#and a lot of murky ethics

[terrence-silver]

I recently discovered your page and my first reaction was: OH MY GOD, this woman is an amazing writer!! No seriously, your Yandere one shots / scenarios are amazing, I would like to read more! Since I first saw Karate Kid Part III I have this very dark but fascinating scenario in mind: The reader (friend of Daniel Larusso and Mr. Miyagi) is kidnapped by Terry as he is madly obsessed with her (but she does not return his love). When he forcibly takes her to the majestic Ennis House, he wants to get her pregnant to prevent her from escaping. Can you make the scene please? (with nsfw if you want) Maybe it's a bit too extreme scenario, but Yandere Terry Silver in the 80's is something amazing.

---

His revenge in Johnny's name never involved this.

But, much like a greedy child in a candy store on a sugar-high, Terry wanted it all.

John, lounging on some wicker sunbed in Tahiti, soaking up the seaside heat, bronze like a god and oiled up and admiring all the grass hula skirts that were attending to him had never called him up to say Fuck your children into somebody, Terry and make that part of your revenge. Go all the way, Terry. For me. --- no. In fact, trusty Johnny was very old-fashioned and deeply conventional with his vendettas. Blood to blood. Fists to fists. A healthy addition of dirty moves and strategizing when required, but never to this extent. Of course, Terry admired the rawness of such sentiments, the type John had and lived by, but sometimes a delicate touch was required to make pain truly stick and that pain was laying on his King Size bed, in his bedroom, in his mansion, on Glendower, overlooking all of LA. Was it insanely petty and morally questionable. To kidnap someone that little pipsqueak and that old coot held dear? A treasured, kind neighbour? A friend, he even dared say? To be the cad and the seducer, whisking them away whether they liked to or not and simply have them --- ravaging them --- tying them inadvertently to himself so he can later pull them out of the drawer, flaunt them like his own special prize and say Look what I did? I did that to them. They're mine forever, Danny-boy and everything you ever felt close to is to be taken from you for crossing John Kreese and Cobra Kai. Nothing and nobody in this world is safe from me. Not from the closest contact to the most distantly familiar acquaintance.

Then there was the fact that he very much liked them.

Not a feeling yet returned as much as he wanted, but it would be.

Naturally, everyone always fell to his charms, sooner or later, sometimes against all better judgement and it would be no different now. He had a scheduled timetable on when he was taking them raw, holding them hostage on estate grounds, surrounded by walls and cameras and security. Early morning seven o'clock sharp. One time before noon. One time afternoon. In the evening. And going free reign at night. Terry trained and Terry fucked. When he called up John to tell him all about it he was met with an expected: -"You did what, Terry!?"- His voice was laced with disbelief and amusement on an international overseas call and Terry throws his head back in his tub filled with foam in unadulterated joy at the sound of it once all the details and his war plan were mutually laid out bare before his Captain. He was on the verge of stroking himself beneath the bubbles in excitement. Yes, he was going to knock the fuck up one Larusso boy's neighbour living in the same apartment block. Much older than the punk, but upon closer inspection, someone the little Italian twerp admired like an eager kid admires a big sibling or an aspirational adult. -"You're crazy."- John adds. -"And you love it!"- Terry practically cackles, the phone at his cheek, his little project safely locked upstairs, exhausted for last night's trysts. He'd go one step further, he decided. He'll wine, dine and romance them until it is abundantly clear they're with him of their own accord. I'm sorry, Daniel. Terry imagines them saying, apologetically. Pitifully. It just happened. You don't choose who you love.

Ah, it was like something straight out of The Dynasty and he loved it.

-"And what happens after?"- John inquires lazily, with a trace of strictness.

-"Huh? After what?"-

-"After we're done playing? C'mon, not gonna toss your own kid and the woman out in the streets once you've proved a point, Terry? Not how I taught you to do things."- Oddly honorable John. He loved the man to bits and pieces.

When their revenge is concluded and the old man and the kid are cut down to size? The streets? Tossing someone out? Someone his? No, no. Terry remembers how his little beloved mewled under him last night, fearful yet wanton, guilt and desire intermingling, they wanted it even though their head pleaded them not to, so beautiful, vulnerable and sweet, frightened and needy in a great castle on a hill, just like in the fairytales. Why should a dragon relinquish his treasure? John had nothing to fear. Terry was self-aware about being a great many things, but someone who forsakes something belonging to him he most certainly wasn't. He laughs in response, jubilantly. -"Well, I suppose I'll be a father, Johnny! What belongs to me, belongs to me."- The cackle echoes from his jacuzzi out into the steam filled hallway. -"You'll have your dojo locations, your rightful trophy, your champion, your victory at the All Valley, your name cleared and I'll have, well ---"- In listing off all their goals one by one, Terry feels the blood rush into his cheeks, his chest and lower still, into his cock. He couldn't even say it. I'll have a spouse and I'll have a kid and It'll be oh so sweet and I would've usurped and conquered them in the name of retaliation, so instead, he just trails off cheekily with a giggle.-"You know!"- Terry snorts suggestively, finding he was hit with an uncharacteristic amount of excitement at the idea of procuring himself someone who was his and who in turn would birth someone even more his outside of avenging his Captain. Enterprise, it was called. Enterprise and expansion. -"I know, I know. You're a real piece of work, I swear."- John shoots back, knowingly. They laugh together in mirth, over the phone.

-"Betcha!"-

Terry pounces on the statement with an interjection of his own.

#people are still discovering me after all this time! #i'm so flattered #thank you infinitely #and here we have it #terry being villainously giddy about being a papa #and john encouraging him to be morally despicable YET responsible #meanwhile daniel and mr. miyagi are like 😨😨😨 #kk3 #cobra kai #tw; dubious conset #tw; kidnapping #tw; hostage situations #implied cobra husbands #terry silver x reader #terry silver x beloved #and a lot of murky ethics

[kaijutegu]

Is It Ok For An Alligator To Have Tape On Their Mouth?

Alligators make pretty amazing animal ambassadors when handled safely and ethically. And it is actually pretty safe to take them out to interact with the zoo-going public (or general public in some settings), when done correctly. Many zoos and outreach organizations do an amazing job of this! Every state has different rules, but even if a state doesn't mandate that alligators be banded... well, if you're a responsible crocodilian handler, you'll band anyways. It's a huge public safety issue! Even an accidental graze against their front teeth can cause injury. See, the alligators that are used as handle-able ambassadors are pretty small, and their teeth are razor sharp. An adult gator has sharp teeth, too, as well as blunt teeth for crushing, and they also have the additional force of their jaw muscles.

Here's what it sounds like when an adult alligator pops his jaw. (Don't worry about the hissing/gaping; this is a trained and queued behavior. The stick towards the top of the inside of the mouth is triggering the bite reflex. Chester probably got lots of chicken and fish as he learned to do this.)

Skip ahead to 0:32 if you wanna skip the guest commentary.

What's more, biting is an important reflex for crocodilians. The lower jaws of crocodilians are some of the most innervated tissues in the animal kingdom; they are more sensitive than human fingertips! Even the slightest touch triggers their bite reflex, which likely is an adaptation that lets them detect changes in water pressure that signal a snack heading their way.

Here's a pretty good video about the biomechanics of crocodilian jaws:

So yeah. They need to not be able to bite for public safety. There's just too much risk involved with an unbanded alligator (or other crocodilian). Fortunately, it's easy to get a crocodilian to not bite- you just need to band its mouth!

(This fella is Frodo the dwarf caiman, but the principle is the same.)

This works because while crocodilians have an extremely strong bite force (claims range from 2,000 PSI to 5,000+ PSI, but I don't have time to get into that now but someday I will probably), but not particularly strong muscles to open their mouths. Selective pressure for quickly nabbing prey in murky water where there's not a lot of visibility lead to pterygoid and adductor muscles so big, they extend into the animal's neck. But those muscles only pull the jaw closed- they don't work to open it! That's why you see people holding an alligator's mouth closed with their hands.

Safe bands include:

Silicone tape- this is the best. It sticks to itself and not the gator's snout

Electrical tape

Medical tape

Rubber or elastic bands

There are other options, but these are the most popular- they're cheap, easily available, and safe. So if you see an alligator (or other crocodilian) out in public and it's got tape on its mouth, don't worry too much- it's safe for the gator (most of the time) and it's safe for you!

Here's a couple of safe tape options, modeled by a juvenile American alligator in pink electrical tape (I forget her name, these are from an outreach event a couple of years ago) and Pagasa, a juvenile Philippine crocodile wearing the white medical tape.

So when is tape not safe? When it's the wrong kind of tape. One of the worst offenders is duct tape.

When you're banding an alligator, you need to think about how sensitive their jaws are. A band that's too tight or too sticky can hurt them badly when it's removed- and you want that removal process to be fast, so that it doesn't stress them out too much.

What inspired this post was this picture I saw on Facebook:

That's so much duct tape! Now, this little guy is quite unhealthy; he's been loose in the Pittsburgh area all winter, and he's been struggling. What you see here is a very quick tape job done as he's getting ready for transport. The article didn't say who taped him, but given that he's in a dog crate and was found by bicyclists, I would wager that it was some harried animal control officer who was doing the best they could. And that's fine because this was truly an emergency situation. In an emergency situation, uncomfortable is always, always better than unsafe.

But if you see a tourist attraction and they've put duct tape on their alligator's mouth? That's a red flag! Banding an alligator in public is the safe, correct thing to do- you just want to make sure that it's done right.

If you want more information about alligator jaws, here's some interesting papers to read:

Erickson, Gregory et al. Insights into the Ecology and Evolutionary Success of Crocodilians Revealed through Bite-Force and Tooth-Pressure Experimentation. PLoS ONE 7(3): e31781.

Knight, Kathryn. Croc Jaws More Sensitive Than Human Fingertips. Journal of Experimental Biology (2012) 215.

Sellers et al. Ontogeny of bite force in a validated biomechanical model of the American alligator. Journal of Experimental Biology (2017), 220.

#alligator #crocodilian #reptiblr #Youtube

[thewebcomicsreview]

A lot of the best writing is just doing simple basic obvious shit and doing it consistently. This page from Clown Corps is a great example.

For those who don't read Clown Corps....read it, it's great. Anyway, Morgan is a Clown (which in this setting is a superhero), who just learned that the mime-themed supervillain Echo, who has the power to mimic clown magic but had her mouth sewn shut against her will, is her long-lost sister Maggie, and now we have a flashback to happier times when the sisters go to a carnival (i.e., a place where clowns are).

This actually started on the previous page, where Maggie is winning stuffed animals and giving them to kids. Superficially, this is just a cute stage-setting scene, but every panel here is ironic. First, Maggie is accused (jokingly, but still) of being a criminal. "Suddenly you can't miss" lets us know that she sucked earlier but then became incredibly skilled at hitting targets. Maggie attributes this to being a "fast learner", a reference to the powers she'll later develop. That she's giving the toys away shows that she's not doing her "hustle" for nefarious reasons, much like as an adult her ethics are murky. And then the "fun's over" when her sister the future superhero shows up.

Then, in the next page, Morgan is mad her sister disappeared, and Maggie is mad she was expected to stand around quietly. This sisterly fight is foreshadowing Maggie's fate.

In the next panel, Maggie does a 4th-wall-breaking joke about how "it's not that kind of flashback". The primary source of jokes like this in Clown Corps is series protagonist Mary McBell

This joke is incredible

And in present day, it's Morgan who's most supportive of McBell. This panel recontextualizes the Morgan/McBell relationship. Morgan likes McBell because McBell reminds her of her long-lost sister. This connection would also serve to shorthand Maggie's personality for us, if it wasn't already coming through clear.

Morgan complains that mom made her bring Maggie along, which kind of establishes the relationship between then, and then Maggie hits Morgan with this savage burn. The out-of-nowhere horoscope reference is great, it's a specific hit on Morgan, not something that would be obvious to a reader from from these two pages. It feels more real than if she'd referenced something that we'd already learned about Morgan. Also "My nail polish doesn't match my horoscope" is just a funny line.

