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refriedweeb · 4 years

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LOVE ME WHEN YOUR WRISTS ARE BOUND (18+ SMUT)

A/N: I’ve had a feral-ish predator/prey smut idea roaming around in my head for the past couple of weeks now and I finally figured out a premise for it to exist on which has lead to this sinful post.

Prompt: You’re Pro-Hero Prisma, the name speaking for itself as your quirk is being able to turn yourself and others around you invisible just by touching them. Hawks, your on again off again fling that is far too arrogant for your liking, is sent off to go to a training retreat where you’re there. An old age game of hero and villain tag goes underway...but what happens when the stakes are raised?

word count: 4,957

warnings: rough sex, feral sex, sex.

Your hands smooth back any flyaway hairs that might have come out of your slicked back ponytail. When dressed in your pro-hero costume, you try to remain as sleek as possible. It makes being able to turn yourself invisible far easier when there isn’t as much for you to focus on turning invisible. You’d been in the pro-hero game for a few years now, having your own fair share of rescues and criminal takedowns that has quickly procured you in the top ten heroes. While the listing isn’t as important to you as managing to do the job you’d dreamt of doing since you were a little girl, it is a nice ego booster to know that the public thinks so highly of you. Being able to help people, to bring peace to a troubled community, had done a lot for your confidence and journey of self-love, and you’re in a place of your life where you feel content with things in your personal life the way they are.

When the commission had told you that you would be heading to a resort with a handful of other heroes to get some training out of the way, you were stoked. It wasn’t as much of a vacation as much as it was a chance to reconnect with some pro-heroes and old friends that you didn’t get to see half as often as you would have liked given the demanding nature of your job. You’d packed your bag for the week long course and had jetted off to the foliaged location that kept the exact location of the hero training grounds a secret from any prying criminal eyes. And just as imagined, you got to see plenty of your old friends who were assigned to different distracts of work that you hadn’t since your days at UA.

And then...

“Well, well, well.” There was that infamous drawl that could send shivers down your spine when it was right at your ear. A voice that was so silken and rough around the edges at the same time just earring it sent a spark down your spine no matter how annoying the owner of it was. Son of a bitch. Or in this case, a hawk. “I see they’re just letting any old talent in the resort now.” And as arrogant as ever.

You turned around, your bag bumped against your hip. Hawks somehow managed to look as smug as he ever had, being none too subtle about the way that his body swept over your frame until he was looking you in the eyes. Damn those honey glazed eyes that had always managed to suck out the air in your lungs. But that wasn’t a temptation you were going to give into right now. The last thing Keigo Takami needed was a boost in his ego. You did the same, looking him up and down while you crossed your arms under your bust. “Look who it is, a lost chicken.” Your tone was drenched heavily in sarcasm, not one to have ever backed down from Keigo’s taunting and arrogant status. In response, Keigo stuck his tongue against the corner of his mouth, letting loose a dry chuckle. “You should go back to the city before a fox makes you lunch.”

“So hostile, kid,” Keigo murmured, coming to stand close to you. Close enough that his thigh bumped the edge of your bag and you were glad for that bit of buffer. It’d never been easy to have him close to you. “I’m just here for a little bit of fun.” His eyes dipped over you once more, the sun rising and setting in how he did. Damn him. Finally settling over your lips, Keigo smirked. “Among anything else worthwhile I might find.”

Hawks pushed past you, his shoulder brushing past you. While you’d been able to keep your cool at hearing his voice after months passing since the last time you’d seen one another, the physical contact between you stole a breath from you the moment the electricity crackled from the curve of your arm. You turned after Keigo, mouth hung open, expression narrowed at the audacity of this man.

Damn him. Damn him and everything that he was.

That interaction had been two days ago, and thankfully nothing had happened with Hawks. You were each given your own room to settle in for the next week, and you were living in the lap of luxury. Mount Lady was on the resort with you and you’d been spending most of the group training exercises with her. Strengthening your quirks, decreasing the weaknesses that came with overuse. It was similar to the ones you’d went on as a kid with UA, though this one was far more intense and there was less leniency with messing up as there was when you were still a student. But you didn’t mind. It drove you to be better, to refocus your purpose on why this was your calling. You felt good about the progress you made, the blinding spots and lights that came with overuse of your quirk fading quicker than they had in the past.

And, much to your determination not to give him the damn satisfaction, you’d only been mildly distracted by the bird man who knew how to drive you up a wall. It was hard not to watch him speeding through the air, the way he moved so graceful. Hawks had always been impressive even before he’d become a pain in the ass. His frame was lean, not exactly the type of body that you saw unless it was on a power quirk. But there was hidden strength in muscles that were hardly shown due to the jacket he wore as part of his costume. He was a show off, of course, but it was hard to ignore moving art in the sky.

Today was a different day in the training course, and as the group of pro-heroes lined up outside of a deep foliaged area, you had a twisting sensation in your stomach. This wasn’t going to just be a group training idea, there was something special about this one. And for some reason...your eyes went to Hawks. He was talking to Masaki Mizushima, otherwise known as Manual, when his eyes flickered to you. There was that dangerous curve of a closed-mouth smile that had your eyes snapping away. You chided yourself for even looking.

“Alright heroes,” your attention turned back to the instructor leading your training exercise today. “Today we’re doing capture and releases. You’ll be teamed up with a hero that has a quirk meant to makes yours difficult, and vice versa.” Your eyes widened, that sensation in your gut twisting. Son of a bitch. “This is to help adapt you to situations you’ll be in as pro-heroes where you’re not always the best suited quirk to take on your opponent’s.” The instructor’s voice faded away. This was some sort of karmic punishment for something that you’d done in a past life, you just knew it. You knew who the opposite of your quirk in that line up was, and it’d been the one person that you’d been trying to avoid all week. You listened as the instructor went down who was paired with who, and what role they’d be taking in the touch and go. You were grimacing, knowing what was coming.

“Prisma and Hawks, you’ll be teamed up. Prisma can turn herself invisible and will challenge Hawks to use his vision to the best advantage to spot her through the foliage. Hawks, you’ll be the Hero.” you gave a small groan. “Prisma, you’ll be the villain.” You turned to look at Keigo, letting out a sharp exhale through your nose to see that it was now he who was watching you, that smug expression larger than what it’d been several minutes ago. There was a waggle of his brows as he pushed his goggles over his nose and slapped his headphones on. If you were playing the role of villain through this exercise, it’d only make sense for the character if you killed him, right? Right?

You walked over towards the section of foliage you were assigned for your specific training exercise, Hawks watching you like a starved man as you swaggered over. One of his favorite parts of your body had always been your hips, curved and full, what your mother and grandmother had always stereotyped as ‘birthing hips’. He’d never been able to get enough of it, hands digging in at any given moment the two of you were together. There’d even been a point in time where he’d bit your ass because he’d been unable to help himself. Keigo Takami was a man who knew what he liked and had no problem showing it, and considering that your hero costume was as skin tight as it could possibly be due to your quirk, he was practically drooling. Frankly, you wouldn’t be surprised if he had some part in this.

“Shut up.” Is all you need to say before Keigo chuckles, zipping his mouth shut with his fingers and tossing the key. You know it’s not something that’ll last for long, but it’ll give you enough time to get over the blush you feel at your cheeks and ears.

