#the struggle of making pcs when I have no other games to play in | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

celestialprincesse · 3 months

Text

🪐🩷

I write sm of Simon with like super cutie patootie sweet softie gf's and today is not one of those days!! What about Si with a sassy, snarky spitfire of a partner.

He's kind of always thought that he'd want some soft, gentle, domestic partner to offset the general frustration and struggle of his work life. Some bird in a frilly apron to coo and preen at him like a wounded puppy.

And then he meets her.

She's some intelligence officer brought on by Laswell in hopes of attaining information on targets before missions to keep things running that little bit smoother.

She's had to not only survive, but thrive in a cutthroat mans world industry for years, and she takes not one single ounce of shit from anyone.

Price will occasionally (and very much unintentionally) simplify things for her in mission briefings and she just kind of sits there with arms crossed and a raised eyebrow until he gets the memo that he doesn't need to baby her.

She never has to actually go out into the field, so whilst the guys are all training in the gym, she sits and plays games on her phone or reads some smutty romance novels.

She didn't expect to fall flat on her ass for Simon Riley, but something about how quiet and level headed he is makes her very much metaphorically swoon.

He knows it, obviously. He's observant as fuck. He sees the way she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth when she has to crane her neck in order to look up at him, or when he casually helps her with boxes of files and she shifts bashfully from foot to foot, trying not to ogle his biceps.

When they start dating, she's not even afraid of the others finding out because they're too scared of her to tease the two of them.

They move in together and she designates the guest room for all of his man stuff, only to find out that he has like three personal items and some chargers. "The fuck you mean you don't have an ugly PC?! You're a guy?" He's so confused at her confusion until later in their relationships when she tells him that all of her past partners were kind of (major) dicks and that's why she didn't really date anymore, until she met him of course.

She tries really really hard to hide when she cries before he goes off on deployment, and works ten times harder to find useful information that will increase his chance of getting home to her safe.

He buys her really sentimental presents and she tries to hide how touched she is by calling him the softie even though she shamefully piles all of his clothes on the bed with her when he's away because she misses him so much.

She buys him a dog in secret on the same day that he comes home with a cat for her and they just sort of stand there in their front entrance like that Spiderman meme where they all point at each other.

The dog and cat love each other, almost as unlikely a pair as their owners.

She and Simon go into work one day and she's got a unique, delicate little ring on her left ring finger and the guys are like 😦"You got married and didn't invite us?" "No you fucking plebs we got engaged."

Never did anyone think they'd see the day where Simon Riley got engaged and thought about settling down.

They also thought the two of them hated each other until Simon casually is like "Oh, yeah no she and I went to this great place the other night. Good steaks."

651 notes · View notes

burr-ell · 3 months

Text

Conflict, Communication, and Chemistry: A Laura and Marisha PC Appraisal

A couple of people have observed across all three main campaigns that Laura and Marisha consistently make characters that ultimately don't seem to fully understand each other for various reasons, and their characters' chemistry (or lack thereof) is an outgrowth of that. And until recently, I thought that was one of those things that I personally saw but not everyone else was obligated to view the same way—chemistry is often subjective, and it’s for that reason that I tend not to take seriously a lot of the common shipping-based arguments about chemistry.

But in the most recent 4-Sided Dive, Marisha, Laura, and Sam said this:

MARISHA: I have enjoyed…of course, like, delving into the relationship is always fun, but then relationship tension is also fun. LAURA: Yeah, I feel like you guys [points between Marisha and Sam] are really big on—you really like relationship conflict too. You guys talk about that a lot. SAM: Of course. Because I don’t have any in my real life. LAURA: I’m terrified of conflict. That translates to the game as well, I don’t like conflict. SAM: You don’t like conflict? Even in the game, in this dramatic storytelling game that we’ve made together? LAURA: No! I don’t like fighting! SAM: You just want everything to go fine? LAURA: Yes!

And I think that made things click into place for me. This is the reason why their characters have this through-line, because their approaches to conflict bleed through to their character choices. Laura's characters’ issues tend to be internal; they tend not to have prolonged fights with other characters, and their arcs are often person-vs-self stories about emotional walls and struggling with self-centeredness in some capacity. Marisha's characters, on the other hand, are upfront about their problems and are completely unafraid to go toe-to-toe with other party members, and their character development is often a product of a straightforward person-vs-person or person-vs-society story about overcoming their physical obstacles. And it’s part of why their current characters’ relationship has played out in a way that’s strange and off-kilter, because their interactions do not read to me like the players really understood this about each other before the public talk show discussion quoted above.

In Campaign 1, Vex and Keyleth’s relationship is conspicuous by its absence; even within their superficial commonalities, they are not particularly drawn to each other beyond circumstance. Vex is unquestionably the leader of Vox Machina insofar as they have one, and she does this by consistently finding a compromise—when the group is arguing about their best course of action in Whitestone or Westruun or Draconia or the Nine Hells, Vex is the one who mediates and strategizes their way out. She's very good at seeing all sides of an issue, threading the needle, and coming to a decision that keeps the group happy and together. The problem is that she tends to do this at the expense of her personal needs being met; she bottles up a lot of her emotions and issues and she struggles with letting people in, and has to work on not internalizing and holding grudges.

Keyleth, on the other hand, consistently takes stances and isn't afraid to be the moral compass of the party, like when she notices how dark everyone is becoming during the Briarwood arc and fights to correct it. She lets herself feel what she feels rather than pushing it away, which allows her to overcome the physical and mental challenges of her Aramente and affords her more emotional freedom and honesty. Sometimes, though, these traits work against her—she will argue a point and continue to belabor it until someone else steps in; she can be self-righteous due to her own naïveté; and her emotional openness can be poorly-timed and lead her into indecision and dithering. One of the few one-on-one conversations Keyleth and Vex have is after Vex dies and is brought back in the Sunken Tomb, and Vex is quickly exasperated at having to deal with Keyleth’s feelings when she’s the one who died and she’s just trying to piece together what happened.

Vex is often frustrated by Keyleth's hardline beliefs and feelings and has to compromise around them; Keyleth sees conflict in a much more literal way than the internalization and masking that Vex does, and as a result never really digs deeper into who Vex is as a person. By the end of the campaign, they call each other sisters, which I think is appropriate—they're two people who care about each other but have little in common, tied together by the single factor of Vax. Outside of that commonality, there's little reason for them to be especially close the way they are with other members of the party; if there was, they’d have been close at any point throughout the previous 114 episodes.

Beau and Jester form a stronger friendship in Campaign 2, but they seem to understand just enough about each other to get along well while not being able to truly see each other. Jester is cheerful and goofy by nature, but she also projects that particular image in order to make the people around her happy and keep them together. While she will speak her mind, she doesn’t tend to stand at one end or the other of the ideological and political spectrum of issues faced by the Nein and is simply happy to have an adventure and sow some chaos. Even when having difficulties with the Traveler, Jester is willing to work through it and find a solution that works for both of them in order to preserve the relationship.

Beau, meanwhile, approaches the world abrasively and aggressively and is a bit too prepared to burn bridges with people if she thinks they aren’t worth it. While she recognizes the nuances of the conflict between the Empire and the Dynasty, she’s ultimately loyal to the Cobalt Soul’s mission of using knowledge to fight corruption. She’s perfectly happy to butt heads with Caleb or Fjord or Molly if she thinks they’re in the wrong, and her cut-your-losses mentality puts her in conflict with how important the Traveler is to Jester.

This difference is thrown into especially sharp relief not only by how they deal with their respective fathers, but also the response they think the other should have. Jester wants to reconnect with the Gentleman and for him to repair his and Marion’s relationship, while Beau has fully written off Thoreau and has no interest in reconciling. Jester is upset at Beau’s suggestion that she just forget her dad and not put effort into someone who won’t do the same for her, while Beau is less than impressed with Jester’s suggestion that Thoreau really does care about her and it might be worth it to patch things up, and the upshot of it all is that the way everything plays out makes it clear that both of them have badly misread the other’s situation.

Beau, like Keyleth before her, doesn’t seem to understand that Jester is masking a lot of insecurities and wants someone to see her for who she is and not an idealized version of her; Jester actually stops confiding in Beau after Beau tells her she doesn’t need Artagan and that she’s the actual god. Jester, meanwhile, is unwilling to set aside her dreams and fantasies and is at her happiest when she can roam and adventure freely, something for which Beau would not set aside her responsibilities and beliefs in the mission of the Cobalt Soul. They’re still good friends, but going their separate ways is a benefit to both of them.

And now we have Imogen and Laudna, whose relationship felt lacking well before it became romantic. A lot of time and energy has been spent by multiple people trying to articulate exactly why that is, and there are many reasons—Laudna’s concept seems better-suited to a short form narrative and it took about 60 episodes for her character to stop feeling entirely superfluous; the relationship lacks any substantive conflict or disagreement and the supportiveness feels more like a mutual security blanket; they seem to have little in the way of an actual dynamic outside of melodramatic plot moments. But the relevant issue here is that Laudna is, for all intents and purposes, a yes-woman who supports whatever Imogen wants to do simply because Imogen wants it (a trait that notably does not carry over to anyone else in the party—she is completely unafraid to delve into negative emotions and traits with Ashton and Orym, both of whom are played by people Marisha has historically worked with to produce some of the best relationship dynamics on the show). If Imogen wants to run off and live in a cottage or join the Vanguard or commune with Predathos or not commune with Predathos, Laudna will uncritically encourage her no matter what, because per Marisha’s words on the Laudna playlist, “Laudna will protect and attack anyone who tries to fuck with her girl”. Part of Laudna’s core concept, baked in from the beginning, is the belief that Imogen “deserves the world”. Between these two players, the one who enjoys conflict is playing a character who will do everything in her power to shield and soothe the character being played by the one who hates conflict. The result feels less like a healthy supportive relationship and more like a recipe for enablement.

When episode 77 came out, I commented that for the first time I actually started to feel something—anything at all—about Imogen and Laudna, and it’s because I started to get a sense that there might be some real potential for tension and tragedy. And now—between Laudna imploring Imogen to move on from her if she dies, Marisha seeming to suggest at one point that Laudna may not have a future at all, Imogen admitting that she’s outright disgusted by Delilah, the disconnect between the players’ approaches to conflict, Imogen (and Laura, out of character) being shocked and horrified by Laudna absorbing the soul of the Willmaster, and Laudna now intentionally working with Delilah in order to protect Imogen—I’m starting to wonder if their relationship may indeed be on a collision course.

