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locksprout50 · 2 years

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The Morning After - Engadget

If present types of wireless earbuds have never fairly labored for you, Bose is able to strive a new design. These wireless Sport Open Earbuds don’t go in or over your ear canal. Instead they sit above it, permitting you to get the audio and still hear sounds of every part going on around you.

The design appears just a little awkward compared to different buds, however Bose claims they’ll keep securely positioned in any weather situations, with loud, clear audio you possibly can hear with out blasting it to everyone else. Cubepack88 I’ll need to see opinions from one in all our audio consultants earlier than I consider fully in what it’s selling, however the potential for a headset with a greater fit is price a shot.

- Richard Lawler

‘Minecraft Earth’ will shut down on June 30th

Microsoft’s AR mobile sport launched in the US a year in the past.

Minecraft Earth gamers have until June thirtieth to play the augmented actuality title before Microsoft shuts down its servers and it’s not obtainable to download from app marketplaces. In keeping with its developer, Mojang Studios, “Minecraft Earth was designed round free movement and collaborative play - two issues which have grow to be close to unimaginable in the present international state of affairs.”

The studio is rolling out one final update it says accommodates changes “to make your time in Minecraft Earth as enjoyable as doable.” Among different tweaks, the replace does away with actual-cash transactions and drastically reduces the time it'll take for players to craft and construct issues within the sport.

Microsoft will delete participant knowledge on July 1st, and the game that debuted at WWDC 2019 will disappear. Continue reading.

Dell unveils its first 40-inch ultrawide monitor

And SafeShutter equipped business laptops.

The CES 2021 rush is already beginning. Dell rolled out units built for some specific business needs. Its first 40-inch ultrawide monitor has a 5,a hundred and twenty x 2,160 decision that may match a 4K video while exhibiting enhancing controls on the sides.

It’s also releasing a set of monitors made for video conferencing, due to constructed-in 5MP cameras, speakers, noise-canceling microphones and even dedicated Microsoft Groups buttons. Final however not least, new Latitude 9000 laptops are the industry’s first to feature an “automatic shutter” which can close off the digicam when you’re not using it - key if you’d like to make use of your laptop computer each for Zoom calls and in areas the place photos aren’t allowed. Proceed reading.

Tile's next-gen tracker might use ultra-wideband tech

And you may use AR to find it. We’re nonetheless waiting to see devoted tracker tags from Apple and Samsung, but Tile is trying to make sure it’s staying competitive. In accordance with TechCrunch, the company is creating a tracker that may use extremely-wideband (UWB) tech, as a substitute of Bluetooth, to assist you discover lost items. UWB has a handful of advantages over Bluetooth: Its excessive-frequency waves can transmit spatial and directional knowledge, which make it extra correct at estimating the location of tags and devices. The latest iPhones, in addition to Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 2, pack UWB performance already. Continue reading.

Verizon places 3G shutdown plans on hold indefinitely

It will keep the community operational alongside its 4G and 5G networks. Verizon (owner of Engadget's parent firm, Verizon Media) isn’t shutting down its 3G community anytime soon. Kevin King, the carrier’s spokesperson, told Light Reading that Verizon’s “3G community is operational” and the company has no plans to shut it down. He additionally added that the corporate will “work with clients to move them to newer technology.”

Verizon stopped activating 3G phones in 2018 as “virtually all traffic on [its] community is on [its] 4G LTE network,” it said at the time. Neither King nor Verizon revealed how many 3G devices are still related, however the figure could possibly be significant if it selected to keep the network operational alongside 4G and 5G. Proceed reading.

Amazon buys planes for the primary time to broaden its cargo air fleet

Until now, Amazon Air leased aircraft.

Amazon’s cargo airfleet appears to be a success. Increasing from 11 jets when it launched in 2016, the corporate can have more than eighty five planes delivering whatever world customers are shopping for by 2022. Amazon’s newest announcement is notable as a result of it marks the primary time the corporate has bought, as an alternative of leased, extra aircraft. Continue studying.

However wait, there’s extra... GE's good house brand modifications its name from C by GE to Cync

Engadget Offers: Crucial's 1TB MX500 inner SSD is on sale for $eighty five - its lowest Amazon price ever

The Persona soundtracks at the moment are available on Spotify and Apple Music

What's on Television this week: 'Star Trek: Discovery' season finale

Twitter labeled a forecaster's Georgia election tweet without controversy

'Call of Duty: Warzone' gamers used an app to cheat matchmaking

Flipper Zero turns hacking right into a Tamagotchi-model sport

Hologram Electronics Microcosm evaluation

OnePlus's low cost new Nord telephones will arrive in the US on January 15th

Asobo Studio exhibits off actual-time snow in 'Microsoft Flight Simulator'

#Cubepack88 #another day another cube

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bridgetserdocksketches · 3 years

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My cishet, male cousin and I are in the process of making a comic and I intend to make this shit as gay as possible

#these aren’t their final designs. we’re still tweaking them #but these are their personalities #on the left you've got our main character: a wizard with a secret who's been forced on the run #and on the right you have our villain: a not a wizard who seems to get in the hero's way simply for the fun of it #they are in opposition almost entirely due to circumstance #and it vexes the hero constantly #also they're both hella gay and in love (if i have my way at least)#digital art #art #wip #work in progress #comic #web comic #you wanna fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid #my art

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arc-misadventures · 2 years

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For Hunters drones could we get something where one of the villains tries to break into Jayne’s lab but are caught by the girls

Or if you go with Cinder, Emerald, or Mercury they are caught by Jaune who’s so tired that his voice sounds like that of a disappointed father

I don’t know just kinda sounds funny in my head

I want to use this idea, but not yet. So, Imma gonna tweak it, just a bit.

Hunter Drones VIII

Nearly a dozen White Fang grunts were walking through the hidden hallways of Atlas Academy searching for the secret robotics facility.

WF#1: You sure this is a good idea?

WF#2: Greg, we’re nearly there! You’re asking us this now, now?!

WF#1: Well�� You didn’t really ask us if we wanted to do this, we just left after that guy gave us the access codes.

WF#3: He’s right, we don’t even know who that guy was; can we even trust him?

WF#4: He smelled like a human; are we taking the words of human now?!

WF#2: Quiet! We’re already in too deep as it is. We’re going to get caught no matter what; so lets raise some hell before we do!

WF#3: Well, let’s go then.

WF#4: Now that, sounds fun then!

WF#1: Well, what else can we do…

WF#2: Lets do this then!

The group of White Fang, ran down the halls trying to reach the nearest lab when they ran into an unexpected figure.

WF#3: What the?!

WF#4: Why is there a kid here?

WF#2: Who cares; Hey, kid, get out of here if you know what’s good for you!

Penny: Faunas / White Fang / Here?

WF#5: Okay… that’s a weird kid…

Penny: The White Fang are enemies of, Atlas, no?

WF#2: And, all those who oppose us! We will slaughter any who stand in our way!

Penny: Interesting~!

WF#1: I-I don’t like this… This doesn’t feel good…

WF#3: What does it matter it’s just a kid, even you could take her, Greg.

WF#1: You want me to kill a kid?!

WF#4: No?! Go, and bonk her on the head, and knock her out!

WF#1: To a kid?! Do you have any idea how bad that is for a growing kid?!

WF#2: Why are you such a pacifist? We’re here to kill humans, and mess up their shit! Why are you here with us, why aren’t you even armed?!

WF#1: I’m the medic?! My job is to treat the wounded, not make them!

WF#3: Ugh, you’re such a… Uh-oh…

WF#5: We’ve got company!

Yang: Penny, there you are. What are you doing out….? Oh, hello~!

Ruby: Oooh! White Fang?! How did they get in here?!

Yang: Good question; why are you all here~?

Blake: We could just ask them?

WF#2: A faunas?! Why are you helping these, Atlasian bastards and not you fellow faunas brother, and sisters?!

Blake: Because these are my sisters, and I may appear as a faunas, but I am no faunas.

WF#4: What are you then, some sort of sick Atlas experiment?!

WF#5: Some sort of spy perhaps?

WF#2: It doesn’t matter! Get out of our way now, or die!

Yang: Die?

Blake: Would those weapons even put a scratch on our aura.

Ruby: Hmm… Arbiter Mrk. 3, Vulture Pattern Auto-gun. Created, and manufactured in, Vacuo. High capacity cartridge, and high fire rate. Heavy recoil resulting in poor accuracy. Weak to even low level, Grimm. Best used in large concentrated numbers. Designed as cheap weaponry for civilian purchase.

Yang: That bad, eh?

Ruby: It’d be like getting shot with foam pellets.

Yang: Okay then… First things first: Surrender now, or die…

Penny: Do we really have to ask them to surrender?!

Yang: Yes; Jaune, would be upset if we didn’t.

Ruby: That’s a good reason…

Penny: I still hate it…

WF#2: Surrender?! Like hell! We rather die before we surrender to you Atlas scum…

YBRP: …

Yang: Is that so~?

WF#1: I don’t like this… I don’t like this at all!

Yang: If it’s like that then… Penny, would you do the honours~?

Penny: Hehe~! At long last! We can finally do it!!!

WF#2: Do what; kill faunas?

Penny: No.

WF#2: Then what is it?

Penny: Dismember meatbags~!

