#animation requires patience and order

[starlingstalk]

Nya animatic I will never finish/clean up bcs everything I draw cannot be done over more than one day or I‘ll explode

[kxsagi]

Hiii, how are you? 💘 Can I request Blue Lock boys (Nagi, Reo, Rin and idk more 😭) with a girlfriend who collects Calico Critters?

“𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬”

a/n: CALICO CRITTERS WAS MY CHILDHOOD I HAD THE ADVENTURE TREEHOUSE ONE

also hiii i'm good! i hope you are, too! thank you for being so patient with me love ❤️

ft. nagi seishiro, mikage reo, itoshi rin, isagi yoichi, bachira meguru, itoshi sae, kaiser michael, karasu tabito, ness alexis, niko ikki

nagi seishiro

at first, he’s confused. "why do they all have tiny furniture? do they fight with it?" 

you once caught him making two of the bunnies “duel” with forks. it was… oddly cinematic. 

secretly obsessed. he pretends he doesn’t care but you’ll find your calico bear moved slightly, like someone posed it to sit on a couch and watch TV. 

"can i touch this one?" he points at a squirrel with a pink dress. if you say yes, he cradles it like a newborn baby and doesn’t give it back for three days. 

he tries to nap in your room but always ends up staring at the tiny dollhouse setups. "this is so detailed… what the heck. you built a bakery? why's it better than mine in animal crossing..." 

mikage reo

he buys you limited edition calico critter sets the second they drop. like he’s faster than collectors with bots. 

"this one's from a store in france. overnight shipping. look, the hedgehogs have a piano." 

thinks it's so hot that you're good at decorating miniature rooms. like. he brags about it. “my girlfriend has better interior taste than yours and her clients are all two inches tall.” 

helps you reorganize your collection on lazy sundays. he’s good at holding tiny chairs between his fingers like it’s normal. 

absolutely tries to use calico critters to flirt. sets up a little proposal scene and goes, “look. it’s us. except i’m three inches tall and cuter.” 

itoshi rin

doesn't get it. doesn’t want to get it. but respects it because it makes you happy. 

"... how do you keep track of their names?" and when you answer with 20 generations of backstory he blinks twice and decides not to ask again. 

that being said… the miniatures start growing on him. he lowkey thinks the fox family is cool and once helped you repaint a table. 

"this is a hobby that requires patience. i like that." tries to say it casually but you catch the way he watches you glue down a tiny carpet. 

his love language is building the IKEA-sized critter furniture you order off etsy. he acts grumpy the whole time but hands you the final result like it’s a love letter. 

isagi yoichi

SO supportive. he smiles like a golden retriever every time you show him a new family set. 

“you gave them a garden?! babe that’s so sick!” he crouches down to inspect the tiny vegetables like a proud dad. 

helps you organize your display shelf and keeps suggesting ideas like “what if there was a soccer stadium?” 

actually starts getting into it and names a mouse after himself. “this is lil yoichi. he owns a ramen shop and gives advice to travelers.” 

100% takes photos of your setups and shows them to his teammates like they're his own children. “look what she made. look at the bakery. no, really, zoom in.” 

bachira meguru

FERAL. he thinks the calico critters are alive. like he’s convinced they move at night. 

"this one’s the evil one," he whispers, pointing at the cat with a crooked ear. “she’s plotting something. i can feel it.” 

customizes them with you. paints tattoos on the bears. gives the raccoons glow-in-the-dark eyes. adds googly eyes to the furniture when you’re not looking. 

creates wild stories for them. like you’ll walk in and he’s mid-monologue: “and then gregory, the frog with a criminal past, was like ‘not on my watch.’” 

despite the chaos, he’s extremely gentle with your collection. tucks them in at night. kisses the tiny blanket. calls them your "fuzzy little citizens." 

itoshi sae

he walks in. pauses. "... what are these little dudes?" 

squats down and just stares at your display shelf for a good two minutes like he’s trying to process a different dimension. 

“so you collect them? like… all of them? is there… a calico stock market or something?” 

despite the teasing, he finds it oddly charming. asks a million questions while pretending not to care. "do they have a vet? what’s his name. no reason. just curious." 

secretly buys you a rare calico critter set during a trip abroad and plays it off like it was no big deal. “here. it was on sale or something.” (it was not.) 

kaiser michael

calls them "fluff goblins" the first time he sees them. holds one like it’s going to bite him. 

"this one’s judging me. look at its beady little eyes. it knows too much." 

but he instantly gets competitive. “what do you mean there's a limited edition royal set? why don’t we own it? what kind of empire are we running?” 

makes a whole mafia storyline with them. the bunnies run an underground casino. the dogs are corrupt cops. he’s spiraling. 

pretends to hate them but sets up elaborate scenes when you’re not around. “that’s the critter CEO. he just embezzled $3 million from the bank of rabbit.” 

karasu tabito

you show him your collection and he leans in like: "yo. why is this kind of sick?" 

calls them your “little tax-paying civilians.” watches you build a cafe setup like it’s a netflix episode. 

“this the mouse family? they look rich. can i give them a scandal?” proceeds to create drama that rivals actual soap operas. 

absolutely buys tiny props from the dollar store and says “for the homies” while handing you a plastic teapot. 

draws fake little mugshots for your squirrel triplets. “they got caught shoplifting. trial’s on friday.” 

alexis ness

gasps out loud the first time she sees them. hand over mouth. sparkles in her eyes. 

“oh my goodness… they’re dressed so well. is this a gala theme? is this the mayor’s daughter? you have to introduce me.” 

helps you color-coordinate their outfits like she’s styling a met gala red carpet. "no no, the bunny in lavender sits at the head of the table." 

smiles sweetly while hiding the fact she reorganized your ENTIRE shelf. she even gave them a seating chart. 

makes personalized backstories for each critter like it’s the sims. full names, hobbies, zodiac signs, and love interests included. 

niko ikki

tries to act normal about it. fails immediately. 

“uhhh wow… that’s so many of them. do they live here full-time or…?”  

ends up picking a fox family and getting way too attached. carries the baby fox around in his hoodie pocket for emotional support. 

helps you set up shelves and is super careful not to bump anything. treats your collection like a sacred museum exhibit. 

starts talking to them like they're real. “hey guys. hope you slept well. i brought your owner a snack. please don't bite me.” 

© 𝐤𝐱𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢

[tainbocuailnge]

I think there is a difference between the comic as a sequence of images with text and the comic as a comic. it's a subtle difference that an untrained eye might not see but the more one as artist draws comics the clearer this difference becomes, because one who first aspires to draw comics will soon find they are merely drawing sequences of images with text.

when people say an artist is clearly inspired by anime they often use "anime" to refer to japanese pop culture in general, but if you look more closely you can often tell it really is specifically anime rather than manga that inspired them, because the paneling and camera angles in their comics will read like a series of anime screenshots rather than a manga page. similarly, when I was a teenager really popular manga that had anime adaptions would sometimes get "animanga" reprints where they replaced the panels with the equivalent anime screenshots of the scene, and they often looked like dogshit because the very premise showed blatant disregard for why the original comic worked in the first place. these two examples are both about anime because i am a weeb but it applies outside that context too. a cartoon storyboard can be read as if it were a comic, but what it really is is a sequence of images with text that has yet to be refined into its actual intended format.

there are many artists who only employ the medium of comic because what they actually want to draw is a video, or a video game cutscene, but the only tool actually at their disposal is the ability to draw a series of images and add text to them so that is what they use. there is no shame or mistake in doing this, you have to make your art with the tools that you have available, and if the sequence of images with text is enough to convey the idea then it was the right tool for the job. but these are different mediums with different visual languages, languages which have a lot of overlap and can occasionally be used in each other's stead to achieve similar results (especially when drawing a fanart comic of a video game for example), but which are still ultimately different. the comic and the video and the cutscene are all different forms that a sequence of images with text can take but they are far from completely interchangeable.

there is a key difference in approach to the comic as a series of images roughly interchangeable with other forms of series of images like the video and the cutscene, and the comic as specifically the comic. this difference in approach is not always necessary to achieve results, an artist who wants to convey a scenario they came up with needs only the sequence of images with text to achieve this. but the difference between a comic with good writing and art, and a comic that is a good comic, is in whether it was treated as a comic rather than a sequence of images with text. I say this as an artist whose nearly every comic has been simply a sequence of images, because I just don't have the patience to refine it into a comic when I merely want to convey my idea rather than draw a comic. it takes a particular skill and insight that have to be developed and practised separately from the ability to draw well and the ability to write well in order to become good at making "the comic" as synthesis of the two.

it's hard to specifically point out the essence of this difference between the sequence of images and the comic because it's kind of a vibes thing honestly, and it depends on where and how the comic was meant to be published too. comics meant to have paper print editions have different constraints and requirements and frameworks to work with than webtoons meant to be read on slim mobile screens in a continuous scrolling format. a good traditional comic will consider not just how each individual panel looks but also the way each page as a whole looks, and how the pages look next to each other in a spread, and how it feels to turn the page towards the next spread. a good webtoon will consider the movement of scrolling down and how this affects the transition from one moment to another in its composition. time is time in videos and cutscenes but space is time in comics, and the space your have available determines how you can divide time across it. when you make a webcomic on your own website you have no constraints but the ones you set for yourself, and sometimes this leads to things like homestuck, which would not work in any other format than the one it created for itself.

the best comics are good because they tell their story and present their images specifically in the form of a comic, in a way that would not be possible if it were not specifically a comic. I think this is true for basically every medium, I'm just thinking about comics specifically lately, because even though I don't really consider myself a comic artist - because I usually draw sequences of images rather than comics - the thing my clients want to pay for is often still "a comic", and they don't know or care to tell the difference. it's a difference that, as established, is often fairly moot anyway, because as long as it successfully conveys your idea it's good enough. but it's precisely because the sequence of images is often good enough that the specific skill of the comic artist is often overlooked.