Now this could end in multiple interesting ways: Imogen could be driven away from Laudna, who is slowly consumed by Delilah; Laudna could choose to sacrifice herself to end Delilah for good and Imogen is forced to move on; Imogen and Laudna could Thelma and Louise their way off a cliff; or maybe someone just points out how unhealthy this all is and they start to be more honest and less codependent and their relationship improves after a lot of hard work. But something has to happen.

Laura and Marisha have, multiple times now, been asked questions about Imogen and Laudna’s relationship that they have answered with varying degrees of “we never really talked about it”, sometimes referring to in-game conversations and sometimes not, and that is both unsurprising and a bad sign of things to come. I don’t know exactly how much out-of-game conversation happened between previous canon relationships that Laura and Marisha have played, but this one desperately needs it—because for three straight campaigns, all we’ve seen is every indication that these are two players who are uniquely ill-suited to play a romance the way either of them would want to.

#cr meta #critical role

223 notes · View notes

melobin · 2 months

Text

behind the screen 𐙚 sungchan smau. #6

✧ camgirl reader x roommate sungchan

✧ synopsis. in which sungchan discovers his favorite camgirl also happens to be his roommate

✧ wc. 2.2k

✧ chapter warnings. written chapter. smut, female and male masturbation, live streaming masturbation, use of sex toy (dildo), overstimulation, sungchan is a perv wreck.

✧ a/n. i tried something a little different !! this chapter is half writing in third person for plot reasons as sungchan doesn’t know merci’s identity !!

behind the screen masterlist

← back | next →

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨♡୧⋆ ˚｡⋆

“hello!” your voice was soft as it rang out around your bedroom, the mic you had set up next to your laptop picking up your tone “i’ve missed you all so much” flattery, it always makes them feel important. you watched as the viewer count of the stream slowly rose, more people joining as you settled on your bed, your mask already covering your face.

you sat on your knees, your leverage popped out of your chest because of the tight bra you had picked and your panties were basically not existent, your viewers knew they were in for a treat tonight. one viewer in particular, sungchan, was already losing his mind.

he moved so quickly when he checked the time and saw merci were about to start streaming, instantly closing whatever game he had open on his pc and typing up her web address immediately. sungchan hated missing merci’s streams, everything about her was so perfect that sungchan wanted to savour every second he got looking at merci.

if only he knew merci was only a wall away from him, how she was actually you, his sweet, innocent roommate who never seemed to bother him during this time. any other night you’d be in and out of eachothers room, talking about your day, eating together, yet tuesdays seemed to be explicitly off limits for both of you, an unspoken agreement formed as neither of you asked the other why you were so busy.

sungchan struggled to say no to any of your wishes, so he was grateful that your schedules somehow collided and you always left each other be during merci’s streams. despite the inner war he would have with himself if you needed something from him during one of her streams, he’d stop watching in order to help you.

a giggle brought sungchan back to earth as he admired the sight of merci, his cock already straining in his sweats, his shirt being pulled over his head due to the heat he was already feeling. his headphones sat on his head, he always had them on and turned onto the max volume, never wanting to miss a single sound that left her sweet lips. sure, sungchan didn’t know what she looked like but he knew she was gorgeous, there was no way she wasn’t.

“i don’t want to tease too much tonight, i’ve been stressed at work and” merci let her fingers trail down her stomach, the tips of them brushing over her covered clit, she gasped softly “i need a release so bad”

sungchan felt his cock throb at the sight of her playing with the thin material of her panties, it only took him a few seconds before he caved and pushed his sweatpants down slightly, his cock already leaking slightly as the cool air hit it. he was embarrassed at how easily worked up he got when it came to merci, his cock throbbed in his hand just at the thought of having her near him.

he loved merci’s streams, he always came before she did so he always ended up overstimulating himself, not being able to stop himself from fucking his hand as he watched her. she were like a drug to him, an addiction that he couldn’t shift and he didn’t even know her. sungchan was pretty sure he was insane because of that.

sungchans hand held the base of his cock as he watched her, merci’s fingers gently pushed aside her panties and he had to stop himself from groaning just at the sight of her glistening cunt. his mouth watered, his hand began to move on his cock slowly. his lack of self control almost astounded him.

on the other side of the wall you sat there, your legs spread in front of your laptop and your fingers pushing into your sickened slit. you loved nights like this, nights where your need took over and you let your desperation take control. you knew your viewers would love it too, the donation number already increasing rapidly. yet you knew where the majority of that money was coming from.

“i’ve taken a toy out tonight” you reached for the clear dildo that was next to you, fingers lightly toying with your clit as you showed it to the camera “i wanted to really enjoy myself tonight, i think i deserve it, don’t you?” a whine fell from you as you spoke, your fingers moving with ease against your slick clit.

sungchan wanted to scream at his computer that merci deserved to feel good and even more, he wanted to give her the world one orgasm at a time. lord if eunseok could hear his thoughts he’d never hear the end of it. instead of screaming he done something he hadn’t done before, he let go of his cock so he could type in the chat, all whilst making a mental note to clean his keyboard later.

he knew the stream chat was always on slow mode, merci liked seeing what people had to say to her instead of it being just a spam that went by too quickly. sungchan knew she’d probably see his comment, he hoped deep down she’d recognise his name and remember who he was, even if he was going to be known as the loser from twitter to her.

channie: you do.

his eyes scanned the other comments that sandwiched his.

hani: i’d give you everything and more.

sungchan wanted to reply to him and tell him to fuck off and get his own line before realising he had only said that in his head. his eyes flicked from the chat to merci, the dildo she had in her hand was now being pressed against her clit as she spoke.

“you’re all so sweet” her voice echoed through sungchan’s headphones, a sultry tone filled his ears “turns me on even more” she sighed at the end of her words, the dildo in her hand being dragged down her slit before she left the tip pressing against her entrance. sungchan’s mouth watered as he watched her, his hand dragging along his slick cock as his precum smeared itself over it. he waited in suspense for her to push the toy inside of herself, waited impatiently to hear the broken moan she always lets out when she issues something like that. it was a moan that ruined sungchan inside and out, he knew his cock could make her moan louder, the toy on her hand barely compared to the size of his cock.

sungchan almost jumped when he heard a whimper fall from merci, his hand squeezed his cock as he watched her cunt swallow the toy whole and heard her moan as she took it. the scene was beautiful, she had a hand behind her pressed against the bed holding her weight up, her legs spread and her other hand dragging the toy in and out of herself. sure, maybe some of her moans were slightly over dramatic but that didn’t matter to sungchan, she still sounded like an angel reincarnated.

he would’ve given anything to be with her in that moment, thrusting her toy in and out of her teasingly, making sure every ridge of it pressed against her tight walls. sungchan never was one to beg but he would’ve begged for her to sit on his face just so he could get a taste of what she was made of.

the sight of her made him weak, the way the toy seemed to slide in and out of her with ease, nothing blocked it as her slick cunt swallowed it with each thrust forward, her speed increasing over time due to her neediness. squelching could be heard from her as she moaned. sungchan knew the chat would be going crazy over her, of course they would be, he wished he could be too but he didn’t have the self control to take his hand off of his cock, the pleasure from him jerking off made him dizzy as he watched her. sungchan just knows he could fuck her so well.

sungchan groaned as he watched he withdraw the toy from her cunt, the slick that coated it glistened under the light of her room. he found himself invested, cock throbbing in his hand as he watched her. despite not seeing her face, he could see the way she dragged her finger along the side of the toy and put it in her mouth, she whimpered as she did and sungchan was sure in that moment he had never felt so jealous in his life. he knew she tasted sweet, something along the lines of strawberries mixed with soemthing utterly sinful.

“tastes so sweet” she whimpered and sungchan almost came at the sound, he wanted her bad. he wanted to stop jerking off whilst she had stopped, but he physically couldn’t, just watching her body shake and her pussy glisten made him desperate to cum. it was only a matter of seconds before he was spilling all over his hand, biting his lip as he felt his cum leak down his abs. it didn’t stop him though, his hand still worked his cock as he watched her.

he focused as she picked up something from beside her, placing it flat on the bed before she stuck the suctioned part of the dildo onto the reflective surface and turned around. his cock felt sore in his hand as he continued to pump it, his whole body twitching as he watched so easily she sank down onto the toy before she leaned forward, her ass was on display as he pussy began to swallow the toy again, she moved so well on it, it was all so disgustingly arousing. he was sure he could see the way she gripped the toy with her cunt, the tight squeeze the toy must have been feeling made him squeeze his cock in order to try and replicate the feeling, he groaned when he realised it wouldn’t feel even half as good as she would.

he watched as he bent herself forward, he could barely see the way she gripped the sheets and whined into them, her hips not moving as he bounced herself onto her toy. it all got overwhelming for sungchan the moment she reached back to part the lips of her pussy and hold her underwear further to the side, giving the camera a clear view of just how easily she took the toy. sungchan was sure he was going to cum again, the overstimulation he was giving himself had his toes curling and his body squirming slightly, it took everything in him to not whimper and alarm you who he assumed was just laying in bed in the next room to him.

he thought about how embarrassing it would be to have you catch him jerking off messily to some camgirl he found online, he also thought about what would happen if you liked her too, maybe you also secretly watched her and touched yourself to her streams, he was quick to shake the thought out of his head, cum beginning to spill over his hand once again as he focused back on merci. her hands dropped from her skin and instead her fingers reached under her so she could rub at her clit, she was getting close and sungchan was glad. he needed to watch her cum but he wasn’t sure how many more orgasms he could get out of himself, two was far from his limit but his body felt weak, drained, he felt dirty as his cum stained his abs but he loved it.

