due to rise between the two constellations until tomorrow. But how could he be wrong?

The constellations are on the door, but the moon is in the wrong place to shine correctly between them.

He freed my arms and mouth but not my legs.

Then I badgered him with too many questions until he got mad and turned me into a saurus.

I could have been the weirdo saurus!

I used the mirror to reflect the moonlight onto the door.

And the rest of the prophecy stated:

"And at last the Hero 'He who Waits Behind' shall see, While Iblis rises by the Dark One and the light shall flee. By the name of Suleiman, so shall this be!"

I entered the cave and the euphoric feeling faded. The last few hours were hazy and all I knew was I had to find the statue.

And it was dark.

Really dark.

But I had my magic fire elemental lamp.

Way better light than Rosella's light in that awful cave. Yeah I'm still mad about that one.

But it's Cinder hours, so time to explore.

I found a river. I accidentally fell in the river. It was worth it.

Logs get carried by the water. I thought maybe I could use magic somehow, but no, just jump on it, ride until the outcrop and jump again, which is easier than it might sound. I then got sucked toward the hole by powerful wind but managed to break free.

Examining it revealed some loose rock and fissure so it was time for another force bolt at last to knock it down and block the hole. Success! And points.

I went up and around to enter a hellscape.

I bumped one bad hot spot but otherwise walked across just fine. If there was anything else you're meant to do here I did not.

Moooore cave.

You can just fall and survive it if you have enough health. Which I did. By accident. I'd rather a safer approach though so I reloaded. Instead, I was a proper wizard and levitated down.

At door I had to speak the word of power. If you fail too many times you die. Thanks to Ad Avis' ranting we know that word. "Suleiman."

Look, mooore cave. And some fancy gold armour.

A trap? Naaah, obviously we gotta take that. For science. Because of course it's a trap.

There was also a bunch of gold and jewels for more trap goodness.

I went through the door.

The glowing object drew me to it, no control from me. I was compelled to pick it up, but... then Ad Avis teleported in and took it because of course he did. That's how these things go!

He'll conduct a ritual as the moon rises between the Scorpion's claws that will make him the Master. He will control Iblis. He will control the world. And I'll be left here as "He Who Waits Behind."

I was knocked out and rocks fell blocking the door out.

When I came to it was dark again with just my lamp, Ad Avis was gone and my way out was completely buried.

He Who Waits Behind indeed...

[teecupangel]

As I near the end of Syndicate, I am reminded about our exchange about Starrick. So here goes: Desmond is not... As "lucky" as he usually is in our post-Temple scenarios. Instead of waking up somewhere discreet, he is thrown, unconscious, somewhere where Lucy Thorne takes notice. And so, Desmond is brought to Starrick's attention. When he wakes up, he is in a nice bed, in refined looking manor. And so begins Starrick's play at being the good guy 1/2

2/2 Desmond is taken care of. His Hidden Blade is not taken away - on the contrary, when he asks about the things that were found with him, Desmond is given them all back. He gets some good medical care. The manor servants are complimentary about their boss. And then - when Desmond eventually starts snooping and venturing out... The information he has waved his way about the Rooks is not complimentary. And so... He slowly starts leaning to Starrick's opinions.

Okay, okay, this works sooo well with our previous idea of how easy would it be for Desmond to be a Templar but before we continue: this is not meant to be Frye twin-bashing. This is more on the side of "when looked from the outside without any ideas of who the Frye twins are and what they're going thru, it's really easy to paint them in a very bad light" and we're going to make use of that.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it is soooo easy for Starrick to pit Desmond against the Frye twins, especially if we set this after Jacob assassinates Twopenny which later led to inflation and riots.

Maybe Desmond even sees Starrick talking about how he raised the salary of his employees and how he would have supported all of London if he could (again, let’s remember that in canon, Starrick said this to Brudenell alone without any audience presence so this isn’t Starrick trying to get into Desmond’s good sides even if he knew Desmond was snooping around, this is Starrick being Starrick). Without the proper context that Desmond wouldn’t exactly have at the moment, Starrick and Brudenell’s conversation (including Starrick threatening to castrate Brudenell) could be taken as a powerful man chained by politics and selfish politicians.

