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waatermelon-sugaar · 3 years

Text

Choose Me

Pairing = Richard x GN reader

Words = 1.4k

Summary = You meet Richard at a fancy-dress competition

Warnings = some mistakes, I wrote this quite quickly

A/N = Prompt no. 18 requested by @phoenixhalliwell as part of my 300 follower celebration, thanks so much for the request, hope you like it! Prompt was “Choose me” w/ Richard and bolded in text. First time writing him, hope it’s ok!

Posted to AO3

Masterlist

***

Fancy dress competitions were the worst.

And your sister, Hannah, had decided to throw a fancy dress competition in her garden, all to raise money for charity. Which meant you couldn’t complain and you had to make an effort.

It was all part of an annual summer party she threw, starting in mid-afternoon, finishing late, with children running around, a barbeque for the food, and a couple of games. And this year she’d also chosen to do fancy dress. Conveniently she was exempt, because she was going to judge.

When you’d asked why you couldn’t judge, she told you “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” And also that “it would be embarrassing if the host’s family didn’t dress up!” But apparently not that embarrassing, because neither she nor Hayden, your brother-in-law, had dressed up.

It wasn’t the dressing up that bothered you so much, more it was deciding what to wear. What if everyone else had much better ideas, or went along with a theme, or…?

In the end you’d chosen a simple costume, finding a ghostbusters jumpsuit in town and deeming it to be good enough. You were regretting all your life choices at the moment, however, the sun beating onto your shoulders in the late afternoon heat, and you were sure that your tank top and shorts underneath were soaked in sweat.

The garden had been decorated nicely, bunting around the boundaries, fairy lights pinned up for later in the evening when it turned dark. But for the meantime, you were left standing next to a stranger who was more interested in talking to the person on their other side, leaving you feeling like a lemon, standing there, not knowing anyone.

You glanced back to the darkness of the kitchen, where it was no doubt much cooler, and aimed a glare at where you were sure Hannah was standing. What was taking so long you had no idea, but you could see her talking to someone else.

Your nieces, nephews, and their friends milled around in front of you, a couple chattering about the merits of each costume in amusing seriousness while they ate the treats available. Hayden was playing a game of football with a couple of kids in the shade at the other end of the garden and you huffed in impatience.

Hannah had claimed she’d choose a fair, impartial judge (and you ‘didn’t fit that criteria’, when you’d opened your mouth to argue), someone she knew from work, she’d said, but you weren’t prepared for who stepped out of the kitchen with her. The first thing you noticed was his moustache, big, but neat. His hair was curly, and greying slightly, a stray curl flopping onto his forehead.

He looks nervous as the two of them step out of the house, and although you don’t care, you never did, about this competition, suddenly you really, really want to win.

They took their time going down the line, accepting donations from each of the entrants and marking something on their clipboards.

Finally, finally, they reached you.

“This is Richard,” was all you got by way of introductions as you handed over your donation. You gave him your hand to shake, smiling and telling him your name.

“Nice to meet you Richard.”

Hannah had already seen your costume, so she soon returned back to the cool darkness of the kitchen, so you walked up to Richard, where he was watching the football game, clipboard hanging at his side.

“Dare I ask who you picked as the best?” You ask, standing next to him.

“That would be telling.” He has nice eyes, you notice, dappled brown in the sunlight and with laughter lines at the side which crease as he talks.

“Choose me.” You say. “Choose me and…” You flounder for a second, flirting a strangely unfamiliar territory after so long without practice. “... and I’ll give you a kiss.”

Your eyes meet his before he ducks his head, a faint blush rising up his cheeks. “I … ok.” The words are quiet enough that you nearly miss them, but, regardless, you lean forwards and give him a quick peck on the lips.

You don’t give him a chance to do anything about it, drawing away, opening your eyes, and watching as he leans forwards slightly, trying to follow your mouth. You grin and Richard’s suddenly fascinated by the football game, shifting his feet, while you can’t help but grin wider. His lips were soft, and his moustache tickled you, but he moves closer so the backs of your hands were touching.

The rest of the afternoon is spent flirting, and you learn that both of you are rusty when it comes to flirting. The winner of the fancy dress competition is announced just before dusk after some passionate arguing between Richard and Hannah, before you are given second place, and the winner is a friend of Hannah’s, wearing an elaborately patterned Belle gown.

You can’t be bitter, she does look good.

“Sorry you can’t take back your kiss.” Richard has approached you this time.

You bite back a smile. “Maybe you could walk me home and kiss me properly as compensation? Away from all these children?”

Richard leans forward into your personal space as his eyes flick down to your lips, again. “I’d like that.”

So the two of you say your goodbyes, a short process considering you both know a combined total of 5 people at the party, leaving the glittering fairy lights and light music behind for the yellow of the streetlights and sounds of distant cars.

Hannah had given you an annoyingly knowing look as you’d said goodbye, hardly able to contain herself with excitement. “Coffee tomorrow?” may have sounded like a perfectly innocent request, but seeing as Hannah was just short of winking, you knew exactly what she wanted, rolling your eyes but nodding in agreement.

“I’ll text you,” you promise, already walking away, turning to go through the house, where you can already see the outline of Richard through the glass in the front door, waiting for you.

It’s cooler this side of the house, less people, and a lack of fire, but you prefer it this way. You didn’t dare take off your costume all afternoon, not even to wrap it around your waist, and the cool air feels light on your face.

The sky is clear and beautiful, stars peeking out between the glow of the streetlamps as you and Richard walk home. There’s still a faint glow of orange sun peeking over the horizon, casting deep purple above the two of you. You stay quiet for the most part, and you know that you’re too busy thrumming with anticipation to think of something to say, although you can’t speak for Richard.

“Well this is me.” You’ve made it to your house, and you suddenly think that you don’t want the night to end. Standing at the edge of your front yard, you glance back at the house. “Do you want to come in? For a … for a drink?”

When you look back at Richard, he’s stepped closer. “Better not,” he says, and you can’t help but feel disappointed. “Maybe I could take you out tomorrow night though?”

His voice is soft, and you bite your lip so you don’t grin like a fool, nodding your head. His eyes are starting to close a little, darting around your face, centering on your lips.

You close the space between you, pulling your arms around his neck and kissing him.

It’s ten times better than the one earlier.

His lips are still soft, but he takes more agency this time, biting your bottom lip, and when you open your mouth, eagerly dipping his tongue in. His arms are on your body, hands feeling like they’re running everywhere, like he can’t get enough of you, can’t believe he’s actually touching you.

It’s messy, and a little desperate, and you feel a bit like a teenager again, having to kiss out of sight of your parents. Your bodies are pressed against each other, and it takes all your self control not to wrap a leg around his waist. Richard’s pressing into you, and you can feel the weight of his stomach against yours, the way he purposefully keeps his hips away from yours.

Your hands thread into his hair, tugging a little when the two of you separate, gasping for air. “Meet me here at 7?” You ask. It takes a minute for him to remember what you were talking about before he nods, eyes sparkling in the growing darkness.

You steal another quick kiss before you leave him, and when you invite him in the next night, he doesn’t say no.

***

Thanks for reading! Reblogs and comments mean the world to me 🥰🥰🥰

#richard alonso muñoz x reader #Richard Alonso Muñoz #the letter room #richard alonso munoz #the letter room fanfic

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buglife · 3 years

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Terra Lumina

A hollow knight au guide that I keep writing in. You can read all my writings and art stuff in the #terra-lumina tag. Mostly so I can just point to this post when explaining things awee. :3 Post subject to edits and changes.

Terra Lumina is an au where both Ghost (the little knight) and Quirrel are together and are the new rulers of Hallownest. So it's a royalty au! Pretty much it's slice of life where they do their best to be a better ruler than the Pale King ever was, ruling with kindness and intelligence. Seriously, like, the Pale King could have just talked to the Radiance instead of letting things snowball like they did. They both live in the new palace which is pretty much like the White House in that it's mostly dedicated to government with an apartment for the rulers to live in. It's where the old palace used to be, but now it's much greener and 100% less buzzsaws. It is post embrace the void ending and an everyone lives/nobody dies au where the only characters that are dead are those that were found so at the start of the game. Takes place about 5-7 years after the end of the game.

The two romantic rulers.

Ghost:Now taller than Quirrel and is the Shade Lord, god of void and dreams. Sovereign of Hallownest and rightful ruler due to king's brand. Can use telepathy but only does so with family/friends, as they are nervous about scaring people so uses sign language with them. Is very happy to have family/friends and overall liked by most folks. Is still scary to some and is sad about that. Married Quirrel. Considers Mato their adoptive father and calls them such. Still enjoys fighting (but for fun now). Since dreams are now their aspect, they gather up nightmares to help the population (and gives to their adopted grimmchild, Allegro, and Grimm themselves.)

Quirrel: Now called the Scholar King, rules alongside Ghost. He still has trouble believing that this is his life. Chaotic Good. Mostly deals with the logistics in running the kingdom. Adoptive mother is Monomon who found him when he was teeny tiny. Did not attempt to drown themselves, instead isolated himself when he thought Monomon was dead so Ghost had to find him. Still fights and can practically teleport. Spends free time in the palace library where a copy of all the surviving books were moved to and is free to the public to check out and read.

Family/Friends

Hornet: Still the Princess of Deepnest and was happy to have her mother Herrah rule again. Is officially Deepnest's ambassador and works closely with her sibling to be sure things that need to get done, get done. She won't admit it but she loves spending time with her siblings. Also randomly jumps Ghost to keep them on their toes and make sure they don't lose their skill. This can happen at anytime, anyplace. Is a close ally with the Hive and is helping the new Queen get used to her role. Also demands spars with Quirrel all the time because she does like her brother and law and the fact she doesn't kill him is proof enough in her eyes.

Mato: Dadmaster. Pretty much raised Ghost in between the end of the game to present day (and did a damn good job). Still lives in the Howling Cliffs and teaches students still, especially knight candidates. Is always on hand to cause trouble if needed. Is so proud you guys can't even. Keeps his home open in case Ghost and Quirrel need to hide for a bit. Officiated Ghost and Quirrel's wedding because of course.

Hollow: Part of the new great knights of Hallownest and is known as Hollow the Kind. Still likes to help people, and after having lots of care and therapy, is now more expressive and open. Is pretty much free to do what they please, and they choose to mostly patrol the kingdom and help when needed. Is constantly sneaking frogs into the palace because Hollow loves them. Can only use telepathy with other void beings and uses sign language to communicate otherwise. Is still missing an arm but had a magical prosthetic built. Loves to be in cuddle piles.

Tiso:Big brother figure and part of the new great knights of Hallownest. He is known as Tiso the Daring. Is actually a badass Captain America type fighter, just couldn't dodge a house sized mawlek and nearly died back then. Taught Ghost all the swears and often invokes 'Big Brother Rights'. Is also Captain of the Guard and has matured a lot since the end of the game. In a relationship with Myla and Cloth.

Cloth:Part of the new great knights of Hallownest and is known as Cloth the Strong. Makes sure people behave. Has healed from her near suicidal want to join her late lover, and now has a more positive outlook on life. Tends to organize tournaments that aren't fucked up and fatal like the Coliseum. In a relationship with Tiso and Myla.

Myla:Was saved from the infection, but it left her prone to sickness and a little weaker than most bugs. Compensates for still being cherry and wonderful to be around. Actually wicked smart and has helped Ghost restart the mining industry. Enjoys going to musicals/plays in her free time. Still loves being a geologist and provided most of the geological samples in the Capital's museum. Is in a relationship with Cloth and Tiso.

Ogrim: The only surviving great knight of old Hallownest. Is part of the new knights as Ogrim the Defender. Is the leader of the new knights and is a brilliant tactician. Has moved up from the Waterways to a new home and no longer lives in exile. Likes to plan parties and is generally doing better. He deserves it.

God Tamer: Real name is Xena (I seen it used around and I like it.) Part of the new great knights of Hallownest and is known as Xena the Tamer. Still works alongside her beast, ‘Pickles’. Has an uncanny ability to befriend dangerous beasts and pacifies them. Now has a small zoo’s worth of ‘friends’ that come and go for pats and treats. Dunks on Tiso a lot. Is surprisingly a conservationist. Will beat the shit out of people without hesitation if needed. Often fights new recruits to judge areas needing improvement. Has no tolerance for idiots. Was saved from the infection, but was not infected long enough to cause long term damage.

Allegro: The Grimmchild. Has chosen female pronouns. She is now past the grub stage and has left the kingdom to travel with her father, Grimm, to learn how to take over the Troupe. Still keeps in contact with Ghost through dreams and loves Ghost very much as their ‘Ren’. Was and still is, a little shit. Ghost misses them a lot but is comforted by her visits. Ghost saves nightmares to give to her so she can get big and strong!

Grimm: Considered a friend at this point, and taught Ghost about the dream realm. Visits through dreams. Ghost saves nightmares to give to him. Often has advice when needed.

Sheo/Nailsmith: Uncles. They both run an art school with Sheo teaching fine arts and Nail(Smith) teaching forging. They also run an art gallery. Are up to cause trouble whenever needed.

Oro: Uncle. The real sour one. Teaches new recruits and tends to weed out those that can make it from ones that can’t. Pretty much a drill Sargent. Ghost pays him not only in geo, but candy. Special, custom made candy just for Oro. It’s the only way they could get him to do this job. Oro won’t admit it’s also because he loves his former pupil no sir.

Monomon: Quirrel’s adoptive mother and currently is the royal researcher. Teaches classes as well. Ghost pretty much told her to do whatever as long as it will improve the lives of bugkind and she loves them for it. Is always down to cause trouble. Chaotic Neutral. Has some type of explosive with them at any given time. Tends to ‘vanish’ people who have wrong her or her son. Embodies chaos. Craves gossip. Former Dreamer and woke up when Ghost took the pantheon approach to defeating the Radiance.

Herrah: Queen of Hallownest and considers Ghost one of her children. Is happy to be Queen of her own people and is making up for lost time with her daughter. Likes to meet with the Hallownest rulers for a good shit-talking session. Is made of sass. Former Dreamer and woke up when Ghost took the pantheon approach to defeating the Radiance.

Lurien: Watcher of the Capital. Disaster. Will stay up for days on end working on things to accidentally invent new things in the process in sleep deprived delirium. Often gets drunk or high and contemplates the universe. Has the best edibles around I tell you. Is actually good at his job, which is finding suspicious things and investigating them. Former Dreamer and woke up when Ghost took the pantheon approach to defeating the Radiance.

Lemm: Runs the Hallownest museum and works in the back where he catalogs and studies findings and doesn’t have to talk to anyone and is the happiest he could ever be.

Seer: Holy shit she is old. Still lives in the resting grounds. Ghost visits often and brings tea and snacks. Grandma energy. Is currently working with Quirrel to recount as much as she can about moth legends and society so it can be preserved forever. It’s slow going because she is old, but it’s going.

The siblings: Are now at rest.

Everything else

White Lady: Is still alive and has left the gardens. She resides in a little hidden cottage outside the palace where she grows flowers. Is often called in to overlook agriculture efforts. Has long since revoked her crown and is content with a quiet life. Is not considered a mother by Ghost, and Ghost will not forgive her for her role in things. She is okay with this and hopes to atone someday for what she did.

The Pale King: Still fucking dead. Rest in Pieces you shit.

Eternal Emilitia: Is a member of the new noble class and takes her job seriously. She mostly keeps the other nobles in line when she can and helps delegate orders to places where they need to go. It’s like herding cats but she’s getting better with it the longer she’s around. Is respected by Ghost since she knows what it’s like to hit rock bottom and is quite sensitive to the needs to the people.

Radiance: Dead. Was going mad and in pain by the time Ghost got to her. Is now at rest.

Greenpath/Queen’s Gardens:Given back to the moss-kin and Unn. Unn has started to awaken more now that the infection is over and her children are freed from it’s influence. Is considered it’s own ‘kingdom’. Is in good relations with Hallownest.

Fungal Wastes: Still thriving. A hivemind made up of everything from microscopic spores to the entire fungal waste itself. The mushroom tribe trades with Hallownest and is in good relations with them. Still considered weird to most but they are good and peaceful people.

Mantis Tribe: Is in a good relationship with Ghost, Hornet and Quirrel, and not much else. Has complete independence but was asked nicely if they could help train the most dedicated of new guards/knights. Did not pass up the opportunity to be allowed to beat the shit out of willing Hallownest citizens who wanted to train.

Deepnest: Ruled by Queen Herrah and Princess Hornet. Good relationship with Hallownest and enjoys full independence. The beasts that reside are no longer hassled by Hallownest encroachment and thus does not push back into it. Exports silk products and is now a very prosperous nation.

Dirtmouth/Crystal Peaks: Still the same, but with now more people. All our favorite Dirtmouth folks are doing well. Elderbug is delighted to have a full town to be a mayor over.

City of Tears: Now called the 'Capital'. Plants are now on the ceiling to redirect water and stop the constant rain. It's much more pleasant now.

Colosseum of Fools: Left alone mostly. Ghost cannot stop people for wanting to go there if they are of sound mind to make the decision.

The Hive: Is now ruled by the new Queen Apis. Is fully independent and enjoys a cushy trade agreement with Hallownest and the rest of the various nations. She wonders if she will ever live up to her mother, Queen Vespa, but has many friends to help her grow into the role. Hive Knight is her loyal friend.