“Prisma, Hawks. The objective of this training exercise is to exploit your weakness and strengthen it. Hawks, your weakness is that you can fly high up with great speed, but rely on your feathers too much. You’ll be challenged to look with your eyes on something you can’t see. Prisma, your weakness is that the longer you stay invisible, the worse your eyesight gets until you can’t see. You’ll have to focus on using your quirk intermittently with staying out of Hawks’ line of vision from the sky. You have until nightfall to either, as the villain escape, or as the hero apprehend the villain.”

You tip two fingers against your forehead in a lazy salute, sighing as you center yourself on what you’re about to do. Like hell you want to be caught by Hawks, dedicating your focus to avoid getting caught. You want to win, you want to work on straightening the limitation you have on your ability so you can help serve better. The two of you are stood at the entrance to your training area, a thick forest with trees of varying height that are either going to work to your advantage or disadvantage depending on how Hawks uses them. Speaking of the devil...

As your instructor walks away, Keigo comes to stand behind you, leaning forward just enough that he’s not touching you, but you can hear his voice in your ear. That same sarcastic drawl, dripping in arrogance like he’s already won. “How about we raise the stakes, kid?” Your stomach drops lower to the spot between your hips, and your back goes rod straight. “How about if I catch you before you make an escape, I get to fuck you where I find you.”

Your breath caught as the shivers raced up and down your spine. The feeling of Keigo’s fingers whispering against your hips almost enough to make your knees buckle. If there wasn’t a worse person that you could have been paired up with. It had to be the on again off person that you fucked. Your eyes rolled to the sky, taking in a deep breath. “Because you know...” he continued, breath hot against your ear. “I’ve always been a fan of catching prey when they’re on the run.” Your heart is hammering in your throat and you’re sure he can hear it. It’s hard to remember what it is to breathe in that moment, and you almost lean back into his body because, after all, old habits die hard.

“Who says you’re going to catch me?” you ask, turning your head so that you can catch his eye over your shoulder. That feeling hits deep in your belly once more once you see the narrowed slit of his pupil. Usually round, you know this look on Keigo. It’s predator, it’s hunter, it’s Hawks. And you know in that moment you’re going to be fighting more than one enemy in that simulation. It wasn’t just your weakness with your quirk that you were working against. It was your weakness with Keigo Takami as well.

“Because, kid,” Keigo’s eyes drop to your mouth. “I don’t lose.”

Damn.

“Well, Hawks,” you turn to him, taking slow and measured steps back into the foliage that was going to either aid you or ruin you. You made sure to lean into your hip heavily, swaying back and forth that had Hawks’ attention almost immediately. “Catch me if you can.”

And with that, the two of you split your separate ways. Hero and villain. Hawks shot into the sky in a flurry of red wings, and you coated yourself in invisibility as you ran into the foliage, careful not to step too heavily as you darted under the trees. Looking up, it was near impossible to spot Hawks speeding through the sky, dipping down and flying up as he looked for any sight of your impressions on the ground. Your terrain was an uphill one, and soon enough your trek uphill had left you out of breath. You dipped under a tree, letting your invisibility fall as you became visible to the outside world. Except, of course, you were not foolish enough. Keigo’s words in your head were still settled deep within your belly, but you weren’t about to lose just yet. You shed your boots, setting them at the base of a tree before you took coverage in a tree that you climbed. With your eyes turned towards the sky, it’s only a matter of time before Keigo’s wings come into focus, beelining straight for the boots.

He extended a gloved hand as if to grab for the boots and snatch you out, only to stop short and skid along the ground as he realized there was nothing attached to them. “Clever, kid.” He called out, doing a quick swipe around. Luckily, you’d cloaked yourself once more before he’d spotted the tree you were in. That would have been game over, though watching the sweat that clung to his forehead...didn’t seem too bad. You pinched yourself, reminding yourself that you were a villain and it was your objective to get out. “You’re somewhere here, aren’t you?”

But that didn't mean that you couldn’t have a little fun...right? Slowly, carefully, you lowered yourself from the branches you’d been hiding away, wincing at the slight rustle of ground gave in when you hit. Hawks whipped around again, eyes wide, pupils narrowed. “Come on songbird, let me hear you sing.” That static ripped through your belly again, and you took measured steps closer to him. You bent over, cloaking a rock once more before chucking it off on the other side of you that hit a tree. Hawks spun around again, a couple of small red feathers shooting out from his wings to try and pin what he thought was you against a tree. It took everything not to laugh in that moment, looking at how focused he was.

You were doing your best to ignore the feral look in his eyes. How windswept his hair was from his flying. How you knew what Keigo was like when he wanted to win at something. And to see how determined he was when you were the prize. You squeezed your thighs together, rolling your lower lip between your teeth. “What’s the matter, Keigo?” you asked, doing your best to throw off your voice from your current location, slowly edging up the steep incline. “I thought you wanted to fuck me.”

Hawks shot out from where he’d been, coming for where you’d been only seconds before. You took off running up the hill, ignoring the pain searing through your thighs at just how much you underestimated the sleepiness of the climb. Still, you pushed through it, your vision starting to dizzy as you ran. How long had you and Hawks been at this? It didn’t feel incredibly long, but then again the sun was in a much different positioning than when you’d started, and the sky was starting to turn shades of purple. Almost nightfall. Had the other pro-heroes finished their courses already? Maybe it hadn’t been the wisest decision to take off your boots, either, as you came in contact with a patch of wet mud. Your footing slipped, and with it your invisibility cloaking. A gasp hit you as you saw your hand clear as day, and in that moment you knew you were down for. In a last ditch attempt to redeem yourself, you cloaked back up but the sharp yank to the right as one of Hawks’ feathers tore through your hero costume.

A yelp escaped from your throat as you found yourself pinned to a tree at the nape of the neck, leaving you dangling from the trunk of the tree. With the gig finally up, you dropped your invisibility as you folded your hands under your chest. On one hand, you were pissed you’d been unable to outlast Keigo. On the other hand...you’d been taunting him just moments ago and knew what that did to him. The sound of rustling feathers came and Hawks sauntered around the tree, looking at you with that same infuriating expression from the beginning of the exercise.

“So close too, kid. So close.” He teased, running his tongue over his canine tooth. Keigo came to rest his hips against yours, your mouth dropping open at the presence of him there. It’d been so long since it’d been like between you two, but how could you forget that? “And you would have won, too, except you just had to go on teasing me like that. You know what your teasing does to me, kid. Damn near maddening.” he pulled off his glove with his teeth, coming to grip your jaw. “So damn mad.”

Your eyes widened as he dug his hands into your chin, holding you so tight that you couldn’t look either way. Only at him. Your throat was tight as you swallowed, Keigo continuing on as he pulled your hands apart, using a spare feather to pin your wrists to the bark above you by the fabric of your costume. Keigo, despite his earlier disposition, is serious now. And you know how in trouble you are. You can see it in that narrowed slit of his eyes, the color of the sun burning there. “Can’t let that go, songbird. I’ve gotta remind you not to fuck with me.” He leaned in, the hand that wasn’t gripping your jaw in an iron lock trailing down the curve of your side, coming to thumb the space between your thighs that you’d been ignoring ever since he whispered into your ear down at the base of the mountain. “Gonna have to remind you of that,” Keigo murmured, eyes lowering as he leaned in over you. You could feel the length of him against your thigh, instinctively angling it out so you could feel him closer to your core.

“Keigo-” you gasped as he rolled his hips in against you. “Keigo what if we get caught?” Though by the feeling of his presence, you didn’t know if you’d mind that much if you got your itch scratched.