WF#1: Oh no…

~~~

Winter: Move, move, move!

Clover: This is bad, really bad! How the hell did they get security codes to get in here?!

Harriet: And, why are they here?!

Winter: It could be anything! There’s so many weapons, experimental tech, and whatever the hell it is that they keep down here!

Marrow: What about, Dr. Arc? Isn’t his lab down here?

Winter: The alarm sounded just outside his lab!

Harriet: Shit!

Elm: Do you think he’ll be okay?!

Winter: Hard to say; his lab is one of the most well defended there is. But, that’s only the bulkhead that protects his lab. There are no weapon emplacements whatsoever!

Harriet: Why the hell not?!

Winter: Safety per-caution; Don’t want a stray bullets flying about, and hit something volatile!

Clover: Good reason. What, about the, Hunter Drones could they be of any assistance?!

Winter: They’ve only taken down Grimm before, who knows how they’ll stand against a human opponent. Humans tend to be a hell of a lot smarter than, Grimm!

Vine: Is there any word from the doctor?!

Winter: No! The cameras are down, and the coms are dead! We’re going in blind! Dammit!

Marrow: Let’s just hope everything is… Freeze!

WF#2: Specialists?!

Winter: Surender now, or…?!

WF#2: I surrender! I’ll tell you everything you want to know, and more! Just please, by the gods you gotta protect me! Please, I’m begging you! Save me!

Winter: Protect you? Protect you from what?!

WF#2: Those monsters!

Greg pointed down the hallway to see another member of the, White Fang member run around the corner. He was about to scream when, Yang, appear. Grabbing the faunas by his shirt, and punching the mans skull, causing it to explode and paint the wall with a shower of blood, fragments of bone, and a shower of brain splatter. Yang: held the headless terrorist in her hand for a moment, blood dripping for her fist as she let the lifeless body fall to the floor with a wet spatter. All as she grinned as a monster in shear delight at the gruesome carriage she left in her wake.

Yang: Hehe~! That’s what you get for messing up with my hair you fucker!

Blake soon appeared behind her, casually tossing a decapitated head to the side as she stood besides her sister.

Blake: Haa~! Now that was was relaxing. We should do this again sometime~

Yang: Hell yeah we will!

Ruby appeared next, in her hands rested one of the faunas rifles. She slowly counted off all the faunas they massacred as she scratched a series of tally marks on the side of the rifle casing.

Ruby: Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two… Hmm… I counted twenty-three, we’re missing one… Oh wait, Winter has him. Hi, Winter!

Penny: We can still gut the meatbag, no~?!!

Penny, the last of the Hunter Drones, rounded the corner, her face, and throat covered jn blood as she finally lived out her dream; Drinking the blood of the meatbags.

Yang: Hey, Winter! You going to keep that one, or can we have him?

Winter, and the rest of the, Specialist stood in horror at the gazed upon the gruesome sight before her. She had seen the aftermath of Grimm, and White Fang attacks before, the horrors of battle. But, the shear casualness of the, Hunter Drones killing, and the shear delight they seemed to take in killing scared her like nothing else before. The only logical response any of them had was to stare in horror at the sight before them. Or, in the case of, Specialist Marrows case; faint because of it.

Yang: Is that a no?

#rwby #jaune arc #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #ruby rose #penny polendina #winter schnee #vine zeki #harriet bree #elm ederne #clover ebi #marrow amin

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val-aquenta · 3 years

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Last day of Mace Windu Appreciation Week! The prompt: Freeform.

Here on ao3

A little fluffy moment betwen Knight Mace WIndu and Youngling Obi-Wan Kenobi. Thank you all for reading!

Mace had never meant to return to the Temple yet. As a new knight, he was meant to be out and about on missions, resettling into the sway of travelling without a Master, yet here he was. Staring down at a young child who was looking rather tearful. He knelt quickly, one hand lingering on his knee. The boy was red in his face and looked, in Mace’s opinion, positively adorable. “Forgive me, young one, I did not see you there.” There was a soft sniffle and the boy rubbed his face before looking back up, his expressions more in control. He smiled, “There you are. Now, did I hurt you?”

The boy shakes his head, looking at his hands. Oh my Force, he’s so tiny. His hands! Mace thinks watching as the boy stands up and looks up at him. “No, Master…”

Mace gently shakes his head, “I’m a knight, young one, not a Master yet. My name is Mace Windu. What’s yours?” Mace prompts.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi.” The boy, Obi-Wan shifts slightly, looking around before turning and looking back at Mace.

“Do you have anywhere you’re supposed to be?” He asks, head tilting slightly to the side.

Obi-Wan looks at him with a soft smile. “Yes? But… Bant left me behind on accident, so I… I think I’m lost.” The boy’s face scrunches up in confusion. “I’ve just been walking around…”

“And managed to get into the closed-off section?” Mace hums. He stands up. “If you would like, I can take you back to the creche?” Obi-Wan nods, stepping closer to Mace and reaching out to tug on his fingers.

“Do you think Master Dolan will be angry?” Earnest eyes raised at him. He swears there’s a little sparkle in those eyes.

“I think he's likely worried, Obi-Wan.” Mace looks around for a second and then begins leading the way out of the closed sector of the Temple. Back when there were more Jedi, these rooms would have been used, but now that their populations dwindled entire sections were closed off as keeping them running simply became too costly for the meagre funds the Republic sent their way. He looks down at Obi-Wan, consciously slowing his pace so that the child can keep up comfortably. Obi-Wan is quiet, remarkably so. His steps are soft little pads on the stone floor. There is a light humming coming from his companion. A song from the creche, he recalls quickly.

“Knight Windu, how old are you?” Mace raises his brows at Obi-Wan who flushes. “I-I’m sorry Master, you don’t have to answer.”

“Not to worry, Obi-Wan. I don’t mind, but take note that many other beings do mind.” Obi-Wan nods. “I’m 22.”

There is a pause before the boy murmurs, “15?” Mace looks down at the boy in confusion, sending a small pulse into the Force. Obi-Wan looks up and startles a little. “Oh… 15 years difference. Between you and me.”

“So you’re… 7?” Obi-Wan nods, seeming very proud of his age. “Very old, huh?”

“Master Dolan says that soon I’ll be able to get my own crystal to build my sabre, though the power will have to be re,” Obi-Wan pauses to suck in a short breath, “regulated. Is your lightsaber regulated, Knight Windu?”

“Sometimes. If I’m sparring with friends for example. Or teaching young 7-year-olds.” He smiles gently, indicating the boy to turn left. “Here we are, just a little bit more.”

“Can I see? Please?” Obi-Wan looks at him. “What colour is it? And what about your hilt design. I’m not sure what I’d want from my hilt, or my regulator or anything, but Master Dolan says that I’ll know when the Force wills it. Did the Force tell you about your sabre, Knight Windu?” Mace blinks, a little shocked before a smile tugs the corners of his lips up.

“I suppose it did.” He hums thoughtfully. “I had a plan, I suppose, a vague idea of what I wanted the hilt to be made of, the approximate size, the feel of it in my hand, but I had no idea how it would actually look until I made it.” He unclips his sabre, showing the general size and shape. “And the colour of the blade? Now that was a surprise.” Leaning away he thumbs it on, the purple hilt bursting forth with a comforting hum. Obi-Wan’s eyes are wide as plates, shining in the purple light. Mace thumbs it off after a moment, clipping it onto his belt. “But, perhaps you will have a different experience. Shaak, that is Knight Ti, she had a pretty detailed diagram of her lightsaber, though she tweaked it a little when she built it.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen purple. Why is it purple?” Obi-Wan shuffles closer, looking up at him. “I’ve seen all kinds of colours between green and blue and yellow and orange and I think I saw a white blade once, but I’m not sure. I was really small. But I’ve never seen purple.”

“I don’t know why it’s purple. It simply is.” Obi-Wan, if possible, looked even more enthralled. “And you? What blade do you think you will have?”

“Well… when I have visions, I see different blades all the time. Sometimes they’re all black and rough while sometimes they’re gold and silver. Master Yoda says that it's because there are so many futures and I see different ones.” He pauses for a moment. “I do want a type three aurek silver hilt, though. They feel right.”

“Uh-huh.” Mace smiles. The young boy is truly endearing with the way he talks at such a rapid speed, stopping quickly for breaths and breaks. “Oh… we’re almost here. Do you know where you are meant to be?”

Obi-Wan looks up at him. “Well… Master Dolan said we were going to go to visit the archives.” He paused for a moment, hand fiddling with the edge of his sleeve before Obi-Wan looked up. “I don’t know where it is, though.” Mace blinked and smiled softly, projecting a soft reassurance, something that he recalled his creche master doing whenever he was overwhelmed by something.

“It is no problem, Obi-Wan. I can take you to the archives, and we’ll find Master Dolan together, alright?” He reaches down and offers his hand.

“Are you… sure?” He speaks with hesitation layering his voice. “I mean, Master Dolan says that Jedi are busy. Aren’t you busy?” Nevertheless, Obi-Wan reaches out and places his small hand in Mace’s trotting along beside Mace as they walk towards the archives.

“I’m on a break,” Mace admits, smiling at a friend who gives them a strange look before shrugging and hurrying along. The pack on their shoulder indicates a new mission.

Obi-Wan goes through the information before nodding seriously. “Master Aliya says that it’s important to have breaks during difficult tasks to not burnout.” The young boy lets out a huff before continuing, “I guess it makes sense you’re resting.” Mace almost wants to laugh, but he fears that the endearingly serious face would lift off of Obi-Wan’s face.

“I would hope it does,” he offers seriously instead, squeezing Obi-Wan’s hand as they turn a corner almost running right into Master Rancisis. They manage to sidestep, getting a humoured look from the old Master before he slithers down the hallway. They’re almost there, and Mace feels strangely sad about it. The youngling had managed to burrow his way into his heart easily. Kira would say that most things manage to burrow their way into his heart, but he thinks even she would have problems saying no to Obi-Wan’s large eyes. “We’re almost here.”

Obi-Wan perks up, studying the hallway intently, wanting to memorise the route. “Master Yoda told us that the archives are one of the best-kept databases in the Republic. Have you ever seen another like it?” Mace thinks of the seemingly endless rows of blue holos as well as the flimsi copies kept in a more controlled environment to protect them from environmental damage. Indeed, many universities find their way into the database to use it for research. There is an open policy for the archives, though only a select few can change the contents within. He would say that no, he had not seen a library as vast and diverse and well kept as the archives, but he is not sure how much of that statement comes from a healthy fear of Madame Nu should she find out he’d said that. He’d rather not be on the archivist’s bad side.

“Few have matched the archives' size and wealth of knowledge, though there is a vast library on Alderaan solely composed of original documents.” Obi-Wan looks at him curiously, urging him to continue, “It is more difficult for knowledge to be shared from that library due to the fact that the documents have not been recorded digitally, but it is still a vast library and a sight to behold.” He had visited it twice with Cyslin and the smell of old books paired with the elegant covers had very much seemed Alderaani. “Well, here we are. The archives. Let’s look for Mater Dolan, shall we?” Mace squeezed the hand softly, shooting Obi-Wan a smile.

Obi-Wan grinned back and followed him, turning the corner. Almost immediately a large wookie was in front of him, and then he was kneeling down and reaching for Obi-Wan. “Thank the Force, Obi-Wan. Where in Force’s name were you? I’ve been worried sick! You and your habit of wandering…” Large hands flutter around, turning Obi-Wan from one side to the other before finally deeming him alright. The reddish-brown fur which had been standing on end in an agitated fashion smoothed down. Master Dolan’s eyes shifted from intently studying Obi-Wan’s face to looking at Mace. “Thank you so much for bringing him here. I was about to call the Temple guards.” The wookie says, head bowing in thanks.

Mace smiles, “Oh it was no problem. Obi-Wan was a good walking companion.” He shot the boy a smile who still managed to smile back, large hands still resting on his shoulders. Master Dolan begins muttering under breath about how he was ageing prematurely and how ‘all these grey hairs are a result of your habit of wandering, young man.’ Finally, it seemed the wookie truly calmed and stood, towering over Mace though there was a gentleness in his eyes that made it feel calming and comforting. Obi-Wan stood by Master Dolan’s side, head leaning against the Master’s leg with a tired smile.

“I’m Master Dolan,” he introduced himself, taking in a deep fortifying breath. “I can’t thank you enough, Knight…”

“Ah, Mace. Mace Windu.” Mace bowed a bit in greeting, “And truly, you don’t need to. Obi-Wan is a kind soul, I enjoyed our short walk back.”

“Nevertheless, I thank you.”

“Ah, well, alright then. But I assure you, it was not an inconvenience at all.” Mace assured.

The frazzled creche master calmed fully, looking down at the young child and giving him a little poke for attention. “Come now, what do you tell Knight Windu, hmm?”

Obi-Wan blinked adorably before bowing respectfully, “thank you, Knight Windu, for bringing me back to Master Dolan.” His voice was somewhat soft, but strong still.

“Well, thank you, Obi-Wan, for your company. I enjoyed our conversation very much.” The young boy perked up before turning to hide a bit behind the wookie Master’s leg, face bright red in embarrassment. Obi-Wan appeared to try and speak, but only a small squeak came out before he retreated further back behind the cover of the legs.

After a while, though, the young boy found the courage to speak and peeked out, “I like talking with you, too,” he says seriously before retreating even further until he is practically hidden by the Master’s leg.

“Well, I best be going. Master Dolan, Obi-Wan.” He bows in farewell, receiving one in response from the two. “May the Force be with you.”

Master Dolan smiles and replies in the same manner, “And with you.”

“Always. Obi-Wan adds, peeking out and waving his arm goodbye. “Bye, Knight Windu!”

#mace windu appreciation week #mace windu appreciation #mace windu #obi wan kenobi #baby obi #star wars #star wars fanfic #fanfic #duna writes #Hope you folks have enjoyed these oneshot thingies for the week

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a-blue-secret · 3 years

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EPILOGUE: FIVE YEARS LATER

BACK TO MASTERLIST

Chapter XXXIV | Epilogue

GENRES: royal au; fantasy au; magic au; friends-to-enemies-to-lovers; king!beomgyu, vizier!taehyun

PAIRING: taegyu

WARNINGS: none!

WORD COUNT: 4.2k+

AN: Considering how monstrously long this fic is, there was no way I was going to end it without an epilogue! Thank you all of you for reading Court of Lies! It means a lot to me :)

SUMMARY: Best friends turned enemies, Kang Taehyun has managed to trick Choi Beomgyu into his service, and to rule for a year and a day, until his youngest brother would be old enough to take the throne. Choi Beomgyu has no intention of being obedient however, and tries to thwart Taehyun’s orders at every turn. With a growing amount of distrust and lies within the court, will Taehyun manage to keep the kingdom of Gojongja from falling apart?

“It’s a shame we couldn’t hold it in Gojongja,” Beomgyu commented from where he had draped himself over the chaise longue, flicking idly through a book.

Taehyun smiled at him through the mirror as he let the maids clasp yet more gold bracelets onto his wrists.

“No matter,” Taehyun said. “We’re too good for Gojongja anyways.”

Beomgyu laughed. “True. Besides, Barumin is nicer.”

“But it’s a real shame that Nabi and Seohyun couldn’t be here,” Taehyun said as his hair was touched and crimped into place.

“Well, it was to be expected,” Beomgyu replied, flicking through his book. “Being rulers of Gojongja is hard work.” He glanced at Taehyun, smiling. “We should know.”

Taehyun grinned. “Oh, definitely.” His hair was patted into place again, and his arms were spread out so his coat could be tweaked to perfection. “And it’s not like we’ll never see them again, anyway. They can always come down to Barumin to see us, even after today.”

Finally, once the maids had deemed him to be perfect, a lace veil was produced, placed over his hair and fixed to the silver circlet nestled in his hair.

“That’s true.” Beomgyu gave a small laugh. “Oh, but I’m so glad that Jiwon was able to come here. You really wanted him to hand you off, didn’t you?”

“If he didn’t come, I was thinking about bringing in the elm tree,” Taehyun admitted, chuckling. “You know, from the garden? That tree was the closest thing to a father figure to me.”

Beomgyu laughed. “That would have been so weird,” he said.

Once his veil had been fixed, and the last finishing touches applied to his makeup, the maids stepped away, and Taehyun walked over to peer curiously over Beomgyu’s shoulder.

“By the way,” he said, “I’m pretty sure that it is custom for the groom not to see the bride’s attire until the wedding itself.”

Beomgyu smiled up at him, snapping his book shut. “Well, this is no customary wedding, is it?” he grinned. “It’s our wedding, after all. Now come on. I wanted to see you before I get dressed, so I don’t ruin my makeup by crying my eyes out during the wedding itself.”

Taehyun stepped back and spread his arms proudly, showing off his suit. Beomgyu’s eyes lit up as they travelled the length of him, taking in the ivory satin with its silver and blue embellishments. Intricate, thick lines of embroidered silver twisted and curled themselves around the fabric of his arms, embedded with tiny, bright sapphires which glittered and shone in the light. His silver buttons, polished to perfection, glittered brightly, but nothing could rival the shine in Taehyun’s eyes. He smiled widely, spinning on the spot.

Beomgyu walked forward, placing his hands on Taehyun’s waist. Taehyun’s hands automatically came up to rest around his neck. Beomgyu nudged his nose against Taehyun’s.

“You look absolutely beautiful, love.”

Taehyun smiled, brushing the hair out of Beomgyu’s face. “I know I do. And when I put on that bridal cloak, I’ll look stunning.” He nodded towards the ivory cape, still hanging on a mannequin.

In contrast to his suit, Taehyun’s cloak was free from any sort of complicated silver stitching. It was a long length of shimmering ivory, and embroidered at the bottom of the train was an intricate detail of blue roses, embedded with small blue stones. Beomgyu gaped at it.

“How long is that cloak? It looks like it’ll carry on forever.”

“The train alone is twice my height,” Taehyun smiled. “That’s why I just have a short blusher veil covering my face. It would be too heavy to have a long veil as well as a long cloak.”

Beomgyu turned back to look at him, eyes shining. “Is this really happening? Am I dreaming right now?”

Taehyun laughed. “You’ve asked me this every single day since I proposed to you. Yes, love. This is really happening. We’re getting married.”

Beomgyu’s eyes sparkled. When Taehyun smiled teasingly, catching a glimpse of the tears, he shook his head rapidly. “No no no, I’m not crying. I’m not crying.”

“I never said you were,” Taehyun laughed, brushing away the liquid building in Beomgyu’s eyes. Beomgyu blinked rapidly, before smiling blissfully. He took a step back, holding Taehyun at arm’s length so he could marvel at his wedding attire.

“You look absolutely gorgeous in the Gyeongju Choi colours. I knew you would.”

Taehyun smiled. “Is that why you insisted that I’d be the bride, even though I was the one who proposed?”

“Why else?” Beomgyu grinned. “Also, Yeonjun and Hueningkai look amazing in dresses. I couldn’t pass up on the chance.”

Taehyun’s eyes widened. “You actually made them wear dresses?”

“Well, they’re the maids of honour. Of course they have to. Plus, they wanted to! Hey, don’t start accusing me,” Beomgyu laughed.

“Alright, alright,” Taehyun said, smiling. He checked the clock in the corner of the room. “Oh, the wedding’s going to start in two hours. You’d better go get dressed.”

As if on cue, Hyunjin knocked on the door and peered inside. “Beomgyu, there you are! I think your maids are going to go bonkers if you don’t get there now.”

He hurried into the room before dragging Beomgyu by his hands. “Come on, come on!”

Beomgyu let himself be dragged out, smiling at Taehyun. “See you soon, love.”

Taehyun waved. “See you soon.”

.・゜-: ✧ :-

“So Beomgyu, how are we feeling?” Hyunjin asked as Beomgyu had his hair flattened then straightened then curled then straightened again.

“Annoyed at the hairdressers for whatever they’re doing to my hair,” Beomgyu responded, glaring playfully at the hairdresser. “But anyway, nervous. And a little bit scared.”

“Why? Are you scared that Taehyun will turn you down?” Hyunjin asked.

“No, no! No way. He proposed to me, remember? There’s no way he’d turn me down at the aisle. At least, I hope,” Beomgyu said, chuckling. “I’m scared of what Gojongja will think.”