#hollow knight #terra lumina #au stuff #ruler au #ghost #quirrel #ghost/quirrel #myla/tiso/cloth #sheo/nailsmith #dreamers are alive au #everyone lives/nobody dies #my writing

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justanotherlifeff · 4 years

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How 'bout a Bakugou fic where he's in love with an older woman, lets say his senpai. I just love the idea of Bakubae pining after someone who's a little bit older than him 🤤

Not my senpai

Bakugou stared at the big red zero on the test paper in his hand with an angry expression. Ofcourse he, THE Bakugou Katsuki couldn't get a fucking zero on a test! There must have been some sort of mistake! As if Aizawa was reading Bakugou's mind, he looked at Bakugou and stated, "Bakugou, there hasn’t been any mistake in my grading if that's what you're thinking. You got perfect scores in every other test except for English. If you want to be a top hero, your English speaking skills need to be top notch since famous pro heroes are sometimes sent on missions abroad. You need extra tutoring and we'll talk in details about it after classes are over.". "Yes, sensei.." Bakugou grumbled, almost blowing up the test paper in his hand as he crumbled it and shoved it in his bag. The worst part of it all was that he was the only one in class to fail English. Iida, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu came from expensive middle schools which gave them good English skills since they already learnt it all from back there. Midoriya was always good at taking notes which is why he managed to keep up with English as he also took help from Iida and Todoroki. Uraraka and Tsuyu took help from them as well and managed to pass the English exams. Kaminari and Sero knew English from video games while Mina and Kirishima learnt it from american fashion and fitness blogs. Koda learned English from cooking videos while Jirou learnt it from singing English songs. Satou apparently had relatives abroad and therefore, he was taught the language by his parents. No one knew how Ayoama knew such good English while the others simply seeked guidance from Yaoyorozu. Hell, even Mineta knew enough English to pass the exams thanks to watching way too many English porn videos! Bakugou was the only one with the massive ego to not ask for help from anyone which in turn came back to bite him on his own ass.

When class was finally over, Bakugou sat at his chair angrily, waiting for his discussion with Aizawa. He knew that getting extra tutoring would improve his English skills and ofcourse, he didn't want to be topped by "shitty deku". Then again, taking help from people was rather embarassing for him. However, it's not like he had an option in this case. While thinking of all these, he didn't notice the third year student slip in the classroom. Bakugou was currently in the second year of UA. During his first year, he was able to manage English classes somehow but now that lessons got way harder, he managed to get his first failing grade in his entire life. Bakugou's trail of thoughts was broken by Aizawa speaking to him. "I don't have any extra time to give you extra tutoring and nor does the other teachers. (L/N) here would be helping you with English because of that. She's one of the big three of the third year and she's got the top marks in every year so don't underestimate her and behave. Talk to her and set your extra lesson timings." Aizawa drawled before getting out of the class with his sleeping bag, leaving Bakugou with you. "Hey, I'm (L/N) (Y/N) from 3A and I'm glad to help you out with English. So, Bakugou-kun, tell me when you're free and we can work out a time to study together?" you told him with a small smile as you sat on the chair infront of him. "Am free after classes everyday for 2 hours." Bakugou muttered with a scowl. "I see. You're not too friendly are you? Well, it doesn't matter. As long as you cooperate and as long as your English skills get better, you don't need to play friends. I'll see you after class on Wednesdays and Thursdays alright? See ya tommorow." You stood up, your polite smile gone to replace your face with seriousness. Well, atleast you successfully broke his expectations of you being a random extra cause it was like you read him by his expression alone.

"(L/N)-SENPAI IS GIVING YOU EXTRA TUTORING? GODDAMNIT WHY DID I NOT FAIL ENGLISH?!?!?!??!" Kaminari wailed at the information passed onto him for the 100th time. "Why is dunce face acting like that?" Bakugou asked Kirishima, tired of Kaminari's fanboying over you. "You really don't know anything about (L/N)-senpai do you Bakubro? Her quirk is similar to principal Nezu and she pretty much is smarter than a computer. She can tell exactly what you're thinking by just looking at you cause she's so good at reading a person's body language and she apparantly got into the hero course without having any physical quirk just cause she apparantly made a different student hit a building in a certain place that made all the other buildings in Ground beta fall over crushing all the robots. Principal Nezu already requested her to take over his position as soon as he retires. She won the sports festival three times in her year cause she uses everyone's quirk against them somehow. As far as I know, no one really understands what's going on in her mind cause she always has this polite smile on her and so far, no one has been able to befriend her or get anywhere close to her cause she somehow always shuts them out. She's pretty much the prettiest, smartest and the most untouchable girl in UA. Which is why, Kaminari is shitting himself cause (Y/N)-senpai would never go out of her way to tutor someone and you're seriously lucky cause she's probably the smartest person in Musutafu besides Principal Nezu." Kirishima explained. At the moment, Bakugou clearly understood why your expression suddenly changed just because he scowled. You probably understood that he thought you were an extra when in reality, you were anything but one. The whole ordeal, somehow, made Bakugou feel embarassed about judging you without knowing shit.

Wednesday came sooner than he expected and Bakugou knew that he had to compensate for embarassing himself. Ofcourse you probably thought that he infact was the extra cause you were clearly way smarter than he was. While you tried to find his issues with English, he was feeling uncomfortable thinking about the events from back then. "Bakugou-kun, I'm not looking down on you cause you looked down on me. I can understand that you figured out my quirk from someone but it's alright. People tend to judge others and that's normal human behaviour. Now that you feel bad about it, that's enough for me and we can just forget that happened." you told him, again with that polite smile. "Okay." Bakugou muttered feeling awkward since he wasn’t used to people reading him like that. Like Kirishima mentioned, you really were extremely smart and you figured out exactly what made his English skills weak in a matter of minutes. While he had a good understanding of grammer, he clearly had no practice when it came to implementing it. After talking to him for a while, you figured out his interests quite easily and for the next few months, you brought him books that he might like for him to read out loud to you. Bakugou was a smart person as well and it didn't take him any more than the next three months to master English well. By then, the two of you read over a hundred books together in the library. The two days of tutoring turned into all seven days a week and Bakugou found himself drawn to you after the first month. While you were polite and cold at the begining, you started to laugh at Bakugou's dry offensive humour. Bakugou found your smart remarks funny as well, letting out a deep chuckle at times. The books you got him were all up to his interests at the beginning but with time, they ended up being books that you genuinely enjoyed which made Bakugou learn more and more about you. You, like him, were a misunderstood person. You understood exactly what others thought of you which made you detach yourself from people. Everyone always thought of you negatively behind your back and they believed that you wouldn’t figure it out. The only problem was that you always did. People were easy to read after all and you understood why people found you to be too intense. People are naturally made to be scared of the unknown and no one really knew you. Well, except Bakugou. You opened up to this certain boy because he always showed what he felt. To him, there was no reason to hide his feelings, he would say that he dislikes someone on their face. You liked that bold attitude and you found yourself opening up to him, thinking of him as a friend or maybe more.

When Bakugou looked at the red 100/100 written on his English test paper, a smirk formed at his face. He couldn't wait to show it to you and brag about his English skills. He knew that he wouldn't be here without you but then again, you already knew that. He loved that he didn’t have to voice his appreciation out loud to you since you always picked up on his subtle gestures of appreciation unlike everyone else. Hell, you were smart enough to see the good in him, to see everything else other than his prickly exterior. He finally knew why Kaminari was fangirling over you months back since ge found himself doing the same. You were the embodiment of perfection to him and now, three months later, he knew that he was head over heels in love with you. However, unlike you, he didn't have any way of predicting you. You were older than him by an year. Hell, you were a senior student and you always rejected everyone who asked you out. You'd be starting out as a pro hero in less than a few months while he'll still be a high school student and ofcourse that meant that you’d most probably reject him. With all that negative thoughts, he went to the library to meet up with you for tutoring sessions. Given that he already aced his exams, there was no more reason for you to tutor him anymore. The thought that you probably wouldn’t talk to him again made him feel sick at the stomach. "Hey Bakugou-kun! How did the test go?" you asked him with a genuine smile as you sat at one of the tables in the library. With a cocky smirk, Bakugou held out his test paper, showing off his perfect grade. To his surprise, you stood up and did a little weird victory dance as you clearly looked extremely happy. "Damn, (L/N), you seem more happy about my grades than I am" Bakugou teased you, making you blush furiously as you realised that you literally danced like an idiot infront of him. "It's (L/N)-senpai Bakugo-kun! Besides, all teachers feel happy when their students get perfect scores you know!" you tried to defend yourself by teasing him. Usually, he would tease you back with some sort of insulting remark but this time, he was quiet. You knew about his feelings for you for a while. After all, Bakugou wasn’t very hard to read. To be honest, you found yourself falling for him as well. However, you wanted him to make the first move. You were older than he is but that didn't mean that you’d have to take charge in every case. Unfortunately, it seemed as if he couldn’t gain that confidence and now that your tutoring sessions came to an end, you didn't know what to do. "Senpai huh..." you heard Bakugou mutter, his hair hiding his eyes as you saw a small smirk on his face. "I refuse to call you my senpai, (L/N). You may be an year older than I am, you may have a quirk that makes you a hundred times smarter than I am but I saw through you. Don't think that I didn’t notice those blushes on your face whenever I teased you or how you look like the world ended now that our tuition sessions are over. I seriously was confused at the begining but now, I'm pretty confident that you like me, don't you, (Y/N)?" Bakugou asked, looking straight at your eyes as he called you by your first name. To say that you were blushing would be an understatement as you were completely red by his boldness. "As far as I'm concerned, you're not my senpai from now on. You'll be my girlfriend instead. If I'm wrong, then you can walk away from me and I'll not bother you again." Bakugou stated, a blush forming at his face. He didn’t think this through. Infact, as soon as he saw your sad expression, he decided that he needed to confess now. It as now or never. Bakugou was never good with feelings and you understood why his confession sounded more like a declaration that you were his. A small shy smile formed on your face as you looked at him and said, "Alright, I'm not your senpai". The next thing you knew was that you were pulled into a deep passionate kiss.

Bonus: "YOU'RE DATING (L/N)-SENPAI??!?!?!?! WHY DID I NOT FAIL ENGLISH GAHHHHHH" Kaminari was bawling in the 2A common room while Bakugou looked at Kirishima with an annoyed expression and told him, "Tell Dunce face to shut his trap." Kirishima only looked at Bakugou with a shocked expression thanks to the news that Bakugou was dating you being thrown at him moments ago.

[Author's note: I've been wanting to write something like this for a while. Hope you liked it!]

#bakugou katsuki #bnha bakugou #bakugo fluff #bnha #bnha fanfiction #bakugo x reader #bakugou ? reader #bnha x reader #bakugo katsuki #bakugou x reader #mha bakugou #bakugou fanfiction #bakugou × reader

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chxmpionofjustice · 4 years

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STUDY : TSUKINO USAGI ♡

♡ BASICS.

♡ IS YOUR MUSE TALL / SHORT / AVERAGE? Usagi is the shortest of all of her friends. She’s 4′11″ or 150 cm and yes, she’s fun-sized.

♡ ARE THEY OKAY WITH THEIR HEIGHT? Yes and no. Her lack of height can come in handy sometimes, but it really is a pain in the butt to buy pants. She compensates with shorts and skirts and she can’t really complain because she’s looks amazing in them. And her boyfriend’s face is too far away from hers for her own liking, but standing on tip toe for a kiss feels like something out of a romance, so she can deal.

♡ WHAT’S THEIR HAIR LIKE? Long, blonde, and shiny. She tries to keep it cut to around knee/calf length but ever since she awoke as the Moon Princess, her hair seems to want to grow much farther than than of its own accord and... well it seems to get a little lighter over time. She keeps her hair up in her signature odango-and-pig-tail style on either side of her head. The hair style is held to together painstakingly with hair bands and bobby pins, all of which come out when she goes to sleep. Sometimes she’ll wear her hair in two low pigtails when she sleeps but more often than not, she lets her hair loose.

♡ DO THEY SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON THEIR HAIR / GROOMING? Hahahahahahahhahaha. What do you think? YES. Usagi’s hair is one of the few things she puts real effort into. Her hairstyle itself takes a lot of time to do (She’s got the thing down to a science but it still takes her around 10 minutes and would take anyone else a LOT longer), not to mention what she does to keep her hair healthy. Usagi has a whole basket of hair products in her room, ranging from shampoos, conditioners, hair masks, and oils. Maintaining all that hair is hard, okay?

♡ DOES YOUR MUSE CARE ABOUT THEIR APPEARANCE / WHAT OTHERS THINK? Yes and no. She definitely cares what she looks like. She loves fashion and putting together outfits so she looks kawaii wherever she’s going (this also counts work as an adult, she will be the girl in the office wearing the cutest blouse and skirt combo with a pair of adorable kitten heels and this will clearly fool everyone into thinking she can adult). But she doesn’t really do that because she cares what others think. She does that for herself, to make herself happy. And if people happen to think she looks good, well that’s a plus. She can be a little vain like that, but who isn’t?

♡ PREFERENCES.

INDOORS OR OUTDOORS? outdoors

RAIN OR SUNSHINE? sunshine

FOREST OR BEACH? beach

PRECIOUS METALS OR GEMS? gems

FLOWERS OR PERFUMES? flowers

PERSONALITY OR APPEARANCE? personality

BEING ALONE OR BEING IN A CROWD? being in a crowd

ORDER OR ANARCHY? order

PAINFUL TRUTHS OR WHITE LIES? painful truths

SCIENCE OR MAGIC? magic

PEACE OR CONFLICT? peace

NIGHT OR DAY? day

DUSK OR DAWN? dusk

WARMTH OR COLD? warmth

MANY ACQUAINTANCES OR A FEW CLOSE FRIENDS? a few close friends

READING OR PLAYING A GAME? GIVE ME GAMES OR GIVE ME DEATH

♡ QUESTIONNAIRE.

♡ WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR MUSE’S BAD HABITS? HAHAHAHA. Okay do y’all even have TIME to read this? Seriously, there are a lot. To name the biggest bad habit of hers, it’s over-indulgence. Usagi shamelessly indulges in EVERYTHING she loves to the point of excess sometimes. She’s banned from a couple buffets because of her eating habits, the girl is a black hole for food, and will eat whatever she wants to eat. She wastes money on food, mostly junk food because she doesn’t cook.

Despite the fact that she can’t cook, she will buy ANY cute appliance available for the kitchen that she can. Hello Kitty Toaster? Got it. Sailor Senshi chopsticks? GOT THE WHOLE SET (of course for when everyone comes over, they can eat with their designated chopsticks, duh). Mickey Mouse Waffle Maker? BOUGHT (Girl doesn’t know how to make waffle batter). Every single cup she owns has a character on if from some anime, movie, or manga. She even has commemorative Sailor Senshi cups too. Oh you thought it ended with the chopsticks? NOPE. She spends money on plushies, pillows, pens, bags, etc, of her and her friends and does it QUITE HAPPILY. Of course, the thing she buys the most of (besides herself)? Tuxedo Mask. Tuxedo Mask plushies. A Tuxedo Mask pillow case for a body pillow (listen don’t judge her), the rare Tuxedo Mask action figure and the Tuxedo Mask vibr-.... Well let’s just say that she doesn’t only buy every day items with his brand.

A lot of her indulgence has to do with money because she has no impulse control. If she sees a cute thing, she wants it, she buys it. Be it items or clothes. And whatever she buys usually ends up... Well, not put away. Usagi can be pretty messy (it’s a system that works for her, okay), to put it simply. And she’s messy because, to put it quite frankly, she’s kind of lazy. She’s a queen procrastinator who prefers to play games, read manga, doodle, and SLEEP rather than do homework or chores. Usagi would rather do anything under the sun except her responsibilities and everyone who knows her knows this. Boy, do they know this.

That being said, when she is facing her responsibilities as Sailor Moon, she does almost a complete 180. The Earth is her responsibility to protect and she will do anything she has to to keep it safe. Even if it means sacrificing herself. Despite how selfish she can act with certain things (food mostly, she’s like Joey, JOEY DOESN’T SHARE FOOD), Usagi will give herself to save a life in an instant. No hesitation. Because to her every life is precious. The world is precious. So if she has to use her crystal to the point where she has no life energy left to defeat someone evil or divert an asteroid, she will. If she has to throw herself into an abyss to defeat an enemy and save everyone else, she will.

You may be asking yourself why I wrote that all out. “Altruism is a good thing!” I did it because the level of altruism she displays is destructive. To herself. She is so willing to save everyone that if she sees her own demise as the only way to keep everyone else from dying, she will let herself die. And that’s not giving up. Giving up would be going without a fight. Usagi is gonna fight until her very last breath and that’s gonna be what takes her. Unless someone can come up with a way to save everyone where she won’t have to do that, there’s no stopping her, either.

♡ HAS YOUR MUSE LOST ANYONE CLOSE TO THEM? HOW HAS IT AFFECTED THEM? Yes and no. Usagi and her friends have all died more than once. Losing them and Mamoru the first time it happened was absolutely devastating to her. She still has nightmares of seeing their bodies lifelessly laying in the snow. Of watching Mamoru, her prince, die in her arms and then be taken away from her only to become a pawn for the enemy.

The first deaths are the hardest to get over.

And then watching one by one as her friends were taken by the Black Moon (she only BARELY saved Venus, if she didn’t have Mina-P with her, she doesn’t know if she would have been able to go on like she did), her future daughter was corrupted so heinously that she took her own father hostage for her own amusement, and then Sailor Pluto’s death.

I won’t even get into how Galaxia practically vaporized Mamoru in front of her and she was so traumatized that she wiped it from her own memory and was convinced he got on the plane to America. Or how Galaxia also did the same to her friends. There are nights Usagi wakes up in tears with the awful inability to breathe and the only thing that can calm her down is hearing their voices.