Oh yeah, and also this is the future Echo mimicking a future Clown. Don't forget that part.

And then the final panel is Maggie fully aware of what an annoying little shit she's being, but her expression is that of a girl who expects that Morgan is going to buy her that corn dog, glare be damned.

And, like, none of these panels are super mind-blowing genius moves that you'd need to be a twelfth-level intellect to come up with. Individually it's all really basic. It's impressive that all this referencing stuff feels like a natural conversation, but you - the girl reading this - could do that. What makes Clown Corps great is that it does this nearly every panel. Nothing is wasted, nothing here is doing just one thing. It's a sublime example of asking "Can I get more out of this" every single panel, because the answer is usually "Yes".

#Clown Corps

[fanandfiction]

Night at The Bar - Sevika X Reader

I am feeling inspired by the headcanon I wrote the other day to write some more :D Thank you for the response on the last one!? Should there be a part two to this? If you have any Arcane-specific requests feel free to ask! 

Sevika X Fem!Reader 

Word Count: 4.2k words

Summary: You’re the sweet new bartender at the Last Drop, and you’ve seemed to catch the eye of one of the regulars. (This story is set in Act 1 of Arcane). 

Tags/Warnings: +18 MDNI/NSFW,  Dubious Consent, Groping, kinda Shy!Reader, Inexperienced!Reader, Sex Workers, Alcohol Consumption, Drinking, Catcalling, Kissing, Canon Typical Violence, Pet names, Sevika still has her arm 0.0

The air in the undercity was always dense and thick, and tonight it was no different. Clouds of exhaust and fog surrounded the Last Drop, small streams of murky water lined the streets filling in potholes as they went, making some innocent-looking puddles treacherous. Somehow, the conditions hadn’t deterred people from meandering through the street in various states of soberness and through the doors for a drink or two.

The air inside the bar was just as, if not more, dense than the air outside. On top of that, it was hot, almost suffocating to anyone not used to it. And the bar, an already busy hotspot, had been seeing a lot more business than usual, making the heat ten times worse. The reason- the lovely new bartender Vander hired. 

He hired you hoping his workload would lessen, yet somehow that backfired on him entirely. There’s a certain softness and warmth that you’ve got that’s rare in the undercity. You would greet every customer with a smile and promise to attend to their needs as soon as possible. Regulars knew they could come rant to you, and you would genuinely listen. And despite the influx of customers, no one was ever waiting too long. Food was served hot and ready, and the drinks were always ice cold. Anyone you served left feeling cared for and loved.

How you survived relatively unscathed by the undercity for so long will remain a mystery. You weren’t without the usual scratches and bruises one was subject to from the undercity. You’re an orphan like most, but let's be honest, if you weren’t an orphan in this economy, your parents might’ve sold you otherwise.

 You were a cute kid, so for most of your childhood, people would give you their scraps in return for small services, mostly errands like deliveries or small cleaning services. As you aged, you found a good mom in Babette at the brothel. She never let you be a working girl- she forbade it. Insisting she didn’t want that life for you and that you were too innocent for that kind of work anyway.

 So for a while, you would just work the front desk at the brothel, and growing up, that was more than enough. You would rent rooms and pleasure to the men and women of Zuan and Piltover alike. The only issue was you were never in a position to make connections with people, and you never would be if you had stayed there. The customers at the brothel weren’t there to make connections, and if they were, they weren’t with the desk attendant. As you got older and gained more control over your life and a sense of the undercity, you started looking for different jobs. Lo-and-behold now you find yourself working for Vander at the Last Drop. You still live with Babette; with the undercity how it is, there wasn’t anywhere else for you to go. She remains the present mother figure in your life, and you’re on fantastic terms.

Though, as much as you would like it to be, your employment at the Last Drop wasn’t coincidental. You would never know though, that Babette went to Vander as soon as you told her you were looking for a new job. She knew he was looking to hire some help, and he owed her a favor. He didn’t think it’d be so bad- he initially thought maybe she was doing him a favor. You had an outstanding work ethic, and you completed all tasks promptly. How wrong he was.

Vander realized quickly that your soft naivety would be your downfall if he didn’t intervene. Your softness attracted people, and there were hardly any good-intentioned people in the undercity. People would come and share the vaguest sob stories, and you would show them the same compassion every time. You would offer them a warm drink and sometimes even a hug. Vander knew the ones who asked for hugs only ever had ill intentions. They only wanted to feel you up, but he never had the heart to tell you they were creeps. Vander adored the empathy and compassion you offered everyone, and you weren’t completely unaware. So he would intervene when customers held on for too long, or customers got too handsy. 

Tonight nothing had happened so far- it was just as busy as the other nights were. Most of the tables were full of people playing cards, making illegal trades, eating- any underground activity you could name someone was probably doing. You were setting drinks you had just made on a tray to take to a table on the floor. Your shift had just started, and you were feeling pretty good. 

“I’m gonna take this to table 3,” You shout over all the bar ruckus. Somehow, you were balancing the tray of drinks in the palm of your hand.  

“You got it?” Vander asked, nodding towards the large tray of drinks that wobbled haphazardly in your hand. 

“Yep!” You give him a reassuring smile that did nothing to reassure him (he wouldn’t tell you that) before going on your way towards the table. 

The table was a group of younger-looking men who wore leather and tight black clothes. They had various melee weapons in the form of spiked bats and metal batons, which wasn’t uncommon for most people in the undercity. They were probably a part of the various gangs that made up Zaun.

 They got rowdy and erupted in cheers as soon as they noticed you carrying their drinks. That also wasn’t uncommon- the group would likely get louder the more they drank. Plenty of other groups came in every night, drinking together and looking for a good time. You didn’t mind if everyone was having fun- if they were happy, so were you.

“Alrighty, lads! The pretty lady has finally returned with our drinks!” you couldn’t tell who shouted, but you laughed along with them and set down their drinks one by one as they erupted into laughter and cheers. 

“Is there anything else I can get you?” You ask after everyone has what they ordered. 

Your eyes made rounds through the group but ultimately ended up on the man seated closest to you. He had a round head with a pointed chin, his face was decorated with piercings, and his eyes protruded from his face in a way that made him look wide awake. On his scalp rested a spiked mohawk. The tips were colored hot pink, and the rest of it faded to black. 

He gave you a toothy grin, “Are you on the menu?”

 The way he was slurring his words, you could tell he was at least a little tipsy. His buddies were as well. The other men start cheering for him like dogs as if he actually said something important. 

Thinking drunk-flirty customers were just a part of the job, you were ready to ignore what he said when his hand came down hard against your behind. He squeezed your flesh tightly in the palm of his hand, groping your ass. You shrieked loudly on impact, more startled by the fact that he had his hands on you than anything. 

Vander had witnessed this all and was ready to jump the counter and rip the man to shreds when the slamming of the front door halted everyone in the establishment. You, the man with a handful of your ass, his table, everyone- stopped what they were doing to look at who entered. 

A tall brutish woman with broad shoulders, someone you recognized as one of Vander’s regulars (meaning: only he was allowed to serve her when she was there), had walked through the door and stood at the entrance. If you recall correctly, her name was Sevika.

You also had faint memories of Sevika frequenting the brothel. She would ignore you and go straight to Babette's office before one of the working girls came and took her back to their rooms. Babette had many friends who did this, so you never thought anything of her visits. Babette did it to cover any activity topsiders might come to question her about concerning customers. 

Sevika locked eyes with you immediately. The table you were waiting on was closest to the door. She instantly looked you up and down and noticed that as she did, the man holding you had quickly removed his hand. By then, it was too late. She had put two and two together and recognized that whatever was happening wasn’t consensual. 

“Hmph,” she grunted, approaching the table. Her boots made a heavy impact on the floor as she neared, and the sound her boot’s made sent waves and waves of vibrations through you. You squeezed the tray you were holding closer to your body. 

“What do you think you're doing?” Sevika snarled slowly, nearly walking through you to get to the man who had just assaulted you. 

“B-Boss, I-I-I-I w-was just-“ The poor man looked as if he shit himself. It didn’t help that he was too frightened to speak. His buddies, who were laughing with him a second ago, looked as though they had seen a ghost. They were actively choosing to look anywhere but towards him and Sevika. 

“I’ve decided I don’t care what your excuse is,” she spoke, and without hesitation, she took the man's face in her hand and lifted him from his seat. His chair fell back, and his drink spilled. The man began thrashing like a fish in her hold.

 He started pleading, begging her to let go, that he was sorry, but she didn’t listen. Sevika squeezed her hand, breaking something and halting his resistance before she threw his body out the door. 

The only sign the man was still alive afterward was the meek string of whimpers he allowed to release shortly after. 

You couldn’t help but wince. While you were grateful someone came to help you, part of you really hoped that man wasn’t going to die. Little did you know, had Sevika chosen to ignore that man, Vander likely would have killed him. 

“The regular, sweetheart,” Sevika grunted, again walking through you to get past you, nearly knocking you on your ass as she went. “And make sure you bring it to the booth yourself.”

You look from her to Vander, who watched this all unfold, completely flabbergasted, as she disappears into her usual booth. Something about her voice made you want to do everything she asked, but you knew there had to be a reason only Vander or Babette ever worked with her. It was only fair to want to seek out permission before moving forward.

To your surprise, Vander began making her drink with an unreadable, solemn look on his face. 

A somber “Just try not to say too much- anything happens, I’m right here, ” and a pitiful smile was all he had to offer you before you were again on your way. This time, the tray you carried stood adorned with two glasses, one empty and one with a large ice cube and some water. A dainty bowl of orange slices and an ornate bottle of distilled spirits sat with a drink sieve and a stirring spoon. 

“G-Good Evening,” You don’t remember it being so hard to speak before. 

“Hmph,” She was shuffling a deck of playing cards back and forth between her large hands. She doesn’t look up from the playing cards at all. You decide just to set the glass and bottle in front of her on the table. Your hands tremble the entire time you’re doing this.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” you try to put a smile on your face without looking scared or forced but suspect you fail miserably. 

When she finally looks up from the cards, her eyes rake slowly up your body in a way that’s almost predatorial. You feel as though she’s going to eat you alive. A shiver runs down your spine. She then looks at the glasses and back at you almost expectantly- you’re shaken by this immediately. Did you forget something? Was this not what Vander did when giving her her beverages? It wasn’t this tension brewing between the two of you that was the reason as to why you weren’t allowed around her, right? Was it like this with everyone she encountered? 

“Are you not going to come and pour me a glass,” she pats the leather seat next to her like a cat owner does when calling their cat to them. Except this was slower and more seductive, a clear trap, even to you.

“I-I have other tables that need t-tending. I-It would be rather rude of me to leave them abruptly,” You try to decline politely, on the technicality that it was, in parts, a self-serve drink. You couldn’t explain why but something felt dangerous about crawling into the booth with Sevika. Something was screaming at you that it wouldn’t be a good idea. 

“You don’t want to?” her deep voice was so enticing. You watched her dark lips as they moved. Sevika, in reality, wasn’t really doing that much to convince you, and already there was a spell over you. “I see you sit and chat with people all the time. Did I do something wrong? Is there something wrong with-“

“No! Nononononono, there’s nothing wrong with you,” you quickly interrupt, refusing to let her finish the sentence. 

In the grand scheme of things, you were so easy for Sevika to trap. You froze halfway through, realizing what you were doing, but by that point, it was too late. You were in the booth with her. Her hand grasped your wrist, giving you an idea of how much bigger she was than you as she pulled you in to sit next to her. Your little heart was about to beat right out of your chest any minute. You weren’t sure why. You'd never been in a situation like this before.

“Then you shouldn’t have a problem pouring me a glass, should you?” She whispered. Her face was now less than an inch away from yours. She was towering over you by at least another head. An almost sadistic smirk that told you she was aware of everything she was currently doing to you found its way to her face.

 You swallow hard, unable to find a viable excuse, you mumble, “No, not at all.”

“Good, good” she looks down at you through half-closed lids, keeping that same smirk she gestures with her head towards the glass, urging you to pour her a drink. 