Hyunjin made a noise of reassurance, reaching forward to pat Beomgyu’s shoulder before the stylist yanked at the sleeve of his jacket. “You don’t need to worry about them,” Hyunjin said as the last finishing touches were put onto his suit. “Even if they don’t like it, there’s nothing they can do. These weddings are perfectly legal, no matter what Kingdom they take place in. Seohyun and Nabi made sure of that.”

Beomgyu smiled at Hyunjin through the vanity mirror. “True. Thanks, Hyunjin.” He suddenly gave a laugh. “Oh, I just realised that you’ll have to dance with both Yeonjun and Hueningkai, since you’re the best man.”

Hyunjin’s eyes widened. “I have to what?” Beomgyu laughed, and Hyunjin’s face melted into a smile. “Well, at least I don’t have to dance with Yeji. She’d step on my feet purposefully all the time.”

Beomgyu grinned. “About that… I think she’s one of Taehyun’s bridesmaids so… she might insist on a dance.”

Hyunjin groaned. “Oh, god no! My feet are doomed!”

Beomgyu laughed, and when the hairdresser finally stopped torturing his hair he stood up, walking over to look at Hyunjin’s suit.

“Oh, looking smart,” Beomgyu said, smiling.

“I should hope so,” Hyunjin grinned. “You picked this for me.” He nodded his head at Beomgyu admiringly. “You look good.”

Indeed, Beomgyu did look good.

His suit was simple, but also complicated at the same time. It was traditional black with a white dress shirt, but there were lots of intricate details which made his suit unique. At the shoulders of his black coat, there was a cluster of silver sequins sewn into large, leaf-like shapes, and small blue peonies encircled the cuffs of the jacket, the tiny blue stones sparkling against the glittering silver sewn around them.

On closer inspection, even the traditional black of Beomgyu’s suit wasn’t simple. It was made of a shimmering black fabric, looking like the darkness of a midnight sky sparkling with tiny stars.

Beomgyu stretched out his arms, admiring the design of his suit. “You should see Taehyun’s,” he said, eyes shining. “He looks beautiful.”

Hyunjin laughed at Beomgyu’s bright face. “No matter how nervous you feel, you’re probably more excited than anything, aren’t you?”

Beomgyu beamed. “Yes. Is it obvious?”

“More than anything,” said Hyunjin, smiling. “But it’s good! It’s good. You should always be excited on your wedding day.”

Beomgyu smiled. “I should, shouldn’t I?” He gave a blissful sigh. “I’m getting married.”

“You are,” Hyunjin grinned, stepping down from the pedestal once his stylist deemed his suit finally perfect. He checked his pocket watch. “Oh, and we have to go now if you want to get married. The guests should be seated by now, and Taehyun’s due to appear ten minutes from now.”

“Right.” Beomgyu straightened his suit sleeves, and turned to Hyunjin, a nervous smile on his face. “Let’s go marry me off, best man.”

They walked out of the room, accompanied by several maids.

“I’m not the one marrying you off, though.”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter.”

.・゜-: ✧ :-

“Five minutes! Oh god, Taehyun you’re getting married!”

“I’m pretty sure I know that,” Taehyun chuckled as Yeonjun waved his hands excitedly.

“You look so beautiful,” he gushed. “I swear, if you start crying I will cry with you.”

“We better prepare tissues then,” Hueningkai said, smiling. “Something tells me that everyone will cry.”

“You guys fuss too much,” Taehyun sighed affectionately, as Hueningkai assisted the maids with adjusting Taehyun’s cloak. “God, this cape is heavy.”

“Pure satin with five hundred tiny sapphires embedded into the end of it, held together by a huge silver clasp at your throat,” Hueningkai quipped, smoothing down the fabric. “Of course it’s heavy.”

“I can take it off after the procession, right?” Taehyun asked.

“Sure. After you’re married, you can do anything with it. Nobody will mind. You could even rip it up and throw it away.”

“Hmm, I don’t think I’ll do that, but I’m sure I won’t wear this again.”

“Fine by me. You could donate it to Gojongja, and have it put into their artifact collection,” Hueningkai said. “This is the first same-sex marriage which has been displayed as openly as a normal marriage. It would make a good artifact.”

Taehyun nodded, adjusting his veil. “That’s a good idea. I might do that.”

“Two minutes!” Yeonjun cried, running back into the dressing room. “Oh, the ballroom looks amazing! We truly have to thank Yeji for convincing Barumin to let us hold the wedding in their palace, everything is so beautiful. And Taehyun, Hueningkai’s sisters managed to make it too!”

Taehyun blinked. “Wait– when did you leave?”

“Stop running around in your dress,” Hueningkai tsked, fixing the ruffles of lace on Yeonjun's dress. Then he registered what Yeonjun said and looked up, eyes wide. “Hiyyih and Lea? They made it to the wedding?”

Yeonjun nodded. “Yep! They’re there right now! Come on, come on, we have no time to waste! Let’s get you married!”

He paused in his tracks and held a hand over his mouth, staring at Taehyun. “Oh my, you look wonderful. Beomgyu will definitely cry.”

Taehyun smiled. “If he cries, I’m going to cry, so let’s hope he doesn’t,” he said. “Anyway, two minutes, did you say? We better get going. Where are the bridesmaids?”

“Waiting by the door,” Hueningkai said. “Waiting for you to walk down the aisle.”

Taehyun took a deep breath, fingers tightening around the bouquet of flowers in his grasp. He gave a smile, turning to look at his maids of honour. “I have to say, you two look amazing in dresses.”

Yeonjun beamed, both of them giving curtsies. “You look amazing yourself! Now come on, come on! We don’t want to keep the groom waiting, do we?”

Yeonjun and Hueningkai chattered to Taehyun as they made their way from the dressing room to outside the venue, standing outside the closed doors.

Inside, they heard someone announcing for the guests to stand.

“Alright, this is it,” Hueningkai whispered. “Don’t be nervous, okay? There’s no need to be scared.”

Taehyun looked at them, face bright. “I won’t be nervous,” he promised. “I have all of you with me, anyway.”

Hueningkai and Yeonjun smiled as Taehyun took another deep breath. The doors opened, and Taehyun faced the front, a smile on his face.

.・゜-: ✧ :-

A bright, tinkling melody played as Taehyun walked down the aisle, smile radiant. Shoulders widened confidently, steps light and hopeful, his cloak trailed gently behind him, unfolding to reveal the glittering cluster of blue flowers.

Behind him, Yeonjun and Hueningkai led the way for all the bridesmaids and junior bridesmaids, and in front of him the flower girls and ring bearer walked forwards.

When he looked back on his wedding day, Taehyun would be able to remember one thing very clearly: the happiness, which was almost tangible in the atmosphere.

Perhaps it was cliche to think so, but he felt as if he were walking on air. All he could see in that moment was Beomgyu: Beomgyu in his midnight black wedding suit, eyes twinkling. Beomgyu with a smile of pure joy on his face, matching the similarly joyful expression Taehyun’s face was alight with. Beomgyu, whose eyes were brimming with delighted tears, and whose hands were trembling with happiness.

His feet didn’t even seem to touch the velvet carpet laid out for him, instead skimming over them as if dancing on clouds, slowly approaching Beomgyu.

Beomgyu, watching him approach, couldn’t help the tears which prickled at his eyes. Taehyun’s face was so obviously bright with happiness as he walked towards Beomgyu, and in that moment Beomgyu swore that Taehyun had never looked more beautiful.

Taehyun came to a stop beside Beomgyu, beaming. Beomgyu could see the glitter of tears in Taehyun’s eyes, too, and gave a smile.

“Look who’s crying now,” he whispered softly.

Taehyun gave a small chuckle. “You’re crying too,” he pointed out. “And the ceremony hasn’t even begun.”

Beomgyu smiled softly, eyes sparkling. “So I am,” he said. “So I am.”

The ceremony passed by in a blur. Beomgyu and Taehyun were beaming, beaming brightly throughout the whole service, eyes still full to the brim with happy tears.

There was much to be said by the officiant, his speeches sentimental and solemn at the same time. But there were little words needed to understand that the two people who were getting married loved each other dearly, with their eyes fixed on each other, fingers intertwined.

Following the officiant’s speech came the ribbon tying, and Taehyun’s tears almost spilled over as the emerald green ribbon tied to his arm was wrapped with the navy blue one knotted to Beomgyu’s, signifying the union of their two clans. It was happening. They were getting married.

Beomgyu, also looking down at their two intertwined ribbons, looked up at Taehyun and smiled. It was obvious how much it meant to Taehyun to be properly part of a family: a family which he had chosen to be part of. A family with Beomgyu.

And then the officiant asked if there was anyone who objected to their marriage, and Taehyun almost expected a crowd of people to come storming into the ballroom, protesting against their same-sex relationship, but instead the guests gave a loud whoop, cheering them on.

And then it was time to exchange vows. Beomgyu turned to Taehyun and took hold of both of his hands. He smiled, took a deep breath, and began to speak.

“Taehyun. My beautiful, determined, intelligent Taehyun. God, I know literally everything about you and yet I feel like I could happily spend the rest of my life learning even more. We’ve had our ups and downs, we definitely have, but my love for you has never wavered. In fact, I think that the circumstances we’ve been in have only strengthened my love for you.” Beomgyu smiled, tears threatening to spill over as Taehyun gazed at him, eyes sparkling.

“Remember how you’d sometimes steal my toys and I’d always let you? I would be annoyed for five minutes, but then I’d completely forget my annoyance because your delighted smile made me feel happy too. Remember how I’d sometimes sneak into your room and you’d tell me off, telling me that the guards would find me? You’d be mad at me, but I knew that you were grateful that I cared enough to visit you when you’d been holed up in your room with your prince duties. And remember those years where we drifted apart? It was a time of hurt, sure, but it made me realise just how much I loved you.”

Taehyun’s tears had spilled over now, crystalline droplets falling down his cheeks. Beomgyu’s eyes had released his tears long ago, the liquid openly streaming down his face.

“You’re the most wonderful person I’ve ever met, Taehyun. Honestly, I can never imagine life without you by my side. I can’t imagine life without your sarcastic quips or your thoughtful words, or your bright smile or happy eyes. You complete me. You provide the calmness and peace that I need; you give me the happiness and love at times when I need it the most. You’re the moon to my sun, the calm to my excitement, the yin to my yang. You’re the gentle silver light to provide me with comfort when I feel overwhelmed by the darkness of the night.”

Everyone was crying at that point: the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, and all of the guests had shed at least one tear.

Beomgyu had to pause, tears overwhelming his words. But he gave a watery chuckle, smiling. “Most people will talk of how they will die for their partner, but for me it's different. I lived for you, Taehyun. For you, I vow to live happily if you promise to be by my side. I, Choi Beomgyu, will give myself to you through this marriage. I promise to live well, and happily, and be with you through good times and bad, through sickness and good health. I belong with you, and I hope that we’ll never ever have to part.”

With shaking hands, he took the diamond-studded wedding ring from the officiant and slid it onto Taehyun's finger, grasping his hand tight. "I give you this ring as a symbol of our love. All that I am I give to you. All that I have I share with you. I promise to care for you above all others, to give you my love, friendship and support, and to respect and cherish you throughout our life together."

Taehyun took a deep breath, before giving a laugh, blinking his tears away. “Oh, I can’t even wipe my eyes because I'll rub off my makeup!"

Beomgyu smiled, blinking away his own tears.”It looks like we both ended up crying, didn’t we?” he said, and Taehyun gave a small laugh, breathing shakily.

"Oh, God, I swear that you will be the death of me one day, Beomgyu. You say I have thoughtful words? Beomgyu, for so long it has been only your words which have been able to move me to tears. Whether it's you confessing your love to me or just stating your thoughts, your brilliant and wonderful mind along with your silvery tongue have always been things which have been able to bring tears to my eyes.

“To say that we’ve been through a lot would definitely be an understatement,” Taehyun said, giving a soft chuckle. “We’ve been through so much over the past years, even going through a period of time where we were rather opposed to each other. But do you know what made me realise I loved you? It was the fact you cared. Around this day, five years ago, I realised how in love I was with you. I loved you because you were always with me whenever I needed you to be; I loved you because you cared about how I felt; I loved you because you made me feel happy. You make me feel safe, and warm, and loved. When you smile and your eyes crinkle at the corners, I feel like I must stare at you, gazing hopelessly at you like how the sunflower turns its face towards the sun. I realised, after countless years of knowing you, that you were the one. And the reason I didn’t know it before was because I’d never even thought about a future where you weren’t with me. It was like I was made to love you, but I just never knew it.”

Beomgyu blinked rapidly to try and quell his tears, but they just fell faster as he gazed at Taehyun adoringly.

“You, Beomgyu, with your fluffy hair and sparkly eyes and pretty lips and adorable smile… you are my guiding light, my star in the sky, my beautiful sun. You shine brighter than anyone else, and when I look at you I get overwhelmed by the fact that I get to love you. I get to love you despite you being such a bright sun and me being a small moon. I am forever grateful for that fact. And I thank you, for always being with me even though I didn’t know it. I thank you for being a place of comfort, of warmth, of happiness. When I came into this world you were already here, so I get to say thank you for always being there for every moment of my life. No one compares to you, Beomgyu. You make me feel loved in the way I never knew anyone could feel. Truly.”

Through tear-filled eyes, Taehyun gazed at Beomgyu, holding his hands tight.

“Thank you so much for being my golden, shining sun, Beomgyu. And I hope that you’ll continue to be with me, no matter what. I, Kang Taehyun, will give myself to you through this marriage. I promise to live well, and happily, and be with you through good times and bad, through sickness and good health. I belong with you, and I hope that we’ll never ever have to part.”

And then this time, it was Taehyun's turn for his hands to shake as he slid the ring onto Beomgyu's shaking hand, both of them laughing and crying at how they were trembling.

"I give you this ring as a symbol of our love. All that I am I give to you. All that I have I share with you. I promise to care for you above all others, to give you my love, friendship and support, and to respect and cherish you throughout our life together."

There wasn't a dry eye in the crowd. Hueningkai was sniffling openly, and Yeji had a hold of a box of tissues which Yeonjun was constantly taking tissues out of.

But even through the tears, Beomgyu and Taehyun gazed at each other, eyes sparkling. It was clear for all to see just how much they loved each other.

The officiant clasped his hands together, looking at the soon-to-be-weds. “Do you, Choi Beomgyu, take Kang Taehyun to be your lawfully wedded partner? Do you promise to love, adore, and encourage him? Share the good times and the achievements as well as the hard times and the disappointments? Keep him in sickness, in sorrow, and in happiness and in good health? Do you promise to be loyal to him forevermore?”

Beomgyu stared at Taehyun, beaming. “I do.”

They'd gone through so much together, suffered so much hardship, but they'd come out stronger and better because of it. And they’d reached the light at the end of the tunnel which would lead them to so many other new possibilities in their future, where they were by each other’s side. They were standing on the threshold, almost ready to leap forward into the light.

“Do you, Kang Taehyun, take Choi Beomgyu to be your lawfully wedded partner? Do you promise to love, adore, and encourage him? Share the good times and the achievements as well as the hard times and the disappointments? Keep him in sickness, in sorrow, and in happiness and in good health? Do you promise to be loyal to him forevermore?”

Taehyun had a similarly wide smile on his face, words trembling with happiness. “I do.”

And after so many ups and downs, near death experiences and tearful days, they'd made it. They'd made it: to the place where they could finally be happy. They'd reached the point where they could turn away from the past and reach forward into the future together, as one.

“Choi Beomgu and Kang Taehyun, you have expressed your commitment and love for each other through the promises you have just made. You may have kissed a thousand times, maybe more. But today it shall be different. No longer will you simply be friends, for this time you have now been joined together in matrimony. You may now share your first kiss as one body.”

This was no end. Far from it. This was a new beginning. The beginning of a life where they were not separate bodies, but were one. They began that life with their hearts full of love and smiles full of happiness.

Their journey of togetherness had begun. They smiled at each other, safe in one another’s embraces, tears of joy streaming down their cheeks.

Orchestral music swelled into a thrilling, hopeful crescendo as Beomgyu’s hands found Taehyun’s waist, and Taehyun wrapped his arms loosely around Beomgyu’s neck.

They both leaned forward, and their lips met in a soft, gentle kiss.

taglist: @my-moarmy-heart @arohabangtan @a-fragmented-world

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wishbonegame · 3 years

Note

Is there anything you wish you had done differently development wise? If that's too personal of question, please feel free to ignore it and continue on to answer how are you? I hope you and your crew have all been safe, healthy, and happy!

Oh, certainly, quite a lot! I could write paragraphs and paragraphs about what I'd do differently.

Some of it was inevitable. For example, the first code I wrote for Wishbone was for handling the farm animals. I learned so much about RPG Maker VX Ace while I worked on that--I learned how to do fancy things in one or two lines of script calls instead of using sprawling conditional statements with lots of redundant text. In the early versions, noticing an error in, or wanting to add an additional conditional check to, my farm animal template might involve over an hour of copypasting to update it on every single page of the dozens of animals present on the farm. This was obviously a very bad design for many reasons (and as I realized later, events with many pages and lots of code embedded into the maps slowed down load times considerably.). I think I must have done at least three separate major rewrites on the farm animal code alone. In the current version, it's done very smartly, but it used to be terrible. I wish I'd known what I know now about RPG Maker back when I started--it would have saved literal months of development time. But I also needed to make those mistakes to learn about the engine, so... c'est la vie.

There was a lot of that: having no choice but to redo something because it was unworkably bad, or a new feature required another feature to be tweaked, or my plans evolved. I really wish I'd had a better development roadmap during early development stages... (we have a good roadmap now, though)

Another thing: embarking on a huge project with a group of friends is really really hard and generally not advised for good reasons. People are busy and just because somebody has time for a project now doesn't mean they'll still have the same amount of time in 3 years or 5 years. Even if you pay them they might not have time! People graduate school, change jobs, change life circumstances. People drift and change and disappear from the online entirely sometimes. Given a long enough span of time, these things will happen, even if it's your close group of friends. (And that's not even getting into the potential of drama/friend breakups--that hasn't been an issue for Wishbone, but I know of other creators who have had that happen and it totally messed up their plans.) We're managing on this front, and though I do enjoy working with my friends, I wouldn't want to do a project this big and interconnected again. It's just a lot of stress. Best case scenario... everyone hangs in there, but you have to play boss/project manager for your buddies, which is time-consuming and not very fun. If you suck at being a project manager, or aren't able to pick up the slack when somebody is too busy with their new job to do the thing they thought they could do, your project is not gonna get done.

Another thing: 5 years is an eternity. There are aspects of Wishbone that really do indicate that it was started in 2015ish, and while I've done my best to modernize it where I can, if I was designing a story from scratch today, I would do it very differently. Unfortunately, there's no real way around long development times when you're making a big game. You either get trapped in revision hell, endlessly redoing the same things over and over, or just acknowledge that there are going to be some plot points, mechanics, and artwork that make you groan when you think about them, and tell yourself that the next game you do will be better. Onward and upward is healthiest mentality and is the only way to get shit done when it comes to long projects like games or webcomics.