She clings tight to Mamoru when anyone gives him an all too appreciative lingering look (seriously, the man is too pretty for his own good, he attracts so many bad guys) because god forbid they end up turning out to be something evil and try to take him away from her.

The long and the short of it is that Usagi definitely has some form of PTSD. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

♡ WHAT ARE SOME FOND MEMORIES YOUR MUSE HAS? Usagi had a sunny life and continues to live wearing rose-tinted glasses even when she has to stop and save the world now and then. She has so many fond memories of growing up like playing dress up with her mom, meeting Naru in primary school, playing in parks and going to the beach with her family. She has even fonder memories of meeting her best friends, her sisters in arms, in middle school.

And, despite how it ended, sometimes Usagi likes to think on some of the memories from her past life in the Silver Millennium. How she and the senshi would spend day after day with each other. Memories of her mother doting on her and of extravagant balls held in opulent ballrooms. Memories of meeting the beautiful prince of Earth and of the first time she felt his lips on hers.

She has an awful lot to sort through.

♡ IS IT EASY FOR YOUR MUSE TO KILL? Hell no. She struggles with that idea. The only time she kills is when the enemy has shown their truest form and she has no choice. Otherwise, Usagi will do her damnedest to save everyone. The bad guy included. Because everyone deserves a second chance to do the right thing.

♡ WHAT’S IT LIKE WHEN YOUR MUSE BREAKS DOWN? Usagi is known for being a crybaby. We establish this early on when we meet her. So one would think her break downs are loud and dramatic because that’s how she is when she cries. That’s... Not strictly true though. When Usagi breaks down, really breaks down, its because she’s holding onto her pain quietly. Usagi breaks down with silent tears and full body sobs. She breaks down with trembling hands and their white knuckle grip on her pillow that she’s holding against her face to muffle when she can’t be quiet anymore.

She breaks down alone.

When someone finds her and tries to comfort her, it can go one of two ways, either she’ll just keep letting it out and allow herself to be comforted, or she’ll suck it all back in, put a stopper in it and assure whomever it is that she’s fine, really, she was just crying because Lawsons didn’t have any more red velvet cake, honestly.

When Usagi breaks down, she’s at her lowest emotionally, usually feeling horrible about herself. That’s a point that you’d think would be particularly difficult for her to get to right? Right?

♡ IS YOUR MUSE CAPABLE OF TRUSTING SOMEONE WITH THEIR LIFE? She literally does this all the time. Usagi is an amazing judge of character. Not counting her senshi, Usagi has put her life in the hands of people that her allies considered untrustworthy multiple times. And she was right to trust every single one of them. The first one being Tuxedo Mask, then the Outer Senshi. After that, Hotaru. Helios. The Starlights. Usagi knows when she can trust someone with her life and yes, yes, YES, she is very capable of doing it.

♡ WHAT’S YOUR MUSE LIKE WHEN THEY’RE IN LOVE? Haaaaaaaaaaaa, gosh. Usagi in love is... She loves with her whole self. Usagi is not good at hiding her emotions, even when she’s trying to hold them in. She’s the definition of ‘heart on your sleeve’ because she’s so very open with her emotions and she doesn’t know any other way to be.

When Usagi is in love, you can take one look at her with the person she loves and it’s obvious. We’re talkin’ heart eyes muthafucka. She’s clingy, likes to touch and be affectionate a lot. And, this goes back to her indulgence thing, she has no problem letting her person know she wants them when she wants them and indulging in that. She’s not subtle in anything with her love.

She is very physical in her love, but that’s because that’s how she is. But being in love is also tender. Kisses pressed into sleep warm skin, banter and giggles over breakfast (that the other person made because once again, ya girl cannot COOK), cuddling on the couch or in bed while having soft conversations or talking about their day, going out to spend the day at the park or where ever for a day date, romantic dinners in her favorite restaurants or, even better, at home. It’s secret smiles and softened eyes and soft brushes of skin. It’s being completely open and endlessly patient when the other person can’t be just yet. Usagi in love is both in-your-face and achingly tender.

And yes, I know that Usagi had heart eyes when she saw Rei. Listen. Usagi has a big heart. Like a humongous heart. She falls in love easily. She could say she’s in love with her ice cream and totally mean it, okay? Usagi loves with all of herself and that’s not just romantically. But the type of “in love” Usagi can be in, because of her heart, can seem fickle, even when it’s not to her. Just because she started loving one thing doesn’t mean she doesn’t love something else just as fiercely.

♡ TAGGED BY: @adversitybloomed ♡ TAGGING : WHO EVER WANTS TO TBH

#about usagi;;#dash games;;#GABBY THIS TOOK ME 3 HOURS #AND I DO NOT EVEN CARE ABOUT THE READ MORE AT THIS POINT #DEAL WITH THE LONG POST Y'ALL.

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gascon-en-exil · 4 years

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Mercilessly Judging the Men of Fòdlan: The Empire

It’s been a long time coming, over eight months in fact, but now that it may be assumed that the last of the DLC has been released and the fandom as a whole has settled comfortably into its various camps I think there’s no better time than now to answer that burning question: how raunchily, outrageously gay can the male cast of Three Houses possibly be? For those unfamiliar with this fun little series of mine, I’ve been applying my extensive knowledge and experience of gay male sex and hookup culture to the men of Fire Emblem, originally as a way of reckoning with the refusal of the games themselves to provide me with any worthwhile self-insert M/M content. I stand by that premise for FE16 - you all know how absolutely nothing appeals to me about m!Byleth or his prospects on that score - but in the years since my first outing of merciless judgment with Awakening that idea has expanded into something broader, an imaginative modern AU of sorts where all these guys are into men (if not always exclusively) and willing to put themselves out there in the lewd and semi-anonymous world of hookup apps in search of their preferred carnal delights.

A note on organization before we begin, as this material is too long to cram into one post. Excluding Byleth (as Avatars and their spawn always are for this project) there are twenty-one playable male characters in Three Houses. This makes for an even threeway division to preserve the eponymous conceit of the game, but not a particularly neat one. Aligned with the Adrestian Empire I therefore have below the male Eagles, Crimson Flower-exclusive Jeritza, former Imperial noble Hanneman, and...Seteth, because he’s the closest thing to a non-self-insert lord figure in Silver Snow and because he had to end up somewhere. As I said, not very neat.

The Kingdom

The Alliance

Hubert

His profile is sparsely filled out and his photo less than promising, but the select few who catch his eye will be treated to a courteous (if mildly acidic) barrage of introductory messages and polite requests to meet over coffee or a light lunch, no dick pics or requests for same in sight. It’s only after the exchange of small talk has passed that someone - could be you, could be him - brings up why he has kink as a listed interest, opening up a Pandora’s box of horrors as he casually shows you some of his photo collections. Asses red from whips and floggers, scrotums stuck through with pins, barbed cock rings, electrified nipple clamps, and ghastly shots of the man himself, his mouth dripping with blood over a fresh bite wound on his teary-eyed partner’s shoulder. He is, he explains, a Dom at heart - and the rougher the better. What he doesn’t explain and likely never will is that all that pain play and torture porn neatly covers for the fact that he’s less endowed and less skilled in that area than he’d be willing to admit, or that he harbors a secret longing to be Dommed himself, probably by someone close to him who has no interest whatsoever. He takes his career very seriously although you’ll never learn exactly what that entails, but you have a sneaking suspicion that whatever it is enables all those coldly violent impulses he displays in the bedroom.

Favorite erotic tea time subjects: CBT, vore, femdom

Favored gift: stiletto heels, for use on his face

Ferdinand

Within a minute of talking to him you know his full name, what prominent public figure(s) he’s related to, and where he plans on going with his life, in an overwhelming display of lack of concern for keeping his private life private that would be worrying if he didn’t pair it with an indefatigable self-confidence. The type of gentleman who expects flowers and opened doors and one person to pay for a whole date and coy blushing about going back to his place for some tea, but what unfolds afterwards may be surprising to anyone who wasn’t picking up on the subtext during the night out: that you’re dealing with a toned and vigorous vers/bottom who longs to lie back and be taken care of but absolutely will never turn down a challenge or request no matter how much it demands of him or how expertly he will be able to rise to the occasion. Long practice and some truly enviable thighs (he’s a noted equestrian, and loves showing off his album of favorite horses) let him milk a cock for hours - nearly as long as the subsequent pillow talk will be. It’s little wonder more than one of his lovers has had the idea to gag him...or to fuck him somewhere outside his bedroom once they go in and find the walls plastered with posters of his favorite pop and stage divas staring at you. Prime trophy husband material, wealthy and well-connected and fetching on anyone’s arm, but there’s no question that he’ll only be truly happy if he’s with someone who can challenge him to step out of his unusually large comfort zone: socially, professionally, or sexually.

Favored erotic tea time subjects: edging, crossdressing, fisting

Favored gift: a horse cock dildo, for his much-lauded huge hole

Linhardt

A master at genuinely negligent ghosting, it’ll take a minor miracle to actually arrange a meeting with this guy. Either he never answers, or he does but only to snap at you because he’s busy and only even logged into the app because his mind wandered for a second. Still, he draws a lot of attention from those into geeky twinks. Is not into foreplay, and can scarcely be bothered to maintain interest long enough to even stay hard unless you get lucky enough to hit on one of his subjects of recent fascination. Never offers to do anything in bed, and will in fact pick up his phone to browse through Wikipedia and Reddit while he’s being penetrated. Calling him out for his appalling lack of manners will get nothing more than a wry snort and a quick summary of whatever’s currently got his attention. Never cums, doesn’t seem to want to cum, and guys creative enough to try to ride him are often disappointed that he’s more likely to grumble that all that bouncing on his pelvis is making it impossible for him to catch a power nap. Just about the only way to fully get him invested is to get really weird - introduce him to some fetish he’s never thought to try. Incest kink, breeding kink, role reversals, elaborate roleplay...the more cerebral the better, because the physical stuff tends to put him off (especially blood play, which is his hard limit). Needless to say most aren’t up to that task, and so he’s nonchalantly left a trail of frustrated and disappointed men in his wake.

Favored erotic tea time subjects: somnophilia, historical roleplay, mpreg

Favored gift: a long-lasting vibrator, so he can stick it in and let it work while he’s otherwise occupied

Caspar

No amount of headless torso pics and carefully scaled dick pics will be enough for his ego, but encountering him in person will reveal that he’s not so much vain or delusional masc4masc as really, really compensating for something. This manifests as a deep-rooted resentment against guys taller than him or, ahem, better-proportioned, but his preference of sexual partners does not reflect his prejudices - which is fortunate for him given his measurements. Loud and energetic in all things, and it shocks no one that he’s a screamer in bed but also can’t last for very long once he really gets going. Lucky for everyone that his refractory period is unusually brief, although that leaves him deflecting odd inquiries into whatever substances he may be on (he’s clean and always has been, hard as that is for anyone to believe). Likes to top for the workout, but he won’t say no to riding a good dick. Has an unexpected sentimental side he’s not very good at expressing except indirectly, in the same way that he’s apparently oblivious to his casual innuendos. It will take someone very patient to put up with him, but the reward is (probably) worth it for the body alone provided he’s got a sufficient outlet for all that energy. Would be perfect for an active poly relationship or long-term FWB situation so no one guy has to manage him alone, but he’d have to be at the center of any such arrangement lest his numerous insecurities rear their heads. Is not into incest kink.

Favored erotic tea time subjects: post-workout sex, multiple orgasms, autofellatio (he wishes)

Favored gift: condoms a size too big for him, because even safe sex should be an opportunity for bragging

Seteth

He doesn’t share nudes, and says upfront that he’ll block anyone who asks or opens conversation with one. Seems to be genuinely interested in friendship over anything else, although he’s not great at small talk in text and would rather chat over snacks on a park bench or at one of the numerous community events he likes to organize. Is a family man through and through: devoted to his loved ones, quiet in his hobbies, and unusually spiritual in an orthodox church-going way. You start to wonder if he’s even into men or if his presence on the apps was just a very strange fluke, but he holds his handshakes just a little too long and progresses quicker to hugs and quietly intimate arm touches. Discussion of his prior love life is strictly off limits, but many months down the road when you finally get invited into his bed it’s clear that he’s no blushing virgin and is adept in the use of fingers, tongue, and cock for fully satisfying his partner. He might even bottom, although he’ll blush about being long out of practice in that area which suggests a wealth of untold stories by itself. He also may be, somehow, the only man in existence who knows what intercrural is and how to do it. Blessed with stamina far beyond what might be suggested by his age (which he only reveals several weeks into your acquaintance, another point of embarrassment for him), your encounters are far more likely to end with a phone call from one of the innumerable people who look up to him and depend upon his reliable if fussy sense of duty than it is from him tiring out. Fond of fishing, and known to take dates out to cast a line and then maybe have some naughty fun afterward. Does not appreciate being called a daddy, but he’s been known to accept big bro as an occasional slip-up.

Favored erotic tea time subjects: discipline, incest kink, scalies

Favored gift: your STI testing history, because he doesn’t mess around with that stuff

Hanneman

A polite if unassuming silver daddy, with no sugar for the obvious escorts but the cushy professional post and generosity to make him appealing to a less openly mercantile sort of young man. His chosen field is not an easy subject for light conversation, but damned if he doesn’t try his best regardless. His favorite tactic might be finding some way of applying his work to something about his date, no matter how tenuous the connection or how unwelcome the observations. Not super fit and doesn’t get out much so as the night is winding down he’s not good for very much other than intermittent blowjobs and even more languid handjobs, although a truly dedicated partner might coax something more out of him with help from a little blue pill or two...and maybe some poppers, because he’s old enough to remember when everyone used those. Despite his reputation for mildly inappropriate perving on guys young enough to be his sons - some of which he acquired in a professional context, with some of his favorite anecdotes of past trysts involving junior lab techs/TAs/secretaries/others among his subordinates - he’s not actually averse to fooling around with men closer to his own age, although he’s more awkward about it since he’s a bit out of his element when he’s no longer the only experienced voice of wisdom in the room. Either way, if there’s one thing he hates it’s sloppiness, whether in one’s personal or professional life. As a result he avoids bars like the plague and has little patience for drunks. Contrary to this fastidiousness however his advances in his career are such that he may one day do something radical and ill-advised in the pursuit of knowledge; one only hopes that the various skeletons hiding in his closet don’t come back to haunt him - with regret or harassment lawsuits or who only knows what else.

Favored erotic tea time subjects: medical kink, teacher/student, cock milking

Favored gift: consent to video encounters, for future reference

Jeritza

The kind of rough trade all your friends warned you about...except he’s not rough trade, not really. Deeply troubled and disarmingly attractive is a deadly combination, and he thrives in a medium where one-word responses and explicit pics are considered perfectly commonplace. Encounters with him are quick and rough and nearly anonymous, always in the dark and with little opportunity to see or interact with him apart from the hands grasping you to him and the admittedly impressive cock jabbing into you from whatever angle he can manage. He’s had the threat of assault charges or worse thrown at him more than once, but it’s never made him any more considerate or careful. To the very rare individual who keeps returning for more the most explanation he’ll ever provide is that he becomes someone else when pursuing sex, someone hard and violent and not at all like the person he insists that he is. This is something he ties into some deep-seated trauma, but there’s something distinctly insincere about the underlying psychology as if it were only an excuse for an abuse fetish run wild. Pretty much all of his tricks ghost him at that point, wanting to get as far as away as possible from a true crime drama just waiting to happen. Curiously enough if he ever does find a long-term partner it won’t be with the expected extreme masochist - expect them only to show up in a police report one day, with extremely gory pictures - but with someone who can match his lustful bloodlust with more of the same and who is totally comfortable throwing around death threats that at some point transform into only moderately disturbing innuendos.

Favored erotic tea time subjects: masks, blood play, asphyxiation

Favored gift: anything sweet he can lick off your body...because it’s either that or viscera

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses

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takaraphoenix · 5 years

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How does the Shadowhunter society work? Like, actually work?

I don’t even mean the clusterfuck that’s their leadership - where the Lightwoods are “dethroned” to be replaced by Lydia, who then inexplicably and without real explanation is replaced by Aldertree, who then is replaced by the Inquisitor herself, who just appoints her own grandson literally just based on him being her grandson, who then nominates his parabatai really only based on that even though the whole gods damn point of this game of musical chairs was to remove the Lightwoods from power. Okay, no, I actually also mean that because that was just a mess through and through.

You don’t... apply for jobs I guess? You just get chosen? Like how Isabelle suddenly became Weapon’s Master - whatever the fuck that even means.

Also, is there like... a job limit? I mean, Isabelle is the Weapon’s Master. She is however also apparently their head forensic scientist. And does autopsies. And she also takes over in the medical wing if need be, because we have literally never seen an actual doctor in the Institute, it’s mostly whoever has time. And she is an active-duty Shadowhunter going out on missions.

They... They don’t... have like... different departments, huh? You can just... dabble in all the jobs!

I mean, at one point it was implied that Jace is “head of security”, but once again, what does that even mean because he’s just constantly out on missions too. Shouldn’t the head of a department be... I don’t know... available to oversee stuff?

And what even is the Inquisitor? She’s first introduced as judge and jury for Isabelle’s trial. Making it look like she... personally... comes every time a Shadowhunter is on trial? Is she a judge? Is she the only judge?

And are there even trials? Like, for Downworlders? Because they skipped right to the execution with Clary - and all the Downworlders and supposed traitors from Valentine’s side. There was no trial there.