“i’m so close” he heard her whine, fingers not stopping on her clit as she fucked herself onto her toy, her mattress creaked lightly under her and for a moment he wondered if her roommate knew about what she done, were they okay with it? were they a man? did they secretly watch her? did they even know? all of the questions were cleared from his head when he squeezed his cock, his cum barely seeping out of the tip as he watched her cum around her toy. her thighs shook, fingers of her free hand dug into her bed sheets, toy having white forming on it as her cum coated it. he wasn’t sure how fucked up he was over merci but he would’ve happily taken the toy into his mouth just to suck her cum off of it.

sungchan sighed as his hand released his sore cock, it fell against his wet stomach as he leaned back in his chair. merci lifted herself from her toy with a whimper before she turned around, her demeanour softer and weaker than before as he began to say her goodbyes to the camera, giggling and thanking everyone for joining before turning off her steam.

sungchan laid his headphones on his desk as he took time to recover, only being brought out of his trance when his phone dinged. when he checked it he saw it was a message from you. he panicked slightly, seeing you ask him if he wanted to join you to watch a movie. he promised he would, telling you he had to shower quickly and then he’d be in only for you to tell him you had to as well. it was just antoher tuesday night where sungchan was glad you never asked any questions.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨♡୧⋆ ˚｡⋆

fill out this form to be apart of the behind the screen tag list.

tag list. @midmourn @svnghan @strayghibli @minnieslover @shortnstupid @palchokitty @ilovechanhee @hikict @wccycc @revehosh @teddywook @hoonieq @glaieuls @kvstjwonnie @starrypen @thinkabt-vivi @kyusqult @nanascupid @professsionalsimp @beomgri @xenkimmie @dinosluver @jaehmarks @hellonikitty @wolfiecaro @luvyujun @rosesfortaro @zhangyixingxing1 @hrts4tyun @forrds @mamathefifth @wonbinkisser @alwayswook @boogyu @haohoonz @wheatrice @cvpidxo @soobsfairy444 @nadrs @wonbinfiles @tsumusakusa @chichiuu @bbgmingyu @outrologist @lilriswife4life @https-yeonjun @emoseob @riizenextdoor @h3lluh @shiannprincess101 @lavscene @iselltulips @w0nslvr @vernonburger @boopdidoo @planethyuka @joshuawifey @dearmyouth @bludzk1llzyuzu @blvm1ng @reenfluffmarshmallow @jnkthy @luh @hyuckscupids @au-ghosttype @kaykay11sworld

#✧ melody posts #riize smut #sungchan smut #riize smau #sungchan smau #riize sungchan smut #riize sungchan smau #✧ behind the screen

311 notes · View notes

doubleddenden · 4 months

Text

The topic of Palworld is pretty charged, but often times I see people be shamed for liking it because the CEO tweeted stuff about NFTs and the company using AI art in a separate game. Acting as if that's the most damning thing ever for a gaming company in an industry filled with similar people.

Make no mistake, I dislike both AI art and nfts, but do you realize how many gaming companies have involvement with that?

To begin with, Pokémon used AI art in a promotional piece for Pokémon Go in September, and nobody gave a shit because uwu Pikachu. The Pokémon Company also put a job listing some months back seeking an expert in NFTs. That's not quite damning evidence, but if I were a betting man, no "NFT expert" will willingly say "yeah nfts suck are bad for the environment, man, I'll take my paycheck and fuck off now." There's also a strong argument to be made that Pokémon has stolen ideas from fakemon artists (Finizen and Palafin, Scovillain, Dipplin, etc) and other franchises (kaiju movies, Dragon Quest, Megaman, final fantasy, western cartoons and food mascots, etc), a dubious legal statement that claims they own all fan art from the remixes and fakemon made on youtube to the pikachu your kid drew at breakfast; they have yet to apologize for the state of Scarlet and Violet while charging full price to millions of paying customers for a clearly unfinished and barely functioning game (which i did enjoy, but you can't tell me it was finished baking when it struggles not to shit itself just to run), and a bunch of other things people shit on Palworld for, but A. It's Pokémon so people don't care and think it's fine, and B. That's not the point of this post.

You know who else does NFTs and AI art? (Yes I heard Muscle Man from Regular Show in my head just now, too, moving along)

Square Enix sold several of their IPs for NFTs and claims to have used AI art "a minimum amount" in Foam Stars, yet I see nobody yelling for boycotts of Final Fantasy 14, 16, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest, Life is Strange, etc etc etc.

Sony has invested in both, they want to implement AI into gaming, and has a patent for nfts to be used in games and consoles, yet there's no movement to throw out your playstations.

Bandai Namco- you know, that company with a hand in pretty much most anime games on the market and popular games such as the Dark Souls games? They have a game called RYU that's essentially a virtual pet game that uses the blockchain, and its AI driven, among other projects. Yet there's no outcry to stop playing the many, MANY games they brand with. This also includes quite a few Nintendo games (btw they just partnered together to form a special studio quite recently) like Smash Wii U/3ds and New Pokémon Snap. Nobody gives a shit though.

Android, Microsoft, Google, Apple- I don't even need to explain those, they have whole teams dedicated to both. Even popular VPN companies accept crypto.

I'm just saying an awful lot of you guys that scream and shit bloody murder about Palworld's company being involved with that shit are either the biggest "It's okay when my favs do it" type of hypocrites, or you're sorely ignorant to just how evil and greedy most corporations are. You'll be hard pressed to find a game company with popular AND fun games that DOESN'T have some interest in either, let alone movie and show studios. That's the awful reality we live in.

You have 2 options

1. You basically stop doing anything involving most modern tech, including throwing out your pc and smart phone. You could probably live a comfortable life with tech circa 2010, but you have to be aware that any thing you buy may go towards a cause you don't like.

2. You accept that people can enjoy a product while not necessarily agreeing with the CEO of said product. Most CEOs tend to be jackasses anyway, that's kind of the shared trait they all have. You can also discourage companies from using them while understanding it is everywhere.

Palworld at the end of the day is just a toy, that's it. From the looks of it, it's not even actually hurting anyone, and it seems like the company at least treats their employees pretty decently- at least according to a few things I've seen here and there that seems rather progressive for a Japanese studio (with room for doubt obviously, it's a company after all and as we've established, they're all evil). At the least its not like when people supported Hogwarts Legacy and directly put money into JKR's wallet so she can openly hurt more Trans women. In fact, the only people seemingly hurt in all of this Palworld drama are obsessed Pokémon stans that can't accept a parody, or the Pokémon Company themselves, who rightly deserve some punching up tbh.

You can just say you dislike the game, that's fine, I totally get that. Even though I personally think The Pokémon Company deserves a few nut shots after the way they've treated fans these last few years with the state of their games (and you know, stealing ideas from fans without credit), I can see why someone would be turned away from a parody that's literally meant to be Pokémon with guns. I can totally understand all of that, personally I'd prefer if the game was MORE like Pokémon with turn based combat.

But if you're going to defend Pokémon because you think its perfectly innocent because of Wooloo or something like that, just be sure you're aware you're defending the World's Richest Franchise and their own attempts at AI and NFTs while calling out an indie company (a real one thats learning as they go, not the fake "We're totally indie" franchise that hasn't been indie since gen 3) for having a ceo that also seems interested in the same stuff. And remember, you don't become number 1 without hurting people somehow (we could dig up receipts about certain partners Pokémon has teamed up with, such as Tencent with Unite, but I'd rather not right now.)

Just saying. I don't think you're an irredeemable person for still liking Pikachu, cuz I do too believe it or not. I've been a life long fan and still have fun with the games despite the clear scummy business practices towards their paying customers. Just maybe extend that courtesy to the millions of players just trying to have fun in this awful, putrid, shithole planet that just keeps getting worse and worse with each passing day.

Plus... you know, think about it. Do you think Pokémon would ever get around to making a gunless Palworld? Probably not. Do you think Palworld would exist if The Pokémon Company and Nintendo were the slightest bit chill about Pokémon fan projects like SEGA is with Sonic? Also probably not. From what I've read, the devs just wanted to make a fun game that happens to mostly be ARK with Pokémon adjacent monsters. That's not really a bad thing, all things considered, and it seems like the worst they've done is reference official Pokémon when making their own models.

Palworld being successful is actually beneficial to Pokémon fans, as well. It'll never really truly compete, but it has outsold Legends Arceus in terms of units sold (not as much financially because Palworld was only $30 plus a sale recently, but still impressive), and it is enough that Game Freak is aware of its existence. Let Palworld light a fire under their ass, and maybe GF will actually finish their next game before releasing it for full price (and no, we're not bringing up the tired imaginary ball and chain game devs, game freak owns 1/3rd lf the franchise and can easily take methods to get more dev time, they just haven't because money). Just saying, at least the Paldevs were honest enough to sell it in early access for half the price.

#palworld

92 notes · View notes

anim-ttrpgs · 16 days

Note

Hey just wanted to say that the work you do is really inspiring. I think the TTRPG community has needed an urban fantasy noir sort of thing for a little while and I really like the direction you're taking it in. Looking forward to stuff in the future!!

Thank you! Basically all our projects come from a place of need, each one being something that we wanted to play ourselves, but either it just didn’t exist, or the people who did do it didn’t do it to our satisfaction.

Since it’s our blog we can toot our own horn a bit, and yeah, the TTRPG community did need Eureka. The whole idea originally came out of our dissatisfaction with investigation and mystery-solving gameplay in most of the other more well-known TTRPGs that attempt to tackle this genre, such as Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green, and Gumshoe. They either make it too easy for bad dice rolls to get the party hopelessly stuck by relying too heavily of the PC’s skills, or make things difficult on the player by not giving the PC’s skills quite enough input, which can make efficient mystery solving very difficult across sessions with a whole week or more of real time in between them. (And it’s barely even worth mentioning that the most popular TTRPGs such as D&D5e and Pathfinder just plain cannot do investigative gameplay to any respectable degree at all.)

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy’s Investigation Point and Eureka! Point system, whereby each skill check to investigate something fills a bar on the character sheet until the investigator gets a “Eureka!”, which can be spent to retroactively gain information from an investigation skill check that they previously failed, as well as many other specific rules that are too nuanced to go into here but that you can read about in the free version of the rulebook, are part of our answer to that. As you are putting the pieces together in your own mind, so is your character, and this system acts as a failsafe, but not a crutch, to prevent a single bad dice roll from leaving the party totally twisting in the wind.

And I personally have always been really autistic about folklore, which is where Eureka’s unique approach to playable monsters comes in. No RPG had ever really done certain monsters to my satisfaction, particularly vampires. Folkloric vampires have a great deal of quirks and weaknesses that usually get cut from any sort of vampire media because they’re too “silly,” but I disagree. I want them all, and so when a monster is playable in Eureka, it’s its own unique experience, unlike playing anything else in any other game or even within Eureka. (I am very, very proud to say that a number of V:TM veterans have said that Eureka does vampires much better than V:TM itself.)

Not every playable monster in Eureka is 100% strictly folkloric, which was a bit of a struggle for me, but ultimately the small exceptions that were made make the RPG better, so I can’t complain, especially because we managed to weave some pretty cool themes into all of them, which I will touch on more when I finally get finished writing that big huge post about, well, Eureka’s themes.

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is kickstarting from right now until May 10th! Back it while you still can!

youtube

If you want to try before you buy, you can download a free demo of the prerelease version from our website or our itch.io page!

If you’re interested in a more updated and improved version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy than the free demo you got from our website, subscribe to our Patreon where we frequently roll our new updates for the prerelease version!

You can also support us on Ko-fi, or by checking out our merchandise!

Join our TTRPG Book Club At the time of writng this, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is the current game being played in the book club, and anyone who wants to participate in discussion, but can’t afford to make a contribution, will be given the most updated prerelease version for free! Plus it’s just a great place to discuss and play new TTRPGs you might not be able to otherwise!