I mean…

Just read the transcript and see how easy it is for Starrick to pain the Disraeli and even Brudenell in a bad light:

Cardigan: The currency a laughing stock. Inflation out of control! Twopenny brutally murdered! Starrick: And yet, Parliament does nothing! Cardigan: The bill will be defeated, sir. That buffoon Disraeli shall be taken care of. It has been arranged, upon my honor. Starrick: Your honor carries little weight. Cardigan: How dare you, sir?! Starrick: The poor people of this city have suffered enough. Today, I granted a significant rise to my staff in order to counter inflation. Cardigan: What? Starrick: I would supply all of London if I could. Starrick: Meanwhile, you sit in your club and wax poetic with promises your honor cannot pay. Your family's fortune, however... I wonder what they would offer to keep your record out of the newspapers. About the same as Disraeli would offer for your balls, I'd wager. But let's be generous. Why limit ourselves to one or the other, when we can have it all? What say you, sir, shall I come collect? Starrick: No more dallying. The halls of Parliament must be free to govern, again! Understood? You may see yourself out.

And Starrick would be polite to him, wouldn’t pry him of his past. Even Lucy Thorne would be polite (when she was still alive), most probably ordered to.

And then Starrick would ask the question all of the Templars had been curious about.

“Are you, perhaps, a member of House Kenway, Desmond?”

And that’s how Desmond would find out that Starrick and the others thought he was perhaps a descendant of Haytham Kenway or maybe even Jennifer Scott.

“And what if I am?” Desmond asked back, wondering if they would talk about how Ratonhnhaké:ton and his descendants were Assassins.

“We owe a lot to the Kenway family.” Starrick explained calmly, “Even if you…”

Starrick glanced at Desmond’s left arm… no… he had glanced at Desmond’s hidden blade.

“… you do not hold the same ideology as we do, we will still give you the respect a member of House Kenway deserves.”

Desmond watched as Starrick placed a key on the table between them, “This is the only copy we have of the Kenway manor. It is only right that it is returned to a member of the family, wouldn’t you agree?”

Desmond kept his attention on Starrick as he took the key. Starrick sighed as he added, “It is my duty to inform you that it has been… well… it’s not in its best condition right now.”

“A few intruders did not have any manners.” Starrick said vaguely, “And left quite… a trail.”

And what trail did Desmond find in the Kenway mansion?

The trails left by Evie and Jayadeep.

And you might be thinking “What about Lucy Thorne and her goons?”

Well…

It was a stealth mission which meant that there was a high possibility that Evie and Jayadeep kept the body count to a minimum and we have a cutscene confirmation that some of them were wearing Blighters outfit. (although the ones you see in the manor itself had Templar armbands and those are the ones Evie can take down)

… So… what’s to say that Desmond’s tracking wouldn’t lead to a few ex-Blighters now wearing the coat of a Rook?

Jacob’s Rooks do have ex-Blighters in their ranks so it’s possible that some of the Blighters in that cutscene became Rooks later on.

And then…

He is told by one of Starrick’s men how the Assassin Jacob Frye joined the crime boss Maxwell Roth in burning down warehouses that had children inside.

And Desmond realized…

The Assassins here in London must be stopped.

[anawkwardlady]

Dadbastian week day 5 : Friendly advice

Uuh, that one was late too. Fortunately I had a bit of that one already written so it helped. Posted TrickOrTreat/Different Kids on the same day. I'm tired lol.

-

As always the manor is silent, though today that silence never broke. 

“I rarely had the chance to see you so calm and disposed, Sir.”

Sebastian’s taunts are not reciprocated, unsurprisingly. He was puzzled over Faustus’ letter, calling for advice over a situation he wasn’t able to handle and once again when he met a living doll lying on the bed where the master should be sleeping, confirming the nonsensical words he read on paper. Alois Trancy usually had a vibrant aura, an odd power of bringing life where emptiness found its nest. However, that gift seemed to have slipped out of his body and left an empty shell. Or it probably sunk deep within and made a cocoon of some sort, that would be more appropriate of an analogy. There, tucked under covers, his once alert eyes remained unfocused, vague. Was he even aware of his surroundings? If he was, the boy did not say any word, nor made any sound to protest Sebastian’s presence. If the Phantomhive butler was to take his arm, the boy would simply let him do so, and let it collapse as soon as it was released. 