But over the course of the toher seasons, it looked more like the Inquisitor is the equivalent to the president. The absolute head. In charge of everyone.

Which brings me to their legal system. The president is your judge and jury. That seems kind of shady. But then again! They also threw Jace into the dungeon for getting abducted and tortured! And then they tortured him a bit themselves! So there’s that.

There’s also the shady way with which they handle their terrorists. You know, the two who got to lead the New York Institute with a bit house-arrest only. Even though head of an Institute is implied to be an important position. And Hodge too, just a bit of house-arrest and the whole “don’t talk about it” rune. I know this one is intentional to show just how shady and actually down for Valentine’s core ideals the Clave really is, but... it still stands as something questionable.

Because... throughout the show they all do seem very serious about putting Valentine behind bars and treating him as inherently wrong (also implied by the whole immediate execution thing mentioned above). So, what brought that change of heart on?

But I’m getting off-track. The main point I wanted to get to was: How do they pay for stuff? How are they paid? Are they even paid? Does money exist?

I mean, seriously. They’re squatting in an “old abandoned church”. So they don’t pay legal property taxes. They’re not like... pretending to be some kind of firm that works in that building, glamouring it as, I don’t know, a lawyers’ building or whatever, and having a kinda legal business front.

They keep themselves glamoured from mundies.

So, were do they get their stuff? Clothes, food, technology, heck, furniture and the ten thousand candles Jace keeps in his bedroom?

They have this hyper advanced technology that is never explained. Because that is not magic, it’s technology. The whole holographics, the computer-system that seems more advanced than ours. So you’re telling me they have absolute genuius inventors there, but don’t make money off of it?

If they did, if you’d tell me that they like make brilliant stuff and sell versions it to the mundie world - with like a flippant note about how they invented smartphones or something - and that’s how they finance stuff, I’d buy that.

Or heck, the thing I had kind of automatically assumed in early season 1 - that members of the Shadow World infiltrate the mundane world. Like Luke and Alaric. That the two werewolf-partners were intentional and not coincidental. Downworlders, working in law-enforcement, in hospitals, in the fire-department, just generally everywhere important to have a literal Shadow World to our mundane world; including Shadowhunters. Them, working as actual law-enforcement and specifically taking the non-mundane cases.

Y’all know Grimm? Love that show. Super stupid, hella lazy world-building on the bestiary side, but the whole concept of the supernatural hunter working as a cop, with his captain also being part of the supernatural world and thus helping by pulling some strings? That.

I kind of assumed that to be implied when the captain was also a Downworlder, but then the captain got killed and Alaric got killed and Luke got that useless mundie partner. Just, imagine for a moment, if the Shadowhunters did live integrated into the mundane world, but in the shadows of it. Isabelle as the forensic scientist or head medical examiner of New York even, the “head of the Institute” as the captain of the department, of both the Shadow World side and the mundane side, Jace and Alec as detectives working together. Cases are being shuffled around by the Shadowhunter in charge of the precinct so the mundies get the mundie cases and the Shadowhunters get the actual Downworlder stuff.

But they live cut off from humans and they are “lucky” that Luke is a cop and they can get inside case information from him, which makes Luke look shady and also kind of insane because he’s talking to thin air since Jace and the others only show up to a crime-scene glamoured.

They don’t have jobs in the mundane world though. They don’t interact with the mundane world.

So, where do their clothes and food come from? Do they have some oblivious mundie delivery guys bringing food to the church...? Do they... grow everything themselves? Do they make clothes themselves?

Are there Shadowhunter seamstresses and bakers? Is there a shopping mile in Idris?

Because the way they make it look, with the dwindling number of Shadowhunters - based on them dying young during missions and not producing enough heirs to compensate for that and not having the cup to make more Shadowhunters - I sort of got the impression that every Shadowhunter has to take a soldier career. Either you go into active duty, or you become an Iron Sister/Silent Brother, or a politician.

But they have a cafeteria. It’s not like that’s enchanted like the dining hall in Harry Potter, right? So, do they have Shadowhunters on staff who are cooks? Janitors? Since the whole weapons-cleaning thing was being used as a “punishment” for Jace, do they just... take turns? Have a chores-schedule and everybody gets to clean up and cook like once a month...? Do they have Downworlders in the positions they themselves see as below them, like the janitorial staff?

Does... does money even exist in their society? I’m really curious about that, because it would imply that they have an economic system. And I really did get the impression that they were a pure race of soldiers, battling demons with no sense of procedures on how to qualify and apply for a job - I mean, Clary just flat-out moves into the Institute and starts going on missions without any training at all, without a screening, without... without, yeah as dumb as it sounds, a job application.

Are there pay-checks? Are those actual jobs? Is there money? How does it work?

The point of this post really is that I’m an absolute sucker for world-building and this world-building absolutely sucked.

Seriously, I do love the conceptual idea of the Shadow World, but at no point was it actually established how it fits into our world. It was just vagued at that it stays hidden and glamoured, but how? How does it co-exist? How does it, as an independent society work?

Heck, that goes even deeper than jobs and politics. Why do they all speak English? Why don’t the Nephilim have their own native tongue, considering they use “runes” for their magic, which was in fact the writing of early day Germany (albeit different runes, of course)? Or, at the very least, why don’t they speak pre-dominantly German and&or French, considering Idris is physically located between France, Germany and Switzerland.

Why do all Shadowhunters automatically speak English like that is the dominant language of their society? Be that new arrivals like Aline, Helen, Aldertree, Lydia, Sebastian. You can pull that stunt if you put your fairy tale country into the USA, like so many do. But if you put it into Europe and give a very specific location, you should let that influence things. I mean, what’s practical about them speaking English? The ones outside the US, that is - it does make sense that the Lightwoods and the staff in the New York Institute speak English. The Inquisitor, the reinforcement we’re getting, the Silent Brothers in the City of Bones, heck the scene where Clary is sentenced to death? Why would they speak English?

And don’t come at me “It’s the dominant language!”, because... why would that matter to Shadowhunters? They’ve shown they’re an old-fashioned society, very stuck in their old-fashioned ways. They would 100% not go trendy with “uh all the mundies learn English as their second language nowadays maybe we should raise all our kids English-speaking??”. They’d continue speaking their own native tongue throughout, they’d among themselves talk in their native tongue and certainly not in whatever language the mundies of that region are speaking considering that they don’t interact with mundies.

And that native tongue should be either an original Nephilim-language, German, French, or even an original conceptual mix of German and French that came together over the centuries, because the fact that Idris lays where it does implies that the first Nephilim created were, in fact, German, French and Swiss, probably also some Italians and Austrians.

There’s no way that centuries ago, the Angel grabbed a bunch of Brits, made them Shadowhunters and then dumped them in newly-created Shadowhunters Country to form a settlement there and speak pre-dominantly English. That’s... incredibly ridiculous.

And I know “the first Shadowhunter” is named John Shadowhunter, but that in itself is a fact I want to forget because it might just be the singularly dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in the realm of world-building and I’ve encountered sparkling vampires. Seriously, I had assumed the job-title “Shadowhunter” came from them, quite literally, hunting shadows. No. It had to be a super fancy perfectly coincidental name of the very first Shadowhunter? Yikes on that one.

And, again, that really very English name makes little sense considering where Idris lays. She did bother to give her villain the most on-the-nose German name, so why not Jonathan Schattenjäger, then? Or, you know, do the more sensible thing and not put your fantasy country slap-dash between Germany, France and Switzerland. It could as well be on a glamoured, hidden from mundie sight island off the shore of England. Make it a reasonably English-speaking country and also have it better hidden because... how exactly does that even work? Is it like Grimmauld Place that just folds in on itself or whatever? Time Lord technology? Because a country, even a small one, just... there, in the middle of Europe? But no one can see it? How is that explained for the mundies?

See, I’m not even saying that they all need to speak German/French, or that CC had to invent a whole new language. I’m just saying that, with where she places Idris, those would have been reasonable things to happen and no one forced her to put Idris where she put it, there is no actual real reason why it needs to be specifically there and three things - name of the first Shadowhunter, how it’s hidden from mundies and the language are - would have very easily been explained by simply not putting the country where it was put. But if you make something take place in a specific place, you have to take that place’s specific culture and other parameters into consideration in how your world forms.

I just... these things are world-building 101 questions. How is the leadership structure in this society, what kind of money-system do they have, what language do they speak.

And sure, I have only read the first book and CC might still surprise me with some mindblowing world-building that explains it all - but to be quite honest, the fact that Hodge and three underaged teenagers were all the people manning the New York Institute, my questions about the economics of this still stand, maybe even more so than before because uh... child-soldiers are fine I guess?? No need for actual, non former terrorist adult staff!

This is just... something that frustrates me. Sure, your world doesn’t have to be 100% because it’s still fictional. But there are some corner stones about your fantasy world that should be solid, that should be set. In the books and in the show, that is.

And... not many things about how the actual world works were as much as even just mentioned. And that really frustrates me, because to me, the most important part are the characters, and the second most important part is the world. An inconsistent and badly explained world is really very frustrating for me.

#Shadowhunters #World Building #Bad Writing #right so this post happened #very suddenly #yeah it's been months but I'm still not over this show #never will be

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wolfpawn · 5 years

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Life is a Game of Risks Chapter 5

Chapter Summary - Again Alexianna and Tom met.

TRIGGERS - Past domestic abuse, Past emotional abuse, Past sexual abuse.

Previous Chapter

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'Hello again.' Alexianna looked up from her paperwork. 'I feel like I am stalking you now.' Tom sat across from her, his coffee in hand.

'It is starting to feel like it.' she smiled back, putting the paperwork to the side. 'Do you often frequent this establishment?'

'Not in a few years, but now that I am around the corner in RADA, I am here a bit more.' he admitted. 'Why do you ask?'

'I was wondering if this is going to be a regular occurrence.'

'Do I irritate you that much?' He asked, feigning hurt.

'No, you're not irritating in the slightest.' She smiled back.

'That's good to know,' Tom smiled. 'I rang my mum the other day. I told her I met you. She asked how you were, what you are doing, everything,' he informed her.

'Aw, that's nice.' Alexianna smiled politely.

'No seriously, fifteen minutes of her interrogating me on the phone about you.'

'Sorry.' Alexianna gave him an empathetic look.

'Don't be, I was only too happy to tell her everything that I thought was appropriate.' Alexianna frowned. 'I assumed you did not want to declare to the world about your personal problems regarding past decisions.' he explained without going into any specifics.

'No, I don't tend to discuss that often.' she toyed with her finger where once her wedding band rested. The day it went on, she felt like it was a ball and chain, or barbed to constantly tear at her, reminding her of its presence. 'It is not something I like to think about.'

Tom put his hand on hers, stopping her fidgeting. 'Then, please don't. Let's discuss something happier. I was talking to Emma too, she nearly shrieked my ear off when I said I was talking to you. She would not stop begging me for your number and email address, but I said I would not, not without your permission first. In fact, I was going to text you today regarding it.'

Alexianna swallowed and thought about it. 'I'm not sure.'

'She lost her phone on a drunken night out in college, she lost your number and with your going to college, she sent a letter to your home address, but it was never replied to.' Alexianna stared at him confused. 'You never got it, did you?' She shook her head. 'Do you think...?'

'Marie must have opened it and tore it up.' Tom frowned. 'She got very bad about then, trying to stop me having any friends. She rang different friends on my phone, telling them to stop talking to me, and others she texted horrible stuff to, but when I told them it wasn't me...'

'They didn't believe you.' Tom finished, nodding slightly.

'Would you?'

'I would, but that is because my sisters and I actually knew your mother, knew what she was capable of.' Tom replied honestly, 'But no, if you didn't know her, you would not believe that.'

She said nothing for another moment. 'Sure, yes. Give her my number.' she gave a small smile as Tom lit up. 'Did you tell her I tried to contact her?'

'I did.'

'I should have written. I feel so stupid for not thinking to do that.'

'Don't, you thought she was avoiding you, it's completely understandable.' Tom smiled. 'I never even asked was I alright to join you, I am not intruding, am I?'

'If I said yes, would you leave?'

'Of course.' He went to rise from the chair.

'You're not intruding, I was just asking.'

'Why would you feel the need to ask that?'

'Just did.' she shrugged.

Tom took note of her words and actions, though he said nothing more on it, he was beginning to suspect what it was that altered Alexianna so much. 'Did Luke get on to you?'

'He did actually, thank you, he was a great help.' She smiled. 'I was stuck on something that all the literature made sound so complex but in truth was just basic, he put it in an in practice scenario and it made sense immediately.'

'Good. I am glad to hear it.'

Alexianna smiled for a moment before she looked at the wall behind them and her face fell. 'Shit.' She jumped to her feet.

'What's wrong?' Tom asked.

'I'm going to be late for work.' She started grabbing her stuff.

Tom frowned. 'You work?'

'Of course, everyone works.' She scoffed. It wasn't entirely true, some people elected not to work, others were unable to, but she was somewhat too occupied with getting out the door for semantics. 'I am fucked if I don't go now.'

'Where are you going to?'

'Em, Belsize. It's not far from here, thankfully.'

Tom stared at her. 'Why Belsize?'

'I have a job there.' she laughed in disbelief. 'A few actually.'

Tom had no idea what it was she was doing. 'Look, I live there, I can drive you to the front door of wherever you need to go.' She paused for a moment, clearly thinking over his offer. 'The traffic is light at this time of day. It's faster than the underground.' He took her bag. 'Please, it's my fault you're late.'

Desperate not to get in trouble, Alexianna agreed, allowing Tom to whisk away her belongings and her with them. 'I really should say no, but I need this job.' was all she said on the matter.

'Where is Belsize is it?'

'10 Gregory Street.'

Tom paused, 'That's a house.'

'Yes Tom, most buildings, tend to be houses around there.'

'Why are you going to a house?'

'To do some work.' she said nothing more on the subject.

Tom, knowing she was not going to give him anything more decided to just help her as best he could. 'Here's my car.' he took the keys out of his pocket and pressed the unlock button. Alexianna just stared at the machine in front of her. 'Yes, it's a Jag, it's very nice, you have work, come on, let's go.'

'I can't, what if I...'

Tom realised the sheer terror in her voice. 'Lexi, are you alright?'

'I'm sorry,' She walked over and took the rest of her belongings from him. 'I need to go.'

In his shock at her reaction, Tom allowed her to take the books and watched for a moment as she walked off. Finally, he snapped out of it and rushed after her. 'Lexi, come on, it's just a car.'

'It's a fucking Jaguar, one of the most expensive cars on the market.' She pointed out.

'Lexi, you're not exactly from the tenements of the inner city, so what if it's expensive.' he ran in front of her cutting her off. 'Look, I know you are clearly after going through something that has caused you to become as skittish as a mouse,' she swallowed. 'I have no idea what, and I am not going to force you to tell me. If you ever want to, I am here, and I will listen, but until then, I will never push you, but whatever it is, it is not worth losing your job over. My car, should it accidentally become written off, is nothing but a car, you are not going to look at it and it fall apart.'

'When I was twenty-two, I was in a car accident, the owner of the other car had a Bentley, it wrote off my Focus, he claimed it was my fault, I thankfully won in court as he was on the phone and went through a red light, but anytime I see a big car now, I just...' She shuddered before rubbing her arm, 'I seize up.'

'I cannot imagine what that is like, I cannot, but you need to get to work and whether it is a Jag or a Bentley or even a Peugeot 106, it is a car and you need to get there. We are wasting a terrible amount of time.'

Inhaling deeply, Alexianna nodded and walked back. He opened it and though she hesitated for a moment when Tom held the door for her, she got in. She looked at it for a moment, even in her terror she could appreciate the sheer comfort and class of the vehicle. But she yelped when Tom sat in the other side. 'Sorry.'

'Don't apologise, just breathe, I'll get us there.' he promised. Turning it on, he noticed that her fear was mixed with something else. 'You always liked cars.' he remembered. 'You loved the Ford Focus, you always swore you would get one.'

'I did, I was so happy when I got it, it was my baby.'

'Did you ever get another one?'

'No, I never drove after...I...my arm was pretty banged up, and when I got fixed...things happened.'

'He happened?' Tom assumed.

'Yeah, I didn't drive when he came along, and now I live in London city, a car is not something really needed around here.'

'No, it's not. I used the Tube most days myself. I was just lazy today, early rehearsals.' he agreed, indicating for a moment before going to another lane to get them where they needed to go. 'What happened with the claim?'

'He got caught for the fees, I didn't claim compensation, I just insisted on my hospital fees, of course, the judge signed off on that immediately.'

'Most people go for the "Ah, my neck" route these days.'

'I didn't want to ask for bad karma.' A moment later she laughed coldly.

'It came anyway?' She nodded. 'Should have gone for the money so.'

'Hindsight is twenty-twenty.' she commented. He pressed on the break as a person jaywalked in from of them, causing her to grip the seat and door with her two hands in terror. 'Sorry.'

'You're fine.'

'No, I'm not, nothing is worse when you are driving than a nutter acting like they are in some sort of Fast and the Furious chase scene.' Tom laughed. 'What?'

'Even with everything, you still are you under there.' He smiled fondly. When Alexianna shifted uncomfortably, he sighed. 'I'm sorry. I have no idea how to skip around this...thing.'

'After the crash, I went through a phase, I thought I was deformed, my arm was...it still is badly scarred, I had broken glass in my face, part of the medical expenses was to get my face sorted. It was all scars, I really took a hit, psychologically.' she explained. 'He smelt it, my insecurities, I thought I was deformed, never to find someone to like me, and he acted like he did.'