[phantomcomet]

I have this idea where padawan Anakin gets assigned to creche duty after fucking up a mission. Obi-Wan thinks the kids will help calm him down and teach him a bit of responsibility. Taking care of younglings is a difficult task and requires patience and a calm mind.

And, like, Anakin starts off awful at it. He's too short with the kids, still pouting that babysitting is his punishment for charging ahead. But the kids think he's so cool- he's a padawan to Obi-Wan, he's so strong in the force, and he lets them swear without reprimand. He sneaks them out of the creche to get snacks and reprograms the droid to let them watch R rated holonet vids and teaches them the cool moves they're way too young to be pulling off. The kids love Anakin because he's fun and lets them be choatic kids for a little while. He's their bad influence older brother and these kids aren't about to rat him out.

Having the unreserved love of a bunch of younglings does help settle Anakin. It grounds him within the Jedi, in the sense that he does have family here. Sorry, Palpatine, he doesn't have time for lunch, he promised to teach the kids how to use the force to make popcorn. Next week isn't good either, the kids want to sneak out and watch him podrace. And the week after that, they're raiding the archives for embrassing stories about the master jedi as padawans. They need blackmail material for when they get caught swimming in the fountains.

It doesn't change everythimg but it changes enough- Anakin cuts down several Tusken raiders and when he turns, ready to slaughter the whole village, he sees a youngling- and stops. They're animals, they deserve this- but how can he cut down a child? One that could have easily been one of his responsibilities, his duty to protect.

After, instead of marrying Padme, he goes home, back to the kids. And everyone knows something has happened, especially the kids and Obi-Wan. There's a distance there that wasn't before, that can't be closed, because Anakin is holding everyone at arm's length.

The war starts, Anakin is knighted, and the council unanimous decide that a padawan will totally fix everything. Anakin defintely has words about sending kids into a warzone. Everytime he's home, they throw younglings at him. Anakin is deserperate to end the war before the younglings age into it.

To jump ahead- order 66 happens and instead of killing the younglings, Anakin protects them. Mace kills Palpatine, Yoda and Obi-Wan find the temple sacked but the younglings safe. Anakin is hurt and exhausted but alive.

Anyway Anakin ends up becoming creche master after the war ends and raises a couple generations of jedi that are chaos gremlins.

[d0llcuries]

could you make a one-shot or hc (idk) of things neteyam does to show love to his partner and loving and deep thoughts he has about her? please

neteyam isn’t shy when it comes to showing love, especially when it’s you.

he perceives love as something to be demonstrated openly, proudly.

from the moment he decided that you were the one for him, it was as though something primal and unshakable settled into his bones, dictating his every move around you with a sense of purpose.

that being said, hunting is one of the first things he uses to display his affection.

it is what he knows, what he has been trained to do since his hands were old enough to grip a bow. but when it comes to you, hunting takes on a new significance.

he does not just hunt for survival—he hunts to provide for you, to ensure that you have the finest meat, the best cuts. when he returns from a successful hunt, he brings the kill to you with a quiet pride, his chest puffed out just a little more as he lays the offering at your feet.

he watches your reaction closely, waiting for the moment your lips curve into that soft smile that makes his heart race, waiting for the look of approval that makes the hours of tracking, stalking, and fighting worth every second.

his hands never stray far. public displays of affection are a given with him

he is unapologetic in his need to touch you. he doesn’t care if his family sees. in fact, he relishes it. if he senses even the slightest bit of fluster in you, it only encourages him.

if it makes you blush? good. that means he’ll do it again—so casual about it, like he doesn’t even realize.

he relishes in the way you shy away, pretending to be annoyed, but he knows the truth—you love the attention just as much as he loves giving it.

but goodness it wouldn't kill him to show a little more propriety.

he purrs, too, openly and without a trace of shame.

it doesn't matter if it’s just you two are alone or in the middle of a crowd. you touch him? he purrs. you laugh? he purrs. it’s automatic, and he doesn’t try to hide it, his chest rumbling every time you’re close.

he makes sure you hear it, because it’s for you.

your mere presence makes him so instinctively happy why should he surpress that?

he's so inadvertently supportive whenever you do anything.

when you cook him a meal, for example, the second the food touches his lips, he’s looking at you like you just saved his life. close to tears and everything, he’s going on about how he’s never tasted anything better, and he’ll probably say the same thing next time.

he genuinely believes that what you’ve made is a gift, something special just for him, and his heart swells with the knowledge that you’ve put effort into caring for him in this way.

my favourite animal is neteyam when he doesn’t receive at least three kisses or more from you in a day.

can you blame him? his days are long and exhausting, spent with his father barking orders and chasing after tuk to keep her from wandering off. so, of course, he looks forward to the moment he can feel your soft lips on his, the one moment of peace he can count on.

if you withhold a kiss, it’s like a stab in the chest. his ears flatten, tail droops, and his big amber eyes well up like he’s been abandoned in the middle of the forest. there’s a desperate edge to his voice, thick with disbelief—how could you deny him?

he’ll practically sink to his knees, hands reaching for you, putting on the most dramatic performance ever just for you.

if you decide to tease him on a particularly hard day where he doesn't have the patience required for such theatrics, he'll just scoop you up and haul you over his shoulder, kissing you until you can’t remember what you were supposed to be doing.

it’s not negotiable—three kisses, minimum, every day, or he’ll never let you hear the end of it.

neteyam loves deeply, fiercely, and in every little gesture, he makes sure you feel it.

he wonders if you know how much space you take up in his head. he thinks about you constantly.

one instance of this is when he's left alone with his thoughts on a particularly long hunting trip that lasted more than one day.

neteyam lays on the cold ground, the stars above him stretching endlessly, and yet, despite their beauty, all he can think about is the empty space beside him. it’s strange, how the absence of something so small—your quiet, rhythmic snores—can leave him feeling so lost. the other hunters of the group snore but that does not guide him to sleep quite as easily as your sounds do. he chuckles to himself, though there’s no one around to hear it. she would never believe me if i told her, he thinks, swears she doesn’t snore. but you do. soft little sounds that lull him to sleep every night.

without them, the silence feels oppressive. he shifts, trying to get comfortable, but nothing works. the coolness of the forest at night wraps around him, but it doesn’t bring the peace he’s used to. not like when he’s with you. back home, when he can feel the warmth of your body pressed against his, when the sound of your breathing fills the space between his heartbeats. it’s then he realizes how much he depends on those little things, the ones you would never even think about.

he closes his eyes, trying to picture your face. eywa, it’s only been a few days, and i already miss her this much. it’s embarrassing, really.

his mind wanders to the rosy tip of your flat nose. it looks just like the petals of a lortsyawll, he thinks absentmindedly, a small smile tugging at his lips.

he swears, if he could just hear your laugh, even for a moment, it would make this whole hunt more bearable. i hate being away from her.

he shifts again, turning on his side and curling his body into itself, hoping that maybe if he closes his eyes tight enough, he’ll be able to pretend you’re here. but the weight of your absence is heavy. the way your soft hand always finds his when you walk together. the sound of your voice, soft and low when you’re sleepy. the way you tease him, lighthearted but full of affection. he misses the way you press your forehead to his when you’re trying to comfort him, even over something small. he needs that now—needs you.

nothing feels right without you beside him. the hunt is going well, but even the thrill of the chase can’t distract him from the fact that, at the end of the day, when the adrenaline fades and the world quiets down, it’s you he longs for. i need her, he admits to himself, the thought settling deep in his chest. i always need her.

you are always there, in the back of his mind, shaping his every action, his every decision. he doesn’t need anyone else’s approval, doesn’t care what others think—as long as you’re proud of him, as long as you’re his, that’s all that matters.

she’s everything, he thinks, for the hundredth time that day, and yet, it still feels like an understatement.

i should be asleep but this request was too good!!