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

53 notes · View notes

yanderelinkeduniverse · 9 months

Note

Reader who makes plushies... That have literal bombs inside of them that they can throw on the battlefield

Imagine if one of Links accidentally sets it off

Jk jk, it’s just funny to see this ask when you have Klee from hit game Genshin Impact on pc, PlayStation, and mobile devices as your pfp.

Personally I actually really love the concept of characters with bombs that are hidden inside plush dolls, they’re always so fun and cute! Now as for a (y/n) with those dolls…

She is not gonna be using them as freely when the time comes.

At the start I think the Chain would actually be really chill with her primarily using bombs in combat, I mean as long as she can control where they go. In fact, they’d prefer her using bombs than using nothing at all since - and I mean this as politely as possible - if would not be good if they had member of the group basically be deadweight.

*side eyes canon (y/n) who is not a combatant in any capacity*

And in all fairness, I’m pretty sure everyone who’s played a Zelda game has accidentally blown themselves up with their own bombs at least one time. Realistically would that kind of injury be severe and heavily impact her relationship with the Chain? Of course, but since when have I stuck to realism?

(y/n) being a combatant from the get go would certainly impact the Chain’s view of her fighting later on when they start becoming obsessive, but I think they’d still go through a phase where they think (y/n) shouldn’t be using them at all when their concern for her safety reaches its peak.

I mean, if these guys can blow themselves up with their own bombs when those bombs are just a side item then what about when they’re someone’s main weapon? I heavily doubt this variant of the reader would be without some bandages from accidentally blowing herself up on occasion.

Those who become a little too paranoid for her safety, such as Four, Twilight, and probably Wild just from his own personal experiences accidentally setting off a remote bomb too close to himself or using a bomb arrow in the Eldin region, would argue that she’s safer without them than with them.

And while most of the others would be in agreement, the problem is…she’s had these bombs and this method of fighting since before she ever came to Hyrule. Who are they to say what she can and cannot do to defend herself with?

It’s a struggle between the overwhelming desire to keep her safe and the need to respect her as their superior, after all they are barely worthy to hold a candle to her.

So, a compromise is made.

They politely ask (y/n) if she can limit her bomb usage, perhaps using a bit of well meaning manipulation to say that their ears are more sensitive than hers and as such the sound of the bombs going off hurts their ears.

They don’t want to limit their darling, don’t want her to feel caged and like her wings are being clipped, but they also want her to be safe above all else.

And if there were ever a time when (y/n)’s style of combat proved to be more detrimental to her well-being than not then they wouldn’t hesitate to take those bombs away, even if she protests.

On a slightly happier note, the plushies themselves are something the Chain would coo over a lot!

Some might even try to give her inspiration for new ones to make, even if they aren’t bombs(they’d be happier if they weren’t bombs tbh). I’m sure Hyrule has a bunch of dolls that look like himself saved up and Wild’s got pictures of Riju’s sand seals, those would be adorable!

But yeah, a reader who utilizes bombs in combat would challenge the Chain’s dual desires to both respect (y/n) as their ultimate authority(not that she knows) and keep her safe. But as long as she properly uses them, then she’ll be fine.

For now.

#linked universe #yandere linked universe #acrylic answers #yandere linked universe x reader #lu hyrule #lu wild #lu twilight #lu four #linked universe x reader

124 notes · View notes

schizoidcel · 7 months

Note

Hii! I'm kinda new to your blog and I just gotta say I ADORE your writing style it's amazing!!

Also I was wondering if I could request pomni with a mime girlfriend that can't talk

(Like the joke is that EVERY time she talks she gets either muted by caine or interrupted by the others :33

# POMNI x MIME READER ☆

Omg ... Anonsie ... You make me blush

THANK U my blog is new in general so uhm welcome love

︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶༉‧₊˚.

🤍 HEADCANONS !!

warnings :: Not proofread (Yet again)

I feel like she wouldn't know what to do if you kept getting interrupted while talking 😭

She tries to stand up for you sometimes, but most of the time she gets interrupted too

So most of the time she just asks YOU what you wanted to say

If you had an idea, she'll suggest it to Ragatha so she can tell everyone

Speaking of, I feel like Ragatha would also stand up for you more clearly

She wouldn't notice sometimes aswell, but she notices far more quickly if she also sees Pomni trying to struggle to get everyone to listen to what you have to say.

She's like yall mother or big sister atp

I feel like Jax would interrupt you knowingly just because of how much of an asshole he is (also cs he finds it funny)

Zooble kinda just dosen't give a fuck

Kinger would do it unknowingly the entire guy is probably speaking on impulse at this point

Gangle would also do it accidently, she apologizes to you immediately after

And because of all this, Pomni tries to build up her confidence so she can tell everyone that you want to talk/speak more loudly

It works, fortunately for you both, but there are still rare times she gets the same treatment as before 😭

Pomni finds your voice really relaxing, so you both talk in private ALOT

Though even then you can't seem to get a break.

"I sometimes wish they had facebook or like, a pc in here. I actually used to play the games on there all the time when I had the 30 minute break in my job!" "Y-" "IT'S TIME FOR A NEW ADVENTURE!! 🎉🎉🎊🎉🎉🎁🎊❤️🪩🎊🎊❤️🎊🤩🤩🤩" "😕" "Uhm."

Pomni finds a new reason to hate like half these people and to get out as soon as she can with you everyday

︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶༉‧₊˚.

ׂૢ་༘࿐ Thank you for reading! ♡

Loved this idea it's adorbs .. Soz that it's lowk short

#pomni x reader #tadc x reader #the amazing digital circus x reader

97 notes · View notes

vixonspixels · 5 months

Note

Hiya I just got my new pc and I’m finally back on the sims but I can’t find cc’s I like for men and furniture can you help me please especially men’s clothing. I also love your map replacement can I know the name? Sorry for the bother! I love you!

Oh my gosh I'm so happy for you! You must be so excited haha!

Okay let's get started haha

Male hair's has to be johnnysimmer, I think I pretty much have the majority of hairs they have created

Male clothing creators I personally love are adrien pastel, gorilla x3, Ceeproductions and oakiyo has some nice male cc. Those are just a few creators I can think of without actually checking my mods folder haha. I think most of us struggle with mens cc as there isn't as many creators for it in comparison with female clothing

Furniture creators I'd recommend to check out would be charly pancakes, felixandre, joyce is fox, pierisim and tuds I have the majority of their collections

And then some amazing creators who do some gorgeous clutter pieces are aggressive kitty, clutter cat, simkoos and lilac creative

There's honestly so many amazing creators, I've named just a few as I know how overwhelming it is when you're starting out on a computer lol

I would highly recommend finding some tumblr accounts you like the look of and having a nosy. I've gotten a lot of my cc just from peoples recommendations on here

Some tumblr accounts I love are @pixelglam @farfallasims @bunsbunss @pinkishwrld @annasiims @princesssimsxo @simmermya @brindletonbabee @mistvy @sashasspace @simsimulation @maplewhims @baesimss @jaxplaysthesims @curlybabeee @simmerjazz @simmerwhit @oatsimss @glowytrait @bloomous @biancml @miilkymoonsims

If you were to choose one tumblr account to have a nosy through I would say to go and check out farfalla's as mentioned above, she has without a doubt the most amount of lookbooks and cc recommendations on her tumblr account. If theres something in specific you want, I can almost guarantee she has made a post about it haha! She is probably the main source of where the majority of my clutter cc has come from 😂

Again, there is thousands of amazing tumblr accounts out there, these are just a few to get you started. Some of these also have youtube accounts too where they post lets play series

I also use the 20th century plumbob map replacements and they can be found here

And I'll also mention for you to go and check out pintererst also, honestly that place is like a gold mine for CC and lookbooks etc😂

You are never a bother my darling, and feel free to ask me anything at all. I love helping other simmers make there games look more aesthetically pleasing. It's thanks to the creators mentioned above & so many more that my game looks the way that it does🤍

Lots of love Vixon xox

#answered

47 notes · View notes

thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai · 1 year

Text

On Love Eros is a textbook depiction of how a figure skating routine evolves over a season

If you watch figure skating, you might have noticed that skaters grow into their programmes as the season progresses and that sometimes elements (usually jumps) are rearranged or replaced because the skater struggles with them or to increase the base score of the programme. In Yuri On Ice!!!, there is a lot of this, most prominently in Yuuri’s and Yuri’s programmes. In the following, I will break this down for Yuuri’s short programme On Love: Eros as this provides the most comprehensive data on the subject.

Presentation

Figure skating is, to somewhat extent, acting. A programme can require a skater to slip into a role (I’ve heard of skaters who take acting classes for this), but even for a programme that portrays a skater’s feelings basic expression and projection skills are useful. Yuuri skates at his best when he skates true to his feelings and because of this, he gets high programme component scores (PCS), which help him make up for messed-up jumps. But when Viktor assigns On Love: Eros to him, Yuuri has no idea how to skate it. For how shall he express something he hasn’t experienced before?

Yuuri has never thought about love much less had a relationship. He says of himself that he didn’t pay attention to the things happening around him because he focused on skating since laying his eyes on Viktor for the first time. However, Viktor’s demonstration of On Love: Eros has given him an idea of a possible story:

A playboy comes to town and bewitches the women left and right. He decides to pursue the most beautiful woman in town, but she isn’t swayed. As they play the game of love, she finds it difficult to make the right choices and ends up falling for him. Then, he casts her aside as if he’s tired of her and goes off to the next town.

Which pretty much describes the situation in episodes 2&3 as Yuuri perceives it, including a possible scenario that Viktor discards him for coaching Yurio. (It also represents Viktor’s misperception of poor drunk Yuuri at the banquet, but that’s beside the point.)

Yuuri very keenly feels that he’s not at all like the playboy in his story as he considers himself physically unattractive and lacks confidence. Thankfully, Viktor’s old costume inspires him to swap roles and play the woman in his story as her part is closer to “how he feels”. To win, he must change the story and make Viktor stay. It’s unclear whether “how he feels” also refers to his unique notion of sexiness as a queer man, but as queer people are less likely to adhere to cishet stereotypes, it can very well be an additional factor. As a result of his revelation, he asks Minako to teach him to move more femininely. In the show, this is expressed in Yuuri using female pronouns during the first two times he skates Eros (the female Japanese “I” is “atashi”) and his voice being softer compared to when he’s off-ice. To cover up for his inexperience, he thinks of his favourite dish, which he’s only allowed to eat when he wins. Ironically, katsudon is a wrapper for everything Yuuri wants besides eating this food: he wants to win and he wants to eat katsudon with Viktor, representing his wish for Viktor to stay his coach (and maybe other things concerning Viktor he may not yet be able to express).