Finally... I work at an IT contracting company for my day job. My boss once gave me this advice for estimating how long a programming project will take: "Imagine the longest possible amount of time you think it will take. Then multiply that by three. That's the deadline you tell people."

And damn if he wasn't right. The biggest thing I would do differently with Wishbone, by a huge margin, would be to keep it secret for much longer. I wish I had waited until the project was like, 50-60% done before I told anyone outside of the private beta testers about it. I don't feel stressed out by development (...usually) but I am someone who hates disappointing people or failing to deliver on "my word", so I feel physical pain every time I have to announce a delay or something like that.

There's more, too! I could rant for hours. But I need to get back to implementing this Sonny cutscene if I wanna make the public beta in a timely manner, and I do really want to do that. (Remember that physical pain over delays!) So, I hope this answered some of your questions, Anon! Thank you for the well-wishes. I hope you are doing well too, and I am very grateful and touched that folks have been following this project for so long. I just hope the public beta doesn't disappoint!

#anon #ask #not an update #game development #rpg maker vx ace

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 92

Lance lived up to his warnings over having nightmares. His boyfriend waking up screaming four times during the night, the last time the worst as he’d barely fallen back to sleep in Keith’s arms before he was shaking and moaning for help. Keith wanted to go back in time and kill Nyma and Rolo himself.. not for the first time and probably not for the last time. With how much of the night Keith spent awake, Shiro let him “sleep in”, creeping into his bedroom a little after 8 as Keith dozed. Cuddled into him, Lance was drenched in sweat, despite his body being as cool as ever. Blearily, Keith blinked at his brother over Lance’s head

“Ugh?”

“How’s he doing?”

Stroking Lance’s hair, Keith hated how useless he’d been at calming Lance back down. His boyfriend would wake up, start crying, cling to him, then cry himself back to sleep

“Sleeping...”

Shiro nodded in sympathy. All-nighters with nightmares fucking sucked. Lance hadn’t been violent towards him, but he’d tossed and turned plenty

“Coran’s called. He asked if you both could come in... I told him about Lance, he said it was best to let him rest”

“Mhmm... do I...?”

He hadn’t slept enough to be rested, but he wasn’t awake enough to string a sentence together

“Yeah. He said he wanted to talk to you about something he’d discovered. He was very apologetic about it all”

“When?”

“He thought it best you head in now to get it out the way. I can keep an eye on Lance”

Why couldn’t Coran come to them? Moving seemed like effort... and Lance really needed him right now. But it wasn’t as if he could say no

“I’ll... up”

“Okay. I’ve got your coffee waiting”

Lance didn’t wake up as Keith extracted himself from his boyfriend. The fever had him concerned, as did whatever Lance was currently dreaming about. Showering and dressing in the first things he found out his closest, Keith carried his coffee mug to work with him, making it clear he’d been disturbed. Meeting him at the elevator, Coran seemed to have had a sleepless night too. Neither of them particularly talkative as they headed to Coran’s office.

Finishing the last of his coffee, Keith stared into the cup hoping it’d magically refill. Coran letting out a long breath as he sat himself down in his chair

“I know you’re eager to get back to Lance, so I’ll keep this as brief as possible”

“He didn’t sleep well... he kept waking up thanks to Nyma and Rolo”

“He seemed very shaken last night”

“We talked for a bit... Sendak scared the fuck out of him”

“He scares me, if I’m honest. Now. I thought I’d let you know that your night wasn’t spent in vain. The Blades managed to extract some audio from your recordings that they’re following up”

“You called me down for that?”

Caffeine deprived Keith was a snappy Keith

“That and I thought you’d like to know the initial results on those samples”

That got his attention, Coran noticing

“Now, that first sample. The blue one, we couldn’t make heads or tails of, though it did give us some clues on the bag itself. The handler had trace amounts of grease and diesel on their hands. The Blades are running their own analysis on it, and believe the bag it was in may provide some leads. The second sample has me concerned”

“How so?”

“I was hoping Lance would be here for this... we did have a conversation the other night...”

“He told me freaked out over his smell”

“Ah. That makes things easier. I wasn’t sure if he’d confided in you as to wanting to stop his heat or at least find a contraceptive that’d help. In the sample you obtained, we found an unusual mix. For the most part it was dried blood, however, upon running more tests, I’ve determined that it’s... I suppose you’d call it a werewolf viagra. Designed for werewolves predominantly, the formula has been slightly tweaked and traces were lifted off your clothes. I wanted to see if Lance was displaying symptoms”

The last thing they needed was werewolf Viagra. Matt and Rieva were horny enough as it was

“He had a fever when I left...”

Coran frowned as his fingers went to smooth the edge of his moustache. Keith knew that fever wasn’t a good sign. He should have made Coran come to them

“That’s not a good sign. It may be emotionally related, though it may also be related to what you all breathed in last night. Is it possible for you to bring him in?”

If Lance was up for it, he would have been right here beside Keith. Coran should really know that

“He’s not up for it. Those nightmares were really bad... he barely slept at all”

“Then I want you to monitor him. I told him the other night we were still trying to figure out how to help him, and how to keep his hormone levels stable. It’s all been a muddle with Lotor. I may be overreacting...”

Overreacting was better than under reacting

“I’d rather know so I know if something does happen...”

“I thought you would. As I said, I did wish to talk to both of you, and I’m sorry I couldn’t leave here. I’m in a smidge of trouble for withholding evidence”

The Blades could go jump. Lotor had sent them there for a reason, not the Blade members. Lotor wanted them to have whatever information was to be found... or maybe he just wanted to show them Sendak and remind them of their mortality.

“That’s not your fault”

Coran hummed, tilting his head slightly

“That’s very kind of you to say. I’ll let you head back to Lance. If his symptoms don’t worsen by evening, he’ll be fine to return home. I do have some medication I would like him to try, just to counteract what’s in his system at the moment. It’s a bit like ingesting bad blood, and his body needs a bit of a boost to remove the last of it. Normally he burns through things quite quickly when he’s stable, making finding a way to keep a sustained dose in his system hard”

“He was really upset. He wants to do more things together. I didn’t know how freaked out shopping had made him”

“He has a soft heart, and he’s most smitten with you. I’m ashamed I’m still working on it. Though I did tell him I wanted to leave his hormones to settle for three months...”

Keith vaguely remembered that... and Lance’s six month probationary period. Surely now Kolivan and Krolia knew Lance, Lance’s life was secured. He wouldn’t be above emotional manipulation should Krolia decide otherwise. That and he really would never forgive his mother if he lost Lance

“You know what he’s like. He’s convinced himself we can’t do anything together because I’m in danger”

Coran sighed deeply. The kind of soul deep sigh that Keith felt

“You both are, I’m afraid. His scent is quite noticeable. I have had a few vampires, and werewolves, comment on it. I’m afraid that I might not be able to give him what he wants as fast as he wants it. I may be onto something contraceptive wise. The scent... I truly believed would settle in time”

Maybe if Lance hadn’t been pulled into his world, it would have? His boyfriend had had such a quite life before he’d come along

“Basically we’re being too impatient, aren’t we?”

Coran smiled as he nodded

“You are. Young love can be that way. I remember that feeling all too well. Now, I’m going to give you an injection for him. You may call it the hopes of an old man, as well as a slight experiment, as it’s far better for him to go into heat naturally. I’ll need you to draw some of your own blood before injecting him”

That reminded him. Lance would be proud if he could see him operating on one cup of coffee. Not only was he talking, he was remembering like a functional human

“Coran, you said before that fresh blood would help him...”

“It would, but he can’t have things both ways”

“What makes fresh blood so different?”

“Think of it like your cup of coffee. When it’s warm, it leaves you feeling much more satisfied... though, perhaps that’s not the right way to word it. Say you were starving, your choice between a fresh crisp apple and an apple with the onset of rot. Both will cure your hunger, though the crisp apple tasted better, it’s better for you, and you feel better for eating it. I’m not explaining this right... There’s more life in fresh blood. Magic if you will”

Keith nodded... Vampire welfare was on the BOM official study guide. Keith had to continually remember that they were full of shit

“Like remote control batteries. Fresh blood is like fresh batteries and last longer. Blood bags are like half used batteries that keep you going until you replace them with other half used batteries”

Coran’s eyes widened, his smile broadening to being too big for the hour of the morning

“Number two, that’s the best description I’ve heard to date. I might have to use it myself. Now, you really best be home. Allura will be meeting with Lotor later, she’s assured me he’s fine with meeting with her alone”

“I think Lance dented his ego”

“More like he smacked across the face repeatedly with a newspaper”

They both smiled at the thought. Keith didn’t see whatever Allura saw in Lotor. All he saw was an unnecessary complication. Standing up, he stretched, muscles protesting thanks to how he’d spent the night holding Lance. If Allura wanted to meet with Lotor it really wasn’t his business, all he wanted was to get home to his boyfriend.

Lance slept on, Keith feeling guilty about injecting his boyfriend while he was sleeping but didn’t want to wake him now he was finally resting peacefully. Thanks to that it turned into a lazy day, Keith pulling on his pyjamas and conking out next to his boyfriend. Leaving his phone unguarded, it wasn’t until nearly 4pm that he woke, roused by Lance waking up. Peppering kisses to Keith’s cheek, Keith smiled as he hugged his boyfriend close, determined that Lance wouldn’t feel judged over his nightmares

“Good morning, sleepy head”

Nuzzling into Keith’s cheek, Lance was relaxed against him

“Hey, hot stuff”

“What brings you to a bed like this?”

“My boyfriend... My amazing boyfriend”

Keith’s smile widened, playing along

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. He has no idea how much he helped last night”

“He sounds like a keeper”

“He is...”

Falling into a comfortable silence, it was broken by Kosmo who’d heard them. His paws scratching on Keith’s door, whining pathetically to be let in. Shiro collecting him up before letting himself into Keith’s room. Carrying the excited puppy over, he dropped Kosmo lightly on the pair of them

“You’re lucky I don’t charge babysitting fees”

“Don’t be like that... what’s the time?”

“Nearly 4. Pidge says you’re disgusting”

Keith groaned in confusion. One minute he was having cuddles, the next Kosmo was climbing over him and Pidge’s name was being brought up

“What did you do?”

“I may have sent a photo or ten of you two sleeping to your chat”

“Shiro!”

He was going to kill his brother

“It’s your fault for not locking your phone and I wanted to let them know you guys were both alright”

That word “alright” seemed to linger in the air. Lance going tense as if he expected Shiro to yell

“I’m sorry for last night”

“Nah. It’s alright. As long as you’re feeling better”

That desire to murder faded when Keith realised his brother was trying to reassure Lance that he was still welcome here and that having nightmares wasn’t about to wind up up with him evicted

“A lot... I’m sorry they were so severe”

“It’s okay. Nothing compared to some of the nightmares we’ve been through, and it’s not something you can help or control. Curtis is out in the living room if you two feel up to being human”

“I guess I’m staying here...”

Keith took a moment to process before groaning, Lance kissing his cheek. His boyfriend wasn’t funny

“You’re a shit”

“I’m dead... and I probably look like shit, but I’m not sure you’re using the right descriptive words”

“You’re an idiot crumpet”

“And you’re a cranky caffeine needing anger loaf”

Keith couldn’t disagree. Shiro laughing at the pair of them

“I’ll let Curtis know you’re coming out”

“He already knows”

That smooth fucker. All Keith could do was groan again at Lance.

Skipping showering, Keith lent Lance some of his clothes to wear. His boyfriend pulling off the cliche “stolen boyfriend hoodie” happily. Heading out to the living room, Curtis smiled at the pair of them

“Good to see you awake. Sorry I couldn’t come back last night. Coran got in trouble for bringing us along”

Lance stalled mid-step, head jerking up, looking like a deer in headlights

“Fuck. Lotor...”

“I’d rather not”

Now he had Curtis doing it too. Why were all their friends so weird?

“Noooo. Shit. We should have met with him by now”

Placing his hands on Lance’s shoulders, Keith pushed him towards the sofa

“Allura’s got it handled”

“She does? How do you know she does?”

“Because I saw Coran this morning. Now sit down already, I’m feeling exhausted already trying to guess what’s going on in your head”

Lance obediently sat, Keith flopping down next to him

“What do you mean you saw Coran?”

“I mean I saw him. He called earlier”

“What did he say? Is Allura okay?”

“Allura’s fine. He wanted to talk but you were sleeping so I went in to find out what was going on”

Lance frowned hard. Hard enough for it be adorable

“You should have woken me”

“It’s fine. We had a chat. Blades got some leads to work on and we all got slightly drugged. No biggie”

Shiro fumbled the mug he was holding as the smoke alarm started beeping. Lance hissing and covering his ears. In the kitchen the toaster had gone up in flames, Curtis moving to open the windows, Shiro moving to deal with the toaster. Unplugging it, he dropped the device in the sink, turning the water on to douse it in a way that couldn’t be safe. Flying up the sofa, Kosmo shook as he panted, trying to climb up Keith’s chest

“Turn the alarm off!”

“On it!”

The whole sequence of events took place in the space of a few minutes. Lance and Keith both wide awake now. It’d been a while since anything had gone up in flames in the kitchen... as if they’d been lulled into a false sense of security. Turning alarm off, they all breathed a sigh of relief as the noise died

“Sorry ‘bout that”

Keith was confused by Curtis apologising

“What are you saying sorry for? Shiro’s the one in the kitchen”

“I should have hit the alarm before doing the windows”

“Don’t blame this on me. There’s nothing in the toaster”

Rubbing at his ears, Lance sighed

“Why does it have to be toasters? Why can’t it be something less flammable?”

Keith didn’t have an answer. Shiro was in the kitchen meaning it was his fault

“It’s the first time Shiro’s killed one here”

Shiro quick to deny

“Again, not my fault!”

“None of you should be allowed in a kitchen. I’ll clean up, and as I do, I want the three of you to sit on the sofa and have a good hard think about your actions”

When Lance was determined, it was impossible to talk him out of something. Curtis and Shiro both looked sheepish sitting on the sofa next to Keith with their hands in their laps, Keith’s resting on a traumatised Kosmo. The three of them too scared to talk properly

“He’s your boyfriend...”

“I’m not getting invoked”

“We weren’t anywhere near the toaster”

“Doesn’t matter. Shut up. You’ll get us in trouble”

From the kitchen Lance called out

“I’d like to say I know you know I can hear you. You’ve all lost your rights to touch a toaster”

Keith kicked Shiro in the side of the leg with a glare. He’d worked hard to have toaster privileges again

“Now look what you’ve done”

Shiro gaped at him. His brother had brought this on himself

“Me? I didn’t touch it”

“Doesn’t matter. You got me in trouble”

“But I didn’t do anything. Curtis, back me up”

Curtis decided now was the time to check under his nails for imaginary dirt

“Did you say something?”

“Traitor. You’re supposed to be on my side”

“As an experienced toaster killer, it’s best you accept your punishment”

“I’ll punish you”

Ugh. Gross. He didn’t need to think about that

“Bring it. What are you doing to do? Grind my horn down?”

“No, but I might paint your tail while you sleep”

“Oh good. I was thinking it needed a fresh coat of fuck off”

Delivered deliberately, Keith felt Shiro’s soul take damage. His brother had no smart reply for that. Instead Shiro crossed his arms, leaned back into the sofa, and looked away from the both.

Seeing they’d been banned from the kitchen, Lance made sandwiches for the four of them. Keith wanted to help, but all it took was a look for the words to die unasked. Lance wanted to feel normal, so was doing something as mundane as making sandwiches. Presenting them nicely, with coffee for three of them, his boyfriend then sat on the arm of the sofa

“Okay. You can eat now. I’m probably going to head back to Garrison tonight”

Lance wasn’t going to ask about being drugged?

“Coran said you should stay... to make sure you’re okay. I had to give you an injection of blood and stuff to help get everything out your system”

“I did wonder why my arm hurt. Did he say what it was?”

Keith blushed, mumbling

“Werewolf viagra”

“What?!”

Screeching, Lance nearly fell off the sofa arm backwards. Hands flaying before grabbing the arm of the sofa and saving himself

“Werewolf what?”

“Viagra. Traces were on our clothes. It’d been like adjusted or something. Coran wanted to make sure you didn’t go into heat or anything”

Angrily, Lance huffed

“Oh, so now he can do something about it...”

Whelp. Fuck

“He said it would be burned through in your system and you needed a bit of jump start with that”

“I feel shitty enough without this viagra. Why the fuck would they be using it in a vampire club?”

Keith shrugged

“I don’t know... You’ll have to ask Coran”

“Because that won’t be an awkward conversation. Can you imagine Matt if he sniffs it in me? He’s horny enough as it is”

Shiro choked on his sandwich, hitting his chest with his fist

“I don’t need to think about that”

“Neither did I. Did he tell you what I’m supposed to feel?”

“You had a fever and he was worried it’d turn into a heat”

“Great. So a guy can’t have a fever these days without being secretly horny... Thanks, life”

Curtis braved the cranky Lance

“He does have a point. A fever is a prime indicator that you’ve gone into heat”

“Not that kind of fever...”

“You also had an incredulous stressful night. Personally I believed you would turned into a bat”

“Your confidence in me is startling”

“You are swayed easily by your emotions”

Keith winced in sympathy for Curtis. It was nice knowing him

“And your feet smell like parmesan cheese. Sometimes facts fucking suck”

It seemed Curtis would live to see another day. Keith, no longer as blind as he’d been, could see right through all of this. This was Lance doing that mood thing when things got too much and he tried too hard to make them all feel better. Yeah. He was onto his boyfriend. That irritating fake perk... that he found not as irritating when it wasn’t directed in his direction... Lance loved everyone in their friend circle so much that Keith couldn’t blame him for wanting things to feel normal between them

“That’s not my fault”

“And my emotions are what keeps me sane, though hanging out with you lot makes me question why I bother”

“Because we’re interesting?”

Lance sighed, Curtis calming him down with those three words

“I can’t deny that. And who the hell sprinkles werewolf viagra over a crowd of vampires? It’s like asking for us to be chased by horny mutts. I feel exhausted thinking about the way we all acted and now I find out that some wanker thought it was okay to drug my boyfriend. Being a vampire sucks. I want to punch someone in the dick for this”

Keith snorted. The infamous dick punch threat was bound to come out

“You’re not alone there. I think Coran would punch them too”

“How did he even find out what it was so fast?”

“By the look of it he worked all night”

“He’s an idiot. He’s going to burn himself out if he doesn’t rest. You said we got leads?”

“Yeah. Someone slipped some stuff into Allura’s pocket. They’re still working on it, but the second lot was definitely viagra and blood”

“I’ll bet you a hundred bucks Sendak was experimenting last night and came to check the results”

Keith shook his head. Now Lance suggested it, it seemed very likely that was the case

“I’m not taking that bet. You’re probably right. You’ve got a good instinct for these things”

“It comes with being old and tired of people... and vampires. I’m tired of vampires. I’m a tired old vampire tired of vampires”

Keith forced down his laughter. Lance wasn’t that old for a vampire. Plus, they were both old and tired of people

“You poor thing. Come sit in my lap and tell me all about it”

His boyfriend hissed at him

“I feel personally attacked now. You could have denied it”

“In the words of Pidge, “Merp””

“You can’t quote the gremlin against me. She’s magical. She’ll hear”

Pidge was magical in her own way. She was unbeaten with a laptop in her lap. The world should really fear her and her tenacious spirit

“She should write a book”

“How to “Merp” according to Pidge?”

“Pretty much”

“Maybe if she did, they’d give up this stupid fucking hunt. Did Coran say how long I have to stay I town?”

“He said you can go home if you’re still okay this evening”

Keith would have preferred Lance stayed so they could be sure the vampire was truly okay