[p1utofairy]

PICK A CARD: BARBIE edition.

★ which one of your manifestations is coming towards you?

NOTE: take what resonates, leave what doesn’t. i feel like people are in need of some positivity and encouragement so here you go! 🍬

pile one.

hi pile 1 🌞 wow i feel like you have a very bright personality! it's so potent and beautiful. you can light up any room you walk into, and once you start seeing your beauty for what it truly is, that's when you'll really become a magnet for the things you desire. i feel like you've come out of some deep situations that left you confused or wondering about your true purpose in this lifetime – but don’t let anyone or any situation ever dim your light or take away your power. your soul purpose is really special and i think you’ve been looking for clarity or some sort of answer/solution to this lack that you’re feeling in your soul. you will definitely receive a message and/or an answer to what you’ve been seeking to find. i see this manifestation being a dream come true, pile 1.

you’ve put the work in and now you’re about to reap the benefits of your labor. this could be a new job, career path/major, business opportunity or an increase in your finances. your spirit guides want you to put yourself out there and say YES to whatever this message might be. you already have the motivation and desire for it, so it just requires you to take action and be confident in your choices in order to receive it. you might downplay yourself a lot or make self-deprecating jokes that ultimately put you in a lack mindset. i’m hearing “psh…yeah right. i doubt something as extravagant and nice as that would happen to me.” but why? whose to say what tomorrow will bring? your guides want you to lean more into your optimism and have faith in yourself, and understand that you truly deserve all the great things that are about to unfold in your life.

you know how to make light of situations, so use that to your advantage. i feel like you have a great sense of humor lol but be kinder to yourself okay? it can be really tough when life starts throwing curve balls at you, but it’s what you choose to make of it. as phil dunphy from ‘modern family’ said, “if life gives you lemonade - make lemons and life will be all like whaaaaat?!” so go out there and show the world what you’re made of!

pile two.

heyyy pile 2! i feel like you're coming out of a period of grief or a loss of some sort – a powerful transformation. i feel like this is more about letting go of a toxic mindset and freeing yourself from negative energy/situations rather than on a physical level. for some of you, a loved one could have recently passed or a connection you had with someone ended but i think it’s more so that you’re in a period of transition and starting to accept things for what they truly are. you’re no longer letting anything or anyone hold you back. you’re gaining momentum in your life path, and your spirit guides are so very proud of you!

they see how much it’s taken you to get to this point in your journey. it’s taken a lot of patience and discipline, but you’ve persevered and made it through - and for that you will be rewarded. i feel like you’ve been trying to manifest a change of some sort…whether that be physically moving out, going on a vacation/traveling, going out more or just a genuine change in your everyday life; i’m happy to say that you will be receiving that! you’ve been slowly but surely focusing on yourself and nourishing your mind, body and soul. you’re now starting to realize that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to…you might be seeing a lot of signs/confirmations like angel numbers, repeating patterns, symbols or animals.

you’re starting to realize that surrender is key - not everything can be in our control and sometimes that’s a tough pill to swallow but that’s just the way of life and it usually works out in our best interest in the long run. a flow of abundance is on its way to you. you can manifest anything you want in this lifetime, it just comes down to your mindset and the power of your words. continue to be at ease and let your actions speak for itself, you don’t have to prove or explain yourself to anyone. you’re on the brink of success and it’s coming in fast, just make sure to always stay grounded and remember where you came from. heavy is the head that wears the crown; you know what you’re capable of and what you deserve so don’t let the pressure and weight of life hold you down. keep moving forward, it’s all going to work out in your favor.

pile three.

pile 333 i just wanna give y'all a hug 🥲 y'all are really going through it right now. heavy water sign energy. do y'all have any pisces, cancer or scorpio in your chart? i get the sense of someone laying in bed…just staring at the ceiling like why? why me? you're trying to process a lot of intense emotions and center your energy, but it's taking a toll on you right now. you feel very alone and and unsure if you can talk to anyone about this. not even trying to be funny, but yeah it's giving existential crisis barbie.

if you've seen the ‘barbie’ movie, you know the scene where barbie just gives up and lays down flat on the ground and they're like "she's not dead. she's just having an existential crisis." 😃 real AF but no no no you gotta quiet down your mind. you can 100% feel and process your way through these emotions, but don't let them take control over you and make you feel like you’re doing something wrong or like you’re not doing enough – release that negative energy! i feel like your mind is going a mile per minute, and you can’t even form a rational thought without getting upset. in terms of your manifestation, i feel like you’re really craving love right now. you’re ready to go out there and bag the person of your dreams, but your guides just want you to first take this time to quiet your mind and trust in them & second believe that love is going to find you no matter what. don’t force it…don’t question it — believe it.

you could’ve had a couple of instances where you thought it was the real thing, but it turned out to be really disappointing and not what you wanted. that’s your spirit guides telling you that you can’t force it. this new relationship will find you naturally and it will be everything you’ve ever dreamed of plus more! this person will not only be your lover, but they’ll be your best friend and your confidant. you will feel absolutely liberated and comfortable to take on any challenge with them by your side. however, you need to let this wave of emotions pass and understand that what’s meant for you will NEVER pass you. you got this my pile 333's 🦋 it will be in reach soon.

[astra-ravana]

Trickster Spirits

Trickster spirits are a fascinating and complex aspect of mythology, folklore, and magick. They are beings that challenge, deceive, teach, and disrupt, often blurring the line between chaos and wisdom. Tricksters can be helpful guides, mischievous troublemakers, or unpredictable forces, depending on how they are approached and the lessons they seek to impart.

What Are Trickster Spirits?

Trickster spirits are supernatural or mythological entities that thrive on bending or breaking societal norms, defying expectations, and revealing hidden truths. They are neither wholly good nor wholly bad; instead, they embody duality, paradox, and transformation.

Tricksters often use humor, riddles, deception, and unpredictability to challenge individuals and force them to think in new ways. They are catalysts for change, pushing people out of their comfort zones—whether they like it or not.

Characteristics:

• Masters of Deception – They manipulate illusions, words, and perception.

• Agents of Chaos & Change – They disrupt order but often lead to growth.

• Boundary Crossers – They exist between realms, roles, and identities.

• Amoral & Unpredictable – They operate outside human moral frameworks.

• Bearers of Hidden Wisdom – They reveal truths in unexpected ways.

• Shape-shifters – They can take different forms, often appearing as animals, humans, or spirits.

Trickster Archetypes in Mythology & Folklore

Norse – Loki: Loki is the quintessential Norse trickster, a shape-shifting god of mischief, deception, and transformation. Though often causing trouble, his actions also lead to necessary change and evolution in the Norse cosmos.

Native American – Coyote & Raven: Coyote is a wily, unpredictable figure who teaches lessons through his foolishness and cleverness alike. Raven, often a creator trickster, is known for stealing the sun and bringing light to the world.

Voodou - Papa Legba: Papa Legba embodies wisdom, wit, and unpredictability. He can test people’s patience, humility, or sincerity, sometimes presenting obstacles to teach important lessons. He challenges assumptions and disrupts rigid structures, forcing individuals to adapt and grow.  Despite his trickster nature, he is generally seen as a benevolent and wise guide, helping those who show him respect.

African & Caribbean – Anansi: Anansi the Spider is a West African trickster who uses his wit and intelligence to outsmart stronger foes. He is both a cunning problem-solver and a mischievous troublemaker.

Greek – Hermes: Hermes, the messenger god, is also a trickster who steals, deceives, and breaks boundaries. He is associated with commerce, travel, and magic, making him a liminal figure between worlds.

Hoodoo – Br’er Rabbit: A figure from African American folklore, Br’er Rabbit is a clever trickster who outwits stronger enemies through cunning rather than strength.

Japanese - Kitsune: A Kitsune is a fox spirit known for its intelligence, shape-shifting abilities, and trickster nature. They can transform into human form, often appearing as beautiful women, monks, or ordinary travelers to deceive or test humans.

Celtic – Puck & The Fae: Puck (or Robin Goodfellow) is a playful trickster spirit of English folklore, often linked to the mischievous fae. The Fae themselves can be unpredictable and trick humans into bargains or illusions.

Islamic - Djinn: In folklore and legends, some djinn exhibit trickster-like qualities—granting wishes in ways that lead to unintended consequences or misleading people for their own amusement. This is why, in many stories, dealing with djinn requires caution, wisdom, and often specific rituals to avoid being deceived.

European - Reynard the Fox: Reynard is a classic trickster figure from European medieval folklore, particularly in French, Dutch, and German literature. He is a cunning and deceitful fox who outsmarts stronger and more powerful animals.

How They Interact with Witches

Trickster spirits can be guides, disruptors, and initiators in witchcraft. They challenge practitioners to question their assumptions, test their limits, and grow spiritually.

Common Ways They Manifest:

• In dreams, riddles, or visions.

• Through strange synchronicities or repeated symbols.