“It’s not an uncommon state of his,” Claude explained, as if the boy was absent or napping between. Even if those heavy bags under his gaze indicated his state was far from being soothing. “Usually, it happens for a few minutes, hours on bad days… It never lasted this long, though.”

If Sebastian did not feel that sense of bitterness in the spider’s voice, he would probably have made a comment about how rested everyone must be. It’s been more than a few days since he received a letter, therefore just about the time to get concerned. Alois would only get up for absolute necessities, wouldn’t feed unless he was helped during the process, and even though he would mostly nibble, take a bite, then stop. He would say a word or two at most, wouldn’t scream at Hannah when she tried caring for his hair or tucking him in, wouldn’t scream at the triplets when they looked at him with curiosity and whispered at each other, wouldn’t scream at Claude for not paying attention. He wouldn’t scream anymore. It was started to be missed, in some ways.

The demon doesn’t need to explain the obvious. Sebastian had himself dipped his hands in the rusted cogs of human malfunctions once. A creature is a creature, none of them wants to feed on a starved corpse, but on a heart just when it reaches the right beat. Those types of reactions triggered a sense of fear to them, especially since humans were so tricky to help. An annoying puzzle in which each move could break it even more. Logical reasoning wouldn’t work here. He could understand in some ways, though his own master was far from catatonia in his times. He had used unconventional methods that happened to be working… But couldn’t in good conscience recommend them to the spider, since the Phantomhive earl was so different. Maybe Alois would retreat even further in, and never break in his state, ever, if he was to get brutally ripped out of his shell. Sebastian did not need another thousand years of feud with another demon. If he was the same as he was before, he would advise him to accept it as it is, just eat the fruit unripe and move on. He learned however, to tame himself, maybe the other butler did or was on the path. Explaining the humble call for help.  

“Was he seeing people?” He asked, carefully. 

“He was seeing us everyday” 

Sebastian chuckled, “This is not what I meant.”

“Then, he…” Claude paused, “was not for a time. We did lose track of such things.”

“You cannot lose track of such things.”

“I am aware.”

Other events surely did happen, but even this wasn’t a sure thing. A small silence set.

“Sir Trancy, would it please you to play with us?” questioned the Phantomhive Butler. 

“It’s unnecessary, he won’t answer you.” Claude replied for him, raising an eyebrow. 

“He does listen however, don’t you?” he finished the sentence, turning his head to the blond boy who simply blinked back. 

They left and placed a few books and games in the bedroom. Sebastian gave one book to the spider, hoping that by this time, he would have got where he was coming from. And every time they talked, the Phantomhive Butler made it so the boy would be solicited. It’s a lot of work for such a sick human but a necessary evil. Sebastian was scolded before for his unthoughtful decisions regarding his master’s health. He just couldn’t leave the great opportunity to now take that role with pride. Faustus, there's no doll in this house, no corpses either. Therefore your master is there and shall be treated as if he was. If as ill, then it would be as an ill, living human. 

“Master, would you still like to have tea with a light snack? It is getting late… But I will allow it this time,” Claude asked.

A soft answer escaped the boy’s lips, which mere humans would have trouble hearing. Obviously those men did not. Still, Sebastian would ask for a bit more work from him today. 

“We did not hear you, little one.” he said, as the spider side eyed him.

“...”

Alois glanced at him for a few seconds, then, with a little annoyance in the voice he finally repeated,

“I said… It must be Tea Time somewhere in the world still…”

This was quite the long yes. The Phantomhive Butler wasn’t unhappy to get a bit under his skin. This bratty display wouldn’t work with him. Truly, Claude could sometimes be the softest of those two. Knowing his time to come home was approaching, he bowed and paid his respects to the master of the house. 

“You might receive letters soon, I hope you will soon get well enough to read and answer them all!”