“I don’t want to drive back, but I have to make sure they’re still all okay. Especially after last night”

“I know”

Not that it made it easier to say goodbye. Lance reminded him of when he had to see Shiro at every chance he got to make sure Shiro hadn’t been killed like Adam

“I think I deserve cuddles for this...”

“I did offer my lap”

“I know. I’m coming in...”

Curtis’s sharp wit struck again, commenting as Lance climbed off the sofa arm

“Really? I do believe Shiro said you were coming out”

Closing his eyes, Keith sighed to himself in the moment it took Lance to club into his lap. Why did their friends have to be so weird?

#klance #vampire lance #hunter keith #mpreg themes #bottom lance #top keith #voltron #once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #vampire hunter keith #idiots in love

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radramblog · 3 years

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More Inevitable Hot Takes- MTG Announcement Day edition

I only have myself to blame for this one. I forgot this was upcoming, and I went and blathered about dumb preview cards from most of a month ago anyway. Well, now I’ve got to spend two posts in one week talking about Magic cards. Woe is me?

Once a year, WoTC has a big day where they announce, like, everything for the next year’s releases. And with the picking up speed of set releases, there’s a lot there, and thereby I have a lot to talk about.

To be clear, I’ve deliberately avoided Magic Twitter and Magic Reddit for these announcements. Tis a silly pair of places.

Standard Sets 2022

In order:

Kamigawa Neon Dynasty is very concerning, as one of the people who’s a genuine big fan of the original Kamigawa block. The thing is, I like Kamigawa, with it’s spirits and artwork and samurai and the like. I like cyberpunk, with the aesthetic and the themes and the music. I’m not sure I’m going to like the two combined. We better see some fucking weird-ass spirits, and I’ll only be slightly annoyed if they’re cyber-ghosts or whatnot as long as they maintain that bomb-ass art design.

We have a new plane and a set to go with it, which is cool and nice. Urban Fantasy is a thing Ravnica already did, to be honest, but if I had to guess, Streets of New Capenna is going to be a much more low-fantasy, noir-y take on the genre. I think I saw something about Azra returning, which is cool. That one on the key art looks…very Ob Nixilis-y, though.

And then we’re going back to Dominaria and actually doing The Brother’s War, again? I think Urza block was about that arc, though the Dominaria United set might be like, before all that nonsense. They might have given details, I wouldn’t have seen them, I’m going based on someone’s TL;DR. I’m excited to finally have a Mishra card that isn’t the Time Spiral one, though I’m concerned about how they’re going to make an Urza and a Mishra that are both powerful enough for the iconic characters but not so powerful as to be dominant in the Standard they’ll be legal in.

So, so much Universes Beyond

I think the four Warhammer 40k precon decks is kind of exactly what I was hoping we were going to get for that particular crossover. Just enough to get fans happy and make some fun new cards, not enough that there’s a ridiculous influx of Tyranids into Magic’s annals. I’d be interested to see what regular Magic cards translate well into these decks, seeing as they’ll have to be 40k-ified.

I feel similarly about the Baldur’s gate Commander draft set. I remember fans of that particular D&D spinoff were frustrated with the lack of representation in AFR (I think Minsk was like the only thing they got), so now they have a whole set to work with. Ultimately, D&D is now already, and interminably a part of Magic’s multiverse, and more from those particular realms isn’t going to make anything super fucky. Also, Commander Legends was cool as hell, and this is going to be another one of those, so that’s a plus.

And…a Lord of the Rings set? Like, a full set? I’m assuming whatever got them 40K also got them rights to tabletop LOTR, seeing as Games Workshop has run the LOTR tabletop game for a while. Like with D&D, the medium-high fantasy of LOTR crosses over pretty well into Magic, so I’m not worried about that kind of cockup making things Feel Weird. I’m a little confused about the legality of the set, though, seeing as it’s in Arena, but not Standard legal, but it is Modern legal? What and why and what about Pioneer or Historic?

Secret Lairs

Few hits, few misses, though I remember seeing spoilers from a few that aren’t on this list. Presumably, the Art Series: Johannes Voss, Thomas M. Baxa, and Purrfection and Math is for Blockers were announced separately? Anyway.

Hits: The Kamigawa Ink cards look drop-dead gorgeous, holy shit. Add in the fact that I already play two of those cards and that the others are all cards I like? Might have to get that one. Math is for Blockers is a fun lineup though I don’t…really get the theme? Both Artist Series look incredible, though I’m not huge on the card lineups.

Misses: PURRFECTION would be great if it wasn’t apparently a convention exclusive and also if the art of cats were on cat cards. It’s cute as fuck, but eh. The old-format walkers are frustrating, but I’m not as against them as a lot of people are- like they’re ugly, but not worth throwing a fucking fit over. I weep for any new player staring one of these down, especially if they barely understand planeswalkers in the first place and/or haven’t seen one of these particular ones before. Also, the art is kinda just ugly.

And then there’s the Universes Beyond ones. Fortnite and Street Fighter, both with new cards that will eventually have regular versions (which leads me to wonder if TWD will do the same). There’s a clear attempt here to hit the zoomers and the boomers in the community, though the former probably won’t have the money to afford the Secret Lair if they’re burning all their cash on V-Bucks. It’s…not a great look? Like I’m not opposed to cartoony art styles (the Goblins Kaboom SL looked great!) but Fortnite’s in particular looks like dogshit in my eyes and I’m not looking forward to seeing it in a Magic frame. Street Fighter I’m more excited for, because I like Street Fighter, and because they confirmed Chun-Li is going to have multikicker which is kind of perfect. Obviously we’re going to have to see the cards, but in one case I’m dreading that, and in the other I’m welcoming it.

Other Cards

We have more Challenger Decks, for Pioneer this time. The decklists are already out, and they look pretty solid! The Challenger Decks have been pretty cool previously, a really solid set of lists that only needed a bit of tweaking to be FNM-viable, but they were held back by the fact that they were often released not long before rotation. With Pioneer being a non-rotating format, this is going to be great for getting people into the format.

Another Double Masters set is…egh. It’s another thing that’s not for me, I can’t afford to whale on that shit. With shipping and conversion those packs end up ludicrously expensive in Perth, and I’m pretty sure I only got to play with one the first time. Also, this one is going to have all the collectable nonsense of 2020/21 Magic, which is going to be A Lot.

And another Jumpstart. Eh. Don’t cock the shipping on this one up and it’ll probably be okay.

Commander Collection Black is here, and the list is already out. The Green one ended up way overpriced, but at least in this case the cards are all super playable. Actually, they were for Green too, I think, but hey there’s a Deluge reprint and a flip Lilli, so. I kinda miss the Signature Spellbook series already, though.

Finally, Unfinity. Another Un-Set. Unstable was a fucking incredible set, both on a comedic level and as one of the sickest draft formats in a long time, so I’m excited to see that one followed up. On the other hand, Unsanctioned kind of landed with a dull thud. Apparently though, they got some of the folks from LRR (among others) to help write names and flavour text for this set, and I love those guys to death, so I can at least guarantee the comedy element will be present for this one.

Other stuff?

Well we have a date for the Netflix series. I have a hard time believing it’s actually happening. When I first started playing was around when rumours and announcements were still happening regarding a full-on movie, and that basically didn’t go anywhere. So it’s a little surprising to have a solid, actual time frame for Magic Story Content in Video Form. I haven’t kept with the story for a fair bit at this point (since Dominaria, tbh), so I’ve got no idea if it’s been any good, and as to whether this will be any good. Considering apparently Gideon’s in the lead, my hopes aren’t huge.

The only other thing is Pins. I like Pins. I have a bunch of them on my bag. I would like to get more Magic pins. So this is good.

And that, I think, is the sum total of it. These announcements always end up with a combination of excitement, trepidation, and dread, but I think this is leading more on the positive end of that spectrum. There’s still way too many fucking sets, but I think that is largely at Hasbro’s feet. The money machine must keep churning, after all. Maybe someday Magic and WoTC as a whole will be able to unshackle themselves from that particular constraint, but I am not holding my breath.

#ramble #mtg #hot takes

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zwritestuff · 3 years

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Some Things Are Bound To Be (Chapter Six) - Kyara

A/N: WE'RE ENTERING THE FINAL CURB FOLKS. I've decided to make this 9 chapters instead, for practicity more than anything. But also that means these two dumbasses will be hurt, a lot. That being said, this chapter sure has some feelings, I am not responsible for how you may react to them. Thanks to emerald ( @fromthenorthernskies ) for screaming aggressively beta-ing 💓

Read on AO3.

“I have good news and bad news,” Kiara starts, trying to not let the nerves show in her voice. Kyne turns to look at her, drifting her attention to the intricately designed cupcakes, cocking a brow.

“Well, that explains why you kept your hands to yourself so far,” she teases, cleaning the edges of her mouth with her index finger. Kiara absolutely doesn't follow the trail her finger makes without blinking once. “C'mon, rip the bandaid off at once and tell me the bad news first,” Kyne says, leaning back in her chair, curiously eyeing her up.

Shit. She was hoping she'd ask for the good news first.

Kiara fidgets with her rings, trying to remember the rehearsed speech she'd gone over with Rita and Tynomi before coming to Kyne's office like she always did; of course, now there was a slight change of plans. She chews the inside of her cheek, thinking.

When asking for her friends’ advice on how to bring the bad news up, Tynomi had straight up told her that she had to stop acting so awkward—why start now if she was acting perfectly fine before realizing she was head over heels for Kyne? Rita had swatted her, but by her expression Kiara could tell she somewhat agreed with her.

They both had said the same thing as Kyne, to rip the bandaid without thinking much. But over-thinking is Kiara's second nature, and all she wants to do is turn it off.

So she does the next logical thing and unceremoniously drops the bomb.

“I am appalled to inform you my mom’s birthday party is this Sunday, and she has threatened to disown me if I don't bring you,” she announces, her tone far too solemn and sorrowful for Kyne to take seriously. So she laughs. The bitch actually laughs, before she realizes Kiara is for real.

“Fuck, you’re serious, aren’t you?” she whispers, eyes blown wide as her hands tremble. “Shit, I thought it was a one-time thing?” Her voice is full of fear and concern, and Kiara can't honestly blame her. That was the deal—one time it's good enough, and then they'll figure out when they're going to break up without making it suspicious.

But they've been postponing it a lot. Kiara's not sure why, but everytime she tries to bring it up things just take a different turn; they end up watching movies with homemade popcorn at Kyne's place, talking about shitty movies over coffee on the weekends, modelling the clothes Kyne tweaked after thrifting them—one way or another they've avoided the elephant in the room. And now, three weeks after the ball, soon to be a month, they have no intention of stopping this scheme, and Kiara feels somehow guilty.

She's indulging a lot on the fakeness of it all, running her hand through Kyne's hair when she falls asleep in the middle of the movies, walking around the company with her hand firmly placed on her waist, showing Kyne off in all of her social media—Kiara would like to think it's real, that her feelings are reciprocated, but she prefers to think that the sneaky smiles and the stares are a product of her imagination.

Tynomi had told her to stop dancing around it like a moron and actually tell Kyne about her feelings, that she wants a real relationship and not just pretend. Rita had more or less agreed with Tynomi, without all the bluntness Tynomi was known for, that is.

“I thought that would be it, too, but— well, it seems that they liked you. Like, a lot,” she stammers out, cheeks blushing under Kyne’s inquisitive gaze. They’re not the only ones that like you, Kiara thinks, but she leaves it unsaid.

Kyne chews on her lower lip, fidgeting with a pen as she stares right past Kiara. She hasn’t seen her this spaced out since, well, the day before the ball in which she confided that she was scared to meet her parents. She wouldn’t be surprised if some of those nerves are still there, looming at the back of her mind.

She finally meets her gaze, and Kiara certainly doesn’t expect what comes next.

“I’m not doing it.”

She blinks repeatedly, not fully processing what Kyne just said.

“What? But—”

“I said no,” Kyne sternly cuts her off, and Kiara wants to shrink on her seat and hide away, not only from the embarrassment but also because of Kyne’s fiery gaze. It’s the first time she’s seen her this angry, but she knows she doesn’t like it. “You said it was a one-time thing, I’ve already done my part of the deal. I’m really risking my job here, y’know? I’m not sure I’d keep it if your parents find out their little girl got her heart broken by a bitchy accountant.” Her tone is cold and cutthroat, like a knife straight to Kiara’s heart.

She doesn’t know where all of this comes from—the expressionless stare and pointed glare, icy as a crude Canadian winter, where there used to be the warmth of a late summer night.

Kiara is still speechless when Kyne mumbles something she can’t quite catch. “What did you say?” She asks, tilting her head slightly. Kyne just dismisses it with a wave of her hand, saying it was nothing; but by her flustered expression Kiara can tell it’s something.

She doesn’t push for an answer. She’s already on Kyne’s bad side; the last thing she wants to do is fight with her.

“You’re right, your part of the deal is done. I’ll make up an excuse, I'm sure my mom will believe it.” Kiara shrugs, not giving much away in her expression, because she doesn't want Kyne to see how much it affects her—because it shouldn't affect her at all.

Their deal is over, for all she knows. And it's probably the thing she hates the most.

“I believe you still have good news to tell me, though,” Kyne muses quietly, meekly meeting Kiara's gaze. The anger is gone, a tinge of regret replacing it, and Kiara bites back a sigh of relief.

Then, she remembers the good news she had to tell her—good news with a lot of air commas.

She bites her lower lip, all her confidence gone out the window now that she barely avoided an argument with Kyne.

I guess Tynomi was right, she thinks, I should've done this over a nice dinner instead of our morning hangout.

Kiara barely scrambles to think of fake good news to give her, which, in the end, it's not so fake. “I succumb, we can watch Legend of Korra together next time we have movie night at your place,” she says, and the smile that blooms on Kyne's face makes her heart tug—both because she never gets tired of the sight of her eyes crinkling at the corners, and because she just threw Rita and Tynomi's motivational speeches to the trash.

Kyne chatters away about how excited she is that she finally relented, and that they'll spend all night long watching the show if it's necessary. But Kiara can only think of all of the conversations she had with her friends over the past few days, psyching her up and giving her motivation to come clean to Kyne about her feelings.

God, Tynomi sure would love to slap some sense into her if she were there.

She sighs internally; if only Kyne had chosen the good news first.

***

“I completely fucked up whatever chances I had with her,” Kiara laments, unceremoniously draping herself all over Rita's couch. “Fuck, I should have had a back-up plan instead of thinking everything would go like I thought it would. Calisse de tabarnak, j'ai fait n'importe quoi.”

“I’m not sure what you said, but it’s probably nothing lady-like,” Tynomi quips, settling on the other couch. Rita just sighs and stands on her tip-toes to grab her nice alcohol; it’s barely Wednesday, but when has that stopped them?

It’s not unusual for them to crash Rita’s place for a drink whenever they’re having a shitty day—Rita has an extensive collection of liquor (“Not because I’m an alcoholic,” she says when you ask her, “I just like to be ready in case of anything.” Then she shrugs, because it just makes sense that Rita is that kind of person) and a really cozy apartment. Rita’s place is heaven for all they know.

“No, it’s not lady-like at all,” Rita replies after a moment, fetching three glasses, “but then again, that’s not the point; Kiki, would you like to walk us through what happened?” She asks kindly, sitting cross-legged on the ground as she pours generous amounts of red wine in their glasses.

Kiara rolls over on the couch, groaning against the pillows, but she figures there's no use holding it all in. She rolls over once again, staring at the ceiling as Rita sets the glass of wine near her, but she doesn't even reach for it.

She tells them of Kyne's icy glare as she said no, putting her foot down with a tone so determined, so void of any emotion but anger—how she didn't say it, but Kiara could distinguish in the turmoil of her eyes that she thought about calling off their deal right there and then. After all, they were done, weren't they?

At some point she sits upwards, grabbing the glass and taking a big swig. Rita and Tynomi say nothing, but they're probably thinking of something useful to say—all of the other times she's come to them for advice, it had been over mundane things such as how to not choke the annoying men at work, how to make her heart stop beating like crazy whenever Kyne was around, and ultimately how to gather up the courage to confess her feelings.

Of course, this is uncharted territory and they're going in completely clueless as to how to aid their friend.

So Tynomi just reaches for the bottle, pours herself another drink, and looks at Kiara with a tired expression.

“Break up and get over her,” she says, like it's the easiest thing ever, but Kiara shakes her head right away. “I’m just saying Kyne’s right, your deal is over, and y’know, she has a point. Don’t you remember what happened with Abril?” Tynomi asks, cocking a skeptical brow.

Almost instantly a cushion flies directly to Tynomi’s face, courtesy of Rita, who doesn’t waste a second in scolding her—they’re not supposed to say her name, or talk about her, or reference her, or anything really, she says, slipping into French from time to time, and Tynomi is quick to reply, voices overlapping.

“It’s fine, whatever, I get the point you’re trying to make, Nono,” Kiara says over the noise, dismissing it with a wave of her hand, slightly annoyed at the mention of her— not ex-girlfriend precisely, but something along those lines. Well, we’re making progress, she thinks, mind going back to all the times she had either teared up or broken something at the mention of her.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact Kyne has her wrapped around her finger—yeah, that’s probably it. Which isn’t all that good in these circumstances.

“Either way,” Kiara follows, tucking her legs under her body, “I’m not sure if I want to break up with Kyne yet,” she muses quietly, lowering her voice like she’s telling them a secret.

Rita sighs, Tynomi rolls her eyes, and their gazes meet for a split second before Rita speaks again, much calmer now.

“But you won’t tell her you like her either, won’t you?” She asks, tilting her head slightly, with that careful tone she always uses when she knows she’s bound to touch a sensitive spot. Kiara huffs, but she begrudgingly replies I suppose not between gritted teeth. “Then I guess it makes no sense to drag this further, don’t you think? Kyne does have a point, like it or not.” Rita, ever the voice of reason, stares at Kiara as she takes a sip from her drink, and Kiara groans like a child that’s just been scolded, plastering her face against the cushions again.

She hates when Rita is right, because she always ends up doing whatever she suggests she does, and while Kiara does avoid many conflicts and problems by following her advice, it’s never been about relationships or feelings—well, romantic feelings; she feels like throwing her heels at every straight white man at company meetings, and Rita has to take her outside to cool down and drill into her brain that, even if it would be funny knocking out one of these men, it wouldn’t be as funny once they retrieve their economic support for her father’s projects. And then Kiara begrudgingly adjusts her heels back, counts until ten and returns. Because she knows she’s a damn smart businesswoman, capable of sealing any kind of deal.

But it seems like her ability for negotiating prices and contracts doesn’t translate well when it comes to negotiating relationships.

Kiara finally shifts her head, looks at the expectant pair, and sighs in a dramatic manner.

“I suppose I can consider it,” she gives in in a long suffering tone, and Rita chuckles alongside Tynomi.