Realizing you hadn’t breathed at all within the last minute, you didn’t need her to tell you twice. You quietly inhaled as you sat up, savoring the sweet oxygen that filled your lungs as you reached for the bottle of spirits. 

Your hands were terribly shaky, and you were keenly aware she was monitoring you as you poured. This pour could hardly be called  “clean,” several drops of the spirit spilled as you brought the neck of the bottle to the edge of the empty cup. You filled a third of the glass with the liquor before precariously setting the beautiful bottle back down with a harsh ‘thud.’ 

You then reach for the sieve and the cup with water. The metal clangs unceremoniously against the cup as you pour water into the other glass filling it another third of the way. The liquor becomes a milky white as you pour in the water. Finally, you set the sieve down and use the stirring spoon carefully to drop the remaining ice cube into the glass. You then stir the drink once, twice, and then three times before deeming your work done.

“Give it here,” her voice was deep and thick like honey, and you were drowning in every bit of it. 

“O-Okay.” you do as she says, pulling the glass towards the two of you, scared to use your shaky hands to lift it. 

When she takes it, she purposefully brushes her hand against yours, and your heart flutters- you think maybe it has begun palpitating.  

“The oranges,” she motions with her left hand, and you lean over to pull them closer. There was no way for you to do this without leaning a little into her lap. 

The overwhelming sense of danger was still very present, yet something else you couldn’t name was beginning to smother that feeling. A particular warmth had settled in the pit of your stomach, and you couldn’t help but want to explore it a little more. 

“Hmm, good girl,” She hums. Your brain nearly melts, unused to the form of praise you were getting. 

You could safely confirm: she definitely didn’t treat Vander like this. The way she was behaving put you back in the brothel- except instead of being behind the protective glass of the front desk, you were in the place of one of the girls that would bring her back to their rooms. 

Sevika would walk with the girls, one of her beautifully muscular arms wrapped tightly around their waist as they went together. The girls would giggle obnoxiously, and Sevika would have a playful smirk on her lips as she trailed kisses up and down their necks. 

You quickly got lost in imagining yourself dressed in one of the beautiful but skimpy outfits the girls would wear, dragging Sevika back to your room, that same playful smirk decorating her face as she ghosted kissed all along the sweet spots on your neck. 

You could suddenly vividly remember the screams of pleasure the thin walls at the brothel did little to conceal. It would go on for hours and hours, and in the days following, the girls would walk around with a wobbly pep to their step and brag to the others about how good she had fucked them.

 You were so enamored by the fantasy playing out in your head that you failed to notice she brought the glass, drenched in condensation to her lips.

“Ahh,” she swallowed, bringing you back to reality, as she set her drink on the table. 

You watched with doe eyes as one of her thick hands moved to pick up an orange slice and bring it to her mouth. You felt so dizzy, and she was literally just enjoying her drink. 

The wet noise that departs from her mouth as she chews into the orange made you want her mouth elsewhere. Your mind was reeling, you’d go crazy if this went on any longer, but it didn’t look like anyone was going to come to your rescue anytime soon. A brief glance at Vander showed he was currently preoccupied with customers because of the earlier display. Everyone wanted to be served by him to avoid getting in Sevika’s way.

“Vander did well by hiring you,” Her sultry voice brings your attention back to her. Not that she had ever really lost it. Sevika had discarded the orange peel and took the glass in her hand again.  

“You pour a good drink, sweetheart,” she affirms. 

She brings the glass to her lips, sipping more of the liquid. Except Sevika doesn’t swallow when she sets the glass down this time. Instead, she uses her left hand to pick up another orange slice and cups your face in her right. Everything was moving in slow motion for you. You could hear your heart beating loudly in your ears, you worried she might be able to hear it.

She’s now towering over you, and her face starts closing in on yours. You now had a pretty clear picture of what was happening, but that didn’t stop you from gasping when her lips met yours. It offered Sevika the perfect opportunity to spill the cool liquid into your mouth. The liquid had an intense earthy, licorice flavor. Without a second thought, you swallowed and savored the bitter drink as it burned your throat on the way down. 

Before you knew it, her lips left yours, and the sweet flesh of the orange was on your lips. You took it graciously, allowing the juice to soothe the burning in your throat, all while she still held your face in her hand.

“Mmh,” Your eyes flutter, and you moan into the fruit as she feeds it to you.

You don’t get it as clean as she got hers, but she had other plans for it anyways. Without breaking eye contact, she looks at you through her own lashes as she takes the remaining orange into her mouth. 

“How was that?” She asked, setting down the clean peel. 

“G-Good,” You nervously swallow, barely managing to sputter out words. “It was good.” 

The smirk she had turned into a shit-eating grin. Whether it be the liquor or because she had just kissed you, a dopey smile showed on your face to mirror hers. 

“I’m glad,” Her thumb came to wipe excess juice from the side of your lip. “Quality control is good once in a while, isn’t it?” 

“Mmhm,” You’re eager to agree with whatever she says. 

She laughs at you. Your cheeks feel hot, and your stomach fills with butterflies even though you’re pretty sure she’s making fun of you. 

“Look at that,” You can’t, you’re too busy looking at her to care about whatever that is. She is looking past you and towards the bar. “Your boss is checkin’ in on you? Huh? How sweet.” 

She cleared her throat and nudged your side, which woke you up a little, at least enough to look up and over at the bar with her. Vander was indeed looking on with a hard unreadable look on his face. Suddenly, you were very aware of what was going on and that not only was this not an appropriate place to be doing, well, whatever this is, you were also at work. This was not the time for drinking or making out with customers.

“I-I’m sorry, I have to go.” 

“No, wait.”

You try to pull away from her, and when she doesn’t let go, all noise in the bar ceases. Vander had loudly dropped the kitchen towel that naturally rested on his shoulder onto the bar counter, halting all movement in the bar. A blatant warning, if you'd ever seen one. 

Sevika only paid him a glance before looking back to you. Her other hand reached behind her quickly. She pulled out a coin purse. 

“Are you gonna leave without a tip? Hmm?”

She let go of your face to open the purse, and you let out a deep breath. 

“Oh no!? You really don’t have to,” You try to say, but she has none of it. Sevika takes one of your smaller hands into hers and drops several gold coins into your hand. 

Closing her hand around yours, she says, “I insist.” 

You can’t say no to her.

“Now, get back to work,” She chuckles, looking past you again and towards Vander. “Before your boss comes around here and starts a fight.” 

You don't need her to tell you twice- You’re out of there in a heartbeat. Your shaky legs had barely found safely behind the bar when the men who played cards with Sevika had already begun squawking her table. You tried to lean against the counter for support, but Vander quickly ushered you through the doors that led to his family’s living quarters. 

“Are you okay? What did she do to ya? Goddamnit, I knew I shouldn’t have sent you over there.” His large hands found your shoulders as soon as you passed the threshold of what appeared to be an empty common area for his kids. He examined you for any physical harm or any severe distress. 

“I-I’m okay, she just asked me to pour her the d-drink that’s all,” You stutter, conveniently leaving out the fact that she kissed you. If Vander hadn’t seen what happened, for right now, you didn’t want to worry him by telling him what happened. Even if he knew you were lying, he wouldn’t push you to expose what happened if you didn’t want to. 

He sighed. Oh, he definitely knew you were lying. “Alright.”

“Do you think you can work for the rest of your shift?” He asked. “You don’t have to go have to either of those tables tonight if you don’t want to.” He gave you a look that told you he understood if you didn’t want to go back to work tonight after all that had happened. 

“I think I can,” You offer him your usual sweet smile. It’s contagious, and soon, he's smiling as well.

“Okay, hun, take your time coming back to work. We got plenty of customers waiting for you to come back,” He chuckled, letting you have a few minutes alone before you returned to your shift.

#sevika x reader #arcane sevika #sevika x you #vander #vander arcane #arcane #spicy #league of legends #arcane netflix #imagine #league of legends x reader #arcane x reader #arcane headcanon #wlw #lesbian

[naryrising]

Hi Nary! First off, thank you for your positive and impactful presence in fandom and on AO3. Both are better because you’re here with us.

Quick question: I’ve seen a lot of posts urging AO3 authors to lock their accounts for members-only to prevent AI scraping for things like sudowrite. But isn’t that like closing the barn door after the horse is already out? From your knowledge, does locking down an account starting today provide any benefit from AI issues?

Thank you for everything you do!

Ok, well, I wrote the AO3 news post that went out about that topic, and in it I did suggest that locking works is a way to potentially help avoid scraping. But I can expand on that somewhat, because it's really quite a bit more complicated. (And as always, I'm not speaking in an official capacity here, just my own personal outlook).

Will locking your work stop AO3's data from being used in things like ChatGPT, Sudowrite, etc? No. Those tools are all based on the CommonCrawl dataset, which was collected years ago - it began collecting in 2011 and continues to this day. Specifically, as far as I understand, Sudowrite and ChatGPT and others were trained on a version of the dataset, GPT-3, which was released in 2020 (and therefore, based on data collected earlier than 2020). Therefore, if that is your primary concern, yes, the horse is very much out of the barn - this data was collected many years ago at this point, and any prospect of removing it is going to probably involve legal challenges about how such data can be used. This is very much uncharted territory as far as the law is concerned, so it may take years for courts to sort out what rights authors have in this situation. (For instance, can you request the removal of your copyrighted texts? Who knows!)

What about scraping in the future, though? When AO3 became aware that this data was being used to train AI text generators, it blocked the CommonCrawl bot. Therefore, assuming CommonCrawl behaves ethically, it will respect that block and not scrape further data from the site. Therefore, locking your works today will makes no difference if what you're trying to avoid is being scraped by CommonCrawl, as AO3 already took measures to prevent that going forward.

What about other types of data scraping? Great question, and that is the murky area. There are many other people and companies out there who are not CommonCrawl and may have other goals and motives. Some of that could range from a dedicated fan wanting to scrape a copy of their entire fandom's contents on a certain date to keep as a private backup, to academic researchers working on entirely above-board projects in linguistics or literature or media studies, to companies wanting to build their own dataset for training some other future kind of AI, or something none of us are currently able to guess. If that's your concern, then locking your work might provide some degree of protection. It will, for instance, probably protect against fairly crude large-scale mass scraping. (AO3's coding team has also stated that it will block these type of mass scrapers if and when they become aware of them, and has already for some time taken measures such as rate limiting to make the scraping process harder.) But - people, including people who want to scrape data, can make accounts on AO3. It's free, anyone can join, it typically takes about a week to get an invite. They can log in, see the works that are only visible to logged-in users, and scrape them, just with a bit more effort. Now, these are currently, I suspect, more likely to be the kind of scraping projects like "I just want a personal copy of every work in my fandom" or "I'm an academic doing research on fanfiction and I'm collecting data about how fic writers use tags", which some people might be okay with. But it could also be someone with less ethical motives. It's hard to stop one without also stopping the other, from AO3's side. From users' side, locking your works is probably protective against large-scale data scraping, but less so against this type of smaller scale data scraping. But also, I can't predict the future, and maybe there's some project happening right now to figure out a way around this! I don't know!

In short, if you don't want your data scraped, never put anything online anywhere ever, or support legal changes that will allow for stronger data protection. Right now, nothing is completely safe. Locking your works might make them slightly safer, but is not a total guarantee of protection.

[netherworldpost]

We are learning to draw via tracing ethically sourced bases, so no stealing art. It's still art. As long as you're not stealing or hurting people.

Yeah this is going to teach you a LOT about seeing, about how to physically handle the media, how to train your muscles, how to coordinate.

(Learn to physically stretch and sit and/or stand too, btw. Draw Stronger is an amazing book, I am on a train and can’t grab the isbn)

There is some objective murky water around tracing and claiming as original, about how much need be changed to make It Your Own. It’s a personal journey and tolerance level as you learn your craft and develop.

Explicitly: the entire paragraph above outside of the I Am Studying space. And not just as a student, just the raw portion of your craft where you are studying.

Use references. Trace study build. Trace because you need your hands to figure out how to make the thing so when you want to make your own thing they know how (they are new to this too).