• By causing small mishaps that lead to deeper insights.

• Through divination (giving confusing or paradoxical answers).

Why Work with Trickster Spirits?

• To break through spiritual stagnation.

• To enhance cunning, creativity, and adaptability.

• To learn lessons in a non-traditional or unexpected way.

• To embrace the chaos and flow of life.

The Risks

• Unpredictability – They do not follow straightforward rules.

• Testing & Challenges – They might deceive you to force you to think deeper.

• Mischief & Pranks – They may cause minor disruptions to keep you on your toes.

• Moral Ambiguity – They do not adhere to human ethical frameworks.

How to Work with Trickster Spirits

Establish Boundaries - Tricksters love loopholes. When calling upon them, be clear about what you will and will not accept. Example:

"I invite only lessons that lead to wisdom, not harm."

Offerings & Gifts - Trickster spirits enjoy playful, unexpected, or symbolic offerings, such as:

• Coins (especially flipped or stolen ones).

• Jokes, riddles, or humorous poetry.

• Mirrors or objects that distort perception.

• Dice, playing cards, or trick objects.

Divination & Communication - Tricksters often communicate through:

• Tarot (especially The Fool, The Magician, and The Tower cards).

• Pendulum divination (sometimes answering playfully or misleadingly).

• Scrying, but with shifting or hidden images.

Ending a Relationship with a Trickster Spirit - If their presence becomes overwhelming, politely but firmly ask them to leave. A ritual to cut energetic ties with a trickster might involve:

• Burying their offering in the earth.

• Burning a symbolic item (like a playing card).

• Speaking a clear farewell intention:

“The game is done, the lesson learned, go now in peace, your presence turned.”

Trickster Spirits in Everyday Life

Trickster energy can manifest without summoning a specific spirit. Some signs of trickster influence:

• Objects disappearing and reappearing in odd places.

• Unexplained tech glitches at significant moments.

• Recurring jokes, puns, or trickster animals (foxes, crows, spiders).

• A sudden, unexpected twist of fate—sometimes lucky, sometimes challenging.

Example: Missing the bus only to run into an old friend you wouldn’t have met otherwise. Tricksters disrupt the expected to create new possibilities.

Tricksters are powerful, unpredictable, and wise in unconventional ways. Whether they come into your life as guides, tests, or mischief-makers, they always leave behind lessons in adaptability, resilience, and transformation.

[bengiyo]

BL 2024 Review

It’s been another year of BL. I wrote a review of 2023 and 2022, and I find myself struggling to write about this year. I feel like I had some incredible projects that I connected with this year, but I also found myself far more bored and frustrated with certain things than I was expecting. The most disheartening thing this year for me was the drop off in the number of quality Korean productions, and the end of my patience with Thai BL squandering viewer time and attention. Let’s get into some of the big ideas.

Japan is Still Here

Last year I commented that a third of all Japanese BL I had ever watched came out in 2023. We got even more this year, and we had longer runtimes! This is good for the kind of viewer I am. I find that I enjoy Japanese shows more often than any other BL-producing country, and they held down the bulk of my watching for the year.

This year I was blessed with two shows tackling a similar premise (actors falling for each other as they film a BL) and they were both good! I loved I Became The Main Role of a BL Drama so much, and we’re getting a sequel in 2025! I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy a moodier take on this premise when At 25:00 in Akasaka showed up, but I ended up enjoying that, too!

I properly watched Ossan’s Love and The Novelist at the start of this year, and I’m so glad I did, because goddamn did I enjoy Ossan’s Love Returns.

I also remain thankful for Tadaima Okaeri and Twilight Out of Focus for giving us worthwhile BL anime.

I'm thankful for Perfect Propose for giving me a man in his mid-20s leaving his horrible job after getting fed and jerked off by an old friend.

I'm thankful for Takara no Vidro for unpacking obsession in a relationship and solving it with healthy communication.

Finally, I'm thankful for Love is Like a Poison for blending a legal drama with a BL so effortlessly, and making it such a fun ride. I love that Shiba Ryoma can't fight for shit and was so down bad for his man.

The Cross-Cultural Adaptations Brought Out Great Discussion

I was glad we got Cherry Magic Thailand and My Love Mix Up Thailand this year in the order in which we got them. It was useful because they both came from GMMTV, and I had opposite reactions to both. I loved what they did with Cherry Magic, and stand by what I said on the podcast that I think it’s the best version of Cherry Magic (even if the anime is my favorite). This was useful, because I was really put off by the attempt at My Love Mix Up, and think they got a lot wrong. I’m glad the good show came first so I didn’t feel like I was being a Japanese version stan.

Adapting from danmei, I really wanted to like My Stand In, but bounced off the show not taking the horror of Joe’s situation seriously. Moreover, I think the commerce of the BL pair required them to soften and redeem Up’s character in a way that felt disingenuous for me. I wanted that man to be unhinged and far more toxic than they portrayed him. If this is the trend, I’d rather Thai teams invested in BL pair commerce avoid toxic danmei in the future.

In Taiwan, I was so impressed with Unknown. Despite the missteps on the sexual turn, that was one of the most engaging dramas we had within the genre this year. I was impressed at how seriously they took their family dynamics. That being said, Meet Me at the Blossom didn’t land for me. I would very much like to see a wuxia BL that hits for me without the dubious and non-consensual bits.

Over in Japan, I don’t think I’m enjoying Our Youth that much, and I wonder about whether certain aspects of the source material didn’t translate properly with some of the changes I’ve seen mentioned by viewers. It’s been a difficult experience, because I loved the scene of Minase fleeing Hirukawa’s room, but the show has really lost its emotional core for me.

However, I actually really enjoyed the Japanese version of Love in the Air, and think MeMindY timed this well with The Boy Next World starting right as the last episode of Love in the Air Japan finishes. It was clear to me that the Thai team was involved in the adaptation, and that the makers of the Japanese version loved LITA. I think both versions bring out something noteworthy in the characters, and I hope that the show is successful so we get more work from MeMindY as a result of the connections made here, because it’s clear that the money situation in Thailand might not be so hot right now.

Thai and Korean Money Must Be Drying Up

We’ve been wondering when the BL peak would hit and the decline would begin, and I think we’re starting to see some of those changes. I worry about how little we got from Korea this year, despite three incredible showings from Love for Love’s Sake, Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo, and Love in the Big City. Beyond those three, I don’t really feel like anyone missed out that much on the other offerings (maybe Time of Fever, but I have qualms with that show).

Beyond that, I remain worried about how much talent has consolidated at GMMTV. It’s a worrisome sign that they continue to gobble up all of the talent. Regardless of personal tastes for a particular brand of BGP (business gay performance), it’s pretty bad for all of us when one corporation is the only one making money on boys kissing each other (@respectthepetty).

Despite how much Thai BL I dropped, I did genuinely enjoy the relationship and friendship dynamics of Cooking Crush, Knock Knock Boys, Love Sea, and The Trainee.

The Gay Things I Loved

Enough musing. Let’s just talk about other things that I loved. This is the section where I beg you to watch the gay things that matter to me, and not just the boys whose IG reels get reposted here.

I absolutely loved the entire experience of the Love in the Big City book club. When @lurkingshan pitched the idea, I had no idea how many people would earnestly participate, that Anton Hur would share his time with us, or that the show would actually be so good. LITBC was so good that conservative Koreans protested its airing. I loved everything we did this year around that book and show, and wanna say thanks again to everyone who engaged with us.

I also adored Marahuyo Project. I love that ANIMA Studios didn’t end after Like in the Movies. JP Habac came back with a banger. That show said it was LGBTQIA+ and it meant it with its whole heart. I really loved this show as a true examination of the evolving landscape of youth queerness in the modern era more than anything else I watched this year. Go watch it.

I did not expect a show about a reformed misogynist to be my favorite show of the year, but here I am still begging all of you to watch Don’t Care For An Old Man’s Underwear! (@isaksbestpillow)This show made me cry every single week because of how good every moment hit. I have rarely experienced such an immense feeling of compassion as I received from this show.

In 2022, we watched She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, and we wondered if NHK would come back and finish what they started, and goddamn did they deliver. I think about Nomoto and Kasuga about as much as I think about Shiro and Kenji (What Did You Eat Yesterday?) now, and if Japan doesn’t figure out a way for both of those couples to meet, I will be forever disappointed. Go watch it. (@furritsubs)

Finally, I will be forever thinking about the confession through the wall in Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo, how they intercut the youth and adult sex, and the way Dohoe apologized to Hyeonho. Hwang Da Seul finally got all of the pieces right here. She loves to see a couple get back together after a big separation, and she succeeded here. This show earned its youth romance, and earned its reunion. She understands how important it is for gay people to stop trapping each other. We threw that cross in the trash, and cried because of Yahoo answers. We all won.