Yuuri's approach to expressing Eros reminds me of how actors approach the portrayal of an experience they never made themselves or that is hard to conjure. As a writer, I do this a lot too when putting myself in a character’s shoes. Switching the viewpoint character is also super helpful when a scene just doesn’t work the way I want it to (which is kinda what Yuuri does, too).

In episode 5, the story Yuuri wove around his programme has changed. His portrayal of Eros has evolved, but it’s not yet perfected. He still impersonates a woman and a tasty katsudon (“I’m a katsudon fatale that enthrals men” using “atashi”), but now it’s the woman who discards the man and goes off pursuing the next man.

Yuuri predominantly focuses on trying to include Viktor’s advice when he was flirting with Yuuri in the rink coaching him (“dance more like you’re trying to seduce me”). Only close to the end, he remembers the story of his programme: “On the conclusion for the love-crazed couple… how did it go?” which is kinda distanced compared to his thoughts about Viktor flirting with him and might imply that he doesn’t fully identify with the role.

As a sexually experienced person Yuuri’s coach, it’s evident to Viktor that Yuuri is still wrestling with his portrayal of Eros (which must be strange as he remembers how Yuuri was at the banquet lol). However, between episodes 5 and 6, something important happens: Yuuri and Viktor finally get together and thus the nature of their interactions changes (I discussed Japanese dating culture and how this is portrayed in YOI here). Because of this, Viktor instructs Yuuri to seduce him as himself the next time when he skates Eros in competition, which is at the Cup of China. And Yuuri’s reaction says it all.

Yuuri promptly starts using the same pronoun he uses when he refers to himself in his dialogue lines throughout the anime (“boku” is the Japanese standard male pronoun for “I). The programme is no longer a story with a protagonist Yuuri has to impersonate and identify with to some degree, but about him actively seducing Viktor with his own charms. It’s unclear whether he keeps the “female” skating style despite the pronoun change as this exceeds the limits of the animation (skating scenes are super difficult to animate so the pronouns might serve as a proxy for what the creators couldn’t translate into images). However, as Yuri!!! is super queer, I headcanon this style to become less exaggerated as it evolves into a natural expression that is 100% Yuuri as he fully blooms into his unique notion of Eros as part of his queer journey and his deepening relationship with Viktor.

However, it’s beyond doubt that the evolution of Yuuri’s portrayal of Eros is also closely tied to his relationship. Taking Viktor’s pep talk, Yuuri’s inner monologue while skating (“I am the only one who can satisfy Viktor”), and their exchange in the kiss and cry into account, skating seductively isn’t the only thing Yuuri thought of doing to Viktor *cough*, and they both know. As a result, he delivers a stellar performance with a new personal best.

I don’t think I need to elaborate on the off-ice activities the two likely have engaged in between the Cup of China and the Rostelecom Cup. As a result of his deepening relationship with Viktor and the subsequent experiences made, Yuuri scores even higher when he skates Eros in Russia. Being far away in a place where people might resent him for stealing Viktor from the sport, fuels his possessiveness which is one aspect of his Eros and ends in him getting an even higher score. His short programme has reached a stage at which he can hardly improve it any further with its current layout.

Before I’ll talk about the last time we see Yuuri skating Eros, let’s dive into the technical side.

Technical aspects

Eros is a super difficult programme for a skater with lots of stamina. All the jumps are in the second half and every entry into a jump is more difficult than the previous one, starting with a spread-eagle into the 3A and ending with a lunge entry into the 4T+3T combination. The step sequence which covers the better part of the first half looks quite demanding, too, as it has to match the pace of the music. All this makes the programme pretty ruthless, matching the theme. The initial layout includes a 3S as the second jump, which Yuuri decides turns into a quad in an attempt to beat Yuri at the Onsen on Ice because he is that desperate to win. Of course, this doesn’t go as planned, but Yuuri had to take the risk. As a side effect, it makes the entire routine even more daring. (fun fact: many irl skaters struggle with the 4S too)

As said above, Yuuri skates at his best when he skates true to his feelings. This is especially true for jumps as he is prone to flub them when something is on his mind or the programme isn’t working for him for whatever reason. To successfully land a quad jump, everything going into the execution like technique, timing, speed, power of takeoff, the moment of opening the body before landing etc. must be finely tuned. So, it’s no surprise that Yuuri nails only the 4S when he fully settled into the programme in episode 6.

For the Grand Prix Final, Yuuri changes his jump layout of Eros one last time to maximise its base score. Again, it’s a risk he’s willing to take to win. He’s been taking risks all season by changing jumps, most prominently in his free programme when he included the 4F to surprise Viktor, and now he plans to jump the 4F in Eros as the final jump, while the 4S remains in the second jumping pass but is combined with the 3T whereas the 4T is omitted.

For reference: these are the base values of the jumps in question as they appear in Yuri!!!*:

3S: 4.4

4S: 10.5

4T: 10.3

4F: 12.3

The 4F is a jump so far only Viktor could land successfully in competition and so it became his signature move. It symbolises everything Viktor is to Yuuri and expresses his desire to become as good as Viktor or even surpass him, as well as his romantic feelings. Including it in Eros, adds a possessive layer to the many things the 4F represents like showing the world that Viktor is his now, but also Yuuri’s ambition and growth as a person including his newly-discovered confidence. Remember the flashback to the rink between the Rostelecom Cup and the Grand Prix Final when Yuuri had already proposed to Viktor? “You want to see me land a quad flip in the short programme, right?” “I do!” It sounds a lot like a second proposal—all this is ultimately part of Yuuri’s Eros, too.

In the end, Yuuri doesn’t nail the 4F and ends up in fifth place after the short programme as his mind was more occupied with winning than with seducing Viktor. I like to believe that Yuuri succeeds at the next competition and that he continues refining his SP throughout the rest of the figure skating season as his relationship with Viktor deepens and evolves further. But as the anime ends mid-season, this speculation is mostly based on watching irl figure skating and my headcanon.

Closing remarks on queer presentation

What sometimes is referred to as “female” expression in dance sports is a soft and sensual movement style as opposed to the cishet male stereotype (strong, shows little emotion etc). It basically describes a gay stereotype. However, how a queer person presents can apply to a variety of queer labels. Being queer myself, I don’t feel comfortable deriving labels from isolated information for an individual be they real or fictional. I don't want to promote stereotypes, and because of this, you won't find me jumping to conclusions about their unique queerness.

Japanese pronouns

For further reading about Japanese pronouns especially when used by queer people, I recommend this comprehensive article. Having read this, Yuuri’s switch to “atashi” during the first two times he skates Eros, makes even more sense to me.

*these base values were the same in the seasons I checked starting from the 2014/15 season to the 2016/17 season, which encompasses the time Yuri!!! was produced.

If you enjoy my meta posts, please consider giving my blog a follow or checking out my works on AO3(link in bio). You will find the results of my meta musings in there!

#my yoi meta #yuri on ice #yoi #yoi meta #yuri on ice meta #katsuki yuuri #katsudon yuuri #viktor nikirofov #viktuuri #figure skating #On Love: Eros #anime #queer expression #lgbtq #If you like my meta please check my fics on AO3 they're full of this stuff

229 notes · View notes

open-hearth-rpg · 4 months

Text

Escalation Die: Great RPG Mechanics #RPGMechanics Week Ten (finale)

I’ve talked about a lot of big scale mechanics on these lists: sub-systems and frameworks which have impacted play. But it's interesting to consider how small, discrete mechanics can drastically change the feel of certain modes of play. The Links mechanics from Girl By Moonlight comes close to this, but it has several stages and parts. 13th Age’s Escalation Die is a tight rule that reshapes combats. It may have appeared earlier than 13th Age, but that’s where I encountered it first.

The escalation die works simply. After the first round of a combat, the GM sets a d6– often the largest one they have at a “1”. All players now add +1 to their attack rolls. Each following turn, the GM clicks this up by another one, up to a maximum value of “6”. This shifts the combat dynamic hugely but without being too obvious. As the combat rolls forward, the odds of a character landing a blow increases slowly and incrementally.

This obviously affects player engagement over time. The longer a fight goes on, the more likely a player will be able to land that decisive blow. In practical terms it works to accelerate things. But it also helps reduce players' frustration over bad rolls early in the combat. I’ve played a lot of d20 games where the flatness of the resolution has meant that things stretch on– each round the same without changes. With the escalation die, even if you’re still missing, something about the complexion of the conflict changes each time you go. If you’re still whiffing by the time the die gets to “6”, that’s a story in and of itself.

But the mechanic offers a host of additional, sometimes subtle benefits. First, it’s an obvious clock. You know how long the fight has gone on and can use that as a gauge of threat and success. On the one side, the players know they’ve been at this a while– or can tell they’ve done a great job if they end things before the escalation die gets too high. On the other side, the GM can see how well they’ve built the combat– if the PCs are cutting through or always desperately fighting forever. It exists as a constant and clear yardstick.

Second, it impacts the design of monster fights. You can make the foes feel tougher right out of the gate. The players ought to struggle in the first couple of rounds but then begin to gather their strength and fight back against the odds. It naturally builds an arc into any combat. I didn’t realize how impactful that would be until I’d run 13th Age quite a bit.

Third, it provides a minor risk/reward choice for the players. Do they fire off a once-per-combat attack early on or do they wait for a moment when that strike has a better chance of landing? That’s a small factor and one which enters into player calculations without making the resolution process any harder.

Of course once you have this piece of game tech operating, the system can add in some additional wrinkles and options. Some powerful monsters can use the escalation die themselves; a few can negate the use of the escalation die against them. Monster special powers can be triggered off of the state of the escalation die: happening on odd/even turns or when the die has reached X level. The GM has another power detail to make their encounters more varied.

On the player side, their abilities can be tied to this as well. Some powers get stronger the higher the escalation die is. The most common one is an Elvish ancestry feat. At the start of a round, that player rolls a d4 and if the result is equal or below the escalation die, they may take an additional standard action. After the first time they succeed with this, the die goes up a step. The Commander class has several talents and feats interacting with the escalation die. One increases the escalation die the first time the GM rolls a critical against the party. That echoes the escalation die’s intent to represent the rising stakes of a fight.

I’ll be honest when I first played 13th Age, I thought the escalation die was a cute, throwaway gimmick. The GM didn’t emphasize it. But over time and play, I began to see just how impactful it could be. It’s such a simple thing– but one you can really lean into. For our home group, I bought a massive foam d6 and put that on a stand. It creates a super-clear visualization of how the fight’s playing out.