I hope you enjoy the joy and torment of art making.

[o-blivia]

Should we keep using AI art?

When I first learned that people had programmed computers to make art, my only thought was that it was an impressive accomplishment – a milestone of human technological progress. And to be honest, I didn’t give it much more consideration beyond that. I didn’t even spend much time playing around with any of the programs available for free. 

The criticism I saw at first felt very reactionary and alarmist. Frankly, it sounded a lot like the arguments people have had about any art media going from analogue to digital. Some of it was astoundingly ableist, the implication being that people who see AI art generators as a way to finally be able to make art are just lazy and unwilling to put in the work to get good. A lot more of it came off as snobbish and elitist. I don’t like wading into conversations about what is and isn’t art. Different things resonate with different people, and I’m not interested in gatekeeping creative expression.

While I dismissed those kinds of critiques of AI art, I think it is becoming hard to ignore that there are more pressing criticisms of the technology. They just have a lot less to do with the art itself and everything to how the technology has been developed, and who is benefiting from it.

A look below the surface of AI art

Machine learning has proven to be a powerful tool when it comes to advancing technology. The thing is, for machine learning to work, you need to provide hundreds of thousands of data points. We participate in machine learning every time we look anything up using a search engine. The keywords we enter, the links we click on, how long we interact with a page, are all used to help search algorithms become more effective. 

AI art generators are also dependent on machine learning. It might be naive, but I’m going to assume the original intention was to only use works of art in the public domain to train the AI. While there is no way for the artists to predict that their art would be used in this way, at this point, no one owns their intellectual property anymore. I think there is an argument for the transformative nature of AI art somewhere in there. Regardless, it is hard to say that this would harm anyone.

Now, I’m assuming things started to get murky when it came to automating the process of finding, downloading, and inputting data to train the AI. It would take an unreasonable amount of time to do this without taking into account identifying the artists and getting their consent.

One solution was to allow users to help train the AIs. Many hands make light work, after all. Of course, there’s no one moderating who is uploading what, which invariable means it’s been a total free-for-all. It’s clear that a lot of users aren’t bothering to get consent from the creators of the work they’re uploading. More troublesome are the instances of artists who’ve explicitly denied permission for their art to be used this way, and people doing so anyway. I couldn’t say if it occurred to anyone that some artists might mind having their art used in this way, or if they just didn’t care. I don’t know if intent matters at this point. 

Ever since it became possible to upload images online, art theft has been a problem. This has always been the double-edged sword of a free and open internet. What’s more pernicious about using art theft to train AI, is that once something becomes a data set, there is no extricating it from the system. Sort of like you can’t remove a specific sheep’s wool from the sweater you’re already wearing.

Does this mean the technology is unethical?

There is a simple answer and a more complex answer. Technology in a vacuum cannot be inherently ethical or unethical. It’s the human component that introduces ethical value. We do this in two ways: either in how we create/develop technology, or in how that technology is used. Without humans to create and use technology, it is affectively an inert lump.

That being said, AI art generators are clearly unethical because they were developed on a foundation of art theft. (And, some might argue, designed to replace human artists to fill the ever-growing demand for “content”.) While some have tried to deny that art theft is a component of AI art, the situation over on Artstation has made it clear that unethical practices are ongoing. It is clear that there exists no safeguards to prevent users from inputting art they have no ownership over.

The problem is bigger than AI art generators

When you place AI art generators within the context of Silicone Valley and tech startup culture, it’s not in the least bit shocking that the technology has turned out to be pretty problematic. This is far from the first time that an idealistic technology has ended up having pretty big, negative social consequences. The problems in Big Tech, I think, boil down to who is in the room making the decisions about direction, functionality, and implementation.

Firstly, diversity and the lack thereof, has never not been an issue in Silicone Valley, and by extension, Big Tech. You can find the stats in this report from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The bottom line is that the tech industry skews disproportionately white and male, even more so at the executive level. While the report doesn’t touch on class, we can assume it becomes a factor in who has the ability to amass the necessary venture capital for their startups, which also impacts the kind of perspectives in the room.

Secondly, there is no requirement in IT career development that people be taught ethics, or even just how to self-identify and correct for bias. Without a grounding in ethics, no one is having the very important conversations about the impact of technology on vulnerable populations until it becomes an optics problem. In fact, I’d be willing to wager that most of the time, it doesn’t even occur to question whether a technology should be made at all.

These two problems compound, which results in a seeming inability to predict the social harms of the technology being created. There have been too many instances of hard-coded racial bias in the technology we are becoming more and more reliant on. And until we address both of these issues, that’s not going to change.

Can AI art be salvaged?

What would it take to salvage AI art generators? Probably starting over from scratch and implementing rigorous safeguards to ensure that nothing can be used to train the AI without vetting and obtaining fully informed consent from creators. Do I think that’s going to happen? Probably not.

The sunk-cost fallacy comes into play here. Building any kind of AI is a very expensive and labour intensive venture. It’s a huge ask to get people to dump all that in the garbage and start over completely from scratch.

More over, and this is where my cynicism comes out, there are always going to be people who believe that all means are justified in the name of human progress – even if that means eradicating the human component altogether. And that’s not something I see society evolving past any time soon.

It’s like something out of a novel…

The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced AI art is truly Cyberpunk. Not because it’s so high-tech and futuristic, but because it exploits the labour of generations in order to remove the human element of something that is a fundamental aspect of humanity. All so that people, but mainly companies, can benefit monetarily. I’d say that AI art fits in very well in a genre defined by its dehumanizing, high-tech future, don’t you?

#ai #no to ai generated images #no to ai generated art #ai art theft #ai art #ai art generator #midjourney #cyberpunk #post cyberpunk #distopia #my writing #essay

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

Meta: Did Harry do anything wrong?

This meta was inspired by a conversation in @thethreebroomsticksficfest server. Tl;dr at the end.

It depends on how you define wrong vs. right. This is essentially a question for ethics – according to the main theories of ethics, utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics – I want to do a little exploration of Harry’s moral decision-making. The ethical theories I present to you are told in very broad strokes – contemporary moral philosophical thought is a lot more nuanced. If you want me to go in depth with any of these, drop an ask in my ask box. 

Utilitarianism: greatest good for greatest number of people, and/or consequences outweigh the method. E.g. ends justify the means. Was Harry’s use of the Cruciatus Curse against Carrow in Deathly Hallows justified? Could go one of a few ways: yes, because it was in defense of McGonagall; no, because torturing Carrow was not an appropriate defense of McG; maybe, it’s possible Carrow wouldn’t have responded to any other kind of deterrent. Utilitarianism falls short when we start justifying things to the extreme – it’s how Truman justified the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan. His greatest good was ending the war soon, but the cost of so many innocent human lives (in this philosopher’s opinion) was unjustified. This leads us to deontological ethics. 

Deontology: duty-based ethics, and/or there’s a set of rights and wrongs, and it’s never OK to commit a wrong even if the outcome is good. E.g. there are certain rules, whether written in law or not, that shouldn’t be broken. Let’s use the example of Harry using the Cruciatus Curse again. In his world, it’s considered an Unforgivable. That doesn’t necessarily imply that’s a just or right framework – law and moral goodness don’t always overlap. Does Harry think it’s always unforgivable? This is where deontological ethics gets tricky – our sense of what is universally right or wrong may not be universal, or may be biased because of the society we come from. As most people would say that torturing someone is morally wrong, even if that someone is guilty of committing all sorts of atrocities, then Harry would not be justified in using the Cruciatus Curse. Deontology has its limits when we start squabbling about moral absolutes and moral relativism, or when we start seeing poor outcomes for supposedly good actions. 

Virtue ethics: we cultivate morally good behavior by developing virtuous traits. The more virtuous we become, the better our moral actions will be. An action is morally good if completed by a virtuous person. We judge an action based on the person who is taking it. While this may seem counterintuitive in some ways, think about it as a way of understanding intentions. Is Harry justified in his use of the Cruciatus Curse? It depends. Is he a morally good actor? Does a morally good actor use the Cruciatus Curse? Most of us would say no to this – intentionally hurting another person is not a sign of virtue. While virtue ethics may seem murky (it can be), a good way of thinking about it is to ask yourself “would a morally good person, or an [insert virtuous trait here] person do X?” If the answer is yes, then it’s morally good. If no, then don’t do it. 

As for what I think Harry did wrong in the series, in terms of moral failures, there are a few caveats before I list these things. First, Harry is a FICTIONAL character. FICTIONAL characters are not accountable to the same morality as we are; they are vehicles to tell a story, reveal something about humanity, or entertainment. FICTIONAL Harry didn’t do anything wrong because FIGMENTS OF IMAGINATION cannot do anything wrong. If Harry were real, however, these are a few of the things that I would consider morally bad or questionable: 

Use of Sectumsempra in HBP. He didn’t know what the spell did, only that it was used for enemies. He may not have known what it did, but ‘enemies’ should’ve been context enough to know that it wasn’t friendly.

Snape’s worst memory: gives us, the reader, and Harry, a ton of information about James. However, there was no moral reason to violate Snape’s privacy. 

Spying on Draco in HBP: when Harry takes the Invisibility Cloak and spies on Malfoy, or when he asks Kreacher to spy on Draco. Good cause, perhaps (utilitarianism) but not necessarily right (deontology). Keeping an eye out for your neighbor and being vigilant can be good, but in this case it was not Harry’s responsibility to do so. (But remember, Harry is fictional, and in his world, adults aren’t fully competent or forthright.) 

Brewing/taking Polyjuice Potion in second year. For plot = good. For deception, spying, and agreeing to Hermione stealing = bad. 

Sneaking out to Hogsmeade, third year. For plot = good. For rule breaking and recklessly endangering his life (even if he didn’t know that wasn’t true) = bad. 

Torturing Carrow = bad. Torture isn’t ok, Harry.

Mostly, Harry makes a lot of morally good or morally neutral decisions throughout the series. Like most people, fictional or real, Harry is not wholly morally good, and the theories above, broadly speaking, can only take us so far. Let me bring in an example of Harry leading Dumbledore’s Army in terms of its moral goodness (or badness).

Utilitarianism: Was the D.A. the greatest good for the greatest number of people? You can argue it was, because the students learned and practiced lifesaving spells that would help them in their later years. They broke school rules, but they learned to defend themselves, and others. Thus, the D.A. was a moral good.

Deontology: Was the D.A. the right thing to do? In a strict sense, no, because Harry broke the school rules. He intentionally put himself and others in detention. However, is there a greater duty to his classmates that supersedes the rules? You can argue yes, Harry had a duty, an explicit moral imperative to help his classmates. Did it have to be through the D.A.? Maybe not. In this case, the D.A. is morally questionable or perhaps morally neutral. 

Virtue ethics: Is the D.A. something that a virtuous person would do? This depends a lot on your definition of virtue, and which virtue you’re referring to! Let’s take courage as a virtue. Is it courageous of Harry to lead the D.A.? I think so! Is it prudent? Maybe. This is why virtue ethics can be murky – which virtue is most important? How do virtues compare across communities? In the world of HP, I’d say the D.A. was virtuous and morally good because of the values they placed on courage, excellence, and developing skills. 

Tl;dr: Harry does make morally questionable or morally bad decisions, but as he’s a fictional character, we need to be careful in judging his behavior with real-world moral theories. 

#harry potter #harry james potter #philosophy #moral philosophy #ethics #utilitarianism #deontology #virtue ethics #hp meta #writing meta #harry potter meta

[ripperdoc-is-daddy]

Little Fish Pt. 1

Reader is a Beautiful Siren who gets in over her head with the Mysterious and Ominous Danger that lurks beneath darker waters.

PLEASE LIKE AND REBLOG IF YOU ENJOYED IT!