He then left the room, escorted by Faustus where they could finally talk as two. Putting his coat on, Sebastian said, “You might need some patience, but I do hope this is the right path.”

“I mastered patience quite well, I will be able to handle the rest of it” the other servant replied, 

“Good… You understand then.”

“Indeed.”

They exchanged a long stare. This now was a word, creature to creature, since the servants and the caregivers already found their answers.

“Never let them escape, Faustus.”

[inkykeiji]

Ahh i just read your reply to the chuuya/reader/dazai ask and i cant imagine chuuya as a sub either and i imagine him as a dom, but also have a hsrd time visualizing that!! What kind of dom do you tyink he would be/how do you think he would be like inside and outisde the bedroom??

omg anon!!! love this question!!! <3

personally, i think he’s a service dom with a hint of hard dom sprinkled on top. i genuinely think he would be SUCH a good dom both inside and outside the bedroom <33 like he’d be so so so sweet on his baby, and based on how loyal and obedient (for lack of a better word) chuuya can be i think he would find a lot of validation and satisfaction in being a service dom. his work in the mafia—his missions and his orders—is very important to him and he takes it quite seriously, and i think these tendencies would translate well into his personal romantic/intimate relationships too. as such, he enjoys serving his baby while still retaining a decent amount of agency, power, and control.

in the bedroom:

he can get fairly brutal during a session and has a sadistic side that likes to make an appearance often. despite this, he takes consent and your safe word incredibly seriously, and if he feels like it’s getting too much for you he will definitely stop to check in and make sure you’re alright before continuing. his punishments are harsh but not unfair, and he’s absolutely fantastic at aftercare. 99% of the time he likes his sex loud, rough, and fast. his favourite kinks include marking (especially biting), impact play, cum play, bondage, light humiliation/degradation (kinda in that condescendingly sweet voice but nothing incredibly mean), public sex, and he’s open to a daddy kink but it isn’t a necessity (he’s fine with Sir or any other title you want).

outside of the bedroom:

he definitely takes your health and your well-being extremely seriously, and is on top of everything concerning these matters in a way that feels compassionate and not stifling. there are a set of rules the two of you came up with together, and he adheres to the majority of them fiercely. you might be able to sneak an extra sweet or two (especially since he himself is a sugar fiend) but for the most part, he’s a stickler. he makes sure you’re eating properly, taking your medications, getting exercise if that’s something you want to do/enjoy doing, getting to uni class/your job on time, going to bed at a decent hour (no set bedtime because he thinks that’s a little too restrictive, but he does make sure you’re getting enough sleep and will order you to go to bed if he thinks you're up too late), completing assignments/work duties on time, etc.

with all of that being said, he does have a temper—a short fuse and a very limited amount of patience. don’t expect to get off easy, to get off scott free, if you piss him off or break a rule. a brat must be treated like a brat, must be punished like a brat; how else will you learn that when he says something, he means it??? it’s part of a good dom’s duties and responsibilities to properly and adequately discipline their misbehaving subs, is it not? as far as he’s concerned, this is merely a part of his role as your dominant. depending on the severity of your offence, you may be able to wiggle your way out of punishment by exploiting his love for you + how soft he gets for you, but this is a rare occurrence, especially since chuuya cares so much about your well-being and views punishments as a good opportunity to learn lessons. (also this is unrelated but idk where else to put it in this massive response but ANYWAY, i could totally see him loving to spoil you too???? omg <3 just absolutely loving to surprise you with gifts and food and outings!)

honestly, i think a relationship with him would be healthy, for the most part! his most toxic trait is definitely his anger, which you’ll probably end up accidentally provoking at times and/or end up on the receiving end when his fury is disproportionate to the scenario or act committed, but he would still try his best to reign it in, especially when it comes to you, and he’d feel immense guilt and apologize afterward. he’s definitely protective but i don’t see him as someone who is overly possessive or suffocating.

he likes to know where you are and to keep an eye on you—not because he doesn’t trust you, but because he knows you are now a vulnerability, a liability to be used against him, and he wants to keep you safe. other than that, though, he wants you to have a genuinely good and happy life; he isn’t the type to cut you off from friends and family or anything along those lines (in fact, he’d love to meet them!), and while he enjoys the control being in a dominant position affords him, he does not want nor does he feel the need to control every aspect of your life.

any jealousy would stem from him fearing that he isn’t good enough for you or that you deserve someone better; someone handsomer, someone with cleaner hands and a spotless record, etc., but it wouldn’t result in over-possessiveness. he’d mostly keep it to himself, tbh.