“And what about it?” he breathed. His thumb slipped over you again, causing you to shudder. “You really think I give a damn who sees me fucking you? Claiming you like the little slut for me you are?” You squirmed against the hand he kept between your thighs, letting out a harsh exhale. “Already so needy for me. I’m starting to think you lost on purpose, kid.”

You opened your eyes, glaring at him. “I lost because I slipped.”

Hawks chuckled, giving a shrug. “If that’s what you wanna say there, kid. All I know is I won...and now I’m claiming my prize.” The static runs straight from your brain to your core, and you let out a whine. Keigo hummed, reaching up behind your back and leaving you with cool air against the heat that had been growing between your thighs as he undid the back of your uniform. “What a fuckin’ prize, huh, kid? I get to ruin this body all over again.”

The feather that had been pinning your wrists together removes itself, reforming to Hawks’ wings as he yanked you around, pressing your face in against the bark. It burned, but it was the furthest thing from your mind as Hawks pushed down the skin tight fabric of your pro-hero costume, his hands finding their way under the fabric and rolling it further and further down until it was just beneath your ass.

You yelped as the sound of a smack sounded through the air, the stinging sensation hitting your backside seconds later. He’d just landed a sharp slap across your ass and you were about to make another comment when another came again, causing you to squirm. “This is what you get for teasin’ me, kid.” he said, and you were able to catch the way that Hawks was leaned back, his eyes dragging down the length of your exposed back and skin. The leather of his gloved hand struck again, causing you to whine. Keigo’s eyes flashed to look up at you, the look there positively feral. You can feel the heat starting to seep through your legs, and that has Hawks’ attention in a matter of seconds. “So filthy, aren’t you? You like it when I slap you on the ass. You want to be punished for being such a filthy little slut,” the slap came again and your groaning, attempting to push your backside in against his hips. “So fuckin’ eager, kid.”

Keigo places his hands on your hips, pulling you back against his hips so you can feel how hard he’s gotten in the time he’s caught you. This is the whole thing. The chase is what excites him and the most and what better example of his highest fantasy is there then getting to chase you through foliage like the bird of prey that he is? And true to his word, he’s going to fuck you as his victory claim. You grind your backside his, angling yourself so that you can feel the full length of him slipping between you. You groan, your head falling back against your shoulders as Keigo realizes this, pushing up into you.

“I wanna hear you beg, kid. Swallow that fuckin’” a sharp slap comes across your behind again. “Cocky attitude you had earlier.” He slaps your backside again, and you can’t fight the moan that escapes you. “Your mind kid, I’m always gonna fuckin’” another slap. “Win.”

At this point you can feel the wetness between your thighs, and your squirming as he rocks his hips back and forth as if he’s already fucking you. “Keigo-” you whine pushing your hands against the tree so you can be flush with his hips. “Please.”

“Please, what?” You hear the sound of his belt coming undone, the buckle slumping.

“Keigo,” you breathe, only to feel that sharp leather across your backside that causes you to cry out.

“Please, what?” he repeats. His voice is hardened as the cock between his legs. The zipper of his pants sounds, and you can feel the rawness of him against your lips. He’s teasing you. He wants you to beg. To ask nicely. “Beg for it, songbird.”

“Please fuck me,” you gasp just as he pushes himself up and down the length of your lips again.

Keigo’s hands find their way to your hips again, fingertips digging in as he lines himself up. “Since you asked so fuckin’ nicely...”

You hold your breath in anticipation. Keigo’s wings puff out on either side of you, providing little coverage for what he’s about to do to you. You catch yourself admiring the beautiful red color of them before he’s slamming his hips in against yours, throwing you forward at the shock and power behind it. The sound of Keigo’s groan behind you turns your knees to putty, almost enough to cause your legs to give out from underneath you. “Ahh, fuck, there it is.” he groans, slowly pulling himself to the edge of his length before slamming back into you with the same intensity. You lurch forward again, hands pressing into the tree in front of you to keep from ramming in against it. “Feel so fuckin’ good, kid.” He fucks into you again, your head dropping to your shoulders once more. Eyes shut, you don’t see Keigo reach out with that gloved hand, and hook two fingers against the side of your mouth.

The sound of skin slapping against skin starts to fill the area between you along with the sounds of Keigo’s breathlessness and the small whines falling from your mouth. Despite his erratic breathing, he’s kept a good pace, your inner thighs positively soaked from what he’s done to you. He’s entranced by the way your skin bounces and moves each time he comes slamming back into you, filling you up with every ounce of his cock. “You like that, songbird, you like how fuckin’” slap “Good I feel inside of you?”

You struggle to answer him, your head wrenched back at an angle with Keigo’s leather wrapped fingers pulling out your cheek. Your legs are shaking, and it’s everything you can do to keep your muscles from collapsing underneath you as he fucks into you, creating a mess of your insides. Finally, you moan as a response, reaching an arm back just to be able to touch him in some respect. Keigo, not the complete asshole, leans forward so that you can grab onto the front of his jacket. The hand he’d been using to steady himself against your hips slips down to your front, massaging at your clit. This sends you into a spasm, wrestling against the overstimulation that your body was currently being sent through, desperately whining as he continues to tap, circle, and stimulate your clit meanwhile continuing the fluid motion of fucking in and out of you.

Keigo’s got the advantage here too, and seeing you struggle against getting him to lay off before you come, only sends him into more of a fury. His thrusts become faster, more erratic. They starting hurting as they hit into you, causing you to moan in pain and pleasure each time. You’re squeezing your legs together, clenching down around him as he fucks in and out of you. Your high is close, and your knees start to falter under you as it does. “K-Kei-” you’re unable to get his name out as another wave of pleasure rolls through you, threatening to push you over the bridge right there as Keigo starts to fuck you even faster, the wetness on your thighs crawling down further.

“You gonna cum, songbird? You gonna cum around this fuckin’ cock just like you always do?” The whine pushes through you as he yanks on your cheek. “Go on then, sing for me, you’re my fuckin’ songbird.”

And with the permission granted, you unravel around his finger and his cock, your legs spasming as you cry out, your inner thighs becoming even wetter than before. Your moan is none too quiet as it rips through you, your back arching as the shivers run up and down your spine once more as you ride out your orgasm. You’re panting, breathless, dripped in sweat, but Keigo isn’t done. “What a good fuckin’ slut, (Y/N).”

You moan as he returns both ands to your hips, spreading you further as he quickens his pace once more. “Gonna fill you up so good, so fuckin’ much.” You whimper as he buries himself in you, his thrusts sloppy and hurried now. He’s close now, and in order to help him reach his own orgasm, you lean back, body flush against his. “Fuck yeah, ah, fuck yeah.” he’s panting in your ear now, his face buried in the crook of your neck. Once you reach back and feel the space under his jacket and shirt where feather meets wing, it’s game over.

“I’m gonna cum, fuck, I'm gonna cum,” his voice is gravely, pained as he loses the last of his momentum. The sound of your moans mingle together as he does just that, spilling himself inside of you. His drip joins the slow race down your thighs, and with one final thrust, empties the rest of himself in the folds of your heaven.

The two of you remain there in silence for a period of time before he pulls out of you, leaving a mess between your lips. You’re immediately on your knees, unable to support yourself anymore from what he’d just done to your insides. Your breathing is still labored, as if you’d just run up and down the mountain without break. Your legs are spent, still riding out the tidal wave that was your orgasm. Behind you, you hear Keigo zipping up his pants, adjusting the buckle.