TW: MINORS DO NOT INTERACT! READER IS BLACK FEMALE, Leviathans, Sirens, Reader has short hair, FISH PEOPLE, Frolicking, Shark anatomy, Bony Fish anatomy, Explanations of Aquatic life behaviors, Food mentions, They eat fucking fish, Pod Dynamics (Not Omegaverse), Crude Humor, Sexual Content, Suggestive Content, Ocean references, LOTS OF OCEAN TALK, Violence, Domineering, Power plays, Will get graphic, mentions of murking, I spent too much time looking at vids on fish, CONSENTUAL ETHICAL POLYAMOUROUS RELATIONSHIP, It's the ciiiiiiircle of liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife. Soft/Hard Boi Sanemi, Kyojuro is a fucking menace, Tengen is Tengen, TENGEN'S WIVES ARE PRESENT AND HE LOVES THEM! MINORS DO NOT INTERACT! PERMISSION TO REPOST OR TRANSLATE DENIED!

Pt 2 , Pt. 3 , Pt. 4

You swam about in the ocean. Your pod had migrated to warmer, more tropical waters to switch up hunting grounds. Swimming in-between your similarly aged pod mates, you issued a silent challenge to go into a race to the sea shelf. There were two males with extremely light, white-looking hair and striking purple eyes who took you up and torpedoed in the water towards your target. The three of you were neck and neck. The largest male had an extraordinarily well-built, lightly tanned, defined upper torso. His silver and purple bi-colored body resembled that of a whiptail thresher in the pattern. It ended with long sharp homocercal fins. The edges had tiny serrated barbs running up his dorsal and anterior body. His pelvic and pectoral fins were knifed much like a shark’s would be. His body was built for speed and agility. Short bursts of high-velocity action were his forte. Often, he would be part of the ambush party. 

The other male who dwarfed you in size was built stockier than you and the first. His caudal, pectoral, and pelvic fins were smaller in size. His green and white patterning resembled that of a juvenile tiger shark. The upper torso was more tanned than the larger male. His tail coloration was a murky Phthalo, hunter, and forest green with silver streaking across his body randomly. He could swim longer distances at a sustained pace, putting him in the stalking party when larger prey was found. His hair was whiter than silver like your other companion. His body was littered with scars, giving him a fearsome look. It didn’t help that, like now, when he smiled, he looked exceptionally unhinged. 

The two were your best friends, even if they had hatched several seasons before. The three of you just vibed that way. Darting between each other, the most prominent in size male pushed forward using his massive tail to disrupt the water in front of you, throwing you off your course slightly. You spun in the water but quickly fanned out your fins, allowing you to do a badass slow-motion barrel roll in the water. Righting yourself before propelling your body forward. 

You had dark sienna skin with close-cropped hair. Not wanting to deal with getting your hair caught in coral or anything else that floated around. You were of average built but had a buxom chest. Plump full lips and deep, dark brown eyes. Your fins were some of the most gorgeous in your entire pod. Purples, black, and gold resembling a lionfish. Too many shades of purple littered your scales with a speckling of gold and black dotting up your belly, giving the appearance of lights. You had feathertail-styled fins, which, when fanned, made for an impressive or intimidating display. All depending on what you were needed to do. Your position in the pod was to herd prey that you found into the ambushers. On occasion, you were used for the intimidation factor because of how massive you looked when on full display. 

The green-finned male darted up from underneath you, trying to knock you off course. You expertly evaded his attack, pushing forward with more vigorous thrusts as you were determined to overtake the silver and purple mer in front of you. Unfortunately, he proved to be the strongest, crossing the shelf and posturing in the open waters. His pose could only be described as overly flashy and highly flamboyant. You crossed second with the last member of your trio, bringing up the rear looking non-plussed. You slowed down behind the winner, reached out, and grabbed the ribbon he used to keep his hair up in a ponytail, yanking it and darting down towards the darker, denser waters beneath the overhang of the sea shelf. 

“Give that back!” He yelled at you. Gills on his neck flaring. You feign ignorance as the third member of your group cackled. “Shut up, Sanemi,” the first male barks out. “Make me, Tengen.” Sanemi dared him. The two begin to circle each other in a predatory fashion. You knew a challenge to dominance when you saw one. Rolling your eyes, you sighed, turning your body to face the darkness beneath you. “Guys, guys, behave. It’s not that serious.” The two men turned to glare at you. “Stay away from there!” your green friend warned. “That’s not our domain. You’d be eaten up, and our pod would miss its second most attractive member.” He stated matter-of-factly. 

“Uhuh, sure, Tengen.” You dismiss them and swim closer. Curious about the differences in the weight of the water. The water felt much cooler here and heavier. An unusual combination you have never encountered before. Above you, the two mers circled, watching you while trying to show off who was the better specimen to each other. A mock show of superiority. Ignoring their antics, you got close enough to touch the stark line of demarcation. That separated the boundary between the true deep sea and where you dwelt. 

You reached out to touch but stopped seeing something red moving about. It peaked in and out. Never appearing in the same spot twice, but it was captivating. Soon the red was joined by fluffy warm yellow tufts of hair. You realized you were looking at someone or something’s hair. You halted your swimming, entranced. Vaguely you registered that you needed to back up. A chill crept up your spine that warned you danger was nearby. Still, you could not break away from watching the hypnotic effect the waving tufts had on you. 

Closer you inched. Not touching the line. Keeping to your side of the ocean but feeling the dual pull to retreat to safety and to go forward eating away at you. You almost gave in to the urge to go forward when you felt yourself jerked back up harshly, painfully, and quickly. Tengen and Sanemi Grab your arms, digging their stilettoed nails into your flesh. You yelped, startled while they swore in such an amount you would have complained had you not been stupefied by the most beautiful pair of scarlet and goldenrod eyes. They held you to such an extent you momentarily forgot to pull water in with your gills and breathe. It was only when you saw the reddened claws that came to the nail bed of a brandy-toned arm connected to an immensely muscled forearm did you realize what had almost transpired and sucked in water. Thus, replenishing your oxygen. The eyes glared at you with pure malice, then disappeared into the darkness along with the hand that had almost dragged you to your no doubt demise. 

The two men didn’t stop swimming with you till you were halfway back to your pod. They released you and swam in front, worriedly biting their lips as they looked you over. You blinked a few times, getting your sense back. The weight of the situation settling into your gut. The moment your eyes met Sanemi’s, he exploded in a rage. “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT! YOU ALMOST DIED, DUMBASS! WE TOLD YOU NOT TO GO THERE AND WHAT DO YOU DO!? THE EXACT OPPOSITE!” He swam aggressively towards you, warningly prompting you to flare out some of your fins. He ignored it and got close enough to poke you in the chest accusingly. “Do you have a death wish?” he bit out. Anger radiated out from him in thick waves. You puffed up defensively, not wanting to admit you had majorly fucked up just now. Tengen watched the other, light-haired male rant at you. Steadily watching you deflate in silent acknowledgment of dangerous your slip up. 

Once you looked like a limp noodle, he swam over and separated the two of you. “Alright, alright, I think she gets it now. You can stop beating her. We got her to safety, and now she owes us a life debt. I’d say it all worked out.” He attempts to raise the mood. Sami’s eyes narrow at you, and he rudely swims passed you. Hissing and swearing. You rub the back of your neck and slowly turn to follow him. You feel a warm arm pull you up into stiff, thick pectorals. Flipping yourself over, you bury your face in them as Tengen swims forward, holding you. Humming silently and he rubs the little hair you have with affection. 

“He’ll come around.” The man holding you assures you as the sounds of your families can be heard off in the distance. “He’s still an asshole.” you lamented lamely. Trying to hide your bruised ego. Tengen growls before he speaks. “He was in a fantastic mood until you decided to be a complete and utter idiot and do the one thing we are warned not to do from hatch day onwards.” You groan loudly and speak in sync with him. “Never go past the sea meridian.” He huffs and glares at you. Not releasing you as he swims in between the members of your pod. 

As the pair of you swim amongst the others, you peek out from around his bicep. Some say hi while others stare in shock. The two of you made a striking pair, and how he held you protectively was sure to start rumors about your relationship. You rebury your face in his chest, not wanting to deal with the drama that would be you becoming the fourth mate of one Uzui Tengen. You braced your arms against his taunt abdominals and pushed off. “I’m gonna go find Sanemi and apologize,” you say dumbly. Trying to get away from prying eyes. “Or you could just agree to swim with me, and the ladies and Sanemi can come to pick you up later.” He eyes you mischievously. “Tempting, but I am gonna have to pass. I feel like that would get me in even more trouble.” you dart out of his grasp as he reaches for you.

“Tell that ass I said hi, and we are responsible for tomorrow’s hunting party,” Tengen calls out after you. You wave an affirmation with your hand as you head off to search for your ill-tempered companion. Starting your search along the more predictable reef crevasses. When he could not be found hiding among the anemones, you started probing in the eel caves. Still coming up empty. You grabbed a few eels and bonked them unconscious, taking them with you as you searched for your friend. What’s an apology without food, right? If you come across someone, you would ask if they had seen Sanemi, and for the most part, you were told no. Eventually, you started swimming towards the cove the younger members used to play in. Hoping to find him with his brother Genya. 

Thankfully you did. The two were both lying on the beach. Basking in the fading sunlight. You breached the water slowly and carefully, took aim, and tossed two eels at them. Smacking each guy in their gut with a 10lb fish. They oof’d and looked up at you with malicious intent. “See! I brought dinner.” You cheerfully countered. The smaller, similarly colored male mer beside him groaned at your antics, took the ill, hauled himself into the water, and swam off. Offering you a half-asses “Thank you” as he swam off. You crept through the water till you reached the shoreline and the tip of the remaining, still angry man’s tail. 

“So, something tells me that bringing you dinner isn’t gonna make up for today,” you say bashfully. Knowing your error and finally owning up to it. “No,” Sanemi replies monotone. You look up at him pleadingly. “Please.” You whine in your most pathetic voice. “I’m sorry. These fluffy red and yellow tufts were floating in my face, and I couldn’t stop looking.” You rambled. He stared at you, then closed his eyes in a sigh. “That explains why you ignored our shouting. From where we were at, we saw a red and gold leviathan tail. That’s why we grabbed you like we did and hauled ass.” the concern evident in his words. “We’ll be safe here, but we definitely need to be more careful along the shelf. Those types don’t cross into our waters often, but if that thing was that close, it could mean we need to move along and find new grounds to stay at for the rest of the year. “

You crawled up the beach, flopping down on top of him and running your fingers gently over his deep green-colored scales. “That,” you began, “sounds terrifying. As you both were pulling me away, I saw the most beautiful and amazing...” you trailed off, watching Sanemi’s eyes get darker as you complimented the man who had most definitely tried to kill you. 

Since you had hatched, you had always been taught about the three classes of merfolk. There were the dainty and waif-like mermaids that stayed in cold waters. Sirens like yourself and your pod stuck to warm waters and occasionally migrated to keep from depleting y’alls share of ocean fish. Then there were the Leviathans. Named for their extreme size and lengths. They were large, carnivorous, and capable of surviving in the true deep and at the surface level. Encounters with them were few and far between but often held fatalities.  

You nuzzled into Sanemi’s abs as you thought about the horror stories you had heard about Leviathans and how close your premature end had come. Your thoughts were broken, however, when your living pillow shoved some eel bites into your mouth. You chewed compliantly and opened your mouth for more after you swallowed. He rolled his eyes at you but continued to feed you. Once finished, you did the same for him until nothing was left to eat. 

Rolling over onto the sand, you squealed happily, stomach-sated and somewhat positive that your friends were no longer mad enough to attempt to drown you while you slept. “You guys can brag and say you survived a Leviathan now,” you said like the gremlin menace you were inside. Sanemi hummed happily as he pondered this new information. “SHIT! Tengen is going to take all the credit!” He exclaimed, turning himself over and pulling towards the sea. “Come on! He is going to take you out to be even more pathetic than you actually are, and I’m going to sound like a damsel in distress if we let him tell the story.” He complained loudly. You waved him off with one of your dark hands. “I’ll leave that to you boys. I don’t want to see people’s reactions to The-woman-who-almost-wasn’t.” you lamented.