[spooky-ghostwriter]

Sentinels Deck Number 6 - Ol’ Inkwell Town

A while back, I posted some Sentinels stuff which included a set of 1920s cartoon promos for all of my heroes - except Silhouette, who I hadn’t made at the time, but she is not left out!

But I know what you’re thinking. What are these old-timey cartoon versions of my heroes? How do they fit into the flimsy made-up canon that my decks are retroactively based on?

Okay, you’re probably not asking those questions, but I made a whole deck to answer them. Welcome to Ol’ Inkwell Town...

The story behind this deck is basically that the heroes woke up one day and found that they were no longer in New Granwall City. They were in an alternate cartoon version of their hometown - and they had to find a way to get back.

Ol’ Inkwell Town is made up of three distinct locations. My heroes Gold Dragon and Skimmer, plus guest heroes Charade and Alius (by insomn and Mistillitain respectively), explored the main city. Various street corners looked familiar to Gold Dragon and Skimmer, though danger lurked in the skies.

The first cards to show off are pretty simple mechanically, so let’s talk thematics. Ol’ Inkwell Town is mostly based on black and white cartoons. I watched a lot of Popeye in particular, since Gold Dragon’s old timey cartoon version was heavily based on Popeye. The deck also includes some Loony Tunes clichés like falling pianos and anvils.

Instead of simply drawing a falling anvil, I turned it into a character. Living objects is a bizarre trend of those classic cartoons, so I put faces and white gloves on everything from lamp posts to other heroes’ equipment.

The deck is intended to be wacky but deceptively brutal. Making hero equipment cards “come alive” is an effect that already exists in Sentinels, and it’s a dangerous effect because it allows villains to destroy your cards simply by doing damage. Ol’ Inkwell Town’s version is even more brutal by having your equipment fight you when you try to use them. However, heroes whose equipment are mostly magical (denoted by the Relic keyword) are immune.

Bomby is a very destructive effect, but you have a whole round to try deal with him before he goes off.

The second location visited by heroes is the cartoon equivalent of the Alesia Circus. This is where Escarlata, Electrogeist, and Tsukiko ended up.

The Table of Pies is both a benefit and a negative. Playing the top card of the environment deck usually means another cartoon is coming into play, accelerating the deck’s nonsense. Then it increases the damage the cartoons are throwing around by giving them an arsenal of pies.

However, the heroes can use the pies too - either throwing them as well, or eating them to recover HP. Heroes typically have powers that are better than what Table of Pies offers, but in a pinch, those powers might be exactly what you need.

Past the pies and into the circus proper, Escarlata and Tsukiko discovered an old-timey version of Tsukiko herself, who cast a horrifying spell on our modern-day Escarlata...

When Escarlata was pulled into the box, a cartoon version of her appeared as well! Electrogeist and the modern-day Tsukiko were shocked!

The Enraged Escarlata isn’t really a card in the deck. At the start of a game of Sentinels, you choose one of the 2-5 variant character cards that each hero has available, play as that character card, and put the rest back. Only one card in the official game can switch variants mid-game, but I think it’s interesting design space, so I threw it on a card here in an intentionally wacky environment.

The “thematic” way to play this deck is to have my heroes switch into their cartoon selves when Forced Volunteer hits them, but you’re free to switch your hero into any variant you want. 

The modern-day Escarlata wasn’t really gone forever, though, and she quickly found her way back to the stage from wherever the magic had put her. There, she met her own cartoon counterpart...

The deck has two copies of Cartoon Counterpart, and even though it took extra drawing, I was convinced to change the art for the second copy. This is an annoyingly wordy card, but the premise is simple. Cartoon Counterpart fights its “owner”, who thematically is the one the cartoon is a counterpart of, but if you beat it up enough, it helps you. Cartoon violence is the solution to all of cartoon life’s problems.