My Tastes are Changing

Last year I engaged with about 99 productions. This year it’s under 75 with 26 that I didn’t finish. I hesitate to say that the genre is getting worse, when I feel like things are where they’ve been for a long time. However, it’s clear that I’m changing and am less interested in seeing what I deem to be weak attempts at familiar storytelling tropes.

I think what I’ve noticed the most about my tastes changing is that it’s making me write less. The fandom has contracted dramatically on Tumblr, and I find myself growing distant from the predominant reactions. With there being less people to vibe with, I’ve been reacting less in real time. Despite that, I hope to continue posting round ups with my BL blurbs and @the-conversation-pod.

All in all, 2024 is a difficult year for me. I think I enjoyed BL less overall, but the things I did enjoy I enjoyed more than previous years. It’s a difficult space for me to navigate, because I think this is actually what I wanted. I will continue to appreciate that the BL genre enables the funding for the big gay projects that I love. So, even if I think GMMTV going literally all-in on BL is going to lead to a ton of garbage, I still remain hopeful that the homos with something interesting to say can make the projects they want.

[thelaststranding]

@fragilehiggs

HOW TO IMPORT HIGGS 3D MODEL INTO BLENDER / MODELS FROM GAMES INTO BLENDER

figured id make this a post because it’d be easier.. might help other people too!!! on how to put higgs into blender. you probably know some of the stuff i’m gonna explain but for good measure will bring up. this is extremely long because its the sort of thing i wouldve massively appreciated but i unfortunately instead basically had to figure it out going off of little to nothing

—

blender is a 3d program that allows you to import models from games into there which can then be rigged, posed, and animated. people take these models from games using programs called ninjaripper or greyhound. essentially this just goes into the files of the game and takes out the assets. if it’s an asset, it can be taken out. you would then have to rig the model yourself (basically put a skeleton to pose it.) this takes very long and is inconvenient.

luckily, people do this for you. you don’t need to rip your own assets out and rig, which is a hassle and you usually need to pay for these useful programs. a great spot for getting models that have been ripped from games is deviantart. however, there is no telling how these models can perform. they could be badly rigged, or could have messed up textures. unfortunately, such is the case for the one and only higgs model… https://www.deviantart.com/kanbara914/art/Death-Stranding-Higgs-XPS-864224744

the good news is that i fixed the textures. the bad news is that the rigging is absolutely beyond busy. he is poseable, yes, but the amount of points there are makes it really hard to. i’m yet to figure out a better way and might start ripping and rigging my own models. despite having fixed the textures i am unsure if i can export the fixed version. thus.. another tutorial will come through on to do that. unfortunately it takes awhile. all of this requires lots of patience, trial, and error.

so, now, how exactly do we start? FIRSTLY, we need to revisit downloading blender. the current up-to-date blender will NOT work. you need to download blender 2.80, NOT anything else. well, how do you get an older version?

in order to get an older version, navigate to blender.org/download/previous-versions/ and scroll down a bit to you see ‘download any blender version.’ here is a good tutorial but i believe that it is a little outdated so i will explain it furthermore. https://youtu.be/WmlijP9D67o?si=QHhpOQ_D_0LWJP9M this is the one i followed however so, the premise is the same.

we click on download any blender version and it looks quite overwhelming. dont be too worried, you just need to look closely and scroll till you see Blender2.80 . we then click on that and you need to find your operating system. im going to assume you run windows, and if so, pick blender-2.80-windows64.zip from the list.

navigate to your files, and then open up the zip file that you just downloaded. click blender 2.8 again and then what you see is going to look a little busy. dont be fooled, its actually not. just scroll down and find blender.exe. press this and itll bring up a simple process -- all you should have to do is press a few buttons and optimize it like any other download for an application such as blender. it should be installed like regular blender, and if its not on your desktop, simply go to blender.exe in your files in applications. i recommend pinning it to your taskbar.

here comes the next step. there is something called xnalara. i will keep the history of it rather brief but its quite interesting. xnalara was an older program that allowed people back then to rip models from games and import them into the xnalara program. that program is rather old and i rather not use it, however, im thinking about looking into it. its good to use blender regardless because of its studio-accredited attributes. its professional.

some awesome dude later down the line created something called a xnalara add-on for blender. this allowed you to download models ripped from games posted on deviantart that are optimized for xnalara. the file name for these xnalara optimized models end in .xps . these will not regularly be imported into blender, because it doesnt support it. however, this add-on will allow you to do such.

im going to explain how to download it but watching this video regardless is essential. you will probably need to go back to it now and then.

since youre particularly interested in importing higgs, i will keep it relatively broad but touch on his model a bit more because i am more familiar but this process applies to most models. navigate to https://www.deviantart.com/kanbara914/art/Death-Stranding-Higgs-XPS-864224744 and scroll down into the description of the post. click on the link, mega.nz/file/y88wyQpS#eDkcsSmW… so on and so forth. it will ask you if you want to leave deviantart and click the link again to go there.

you're now in MEGA. this website will allow you to store downloads for people, and i can assure you its safe. i would never download anything im not sure of -- my PC is my baby lol. look down to the bottom right and youll see "SAVE" and "SAVE TO MEGA." pick save. it will download, and you need to look to the top right and click where your downloads are. this will take a couple minutes, grab some water and a snack. when its done, click on it in the tray to open it.

youre going to be overwhelmed by everything you see. do not fret! just close it, dont unzip it. just make sure it exists. you can close MEGA and deviantart now. you now need to refer to the video i linked if you want to follow along with more resources. we need to install the XNALARA add-on for blender 2.80 which can allow us to put it into blender.

before i continue i want to say, being familiar will blender as a whole will be an insane help. unfortunately the only way i figured out some of the stuff that i did was because i knew how to just going off of the program. most tutorials will not have answers for this small issues... but i most likely do especially for this specific model.

here is the add-on. https://github.com/johnzero7/XNALaraMesh . github will look relatively the same as it does in the video. look to your right, youre going to see a bolded 'releases', and under it, XPSTools v2.0.2 or something along the lines of that. you dont need to see the other releases, it's best to have the latest one. click on it.

its going to open up the description of the file. the above is important to note because it says it works with the blender that you just downloaded. if there are any issues for whatever reason with using blender 2.80 (approximately the version from ~2020) those are other versions which are applicable. for the sake of my sanity im gonna explain how to open it in blender 2.80 .

go down to the bolded 'assets'. under it you will see 3 links -- click on the first one which ends in .zip . it will download in the download tray. if your computer tries to flag it or anything as unsafe, click away from that and allow it anyways. this program has been used by thousands for years. it will soon finish downloading. MAKE SURE THE XNALARA ADD ON IS SAVED ON YOUR DESKTOP!!!

go ahead and open up blender 2.80 now. if you have the newest blender installed already make sure youre picking the older version. it will open a terminal alongside of blender, while its running. dont close it. click general.

if you have never used blender, please watch a video on the basics such as this one. https://youtu.be/Z8sg0nHNTTo?si=zjR4aBHVF8XX_Qdn this is the only way to realistically be able to attempt messing with said model, unfortunately. unironically, rendering roblox avatars was a huge stepping stone and aid to my experience with this. i genuinely recommend you do it before you try and do something like this. here is an amazing, step-by-step tutorial that needs no explaining out of the video. https://youtu.be/kpALOtLhX-Q?si=4UrhkBTIK5qYOBfS

from here, this is a much better tutorial to follow >> https://youtu.be/8mqUqob3P3o?si=14a50v88IPZx6O8Y . find yourself at the time stamp of 1:46, the previous is the steps you have already done. go back to blender if you have made it this far, lmao. click on the cube and delete that motherfucker.

look at the top toolbar. it says things like file, edit, render, window, etc. you want to pick edit and scroll to preferences. youll see many options but youre going to want to click add-ons on the left. then, at the top left, click install. go to DESKTOP and click XNALaraMesh.2.02.zip and click install add-on from file on the top right. make sure its the ZIP. this is gonna bring you to a menu with potentially many other downloads. scroll down till you see XNALARA if so. MAKE SURE IT HAS A CLICKED CHECK MARK ON THE LEFT.

go down to the three bars on the bottom left and make sure to save preferences. you can then close that and go back to blender. it will now be one of your downloaded add-ons available! go to the top left again and hit file, import, and XNALARA / XPS. itll hover and youll see another option. make sure to pick XNALara/XPS Model (ascii./.mesh/.xps) . click it and pick Load an XNALara model file.

this will open up your file explorer within blender. click desktop and click on the higgs model you saved earlier. clicking it will lead to 2 files, click xps.xps . press Import in the top right. it will take a hot minute to pull everything into blender, be patient. once its imported scroll inwards and look at the son of a bitch. the rig is gonna be highlighted orange and hes gonna be gray. click to anywhere other than the model and face the enemy.

due to the shading settings, his textures arent showing. simply go to the top left where you see 4 ish circles, the second one should be selected. select the one to its right, viewport shading, and give it a second to load his textures in. its gonna look nothing like him. youre gonna have to fix the textures, brave soldier.