He looks as spent as you feel, and he pulls his glove on with his teeth as you lock eyes. That feral look is still there, and you doubt you’re done with one another for the night. You sure as hell don’t think you are. “What’s wrong, kid?” Keigo leans over, landing a gloved slap to your ass. “Get up, gotta go tell the instructor what a good hero I was in apprehending such a bad, bad villain.”

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threeofchalices · 3 years

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Prompt: New Moon in Pisces

Cards that I drew:

Queen of Cups, 2 of Cups reversed, 4 of wands reversed

Extra card: Four of swords

Decks that I used: The Arcana tarot deck, Prisma visions

1. What needs healing? - Queen of Cups It’s been a while since I did some reading, and I have broadened my views a little bit, beyond what I think the cards mean at first glance. I used to act on impulse and speak thoughts the moment they come to me. And as I think about this, maybe it relates to the card that came up for me. The Queen of Cups is funny enough, a person who might be a Pisces. A figure of compassion and empathy, she is empathetic to the feelings of others, they daydream a lot and are very creative. I told myself last year that I lost my creativity, there was a policeman in my head that I created to punish me whenever I had ideas because I was too afraid of what others would think of them. The Queen of cups is also a figure who may be more sensitive that she lets on to the outside world. I’ve let harsh words that were once said to me affect me long enough. In my core, I AM sensitive. I was told by my teachers in elementary that I was too sensitive. And for that I believe the cards are telling me that it is I who needs healing. I think I’ve begun healing last month, and I hope I never stop. I can never force myself to be someone else. I need to be more compassionate about what I love, no matter how cringy my policeman thinks it is. Yes, I can be sensitive but it can also be too much. I’m learning now how to handle my empathy the right way. If I let my past experiences keep me from moving on to the future, then I will never grow. I don’t want to be a dormant little plant, I want to thrive.

2. What spiritual practice can I cultivate? - Two of cups reversed Two of cups reversed is about self-love. This is related to my previous card. Sometimes it signals a break up but I’m not really in a relationship with someone else LMAO. Anyway, continuing from the previous card, I used to rely too much on what other people thought of me. I believed that I was nothing if I didn’t have anyone with me. I was projecting my lack onto other people and some found it clingy, other times I was put in a dangerous position because I ignored red flags. I didn’t even have an emotional connection with the people I tried to be around before, I was desperate. But people come and go, sometimes they have to leave without any malice, and I used to feel empty and broken up whenever I had no one to turn to. But that wasn’t a good life to live. I know now that no person could ever fill the emptiness that I felt. They are their own person, it took me so long to figure out how to start relying on myself. I rediscovered very recently why I shouldn’t rely on the approval of others. While there’s nothing wrong with wanting validation, to feel crushed whenever no one was praising me wasn’t healthy for both me and any friends I had around me.  Introspection is a spiritual practice, it’s something that I need to keep doing every day. My own accomplishments are what makes me feel whole, nothing and no one can do that for me. And because they are mine, because I know I worked hard for them, no one can ever take that away from me.

3. Where is my imagination most needed? - Four of Wands reversed According to biddy tarot, this card means I have achieved a level of inner harmony and stability. “If you doubted yourself in the past or struggled with self-acceptance or empathy, the appearance of this card is a welcome sign that you have found a sense of greater balance within yourself.” And that I am celebrating without proclaiming it to others, which is true. I’m only willing to “celebrate” so far inside the coven. I am not completely closed to letting others in my life but I am certainly becoming more careful about who I let in. I think I’m technically celebrating by being more self-indulgent with my ideas for my art. I still have more comics to go but I’m genuinely pretty happy with each one that I make. The shadow side of this card is also true. My family is experiencing some imbalance. My brother isn’t contributing much to the household, in fact, I can say he’s causing a lot of problems. Maybe the cards are telling me I also need to be more creative with how I approach the situation. I know I can’t do anything with my mom’s and brother’s relationship because I can’t control him, I can only try to help him whenever he wants to listen to me instead. He tends to get very defensive and my mom doesn’t exactly fold either. Deescalating has been helping a lot instead of trying to join in the argument as well. But I never defend my brother when he’s in the wrong.

4. Extra card - Four of swords  According to trusted tarot dot com, this card says I should take the generous time I have to plan the course of my future. Well, that’s pretty easy with quarantine happening. It was a dream of mine to have a webcomic with an engaged audience and I’m pretty sure this is what I have now. I know I want to work in a studio someday. Either to work on graphic novels or any illustration related work, I’m taking this time to thoroughly get to know the content I want to make and build up a solid portfolio. I’m pretty much booked with work for my social media. And recently something happened that made me realize I am technically an influencer. Maybe I can be the next Ethan Becker. HAHA. Other than that, with how my brain works right now, I don’t think I can survive the conditions of having the office job that I desire. I’m going to take my time as a freelancer/influencer to make as much content as I want. To figure out who I am and what I can contribute to the world. I have some growing up to do.

TL;DR - I’m taking this time I have to learn how to be myself, to lean on myself, to fill my own cup. To achieve the happiness that no one else can take away from me.

-canis

#tarot #canis #newmoon in Pisces

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kuuderekun · 4 years

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I think more Sailor Moon fans need to check out other Magical Girl Warrior Anime