As her eyes filled with tears, so too did Toms, he realised then where everything stemmed from, why the girl who he adored for being witty and always smiling turned into such a meek, apologetic shell of the person he knew. 'I'm so sorry.' he voice was hardly above a whisper.

'You didn't do it.' She commented. 'I am really trying to get myself somewhere with all of this.'

'Have you tried...?'

'Talking to someone, yeah. I didn't find it helped, they wanted to focus on him, I want to focus on me. He is gone, even if he came back and begged me to forgive him, I never could, I...'

Tom gave her a smile and took her hand, squeezing it slightly. 'Good, you have no idea how relieved I am for you to hear that.'

'Hear what?'

'That you want to focus on you, think about you, not think about him or ever consider him, you don't need people like that Lexi, you have always been incredible.'

'I try to channel your mum. I mean, I know your dad never did any of that to her, they just didn't feel it was right anymore, but she always raised the three of you so well, she made sure to be everything for ye, I want to be like that, strong and able.' she smiled.

Tom swallowed, pride swelling in him at the thought that she felt that way. 'Yeah, mum was always so strong, but I remember the times she was...not weak, but faltered slightly, the days she would cry when she thought we weren't paying attention, the days where she was just a little selfish because she needed to be, to keep her going. Remember to have that too.'

'I will, when I get this, I have it planned, a new hairstyle, get rid of these greys that are sneaking in, at a nice salon, and a nice pair of boots, fancy ones.' Tom looked over and smiled, it was clear in her face, she could picture them clearly. 'When I land a proper job again, I'll get them, first pay check splurge, then be all grown up and actually do proper things.' she smiled.

'I bought the Peugeot 106 with my first big one.' Tom confessed. 'The boots are probably a better investment.' he chuckled. 'Jesus, it was a shitty little car.'

Alexianna started laughing a little. 'How did you even fit in it?'

Tom began to laugh. 'I had to push the seat all the way back, I felt like I was in the boot.' That only set Alexianna off harder, she laughed so much she failed to make any noise, unable to catch her breath. 'Remember to breathe.' That only made her laugh even harder. 'Don't die, I cannot explain that to my sister and mum when they are dying to meet up with you again. "Sorry, yes, she was alive, but I killed her with mental imagery of me looking like I was in a clown car".' Alexianna only laughed more. 'Okay, I'll stop now.' Tom said no more, instead bringing her to the address she gave him, a house less than a street away from his own.

It took that long for Alexianna to cease laughing. Looking into the mirror in the sun protector in front of her, she wiped away the tears. 'I look a state and my cheeks hurt.' she complained.

'At least it is from laughing.'

'Look at me.' she indicated to her bright red face. I look ridiculous.'

'I humbly disagree.' he smiled. 'I think you look great with a smile.'

'Get a guide dog.' Tom glared at her. 'What?'

'When you are in my presence, you are not to talk like that.' he demanded. 'I never even noticed your face.' he admitted. 'It looks exactly as it always did.'

'No it doesn't, there are fewer blood vessels in the area that is repaired, see.' she indicated to the areas of skin not as reddened as the others.

Tom looked at them, realising for the first time it was true, there was some parts of her face that were not as red as others, all on the right-hand side. 'You had to point it out, you'd barely notice.' he dismissed. 'I never even noticed.'

'Thank you.' she smiled. 'I better go. See you again Tom.' she leant over and kissed his cheek before realising her actions and blushing. 'Sorry.'

'You're fine.' Tom smiled, a slight pink tinge going up his neck. 'Goodbye, Lexi.'

'Goodbye.' she got out of the car and walked up the steps, a taking out a set of keys and went inside, giving Tom a small wave as she did.

When she went inside, Tom frowned and drove off, wondering what sort of profession would have her have keys to clearly well-off homes before driving to his own.

Inside the house, Alexianna groaned into her hands before turning and walking into the kitchen, 'Hello Mrs Matthews.' She smiled politely.

'Ms Hughes,' The woman replied coldly, not looking up from her paper. Alexianna rolled her eyes as she walked into the supplies closet and took out the cleaning agents to get on with the job at hand.

#Life is a Game of Risks #chapter 5 #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fic

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ladynuwanda · 5 years

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The End of the World as We Know It - Part 2 (Michael LangdonXFemale Reader AU)

A/N: I can’t thank you enough for all the feedback I’ve received to the introduction of this story. So now’s when it actually starts to unravel... but I don’t think it works without the first part, so I suggest you click here before reading it 👉 Part 1. Or not. You know. I’m not the boss of you. 😜

Warnings: Same as Part 1, I guess. It’s a Mental Hospital AU, so Mental Health is gonna be mentioned. But I’m doing my very best to keep it light... Don’t be afraid to tell me if you find it triggering in any way.

Word Count: 3,9K

It was an obscenely cold morning for outdoor activities, but I didn’t even have to voice my protests at Doctor Mead, Coco and Gallant were already doing that, loud and clear, enough to compensate for the rest of our little shivering crowd. Nobody seemed happy to be outside except, of course, Dinah Stevens. She was telling the newcomer how very “invigorating” the fresh morning air was and he was listening politely, but probably too cold to reply.

But we definitely could use some distraction from recent events involving Tim and Emily For all the time they had been there, we have been watching over Hawthorne Hospital’s star-crossed lovers. But like the responsible adults we were, we always tried to make sure they weren’t braking any of the hospital’s rules. Specially the ones that were supposed to limit the level of intimacy between patients. You could barely say they were more than teenagers, but if they felt happy in each other’s company or looking doe-eyed at each other from across the room, holding hands under the table or even stealing kisses in remote corners of the halls, we would be glad to pretend to look the other way. They were not hurting anyone, and if this could make their recovery a little easier, who were we to judge? But isn’t it intriguing that they had been the first people Michael Langdon spoke to when he entered Wing 3 and then, only a couple of days later, the young couple had been caught having sex in a broom-closet by a member of the hospital staff? What a funny coincidence.

That’s the kind of thing that made it impossible for me to trust Michael Langdon. I probably shouldn’t blame him for the naughty behaviour of horny teenagers, but I just couldn’t help it. When Doctor Mead announced that we would be playing a game of Dodgeball in that freezing morning, I kinda enjoyed the possibility of hitting that smug perfect face of his with a ball. Accidentally, of course. Mead’s announcement was met with a look of pure dismay shared by nine pairs of eyes under woollen hats, mouths and noses covered by scarves. Not that it would ever be enough to brake Doctor Meads spirits. She said Dodgeball would be perfect to get everybody’s blood flowing, and we would all be feeling a lot warmer in no time.

I knew what she meant. Dodgeball was about self-preservation, team work and fighting back. Everything we lacked. She might actually be right, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that one of my frozen fingers would just fall off, if it got hit the wrong way by the ball. She said the new guy should be captain of one of the teams, and I volunteered to be the other. Easiest way to make sure we’d not be on the same team. “Ladies first”, Michael made a short curtesy and I made a conscious effort to think he was being polite, and not patronising. I wasn’t looking forward to the part where I’d have to choose the players - too many awful school memories - so I just picked Andre first. Not that I actually thought he was going play at all, I just wanted to make him feel included.

I got Andre, Emily and Gallant, Michael’s team had Coco, Tim and Dinah. Since we were now an odd number, Evie would be the referee. I wasn’t sure there even were referees in Dodgeball, but I couldn’t find the energy to question, eight grown-ups playing with balls on a freezing morning in a hospital yard was already weird enough for me. I was so focused on my intent of hitting Michael that I was probably single-handedly responsible for making our team lose. Well, that and the fact that Andre would barely move at all during the game. I felt bad for Gallant and Emily, they were actually taking the game seriously, bless their souls. Michael, on the other hand, didn’t throw the ball in my direction once. He wouldn’t even look at me. Not even when Dinah Stevens wanted so bad to rub their victory in our faces. Like winning that stupid game actually meant something, the insufferable cow.

My dislike for Michael Langdon had started with the Tim and Emily incident, but it was really set in stone during his first session in group therapy. I was trying to grow some sympathy for him back into my heart, when he began his story. I kept looking at the tell-tale bandages around his wrists and felt honestly sorry for him. Until he opened his mouth and stated, in so many words, that he was the son of the Devil. He said he had been born cursed. That his mother and twin brother had died so he could live. His mother’s widowed husband had never accepted the spawn of Satan in his house, so he was raised by his grandmother. I nearly laughed out loud when he got to the part where he had aged ten years overnight, but he was being dead serious. And worse: the others seemed to be buying into it, somehow. You hear a crazy story and you call bullshit, right? But then you see that everyone else is taking those words to their hearts, and looking teary-eyed at the person telling the story, you start wondering who’s really the crazy one in the room...

Doctor Mead was right, in the end, as the game went on we all ended up peeling off some of the layers of wool that covered our bodies. I had stayed a little behind, after the game, gathering my stuff to go back inside, but I couldn’t find my scarf. I looked up and the boy-Devil himself was holding it out for me. I reached out to grab it in a harsh movement, but he wouldn’t let go when I pulled. So I ended up pulling myself towards him by my own force instead, stumbling a little forward, both of us grabbing tightly to the piece of wool. I looked at him properly for the first time in that morning, with an angry frown on my face, and found the blue flames of his eyes blazing on mine.

“You really don’t like me.”, this wasn’t in any way a question, “You are so... angry.”

“Am I that obvious?”, I tried to keep my tone light, unsuccessfully.

“Not to everyone, but I was paying attention.”, he finally let go of my scarf “I know you’re in pain.”

“Well no shit, Sherlock! I have tried to kill myself and now I’m a patient in a mental institution... what makes you think I’m in pain? It’s probably because of your mad satanic powers...”, the painfully sad look on his eyes made me regret my words the moment they left my lips.

“I know how you feel because... I feel it too”, he looked down and bit into his lower lip before he continued, “I can help you. I am not unlike you.”

“Well, I am nothing like you.”, I turned on my heels and walked towards the main building, without looking back. Mostly because I didn’t want him to see the tears that were welling up in my eyes.

To be honest, I had never cried all the time I had been at Hawthorne, and I had no idea why a short interaction with Michael Langdon would make me want to. But even Doctor Venable seemed worried about me, when I was in her office that afternoon. Probably because I refused to sit down and kept pacing around the room, talking about my nemesis.

“It’s just so infuriating! How everyone has decided to humour him on his fantasies... like he can actually be who he says he is!”

“And that really bothers you?”

“Why? Doesn’t it bother you?”

“It doesn’t matter if it bothers me, or not. I’m not the patient. And for that matter, while we’re having our sessions in here, neither is him. You’re my only concern while your in therapy.”

There was a certain kindness to the way she said those words, but I still had to turn away and look out the window to hide my embarrassment. Doctor Venable was right. I should be using our time together to heal myself, and I had just spent almost half an hour talking about somebody else. She got up from her armchair and I heard her footsteps punctuated by the sound of her cane on the floor as she walked towards me.

“All the time you have been here, you’ve been my most cooperating patient, you’ve always been so committed to your treatment, and I thought we were making great progress...”

“I am committed to my treatment!”

“... the stories Michael Langdon tells are his way of coping with his own life story. The question is: how do you cope with your story?”

I had to think about it for a moment before responding “I don’t think I do...”, I said it in my smallest voice.

“Maybe that’s what bothers you so much about him. The way I see it, if he can make you this agitated just by being around you, it’s probably because you have something to learn from him...”

“Doctor Venable, I don’t wanna be a bitch... but what could I possibly learn from a guy that says the world is about to end, and that he’s here to lead the few chosen ones to safety?”

“Who’s to say he’s wrong? The end of the world doesn’t have to be something as dramatic as a literal nuclear blast, it can be anything! The point is: every end marks a new beginning... some things have to die for others to exist. This end could be just the breaking of a cycle, it could be freedom... but is it really the end that you fear, or whatever may come next?”

I left Venable’s office feeling slightly dizzy. I wanted nothing more than to go to my room and lay down for a while, to process everything my therapist had said. It was certainly a lot to take in, all at once. But as I passed the common room I saw that all the patients in Wing 3 were gathered around the sofa on one corner, with a few of the nurses. Michael had one arm around Gallant’s shoulder, while Gallant was resting his head in one of Michael’s. As approached the sofa, I heard the soft tones of Michael’s voice, as he leaned his face against the top of Gallant’s head, “She died peacefully in her sleep... she’s in a better place now, she’s free.”

I saw that Nurse Mallory was sitting on the sofa, with Coco kneeling on the floor beside her, Coco’s head resting on Mallory’s lap while silent tears fell from my fellow patient’s eyes. So, Evie. Evie was gone. Dinah was holding the hand of an indifferent Andre, and Tim and Emily were crying in each other’s arms, unashamed to be so open in front of everyone else. And it’s not like someone would have the heart to break them apart in that moment, either. Mallory looked at me, still gently running her fingers through Coco’s hair, and I saw there were unshed tears in the nurse’s eyes as well. She didn’t say a word, but the look she gave me spoke clearly enough: She was inviting me to join the mourning crowd. I froze in place for a second, merely shaking my head and mouthing “I can’t” at Mallory, and I left the common room as fast as I could without actually running.

I sought refuge in the “Arts and Crafts” room, a place I had avoided like the plague, so far. There were drawing and painting supplies in there, a typing machine and a piano. And also an entire wall covered by a mirror, where we were encouraged to dance until we were too exhausted to think about our problems, or until the exercise had given us enough endorphins so the problems wouldn’t seem so serious anymore. Whatever happened first. I kneeled on the floor and cried like I never had before. I let the tears roll down my cheeks freely, never bothering to wipe them away and howled the pain out of me like I was some wounded animal. I cried for Evie’s parting. I cried for Gallant and Coco, that were going to miss her the most. But I also cried for me. For what my life had become, for hurting my family and friends by trying to end my own life. For not being able to. For not believing I would ever feel well again. I just cried, until I saw my own glistening eyes in the mirror.

Taking slow deep breaths, I stood up and gave a long, good look at the girl staring back at me through the looking glass. It was something I hadn’t actually done, since “the incident”. I’d take quick glances in the bathroom mirror when I was brushing my teeth, or washing my face, but I would never really, properly look at myself. So that’s what I did now. The girl in the mirror was pale, like someone who hasn’t seen the sun in years, and had dark circles around her eyes. She was skinnier than I remembered, and not in a good way. But it was the utter sadness in her eyes that really worried me. She looked like she was never going to be able to feel hope again. But I remembered how fiercely she had fought to stay alive, when I tried to destroy her body. She had fought back whatever was trying to end her, and she defeated it. She was so strong! I had underestimated her so much...

I took my woollen hat off and let my hair down. Everyday I’d wash my hair in the shower and comb it afterwards, I didn’t want to be one of those depressed people with dirty, tangled hair. But then I’d just cover it with a hat, so I wouldn’t have to think about it again. Now it was no surprise that it would fall a little flat, looking thin and neglected. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to style it in way that wouldn’t be completely awful to my own eyes. The common room radio played in the arts & crafts room as well. Even though the speakers were off over there, in a sign of respect for Evie’s passing, somebody had forgotten to turn them off in here, and I heard the guitar intro to the song Time in a Bottle begin to play.

I moved my body ever so slightly to the irresistible melody. It was such a sweet song. I thought about the days when dancing was my entire life, when I had the dream of being a professional ballerina. I thought about the little girl that I was, giving everything she’d got in those ballet lessons, how happy she was before the illness that killed all the joy from her life. And I danced for her, for all her hopes and dreams. I simply moved my body to the song, waiting for my feet to remember the moves by themselves. I closed my eyes and just let go, moving around with nothing specific in mind, just feeling the music, the familiar soft impact of my feet on the floor. My muscles remembered, and they’re were happy to be dancing again. I was happy.

As the final chords of the song played I opened my eyes, and the girl in the mirror looked a lot better than before. I was relieved to notice she had flushed cheeks and a slight smile on her lips, but I was terrified to see a tall, blonde figure standing by the door. He started to apologise hastily the moment my eyes found his on the mirror “Please don’t be mad! I just wanted to see if you were ok. And then... you looked so blissful while you were dancing, I didn’t want to disturb you”, Michael Langdon’s words sounded sincere, but I still felt like he had walked in on me while I was in the shower.

“And you had to sneak around silently, like a snake?”

“In my defense, I don’t think you would have noticed me, even if I had stomped into the room like an elephant...” he chuckled a little shyly, walking in my direction.

“I hope you’ve enjoyed the show, at least...”, I really hoped he would just drop dead, he had no business being there, why couldn’t he just get hit by a lightning.

“To be honest, I think you were moving a little too fast for that song.”

“Excuse me???”, the absolute nerve on this guy!

“Nothing that would ruin the general picture, tho...”, he smirked standing in front of me.

“Well, I had no idea I was being judged by a specialist...”

“Not quite so, but my grandma loves jazz... she would teach me a few moves when she was in her good days”, I just stared at him at those words, one eyebrow raised in suspicion, and he continued “fine! She liked to dance when she was drunk, since there was no one else in the house to dance with her, she thought me a little as soon as she thought I was tall enough... satisfied?”

“That I can believe.”, he took one of my hands and held it to his chest, above his heart.

“You feel the song with your heart, and you dance following its beating...”, he gently tapped the long fingers of the hand that held mine on the back if my hand, following his own heartbeats.

That was the most intimate moment I had shared with anyone inside the hospital. I can’t remember the last time I had been close enough, and silent enough, to someone so I could just feel their heartbeats. My own heart felt like it was beating hard against my throat, and I could almost feel tears stinging my eyes again, but I couldn’t look away from him. Michael Langdon’s silvery blue eyes were sweet and warm, and I had no choice but to stand there, my palm on his chest, feeling his heart beating steadily. I realised that his heart had also fought hard for the right to keep on beating. And it did so now, strong and proud under my palm.