--

will post another tutorial if you decide to go through with this or if anyone does because unpacking all of that is such a pain in the ass but i promise it isnt rocket science. just not gonna do it if it isnt asked for because i spent 3 hours figuring out how to fix it the first time i imported his model -- the creator says nothing about this on the download or how to fix it unfortunately and its quite janky :(

if you even made it this far in reading, congratulations, youre a winner. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS AT ALL PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK and i will answer them to the best of my ability.

SAVE THE IMPORTED MODEL TO REVISIT!!!!!!

[avidabsurdist]

Every time a new Brandon Sanderson book is released everyone updates their suggested reading order but all you need is the patience to be uninformed and enjoy the book!

But depending on your preference the best story to start with will be different.

If you want a crash course on the basics of The Cosmere's magic physics (Aka Investiture) so you can hypothesize on how other magic works I suggest the short story "The Emperor's Soul" as a starting point, it gives a solid overview of Realmic theory and covers Identity (a rather difficult idea to communicate) very effectively. (this is the start of the PhD route)

If you want something that's more like a traditional fairy tale as an intro I suggest Tress Of the Emerald Sea, which doesn't require a PhD in the shattering to understand. (though if you're going the PhD route I suggest reading this one later because if you're questioning the magic it's a far more confusing one)

Warbreaker is a good middle ground, if you're going the PhD route I suggest this second (it covers Intention which "The Emperor's Soul" doesn't), It's not a bad starting place either, it was my first book in The Cosmere and it's up for free on The Sand-Man's website. It's also all-around an excellent book.

I'm going to be (a tad) controversial and say I enjoy Elantris, it's certainly not Brando-Sando's best work but it was his first, and it's not a bad book to start with! just keep in mind that many of the issues in the book are things he improves on in later books.

Mistborn is two (soon to be 3) series, we distinguish them by 'Era' and they should be read in order if you want to make sense of what's going on.

Mistborn Era 1 (3 books) is also an excellent place to start, it's a YA-style series so you follow a teenager in a Post-(more like perpetual)-Apocalypse, but it's also an Epic high fantasy so if you like those and don't mind romance It's a good one.

"Mistborn Secret History": read this after Mistborn Era 1 if you're going the PHD route read anytime before The Lost Metal (Era 2 Book 4) for everyone else. (PhD track: if you want the most out of it I suggest also reading White Sand first)

Mistborn Era 2 (4 books) is a high fantasy Western set in the same world much later in time, 10/10 no notes, it's excellent.

The Stormlight Archive, TheBigOne™ It is planned to be a 10-book series with accompanying Novellas. I suggest reading in chronological order including the short stories, published so far that would be:

The Way of Kings

Words of Radiance

"Edgedancer" (novella)

Oathbringer

"Dawnshard" (novella)

Rhythm of War

Start with this series if you thirst for sprawling high-fantasy novels with page counts that would make grown men weep (the Audiobook for RoW was like 48 hours long)

The entirety of Arcanum Unbounded is not required reading, (unless you're on the PhD track) but it contains both "The Emperor's Soul" and "Edgedancer", you should probably read Elantris, Mistborn Era 1, Alloy Of Law (MB Era 2 Book 1), and Stormlight (up to Words of Radiance). If you enjoy Graphic Novels and dislike spoilers/rereading stuff when you haven't finished it yet I suggest skipping the White Sand excerpt.

White Sand is also not a terrible intro, it covers a theme in B-Sandy's work that isn't directly related to the cosmere but will give you a good insight into whether you'll like his work or not: the idea that skill is developed, not just inherent. if you're like me and dislike graphic novels GraphicAudio™ (actually a company not a joke) Has an Audio rendition that has some narrative differences from the Graphic novels (iirc at least one character is a different gender) But the Graphic novels also have a random boombox on a planet with no electricity so either should be fine.

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is in a similar situation to Tress of The Emerald Sea except instead of a classic European Folktale Vibe it's got a Western Interpretation of Anime Vibe, ofc it's high fantasy like all Sandon Branderson's work so it's world is inspired by Japanese culture rather than just being Japanese.

The Sunlit Man read Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell (Arcanum Unbounded), and at least Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive 3) before this one, unless you like being thrown into the deep end, Mistborn Era 1 & 2 would also help.

There are other routes than Ph.D., there's also the Galactic Politics route, The Secret Society route, The Worldhopper Watcher route, The Ancient History route (Aka The Shattering route) ect

if you want specific reading route recs just tell me what you're looking for I can help!

[castletown-cafe]

It’s been about 2 and a half weeks since Chapters 3 and 4 have released, which means I think it’s now OK to stream playthroughs (it may have been OK at launch but everyone was playing them then and obviously wouldn’t be watching the streams in order to avoid spoilers). Hopefully I won’t struggle as much due to there being more guides by now (but those risk spoilers).

I do have more faith in myself now than I did when attempting Chapter 4 on the 7th when I was very sleep deprived and impatient with myself, feeling a deep sense of urgency and needing to get through it as soon as possible, so I became very impatient with myself. Given my brain likes to freak out when there’s a problem or something is difficult, that got in the way, too (I have both autism, ADHD, as well as clinical anxiety, plus severe emotional dysregulation that I’ve battled my whole life). The lack of sleep wasn’t helping either, and it could have been caused by the stress of “urgency” I felt.

I have gotten over that episode of learned helplessness and internalized ableism, though there’s no telling when it may want to strike again, but I keep telling it “I beat Jevil on Pacifist 3 times. You know what works? Putting on a podcast to distract my mind so my reflexes do the work”. That’s how I do it. 😂 that is my solution. It does seem to shut that nasty little beast up! Ha!

Anyway, I haven’t streamed on Twitch in a few weeks, so I’m gonna replay Chapter 3 starting tonight and this time try to unlock the secret boss (I skipped it the first time because I didn’t have the patience to spend battling the miniboss required in order to proceed). Unlocking the secret bosses are becoming more challenging (finding the Eggs are also becoming more long and convoluted too, though I didn’t mind the Egg quest in Chapter 3 at all, it was actually pretty cool).

What I like about streaming is the feeling that I’m not alone when playing. ❤️ and people in the chat may offer suggestions if I’m having difficulty (or sometimes say to do a thing I already did lmao).

With that, it’s time to get the stream set up. I may start with a little Animal Crossing before switching to Deltarune (because I have AC on the brain as well).

[meli-writes]

Boar and the Lamb - Ch. 04

(Read on AO3) /// (First) / (Previous)

Consort not-to-fucking-well-be Lantarelle wakes unexhausted for the first time in two miserable, Gods-be-taintlickingly-damned weeks. Another accursed extension to the now several months of delirious, anger-smothered terror. She’s never going to admit how much she needed this, having previously wrenched all she could from herself fleeing from the caravan meant to be her doom. The one that was supposed to carry her off to be some dirt-smeared barbarian’s captive.

Oh! As she is right— fucking— now.

Lant is used to the damnable chains by now, it’s the weight of the blanket she notices first, followed then by the small toy standing to a dutiful, squeezed attention in her hands — insultingly-soft, offensively-reassuring.

She pushes it to the floor, down into a pile that the wind-stolen blanket makes as it flies off of her, when the door rocks open and watches as her crude captor scrambles to shut it against the bitter, need-to-fuck-off winds. The hunter’s boots press into the floorboards, till she’s ridden up on her toes just to leverage the required weight to shut and bar the door.

She doesn't seem that bad to Lantarelle. And it’s difficult for Lantarelle to like anyone, let alone some tall… dark-haired… dull-witted peasant-creature like this one.

But her attempts to help Lant are admirable, at the least. But she doesn’t want to prepare herself for how she’s going to feel when this doesn’t fucking work.

The hunter doesn’t show if she spots Lantarelle’s swift decantation of the comforts snuck onto her, too wrapped up in undressing from the outside; stomping snow off boots; letting a half-rusted hacksaw clatter in front of them both. It takes all of Lant’s will not to grab it, and to sit instead with immeasurable patience as the hunter kneels before her — as she should — and begins to work on clipping the chains where they meet collar-and-manacle.

When she can coax Lantarelle to lie down — and let her arms and other various parts be pinned to the floor as some form of perplexingly-pleasant bracing — she saws desperately slow through each restraint left, careful not to leave Lant with any more scars.

And, at last — at-fucking-last — they’re all pried away.

The moment Lantarelle feels her neck unburdened, never to fucking miss the sickly-sour fizzle of the anti-magic metal, she hoists herself up and bolts for the door. She stops only to grab a childish shrift the hunter had brought out for her earlier, unable to replace the one she had cut from her — clueless to its ridiculous value. Shrift thrown over herself, she tries to remember how the hunter jammed the door shut, but behind her—

“Hey! It’s still cold out there,” the hunter wails, taking her at the wrist.