Back during the era of Nolan's Batman movies it was in certain places online like IMDB message boards very popular to express the opinion that Robin's existence is inherently bad for Batman. That Batman should be a loner and throwing in this kid sidekick only dumbs the stories down. I was always agaisnt that mentality, and today most major voices in the internet Western Comic Book Nerd community reject that as really narrow minded and know that your really not much of a Batman fan at all if you completely reject such a large portion of what the Batman mythos are. As someone who remembers all of that while currently being a Millennial Otaku in an era where our current Nostalgia cycle has brought a number of old 90s Anime back into public conciseness. I feel like the Anime equivalent of that is the prevalence of Sailor Moon fans who wish Tuxedo Mask didn't exist, that position is nearly unanimous among the guests on the Sailor Business podcast. I actually have more sympathy for this position even though it's less supportable (Tuxedo Mask was there from issue one unlike Robin) because my own preferences for female lead Anime and Superhero stories are often similar, I'm a Yuri Fanatic who likes watching Anime where it's possible to pretend men don't even exist in that fictional world. But when it comes to Sailor Moon my position is Mamoru/Darrien is just as essential as Lois Lane is to Superman, or Mary Jane to Spiderman, or Iris West to Barry Allen, or Sif to Thor. Now talking about Tuxedo Mask is complicated by how the 90s Anime handled him very differently. This may shock some people to learn, but there are Sailor Moon Manga purists who hate everything about the 90s Anime. He's not in High School not Collage in the Manga (and in the Japan the age difference between middle school and high school is smaller then it is here, they are in fact only 2-3 years apart) Mamoru isn't constantly a jerk to her early on, Usagi isn't nearly as childish and Tuxedo Mask actually contributes more. That element also fits the Robin comparison, the rejection of Robin was partly from how for a long time the mainstream public perception of Robin was Burt Ward and Chris O'Donnell. And indeed I think the best western Comic Book analogy for those Manga purists who hate the Anime are people who still hate the Adam West and Shumacker takes on Batman. Those of us who have read Robin(s) as written by for example Chuck Dixon or Marv Wolfman know the concept can be taken seriously. However some people don't like Mamoru even in the Manga, or heck some even find him worse in the Manga. These people simply hate the idea of tuning in to a show about a Superheroine (or "Female Superhero" as the CW's Supergirl pilot kept insisting on saying) where she is also constantly being rescued. Now most of those "rescues" range from cheer-leading her to adding a little minor assist like female love interests of male superhero get to contribute all the time, and the final climax of the original story-line is her saving him. But these fans want male love interests to contribute 0% to their Superheroine stories. Thing is that apparent contradiction is not a bug but a feature, it is kind of the entire premise of Sailor Moon. Film Flux did a video on the Sailor Moon Manga that helped me to clarify this. Superhero stories are at their core wish fulfillment fantasies, and like it or not many young girls fantasize both about being a Superhero and being a Damsel rescued by a handsome prince (and some young boys have the same fantasies). While most Mangaka might have written two completely separate stories to express those fantasies Naoko Takeuchi said Frak It and did both simultaneously, she wrote a story where an average Japanese school girl gets to be both Snow White and Wonder Woman at the same time. The premise of Sailor Moon is foundationally about having your cake and eating it too. Now you don't have to also be into that, my point is that this Prince Charming isn't something that's part of the story because of executive meddling. (If anything it's having other Girls helping her that was, Takeuchi's original vision was a solo Super-heroine, it was Toei that wanted a team so they could sell more toys.) And so if you fundamentally don't like that, you kind of don't like the premise of Sailor Moon. The reason why in America Sailor Moon is popular with many people who actually share only half of Takeuchi's fantasy is because on mid 90s television she was the only Superheroine we had to choose from at all. Thing is it's now possible for Americans to watch almost any Anime they want to, and the sub-genre Sailor Moon spawned has evolved to provide plenty of shows that can better provide what these Sailor Moon fans actually want. I think there are plenty of people who might actually like the rest of the genre more but have still only seen Sailor Moon because they've never searched for Anime beyond what airs on Toonami, or because they're assuming them to be Sailor Moon knock offs with no actual creativity. But the truth is even the ones most similar to Sailor Moon are still just as distinct as Green Arrow is from Batman. All or at least most Pretty Cure shows have no Tuxedo Mask analogue, a few have Het love interests who are civilians, like Peter Parker crushing on Liz Allan or Mary Jane in the Raimi films, but most don't even have that. Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna Is A Hero and Symphogear provide no Het romance for the main character at all. Pretty Sammy and Nanoha also work, and Prisma Illya is....... not a good one to start with. Corrector Yui doesn't seem to have a Tuxedo Mask figure from what I've seen so far, on Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne there is one kinda but he's a rival thief. On Saint Tail the love interest is the guy trying to catch her, so it's like Batman and Catwoman but if Catwoman was stealing things because God wanted her to do it???? I'm still not sure what show's premise actually is. In Galaxy Fraulein Yuna there is a Tuxedo Mask but she's a woman, so those of you who enjoy having your sexuality confused by Takerazuka style Mamoru in the new Musicals might enjoy that. Even Wedding Peach is distinct on this issue since the person who could be called the Tuxedo Mask of the show is not the title character's love interest. So I'm hoping once these Sailor Moon fans can get their no Tuxedo Mask Magical Girl fix elsewhere they can be open to appreciating Mamoru once they seem him portrayed correctly on Crystal( just make sure you're watching the BluRay rips) or even the Live Action show PGSM. I also still recommend that Sailor Moon Fan Film from 2016.

https://jaredmithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2020/08/i-think-more-sailor-moon-fans-need-to.html

#Sailor Moon #Tuxedo Mask #Batman #Robin #Batman and Robin #PreCure #Pretty Cure #Madoka Magica #Nanoha #Pretty Sammy #Saint Tail #galaxy fraulein yuna #yuki yuna is a hero #PGSM

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howlingcliffs · 4 years

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whos your favorite oc

OIT OF EVERYONE THAT'S RLLY HARD SO IM GONNA DO ONE FROM EACH STORY

Ashes - Exile: twigtail!! hes been an oc for a rlly long time (started out as a sona) and hes like. mega disturbed by his visions of the future but they calm down after he runs away from the clans but they def dont go away. its in The Alder's Sanctuary that he learns he can control water!

Ashes - Colored Lights: MOORSTEP!! I LOVE MOORSTEP.. hes a little sweet reassuring guy but he has his breakdowns and bad moments as eveyone does, but his are bad because he doesn't like to be babied since he already was back in robinclan. its with the help of apple (one of twigtail's co-leaders) who's also blind that he learns to ignore what others say and learn to be fully happy with himself. when moor learns of apple and sheep's deaths he's heartbroken since they were like his mothers

Ashes - Four Storms: waspwhisper (formerly beestripe)! hes an mc in exile but he reappears here as dustwatcher's ghost guide. he has a lot of trauma from being stuck inside The Wasp's Tomb, especially since he awoke about a year after he'd been buried and was buried for about four years after that (he lived on a diet of mice and rodents that fell into the tomb through a hole in the ceiling). it was in there that he learned that he could control fire, since he'd been hitting sticks up against rocks to keep himself entertained

Ashes - Burning Shadows: stagfang! shes fully aware that firelight's relationship with wolftooth is against the code but she does her best to support her brother even if hes being an idiot. if firelight's happy, then shes happy, because a sad firelight is something she never wants to see ever again

Ashes - Spark: ALSO REALLY HARD.. god tho probably pyrestrike (robinclan warrior)? shes the mc and also the villian so a story from the villians pov is rlly interesting to me! her redemption is also really sweet because she really gets to know her family and ashspirit (her mentor) and bearface (ash's bf) come back to the clans after thistlefeather (pyre's brother, rookclan med cat) goes to get them bc wolftooth's ghost told him to

Ashes - The Lost Three (Prequel): poppystar or roxx! theyre both super interesting characters, esp since theyre later on reincarnated into waspwhisper and twigtail respectively. poppystar doesn't have fire powers like wasp does but roxx and twig do share their future-sight powers

Formality: JAY! hes the main protag! hes spent all of his time since he was 15 searching for his brother jasper after jasper accidentally burnt down their house and disappeared along with jay and jasp's abusive step-mom scarlet. jay doesn't believe jasp is dead so that's why hes been searching all this time

Misfit Mania S1-S2: pike or creek or dib! its a hard tie between the three of them because theyre each complicated in their own ways but pike rlly strikes a cord with me because he was the enderman emperor for a good couple thousand years and lost all of the powers he'd had for that time when he left so his entire life changed

Misfit Mania S3: ryssel! he was originally made by my friend dibons but they gave me general ownership of him i think. but either way i love him. hes very stupid and trusts the wrong people and he almost gets beacontown overrun by zombies

Borderline: PRISMA. i LOVE prisma hes so fucked up it's unreal he deadass enchants his classmate to go on a rabid killing rampage on accident and he doesn't know what to do about it so he tries another enchantment but that just makes dart worse and then prisma goes closer and closer to losing it the worse dart gets

#oc #ocs #prisma #pyrestrike #twigtail #waspwhisper #stagfang #moorstep #jay redwood #poppystar #roxx #long post

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divinatetarotreading · 5 years

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What deck has the "winged boar"? Is the mysme deck gonna have that?

The Winged Boar is a special extra card in the Prisma Visions tarot, which is the deck that I’ve chosen to use for Zen because it seems to have a personality that is similar to him. It functions as an extra card in the Major Arcana, not replacing but in addition to the others, as a 79th card. I will typically remove the card when reading for someone else, but since this example reading was for myself, I left it in place. I’ve only had it show up in readings once or twice, but this time it seemed significant, so I didn’t want to gloss over it or redo the spread.