“We can draw a square on the floor with our feet, moving clockwise and starting right... your right, not mine: Because women are always right.”

“Your grandmother?”, I laughed for the first time in what felt like ages.

“She heard it from a jazz singer in a bar, when she was a teenager...”, he laughed back at me.

I knew the song that was playing now, it was called Devil’s Playground, by The Rigs, and I thought it was ironically appropriate. Michael never let go of my hand on his chest, but placed the other one on the small of my back, while I rested my free hand on his shoulder, and we started moving as he had said. He really was a good dance partner, his grandma had thought him well. He lead me around the room with smooth and sure steps, his sweet eyes on mine all the time.

Come, if you're curious to see

Pull the tricks out of my sleeve

All you find is yours to keep

Brave, are you brave enough to meet

The desires that you seek

Hold my hand, I'll set you free

As the song went on, our steps grew softer and smaller, until we were barely moving our feet at all. He pulled me a little closer and rested his cheek gently on mine, while our bodies slowly swayed together. After everything that’s happened to me, I‘d had the feeling that I would just crumble to dust if someone ever touched me again, but the skin-on-skin contact of his cheek on mine seemed to be the only thing anchoring me to the world right now. His body was so close, it felt so good, so safe. His warm embrace made me feel alive again. I had already forgotten what it felt like, the proximity of another human-being. He was so real, so alive, it was almost overwhelming. The earthly scent of his body was so human, I had no idea how much I had missed that until that moment. It was only then, when it was melting away inside Michael’s embrace, that I noticed how I had encased my heart in ice all this time. But it was gone, now. The ice never stood a chance to the gentle grip of his hand on mine, his firm hand on my back, the smooth touch of his cheek. I found myself running the fingers of my free hand through the silky stray hairs on the back of his neck, that had come loose from the knot he wore, and I felt his breath hitching on his throat at my touch.

Come, pull up your throne and sit

Where good and bad cease to exist

Here your command is our wish

Feast on the fruit of every tree

You can bathe in every dream

These chains of freedom are yours to keep

It happened so naturally, none of us would ever be able to tell who started it, but Michael and I were soon lost in each other’s lips. It was a kiss that felt as old as time, like it had been happening since the beginning of the world. But his tongue tasted like all things new, like being reborn. The fire I felt burning inside my chest made me wonder if I had ever really been alive before this moment. And the hunger on his hands and his tongue told me that he felt the same.

I felt my back being slammed against something flat and hard, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. The only thing I cared about was the weight of Michael’s body pinning me against the wall. His hands sliding down my thighs, catching me behind the knees and lifting me up from the ground. He pressed his body on mine even harder, grinding his hips for friction, moaning softly with desire. I felt a hardness against my core and we both whimpered lightly into each other’s mouths, breaking the kiss.

He pulled away a little, still holding me firmly against the wall, and rested his forehead on mine, both of us breathing hard. “We can’t do this.”, his voice was just a pained whisper, but it was enough to break the spell. He let my legs back down slowly, and didn’t remove his hands from my thighs until I was standing firmly on my own two feet. With a gentle hand on the back of my head, he kissed my forehead, and left the room without looking at me again. Leaving me there all alone, feeling colder and emptier than I’d ever felt.

Welcome to the devil's playground

You can tread where demons play

It's your Candyland where dreamers dance

And I promise that it's safe

Welcome to the devil's playground

You can look and you can touch

It's a real fine day at the black parade

And I swear it won't cost much

Taglist: @alexcornerblog @are-you-lilith-or-eve @ccodyfern @coloursunlimited @echo-nohar @henrycavillstalkingmustache @langdonsdemon @lathraios @michael-langdon-appreciation @mollymcbutter99 @mytrash-mylife @puppy5474 @queen-of-quotes @tsuukichan @wheredoiwhaaat25 (If anyone else wants in, just let me know... It will be my absolute pleasure to add you! ❤️)

#Michael Langdon #American Horror Story #ASH Apocalypse #AHS fandom #Michael Langdon fanfiction #Apocalypse AU #Michael LangdonXFemale Reader #tw: mental illness #tw: suicide mention #Cody Fern #The End of the World as We Know It

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toasttz · 5 years

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How to make games: RPGs

Hey! You like RPGs, right? If you don't I have to wonder how the hell you found FAN, given our two most-active subboards being vidya and tabletop RPGs, but, whatever! Let's, for the sake of argument, assume you like RPGs. If you don't, fuck off, Greg! ... I don't know anyone named Greg, I just wanted to see if I could screw with people named Greg. Anyways, RPGs, like the houses in Harry Potter, come in four distinct flavors: traditionalist, gonzo/comedy, h-game, and "Inspired by EarthBound/The Mother Trilogy". And much akin to Harry Potter, only two of these houses actually fucking matter and the other two are just hangers-on of different genres and ages. If you're going to waste the player's time by making your H-game an RPG, you are going about it entirely wrong. Please stop dumping this unabashed garbage-fire of a subgenre on Steam, the market is beyond saturation point and requires arm floaties to compensate. And for those of you who played/know of EarthBound and want to make a "spiritual successor"... just stop. Please for the love of God, stop. There never really was a demand for this kind of thing and EarthBound was not a commercial success, so just stop if you have any humanity left in you. I don't think I can stomach anymore fucking quirkiness after the last installment - anymore stuffed down my gullet and I'm gonna shit out a My Hero Academia OC next time my bowels move. So, in truth, you have two flavors of RPG: the traditionalist and the comedian routes and both can be equally terrible. Traditionalist RPGs range from the swords-n-sorcery setting found in Ultima, Dragon Quest, and good Final Fantasy installments to the sci-fi, cyberpunk, steampunk, and emo shit found in bad Final Fantasy installments - it's a wide gauntlet. The only prereq is that you take your own storytelling relatively seriously, with some level of gravity involved in the overall major story beats. Since traditionalist RPGs are made by people with crippling insecurities about change, and the game will largely succeed or fail on the quality of its characters, I'll go ahead and make your cast for you. I'll avoid giving them names so you can customize them: I mean, some people like their fantasy heroes to be named something like "Bulk McUlraeoth Sword Arm of Jupiter" and some people like their fantasy protags to be named "Jim". Who am I to judge your self-insert fanfiction? Sword McHero Man - The guy with short brown or black hair and a generic face done by a B-list manga-ka and, depending on if you want to make him a chillaxed everyman or an edgy edgelord, you can add or subtract belts, zippers, pouches, and black clothing items according to need. He'll almost always use a generic one-handed sword and have fairly short hair. If your game strongly favors an element system, he'll be either fire or light-affinity, but not have any actual strong convictions beyond the fact that he hates 'bad guys' and probably gets his head dunked in toilets by at least 3 NPCs in the starting town. Anything else about him is ultimately superfluous and interchangeable with the next Sword McHero Man over. Childhood McBestfriend - Oftentimes a female foil to the above, but not required by law to be so. Sometimes this doubles as Sword McHero Man's Suave Cool McLancer. They will usually fill a supplementary combat role in the party, either the thief or the healbot as the story requires. If they are the love interest, they are required to be Worst Waifu(TM) by law and be replaced as soon as a competent party member fills out the roster. Typically wind or water elemented in nature, they'll either help calm the hero-man down if he is the hotblooded sort, or cheer him up if he's currently got his head dunked in a toilet. Suave Cool McLancer - Either a rival or thematic foil of the hero and maybe a rival for Childhood McBestfriend's affections, depending on story necessity. He will be a more specialized unit, either the rogue, the heavy-armor knight, or the attack mage. If male, this character will be Best Hasbando and be incredibly pretty or horrifically scarred and/or disfigured with no potential in-betweens. If female, uncommon but not unheard-of, she'll be the team's big sis figure and likely the most powerful, physically speaking. Potential for Best Waifu(TM) is high, but can also potentially double as Back McStabberton. Back McStabberton - The dark, angsty, clearly-untrustworthy one who the player will see their betrayal coming from a mile off, but will completely blindside the naive heroes. Usually they'll have stats inconsistent with the party (being either over or under-powered depending on context) and clash with their bright, anime-esque color scheme by wearing blacks or dark purples. Either a thief or attack mage of some flavor. Almost universally a male or a "devilish handsome rogue" if they get redeemed at some point. If female, they will always be DOUBLE AGENTS acting with the hero's own good in mind and will promptly be forgiven. Usually dies before the game is out. Grandpa McTeacherperson - Some plot-pivotal character who exists to either give the party a special tool, weapon, or ability they wouldn't have gotten otherwise, or elsewise transfer their own talents to the party in some fashion. Virtually irrelevant as characters since these exist exclusively as jaded props to die off to make the villains' actions more personal. Please stop using this archetype or at least TRY to subvert it into something interesting, you talentless lazy fucks. Sexy McFaceTurn - Invariably one of the bad guy's hot ladies will see a boyish charm in the hero, even if the hero is supposed to be projected upon and therefore would actually have the social skills of a duck - or worse, me. What? I did that joke already? Fuck you, this joke's still more inspired than the Tales games RPGs. Anyways, upon getting wet for the hero, she will abandon her post and all its luxuries and join the party, clad in tight, black leather and probably using either knives or whips and will be your prereq dark-affinity character. She will be the sex appeal your game sells on, so be sure to slap her on all your promo materials even though she doesn't join until the mid-late game. Male versions of this idea die. I can't explain it - it's some straight-up Mr. Poofers dark magic, they just die. Annoying McMascot - Your game needs something bizarre to round the party out with. A talking dog is common. A fantasy creature with bright neon colors is also acceptable. Just make sure that players hate it with every fiber of their being. If the design alone isn't enough, give it an annoying speech habit - like a verbal tic or a lisp - and have it talk a lot and repeat the obvious a lot. It is by law that this must be implemented. However, unlike any of the above, this, coupled with the hero, cannot be killed off. And that should more or less do ya, unless you're the type who wanted to pour dozens upon dozens of dudes into your game. In which case, congrats, you understand that doing the absolute base minimum to be called a "game" isn't the bar you should be shooting for and therefore are already on your way to being better than Squeenix. Next, you need to get to codin'! So go on Steam and buy the latest RPG Maker software when it goes on sale. You won't need to wait long, between the Summer and Winter sales. Once you have that, you already have built-in art, music, and character makers. Fuck it - creativity is hard, so let the software tend to that itself. Make some characters and name some locations, jot up a map with some landmarks and treasure, then make a bad guy. Bad guy making is easy, they all wear black or dark reds and purples and tend to always call themselves "The [Whatever] Empire". You don't even need to be arsed to make a motivation for their evil schemes. Have you seen how much Fire Emblem Fates raked in just on the goodwill left over from Awakening? I'm surprised JRPGs aren't made by fucking algorithm these days! Anyways, that just about does it for the traditional RPG. Comedy RPGs aren't quite as bound to the above and are, in fact, encouraged to break the mold. If you need some ideas to get the creative juices flowin', there's a game you can try out, you might have heard about it since I haven't stopped fellating the damn thing since I did the LP back in 2013: Hourai High. Your plot doesn't need to make sense and is better off if any causality is merely coincidental. Your characters shouldn't really be trying to 'save the world', per se, but should do so by side-effect of their selfishness and/or incompetence. Your team should have robots, aliens, fucking CheetahMen, I don't fucking know, but take everything I said above this paragraph and throw it into a shredder, make it confetti, and wail on established convention! Sweet fucking mother - BE CREATIVE. I'm gonna temporarily break facade here for just a second and say this: you know how you bitched about Final Fantasy 15? How it's a fucking boyband music video with a fucking car commercial crammed in it?! How you hated the hallway simulator of FF13? How no one bought Bravely Second? How Dragon Quest keeps getting away with remaking the same fucking game?! Here's your chance. Flaunt on the establishment. Fuck what is "popular". Make something new. Don't try to be Shigesato Itoi. Do your own thing. Break the conditioning. Get out there and make a fucking game. Make it so when people say "RPG Maker Title" on Steam, they aren't saying it like it's a four-letter word. Put some God-damn soul into it, people! And now, off the soap box. Bonus points if you add a dating sim. Just saying. Rune Factory 5 just got announced. Now, get to work. Congrats. You now know how to be the most fucking boring milquetoast thing on the planet and how to avoid that ass-cancer and do something that actually expresses your individuality and possible talent. This is the one time I'm allowing these rants to be somewhat uplifting. You're welcome.

#satire #comedy #RPG #video games #games

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mild-lunacy · 5 years

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What a Heist Should Be

I'm not particularly a fan of heist fantasy and/or YA, though it's certainly popular. I keep trying to-- or meaning to-- give fantasy thieves a chance, but most of the time they're boring, IMO. Perhaps it's my dislike for video game-styled narratives. You know, when you have a pointless/artificial goal that you have to hunt after for no particularly believable reason, and on top of that, endless annoying difficulties get thrown at you. You defeat one level only to face another, blah blah I'd rather stay home, blah. So not only are you the reader supposed to relate to a hunt after some random object, but tolerate increased rates of pointless danger-seeking behavior and frequent lack of basic planning or intelligence. Really unforgivable in a heist story, to be honest.

I suppose I'm unfairly conflating more military/thriller type infiltration stories with heist narratives, but they frequently overlap. Anyway, lack of planning and intelligence is the number one sin and/or reason I get bored. The second thing is the heist crew dynamic. It had damn better work. And not just work a little-- it better be super interesting and fun (and hot/romantic, if applicable) but also work enough as a *partnership*. That means the characters had better have complementary strengths. This is not optional. A duo of shoot first-type covert operatives who only seem to know how to fight hard or harder is a disaster in an infiltration scenario you expect readers to suspend disbelief enough to enjoy. Of course, the writers often don't even expect it, by any means, especially in romance genre books. The point is the video game setting in and of itself, which is just pointless and boring, as I said, like in Anna Hackett's Eon series.

Of course, the genre and length-- as well as the number of main characters-- make Hackett's heist romance novella pretty different from Leigh Bardugo's YA Six of Crows duology. I'm just seeing patterns in what works for me and what doesn't. As far as I've experienced, the video game approach is more common with fantasy heist stories. The other thing Leigh Bardugo does well that's not common is the snappy dialogue. To be clear, Anna Hackett tries for banter as well-- that's well known as a major draw for upbeat action narratives (just ask Marvel). It's just that it's strictly surfacey, whereas Bardugo's banter always works as character development, something that lets the reader see the characters as real people as opposed to Mary Sue props. This goes along with stuff like giving the main characters real flaws and having them suffer real setbacks, not fake video game ones.

I still don't care about the object of the heist in either narrative-- but Leigh Bardugo compensates for that. The narrative doesn't *expect* the reader to really care about the money. You just care about the characters experiencing success and surviving long enough to thrive. The heist object itself is beyond pointless, and that's what makes it work in a world with some degree of emotional realism. Although, I have to say having a *person* to extract is much, much better than an object, if you want readers to at least somewhat care.

Hackett makes the common Indiana Jones-type mistake of treating the object as a MacGuffin-- a thing of mostly unexplained power and importance for the plot, as opposed to just being a way to make money. This makes the endless risks taken with the object(s) during the action sequences nearly unbearable for me: part of the whole lack of planning thing. These characters don't even bother to protect the priceless object they're risking their lives for. Ludicrous. At least Inej and Kaz thought things through and only risked themselves and their friends or valuables when absolutely necessary. Jesper is impulsive, but he also follows orders. There's a sense that there's a *reason* these folks succeed, and it ain't just dumb luck. Pure derring-do doesn't translate well into fiction, especially when that's all the characters use to succeed against overwhelming odds. The fact is, they would fail with the skill set they're stuck with in Hackett's book and many others. Many times over, in fact. As a wise man once said, you do not simply *walk* into Mordor. Or a top secret alien space station, natch.

The sad thing is, contrary to what you might think from my blog, I don't go around overanalyzing everything I've ever read. I'm not a good planner, either. If I see a hole in a plot, it's because it's so big a truck could drive through it. That's just writing by numbers, and it's gross to me, even when I find the results somewhat enjoyable. And of course, I can't judge all the heist books that I mainly haven't read. I'm just saying that what made Six of Crows work was the way it took its characters much more seriously than the plot devices. And this certainly seems rare in a genre trope as gimmicky as a heist story, so far as I can tell.

#ya lit #six of crows #narrative #characterization #me myself and i #pointless rambles #writing

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nameless-articles · 5 years

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A Delayed Topic: Budgets in Video Games

I’m naked in my Japan dorm eating Pocky, yet I’m disappointed in myself. Not because of my current activities, but because in waiting (really working on other projects) to write my article on mid-tier budgets I missed the boat before other big-name video game people sailed off on it. Nonetheless, it’s a topic I’ve had on my mind for a while now, and to scrap the project just because some other people have tackled it would be silly. So without further ado, I present to you my thoughts and hope for video game budgets going forward (though of course whatever I have to say will have little influence on what publishers do).

A while ago, my brother and I got into a heated discussion over the price of video games. He believes sixty dollars is too high a price for a newly released game, while (though of course I’d much rather pay less) I find it to be a fair price. However, for any readers ready to judge my spending habits, I should remark that I only buy perhaps one or two new games a year (in actuality, I haven’t bought a newly-released game in 2018). It takes a game a fair amount of effort to win me over enough to drop money on launch; the best way for a game to earn goodwill is to be created by a developer that has a good track record. While some people find this habit (that of buying games from trusted developers) as a risk not worth taking, I have only been truly upset over maybe one new game purchase in my life (that honor goes to Mass Effect 3). In my experience, that game has stopped me from not only waiting to buy future Bioware titles but has stopped me from buying them altogether. In the long run, I believe the customers’ (not as individuals but as a collective) happiness will determine whether a developer will succeed or fail. That being said, it isn’t stopping publishers from doing everything in their power to fight that reality. There’s only so much we can say about predatory practices in video games. At their core, these practices are forced into a game with little consideration for how it affects the mechanics or overall flow: The majority of modern AAA games are designed to make money, nothing else.