***

On Sunday, Kiara struggles to give her mom an excuse as to why Kyne’s not there to meet the rest of their extended family, and once she finally stammers out an answer she knows for a fact her mom didn’t believe a single word. She spares her, either way, and keeps on greeting the family that keeps arriving.

Although she gets the eerie feeling that her mom spared her for the sole fact that, as soon as she settles down at the table, one of her aunts asks about her girlfriend, a faux sweet tone she’s all familiar with, and freezes for a second.

Shit, she should’ve known her parents would run their mouth.

Well, there’s nothing she can do about it now; so she just answers questions without going into the details, lies through gritted teeth when she says her girlfriend doesn’t like pictures—even though she posts dumb selfies every other minute to her close friends story. The kids ask about her girlfriend, too, mostly her nephews; they want to know if it’s true their auntie has a partner, and if she’s more forgiving when they break things around the house. Kiara just laughs, something tightening in her chest when she thinks of Kyne covering up for the kids when they break a vase or something like that in family gatherings, a wicked grin on her face as she ushers them out and tries to convince Kiara it was just a silly little accident.

And on god the image is tempting, making her insides churn and a warm feeling spread through her chest, at the same time it leaves to be replaced for a hollowness she can’t quite shake.

There’s no way to make that image come true, for Kyne would have to reciprocate her feelings first. That’s harder than actually getting the guts to tell her how she feels.

So she does the next logical thing once she’s a little tipsy; she sends Kyne the classic we have to talk text, adding a hey at the beginning and a please at the end to not seem so dry. If it works she doesn’t know, but she does get a response within a few minutes.

Kyne: i’ll come by your office tomorrow, want anything from the starbucks around the block?

Kiara half smiles, typing out her reply and hitting send before she chickens out.

She hears a loud crash coming from the hallway, and she sighs heavily when she perches one of her youngest nephews to her hip, softly scolding him before handing it to his mom without saying anything, and goes to fetch a broom and a stick to clean out the mess. The image fights its way back into her head, but Kiara tries to push it aside for all that’s holy.

#rpdr fanfiction #my fanfiction #some things are bound to be fic #fake dating au #kyara #kyne #online kyne #kiara schatzi #tynomi banks #rita baga

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bjy-on-ao3 · 3 years

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Hi, I really enjoy you writing, especially your Persona content. The way you portray Adachi is on point, at least in my opinion. So I'd like to request Adachi being visited by his s/o in Prison (during a conjugal visit) and they have sex, please?

Here you go, Anon~ I hope you enjoy!

I once was considering something like this in the past, but crushed my own hopes when researching stuff. Turns out only a handful of countries allow conjugal visits (Japan not among them), as well as only a handful of states in the U.S. and not for heavy crimes like murder (which makes sense considering) - and even then they aren’t exclusively for sex stuff. However, knowing that someone else wanted something like this lets me suspend my disbelief a little and write it, anyway.

(There’s still a LOT of stretch here though, so don’t take this as a source of information. For example, the visitor isn’t strip-searched - but it’s more fun to have that as part of the fic.). Also funny enough, this is the first non-dubcon/noncon Adachi fic I’ve written for some time. (As usual, you can find the AO3 version of all my uploads [and some things I don’t post here to tumblr] via my Masterlist blog page.)

Tags/Warnings Blow Jobs, Dirty Talk, Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Slight Cockwarming, Vaginal Sex, Wall Sex, Begging, Established Relationship

Summary In which Adachi gets a conjugal visit in prison from his s/o for not-so-wholesome purposes.

Fic Friday

Pent-Up Penitentiary (F! Reader/Tohru Adachi)

Going through the long, tedious process of filling out paperwork and waiting for approval, you had wondered again why a conjugal visit to your boyfriend in prison sounded like a good idea. Not that sound decision making was your strong suit, considering you had chosen to stay with him after the revelation he responsible for the murders of two women. Maybe you secretly had a death wish of your own. Or you thought you knew him better than either of those women had and that knowledge protected you. That aside, you had spent a lot of time alone with him. If Tohru Adachi had wanted to kill you by now, you figured you would have already been dead.

The boring and seemingly endless paperwork had been a mild inconvenience compared to the next part of the process. A strip search was mandatory, they informed you, and you had hated every second. Sure, it was a fantasy you had played out before, but with Adachi, not some random idiot whom you barely knew and cared nothing about. ‘It’ll be over before you know it and worth it’ you had repeated silently, pulling a sour face the entire time. Finally, it had ended, and you let out a breath of angry relief you didn’t realize had caught in your chest.

The more difficult parts of the process behind you, they had escorted you to the designated area - a short row of plain, small single-story buildings surrounded by a tall, sturdy fence that towered oppressively on all sides. A reminder your visit served only as a temporary illusion of normalcy and when it was over the bars, bulletproof glass, and shitty phone systems would separate you all over again. Your face fell as you dwelt on that reminder, freed from your thoughts when the escort officer stopped by a door and cleared his throat, nodding to it before returning toward the gate.

Taking a deep breath to tamp down the fluttering in your chest, you opened the door and stepped inside, taking a quick glance around the interior. It was much more than you expected - nicer than some studio apartments you had seen in Inaba, outfitted with a small kitchenette and bathroom, an archway with no door leading off into a bedroom. In the central area there was a coffee table and even a small television, sitting opposite a comfortable, but well-worn looking couch.

As you stepped further into the blandly decorated space, the sound of the door opening and shutting interrupted your inspection. You heard boots on the floor come to an abrupt stop and sensed a presence behind you. “This is… nicer than I expected.” You said casually, turning in place.

Your eyes fell as expected on Tohru Adachi’s face. His lips were set in a small, bare smile that was tired, cynical, and, dare you say, a little happy, all at once. You knew if you mentioned that last emotion he would vehemently deny it and suggest you get your eyes checked. “Well, not the process, that was awful, but this,” you added with a wave of your hands.

“Go figure, even criminals get it better than hard-working people,” he answered, and you could hear his bitterness. Having heard his feelings before on how he seldom got what he felt was owed to him, it was no surprise. “Whatever, that’s not what we’re here for,” he dismissed, shaking his head as if to banish the thought.

You didn’t step forward to embrace or kiss him, simply waiting for him to make the first move. If you knew Tohru, a few months behind bars would not have turned into a ball of sappy emotions. Even if he had thrown himself at you, you knew he would have told himself it was all carnal need, not sentimental in the slightest. Besides, he liked to lead the show. “Strip.” The word was demanding, and to almost anyone else, you were sure it would have sounded cold.

“Straight to the point,” you answered, unruffled. You knew the game with Adachi. Many months dating the man - from shortly after the murders, up to the time of his apprehension - had taught you a lot. “You never had any patience,” you ribbed with a half-smile, but didn’t move to shed any clothes. It was more fun if you didn’t make it that easy on him - especially when you had a good idea of how he might respond.

“Oh? I’m the one who has no patience?” He moved away from the door until he was so close you could feel the heat of his body and breath. “I don’t remember being the one begging all the time before,” he reminded you smugly, and you felt your face flush.

“Only because you-” you argued.

“Ah ah,” he touched a slender finger to your lips, cutting off your argument almost childishly, “enough flapping those pretty little lips.” You felt your skin heat further and a vague hum of arousal between your legs, catching an undercurrent of excitement beneath his condescension. “Get undressed. Now.” The last word was hard and low, but the glint in his eyes was more devious than angry. “Unless you want to be punished?” Adachi added, grabbing your chin in one hand and tilting your head to ensure you looked directly into his grey eyes.

You wet your lips involuntarily - a quick flash of pink that Adachi’s eyes followed - before swallowing thickly. “Like you won’t punish me anyway.” You countered, enjoying the expressions swirling in his gaze.

“Don’t act like you don’t like it.” In a quick motion, his hand swept from your chin to the back of your head, curling his fingers harshly in your hair near the root. You groaned in response, biting down on your lip at the sting that shouldn’t have been so pleasant. “That’s what I thought,” Adachi hissed cheekily, “Now don’t make me say it again.”

He released your hair and let his arms drop, taking a step back so you had space to undress. You rubbed your scalp gingerly before finally obeying, starting with your shirt. You unbuttoned and peeled the garment away, revealing the low cut cups of the bra you had bought for the occasion. You peeked at Adachi as you stripped, the tingling between your thighs quickly rising, joined by growing dampness that made you press them together for an instant of relief. Next came your skirt, which you shimmied out of as enticingly as you could, revealing panties to match the bra.

You reached back, undoing the clasp bra clasp and letting the straps slide off your shoulders until they caught around your elbows, the cups falling away. Your nipples, already half peaked from excitement, stiffened fully with exposure to the cool air. “That’s better,” Adachi said appreciatively. He stepped back toward you as you pulled off the bra and tossed it onto the floor, reaching forward and greedily filling both hands. “God, I’ve missed these tits,” he confessed, kneading roughly before he began to tweak and roll your nipples between his fingers.

You sighed and moaned at the rough touch you had craved since Adachi had been sent away. It wasn’t the same when you fondled yourself alone at night - the warmth of his skin and calloused feeling of his hands was impossible to replicate. “They’re all yours, Tohru,” you breathed, almost dreamily, eyes drifting shut, surprised by how much of a relief his touch on your body again was.

But Adachi wasn’t about to let your sudden compliance go unnoticed. “Look at you, acting like a brat before,” he pinched a nipple especially hard as if continuing to punish your previous defiance. “But you sure sing a different tune once I get my hands on you. What’s the change of heart, baby? Did you miss me?” The words were mocking, rather than sweet, as if the thought of missing someone was something to be humiliated about.

You fought through a whimper while Adachi continued to grope at your chest, attitude not entirely driven away by the thrill of having his hands on you again. “I don’t know, did you miss me?” You asked, imitating his tone.

He pressed in closer, dipping his head toward your neck and nipping it sharply. “The only thing I’ve missed is your body,” he said dismissively, squeezing your breasts hard enough you gasped and whined. “Your tits and that sweet ass and tight little pussy,” he growled in your ear. “I missed what’s mine.” His voice rang low and possessive, and he sealed his claim by latching onto the racing pulse in your neck and sucking a dark mark into the soft skin.

“Fuck you, Tohru,” you cursed, feeling your cunt throb in reply to his words. “I-I don’t even have to be here.”

Adachi straightened up, and when you met his eyes again, you recognized a dark tint among the hunger. “Oh? Then why are you? Admit it, you wanted this as much as me.” There was cruel delight in his voice. You knew he got off on putting you in your place as much as you did from agitating him. “Missed my cock so bad you were willing to let a stranger strip search you to have it again.” Your chest heaved as one of his hands drifted down your stomach and over your hip, and you couldn’t suppress another lewd sound. “Because you know no one else can make you feel as good as I do.”

His wandering hand stroked over your clothed cunt, before slipping to your backside and pressing your hips into his so you could feel his hardness through his slacks. “But it’s been a while. Maybe I need to remind you,” he mused.

The hand on your chest moved to your head, forcing you down onto your knees in front of him. You looked up, eyes half-lidded and pupils wide. You licked your lips again, eyeing the bulge in his pants. Even if you took pleasure in insolence, staring up at Adachi as he loomed over you like a starving beast was insanely arousing and you were willing to be compliant.

“I forgot how hot you look on your knees where you belong,” Adachi sneered. He wet his lips as you had, but the same action on him was hungry and predatory. Pinning you in place with his lustful stare, he reached to unbuckle and strip off his belt and unfasten his pants. He pulled out his cock, flushed and leaking, and stroked it for a moment. He didn’t miss how your gaze followed the relaxed motion or the way he smeared the pearl of pre-cum on the head over it. “Tell me how much you want my cock and maybe I’ll let you have it.”

You hesitated, running your tongue over your lips, eyes remaining on his cock. As much as your on-and-off bratty act irritated him, it made watching you struggle between it and your desire for him before eventually giving in so satisfying. He smirked as he spied the instant of resolution pass over your face. Your hooded eyes flicked up to meet his, lips wet and slightly parted. “Please, Tohru?” The words weren’t sickly sweet, instead oozing arousal. “I want your cock. I need it.” You continued to look up at him, lustfully and hopefully.

“Hmm,” he hummed, pretending to mull over your plea, “I don’t think you want it bad enough,” he said, and only your craving for what was in front of you kept you from half-heartedly rolling your eyes. Adachi always liked to push, and that hadn’t changed in your time apart.

But giving in to start made it easier to keep going. “Tohru, let me suck your dick, please. Don’t you want me to?” You did what you could to give him your best pleading expression to match your words. “I promise you won’t be disappointed.”.

The signs of Adachi’s smug satisfaction increased, your pleas stoking the rush of power and hunger he enjoyed so much. “There’s the little cockslut I remember,” the way he said it, the degrading name sounded almost like praise. “I guess you’ve earned it.”

He buried one hand in your hair, tilting your head back and pulling you toward him. You eagerly met him the rest of the way, slipping the head of him past your lips. You sucked lightly at first, swirling your tongue and dipping it into the slit before tightness in your hair urged you forward. You gladly took more of him into your mouth, relishing the familiar taste and weight on your tongue. Letting your eyes droop nearly closed, a satisfied moan escaped your lips as you hollowed your cheeks and began a steady pace, loving how Adachi’s hand in your hair flexed.

There was a low, answering sound from above you. “Fuuck, I’ve missed this. You look so good sucking my cock.”

Eyes opening, you glanced up as best you could. Adachi’s intense stare met you, wide blown pupils rendering his stormy eyes nearly black and his chest rising and falling quicker. The tantalizing look sent a shudder through you, encouraging you to continue with even more enthusiasm. You lay one hand on the leg of his slacks, bracing yourself as you went on. Adachi cursed again, rolling his hips forward, and only the hand on his leg kept him from choking you on his dick in surprise.

Streams of swears and a few lewd names muttered under heavy breath drifted from him, accompanied by several more bucks into your mouth, until his pace was almost constant. After the first you had prepared yourself for more, knowing they would come, focusing on relaxing your gag reflex. You still choked a few times on his length, but reigned in the spasms, feeling a few tears well up and burn your eyes and a single stray trail of saliva drip down your chin.

The labored breathing above you escalated, as did the number of curses and obscenities until they seemed to blend. “Damn, you’re gonna make me cum if you keep that up. Shit,” he swore, and the strain in his tone was obvious.

His cock twitched on your tongue, rewarding your efforts with more salty pre-cum, before the hand in your hair stiffened. His harsh grip stopped you, sunk down on his cock as far as you could go, and you glanced up questioningly. The rock of his hips had come to a full stop, not the stuttering pace you were used to when he was about to cum. He tugged you off his cock completely and you whined in protest.

“Tohru, please.” Having gotten a taste of him again, you wanted nothing more than to finish what you had started.

He blew a quick puff of a silent laugh through his nose, his pompous expression marred by the lurid flush on his cheeks. “Who’s the impatient one here, again, sweetheart?” He teased. Your lips twisted in a frown and your brows furrowed, bottom lip sticking out sulkily. “Heh, you look so cute pouting like that. Don’t worry, I’ll let you have plenty of my cum later. But not yet.”

He pulled you up roughly, steering you towards a wall as soon as you were properly on your feet. You stumbled, your back hitting the wall with a thump that made you wince and mutter a quiet curse. The prick of pain was quickly forgotten as Adachi closed in, pulling your panties down so eagerly they almost tore, eliciting another sound of quiet protest before you kicked them away. He hiked your legs up around his waist, pinning you against the wall with the force of his hips.

When his dick slipped slickly against your pussy lips, your head fell back against the wall with another thud, a low hum coming from your mouth. You rolled your hips and pushed against him, admittedly just as impatient as Adachi was to have to his dick inside of you, but only brushed the swollen head over your clit.

“Bet you’ve been thinking about this as much as me.” His lips were warm against your ear, breath rolling over your neck in hot puffs. “Tell me you want it and I’ll give it to you,” he coaxed, wanting to hear you beg again now that he was pressed so close to your heat. You groaned, wishing he would just hurry and fill you up rather than play more games. “C’mon, baby, speak up. You went through all that trouble, didn’t you? Tell me how much you need my cock again.”

“I want it. Now,” there was an edge beneath the desire, the hint of your impatience and annoyance. “Fuck me, Tohru. I can’t take it, I need your cock. I can’t wait.”

Adachi didn’t make you beg further, pleased with the filth he had drawn from your lips. He adjusted the angle of his hips before lining up with your slit and pushing inside. You groaned and he sighed as his thick head slid past your opening, each hot inch of his cock stretching you in a way you didn’t realize you had missed so much. He pulled back a few inches, before rocking his hips back and smoothly sinking into you completely.

A growl met your ears before his lips touched your neck, sucking hard. You gasped and cried out, hips reflexively grinding against him as you basked in his lips and the fullness from his dick. “Ah, fuck, better than I remembered,” he breathed when his lips left your skin, giving a languid thrust out and back in, to the delight of you both.

You hooked your ankles together around his waist, urging him closer, deeper as his thrusts became more steady. His lips returned to your throat, peppering your skin with nips and sucking more small marks into it. Hands clenched around your thighs, Adachi shifted you against the wall, the new angle letting his cock stroke you in a way that elicited even more excited sounds from your lips.

“Yes, fuck, Tohru. More, more, harder,” you pleaded.

“Fine, sweetheart, I’ll give you more,” he answered, the force of his hips driving harder until each thrust left your head feeling thick and foggy. “I’m gonna fuck you until you can’t think about anything else,” Adachi promised. Sure enough, all you could care about was the pleasurable ache each time he pounded into you and the cruel, seductive rasp of his voice.

“Yes, yes, please. Fuck me until I can’t think of anything else!” You echoed, again pressing him forward with your heels and trying to meet each brutal thrust. Your mouth hung open, every sound unrestrained and wild. “More, more, more,” you repeated like some obscene chant.

“Just can’t get enough, can you? You asked for it, sweetheart. I’m gonna fill you up again and again and you’re gonna love it,” he said, his bawdy words reaching through your lust-addled mind, making your cunt clench more greedily around him. “Maybe I’ll just keep fucking you until you pass out. I bet my little cockslut would love that, wouldn’t you?”

“Aah, fuck, yes!” All you could do was agree with him, your stubbornness long forgotten in the throes of the ecstasy you hadn’t been able to relive in months.

“Fuck, almost there,” Adachi breathed when your cunt contracted around him extra tight, as if trying to force him to fuck you even harder to draw out of its embrace. “I wanna feel you cum on my cock first. Touch yourself for me,” he compelled you, how close he was getting plain in his husky voice and labored breathing.

“Fuck, Tohru, yes, anything for you,” you agreed, in a tone even further gone.