The MysMe deck will not have that card, and you are perfectly welcome to request it be left out of the deck (or left in) for your reading. I personally like it, but I know some tarot traditionalists may not, and that’s just fine.

- Mod Gwen

#answered #Anonymous

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fgodestinyawakenings · 5 years

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Solomon Singularity: Section 9~Section 10

Speeding things up now that we’re down at the final pillar! The final 5 chapters are somewhat going to cramp together since it’s only one enemy boss to deal against for this entire Singularity!

Section 9

On the final seat Andromalius commands its other pillars in defeating the existing Heroic spirits. Of course... Just when we thought things could end, a new one showed up!

With all seven Singularities tied to their respective pillar, are we meeting our doom like this?!

Until... That laughter... Don’t tell me?! Well it’s been a long while since we last saw you showing up in Nerofest here.... Edmond Dantes!! And Jeanne Alter too!!!

Even Amakusa Shiro... All the event Servants that helped us and fucking limited Servants that we’ll never have!!! Seems like Iskandar and Mama Raikou bickered in who’s the better lightning.... Let’s not even bring Edison and Telsa in this

Heroine X joined in too despite no Artorias around here.... AAAAH!!! R... S... RYOUGI SHIKI?! THAT OTHER SHIKI TOO CAME!!! Though they seem to have settled themselves with a rematch later...

On another hand, Nobunaga seems like the only one who’s been dealing shits at them despite it being not working. Along with Okita who helped.... And her tubercolosis kicks in... NIGHTINGALE, EMERGENCY TREATMENT NEEDED HERE!!!

Looks like Illya and Chloe from Prisma world has joined too. Along with Ibaraki and Shuten! A mother trouble in worrying about her daughter... At least you got her as a sort-of good drinking partner, Shuten!

............ KERRY!! With Irisviel together... The one happening Fate/Zero never make it too. Both husband and wife fighting side by side!

Seems like Cleopatra chips in her part too with Tamamo Cat and Mata Hari! Alright, time to kick one last demon pillar before we face Solomon at last!

And.... IT’S FUCKING FINALLY DOWN ON 29/30TH DECEMBER! WITH THE FINAL RAID GONE, WE CAN NOW FACE IT LAST TIME BEFORE ENTERING THE THRONE!

Here’s my 1~5 turn team for the raid! At least realizing now I have Helena, it’s using to charge Herc-chan’s NP team to finish it!

The story at least... Looks like the Coffin King is having lots of fun trash-talking while beating the shit out of them. At least you know that’s one of your own pillar’s fault that chose him to deal with the Gudas at the end.

After helping him lit up a cig (someone definitely had the time for a quick smoke), we’re asked one last time to press on from Edmond. 7 days passed since the raid... And we’ll now finally face him in the coming Section 11!

Section 10

Abruptly from defeating Forenus... Once more we entered into King Solomon’s internal monologue. The monologue on the visions he sees off about human lives... Amusing and pointless, mirthless and tearless he repeats.

Returning back to his throne, Bael reported to him of their temple being invaded by us. As Bael requested Solomon to give the permission for his third Noble Phantasm, Solomon brushed it off and mocks to assure Bael that Heroic Spirits are mere fools daring to enter his throne

Once Bael was sent off to continue dealing with us, Solomon questioned why the Servants continued fighting for a human history on meaningless life

As the next final few is dealing with Solomon... I’ll end it here with tomorrow and the day after queue post to publish them out!

#fgo #fate grand order #solomon singularity #solomon na #the shit I shit myself into

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leonaluv · 2 years

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I saw that celebrity readings were open. Can you please do a reading on Leonardo DiCaprio and Camila Morrone's relationship

Here it is 💌

Queen of wands and Page of wands have some sort of family relationship or another woman involved. Yet she would have known about the other woman. The way they are connected in this reading can be hers too. Nine of wands and king of pentacles. 3 diamonds also came out, so he felt sorta guarded in this relationship. A relationship where it felt like I was shown and told. Camila did feel very confident and the desire for a relationship was still there for her. It may have been more intense. She felt that she was confident but at times she may have felt out of place.

Camila felt introverted at times and wanted to portray herself as the queen of wands. ( In reality, she was the page of wands ) . The wand is this fiery card and has that strong charisma ( Just like the westerners, for celebs, you will see them act more invincible, and have just that strong personality.)

For her, when she is around Leonardo's friends, that side of the youthful page of wands comes out on how Camila isn't so sure of how to express what she is passionate about or her personality.

They would talk about how they want to be big on a large scale, investments, and, for her, she just thought of how many followers she just gained on social media. ( I don't mean to put it down in this way, it's just an example I can give on the page of wands that have youthful energy )

In a way that could have developed feelings in a way of just being spiritually aligned with each other. That's why it would be easy for him to show off and he wanted to raise her. ( Make her feel like a queen) They did have a love for each other, some sort of fantasy that in this relationship was fulfilled. A young person may have spoken out about her and said how Leonardo used his influence to get her job. That was something that was an obstacle, but she would have that opportunity anyway with her star power.

( The Curator Deck and Prisma Vision tarot deck )

This was something that was a business relationship or perhaps they met at work. I'm not sure but the fool came out to Leonardo before and he may have been introduced to her through a friend. He was ready for something new toward the end of the relationship. She may expect to get out of a relationship with a family. She got another love offer that would help her type feel that full queen of wands energy. In a relationship, she may have been over her head, but through this relationship, she learns what she wants in love and how to express her feelings better.

Overall, they just had feelings of just where they were in love and then out of love. ( Hot and Cold)

#celeb tarot #celeb love tarot #leornado Dicaprio #camila morrone

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chemicalpink · 3 years

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・❥・Opinions on dating, marriage, and family ・❥・ | Tarot + Astrodice + Astrology | Kim Namjoon

Disclaimer: This reading is based on my experience and knowledge of astrology, it is not meant to be the absolute truth, as BTS are real people, and astrology can only capture so much about multidimensional humans that have had past experiences and cultural approaches amongst other things, it does not have to resonate with you since this is in no way related to anyone reading it (unless you are a member of BTS in which case, get out of here lol ) This is just for entertainment purposes. Remember that tarot as a form of divination only allows us to read current energy and as time advances it becomes less accurate, so it basically reads up to a 6 months period of time

A/N: Don't forget to check back in for the rest of the Namkook Birthday Project

masterlist. tarot masterlist. astrology masterlist.

So evidently we’ve talked about this man’s Venus, we will acknowledge it briefly, however I’ll be focusing on some asteroids for this one.

So Joon’s 7th House is Taurus, which basically tells us that this man’s ideas on dating are having a slow and steady partner, someone that is able to keep him grounded, for him, relationships should be all about mutual growth. He is also prone to have a partner that is willing to be spoiled rotten, up to a point where we could be talking findom. On the same note as grounding, I can’t express just how much Joon values his partners as some of the most determined and hard-working people, you gotta have your shit together if you want a piece of Kim Namjoon. When it comes to his mindset on family, looking at his Pisces 4th House, it would really depend on just how much he has been working on it, but he’s prone to be conflicted on how and even if he wants a family of his own, in his mind it is so far away and he definitely craves a family yet his reasons for wanting one might not be as much as because of parenthood and domesticity as they are because he wants to make up for the lost time when it comes to his roots. When I tell you this man has trouble with emotional processes. All in all, both his 4th and 7th House do indicate a tendency of his to go after toxic partners that will emotionally drain him, which would further explain why his views on love and sex are the way they are. I would add to that that he has no planet in the 7th House, which typically means marrying very early or really late, as Joon is in his late twenties, I would say he marries late, this is, taking also into account what I’ve stated before.