Importantly when I don’t have the escalation die present in a d20 game I notice it. Playing Godbound or similar systems, I feel the absence. Even if we’re narrating our misses– giving them color and texture– there’s still a bad feeling if you keep burning your turn hopelessly with wasted blows. The escalation die begins to counteract that. The incremental increase offers hope that the next round might be better than this one. When I’ve added that mechanic into play for d20 or OSR games, it has definitely increased the enjoyment of big fights.

#ttrpg #rpg #rpg mechanics

48 notes · View notes

justageneralsimpindeed · 9 months

Text

I JUST HAD TO WITH THIS PIC

Shigaraki Hc with a U.A Teacher !SO whos a big sweetheart to everybody but isn't a hero.

He hates you.

You being associated with heroes makes him hate you.Being sweet confuses him therefore pisses him off.

Of course you meet at U.S.J and he immediately thinks your a student because of how you're freaking out .Annoys the hell out of him.

Doesn't really care that you're a teacher he wants to kill you.

Oh your not a hero why are you here?He is the meanest motherfucker ever known.

HOWEVER,you flip a switch when you realise your students in danger,flinging yourself into dangers route the moment it sets its eyes on one of your students.

Villains,tied and struggling considering the blow to their ego that you only tied their hands and nothing else.

Literally not a kick or a punch or even a block,just a weave, tie ,sit down.

Shigaraki quickly directs nomu towards you after taking note of how many villains were being taken out by you and you start bawling.Daki tea kettle style.

Is dumbfounded,even more so when you reject help from your far superior students.

Bakugou is screaming old hag from where he is Izuku is charging at nomu trying to break his hand again,Aizawa is barely conscious trying to get grab you by the throat with his scarf because your currently being a heroic dumbass.

Shigaraki is laughing his ass off makes some game reference and you stop crying.

'Wait.You play that too?What's your user?'

Man is Flabbergasted with a capital F.

Not only did someone just ask him for his user to play with him( as he played alone ) ,but you asked him as Nomu was about to turn you into a pancake.

'Idiot.Your about to die,how can you play.'

'I don't die,I respawn.'

Congrats you've unlocked obsessed shigaraki.

After the USJ incident since All might arrived he wasn't able to give you his user aswell as being completely shooked.He stalked you.

To just when you've left U.A 'territory' as he likes to call, To just outside your bathroom as you bathe.

Nothing about him is not perverted when it comes to you.

Taking picture to jerk off to.✔

Panties thief maxed out level.✔

Pillow humping.✔

Mattress humping.✔

You bite pencils,expect to have an indirect kiss from shigaraki.

You have a controller and don't just play PC games and you've recently just touched it,expect him to use it as a vibrator.

To which he gains access to your user and he uses to play games with you as if he's a random guy and not guy whose been stalking you

Finally you two bump into each other as you try to get the latest game which the one you were reaching for was the very last copy.

'Oh sorry.You can take it.'You were mentally screaming as you agonizingly took your hand away from the game.

Shigaraki pauses getting awkardly hard at your voice mentally cussing himself out at his lack of restrain.

You instantly recognize him his name leaving your lips quietly striking shigaraki in the heart.He is a wanted man. Gotta keep the simps away

Just because you game on league of legends together doesn't mean he stops stalking you if anything its more frequent.

Sometimes he will jerk off while gaming with you.You've asked him a couple times if hes alright as he's breathing a little loud.

Other times he will cower in the corner from your sudden tantrum at your sides lag.

Games don't make you violent,lag does. Finds it slightly funny and cute after a few seconds,but mostly petrified .

He still steals your panties, jerks off to you when your in the shower or even sleeping.

However that prooves to be his down fall as one night he is just watching you sleep,admiring every inch of you when he brushes a strand of hair from your face.

You shot up like a rocket.

He runs so fast you can't even call out to him in time to wait.

More or less ghosts you out of pure embarrassment, refuses to even look at messages you sent to his DMs.And that is the last time you meet him.

That is until the forest training camp arc.

Your gonna be there. kidnap you aswell as the kid.

Gives specific instructions to not harm you making it seem you were top priority merchandise.

Purposely has you put in the other room because he knows you will start talking and people will know that you've met more than once,after you wake up.

'Shigaraki!Why weren't you responding to my texts!'

Is a little suprised how your not adressing the elephant in the room about how he stalked you.But he did exepct the unexpected so it doesn't count.

'Your not gonna talk about how I was literally in your house'

'I don't mind.If you wanted to come over you could of just asked.'

His jaw is dropped .Are you that dense?

'I don't think you understand.I literally came on your pillow'

Your simply shrug and he just leaves face red as he just told you he had been humping your pillow and you couldn't care less.

But before he can get back in the room to converse again he is yet again blocked by All might.

But this time he actually responds to his DMs and is playing games with you again.

He wonders if you've just forgetten until one day you ask him.

'Does it hurt?You know.What you said back then'

Oh MY GOD.

Gets a hard on instantly,gets flustered and he feels he's already back to his old ways.

Sensing his lack of experience and just general struggle you ask him out.

Arcade. your first date has to be an Arcade or a fun fair ,anywhere with games.

Is very awkward but he does bring you flowers,hes trying.Theyll probably be either ruined or ash because of how quick and eager he was to show up.

Very protective still. Anyone looking at you in the wrong way,will have his arm around your shoulder + deathglare.

You're the only reason why there isn't a body.well dust

Walks you home just fine case if anything happens,your too innocent in his eye7s.

Literally stands there expecting a kiss,but will never say.

You will catch on pretty quickly and a kiss is delivered.

He is shocked that he actually got one,heavily inexperienced so just ends up kissing like a puffer fish after the first few seconds of freaking out.

Movie nights,gaming sessions at your house,cafe dates are regular.Has to keep a low profile since he a villain.

You start cuddling and over time his kisses get better,ranging from forehead kisses to neck and shoulder kisses.

Hugs you from behind.and you get him gloves to ease his fear of him accidentally disintegrating you.

Don't think its all wholesome he will still grab onto your tits/chest and slighty rut his hips into you.

Is very insecure but generally gets more comfortable as your praise goes on.

If you have tits he will use them as a pillow no matter how small, if you have pecs or none will still use your chest as a pillow.Your presence and heartbeat is enough to knock him out cold.

Dating this man didn't have a apperance recommendation as anything is prettier than him thats what he thinks.

Worships you,he will either hide you from the public eye or brag and put you on display showing how he is the luckiest man in the world.

Your students have now caught on to something going on due to hickeys literally everywhere,Eri just thinks its bruises and gets concerned.

You came back crying from a cuteness overload and it somewhat indirectly fuels shigaraki want to take overhauls arms and then play 'if your happy and you know it clap your hands' in front of him.

He refuses to let you do any work when it comes to sex because to him he is undeserving.

He will rut his hips against you for your stimulation and eat you out and all other types of teasing but showing you his body is a no go.

White hair shigaraki though is a completely different library.

If he wants to fuck you he will pull you aside and blow out your back.

In a way he was completely on the giving side and now your in debt to him and that is currently costing you your spine and sooner or later he will turn you into Joe Swanson .

Oh your a virgin?Corruption kink boost.

Does like taking risks but if anyone sees you in that state it is punishable by death and it will happen.

His libido is nothing to mess with he is stressed more than he was .won't always fuck you but he will hump you or have you suck.If not he'll do it.

Oral with this man is heavenly,he can try to be soft but with those lips not happening both shigaraki's will get drunk on you.

Your game was left unattended several minutes ago.Begging was futile as shigaraki dove his tounge into your hole, absolutely ravaging you with the wet muscle."such a pretty lover"he moans as your flavour is left on his tounge when he retracts his tounge before lunging in for another taste.The vibrations of his moans and roughness of his lips has you in ecstacy as he eats you from behind. He devours you,gliding his slender thumbs along your inner thigh before a harsh slap meets your ass.A yelp escapes your lips as you quickly turn your head to face him with a pleading look.'Instead of moaning,moan my name ,it's a good use of your lovely mouth,Player 2'. You moan out his name as he begins to glip your ass with a gloved finger,his tounges pace picking up with it.How did you end up like this?All of this from a simple kiss.

If your giving it to him he will either grab your head and shove you down to gag on his cock or thrust his hips so needily into your jaw.

Foreplay is your part still slightly nervous with his quirk despite the fact he controlled it so if you like being choked,spanked,having your nips fondled, fingering and deepthroatinh his fingers he'll have atleast one finger covered.

Make out sessions are one way to die from a broken back.He gets so hooked up on your taste you would probably die from suffocation by how fast he moves his lips to your neck back to your lips and so.

Now sexy time,oh dear god after his upgrades he's got a lot of stamina if not for him being busy he would of dicked you down through the floor.

Likes missionary or any position that he can see your gorgeous face.

Bondage is on the table.

So it a pain kink and a little but of blood.

Marking,Edging ,Overstimulating definitely.

Oh you thought it was just him,nope it goes on both of your asses.

Its not just because your into it but because you want shigaraki to enjoy it even if its not your preference.

If you have a dick or are into pegging he'll probably stalk you until he is certain your going to your shared room and then sprint there.Strip,tie himself up,ass in the air with a gag,waiting for you to get home.

If you are doing this unless its your first time or you haven't had sex in a long time...

Throw the lube out the window with the condom, and just violate this man.

Pull his hair,while slightly condescending him right before praise.

He will come in seconds.

Play with his nips they are sensitive af.

Call him Baby boy,Shiggy,Babe,Player 1 or anything and he will melt in your embrace

Aftercare with shigaraki isn't the best as he cant be seen with you and is very busy but he will check if you are ok,give you a few kisses,bring a water bottle if your thirst and get the bath atleast running by the time he has to leave.

Its not the best but its sweet.

Pets,yes.

Especially small,fluffy dogs.

Any pet you have will be his therapy animal.

You once came home to see your pet sleeping on his chest with him.Cute blackmail obtained.

Babies however is complicated not the best time and your pet is basically his child.

But shigaraki doesn't like to use condoms so if you can become pregnant he will be shocked,confused,and then bolt you into a cargo ship to god knows where as long as nobody can find you.

He still isn't sure but if you want it he will try his best for you,its all for you.

Anybody who hurts you during this time is finished no matter what you say,will personally kidnap them and torture them until they give out.

It was an accident?