So, where was the original Tsukiko during all of this? Erm... occupied.

When I asked my friends on the Custom Sentinels Discord for things they wanted to see in an old-timey cartoon deck, I got lots of ideas for tropes and clichés (most of which I already had on my list). But someone (insomn?) reminded me of a saw I’d drawn chopping Tsukiko in half on the incap for her own cartoon version.

This inspired Choppy Sawington, who is once again harassing Tsukiko. He has a really nasty effect that I’ve toyed with before, of either chopping a hero’s hand in half or dealing some damage. (I would’ve liked it to chop the hero’s HP in half, but that’s way too strong.)

The icon on Choppy is Tsukiko’s nemesis icon, meaning that Tsukiko and Choppy deal extra damage to each other. Given Choppy’s ties to stage magic, and Choppy focusing on discarding cards compared to Tsukiko’s focus on handing out card draw, and the fact that Choppy’s only victim so far has been Tsukiko, I felt it was more than justified.

The third location in the environment is only touched on briefly, but it’s the haunted mansion where a devilish vampire lives.

Silhouette’s cartoon counterpart, The Zany Zywen mentioned right at the start, is a user of dark magic who offers power to those who seek her out. This is usually a monkey’s paw situation where the person who gains the power realizes they were better off without it.

Naturally, Silhouette herself is all about dark magic and cursed power, and envious of her cartoon self, so she charged right into the castle. A guest hero, Antiquarian by Gaist, joins her.

The gargoyles themselves are your typical prankster minions, and in the game they’re annoyingly hard to kill and annoyingly destroy the heroes’ stuff. I don’t have much to say on them in particular, so let me go off on an art tangent.

When I first started this deck, I’d been drawing simple backgrounds (or no backgrounds at all!) for the old-timey cartoon stuff. However, not only did I need some background art for the digital implementation of the deck, actual old-timey cartoons really did have nice background art. 

The backgrounds are still fairly simple compared to what I usually do, but I used CSP’s pencil tool to shade and add a unique texture to everything. I wanted to give everything a grainy look to it and make the non-cartoon characters really pop.

Zany Bats is a card designed pretty much for Silhouette. The bats seek out the hero with the lowest HP, and Silhouette is likely to be lowest since she starts with such low HP. A hero bitten by the bats may deal themselves Infernal damage, which is Silhouette’s whole shtick. And finally - this one was accidental synergy - if Silhouette plays her own Form of the Bat card, she has enough damage reduction that the bats won’t hit her at all.

After the three groups of heroes escaped their perils, they all tried to meet up to share their findings. But there were still two obstacles...

As the various cartoons met up, they started a fight that escalated into a giant brawl. 

The two in the center of Big Ball of Violence are Escarlata and The Zany Zywen. You can also see Tsukiko’s Tank Top sticking out of the cloud, as well as Gold Dragon’s tail, one of Charade’s now-sentient Stun Batons, Choppy Sawington’s... nose...?, and a foot. That foot belongs to Ampere, another guest hero by Mistillitain.

Finally, there was but a single obstacle...

Me!

Cartoons and their animator fighting is a classic cartoon trope - though admittedly it’s more of a Looney Tunes thing than a black-and-white cartoon thing. 

I had some mixed thoughts about what the animator should look like. A giant hand from the sky? Should it even be a character, or just the reality-warping pencil itself? But I like where this settled.

The Animator has two abilities. It “erases” a cartoon and deals radiant damage, and it also plays the top card of each deck, essentially creating and rewriting the game every round. 

In the art, we see a guest hero Chronan the Barbarian (made by Gaist) as The Animator draws a cartoon counterpart for him.

And that’s the deck! None of the cards represent how the heroes actually got home, but I think there are a few possible options. Maybe The Animator was the one responsible for bringing them there (I was) and sent them back. Maybe Silhouette managed to make a deal with her cartoon self and got sent back with dark magic. And maybe Tsukiko’s magic box was powerful enough to return them to the real world.

Whatever the case, I had a blast making this deck and I hope Sentinels custom content players have just as much fun playing it.