So we’ll take a look into some asteroids. Joon has a Scorpio Juno, an asteroid that represents long-term commitments, relationships, and many other intricate settings of it. Once again, this placement marks Joon as someone that is very private in his relationships, even more so if they’re tinted as long-term ones. Once again, this placement attracts partners that can become obsessed and be overly jealous, as this can also go the other way around. Become one with his partner? That's basically the whole vibe here. He also has a Libra Eros, the romantic and idealistic side of Joon we have been able to catch on camera when he has said he wants to be a dad, yet it also manifests in his love of the thrill of chasing a partner, flirting, and then feeling over and done with it once they’re dating, once again, Namjoon self-sabotaging his relationships. Finally, he has an Aquarius Psyche, although not really relevant for this analysis, this placement makes him a born feminist sympathiser and in a relationship? this man will not hesitate to accompany a female partner in the eternal struggle for their rights. Relationships for him must be mentally challenging or else he isn’t interested.

If you like your partner taking care of you, Namjoon is your man. He truly believes that even though conceptualised as traditional or conservative, he must take care of his partner, buy them everything they need and so much more. [strength] The theme is consistent, and although I do see him talking the logistics out with his partner, it surely is a deal-breaker for him if you don’t allow him to be the one “in charge” of the relationship, you wouldn’t even be allowed to move a hair on your head if you were his partner. He does it from a good place though. [the chariot] He’s well aware of what we’ve talked about on his placements, Joon tends to fluctuate between feeling alone, going out and looking for someone, being disillusioned and/or getting stuck in a bad relationship and starting all over again. [8oC rx]

Do you know what’s also a continuing theme (apart from all these divination methods being very consistent)? Joon’s fixation on throwing a 9 on the dice. Capricorn Jupiter in 9th tunes us into some of his opinions on relationships, signaling that yes, he wants to be the one in charge, yes, he is conflicted when it comes to family of his own AND he would like to find a partner that is constantly challenging him in intellectual levels, which is why he thinks he would feel fulfilled with a foreign partner.

Deck Used: The Prisma Visions Tarot.

#cp: namkook #kpop tarot #bts tarot #kpop astrology #bts astrology #namjoon tarot #namjoon astrology #kim namjoon

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indigoire · 6 years

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Widomauk Beauty and the Beast AU Masterpost

Hey gang! So I have this wonderful AU idea that’s been floating around in my brain since episode two or three of the new campaign, and I have not written a word for it...except for on here via your asks! My tag for this is “Beauty and the Beast AU”, so you can look on my blog if you want to read everything unedited. Here’s basically an outline of what I’ve established so far.

Caleb

Town Weirdo

Bookworm (it’s his most Belle-like trait lbr)

parents alive, lives with them

his parents travel, leaving Caleb behind, and end up in Molly-Beast’s home, Caleb makes the trade for them to Molly

about nineteen, a LOT less stinky

Astrid is his Gaston, Eodwulf is LeFou, the only difference is that Caleb has a bit of a romantic interest towards Astrid, nothing serious, but she’s stealthily pressuring him to propose to her. Not the exact dynamic of Gaston and Belle in the movies, but definitely something similar.

I have a vague idea that while Caleb is Molly-Beast’s prisoner that Astrid and Eodwulf go to the Academy (because Caleb’s imprisonment is at least a year long) so really Caleb avoided a Terrible Fate

Trent is still evil af, the empire is still corrupt af

Molly

Molly is a very bird-like Beast

I envision him as this bipedal peacock/swan hybrid, with a lot of inspiration drawn from the swans from the Prisma Visions tarot, pictured here

I find myself torn between him being more humanoid and just straight up a giant bird hybrid, because on one hand the scariest monsters look the most human, but on the other hand it’s FAR more dramatic when he turns back into a tiefling if he’s a giant monster

I think it was @swiftbell who I had a convo with where we imagined Molly’s transformation back to normal where he just shrinks down and all his jewelry just starts falling off all around him, and it’s such a hilarious visual to me

because yes Molly absolutely still wears a ton of jewelry. He likes shiny things. He’s (still) incredibly vain. He drapes himself in fancy silks.

I’m also torn between Molly introducing himself to Caleb or just being called The Beast/Beast by Caleb, hence Molly-Beast whenever I refer to him

Molly as the Beast: dark feathers around terrifyingly pale eyes, peacock like feathers in general, talon-like hands and feet, sharp teeth, voice like the voice Taliesin uses for Vicious Mockery, can get painfully screechy when upset (and sheds feathers when in a tizzy), much bigger than Caleb.

Molly when transformed back has no tattoos EXCEPT for the peacock feathers on his neck, the one lasting mark of the curse

The World/Other Characters

Molly’s servants are comprised of the Mighty Nein, obviously, with perhaps a few of the circus folk and other NPCs as background characters

All of Molly’s servants have been transformed into animals. Fjord is a bullfrog. Jester is a Capuchin monkey (and she likes to spray Caleb with fruity perfumes). Yasha is a big guard dog. Beau is a ferret/weasel. Nott is a raccoon.

They can all speak

Caleb still has Frumpkin, and Frumpkin is still Caleb’s familiar. Like Belle’s horse, Frumpkin is Caleb’s connection to the outside world (plus he can help him sleuth around and learn about the curse)

The Story

so I had the idea that like the classic tale Caleb begs Molly for three days to visit home and Molly gives Caleb a magic amulet to wear to bring him back (based off of Molly’s Periapt of Wound Closure)

Caleb returns home just as Astrid and Eowulf, having been corrupted by Trent, return home to kill their parents

Caleb has a chance to stop them from doing this and it delays him from getting back to Molly on time

Molly lays dying in the garden by the time Caleb returns

I really want to draw from the classic fairytale a lot more than Disney, though obviously there is a huge influence of both; Walter Crane and Jan Brett’s illustrated versions of the story are also big influences.

As always, I love taking questions about this AU, as it helps me flesh things out a bit more. I haven’t really had time to actually construct a fic out of this, but I appreciate all the ideas being offered as I slowly worldbuild. Please let me know if I’ve left anything important out. Thank you all! <3

#Beauty and the Beast AU #Critical Role #Widomauk #Caleb Widogast #Mollymauk Tealeaf #Mollymauk #long post #sorta

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0100100100101101 · 6 years

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There’s a revolution afoot, and you will know it by the stripes.

Earlier this year, a group of Berkeley researchers released a pair of videos. In one, a horse trots behind a chain link fence. In the second video, the horse is suddenly sporting a zebra’s black-and-white pattern. The execution isn’t flawless, but the stripes fit the horse so neatly that it throws the equine family tree into chaos.

Turning a horse into a zebra is a nice stunt, but that’s not all it is. It is also a sign of the growing power of machine learning algorithms to rewrite reality. Other tinkerers, for example, have used the zebrafication tool to turn shots of black bears into believable photos of pandas, apples into oranges, and cats into dogs. A Redditor used a different machine learning algorithm to edit porn videos to feature the faces of celebrities. At a new startup called Lyrebird, machine learning experts are synthesizing convincing audio from one-minute samples of a person’s voice. And the engineers developing Adobe’s artificial intelligence platform, called Sensei, are infusing machine learning into a variety of groundbreaking video, photo, and audio editing tools. These projects are wildly different in origin and intent, yet they have one thing in common: They are producing artificial scenes and sounds that look stunningly close to actual footage of the physical world. Unlike earlier experiments with AI-generated media, these look and sound real.