Sanemi shrugged, winked at you then dove beneath the surface. Off to claim his bit of glory. Probably to make you look even dumber than you had been. In your defense, the other men had a pretty good lure if he looked like that. You were used to Mermaids looking gaudy, but this was different. The power that radiated from the eyes you saw had promised you a dark end. Thinking about them chilled you to the bone but also sent a more confusing tingle down your spine. You forcefully pushed the thoughts out of your mind and instead focused on absorbing the remaining warmth in the black sand. 

You woke up, and it was much darker. Not realizing you had fallen asleep, you stretch out and slowly return to the much more tepid waters. Whimpering as it stung your skin and scales initially with the temperature change. After a few seconds, your body adapted, and you began to swim back to your pod. It was late enough that almost everyone except for a few night fish would be asleep. 

You decided to dick around for a bit before returning and swam around the outskirts of the reef y’all would be occupying and caring for over the next 6 months minimum. It was lush with life and color, even at this hour. Fish darted to and fro in all sorts of varieties and combinations. Different types of sea life clung to rocks, each other, and other bits n bobs. You picked up a few pieces of coral, admiring their beauty. Seeding them into holes so that the reef could grow and expand. 

Time was again lost to you as you immersed yourself in your task. You had just finished setting a pretty piece of red coral into a new crevice when you noticed a distinct lack of fish in the area. In fact, there was a distinct lack of any life moving around you. Something that alarmed you greatly. Your eyes begin to search around you for the perceived threat. If it was a shark or two, you could easily handle that on your own. Anything more significant and you would need help. 

Off in the distance, you saw something flitting about. Winding and weaving with no rhyme or reason. Your head tilted in curiosity, danger sense still telling you to be wary. You kept your position as you watched the gold thing flit about. You could see bright red as it got closer, and the truth dawned on you. Quickly you darted into a crack in the reef that was just big enough for you. Apologizing to the denizens, you squeezed as far back into it as possible. Slowing your movements and water intake to cause as few vibrations in the water as possible.

It seemed like an eternity before you dared to move your head towards the doorway. Scared of what you would see. A hesitant glance revealed absolutely nothing. A few fish swam by hurriedly, and you sighed and deflated. Tension rolling off your body. Your mind was clearly fucking with you if it had you thinking a Leviathan would leave its territory and swim a decent number of kilometers away from the deep waters to where your group was. You chuckled to yourself, leaned back, and floated against some smooth coral. Closing your eyes in relief. 

When you opened them, you stared straight into those hypnotizing orbs you had seen earlier. Only this time, there was a full face to accompany them. Brandy-colored skin, full lips drawn back into an unhinged smile, and a beautiful face framed by a maned of blond and red hair. You couldn’t see much passed his mane except for deep sanguine scales streaked with gold as some of his lower body was visible. You couldn’t see anything passed his neck either. He was hanging onto the roof and leaning over to look at you. 

You knew it was a he from the deep chuckle that vibrated the water around it. He stayed staring at you, unblinking. You held his stare, also not blinking. Worried that if you did, that would be the end. A good, solid minute passed, and you whined. “Can you blink or something so I can blink? This is getting awkward.” The creature before you looks at you curiously and complies. You quickly blink several times and rub your eyes. “Aye, how do you hold your eyes open like that? It’s creepy.” You question him. 

His smile drops, and he stares at you with the most unimpressed face you have ever seen. You defensively ask him a quick “What!?” and wait for a response. When none is given, you huff and blow out irritated bubbles. “I should kill you.” a deep voice drawls out. Not as deep as your pod’s defensive commander, Gyomei. You’re brought out of your comparison of “who has the best voice” as your brain once again slowly registers the statement. “You could, but that wouldn’t be fun now, would it?” you respond with as much faked joy as you could manage. What you were not going to do was let on how terrified you were of something that could end you without effort. 

“It’s not about fun.” He responds bored sounding. “Dude, what the fuck!? Life should be fun. If you just end me, then your life will once again be boring and full of whatever it is you do over there on the dark side.” you supplied, hoping your bullshit was working. “I hunt, I sleep. Why should I focus on fun?” He casually inquires, pulling himself down into the cave. You could now see his muscular upper body. He was similarly built to Sanemi. Tengen still made both look scrawny. You made your appraisal obvious to go along with your ruse and also because you were shameless, and if this was the end, then you were going out being a bold, badass bitch. Not a chicken wuss. 

“I mean, if you never had fun, I can see why you would say that. But like, I’m here now. I can teach you all about fun, and you can leave me the fuck alone.” You did your best to look irritated, turning your head down and away from him. Your heart thundering in your chest, hoping the display of submissive indifference would work. The massive male in front of you laughed loudly. “What an interesting meal you are.” Your head snapped up as you felt his warmth around you. He was close enough that your noses brushed, and you gasped. Instinct taking over you, “Meeped” and struck him with the heel of your palm upwards. Gasping at your actions as you realized what you had done. 

Blood floated in the waters between you, originating from his nose. He stared at you, and you stared back. He was very unimpressed at this point, and it showed. The gills on his neck slowly flattened themselves, and you realized that he was moving in for the end. Throwing caution to the wind, you slapped him will all your might. “Look bitch, if you don’t get up outta my face, I promise you that you will have found the right one today!” That got a reaction out of him. His eyes widened, and he leaned away from you. Shock evident.

You flared up as much as possible in the cramped space and bared your teeth at him. A hand shot out at you and grabbed your jaw. Defiantly you raised your chin and shook yourself out of his grasp. “Bitch I told you,” you started but stopped when you saw him smile. You didn’t know what kind of smile, nor did you care. The only thing that mattered was that the monster of your nightmares, the literal only thing in the ocean you had to truly fear, was smiling at you menacingly. “You live today, little fish.” He said as he stroked your cheek gently with the hand that had grabbed you earlier. 

The Leviathan, before you released, you pulled out of the crevice. Looking at you once more with those predatory eyes, he pushed off and disappeared out of your sight. You waited a few minutes before you slowly peered out. Looking around and seeing no sign of him, you bolted back to your pod’s haven. Wanting the safety and comfort of your friends.

#Fish People #sanemi shinazugawa #kny sanemi #follow 👑 share ❤️ enjoy 🍑 #sanemi x reader #sanemi x you #shinazugawa x black reader #shinazugawa x reader #rengoku kyojuro x reader #kyojuro x y/n #kyojuro x you #kyojuro rengoku x black reader #kyojuro rengoku x black!reader #Sanemi x black female reader #Rengoku x black female reader #Tengen x black female reader #Tengen x black reader #Fishy Fishy #kny fanfic #tengen uzui x black female reader #tengen uzui x black reader #kny x you #kny x reader #Kyojuro x Black Female Reader #Kyojuro Rengoku x Black Female Reader #Sanemi Shinazugawa x black female reader #Sanemi Shinazugawa x Black reader #Shinazugawa x black female reader #Sirens #Leviathans

[bobipineman]

I once wondered if a crossover of undertale and mortasheen do exist, how it would work. So was thinking about the main character... and begin to design them

Frisk: From the wraith civilisation. They have fallen from on a damaged celestial engin Toriel: a difformed goat like mutant, quickly took frisk as one of her many lost lambs and take care of them even if they are unwilling and fleeing her clutch Sans: Mysterious weirdo who is able to do weird spatio-temporal stuff. Maybe not a 'skeleton' after all Papyrus: Sans ''brother'' gullible and can be even befriended but technically a dangerous killing machine Undyne: A vampiric merfolk knight. Patrol the blood cavern in search of intruder Alphys: You average run of the mile mad scientist but darker than the original undertale (not as edgy as underfail but something that rhyme with a poor grasp of what can be considered ethical and no remorse) Napstablook: (ghost and spiritual thing aren't technically canon in mortasheen, but the definition of science in the setting was already stretchy) A psychic manifestation of a deceased person.. Temmy: A experimental mistake who were thrown in a dump. It have spred and build a small "town'' in here Mettaton: pretty much the same as his undertale version but more biopunk(ir: a brain in a machine) Asgore: A powerful but fair darklord that control his small empire with a firm hand. Hate the wraith for some reason flowey/Asriel: The son of toriel and asgore, he received occult experiment on him to help them fight the wraith resulting in the birth of ''flowey'' Flowey is full of resent about what his ''parent did and want the whole world burn Muffet: just your average muffet but a lot bigger

Further oddity of the AU

-The respawn system isn't based on determination. But on cloning. They're some cloning machine spread everywhere on the city, you just need a DNA sample and a clone is spawn when you die (the pacifist/genocide route will be very different or even a complety different nature if their no permadeath) -Frisk didn't receive a phone from toriel but some kind of goat headed worm that she detached from her body. Frisk will wear the creature on their back as it will serve as a some sort of spiritual guide

How the AU can work and some specific story point Undertale AU usually copy the term and story of the original even if it contradictory. (the best exemple is underfail/horrortale who just use the same plot point but try to make it edgier sometime it just dosen't work or barely make any sense) Some plot point may be kept but he whole story and it nature may be changed.. Like rather to kill or not to kill system. It more of a keep your humanity system (rather than the genocide route it the extremly hard YOLO route, no save(cloning) to achieve it -There some rivalery with the wraith and underworld -The celestial machine have weapon of mass destruction -Asgore tried in vain to defeat them -A ''un-exister'' kind of device lie somewhere in the world. It own reality is hotly debated. Sans seem to be aware of it existence -Nobody can truly ''die''(not impossible but vaporising a poor mofo who didn't have any cloning data seem to be the only normal way to permakill) but they will be still pretty pissed if you kill them -frisk wasn't the only member of the wraith who have fallen -Frisk have something inside them, so that why asgore is addement to retrieve it dead body something necessary to build a super weapon -On the main reason why everyone want to take frisk, is they are a ''genetically pure'' human -the amalgate are failed alphys experiment. Some kidnapped human something something involving soul and true immortality (chara vs frisk is kinda murky here, maybe chara itself is just some AI generated tough of wiping clean the earth of all ''evil'') may elaborate later when I will get idea...

#undertale #mortasheen #crossover #AU #spoiltale AU #bogleech #toby fox

[quinnharperwrites]

The Isles of Blirrosia: Chapter One

Taglist: @anonymousfoz, @kaiarchives, and @awleeofficial Let me know if you want to be added!

Note: Feedback is very much desired! This is my first major work since I took a break; even if it's a little note about a part you liked or didn't like, it'll make me very happy. At least people are reading it, haha. Also, I am still looking for a beta reader. If you're interested, please message me. Finally, I might edit the earlier chapters and repost them, but I will be clear that it's the edited version. Thank you and enjoy!

Next Chapter >

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It was a cloudy, crisp Monday morning in January, yet it was fair and still. Pleasant. It was warmer from the top of the city rooftops, but Saffron didn’t mind. She sat on the edge of the roof of a random office building, her feet swinging in excitement over the bustling rush hour traffic. Normally, she would be in her Hero Ethics class, but she was called in to cover a hero today. Something she’d done multiple times in the past. But this time was different.

Recently, there has been a supervillain causing trouble in the city. From Saffron’s perspective, he was pretty inadequate, which was partly the reason why the Hero Association decided it was safe enough for a student to help out. Her job was to patrol the city and keep an eye out for suspicious activity. They had given her a proper file and a walkie-talkie—she’s never gotten them before! Normally, she would team up with a hero and stop a petty crime. But those were kinda on the police department's level.

“We got a bank robbery on 86th and Second. Witness descriptions match the Stardust Absorber. Over.”

“Finally.” Her first active bank robbery. Today was going to be a good day.

Saffron lifted her feet on the rooftop edge, then launched herself off. She let herself freefall for a moment, relishing in the addicting feeling of being weightless. Completely vulnerable. But before her ears could pop from the rapid descent, she raised her arms as straight as possible and summoned black aura spheres in both of her open palms. Then, she willed the aura to wrap around her body, lift her into the sky, and take off in the direction of the robbery. She reached for her walkie-talkie to respond to the police department.

“Hero student: Aura. On my way. Over.”

Contrary to the general public’s belief, there is no traction in the air. She wasn’t sure how it was for other aptitudes that allow flight, but in her case, she had to use her aura to push off molecules in the air. Since the process is invisible to the eye, it looks like she’s flying effortlessly when it takes a lot of concentration.