'There are no accidents'

-Tomura Shigaraki

#shigaraki mha #boku no hero academia shigaraki #bnha deku #bnha #bnha x reader #bnha bakugo katsuki #tomura shigaraki #shigaraki smut #shigaraki tomura #shigaraki x reader #bnha shigaraki #mha shigaraki #aizawa shouta #mha #mha shota aizawa

80 notes · View notes

dailyadventureprompts · 2 years

Photo

Tableskills: The Proactive DM Voice

One of the most fundamental lesions I learned over the course of becoming a great DM was that it was my job to push the story forward, not my players. When I was younger I was terrified of taking any agency upon myself for fear of railroading my group, thinking that my job was merely to read out prepared text and design a playground for my players to explore as they saw fit. Needless to say, no matter how much planning i did or how big I made my campaign world it never made my party any more energized, instead bleeding out their attention until they became listless and the group/campaign dissolved.

Once I made the change to DM driven play, things changed almost instantly. My once distracted players became excited collaborators, looking to steer the runaway engine that was my narrative. Where as before they were directionless, having infinite shallow options, they were now focused on the road ahead of them, trying to dodge upcoming hurdles while reacting to the unexpected ones.

This change took some getting used to, but became most evident in how I narrated my games, cutting down on extraneous calls for rolls, chaining together scenes until a big finale at the end of the session, using my infinite power as narrator to push receptive players into interesting situations that progressed both the story and their character arc. Over time I began to think of these changes and a bunch of others as “proactive DM voice”, a skill that I think players and dungeonmaters alike could benefit from learning.

Lets look at an example, lifted from one of the very first modules I ever ran: The party stands at the edge of a tremendously large fissure, and has to lower themselves a hundred or more feet down to a ledge where they’ll be ambushed by direrats. You could run this in a rules literal sense: reading out the prepared text then waiting for the party to come up with a solution, likely dallying as they ask questions. Have them make athletics checks to descend the ropes, risk the possibility of one of them dying before the adventure ever begins. Then you do it two or three more times as they leapfrog down the side of the canyon, wasting what was perhaps half an hour of session time before you even got to any of the fun stuff.

Or you could get proactive about it:

Securing your ropes as best you can, you belay over the side of the fissure, descending down in a measured, careful pace aiming for the most stable looking outcrop of rock, still a hundred or so feet above the canyon’s base. A few minutes and about two thirds of the way through your decent [least athletic PC] looks like they’re struggling, their hands are coated in sweat and they can feel unfamiliar muscles burning in complaint. I need [PC] to make me an athletics check

Rather than waiting for the players and the dice to make a story for me, I took the extra step in my prep time to think of something interesting that might happen while they’re venturing through this section of the map. I specifically designed things so that happenstance wouldn’t kill off one of my heroes, but they might end up damaged and in a perilous situation should the fates not favour them that particular moment.

Likewise, this planning has let me prepare a number of different angles that I could use to prepare the next scene: with an injured player ambushed by multiple rats while their allies dangle a few rounds away or with the party saving their friend and descending together, too much of a threat for the rats to tackle all at once, leading them to stalk the party through future encounters.

This is already getting a bit long, but for those interested in more ways you can adopt a proactive DM voice, I’ll give more examples under the cut

A lot of people talk about “the Mercer effect” new people getting into d&d and begin disappointed that the group they’re playing with aren't like critical role. A lot of creators have talked about how to combat the Mercer effect, but regardless of props or budget, I think the greatest difference between your average d&d table and what you see on shows like Critical role, Adventure Zone, or Dimension 20 is the fact that in those streamed games EVERYONE at the table is using a proactive voice, where as it seems to be a skill that most players and dms never pick up on.

Think about it this way, nearly every streaming show is made up of professional entertainers: Voice actors, comedians, people who understand that time is a finite resource and a lack of momentum can kill their performance. That’s why listening to them play is such a treat, everything they say or do is designed to cut down on dithering and give the greatest comedic or dramatic punch in the shortest amount of time.

You start doing the same when you start using a proactive voice at your table, leaving all the unfun number crunching and arbitrary restrictions aside in favour of telling jokes or modulating the dramatic tension, a habit that your party will pick up over time as you maintain it, which will lead to snappier play and more getting done in a single session.

Momentum is key: you always want to be pressing forward towards the meat of your session, towards the next fun npc or dramatic setpiece, and as such you need to give your party the idea that they’re rolling towards a destination. The trick is that after a few plot relevant bits of setup, this destination is almost always a bad one, and if the party doesn’t act on the opportunities you’ve given them, they’re they’re going to end up hurdling towards disaster.

After your party has had their fun ask “ Is there anything you want to do before____?” rather than “ is there anything you want to do?” This gives your party a sense of urgency and forces them to act on their priorities, rather than waiting for them to decide and letting all the tension bleed out.

Be Obvious: you want players to know who and what within a scene is a means for gaining forward narrative progress, so whenever you narrate, be sure to add a liberal dose of scene hooks in with your background description.

The reason that players dither is because they’re not sure what the expectations for a scene are or what they can do: Try to end every one of your descriptions with a prompt for action from your players, restating the problem they’re facing, a few options that they might use to solve it, a reminder of what might happen if they fail. This also helps get past some players who’ve been trained by anxiety bad dms to expect a trap everywhere.

When in doubt, cut it out: unless you have interesting material prepared for a scene, it’s a good idea to skip over a length of time and get to the next bit of content. There’s no reason to detail a party’s night of sleep in the inn after the first night, nor days of travel that aren't particularly dangerous or exceptional. Move them forward unless you feel like one of your players wants to use their downtime as a backdrop for RP

Just let them do it: One of the quickest ways to speed up your game and get things flowing is to cut out extraneous rolls: if your party figures out who the mystery killer is or identifies the type of monster the villagers only saw a hint of, don’t have them roll to see if their characters figured it out. The same goes for solving a puzzle, or correctly suspecting something might be trapped. Instead give them a gold star for being clever little goblins and move on, rather than locking crucial plot development behind a dc. I take any excuse I can to GIVE my party information, relating it to their character backstory or their time spent in a certain region. Not only does it make things faster, it makes them more immersed.

They need to be allowed to mess up: When you cut down on extranious rolls, it means those left behind are important, and need to have consequences. The same goes for the party’s decisions, which need to have real and lasting consequences (good or bad). The first time the party realizes they dropped a plot hook and someone they knew suffered for it, they’ll suddenly understand their responsibility to the world they’re adventuring in and the story they’re a part of.

Give your party regular breaks: While it’s important to maintain a steady momentum, sometimes it’s a good idea to let your party wander a bit, especially if you’re about to head into a longer section of action like a dungeon delve or a mystery. Give them an idea when this time will end (a crowning event at a festival, the king’s courier will get back to them in about three days, bad weather rolling in) and then ask if there’s a special way they’d like to spend their time. This designated space to goof off or go on tangents is actually the best way to get stuff out of your more RP shy players, as they’re often self conscious about taking the spotlight away from others.

I hope this gives you what you need to start making the switch over to proactive Dm voice, but if you want more inspiration pay attention to some liveplay artists, especially those who know they’ve got a limited amount of time on camera to get things done. Imitation is not only the sincerest form of flattery, it’s also one of the best ways to improve your skills.

#tableskills #dm tips #DM advice #DM tools #dm toolbox #narration #voice acting #critical role #dimension 20 #taz #Dungeons and Dragons #dnd #dm starterpack

838 notes · View notes

transprincecaspian · 9 months

Text

Kyr Farwhisper - The Dark Urge

"Everyone has unseemly thoughts. Being able to quieten them is what sets us apart from the beasts."

Sharing some screenshots from my Dark Urge playthrough, which has just about hit 21 hours. BE WARNED. EVERYTHING BELOW THE READ-MORE LINE IS SPOILERS FOR THE DARK URGE PLAYTHROUGH. There is spoiler content, gore, and violence beyond! I tag with "#durge spoilers" if you want to block.

[Narrator: *You have nothing in your skull, besides your name and a headache. But you are in danger.*

Curse whoever did this to you.

Say your name aloud. You have a part of yourself.

Take a deep breath, shake your head, and start anew.]

The Dark Urge, in my opinion, is an origin that is preferable even to the custom ones that a player can make. Like the origins we get from the other PCs, such as Shadowheart or Astarion, there are custom cutscenes, content, and dialogue options specifically tailored to the Haunted past that you bring to the party. The Dark Urge isn't a play-through I would recommend if you want the feeling of a Noble, Righteous Hero. In some ways, it can be very stereotypically "edgelord"; you have little memory of your past, and are prone to violent and grotesque proclivities.

I suppose if you wanted to truly run an evil route and see how many dear companions you could kill along the way, you could play this route as Indulgent, or giving into the Dark Urge. I chose to play Kyr as a hopeless struggle; he is frightened by himself, and does his best to resist his dark temptations and try to do good. Resistance. It's made for a delightfully fulfilling roleplay experience, especially because I have chosen to romance Wyll on this play-through.

Even recruiting Astarion can be a little frightening.

The intro runs about the same, except when you wake up on the Nautiloid, you are bloodied, frightened, and have no memory of how you got there. In fact, there are no real signs that there is anything wrong with you, at least not in the dialogue you get until after the crash. Everyone's a little nervous, on edge, and then you have the chance to recruit Gale from his little portal. If you give into the Urge... it goes poorly. Fantasize about chopping his hand off?

I didn't make this canon for Kyr's run, but I was curious what would happen. I don't know what becomes of Gale, if you can recruit him later--if you can, how strange. You did just remove his hand for seemingly no reason. Astarion, too, has something to say about it immediately after.

This is your first sign that the Dark Urge run is going to be, well.. full of dark urges. Kyr seems to have a strange and compelling urge to commit harmful, violent acts--but doesn't seem to be aware he's doing it. I went back and he recruited Gale normally, resisting the weird desire to fantasize about chopping a man's hand off. Things were quiet--for a little bit.

Lots of dialogue choices specialized for the Dark Urge present in one of two, maybe three ways--commit this horrible act, or be shocked by your perversions and resist. Along with all of the usual options, such as based around your skill checks and your class. You have fewer culture rolls--you don't remember your past, after all (but you can imply to be Baldurian later on in Wyll's conversations, which I did). The lack of backstory and the amnesia is meant to heighten the strange horror of your situation, but I like building on what Kyr could be missing. A father, maybe, and a mother he never knew.

You can even tell Withers that you don't think your life is worth very much--something that he has a sage rebuke for. It's implied that he might know a little bit more about your circumstances than he's letting on, but if he does, he doesn't deem it fit to share with you.

Back at the camp, you do have options to speak with your party members--even so early--about your concerning affliction. Two new choices are available to you: concern about your memory loss, and concern about your violent urges. So early in the game, I decided I would start to bring up the memory loss. They are... quite flippant! And quick to dismiss your concerns on having to do with the mind-flayer tadpole.