The technologies underlying this shift will soon push us into new creative realms, amplifying the capabilities of today’s artists and elevating amateurs to the level of seasoned pros. We will search for new definitions of creativity that extend the umbrella to the output of machines. But this boom will have a dark side, too. Some AI-generated content will be used to deceive, kicking off fears of an avalanche of algorithmic fake news. Old debates about whether an image was doctored will give way to new ones about the pedigree of all kinds of content, including text. You’ll find yourself wondering, if you haven’t yet: What role did humans play, if any, in the creation of that album/TV series/clickbait article?

A world awash in AI-generated content is a classic case of a utopia that is also a dystopia. It’s messy, it’s beautiful, and it’s already here.

Currently there are two ways to produce audio or video that resembles the real world. The first is to use cameras and microphones to record a moment in time, such as the original Moon landing. The second is to leverage human talent, often at great expense, to commission a facsimile. So if the Moon descent had been a hoax, a skilled film team would have had to carefully stage Neil Armstrong’s lunar gambol. Machine learning algorithms now offer a third option, by letting anyone with a modicum of technical knowledge algorithmically remix existing content to generate new material.

At first, deep-learning-generated content wasn’t geared toward photorealism. Google’s Deep Dreams, released in 2015, was an early example of using deep learning to crank out psychedelic landscapes and many-eyed grotesques. In 2016, a popular photo editing app called Prisma used deep learning to power artistic photo filters, for example turning snapshots into an homage to Mondrian or Munch. The technique underlying Prisma is known as style transfer: take the style of one image (such as The Scream) and apply it to a second shot.

Now the algorithms powering style transfer are gaining precision, signalling the end of the Uncanny Valley—the sense of unease that realistic computer-generated humans typically elicit. In contrast to the previous somewhat crude effects, tricks like zebrafication are starting to fill in the Valley’s lower basin. Consider the work from Kavita Bala’s lab at Cornell, where deep learning can infuse one photo’s style, such as a twinkly nighttime ambience, into a snapshot of a drab metropolis—and fool human reviewers into thinking the composite place is real. Inspired by the potential of artificial intelligence to discern aesthetic qualities, Bala cofounded a company called Grokstyle around this idea. Say you admired the throw pillows on a friend’s couch or a magazine spread caught your eye. Feed Grokstyle’s algorithm an image, and it will surface similar objects with that look.

“What I like about these technologies is they are democratizing design and style,” Bala says. “I’m a technologist—I appreciate beauty and style but can’t produce it worth a damn. So this work makes it available to me. And there’s a joy in making it available to others, so people can play with beauty. Just because we are not gifted on this certain axis doesn’t mean we have to live in a dreary land.”

At Adobe, machine learning has been a part of the company’s creative products for well over a decade, but only recently has AI become transformative. In October engineers working on Sensei, the company’s set of AI technologies, showed off a prospective video editing tool called Adobe Cloak, which allows its user to seamlessly remove, say, a lamppost from a video clip—a task that would ordinarily be excruciating for an experienced human editor. Another experiment, called Project Puppetron, applies an artistic style to a video in real time. For example, it can take a live feed of a person and render him as a chatty bronze statue or a hand-drawn cartoon. “People can basically do a performance in front of a web cam or any camera and turn that into animation, in real time,” says Jon Brandt, senior principal scientist and director of Adobe Research. (Sensei’s experiments don’t always turn into commercial products.)

Machine learning makes these projects possible because it can understand the parts of a face or the difference between foreground and background better than previous approaches in computer vision. Sensei’s tools let artists work with concepts, rather than the raw material. “Photoshop is great at manipulating pixels, but what people are trying to do is manipulate the content that is represented by the pixels,” Brandt explains.

That’s a good thing. When artists no longer waste their time wrangling individual dots on a screen, their productivity increases, and perhaps also their ingenuity, says Brandt. “I am excited about the possibility of new art forms emerging, which I expect will be coming.”

But it’s not hard to see how this creative explosion could all go very wrong. For Yuanshun Yao, a University of Chicago graduate student, it was a fake video that set him on his recent project probing some of the dangers of machine learning. He had hit play on a recent clip of an AI-generated, very real-looking Barack Obama giving a speech, and got to thinking: Could he do a similar thing with text?

A text composition needs to be nearly perfect to deceive most readers, so he started with a forgiving target, fake online reviews for platforms like Yelp or Amazon. A review can be just a few sentences long, and readers don’t expect high-quality writing. So he and his colleagues designed a neural network that spat out Yelp-style blurbs of about five sentences each. Out came a bank of reviews that declared such things as, “Our favorite spot for sure!” and “I went with my brother and we had the vegetarian pasta and it was delicious.” He asked humans to then guess whether they were real or fake, and sure enough, the humans were often fooled.

With fake reviews costing around $10 to $50 each from micro-task marketplaces, Yao figured it was just a matter of time before a motivated engineer tried to automate the process, driving down the price and kicking off a plague of false reviews. (He also explored using neural nets to defend a platform against fake content, with some success.) “As far as we know there are not any such systems, yet,” Yao says. “But maybe in five or ten years, we will be surrounded by AI-generated stuff.” His next target? Generating convincing news articles.

Progress on videos may move faster. Hany Farid, an expert at detecting fake photos and videos and a professor at Dartmouth, worries about how fast viral content spreads, and how slow the verification process is. Farid imagines a near future in which a convincing fake video of President Trump ordering the total nuclear annihilation of North Korea goes viral and incites panic, like a recast War of the Worlds for the AI era. “I try not to make hysterical predictions, but I don’t think this is far-fetched,” he says. “This is in the realm of what’s possible today.”

Fake Trump speeches are already circulating on the internet, a product of Lyrebird, the voice synthesis startup—though in the audio clips the company has shared with the public, Trump keeps his finger off the button, limiting himself to praising Lyrebird. Jose Sotelo, the company’s cofounder and CEO, argues that the technology is inevitable, so he and his colleagues might as well be the ones to do it, with ethical guidelines in place. He believes that the best defense, for now, is raising awareness of what machine learning is capable of. “If you were to see a picture of me on the moon, you would think it’s probably some image editing software,” Sotelo says. “But if you hear convincing audio of your best friend saying bad things about you, you might get worried. It’s a really new technology and a really challenging problem.”

Likely nothing can stop the coming wave of AI-generated content—if we even wanted to. At its worst, scammers and political operatives will deploy machine learning algorithms to generate untold volumes of misinformation. Because social networks selectively transmit the most attention-grabbing content, these systems’ output will evolve to be maximally likeable, clickable, and shareable.

But at its best, AI-generated content is likely to heal our social fabric in as many ways as it may rend it. Sotelo of Lyrebird dreams of how his company’s technology could restore speech to people who have lost their voice to diseases such as ALS or cancer. That horse-to-zebra video out of Berkeley? It was a side effect of work to improve how we train self-driving cars. Often, driving software is trained in virtual environments first, but a world like Grand Theft Auto only roughly resembles reality. The zebrafication algorithm was designed to shrink the distance between the virtual environment and the real world, ultimately making self-driving cars safer.

These are the two edges of the AI sword. As it improves, it mimics human actions more and more closely. Eventually, it has no choice but to become all too human: capable of good and evil in equal measure.

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