Since Saffron had just sacrificed a decent amount of her concentration on responding to the walkie-talkie, she suffered the consequences by nearly crashing into a billboard. 

“Ugh,” Saffron groaned. “The press is going to have a field day with this.” She took a few moments to redirect herself, then sped off faster to make up for lost time.

As she neared the bank, Saffron caught a glimpse of a white blur also heading towards the location. The murky feeling of dread crept up her sides as her feet touched the pavement outside the bank. The aura diminished in a way that was only possible due to hours of training. 

“Aura! Over here!” an officer called out. 

“I’m here!” Saffron replied. “What’s the situation?”

“We’ve confirmed that it is the Stardust Absorber. No hostages, but after what happened last time, we decided to secure the perimeter and wait for a hero to arrive.” This was normal; she usually helped with the perimeter. But she was cut short before she could ask about where she was wanted.

“Sensation is on scene. Aura, assist him.” Another officer and a hero clad in white join the conversation. Just her luck. Only Sensation could taint the experience of being able to participate in taking down a bank robber. Why couldn’t have it been Steela or Water Jelly instead?

The hero-student duo made their way to the bank.

“Remember. No direct attacks,” Sensation said.

“I remember. I was told.”

Just making sure, Saffy.” 

Saffy?

“We’re working right now, Sensation. Right now, it’s Aura. Off-field, it’s Saffron to you. Only people close to me can call me Saffy.”

“Aren’t we close, Saffy?”

They are approaching the doors at this point. “It’s Aura. And no.” 

“But we can be,” he teased.

“No! We aren’t close, and we certainly aren’t friends. I’ve told you so many ti-”

“Now is the time to focus, Aura. We’re in the middle of a bank robbery,” he interrupted.

Saffron huffed but gritted her teeth in determination. At least he wasn’t talking anymore. In the corner of her eye, she saw Sensation enhance his muscles. So he was going physical. She summoned a black aura around herself and let it seep into her muscles. Almost instantly, she felt the increase in energy. 

They entered the bank. The pair turned their backs toward each other and faced outward. Then, they made their way to the center of the bank.

“Let’s split up to cover more ground,” Sensation ordered. 

Saffron made a sound of agreement before making her way to the upper level of the bank. It circled the building like an indoor balcony. She noticed the dangling crystal decoration hanging from the ceiling. 

She opened the first door on the left and emptied her head. Everyone has an aura tied to their physical body in the Aurasphere, and unless they have an aptitude to conceal it, Saffron could always use it to detect someone. It took a significant amount of concentration to focus on the Aurasphere. But this is what she trained for. 

“Clear!” she called out.

She checked the next room. “Clear!”

After analyzing heroes in class, she deduced that Sensation preferred a stealthier approach. But students are required to regularly call out the status of their search in case something happens. 

Three more rooms were checked. Three more rooms were cleared.

Saffron opened a door near the center of the balcony. Just as she entered the Aurasphere, she detected an aura quickly heading in her direction. 

She hastily exited the Aurasphere and grounded herself. A green man in a Halloween goblin costume was launched into the air, about to punch her. What a joke.

She grabbed his forearm and swung him to the ground out in the hallway.

“Found him!” she called out.

The Stardust Absorber quickly got up and rushed at her. 

Saffron swung one fist at him, then the other. He dodged both. 

Sensation jumped up from the ground floor to the upper level. He was running to join the fight. But he was too far away.

She kicked her left leg toward the Absorber’s head. He dodged. But she was already driving her right leg towards his neck. The Absorber recoiled to her right. She hit him with a right hook twice. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sensation standing to the side. Supervising. They both knew she had this clown under control.

The Absorber finally hit her back with his arm, causing her to fall. But before she could faceplant, she caught herself with her hands and attacked him with a flurry of kicks to the head. He was able to dodge a couple with his wrists, but he ultimately was struck by most of them. 

She ended the blitz attack by propelling herself off the ground with her hands and pounding his face with a two-foot kick. She flipped backward and gracefully landed on her feet in a fighting stance. A moment later, he plummeted to the floor with a thud. 

“Don’t you think that last part was a bit showy?”

“You’re one to talk.” 

Just when she thought he was down for good, the Stardust Absorber pushed himself off the ground, stood up, and hurled himself at her with a screech.

When he got close, Saffron propelled her right leg towards the side of his face, then she left, and then her right again. She continued the cycle until she dipped her upper body down to gain momentum and swung her left leg towards his torso. 

Upon impact, he was sent flying and ended up getting tangled in the hanging crystal decoration. 

“What an amateur. Didn’t even get my heart pumping. I’m disappointed.”

After she said this, the Absorber increased his efforts to escape, resulting in him getting tangled further.

“Maybe we should try to get him to be used as practice at your university.”

“Who’s we? And that’s an insult.”

“Of course, it is, Miss Top-Of-Her-Class.” He chuckled and called for the police to make the arrest. “Let’s go get some coffee, Saffy. I can file the ROHA later. And I’ll cover you,” he baited.

“No. Stop asking me out, Matteo. And stop sending me flowers.”

“But you keep them every time.”

“That’s only because I—ugh, never mind. I don’t have time for this. I’m going to be late for class.” She flew past the officers and out the door. Trying to refocus, she landed on the roof, released the aura, and did a breathing exercise. “In for four, hold for seven, and out for eight. Don’t let him get to you, Saffron.”

Once calm, Saffron engulfed herself in the familiar black aura and soared toward school.

______________________________________________________________

“Gotcha now, Absorber. Gonna put cha’ away for a long time.” Two cops held the villain by his arms as they shoved him over the police car.

“Yeah, tell ‘em, Marv! I’d be embarrassed if I were him. Sensation and Aura were barely in there for ten minutes! Hah!”

“Got anythin’ to say for yourself, Absorber?”

“That’s not my name,” the green foe growled.

“Huh?” 

“I said,” he repeated, “That’s not. My. Name.”

“Alright, then. What do you wanna call yourself?”

“Draven!” 

“Gesundheit.”

“I didn’t sneeze, you incompetent oaf! That’s my name. Draven!”

The two cops looked at each other, then at Draven, and then back at each other before bursting with laughter.

“Ahahaha! Harry! Ya hear that?” Marv wheezed. “He calls himself Draven!”

“What a moron!”

“Stop laughing! You should be cowering at the mention of my name!” At this, the two cops howled with laughter even more.

“Alright, alright,” Harry chuckled. “We read you your Miranda rights already, so just get in the car,” he replied, pushing Draven into the car.

“Draven, hahaha. Can you imagine?”

“Clown costume and everything. Hah!”

Next Chapter >

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #writing community #writing #writerscommunity #writers #writblr #writers of tumblr #writing wip #wip: isles of blirrosia #wip: blirrosia #blirrosia #isles of blirrosia #superhero #fiction #quinn harper #quinn harper writes #content writing #original writing #original wip #WIP #creative writing #am writing #oc #original characters

[spanishskulduggery]

Do you think you could talk more about the dative cases? e.g.

Se nos casó a Maria

Our Maria got married

I think part of the confusing part is in English we don't often recognize when we use dative, or in this case a "superfluous dative"

So first let me just mention that it is used in English, and our superfluous dative is often a cozier way to express things - in some cases it comes across as lower class or too intimate, so for us it carries more of an informal vibe to it

I think seeing how we use superfluous dative in English might help get across some of the feeling that can be conveyed in Spanish

That being said, datives are used in English, though we use them less often and they have a different connotation:

The common example I use is "I love pizza" vs. "I love me some pizza"

Saying "I love me some pizza" sounds more intimate and cozy, and way less formal to the point where it could be considered a little too impolite to use in a very formal setting

Another common one is "have a cup of tea/coffee" vs. "have yourself a cup of tea/coffee"; or think of that Christmas song "have yourself a Merry little Christmas"

The idea is "have yourself" here feels intimate and kind and more personal, while "have" by itself feels more distant in comparison; "have a cup of tea" vs. "have yourself a cup of tea" is different in the sense of familiarity and comfort

-

For Spanish, dative case is really common but it becomes a confusing linguistic topic that isn't specifically talked about unless you're looking for it

...Linguistics is one of the "humanities", so by that I mean it examines things that people do naturally

Which just means that you're going to come across a lot of people who use superfluous dative in Spanish "because it feels right", and they probably won't be able to really tell you why because it's an instinctual thing not a conscious decision

And linguistics examines how and why people use the language they do, and the average layperson isn't going to really know the exact terms for it... just that it happens and "feels right"

~

The issue with "dative" itself for Spanish is that there are many different types of dative, and they become more of a linguistics topic than anything else where you start seeing different terms or definitions that can become murky

For practical purposes, I sort of lump it together as dativo ético or say "superfluous dative" but there are little subdivisions

In this particular case I think this falls into the category of dativo ético or "ethical dative"

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The basic thing to know is that "dative" refers to using indirect objects; "to whom" or "for whom" something is done

The dative case is more prominent in languages like Latin, Russian, and German where you get different pronouns and sometimes words taking on certain suffixes or ("conjugations", for lack of a better word) because of dative case being used

Linguistic cases are used to show the exact context a verb or word is being used and gives you information about whether it's a direct object, an indirect object, whether something is possessive/belonging to etc etc

For Spanish, you only really need to know direct objects and indirect objects and even then you aren't usually told that they're "accusative" and "dative" cases. I didn't know the words until I took classes in German, but my knowledge of direct and indirect objects made it easier to understand

~

In linguistic terms, dativo ético is understood to be very expressive and colloquial. The idea of "ethical" for dative in linguistic terms means "use of an indirect object to show an emotional weight, a concern, or to indicate the effect something has on someone who might otherwise not be directly involved or acted upon"

In your case, se nos casó is like "she went and got married (and it affects us)"

It could simply be se casó but se nos casó is showing that the "we" in this is emotionally invested or that they will be impacted in some way by this

It's why you sometimes see it get used as "superfluous dative"

Again, very confusing to explain but according to Hispanoteca:

Los complementos indirectos se distinguen de los dativos a través de los siguientes rasgos: Indirect objects are distinguished from datives through the following traits:

1.    El complemento indirecto es una función nominal, mientras que el dativo es una función esencialmente pronominal. 1. The indirect object is a nominal function [one where a word is not a noun but functions as a noun], while dative is essentially a pronominal function [constituting or resembling a pronoun]

2.    Los dativos son opcionales. Este es el sentido del término ‘superfluos’. No se ha de entender que no aportan nada al mensaje, sino que, al no asumir ninguna función sintáctica, su eliminación no desfigura la representación que se pretende realizar del acontecimiento. No son argumentos ni siquiera complementos circunstanciales. Se limitan a marcar el énfasis, el interés o la afectación que el acontecimiento descrito tiene para elementos externos al propio evento (generalmente el emisor o el receptor). 2. Datives are optional. This is the meaning of the term "superfluous". This does not mean that they serve no purpose to the message [i.e. "it's not because they don't add anything"], rather, that in the absence of any syntactical function [assuming they don't serve a function in the word order], their elimination does not besmirch the representation they're trying to carry out in the matter. They are not arguments [expressions that help you understand the message of the predicate/verb phrase] nor are they circumstantial complements. They exist solely to mark emphasis, interest, or affectation [showing the affect] that the described event has for the external elements to the event itself (generally in relation o the person conveying the message and the person receiving it)

3.    Un dativo puede coexistir con un complemento indirecto 3. A dative can cooexist with an indirect object [they mention some examples with se les etc.; their example is hagásemeles un buen recibimiento which is really really formal and not common, but it comes out as something like "give them a warm reception (on my behalf / because of me)"]

4.    El dativo puede aparecer en contextos donde nunca se registra un complemento indirecto 4. The dative can appear in contexts where an indirect object would never be required [one of their examples is ¿ya se os durmió el abuelo? which is not necessarily uncommon, but it does use os which is vosotros in Spain... it reads as "did grandpa fall asleep on you all?" ...where the implication is that the grandfather fell asleep and now the "you all" can't do whatever they were going to do, or they were affected in some way... as a quick example, say the grandfather was going to take a bunch of kids somewhere but fell asleep and now it's too late, se os durmió makes sense here like "he up and fell asleep"; you see it sometimes with students like se me durmieron los estudiantes "the students went and fell asleep" or "the students went and fell asleep on me", implying that during a lecture kids were falling asleep........ Their overall point is that dormirse "to sleep" already makes sense, and you wouldn't use indirect objects with dormir usually. But dormirse + indirect object, or superfluous dative carries a subtle additional meaning where someone "falls asleep" often suddenly or unintentionally, and it affects someone somehow; this expression can also be used for body parts that "go numb" like se me durmieron las piernas "my legs fell asleep on me", which is like "my legs suddenly went numb"....... the indirect object doesn't really add much aside to say who is now affected by this]

5.    Dado que son independientes de la valencia verbal, los dativos pueden adosarse a cualquier tipo de verbos. Given that they are free from verbal value [they don't add anything to the verb], datives can be put next to any kind of verbs

...