The question is not “does the price of the game reflect its quality?” Video games are art, and, with no malice, if a painting can sell for millions I don’t see why video games can’t do the same. That might seem like I’m arguing against my point, but I’m not. For us to consider games a form of art, we need to reconsider how we view the cost of that art, and the cost of art is not solely determined by the work put into producing it.

Take Battlefront II for example, by technical merits it is quite the achievement and all the detail packed into it must have taken the developers countless time to create, yet I wouldn’t consider paying over ten dollars for it because, as a customer, the experience on offer is not one I value greatly. On the other hand, if the asking price for Drakengard 3 had been eighty dollars, I would’ve at least considered it. I don’t believe this is how most people think of games, despite having often heard claims that people would’ve spent two hundred dollars on Skyrim if they could (although given the recent controversies concerning Fallout 76 that might’ve been a bad idea, too). Most people make such claims with one particular game when they have become infatuated with it (someone might make that argument for me), but I think the scope of this lens should be broadened to every game we consider purchasing.

Of course, we need to consider the mass-marketed and laborious nature of video games. Visual art like painting and photography can afford to have higher prices precisely because they are limited in quantity. In addition, video games take countless hours from multiple people through different departments, and they all need to be compensated somehow. No developer should expect to work for free (that said, practices like crunch time which recently got brought up again for Red Dead Redemption 2 still occur), and I am all for making sure they get their fair share.

However, a significant chunk of a big games budget is spent on marketing the game, with less than a majority fraction going to actual development, and this trend is only growing. While I understand the importance of giving your game a good amount of coverage, the fact that more money is spent letting people know a game exists rather than ensuring the quality is a recipe for mediocrity, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. I want to give the video game industry the benefit of the doubt and believe the goal is to create a product worthy of the consumer’s money, but trends like massive marketing budgets and locking in game items on the grounds of player choice speaks more to the capitalist perversion of the craft. It might sound like I’m taking video games too seriously, but I believe we are seeing a shift in the industry that is going to change the way video games take risks, and I would argue in a manner that is ultimately limiting the artistic possibilities of the medium.

With budgets as inflated as they are, these projects can’t fail. I don’t mean fail the way publishers mean fail, wherein they expected a decent game to become the next Call of Duty or where only a couple million sales means the investors didn’t make the massive profits they expected (though still made a profit). Big budget games are less likely to try out new and experimental ideas because more often than naught consumers want something they know rather than new mechanics or odd stories. While this has always been the case to some degree, games like Metal Gear Solid 2 are less likely to be created today than they were two console generations ago. Ironically enough, Death Stranding is looking to be such an experience and the only reason it’s able to do this is because the game is being designed as a console exclusive, which Sony banks on selling more consoles than actual units (in the sense that the game might sell a couple million but many of those buyers will probably get one of their consoles just to play it). Games like Bloodborne are meant to give people a reason to own a console by pushing that system as the only means to get such an experience (in some sense it matters less how that game sells). Of course, Sony is expecting a Hideo Kojima exclusive to sell very well, but they are still taking a huge risk by giving him a good amount of money considering the kind of experience it seems to be (at this point, a story-based open world exploration (admittedly this is not the most unique general premise but the story seems to suggest otherwise)). We could never expect a publisher like EA or Ubisoft to take such a risk, though to give them credit they do bankroll much smaller games that tend to mechanically and narratively experiment more than the Battlefields and the Assassin’s Creeds that give EA the profits to test things out on a smaller scale.

It might sound like I’m giving these larger publishers some slack, but I think this approach is still rather tamed and limiting the possibilities video games have. I don’t see this setup of high-budget-destined-for-profit games to pay for the experimental smaller games as giving the most variety of gameplay and narratives. I think it’s better than only big budget games, but these other projects tend to be closer to indie games, which, though they have their place in video games, have to be limited in scope and technical prowess in order to exist. For example, Undertale is an amazing game that I’m glad exists, but imagine what Toby Fox could do if he had a couple million to spend rather than fifty thousand. These are the experiences lacking in the industry, multi-million dollar budgets with the heart and mindset of an independent project. This isn’t to say such experiences don’t exist at all, but that I believe they offer the best compromise between publisher greed and developer freedom. While this might have already been expected, I’m going to talk about how Drakengard 3 is close to an example of such a product.

While full of plenty of flaws and lackluster gameplay elements, the entirety of the Drakengard/Nier series is enjoyed on a cult level because it offers something that is hard to find in other games: that is, a balls to the wall crazy story that, for the sake of the memes, really makes you think. I find the lore of the series interesting, but I mainly play them because they offer stories that for once give me a chance to reflect on my own perspective and have me consider why I believe what I believe. Yes, games like that exist elsewhere, but there is a specific type of craziness and intrigue that comes with these games that I have yet to see replicated in other series (by all means, feel free to mention some). Back to Drakengard 3 in particular, I’ve already talked about why I believe the final boss is one of the best moments I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. Such an ending risks alienating countless players, and it’s the kind of choice you’d probably never see attempted in today’s AAA titles because it’s far too risky. However, you’d also never find it in an entirely independent project, because they lack the funds to even try and attempt an ending of that scope. For that reason, I believe the AA (a couple million, maybe ten or twenty million at most), offer the best space for games that want to push the artistic bounds of the video game medium.

One argument to be made against this proposal is the fear that such games won’t have the level of polish present in higher budget titles. While this can be true, it doesn’t account for what the reality was two generations ago. Games like Metal Gear Solid 2 and Silent Hill 2 (it just seems like the second game is always the best of a series) were expensive in their day, but even their budgets look small in comparison to what’s being spent on games today. While the graphical prowess of AAA games has increased vastly since then, do modern games come across as mechanically or narratively more engaging than two generations ago? I tend to think not, though games like Nier: Automata give me hope that interesting narratives can still be constructed and built upon in a world of higher budgets. Nier is by no means a high budget game, but it costs more than anything an independent studio is able to muster, while at the same time turning a profit for their publisher and bringing their developer from the brink of death. All while giving players an enjoyable and engaging game.

There’s been the idea floating around that games need to cost more than $60. The rising costs of video games is the main culprit, proponents of an increased price say, however I want to lay blame on the consumer for a moment. Gamers appreciate flashy graphics, and these graphics don’t come cheap. It makes sense for publishers to make certain elements of a game top priority if players demonstrate that these features are the sort of things they want to see. Most consumers want more of the same, yet love to complain that every game is trying to be the next [insert current leading genre here]. Players flock to these games, at least enough to allow publishers and developers to make a quick buck off of making such a game.

More than any other artistic medium, video games are highly iterative, which can be to its advantage at times. However, as a result trends take awhile before they die, and in that time there will be countless games of a popular genre that take up time, money, and space from games that are doing different things. Consider how many forgotten first person shooters existed last generation, consider how many forgotten open world games exist this generation. Now imagine the countless battle royal games that are either out or coming out in the future. All of those games devote resources away from a potentially game-changing project. I’m losing focus a little bit, but it’s worth remembering that the problem is not merely concerned with budgets.

In order to give players what they want, publishers and developers have to find monetization methods to make these games and make a profit for their investors, for whom (unfortunately) the creation of big budget games is often times merely a profit-driven endeavor. Money has always driven the creation of art, and only recently crowdfunding and other supportive methods have taken off. However, the vast majority of the population isn’t rich enough to support multiple games with thousands of dollars like some of these investors can, so until then this method of game production will persist. Since players are (rightfully) against a flat price increase of video games, we’ve seen growing use of microtransactions and lootbox systems that, as anyone should know, do not justify the cost of what they give but rather subsidize the other costs of the game. Players buy these microtransactions, and in some cases the overall amount spent on in-game microtransactions have earned a company more money than other games or even the game its sold within. Publishers know this, which perpetuates the cycle of spending more money on marketing to ensure they can get enough whales that will sink a ton of money into the game so they can make their profit regardless.

The saddest part about the current situation is that it might not even be enough to “vote with your wallet” as is often repeated, because most players don’t engage with these monetization practices, but those who do engage in such a way that it’s worth it for the company to alienate a vocal minority of their players in favor of exploit the small amount of players who will pay to play. A complete boycott of these games might not be enough to convince publishers to change their monetization methods. At this point, they know how much money they can make through the nickle-and-dime processes that even if games had a higher starting price it would hardly incentivize them to drop it altogether. Given the number of deluxe and super deluxe editions many games release with which only give access to maybe a few other missions and cosmetics for a quarter of the cost of the real game, some might argue is already the case.

Why did I bother writing all this if the outlook appears black. I’m certain no developer will ever read this, and given my general reach on this site is minimal at best, it’s very unlikely that this will get any traction that leads to some grander change. Still, I find it important for people to see and understand why games are monetized the way they do, and in this instance the burden is on the consumer to inform publishers the kinds of experiences we want to see. I’m fully aware that what I want from video games is not what other people want to see; if it was, then there would be no reason for me to make this post. But I do find the experiences I want lacking, and I believe more AA budgets will give the best range for those types of experiences that will push gaming in a new direction. It is not the Red Dead Redemption 2’s of the industry that will revolutionize gaming, but the smaller, humbler experiences that will shape the artistic future of games to come.

There is still much room for video games to develop as a medium. Whether it’s in traditionally controlled games or virtual reality experiences, there is still plenty for us to learn and develop how the immense amount of player-controlled interactions influence the final product. Expensive-to-make games cannot afford to fully explore these bounds, making them the least opportune avenue to expand, reshape, or break how we understand player interactivity in an artistic sense. While there are developers who do push bounds on higher budgets, most do nothing that hasn’t already been done (sometimes even better) by a project on a lower budget. I guess what I really want to say is that I want something to challenge me and my understanding of player agency as much as the Drakenier series, and I doubt it will be something that cost over fifty million that will change that.

P.S. I understand that what I seek for the future of games, whether narratively or mechanically, is not necessarily the priority of other players, let alone publishers and developers. Perhaps in the future I’ll go more into what I look for in video games, and why I enjoy playing the games that I do.

#video games #budgets #criticism #lootbox #microtransactions #essay

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despairandregretentertainment · 2 years

Text

A Formal-Casual Introduction || Intro 3/5

“Please join me in welcoming last season’s survivors!” Tomo says gesturing towards the doorway behind the terminal.

It rotates like a cylinder to reveal the five survivors… Most looked more or less the same as they did during the previous season with the exception of Art and Akira. Akira was in a completely different, and more revealing costume, while Art… well… He now had all four limbs again… And was back up to five digits on his left hand. Doesn’t seem they could do anything about the eye though.

“Returning to DARE we have Akira Ito, the Ultimate Method Actor in his current role of Taken from Spirit of a Hero! Art, the mechanical man, and Ultimate Arthurian Literature Scholar. Momo Kokkaku, The Ult-“ Tomo is suddenly cut off by Momo shouting over him.

“Fuck you asshole, you said we were done with this shit.” Momo interrupts. “It’s great how your fucking contracts only work when you want them to. Sure hope no one else out there is caught in your bullshit.”

“The Ultimate Bitch…” Tomo finishes. “Well, approximately eighty percent of Japan’s population are in fact under contract, and are perfectly happy with the lives the Tomomi Empire provides them. But, since you seem to be yearning to be on camera again, why don’t you finish our introductions, the next segment was going to be passed to you regardless.”

“God fucking dammit… Sure. Whatever.” Momo jabs a finger in each of the other player’s directions. “You assholes have all already seen us before. That’s Akira, Art, Monoka, Kite, and I’m Momo. And that-“ She points towards Tomo’s hologram. “-is a monster you all worship for no fucking reason. You’re all paying this asshole to actively make your lives worse. How was the first DARE not the fucking end of this bullshit? You’re all fucking pathetic.”

“Ah… Insulting the viewers… I’m sure that will work in your favor when it comes to audience participation. But… You seem to have gone off script… Did you already forget everything from rehearsals, or did you want people to think that you weren’t playing a role in this season?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. I was getting to that. This dick literally had me kidnapped, and forced me to attend rehearsals for this bullshit game, and somehow that makes me a willing participant.”

Akira, or… was it Taken now? Regardless, he steps forward, and places a hand on Momo’s shoulder.

“Hey, nobody’s going to argue with you here. We all know this guy’s a villain. Also, just a quick aside, judging by the fact he felt the need to scale up his hologram like that, he definitely has the smallest dick in the room, and was compensating. BUT anyway… I don’t think you’re gonna win this battle right now. Dude’s got a bigger Napoleon complex than Metal Mario over there.” The actor gestures in Art’s direction. “Seriously, I’m not sure which of them is more in need of a mushroom here, but… Uh… Right, back on topic.

You’re gonna have all the time in the world to make your point, and sure, you’ve got a captive audience right now, but… Is that really what you want? People are gonna resent the fact that you’re sitting here preaching rather than-”

Art raised a mechanical hand to interject, but Taken cut him off before he could speak. “Hey, I don’t-” “Dude, we know you lay perfectly average pipe. Trust me, we’ve all seen the video… Y’know… for uh… Research purposes? I was just calling you short as fuck, and saying you needed a mushroom… Like Mario… To get taller. Like really dude, they can give you a robot leg, but can’t afford to get you some platform shoes? You need to learn to negotiate.” “Actually I was going to say that-”

Ryouta lets out a growl, interrupting Art again. “I’m all for shitting on the half-pint, but I’m getting bored over here! I don’t care who fucking says it, just get it over with!”

A seething sigh escapes through Momo’s teeth. “Fine.”

A quiet apology can be heard from behind Monoka’s mask. “Sorry Momo… We can go to the diary room to talk to the audience afterwards if you want?”

“I already said fine. Let’s just… do it.” Momo relents, her expression softening just a bit.

“Pfft… That’s what she said.” Taken jokes. Momo’s glare prompts him to raise his hands in mock surrender, and back away, back towards the rest of the group.