It's late, and I'm getting sleepy, so that's all I'll add for this post. More is to come.

Part 1 | Part 2

#cas plays bg3 #oc: kyrran #oc: kyr #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #bg3 dark urge #bg3 durge #durge spoilers #bg3 oc #dark urge spoilers #baldur's gate 3 #fuck it we bhaal

47 notes · View notes

angelgoeslewd · 1 year

Note

Hi Angel, could i request Wren and Landry seeing a very pregnant PC and maybe the water break when there with them? So for Wren when they play card or something like and Landry maybe at the pub or somewhere else i don't mind thank you have a great day/night!

finally got around to posting this 💕 currently dealing with admissions rn which SUCKS bleh

also gonna take the liberty here to make pc pregnant w their kid bc why not 😎👉👉 if u want just a rando pregnancy lmk!!

⚠️ warnings: heavy pregnancy talk: water breaking, stressful births, etc. mentions of harper being less than savory to pregnant people, reader is able to give birth, possessiveness, breeding kink/baby trapping.

Wren:

if you hid it from him

if you actually managed to hide your pregnancy up to this point from this man, color him impressed. his whole job is being in the know. most of that info is directed towards Remy’s profitability but ya know, never hurts to have a few aces up your sleeves. and he has. so many.

night started off simple enough, a game of cards with his puppy playing across from him; you’ve gotten good after all these times, your bluffs have been harder to read, even harder when you wear the collar he had gotten made for you

its when you stop bluffing and throwing back your sharp wit that he both loves and despises when he looks up. in fact, you’ve stopped doing everything. you’re completely still. not a response he’s seen from you. and it worries him.

“you ok, pup?”

you give a little shake of your head, and then drop your cards to the table. your hands shoot to your abdomen, breath heavy, placing your forehead on the cool wood table. Wren is at your side in an instant, hands wandering over you, looking for wounds. it’s too much, the pain, the sensation of warmth moving across your body, and you push them away weakly.

when he doesn’t find any, his mind immediately goes to the worst. he pulls his gun on his men, wondering which one decided to poison the wrong person.

he’s not supposed to care about you this much. you’re just a body in his bed. he needs his gang, he knows this. he needs them to trust him, needs them to be ready to lay down their lives for him. but he does cares about you. too much about you. you, his puppy. the one he’s trained so perfectly, invested so much time in. and he wont let this transgression go.

“no… wren,” you call, trying your hardest to uncurl yourself and grab at his arm. he pulls his gun up and away from you, easily moving it out of your reach. but you manage to will yourself out of the chair. when it happens.

you hear a snap, and your body reacts, looking up to Wren, his perfectly trained puppy, thinking he had snapped his fingers for your attention, but one hand is holding the gun and the other is at his side, so you’re confused — when your feel your thighs dampen. you’ve already lost your bottoms in the first round, so you can feel all the wetness that runs down your leg and suddenly, you put it together.

he does too, seeing the puddle on the floor. his gun is instantly away, holding you as your struggle to stay on your feet while the contractions get worse.

“puppy… you been keepin’ secrets?” you nod, pitifully. the look on your face is almost literally the definition of a kicked wet dog, and Wren is amused at how well you play your part.

it’s the next words out of your mouth that makes him stop. you can’t manage many words through the contractions, but you manage to get out, “yours…”

“Everyone get the fuck out,” He spits, still unmoving, eyes trained on you. His men, who have been watching the entire time, almost in shock at how quickly so much has happened, are out the door in less then 3 seconds. They all know that voice. They’re all convinced they won’t be seeing you anymore, and honestly, so are you. and you shut your eyes tight, wondering if he’d at least take the baby to somewhere better then Bailey’s orphanage after you’ve been taken care of.

but instead, there’s a firm, gentle hand on your back, and you open your eyes to met wren’s. he’s so close to you, inches away. you can feel his breath on your face as he assesses the situation. “i’ll take care of you, darlin’. don’t worry.”

no time for prep. no time for anything. much to his displeasure, he has to get you to the hospital. he picks you up easily, trying to be as gentle as he can, barging out of the cottage and telling his men to start the car.

he spends the entire hospital visit watching harper with eyes like a wren hawk. has a HUGE, completely out of character outburst when harper has to actually touch you to help you give birth. takes the baby away from him as soon as possible.

visiting hours do not apply to him. if they kick him out, he’s just going to break back in so…

if you didn’t hide it from him

a pregnant partner is almost like a status symbol to him. when you tell him, he’s over the moon. doesn’t show it, simply nods and says, “ok.”

but your whole existence to him changes. you aren’t just a fun bedmate. you’re his show dog, his prized pooch. wants you to wear tight shirts, show off that belly he’s blessed you with. show off his fertility, show off how safe he can keep you in this horrible place.

this sometimes means you come with him on ‘tasks.’

dangerous? yes. but don’t worry. you have your own team of bodyguards, people wren has known the longest and trusts the most, who would die for him, to protect you. they’d take a bullet for you. it’s an intimidation tactic. even bailey would raise an eyebrow at wren’s shameless flaunt of power. but wren isn’t bothering him or his business so he doesn’t care too much.

in fact, bailey might use it as leverage. but that’s another story.

in private, he gets touchy. super touchy. lots of pregnancy sex. he always has an arm around you or hand on you. you go where he does.

when your water breaks, he’s right there. holding you, breathing with you through contractions. would prefer a home birth, honestly, with a member of his, recently hired, who has midwife experience. he doesn’t really like the hospital. or harper. especially harper.

he’s probably been preparing for this day and will refuse any jobs from Remy for the two weeks leading up to your due date. much to his displeasure. has made his team practice drills for this, so they jump into action when it happens.

he’s the one holding your hand, if you want a water birth, he’ll get in with you, reminding you how strong you are to have carried his babes for so long, he doesn’t care about the blood or anything else. as long as the baby and you are healthy. he’s seen and be through a lot of shit, birth doesn’t scare him off.

Landry

if you hid it from him

like wren, it is VERY hard to hide anything from this man, because you not only have to hide it from him, you have to hide it from the whole town. one drunk idiot with a loose tongue will have Landry at Bailey’s doorstep, demanding to speak to you about those rumors.

so if you actually managed it, congratulations! You might have a shot at working at Landry’s bar!

of course, he’ll very upset if he knows you’ve accepted drinks while pregnant. please don’t do that to this man. yes, he’s a shady asshole but he’s less of an asshole then anyone else in this town.

but when your water breaks? at his bar? he shuts down. Landry is not a doer. see, he takes pride in being able to avoid any doing and being able to sit comfortably on his wealth like a dragon. he will be practically on the verge of passing out. his hands will be shaking. but he’ll eventually get you in his car and to the hospital.

he adores you l, but, uh. this isn’t his forte. he’s ready to bolt when you’re in (semi) safe hands.

he doesn’t even put two and two together until you’re grabbing his hand, asking him, strained as you lay in the hospital bed, if he wants to stay and see his baby.

ok. Landry has officially shut down now. what.

oh. oh. it’s been a while, but he has a pretty good memory. you mean that one time when you sucked him off behind the bar all night and when he finally closed up and did you on the counter and he — oh.

or maybe it was that other time, when you surprised him in his bed, he was so turned on by the way you were able to get in without tipping him off that he — mhm. could’ve been that time.

it takes him a while to boot back up, but when he does, he’s still not fully out of shock. he just nods dumbly and follows your bed to the delivery room. he does hold your hand the whole time and cuts the cord though so ❤️. big love to Landry to being the only decent father besides Robin.

oh my god. he doesn’t think anything could be as cute as holding the new little infant in his arms. it’s adorable. and he’s honestly in love with how utterly perfect it is. its cute little nose.

he is 100% knocking you up again. give this bachelor a taste of domestic life and he’s going to keep you there.

if you didn’t hide it from him

honestly, not much changes besides Landry is a little bit more prepared for the birth.

he blacks out for about 5 minutes when you tell him. you’re sitting in front of him, at a table in his bar, long before it opens, waving your hand in front of his face worriedly when he comes to. “we’re… having a baby. a baby.” probably repeats this for another 5 minutes. it is honestly so concerning to you, but considering what this town is like, you don’t expect him to stick around. but eventually, when you’re turning to leave, he grabs your wrist, a determined look coming over his face, and he promises you that he will be the best dad he can be.

orphanage? haha sorry Bailey. PC is getting kidnapped moved to Landry’s room above the bar. he probably sells him a share of his bar in return. worth it though. he will absolutely not take no for an answer. you’re in his sight morning and night. he will drive you to school and pick you up. he makes sure you take your vitamins and eat good meals.

honestly, probably the best option to get knocked up by, despite him being a helicopter mom. man’s been a bachelor for so long that settling down actually seems… nice.

as long as you’re able to turn a blind eye to his actual source of income and ready to be under scrutiny of cops and always surrounded by shady people. 🤷‍♀️ if you don’t feel safe, he’ll do his best to make sure you do. security systems, an actual house, whatever you need.

remember that hoard I was talking about earlier? oh yeah, this dude’s got a bit of cash he can burn. skullduggery is the easiest source of high income in the game, he’s where all the money is flowing to.

he never mentions your pregnancy to anyone and probably won’t. it’s too risky in his line of work. keeps you separated from his work. and if you were selling him stolen goods before? well, that’s gotta stop. will refuse anything you bring him and demand you quit putting yourself in unnecessary danger. will lock you in his room if you don’t.

packs your hospital bags months before your due date. he’s so nervous. he uncharacteristically messes up orders and drops glasses when he’s working and the thought pops into his head. blames it on nicotine.

speaking of. chain smokes. not in the house or near you, but he does to calm himself down over the whole ordeal. needs it to stay sane. when he gets too worked up, you tell him to go have one to chill out.

wren and mickey absolutely find out and make fun of him.

when your water breaks, it’s during bar hours, of course. he won’t let you downstairs when it’s working hours so you have to call him to tell him. tells everyone to get the fuck out and considering how worked up he is, they do without any complaint.

carries you, literally bridal style, to his car.

again, an absolute wreck at the hospital. paces. won’t leave you to smoke though, you half wish he did, however, because he’s somewhat of a pain. jumping at every sound of pain you make, demanding Harper around, you can tell even Harper is annoyed.

but when it’s all done and over with, you have to almost pry the baby from his arms. tries to bottle feed it, but doesn’t get how to do it right. at least he’s trying.

hope you’re ready to be pregnant 24/7. he’s addicted :).

loves watching you breastfeed, if it's possible for you to do so.

#angelic songs #dol #degrees of lewdity #landry the criminal #wren the smuggler #.SMS SENT #☕ of dol

121 notes · View notes