All that linguistic stuff aside, the use of datives is understood to be purely there to add a little hint of something to show who is most impacted

It often lends some little nuance of "unexpected", "unwanted/unwelcome", "surprising", "joy/sadness" or some kind of emotion, "inconvenience/frustration", possession (usually in terms of body parts, property, or people who are "your people" or loved ones or people you know), or in some cases it gives a bit of direction (figurative or literal) towards or away something or someone

As a quick example of the direction thing - se me acercó is "he/she got closer to me" or "got up closer"... and se me marchó comes out as "he/she walked out on me" either ending a relationship or quitting

...

In any case, the linguistic dative in Spanish is a very broad topic and a lot of it veers into linguistics territory and the majority of the sources are in Spanish

But if you're very fluent in Spanish (or don't mind going through it with a translation app) and want to read more about it you should check out Hispanoteca which has more sources and info

#Spanish #language #langblr #learning Spanish #linguistics #learn Spanish #la gramatica #la lingüistica #asks

[girderednerve]

they killed deadspin again (laid off its entire unionized staff & sold the rights to the name) & it has made me think about....

the ubiquity of deadspin in older hockey RPF fic. nearly every single one of those stories has some kind of reference to deadspin ("be careful or you'll end up on deadspin!", etc). i sort of marveled over this feature at the time (i.e., the two-year period where i read a terrific amount of hockey RPF, for reasons which remain murky to me), because the deadspin mentions do some interesting work in those stories, i think; they to some degree straightforwardly reflect the kind of beat that deadspin covered, which included gossipy rumors & embarrassing stories, but they also nod a little awkwardly to the fact that the whole project of RPF relies on those stories having public coverage, and the tension around what fans want to know about athletes and what athletes might want known about themselves. essentially all of hockey RPF is premised on the gap between what we publicly see ("get pucks deep", twitter photos holding fish, etc.) and what personal truth must exist beyond this pane; shippy RPF contends that into this gap we might imagine, not just personal conflict, fear of injury, complicated feelings about fame, and so on, but also secret, sometimes painfully secret, relationships and dimensions to forcefully public gender performance. the private lives of athletes are fascinating, but it doesn't stop feeling a little invasive to wonder too hard about them. (i am not actually making any kind of morality claim about hockey RPF and am not interested in hearing one!)

deadspin, around the same time that hockey RPF had its first boom, had a period of incredible popularity, in part because it was a contributor to the shift in sports journalism away from the fairly set model of a beat reporter who observed what happened on the field of play & whose access to the team they covered hinged on maintaining a good relationship with its personnel. beat reporters did a lot of good work, & they might be critical of players, sometimes bitingly so, but generally only in very specific ways (poor performance; some unwritten rules nonsense) and almost never of the players on one's own team. deadspin didn't do that! deadspin was a blog, and they wrote weird, sometimes mean, often very funny, insightful, and sharply political commentary about sports, and they mostly didn't give a fuck about access because they didn't have any to start with. there was some excellent writing on deadspin, along with the gossipy trash. but when deadspin got popular, there was also some friction because deadspin's coverage was, at least comparatively, invasive; because it changed the frame around sports to insistently include the fan experience & political context. the first time deadspin was liquidated in 2019, it was because gawker media, which owned the site, told the staff to stick to sports & they quit. the zombie website operating ever since was never as good, & you should subscribe to defector if you have spare money for sports journalism; it's staff-owned, and a lot of it is excellent. but it's not really the same as the deadspin of yore, and i am having a moment about it alongside the broader misery about the systematic destruction of print journalism, which, even when it's about sports, does matter. not least because it captured the fascination that fans have with their favorite athletes, provided grist for the mill, acted as a lightning rod for questions about journalistic ethics & fandom in the 'new media' blogging era. they changed the fucking game & unfortunately the game now mostly sucks

#fandom blogging beloved mutuals please avert yr eyes etc etc #i'm kind of sad about deadspin getting liquidated even though it wasn't really deadspin anymore. portends evil #union busting is disgusting

[hyewka]

don’t u feel theres like a bit of an ethical / moral issue with writing nc in rpf? like depicting a real person in that way

RPF in general is a murky water for me when it comes to ethics (especially when ive spent a large amount of my life taking classes related or centering around ethics lol). with RPF, i’ve come to the conclusion (for me) that if i think one part of it is morally wrong then all of it is morally wrong, and if i start believing its morally inept for whatever reason, i would stop the hobby completely.

i think just like with nc and all the other hard topics with abuse— its already been established that we’re writing alternate universes, no? there’s really toxic relationship aus, villain aus, yandere aus but they’re all like, how other rpf writers describe it all the time, characters detached from the artist or just a character with a face claim. i mean with me (and a lot of kpop ff writers in general) do often include traits and quirks from the real person into the fic, but more often than not the character they’ve written isn’t mean to reflect the real person that is being written about.

so i mean in conclusion, i do get people who believe its ethically wrong to write nc in rpf and still enjoy other rpf stories, but i personally don’t think its any different than other stories where the person is depicted as extremely toxic or manipulative

#idk let me know your thoughts #anyone can chime in really 😭 #i think i could definitely be swayed because like i said i believe its a murky water #and not completely clear of dirt 😭 #✶ ━━ rana ; answered

[chainofclovers]

I guess the main reason I'm so uncomfortable with the Michelle dating her therapist thing, is that the show had done such a good job portraying her with a lot of empathy, and this whole situation makes her a lot more unsympathetic, at least in most fans' eyes (many of whom had villainised her even before this)

I guess this is an opportunity to find out how far sympathy and empathy go! I know a lot of people already dislike Michelle, for shipping reasons or otherwise. But they gotta tell the story they've been planning on telling, and if an audience is fairweather about their sympathy for a character who's in a morally murky situation, that says more about our society (and I mean no judgment on whether someone decides to judge her for this, it's just true that we're in a society) than it says about whether the writers made a "bad" choice in telling a particular story.

Pretty much every character on this show is a person with a lot of goodness in them who nonetheless experiences resentments, hunger for power, biases based on their cultural identities, inconvenient sexual attractions, etc. I don't see why Michelle should be any different.

Personally, I think it's possible to be like "Ma'am. Your THERAPIST? And you were too scared to tell Ted before you brought this new dude around your SON?" but still appreciate the emotional burden Michelle bore during her marriage with Ted, and appreciate that Michelle, like anyone, is not immune to the emotional pull of circumstances that might not be perfectly healthy. Nothing about the story--which we still have barely any context for--diminishes her having been a good mom to Henry, her having been someone who used to genuinely love Ted, etc. The therapist thing is a potential complication for some of her feelings at the end of the marriage, but we already knew from Ted that there were some less-than-ideal ethics happening there and that he regrets going for joint counseling with someone who was already treating his wife.

If Michelle was my personal friend, I'd think she was treading in some dangerous waters, but I wouldn't question whether I'd been wrong to appreciate all the good qualities she'd displayed in the past and presumably still retains.

#ted lasso #ted lasso 3x3 #ted lasso s3 spoilers #hot dork club #meta by me #ted lasso meta #asks #anon

[r0semultiverse]

Hey! 1. you dont have to answer this if it is too laborious, i absolutely get it, but if you do feel like answering I would love your take.

This is a genuine question about ai and voice acting: so, I use a text to speech app to help get through my readings for college. I cant actually afford the AI voices, but from my brief trial period they sound so easy to understand, and I do sort of wish i could afford them over the more robotic voices for my study. Where do you stand on that?

I ask because i feel a little tangled up because 1. I hate AI, and i would rather listen to nails on a chalkboard than listen to an ai voice read an audiobook (also like, i am a writer and chatgpt breaks my heart) BUT 2. It's not like an academic article is going to be properly recorded for accessibility.

i genuinely dont know where I stand on this, and I suppose it starts getting a little murky when we talk about ai and accessibility. Is this one area where ai is ethical, because it is for accessibility? Or does that leave room for 'but i cant draw so midjourney is accessibility for me'? Or can we draw that line more firmly because there are neurological/psychological/developmental reasons someone might need to listen to their academic readings in order to learn rather than read them? Or do we need to push publishers to hire people to read their journals?

again, no pressure to respond. I feel like this is a murky, convoluted question, and ethics can be not super fun to dig into. BUT if it is cut-and-dry for you, i would love to hear your reasoning. I dont want to feel so murky about it.

To make a generalized statement before getting into some specifics; I think that personal private use of AI for stuff like that where you aren't going around sharing a voice actor's voice without their consent is fine. You need it to be able to better read things. You aren't sharing this with others or posting it up for views & clicks & YouTube clout only to (hopefully) later get sued or fined (or a YouTube strike) for the questionable legality of it. If we ever get laws protecting us voice actors (here's to hoping).

Let me clarify as well that consent should have to be given for peoples voices to be used however which ways they are currently. Yes, even for accessibility programs, the maker should be getting consent from and/or paying the voice actors for their voice. Ideally much like how big name companies get a share of movie ticket money & streaming revenue, that currently does not go to the actors/voice actors in a lot of instances. Voice actors & such should not just be getting that single payout for their work, but also payouts over time based on sales with products they helped make & streaming money too.

There's a very fine line between doing something privately & sharing it around publicly. I'm completely against stolen art, commission someone or keep those AI art pieces private to yourself.

I don't think it's on the publishers to have to have an audio version readily available. Book authors/writers & such are screwed over currently enough as is. Having said that, I think people online should be able to read any book out loud/create an audio book & publish it for accessibility & reading along purposes. I can't go reading certain books or literary works on stream due to fear of being copyright stricken. Book copyrights & things aren't my area of expertise though & I'm no professional writer trying to make a living off my work.

There's better educated people on the topics of books & accessibility out there. If you do make a book audio cover on YouTube, you shouldn't be able to monetize it without consent from the author(s). Authors & writers aren't treated great either. I think a lot more groups of people should be striking than are currently.

If it's a bougie publishing company (if those exist), then I think they should absolutely commission someone to have an audio book version of it. The voice actor should also get paid royalties or whatever you call that even after the initial payout though! Again, I don't know jack shit about how books & publishing work, this is just how I think at this current moment in time.

Also if people are going to post AI for clout anyway, they should legally have to disclose they're using AI in whatever they're publishing like how some countries have laws about disclosing when your content is sponsored or an advertisement.

Also as far as paying someone to voice act anything, no company or business gets to own our voices permanently. This is in addition to the things said above. Pay us to voice over a new book, pay us to say those lines, and every other possible instance this can apply to. Our voice isn’t anyone’s to permanently own and do what they want with regardless of context! Pay us for our voice over!

#I literally just woke up so I hope I worded this okay #this i how I feel about AI song covers & other such things #big differnce between private use & posting stolen voices for youtuber clout #im sure someone's going to completely misinterpret this somehow given my recent boom in followers but ah well #AI for clout is something that should be shamed & taken down for copyright violations #in the very least creators should legally have to disclose if they're using AI in whatever they put out onto the web #mine #op #asks #ask #anonymous #anon #ai in art #AI #ai song covers