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orbemnews · 3 years

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WeWork Agrees to a SPAC Deal to Go Public: Live Business Updates Here’s what you need to know: WeWork is merging with BowX Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company, in a deal that will take the company public.Credit…Kate Munsch/Reuters After a failed initial public offering and the near implosion of its business in 2019, WeWork said Friday that it had agreed to a deal that would take the beleaguered co-working company onto the stock market. Instead of a traditional I.P.O., WeWork is merging with BowX Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company, in a type of deal that has become hugely popular in recent months. WeWork leases office space and then effectively sublets it to its members. Its heady expansion was fueled by big investments from SoftBank, the Japanese conglomerate that became WeWork’s largest shareholder and rescued the company in 2019 just as it was about to run out of cash. WeWork said the deal with BowX gives it an equity value of $7.9 billion, far less than the $40 billion value that investors placed on the company in 2019. WeWork will receive $1.3 billion in cash from the deal, including $800 million from Insight Partners, Starwood Capital Group, BlackRock and other investors. The pandemic emptied WeWork’s offices, and has raised questions about the level of demand for its office space after many people have gotten used to working from home. The company said Friday that memberships fell to 476,000 last year, from 619,000 in 2019. WeWork says it has improved its cost structure. “WeWork has spent the past year transforming the business and refocusing its core, while simultaneously managing and innovating through a historic downturn,” Sandeep Mathrani, WeWork’s chief executive, said in a statement Friday. A company presentation released Friday said WeWork had a net loss of $3.8 billion last year, more or less the same as in 2019. The 2020 loss included a $1.4 billion impairment charge. Last year, WeWork’s operations consumed $857 million of cash, more than the $448 million they used up in 2019. The path to a deal was cleared last month when Adam Neumann, a co-founder of WeWork, and SoftBank settled a legal dispute. WeWork had called off its I.P.O. in 2019 after investors balked at its losses and criticized its governance practices. SoftBank has been eager to take WeWork public via a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, a route to Wall Street that has become increasingly popular in recent months. As of Wednesday, 295 SPACs had gone public in 2021, raising $93 billion and breaking last year’s record in a matter of months. Elon Musk in 2019. The National Labor Relations Board ruled that a tweet with the phrase “why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?” was an unlawful attempt to coerce employees.Credit…Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times The National Labor Relations Board on Thursday upheld a 2019 ruling that Tesla had illegally fired a worker involved in union organizing and that the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk, had illegally threatened workers with the loss of stock options if they unionized. The board ruled that the worker, Richard Ortiz, must be reinstated with back pay, and that Mr. Musk must delete his tweet. The company must also post a notice committing not to violate labor law in the future and announcing that it will undertake the mandated remedies. Mr. Ortiz had been visibly involved in union organizing, including distributing leaflets in the parking lot of the company’s plant in Fremont, Calif., before he was fired in October 2017. The company said it fired him because he had posted screenshots of employees’ profiles in an internal platform to Facebook. An administrative law judge ruled that it was in retaliation for his organizing efforts. The judge also found that the company had illegally issued a warning to another employee for taking the screenshots and sending them to Mr. Ortiz, a ruling that the board upheld on Thursday as well. In May 2018, Mr. Musk posted his tweet, which included the clause, “why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?” Both the judge and the board deemed the post an unlawful attempt to coerce employees by threatening their compensation. The board went further than the judge’s earlier ruling on some questions, finding that Tesla’s confidentiality agreement, which it required employees to sign, unlawfully prohibited them from speaking with the media about Tesla without authorization even if the material was public. The ruling on Thursday requires the company to amend its agreement. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. An NFT collector who goes by the handle @3fmusic placed a last-minute winning bid of 350 ether. A one-of-a-kind digital collectible item created out of a New York Times technology column sold for more than $500,000 in an auction, the first such sale in the history of the newspaper. An image of the column — titled “Buy This Column on the Blockchain!” — was turned into a nonfungible token, or NFT, and sold in a heated auction that brought in more than 30 bids on the NFT marketplace website Foundation. The NFT, a unique bit of digital code that is stored on the Ethereum blockchain and refers to a 14 megabyte graphic of the column hosted on a decentralized file hosting service, cannot be duplicated or counterfeited, making it potentially valuable for collectors. Some NFTs have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent weeks, with one such sale — a collection of art by the digital artist Beeple — bringing in more than $69 million at auction. Along with the token, the winner of the auction — should they choose to identify themselves — will receive additional perks including a voice message from Michael Barbaro, the host of “The Daily” podcast. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Neediest Cases Fund, a Times-affiliated charity. The winner of the auction, an NFT collector who goes by the handle @3fmusic, placed a last-minute winning bid of 350 ether, a digital currency, which translates to roughly $560,000 at Wednesday’s exchange rates. A link on the user’s profile led to the website of a Dubai-based music studio. @3fmusic could not be reached as of Wednesday afternoon. The user appeared to be an avid collector of NFT artwork. In addition to the Times token, their collection on Foundation also includes such works as “The result of 2020,” an image of a sad-looking Kermit the Frog, and “Mushy’s Midafternoon Nap,” an image of a cartoon toadstool sitting on a log. A GameStop store in New York. The retailer’s shares have been on a roller coaster this week after a disappointing earnings report.Credit…Nick Zieminski/Reuters Stocks rose on Friday with 10-year bond yields amid a bout of optimism in markets about the economic recovery. On Thursday, President Biden said he wanted the United States to administer 200 million vaccines by his 100th day in office, a target the country is already on track to meet. The Federal Reserve vice chair, Richard Clarida, pushed back on concerns that the government’s spending plans would fuel higher sustained inflation. In a victory for financial institutions, the central bank said that pandemic-era rules that restricted share buybacks and dividend payouts by banks would end midway through 2021 for most firms. On the economic front, gross domestic product data for the fourth quarter was also revised slightly higher on Thursday. The Stoxx 600 Europe rose 0.6 percent, set for a fourth consecutive week of gains. Economic data The S&P 500 index was set to open 0.3 percent higher before the latest report on personal income and spending from the Department of Commerce. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes rose 4 basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 1.67 percent. Retail sales in Britain rose 2.1 percent in February, rebounding from a slump of 8.2 percent the month before, when the country entered a third national lockdown. A survey of German business expectations rose to the highest level in nearly three years. Oil Oil prices rose with futures of Brent crude, the global benchmark, climbing 1.7 percent to $63 a barrel. A container ship is still blocking the Suez Canal, an important trade route for oil and other products. Some shipping companies are starting to divert ships away from the blockage. Stocks GameStop shares rose 10 percent in premarket trading after jumping more than 50 percent on Thursday. Shares in the video-game retailer had rebounded from a 34 percent drop on Wednesday after a disappointing earnings report. Shares in Burberry have dropped more than 6 percent in the past two days as the British fashion brand has been caught up in a backlash by Chinese consumers who are accusing American and European companies of “boycotting” cotton from region of Xinjiang. The companies, including Nike and H&M, have published statements expressing concern about forced labor in the region. Burberry has had to give up an online video game partnership and a brand ambassador in China quit. China is a crucial market for Burberry and recently has helped the retailer withstand the drop in sales in Europe and the United States because of the pandemic. Credit…Chris Gash Yields on 10-year Treasury notes have risen sharply in recent weeks, a sign that traders are taking the inflation threat more seriously. And if the trend continues, it would put bond investors on a collision course with the Biden administration, which wants to spend trillions more on infrastructure, education and other programs. The potential confrontation made some market veterans recall the events of the 1990s when yields on Treasury securities lurched higher as the Clinton administration considered plans to increase spending, Nelson D. Schwartz reports for The New York Times. As a result, officials soon turned to deficit reduction as a priority. Ed Yardeni, an independent economist, coined the term bond vigilante in the 1980s to describe investors who sell bonds amid signs of fiscal deficits getting out of hand. “They seem to mount up and form a posse every time inflation is making a comeback,” Mr. Yardeni said. “Clearly, they’re back in the U.S. So while it’s fine for the Fed to argue inflation will be transitory, the bond vigilantes won’t believe it till they see it.” Yet, evidence of inflation remains elusive, and the bond vigilantes remain outliers. Even many economists at financial firms who expect faster growth as a result of the stimulus package are not ready to predict inflation’s return. Even if inflation goes up slightly, the Fed’s target for inflation, set at 2 percent, is appropriate, said Alan S. Blinder, a Princeton economist who was an economic adviser to former President Bill Clinton and a former top Fed official. “Bond traders are an excitable lot and they go to extremes,” he said. “If they are true to form, they will overreact.” Video transcript Back transcript Tech Executives Testify on Disinformation Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Sundar Pichai of Google and Jack Dorsey of Twitter testified remotely before Congress on “misinformation and disinformation plaguing online platforms.” “I don’t think anyone wants a world where you can only say things that private companies judge to be true.” “Our mission is to organize the world’s information, and make it universally accessible and useful.” “We believe in free debate and conversation to find the truth. At the same time, we must balance that with our desire for our service not to be used to sow confusion, division or destruction.” “There are two faces to each of your platforms. Facebook has family and friends, neighborhood, but it is right next to the one where there is a white nationalist rally every day. YouTube is a place where people share quirky videos, but down the street, anti-vaxxers Covid deniers, QAnon supporters and Flat Earthers are sharing videos.” “You’ve failed to meaningfully change after your platform has played a role in fomenting insurrection, and abetting the spread of the virus and trampling American civil liberties. And while it may be true that some bad actors will shout ‘fire’ in the crowded theater by promoting harmful content, your platforms are handing them a megaphone to be heard in every theater across the country and the world. Your business model itself has become the problem.” “How is it possible for you not to at least admit that Facebook played a central role or a leading role in facilitating the recruitment, planning and execution of the attack on the Capitol?” “Chairman, my point is that I think that the responsibility here lies with the people who took the actions to break the law, and take and do the insurrection and secondarily, also the people who spread that content, including the president, but others as well.” “Your platform bears some responsibility for disseminating disinformation related to the election and the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement that led to the attack on the Capitol. Just a yes or no answer.” “Congressman, it’s a complex question. We —” “OK, we’ll move on. Mr Dorsey.” “Yes, but you also have to take into consideration a broader ecosystem. It’s not just the technology platforms we use.” “We’re all aware of big tech’s ever-increasing censorship of conservative voices and their commitment to serve the radical progressive agenda by influencing a generation of children — removing, shutting down or canceling any news, books and even now, toys, that aren’t considered woke.” “First of all, do you recognize that there is a real concern, that there’s an anti-conservative bias on Twitter’s behalf? And would you recognize that this has to stop if this is going to be, Twitter is going to be viewed by both sides as a place where everybody is going to get a fair treatment?” “We don’t write policy according to any particular political leaning. If we find any of it, we route it out.” Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Sundar Pichai of Google and Jack Dorsey of Twitter testified remotely before Congress on “misinformation and disinformation plaguing online platforms.”CreditCredit…Via Reuters Lawmakers grilled the leaders of Facebook, Google and Twitter on Thursday about the connection between online disinformation and the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Here’s what you need to know. Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s chief executive, said that the site played a role in the storming of the Capitol, in what appeared to be the first public acknowledgment by a top social media executive of the influence of the platforms on the riot. When a Democratic lawmaker asked the executives to answer with a “yes” or a “no” whether the platforms bore some responsibility for the misinformation that had contributed to the riot, Mr. Dorsey said “yes.” Neither Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook nor Sundar Pichai of Google would answer the question directly. As lawmakers on Thursday threatened to strip the liability protection encoded in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the chieftains of the biggest social networks couldn’t agree on how to fix the act, or if it even needs fixing. Mr. Zuckerberg urged Congress to take on “thoughtful reform” of Section 230. He said the law needed to be updated for the modern age. Mr. Pichai said while regulation has a role to play in “addressing harm and improving accountability,” he cautioned that recent proposals to change Section 230 would have unintended consequences. Democratic lawmakers accused the chief executives of making money by allowing disinformation to run rampant online, reflecting their mounting frustration about the spread of extremism, conspiracy theories and falsehoods online in the aftermath of the riot at the Capitol. Republican lawmakers came into the hearing steaming about the Capitol riot, but their animus was focused on the decisions by the platforms to ban right-wing figures, including former President Donald J. Trump, for inciting violence. The decisions to ban Mr. Trump, many of his associates and other conservatives, they said, amounted to liberal bias and censorship. Source link Orbem News #Agrees #Business #deal #Live #public #SPAC #Updates #WeWork

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le-sejour · 7 years

Text

Folly

Words: 1383

Pairing: some very slight Thomas Jefferson x Reader

World: Modern/College AU

Warning: cursing, mentions of furry porn, seductive turtle, Theatre Kid! Alexander, vague to no plotline: just actual stupidity w some romance if you squint

Prompt: Inspired by real chats and true events. One of my greatest friends seriously makes me think of a modern day Alexander Hamilton... Also, he’s a gold mine of hilarious fuck ups and I’m glad I’m there to witness it.

A/N: sweats I’M WORKING ON THE ORGY FIC, ASSUMPTIONS PT2 aND UNDER ARREST I SWEAR I JUST NEEDED TO GET THIS OUT OF MY SYSTEM and also to let u know i’m still alive LMAO

Enjoy~

MacNCheezy: Hey, doll

You: Yes, T?

MacNCheezy: You wanna make $10?

You: I’m not selling drugs for you, Thomas.

MacNCheezy is typing…

Pulling your [h/l] [h/c] hair into a low ponytail, you laughed as the chat window informed you that Thomas was writing and rewriting his response. It was amusing to see him flustered, even if you couldn’t actually see him. The thought of his indignant huffing and puffing was enough to brighten the already shitty day you’ve just had.

Thomas stared into his phone with disbelief. Here he was, genuinely trying to help a friend out (he’ll end up benefiting from this anyway, but, shh) and you were being impudent! The nerve of some people, honestly.

You: Oh, you would know a lot about the drug market, wouldn’t you, sweetheart?

He considers on sending the message then and there, but knew you would jump at the opportunity to Fight™ so he quickly types in his initial intentions.

But your connection to sketchy trades is not why I’m here. I have a commission for you.

ItsKittenBitch: Oh? Yknow I’d rather fuck a cactus than get into bed w you, baby boo.❤️

ItsKittenBitch: Besides, $10 is cheap, even for a corner street hooker.

ItsKittenBitch: Up your game, Teej, and I’ll maybe consider holding ur hand. 😘

The mocaccino incarnate drags his hand over his face in irritation. Why was he asking you again? Oh, right, you were actually more tolerable than the squad you liked to hang around. And also Jemmy was still too sick to help him out.

You: Will you be serious for once, [F/Name]? I’m in a tight spot.

You rolled your eyes as your fluffy haired friend described the situation to you. He lamented over how he had to take care of James while he was swamped with papers for his major and his part-time gig at a local online publication.

You: So you’re basically asking me to be a ghostwriter for a ghostwriter? 👀 👀

MacNCheezy: Yes, [F/Name], that’s exactly what I’m asking you to do.

You: What do I get out of it?

MacNCheezy is typing...

You: I’m kidding, Thomas. Don’t get your hair curlers in a notch.

You: I know I get $10 for 500 words. I’ll do it.

You: But I’m also expecting ice cream and mac and cheese for this.

MacNCheezy: If you wanted a date that badly, you should’ve just asked, sugar. 😏

You: e w, can you not with the emojis, old man? 😩 You trying to be cool is just... sad. 😔

MacNCheezy: Just give the article to me in 3 or so hours, or you’re not getting ice cream.

MacNCheezy: I hear the parlor down the street is having two-scoop Tuesday and it would be a terrible shame for us to miss it.

You: I can get ice cream on my own, ya kno

MacNCheezy: I know for a fact you like being treated to free ice cream because you’re broke, [F/Name].

You: di s gu st i ng. You exploit my weakness for free food.

MacNCheezy: See you in 3 or so hours, sweetheart. 😀 😃 😄 😁 😆 😅 😂 ☺️ 😊 😇 🙂 🙃 😉 😌 😍 😘 😗 😙 😚 😋 😜 😝 😛🤑 🤗 😎 🤡 🤠 😏

You: s T O p 😫😤

It’s been two hours since you’ve been click-clacking away on your laptop, and after agreeing with yourself that you’ve written a decent first draft, you decided to take a break. Drawing one knee up to your chest, you pulled up your web browser and logged onto your Facebook.

Alenhamner Cameltoe: yo [N/Name]!

You: sup non stop kids bop

Alenhamner Cameltoe: I just thought of something

You: wooooah there slow down don’t hurt urself Alex

Alenhamner Cameltoe: Blatantly ignoring that comment fueled by self-hate

I realized why they changed the plot of Anastasia for the stage play.

You: Uh... they did?

Alenhamner Cameltoe: They did.

Rasputin isn't the villain. It's Ramin Karimloo as a violent Bolchevik.

You: huh. Why’d they do that?

Alenhamner Cameltoe: Because...

In the animation, and this was okay for the 90s, right?

Rasputin hates the Tzar over a power struggle so he casts some magic to make the people unhappy and revolt so they kill the Romanovs.

Basically the entire Russian Revolution is because a wizard got mad.

Not because of oppression. Not because of Imperialism..

But because a wizard got mad.

You stared at the screen in slight amusement. Looks like Alex was in his rant days. (You also suspected he was hopped up on several cups of coffee, but you’d let John worry about that.) You shook your head and clicked back to your word document to begin proofreading your piece. You’ll just let him continue to flood your inbox and read over it when he’s done.

After a few minutes of complete silence sans the clacking of your keyboard, you finally realized Alexander had finished telling his story. You read over your piece to make sure it was to your satisfaction before maneuvering back to Facebook.

Alenhamner Cameltoe: So it paints the Romanovs as the heroic victims of this story.

Nowhere does it mention why they were killed and what atrocities were comitted by the aristocracy on the Russian working class.

The plot actually won't hold up today.

Today's audiences wouldn't actually approve of a story like that.

... also you get awesome historical reference lyrics like this.

LINK

The original animation, if released today would be criticized for historical revisionism.

The link opened to another site. You didn’t bother checking the url because it was probably a lyric site or youtube, so you casually scrolled through your newsfeed while it loaded.

A couple of cat videos and a bunch of overused memes later, you found yourself switching to the fully loaded tab.

Boy, you wish you hadn’t because what the fuck.

On your screen sat an anthropomorphic t u r t l e in a very suggestive pose giving you very real, very unnerving bedroom eyes. Chills ran up and down your spine as you checked the url, horrified at learning it was a fucking furry site.

What the fuck, Alexander.

Hastily, you clicked out of that website before going back to your chatbox. You rechecked the site he gave you, wondering if you somehow misclicked. But no, there the link was, bright as day. To a fucking porn site for furries.

You: WhaT thE fU c K, Ha mi lt o n

Alenhamner Cameltoe: I KNOW RIGHT?!

The play might be even better than the animation!

Wait, what am I talking about? Of course the play is already better by comparison because it plays to a more historically accurate context.

You stared at the screen in confusion. Wait, so... he wasn’t pranking you...? Then that meant...

You: yo if yall wanna be furries das fine w me

Alenhamner Cameltoe: Huh?

You: but keep your porn away from me

Alenhamner Cameltoe: ???

!!!!!!!!!

WAIT NO

THAT’S FURRY PORN

REAL LINK

THIS IS ANASTASIA

You: yo I won’t judge ur weird sexual fetishes, boi. Just make sure it’s safe, sane, and consensual.

Alenhamner Cameltoe: NO!!!

NO THAT’S NOT MINE!

THAT’S A PRANK I PLAYED ON JOHN

GOD DAMN IT I RUINED MY HISTORICAL REVISIONISM RANT

You: L M A O

Greatest fails

Alenhamner Cameltoe: I was trying to gross him out for leaving his goddamned turtles out of the cage again.

You: congrats. you only played yourself. 😂

Anyway I gotta go furry boi, Thomas owes me ice cream and mac and cheez

Alenhamner Cameltoe: I’M NOT A FURRY

THAT WAS FOR JOHN!

FOR JO H N !

Cackling madly, you logged off of Facebook. You pulled up your email account and forwarded your finished article to Thomas. Eh, you didn’t bother to proofread it a last time because you knew Thomas would be anal enough to go through it and edit it himself.

ItsKittenBitch: It is I, your savior, telling you that I have sent the feature to your email and demand compensation.

ItsKittenBitch: Now get off your ass and get ready for our date before I change my mind, old man. JemBuns will understand.

Thomas’ triumphant smirk melted into a fond smile as he pocketed his phone, handing James a fresh box of kleenex before getting ready.

#so i made this thing #instead of finishing one of the many wips in my documents folder #i'll finish them someday i swear #lmao #alexander hamilton imagine #alexander hamilton x reader #alexander hamilton #thomas jefferson imagine #thomas jefferson x reader #thomas jefferson #hamilton #hamilton imagine #hamilfics #hamfics

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