You reached down almost mechanically, fingers clumsily reaching just above the place your bodies met and rubbing your clit urgently. Already awash with pleasure from Adachi’s rough pace and dirty words, your body reacted swiftly to the new attention, the buzz of pleasure in your gut transforming into a hot coil that threatened to snap.

“That’s right, anything for me,” he agreed possessively, his eyes glued to where your fingers worked feverishly and his cock disappeared into your body. “Who do you belong to, baby? Who’s the only one who gets to fuck you like this?”

You struggled to answer him with coherent words, the spring in your belly reaching its breaking point and bursting in ripples of heat. “You, Tohru, I’m all yours. Only, aaah, you, you, you,” your speech melted into an incoherent jumble of wild cries and expletives, unable to focus any longer on anything but the delicious clenching of your pussy and the electric waves of pleasure crashing over you.

“Fuck, that’s right. So here’s a reward for my sweet little whore,” he degraded, leaving sloppy kisses and more bites on your neck, his pace spurred on by your cries. “Just the start of how much I’m gonna fill you up tonight.”

With his promise, he stiffened against you, bucking especially hard several times into your trembling heat. He came in hot spurts, filling your cunt with warmth until it seeped out around him. He murmured your name low, before biting hard into your neck, a yelp interrupting your moans.

When Adachi was completely spent, he withdrew, easing you back onto your feet and stepping away. Legs weak and threatening to buckle, you stayed against the wall for much-needed support, eyes closed and panting heavily. Nearby you heard the rustle of fabric and the soft sound of more clothes hitting the floor.

Before much longer, you were yanked away from the wall, nearly falling. You opened your eyes to see Adachi stripped down to nothing as well, and despite how tired you felt, you couldn’t help but linger for a moment on his cock, still half-hard.. Adachi pulled you through the open archway to the bedroom, dragging you down onto the bed. He pulled you roughly against him until your back met his chest, both damp with sweat.

“Tohru, let go,” you complained, feeling overheated and sensitive. Surprise jolted another moan from you as he groped your thighs, spreading your legs long enough to bury himself in your heat again.

“Weren’t you listening? I’m gonna fuck you until you pass out, sweetheart.” he reminded you snidely, curling his arms around you. One splayed across your stomach, the other squeezing a breast roughly, but almost absently. “I just need a little more motivation first.”

You rolled your eyes, knowing he couldn’t see. “Sure, motivation. Can’t just call it cuddling like a normal person, can you?” You accused dryly.

“Shut up,” he snapped. You had a feeling his face was flushed with a mixture of anger and humiliation at your words. Whatever he wanted to pretend, his actions spoke louder than his defensive words. “You sound a lot better when your mouth is stuffed with my dick. Maybe I should just put it back to better use instead,” he threatened.

“Well, I am still waiting for that taste, Tohru.”

#writing #fanfiction #ao3 #tohru adachi #fandom #fic friday #nsft #n/s/f/w #upload #anonymous #asks #answers #request

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illustratesideas · 2 years

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Easy Web Life

Hi, I am Kai.

by Kai Lavatai

I've put together a suite of easy-to-use web solutions focused on the lifestyles of real-world business leaders:

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And making time to update these types of websites often feels extraneous to the daily routine of busy, successful people. But that isn't to say you aren't already doing the things that create fresh content for your website, it's that those already comfortable movements, those natural behaviors, the sites you already visit and publish your thoughts to, just haven't been harnessed yet.

“ Imagine everything you already do... ”| 1. — Imagine

There are more modern, socially connected methods of reaching people today that circulate your brand and drive many more people to your website with much much less effort. I build these websites. They're called web apps. Just like the apps you download to your phone from the google play store or apple store, or applications you download to your pc, web apps work the same, but they live online and your visitors use them just like regular webpages at normal .com, .org, .net-style web addresses and so on—they just do more!

Make significant updates to your website from your mobile phone:

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Tap Into Freedom:

Free of proprietary trappings, we truly are only limited by imagination. The solutions of the past produced good-looking results, but too easily dent brands into forms which adhered more to the technology of the platform rather than to the culture of the brand. With more freedom, today we're finally able to depict the truth.

Key takeaways

I have a solution for you

Today's websites conform to publisher-lifestyle

A great, high-functioning website is affordable

If you don't know, the thing to do is not to get scared, but to learn. ―Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

#blog

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inventors-fair · 3 years

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Limited Engagement Commentary (Finally)

Trying to subtly slip this in before the commentary for this week’s challenge. Thanks again for your patience.

This Last week’s contest was a little bit different. Because the design space is narrow – and because the abilities tend to need lots of words – there was only a little bit of room to maneuver in, and yet (fortunately) there weren’t too many significant overlaps in the final designs. That said, it also means that many of the obstacles your submissions faced were similar, so rather than sound like I’m harping on about the same things, I’m going to take a less structured approach to my commentary this week. To that end, I’m also not going to spend time nitpicking templates for the draft effects, little used as they are. Anyhow, without further ado, we can dive in.

@aethernalstars - Whispergear Shifter

The callback to Whispergear Sneak here is cute, even if it did have me confusing which was which all week. The play pattern for this is to remove a relatively common card, and then you’re able to exchange it for one of three cards you chose not to include in your deck. There’s always a pretty high barrier to being worth not simply including a card you want (let alone three), and having to find both this and the card to activate it is probably difficult enough to make it not worthwhile in a lot of cases. The ideal use case would be to have lots of a single common that you would be playing anyway, and three situational cards that you wouldn’t want to mainboard, but even in that case I’m not totally convinced the value of ‘upgrading’ your playables into situational cards really makes the card worthwhile. It’s an interesting idea to add flexibility by accessing parts of your card pool you aren’t planning to play, this card just feels like it may introduce a few too many hoops to jump through to achieve that.

Anonymous - Soul Bargain

This is a really clever approach to a draft-matters removal. Black classically gets two-mana instant speed removal with relevant exceptions, and allowing your opponents to choose the exceptions based on their draft pools is such an interesting direction. There’s value both in revealing bombs (protecting your best cards, albeit with a high information cost) and in revealing commons (which also increases the value of those cards as they appear later in the draft). The biggest obstacle this one faces is tracking: seven different card names every time one of these is drafted is a lot of notation. Regicide required noting three different colors as it was drafted, and I would consider that about the most you would ever want to force players to track. If you could find a way to compress this down to track less information (treat the reveal like a vote, and only note the most voted for CMC or something), I think you’d have a really reasonable design on your hands.

@col-seeker-of-the-memiest - Preventative Reconaissance

This is a new take on white protection effects, protecting a player and their permanents from a specific set of cards your opponents reveal. I’m not sure whether it’s intended to be drafted early (to protect you from your opponents’ first-pick bombs) or late (to cover commons that will actually appear in more matchups), but I think that question is probably interesting enough to warrant the confusion. The bigger issues I see with this design are that it’s really narrow - effects like this don’t often make the cut in Limited to begin with, so it’s especially hard to imagine one that only works against one card per opponent being playable - and the amount of bookkeeping it demands in tracking seven essentially random card names. When you’re playing with this, you’ll likely find yourself (and your opponent) checking and re-checking your list of names every time an opponent plays a new threat. The end result is that this asks for a lot of attention during gameplay, but will rarely actually reward that attention in a meaningful way. The design asks some interesting questions, but I suspect the actual logistics of playing with it outweigh most of those benefits.

@deg99 - Lieske, the Collector

Interpreting Companion as a Limited-focused mechanic is an interesting take; it always struck me much more as a Constructed mechanic (since you have more control over your deck construction), with the occasions that you make Companion work in Limited being a fun exception. This card takes it in the opposite direction, having its Companion ability only able to be satisfied while drafting; indeed, all four of its abilities only function within the context of draft. The gameplay pattern this demands is that you remove creatures with desirable activated abilities rather than drafting them, and that you remove three creatures with the same name to turn on Companion. I think my biggest issue is that I struggle to see how this is ever better than just playing the creatures you’re removing with it. You’ll rarely ever turn on Companion with this (not least of all because it broadcasts to other players when you’re about to), and whether you do or not, the picks that you invest in it to make it playable should probably just be spent on cards that are playable themselves. I like the idea of a more Limited-oriented application of Companion, but I suspect there are other ways to approach that design space.

@dimestoretajic - Invoker of Sacrifice

I really liked what this one was trying to do, enough that seeing it in the workshop inspired a design of my own based on it. It’s a little hard for me to tell if the quirks of this one were conscious design decisions, or if they were attempts to make an initial design work without reconsidering the end result. Most cards like this that want to work only once simply turn themselves face down when you use them, and the only part of the chosen card you really need to note is its power; those two changes together would’ve streamlined the templating a lot. Also of note: this card is at its most interesting when it’s having you remove cards that could otherwise be playable for you, but the largest creatures you’re likely to see in draft will often be in green rather than red. That’s not to say the draft environment couldn’t have some high-power red things to tempt you with this, but it’s something to consider when your design starts pulling you in a direction like this one.

@fractured-infinity - Tibalt, the Chaosbringer

This is a pretty interesting card with a lot to evaluate: both how good it is when you bring in the three extra cards, and how good it is without them. Because this circumvents color requirements, it allows you to access cards you couldn’t just include in your deck anyway, but uses randomness as a cost for doing so. All of the mechanics of this card are easy to understand what they’re doing and work together in a cohesive way, which can be tough to do with 13 lines of abilities. The biggest obstacle this one faces is the same obstacle that any card that attempts to balance itself with randomness faces: if getting a free off-color bomb is the fun part it should probably do it more reliably, and if it isn’t then making it unreliable just means we’re allowing one in three games to not be fun. It does change the draft experience by allowing you to grab off-color bombs as you see them, but I’m not sure if that’s an improvement: draft relies on players getting passed the cards that only they can use, and this encouraging you to pick up those cards with no real downside seems disruptive to that process. That the ultimate and the downtick pull in different directions feels like interesting tension, but I think in practice it almost certainly just means that you won’t be using the ultimate. I would probably rearrange the uptick to make the loyalty counters dependent on exiling a card rather than the damage, that way ticking up to the minus (or the ultimate) actually requires you to reset the odds. There’s a lot going on for this card, as is always the case for planeswalkers, and a lot of it feels like good design work. Tibalt was a good choice for this kind of random effect, and I think with a little tweaking there’s probably something of value there.

@hiygamer - Leovold’s Enforcer

This design is encouraging you to include as many of your draft cards in your final deck as possible, generally lowering your average card quality to increase the quality of this one card. The ceiling is obviously quite high (a six-mana 20/20 with trample is very strong), but in a normal draft environment you’ll leave out 22 of your 45 draft picks (running the other 23 with 17 lands), making this nonfunctional without special consideration. Like others in this vein, it may work well with cards that remove picks from the draft altogether, though it would require a lot of support to remove enough to make this worth playing. The biggest issue this runs into is actually outside of draft: in Eternal and casual play, this is ‘just’ a six-mana 20/20, and while the theme for this week definitely encouraged you to look at cards through an explicitly Limited lens, it’s still important to consider what those cards do in other scopes. It’s generally more interesting (and safer) to reward players with extras that only work in the format than it is to assume the format and make downsides specific to it. Perhaps there’s space for a conspiracy (which are actually only playable in draft) that leans into similar space as this, as that would sidestep some of those issues.

@hypexion - Court Doppelganger

This is a cute take on a clone effect that is unique to Limited. I’m not sure why this one is a 3/3, as clones are typically 0/0 and this one doesn’t even have the downside of not having something to copy: as long as you noted a card while drafting, it just has access to that for 2UU, so also adding a floor of being a vanilla 3/3 seems unnecessary. I’m not a huge fan of the way cards like this encourage you to draft other player’s bombs - when another player in the draft pod watches you reveal an off-color mythic that would’ve been perfect for their deck that is now suddenly mono-blue for you, they’re going to know it was this card that undermined their draft - I think some restrictions as to what you can clone would go a long way. But the biggest issue that this one faces is actually logistical: this allows you to clone a card that exists somewhere within your deck without a point of reference, meaning that every time you play this card, you will need to call a judge to verify the Oracle text of the card it’s cloning. As a rule of thumb, any card that comes with a built-in judge call probably warrants a redesign to avoid that; something like one of our runners-up this week, which exiles the relevant card before the game for the ease of referencing it later on.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes - Riches to Rags

I think what I like most about this one is the way the in-game effect seems to align with the out-of-game effect - both effects encourage you to trash your two least favourite cards, either to or from two different places. Functionally, the out-of-game effect really doesn’t do anything: the last several picks in any pack aren’t much of a choice, so players always wind up with junk they would never play anyway. Each player choosing the two most worthless cards in their pool and shuffling them amongst nearby players doesn’t feel like a really meaningful decision, or that it’s likely to impact the games that follow in any real way. The design feels like there’s something to it, and perhaps with a few more restrictions it could create some more interesting scenarios with a similar framework.

@ignorantturtlegaming - Lutri, the Redeemed

I do love a good redemption arc (I assume that’s what the electricity in its paws is), and Lutri is definitely cute enough to deserve one. I like that this acknowledges some of the similarities of revealing cards before the game with the Companion mechanic, and it’s mindful to play in space that is familiar to Lutri as a character. This design actually comes so close to being especially interesting with a Commander Legends-style draft format, but because it actually casts the exiled card you wouldn’t get any extra value from additional castings of Lutri after the first. If it had used a format more similar to Arcane Savant, it would’ve been interesting in that sense...but that also highlights its biggest issue, simply that it feels very close to a card that already exists. That said, I understand most of the decisions that resulted in them being so similar, and I think with just a few changes you could carve out some space for this that Savant wouldn’t be able to touch.

@machine-elf-paladin - Prismatic Assistant

This takes what a lot of the other designs this week were doing, and pushes it in the opposite direction: looking at what you don’t have in your card pool. The obvious question is how big does this need to get to be worthwhile: if you play your entire pool, this would be a 4 mana 6/7, though that obviously impacts the average quality of your other draws. A four-mana 4/5 is pretty good by most colors’ standards, and that limits you to having two colors among your unplayables - so basically all of your pulls need to be in your colors. There’s a question of how many pool-removing cards you would need in a format to support something like this. I think the biggest issue is the logistics of revealing large numbers of possibly relevant cards from your sideboard - it’s correct for your opponent to want to record every card you reveal, even though the majority won’t ever be relevant. Lots of the designs this week struggled with managing the amount of information that they required to be tracked and shared, so I can’t be too hard on you, but it’s certainly something to keep in mind as you design cards like these.

@misterstingyjack – Coveted Bauble

As you probably noticed, your entry was actually surprisingly close to one of our winners this week, which you should take as a good sign! The idea behind your card was quite clever, and had it not been for its similarity to a winning design, surely would’ve been at least a runner-up. What gave the winner the edge over your Bauble was mostly the innovation of making the ability a keyword, but also a few logistical considerations that the winning version executed more cleanly. For instance, the only drafts that could reasonably be interpreted to have ‘turns’ are Competitive events with called (timed) drafts, with most casual events (like this would appear in) using zone, or even looser draft structures. Finding a way to make this ability work in those looser structures is admittedly tricky, but it was probably worth figuring out how to do.

@nicolbolas96 - Diplomatic Study

This one is also a lot like one of our winners this week, though this one plays up the advantages of trading more than either of the others. I quite like the flavour choices on this one, and I really like the design space of things that work best after having moved around the table a bit. The biggest frustration I have with this one is that because the upside is so big, it’s hard to imagine anyone feeling tempted to draft this in the first place - somebody has to, but nobody really wants to be the one stuck with it initially. I suppose it’s better the earlier in the draft you open it, but the card itself isn’t really the kind of game-winning bomb that would be likely to get traded for...well, a game-winning bomb. I think I’d like it if it offered a little more to incentivise taking it initially, so that trading it off is slightly more mutually beneficial when it inevitably happens. It’s worth noting that the “draft table” clause is kinda clunky, but I appreciate your trying to keep it reasonable for casual Constructed as well.

@partlycloudy-partlyfuckoff - Goblin Librarian

I saw your comment mentioning that you missed a line of text on the final version - I appreciate your pointing it out, as the design makes a lot more sense with that included. Missed lines don’t tend to win you prizes, but they do allow for better feedback. This is (supposed to be) a really cute design exploring how big of an advantage you have to offer for players to use their entire card pool. The flavour on this is top-notch, and the effect is interesting enough to make you wonder whether it’s worth trying. One clever quirk of the design is that it (almost) allows you to casually experiment with the Kablooey Decimal system, then switch back to your normal 40 if that isn’t working out. I would probably open it up to “card pool” rather than “cards you drafted”, both so that it theoretically works in Sealed (which this design can do more smoothly than most) and so that it includes basics you add to your pool after the draft (that’s the ‘almost’: since it doesn’t let you add basics, as written you do have to decide to include those in advance, but with a little tweaking that would be fixable). If I had any qualms, I do wish this had a slightly more meaningful in-game effect; I know it’s mostly there for the gimmick, but I think there’s flavourful mechanics that could make this card interesting even after the game begins as well.