Before Lantarelle has even thought about the spell she’s casting consciously, she’s already stolen the warmth from the hunter’s arm, and hears her yelp; feels her skin tear as the hunter pulls free before her hand is frozen whole.

Lant knows she’s been wanting to hurt someone, and it seems like it was want enough not to have considered who she did it to. “Said I don’t need your help,” she reminds with a bitter after-taste. “Got enough magic to—”

Shit-fuck!

Lant stumbles. Over the skinned remains of a once beautiful animal, now reduced to a pitiful ornamentation for the floor. The dead fur prickles her bare feet, and she doesn’t bother to explain what won’t be understood. The cold is meaningless to her.

And she can’t have far to go now.

She manages to loosen the door at last, and leaves without shutting it.

---

And she hasn’t made it a dozen paces into the half-lightened squall before she hears a raucous manner of racket start to spill from the cabin. She rises higher and higher in the snow, till she’s treading on top of it like a shrew; it lets her pick out a rushed but rote order to the hunter’s noisome endeavour, and it isn’t a surprise when the snow starts to moan behind her.

“You don’t— have to— need— my help— to get it,” the hunter pushes out, inbetween hot sucks on cold air and messy, unensorcelled trods through Lantarelle’s pristine wake.

Lantarelle stops.

She’s surprised to turn and see the hunter clad in snow-shoes. Not quite as snow-fucked as in the boots. Her eyes run over the rest of her: sword in its sheath; flintlock tucked in her belt, with a bandolier of powder-stuffed flasks for at least four shots; sack over her shoulder.

It won’t be enough.

She makes as much as she continues walking, “They’ll send worse after me than caravan guards,” and doesn’t look to confirm, but hasn’t picked any pace the hunter shouldn’t be able to keep up with.

“Yeah— well,” she mutters at Lant near-conversationally, despite how her unmasked nose flushes red, and her scarf’s loose ends are drawn by the wind towards the dark forest, “if, like me, you know what you’re doing. Then we can get where ya need to go without them, your ominous worse-than-caravan-guard, ever seeing you.”

If Lant was fuelled appropriately on six-sugar’d tea right now she would order a thorough explanation from the hunter like she’d tell her spoilt, missed handmaiden to mop up spilt milk with her own servant-dress.

She is not. And she doesn’t—

Doesn’t need her help.

“And even if they do spot us,” the hunter continues, “I’ll just… bury myself in the snow! Pray to at least three gods. And assume you can handle it.”

There’s a frustrating amount of… sentiment to the girl that Lant can’t quite place where it comes from.

“You do know where you’re going?”

And that makes Lantarelle pause.

Shrew-toes curl into the powder as deep as her magic will allow. She tries, “Ye—”

“No,” the hunter interrupts. It’s the first stern word she’s said. She’s stopped too; one shoe pointed towards her, the other off into the trees in an unfamiliar direction.

“You don’t,” she says, “Do you?”

Lant can feel how the hunter wants to move. To block her — knowing that Lant would have to let her — or to have Lant follow.

“It’s a— coaching inn,” Lant explains, not sternly.

The hunter doesn’t waste a second, and says it for her, “The Boar and Lamb?”

Whatever snort sprouts itself out of Lantarelle’s nose appears to confirm the hunter’s brusque supposition. It certainly sounds like the name of the place; it’s hard to remember with how uncreative Humans can be.

It also isn’t the obvious choice for the hunter to make.

Not the largest one around, nor the most propitious. Below notice without stooping so low as to become an expected part of the criminal ecosystem. The comfortable no man’s land of known and dull.

Her contact seemed to trust it, and she wasn’t in a position to argue.

“I’m meeting someone there,” Lantarelle says, disconcerted at the relief she feels to have shared that, how it warms her at the nape. She takes a step forward to escape it, and rebuffs that, “So yes, I know where I’m going.”

“You might not reach it going that way,” the hunter tells her.

Both her feet now are pointing in that unfamiliar direction, and then she taps them.

“And we aren’t going to find it that way either,” Lant tries to counter. Knowing of course that it’s this hunter’s secret, less necessarily-murderous alternate path. She waits for the hunter’s answer, and finds it in impatient feet itching to move.

Lantarelle doesn’t. Lets her cross over and catch up.

“Reach it. Not find it,” the hunter says when she does. “I can get us there before sundown, even in this weather.”

If Lantarelle is lucky — Ha! What a thought. — then her contact will still be there. She’s late, but when in her life hasn’t she been accorded that privilege.

“If that’s okay?”

The Gods can give it to her one last fucking time.

You. Me. We. Us.

The dim warmth in her isn’t magic.

“Works for me.”

---

(Masterpost)

[ddostoyevskyy]

❝𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐖 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍❞

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐗: Beast Beneath the Moonlight!

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒... no in particular! lmk if there’s something.

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄... so sorry if this definitely comes off quite OOC for the characters. I’m actually writing this fic with little information about the anime since I haven’t watched and read the BSD manga for so long, and I honestly missed it:( Anyhow, this chapter contains trigger warnings and sloppy writing. And, this chapter might reveal half of what the reader’s ability! ;)

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒... 4.9K (oops)

SERIES MASTERLIST

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒: 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄, 𝐈, 𝐈𝐈, 𝐈𝐈𝐈, 𝐈𝐕, 𝐕, 𝐕𝐈, 𝐕𝐈𝐈, 𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈, 𝐈𝐗

“Stop that,” You mumbled, pushing him away as you put your hands in the pocket of your coat. Your face was flushed of — you don’t even know what to feel right now; were you mad? Embarrassed? The sudden contact and proximity that closed the gap between the two of you caught you off guard. “Stop making everything feels like it’s about you for me.”

“Was it not? You ran away because the both of us won’t work together well. You were indecisive, I was always sure of myself. So, are you telling me that you did that for yourself? You were indecisive, (Name). But you were never selfish when it comes to things like this.” You walk ahead, following the white haired young man in front. You didn’t look back at him, and he never paces himself to walk besides you.

He’s creating a safe distance. And that what makes you irks more.

Ranpo is the type of person that doesn’t know what personal space is. Wether he’s often shoving his face to yours or subtly touching your wrist like it’s the only signal to know if you’re breathing or not. If you’re real and your mind is present to where he wants your attention to be. You’re subconsciously slipping in consciousness and Ranpo’s attentive.

So, he doesn’t understand how you two won’t work together well. When he can perfectly blend with you even as you act as though you were the oil and he’s the water.

“You’re wrong about me, then,” You answered, voice distant. “Many things have change. If you still think that way about me, then you’re the one whose stucked in the past.”

Ranpo heaves a deep sigh coming on his chest, just so you could hear his frustration. Your attitude were definitely testing waters with his patience — and neither was he a patient man. But being close with you like this requires patience and he’s willing to give that to you atleast, for the time being. He remembered your patience before; he was definitely a little shit. A smart little shit.

And now he realized. You were reflecting his attitude when he was younger as much as he was reflecting your calm nature.

“Ah... uhm, Ranpo-san?” Atsushi’s hesitant voice snapped him out of his trance as he raised a brow over the young man who looked quite awkward for his own good. “We’re about to be picked up by a car somewhere as Kenji said.”

“Wait,” You interfere, “I thought we were just having a stroll over a murder that had already happened? What does this mean?” You paused with your eyebrow knitted together in anticipation and a bit of annoyance. “This only means one thing, then. A murder is about to take place.”

“Precisely,” Ranpo answered, “The car thing has to be part of ours, right? You’ve noticed how this place were near trees and mountains.”

“I definitely don’t like where this is going.” You mumbled.

“You have no choice.”

“Leave your belongings on the hidden compartment in the trunk.” Ranpo ordered as you huffed, wrapping your fingers on the strap of your shoulder bag, you maneuver around the back of the car, lifting the trunk as you searched for the hidden lift. There’s definitely a hidden compartment and you pursed lips when you found hand guns and counted knifes. You put your bag on top of them as you slammed the trunk back close.

“Uh, Miss (Name)?” Atsushi whispers your name as he slowly approaches you with the utmost hesitation. “Are you and Ranpo-san not in good terms? I... I mean...! I know you both knew each other before, but...”

“Yes, yes,” You reply when he trailed off, hesitated, and you thought of him as a tiger tucking down and wagging its tail to reveal his intentions without aggression, just pute curiosity. “We’ve known each other and was raised by the President. Why did you ask?”

“He wasn’t really like that... I mean, his attitude; he’s always laid-back and brash about his talent, but I know he is all that. It’s just something new to me to see him somewhat pissed but calm.” Atsushi replied, hands softly waving in front of him with an awkward smile. Now that he mentions, he definitely seems pissed by the tone of his voice. His eyes were opened, emerald gaze focused and lips pursing then and there with the outright pattern. It was something new for Atsushi, but you knew too well. You’ve already seen his side like this before.