@shakeszx - Chancellor of the Void

This wasn’t the challenge I expected to see a sixth Chancellor in, but I’m always a sucker for a good callback. That said, it’s important to recognise when making such a callback is valuable and when it isn’t. The Chancellor cycle has an identity as 4MMM creatures that have a small additional effect if you happen to have them in your opening hand. Now, this design does have an effect when it’s in your opening hand, but that effect doesn’t actually do anything when it’s revealed. What’s more, the whole card doesn’t do much of anything if it’s not in your opening hand: it’s a very hard to cast vanilla 4/4. On top of that there’s the concern that there’s never been a draft format where triple-colorless was a reasonably payable cost, as well as the logistical nuisance of your opponent counting your deck every time you reveal this card (to ensure you’re not accidentally on 41+ cards). Overall I get the feeling that this design was torn between doing something interesting in Limited and calling back to an old cycle, and both of those goals just got in the way of really delivering on the other.

@snugz – Sokenzan Onsen

I appreciate the attempt at subtlety, though I did try to let on that subtlety wasn’t expected with this week’s contest: I gave you free rein to explicitly reference elements of Limited. Unfortunately, it’s hard for me to agree that minimum deck size manipulation is primarily a Limited thing after watching Yorion terrorise Standard over the past six months. Challenge aside, something like Yorion’s success proves that for certain decks (namely Control variants) there is relatively little cost to adding extra cards, and in this case five cards is an especially small hoop to jump through. Logistically, it seems a little unpleasant to verify – when you play this on turn 3, your opponent suddenly needs to count your library, your hand, your graveyard, your battlefield, and anything you have in exile to make sure you actually had five over when you started. It’s honestly a pretty neat idea and I’d like to think there’s some design space for deckbuilding restriction duals, but I think there’s a little cleaning up to do on this one before it’s practical.

@starch255 – Shambling Scrapheap

I see what you were trying to do with this one: the balance between how many of these commons you keep in your deck (to increase how often you see it) and how many you leave out can create an interesting tension. I see why you say it’s most interesting in draft, as it’s certainly much less interesting as a 3-mana 4/4 that eats your sideboard slots. But even more than that I’d be worried about this in casual, where a card like this is actually liable to see play: where players are encouraged to collect them by the dozen, but where the result isn’t particularly fun when they do so. There’s definitely room in Magic for Relentless Rats-style cards that encourage players to collect lots of them, it’s just important to be mindful of what actually happens when a player finally ‘does the thing’, and whether what you’re subtly encouraging them to do makes the games where they do it more fun, or less.

@teaxch – Custodi Apocrypha

This is an interesting build-around rare that if drafted early allows you to really shape the rest of your draft around it, and automatically tells you something about the draft environment it must fit in. I think rare is probably the correct place for this to sit, both because it has a pretty huge color pie effect and because multiples in a single draft pod would create lots of competition for Auras. This is a solid design that I can imagine as part of an interesting draft format, and the only thing holding it back was that – as you noted – it’s just not doing anything especially breathtaking.

@thedirtside - Common Enemy

Thinking to use the other players in a draft pod (or sealed event) as a resource is a really clever take on this week’s challenge. Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a way that the rules can actually support “players from outside the game” - I’m afraid it’s something that will be relegated to silver border for some time. I think the closest you could come to this would be to do the vote as part of the draft process: that reliably gives you seven other players, and the game can reasonably obligate them to make a choice (whereas this design currently doesn’t do much if there’s no one to ask or they decline to choose). In practice, this card seems awfully swingy - often you’re going to have players outside the game simply picking a winner, as anything more than one outsider results in very large life total changes. There’s a slight templating hiccup here as well: this spell as written only has one target, so you’d have to do a little reconfiguring for a spell like this to determine the correct number of targets as you’re casting it.

#inventors fair #magic #mtg #custom magic card #commentary #limited engagement #3smuth

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jackdawyt · 4 years

Video

youtube

Dragon Age: Inquisition is one of my favourite games of all time. I love everything about this game, from the compelling hero’s journey, to the roster of lovable characters, to making the Inquisitor my very own unique protagonist. Few games compare to the experiences and tremendous moments that Inquisition provides, not to mention the Trespasser DLC which revealed the true intention of the game’s villain, and paved the story forward for future titles.

I think it’s rather telling how good this game is, considering we’re still talking about it nearly 6 years later after launch, discovering new theories and mysterious hidden deep within the lore. Heck, if Dragon Age: Inquisition was a mediocre experience, I don’t think I’d have a YouTube channel today with thousands of recurring views weekly talking about the game, and where the story is going to go since the events of Inquisition.

However, there is something critical that I feel is necessary to discuss regarding Dragon Age Inquisition’s original marketing demos and the expectations they set for the finished game.

Following up to the launch of Dragon Age: Inquisition, I used to obsessively re-watch the first original gameplay demo shown at Pax Prime 2013. At the time the game was in its pre-alpha build, however, there were many impressive features and dynamics showing just a glimpse of what we’d come to expect once we got our hands on the game.

In retrospect, these promises were scrapped before the finished project released.

This post is not meant to be a negative outlook, poking holes at BioWare’s effort, but an investigation and critique into BioWare’s game design, more specifically, the cuts the developers made tackling Inquisition’s complicated release, and how they’ve learned since.

For the uninitiated, Dragon Age: Inquisition released in November, 2014, a month after the next generation of consoles launched. As the game was jammed in-between two gaming generations, it was designed to ship on both the previous generation of consoles (Xbox 360/PS3) and the current generation (XB1/PS4).

In order for the game to predominantly run on the lower spec consoles, many gameplay cuts, downgrades and setbacks were made to the final project.

I’m not talking about conceptual ideas in pre-production that were drafted for the game, like The Architect making a cameo appearance in a “Here Lies The Abyss” alternative twist, or the Hero of Ferelden, Hawke and The Inquisitor meeting up in a potential drafted prologue. Of course, there were plenty of ideas, concepts and story threads that were canned and reworked because the developers had better, and frankly more relevant plans for the game.

I’m talking about actual features and mechanics that were incorporated and designed into the vertical slice demo that was shown off to the fans at Pax Prime 2013, and then were removed later on just before launch.

I would like to point out that the gameplay I’m going to show was alpha footage, and the developers made sure we all understood that it could easily change, nobody lied to us. If anything, BioWare were so eager to show off the next Dragon Age game, that perhaps this was the biggest detriment to the project.

I’ll have the full Pax gameplay demo linked for those who want to watch it fully. But without further ado, I’m going to be revealing the Dragon Age: Inquisition we almost got.

Cut Content:

The demo starts with a significant cut, originally Dragon Age: Inquisition would’ve featured stunning party member cutscenes when entering new areas for the first time. We see Varric, Cassandra and Vivienne discussing how prepared they are since the Inquisition formed. Varric banters that he’s outnumbered by the ladies once again.

We can assume that these dynamic banter cutscenes based on your party members were replaced with Scout Harding’s area report.

The models and textures for the characters and armours look very different too. Cassandra has a more angled facial structure, like her original concept art. And, the Inquisitor’s armour and textures don’t even exist in the final game, I remember attempting to recreate this look, a thousand times over, however, no fabrics in the game have this orange texture.

Helmets also appear in conversations, which is a huge pet peeve of mine, I’m still upset to this day that we can’t see helmets in conversations and there’s no mod to fix it. However, they added this feature in Mass Effect: Andromeda, so maybe we’ll see it in the future.

In general, this demo showed that there was going to be a lot more cutscenes when entering new areas, in party banter, and for minor conversations with smaller characters.

Upon inspecting the gameplay, we can see the camera’s placement was significantly adjusted. The demo had a third-person feel, whereas the game ended up with a pulled back camera, probably to suite the tactical camera for combat. Fortunately, there are mods that actually fix this issue.

The UI has evolved since the demo, there used to be a Skyrim-esqe navigation compass that was replaced with a radar. And the party member icons are different, but that’s just nit-picking.

The combat is more or less the same, however, it does seem more reactive and heftier in the demo. Most likely because the camera is more zoomed into the action. There are some tweaks though, the enemies react more to the Inquisitor’s attacks, the stumble, flail and even run away, as opposed to just taking the damage and then attacking you back.

However, minor these cuts may seem to you; they did change the game a fair amount adding more immersion to the overall experience.

Even so, the most obvious and upsetting cut when watching this demo regards the entirety of Crestwood, the area has been dramatically reduced in the final game.

In this demo, the Inquisitor is given a conflict. One of the Inquisition’s soldiers asks the player how does the Inquisitor want to handle their armies' movements throughout the area.

The Inquisitor could send the Inquisition army to save the town of Crestwood.

They could lead the soldiers to tend to the nearby wounded.

Or they could bolster every solider to the Keep, leaving both the wounded and the town of Crestwood.

Each choice had a consequence, and both Mike Laidlaw and Mark Darrah spoke on having multiple ways to approach the situation. For instance, in the demo’s scenario the Inquisitor decides to leave the town while it’s under siege, instead, they find a secret entrance towards the Keep. Using Antivan Fire, they burn the invaders’ boats which would prevent them from escaping after their attack. The Inquisition take the Keep, and head back to the ransacked town filled with newly fresh corpses. A dynamic cutscene of Varric mourning the dead plays out, adding emotional impact and weight to the decision the Inquisitor just made.

And this was just a side questline...

The demo ends with the developers reiterated the tactical and dynamic approaches when showing the Inquisition taking over the Keep at The Western Approach.

According to Mark Darrah, you could weaken enemy defences by doing things like drawing out the troops or poisoning their wells.

Then, once you claimed the keep for yourself, you’d get a quest called ‘This Water Tastes Funny’, in which your Keep's well was poisoned and you’d have to go find fresh water.

The Keep’s themselves were originally designed to have a lot more influence and reactivity throughout the world. Once captured, the Inquisitor could choose a dynamic choice for the Keep’s overall goal, if you had enough Inquisition agents.

The Keep could be specialised based on the Inquisition’s advisors. You could choose to run your Keep as a Military outpost, boosting fortifications. It could be a Keep of espionage and secrets, for information gathering, or you could make it a Keep of connections and merchants for diplomatic purposes. Each different speciality had a different advantage and aesthetic to suit its purpose.

Adding more choices and roleplaying values for making the Inquisition your own army, having a say in what aspects it should grow in.

That sums up the majority of the cuts made since this demo. I will say it’s unfortunate seeing these unfinished features that shaped the game in a completely different direction, that inevitably couldn’t make it into the finished project.

But I think it’s wrong to pin the blame of this cut content on anyone because the developers were tackling a console generation shift, and they wanted everyone to have the opportunity to play the game without having to get a new console. Can you really blame them for that?

Perhaps many of these features may be designed into a future title since the developers wanted them so much in Inquisition? And speaking of the future title, at least the next Dragon Age game won’t be coming out in between a console generation, it is being designed strictly for next-gen, so there shouldn't be any console setbacks and limitations.

Even still, when Dragon Age 4 does eventually get a gameplay reveal, don’t set your expectations in stone based on that reveal. The finished project will look very different. These days gameplay previews aren’t always accurate, and that’s just a dilemma of the entire games industry, not just EA and BioWare.

Wrapping up on a positive note, BioWare have learned from this experience, and they’re approaching Dragon Age 4 with a “show, don’t tell” strategy. They will be proceeding with caution when marketing and revealing the next Dragon Age game, and that may play a part in why we haven't and won't see anything official for a while.

I don’t think I could end on a better note then the Narrative Director, John Epler’s message about Inquisition’s development. John said: “A good 90% of 'bad' decisions are, in fact, the best decision at the time. Game dev is all about making the best decision you can at the time, with the resources you have. A lot of stuff you thought was weird or awkward came down to a gut call of 'this is the best I can make this and I trust it's good enough'. Sometimes we're right, sometimes not.”

BioWare decided to make these cuts to Inquisition because they realised it was the right thing to do for the entire project, perhaps they felt they couldn’t deliver these features to their full capacity, or they wanted a change of direction. They believe these decisions were made for the greater good of the game, and I commend them for that.

Dragon Age Inquisition is an incredible RPG with tons of personality, that not many games can even mimic. Although the game had some minor setbacks with the fair amount of content that was cut, the game is just as amazing without those initial features.

Like I said, perhaps we’ll see these mechanics in the next game, if not, then at least it has been a learning experience for BioWare, that they can utilise for the development of Dragon Age 4.

In any regard, let me know your thoughts down below on this gameplay demo relating to the finished game, and don’t forget to check out my latest news update!

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taggedmemes · 4 years

Text

SENTENCE MEME ⟶ LEGACIES / 1.16 always feel free to tweak the sentence to fit your muse.

“My mind still won’t settle down.”

“I know I agreed to resume my duties, but being your designated driver was not one of them.”

“Take it easy on the turns, I’m still a little drunk.”

“You know this place a lot better than we do.”

“Busting me out is gonna make for a pretty awkward performance review.”

“This place is a haystack.”

“I’m trying to prevent one of nature’s greatest evils from rising up, so if you could jsut go.”

“We can’t all be born with resting concerned pouty face.”

“Sorry I don’t feel like laughing while my world’s falling apart.”

“I’m the weak, broken one.”

“Just promise me you’re not gonna do anything crazy.”

“We’re not the only ones in danger.”

“I can’t just stand here and do nothing.”

“For once in your life, will you please just listen to me?”

“You are vulnerable, and if you try to resist, someone could get hurt.”

“We figure out a way to get our powers back, and we kick some paramilitary ass.”

“He said not to do anything crazy.”

“Me defying him isn’t crazy, it’s consistent.”

“At least we know where you stand.”

“You’re not very scared of me, are you.”

“That’s your plan? You’re gonna shoot a kid?”

“They can break the skin of any supernatural like a hot knife through butter.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“You practically begged him to shoot you.”

“If I’m destined to die in my prime, it may as well be in a blaze of hero glory.”

“You are unbelievably selfish.”

“Who took it upon herself to dive in front of my bullet?”

“I thought that your codependent days were over.”

“We’re not in a prison yard, asshat.”

“I dragged you both into this, and I have absolutely no idea how to get us out of it.”

“That’s just not good enough.”

“We did not wait ten years to become friends with you for you to not come through with your annoyingly perfect heroics when we need you the most.”

“She’s right, for a change.”

“It’s hero time.”

“This was a test to see if you were really on my side.”

“You’re a good liar, but you’re not great.”

“It’s even grosser in person.”

“The new you is so snarky.”

“Please keep these two from trying to kill or die for each other.”

“For the love of Frodo, go rescue your hobbit.”

“If you go soft on us now, I’m gonna hurl.”

“I was just looking for your unholy grail.”

“You’re as useless as they are.”

“You’re the golden child.”

“I’m not interested in, like, procreating or whatever.”

“Tell me you’re pulling some kind of lame brotherly prank right now.”

“You wanted to be special, right?”

“Turns out your purpose is to be a meat suit for the most powerful monster to ever the earth.”

“Probably sounds worse than it is.”

“I don’t suppose you come with an instruction manual.”

“I told you to wait for me.”

“In a shocking turn of events, I ignored you.”

“Save the speech.”

“I think that they can fix everything.”

“I will explain everything to you later, okay?”

“You do not get to be the martyr.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

“I’m the broken one.”

“Just think of the amazing outfit that you’ll wear to my funeral.”

“I’m sorry I was so awful.”

“So you think you’re a superhero or something?”

“You’re definitely getting a raise.”

“You’re a monster, just like him.”

“I’d rather be a monster than a paperweight.”

“Stay in touch, cutie.”

“They say revolution is messy, and I’m okay with that.”

“Who’s to say they won’t send someone worse next time?”

“They’re just scared bullies, lashing out because they think they’re losing control over something they had no power over in the first place.”

“We’re faster, we’re stronger, we’re better.”

“We don’t need to prove it by killing them.”

“If that’s supposed to be an apology, it sucks.”

“How could you work with guys like that?”

“If this is our family’s legacy, we can’t be family anymore.”

“I bet she saved him already, and the world.”

“I failed you.”

“You were confronted by the worst monster you’ve faced yet: ignorant human beings.”

“Her betrayal could not have been possible without mine.”

“Kill the head, the body dies.”

“I know that the only thing you want from me is the truth.”

“The truth is I love you.”

“I’m really sorry about all the secrets I’ve kept.”

“I forgive you for anything that needs it.”

“Nothing like young love, is there?”

“Aren’t you gonna clap, or something?”

“That was a total power move.”

“Nothing’s ever immortal, not really.”

“Nature won’t allow it, there’s always a loophole.”

“Any brilliant ideas?”

“I think we’re running out of time.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“He would have tried to stop me, so I had to kill him, too.”

“Tell me what the hell you’re about to do right now before you do it.”

“I’m the loophole.”

“I’ve always thought that I was a cosmic mistake, someone who should never have been born.”

“After all this time, my purpose is finally clear.”

“I’ve spent years torturing myself, asking myself why my father sacrificed himself for me, to get to this point where I totally understand it.”

“I don’t want you to have to go through that pain.”

“You’ve been through enough.”

“Maybe I would have seen it sooner if I hadn’t been beating myself up all this time.”

“This is where you tell me that even though you wish you could change my mind, you know I’m doing the right thing.”

“This is the part where you tell me you’re proud of me.”

“You know I’m proud of you.”

“If you want to erase yourself, that is on you, okay, but you can’t ask me to do it, too.”

“I trust you more than I trust anyone.”

“Promise me you’re gonna do what I said.”

“Sorry, I was eavesdropping.”

“I assumed you were gonna try to stop me.”

“Whatever you think you just did, it didn’t work.”

��It’s the only part I’m actually enjoying.”

“I don’t know what came over me.”

“I don’t really know what happened.”

#rp meme #roleplay meme #sentence meme #sentence starters #starter sentences #KIND / SENTENCE.#KIND / IN CHARACTER.#BASED ON / TV SHOW.

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