“He’s not definitely pissed at some point. I’m sure about that,” You mumbled, “He’s focusing.”

“Oh, is that so?” Atsushi breathe a sigh, “He looks really scary like this.”

You scoffed a smile. “He’s much scarier in action. Despite having no knowledge about physical attributes, a man with intelligence is much scarier than a man with a sword.”

Atsushi gave you a smile of relief, his yellow-purple hues softening as he watched you excuse yourself and walk towards Ranpo. Your brown coat swiftly brushes along the wind, some of your hair out of your low bun dancing along. Ranpo’s gaze on you were sharp; but he spoke with his unusual voice — gone were the tone of his when Atsushi witnessed him solve a crime for the first time in the river. It made him realize that you weren’t just a person in the past as Ranpo told him with the same tone of voice he’s pertaining talking to you right now.

Your bond is special. That must be why Ranpo is being wary of you. Not because he thought that you might be up to no good; but he knew something has changed. And he never wants to admit that he didn’t much change at all as much as what and where are those time goes by. Ranpo definitely wanted to make you admit that you didn’t change at all as you told him that you did.

Time flies. Ranpo stayed on the same ground, and you wanted to change path.

The silence through the ride as you drive speaks louder than words. You could hear Atsushi’s comical heartbeat and Ranpo’s shifted breathing. He was asleep, head nestled on the car’s window as he’s seated on the passenger’s seat, arms crossed and raven hair tousled without his newsboy hat.

Your eyes were fixated on the road, heart stuttering with adrenaline. This would be the first time working without the Paxley; one of your seniors in the field.

The firm loves to pair brain and brawn every chance they get — and Louisville Kingsley Paxley is one of the greatest swordman you’ve met. His ability, however, isn’t that useful when it comes to solving cases nor it was useful for catching culprits; his ability were quite dangerous — and you always  think of it as mere vacuum machine. His ability was called The Soul Thief. You figured it was just an accident. But at that time, he unconsciously did show you how his ability works.

Both brain and brawn — although you can admit yourself as someone keen too, there are really those times where you realized that there’s someone and there will be someone that’s better than you. You knew that too well.

You knew. That’s why (even though it’s difficult to admit) — you ran away.

Because if you keep yourself being close, being too close to him, you knew you won’t survive without him anymore. You knew. And, he don’t understand. He don’t understand the possibilities and responsibilities if that’d would happened.

He’s looking forward to it.

And as a child whose never been loved by man, let alone her father — it was too hard to accept.

Your feet step on the brakes with a gasp, eyes widening when you noticed what’s ahead — the sound of chilling calls and symphony of wings shifting in the air — the car abruptly stopped, your body almost slumping forward, back slamming down on the car seat again with the help of the seatbelt.

Crows.

Your eyes squinted, heart palpilating and throat drying when your eyes made contact with one of them — like a piercing glare, it looks down on you like a prey. You hated them. It reminds you of a nightmare where they would knock on your window pane, atleast three times before howling as though imitating the wolf’s vain. The sky seemingly darkened; covered by their darkening wings as they flung in the air with never-ending sign of danger.

“Don’t look,” A voice snapped you out of clouded thoughts, your hand in the steering wheel being planted with warm ones before it is gone, same as your eyesight. Your eyes were abruptly covered with a soft material before it was tied on the back of your head and you realized Ranpo’s tying a blindfold over your eyes. “Keep your ears from hearing their noises.”

Keep listening to my heartbeat so it would calm you down. You like hearing it, right? — “No, no, no, no,” You wave your hands in the air, “I’m fine, it’s fine. No, I don’t need —”

“You clearly do.” His voice were affirmative and firm with a bucket of sternness and you were quick to stop your frantic hands from waving, your ears instinctively had their attention to his heartbeat in command, your ability raking through the cells of your body and it made you take a sharp inhale from your lungs.

“Atsushi, did you hurt yourself? Are you alright there?” You hear him say, before his palm travel to your wrist.

“Yes... Yes! I’m fine. Just a bit caught off-guard. Is Miss (Name) alright? She seems a bit flustered.”

“Yeah. She’s not too fond of crows.”

You bit your tounge to refrain yourself from talking, too focus with Ranpo’s heartbeat pumping in your ears. He’s got the gentlest rhythm, yet firm and loud as though mimicking his determination and ideals.

“We have to go. This crows seems like someone’s ability and we don’t need to go undercover anymore,” You retorts, snatching your wrist away from the man on the passenger’s seat before removing the blindfold over your eyes. You hand the thing back to him without meeting his eyes that’s boring into your movements without fail. “If you two are going to decide that you’re going to go physical over this investigation, I suggest you go and tell me about it beforehand or I might not be nice.”

The car door slammed open and close at your command as you hop out of the car, leaving the two inside.

“Miss (Name) is not that nice to begin with.” You heard the muffled voice and your face twitched.

“She’s a legal authority. She’s much nicer other than the officers we already met, y'know.” You heard Ranpo replied and you rolled your eyes. You look ahead, eyes trailing over the opened black gates as you squinted. There are other cars, police cars to be exact, the color of blues and red wails over as you walk straight to the path. The mansion is huge and the structure is enough to tell how the people might be an old money rich.

“I told you, we don’t need such show anymore. The area is already covered with police.” You acknowledged when the two already catch up by your side, their eyes trailing in front.

“Why would it be covered this early if this mansion is hidden?” Atsushi voiced out his curiousity and you understood his point.

“Well, they’re quite known, especially in media. One moment they were gone and it’s all over the news. It’s no wonder since their family’s legacy are being preserved carefully.” You filled the young man’s question as you finally arrived where the do not cross yellow tape hovers and suddenly, all eyes were shifted in attention of the newcomers.

“Oh, wait. We actually don’t need any lawsuits here. The case were already close and the culprit’s not in need of an attorney. So, you can leave.” A sudden officer had appeared in front, leaving you with an eyebrow raised.

“Clearly expected less of an officer who doesn’t have an experience with ability users also lacks an ability to think thoroughly before deciding if this case is in need of an attorney or a veterinarian, no?” You huffed with the most gentlest smile you can afford to show, which appeared to be a hint of glare without an actual smile plastered on your lips — nothing. You glared through your eyelashes, lips pursing in a frown as you shift foot to another.

“What?! —”

“Passing through, passing through!” Ranpo exclaimed, ripping through the yellow tape barricades as he hovers over, a few officers coming to stop him from getting closer but you already followed the man shortly, making the officers abruptly moves away in command.

“What do you think? An ability user, huh?” You stood besides Ranpo as he muttered, staring down at the corpse of a man with his eyes gone and dripping red, probably plucked down by a crow, gnawed down until the back of his head. “It looks like he died with slow torture too. Crows is a predator that likes to chew their prey nice and slow.”

“Yes. However, an ability to control such animal like that requires a huge amount of accuracy and nearness of the user. Don’t you think it’s odd if this mansion’s almost abandoned and the family that owned this place’s already have their own path?” You retorted as you looked around.

The mansion looks abandoned; the grass were fully grown without the idea of getting it nurtured with its leaves turning pale yellow. The fountain in the middle were full of rainwater and supple leaves had already submerged, floating gradually and everything around just looks... out of place.

“That’s correct, however...” Ranpo confirmed, his eyes trailing over Atsushi and you already knew his point — which is also can be the point.

The ability user can also have the ability to turn into the crow itself.

It’s possible. As much as how diverse and each of the abilities in the world could be different and useful to its user.

As much as it satisfy the wants and needs of its user.

“Hey, are you listening?”

“Huh? Did I miss something?”

“No, I didn’t actually say anything.” Ranpo replied, squinting his eyes on you and you huffed a sigh.

“Crows doesn’t actually mean death, y'know,” Ranpo pointed out, sticking his finger to poke you on the cheek, “Maybe this case just needs a veterinarian and not someone like us.”

“Maybe, if this does just needs a veterinarian, Kenji won’t ask you to hop on a train and travel almost an hour to come here, right?” You bite back and the latter pouts, mumbling something about being too smart for your own good and you shook your head in disbelief.

“You already meddle too much. Now, what’s the real deal here if you’re so smart, huh?” The same officer appeared before you.

“Atleast you were aware that we’re out of your league,” You started, “In all honesty, the air in this place is too humid for crows to nest as they tend to nest somewhere more damp. The way the victim died is nowhere as natural as how crows kill.”

“Because crows doesn’t kill humans,” Ranpo added, “Unless they feel threatened, they will attack to protect their offsprings. But they can’t kill the way the victim died.”

“Did you happened to bump into many crows on your way here?” You asked the officer who stares at you in confusion and you confirmed.

The thing you saw earlier, you were the only one who saw it.

Your eyes traveled to Ranpo, almost as if you were glaring at the man yet with no hate. You were sure they also saw that through at first — but the way Ranpo had avoided to look in your eyes right now proves the point.

“We never encountered such things.”

You didn’t know how many times you’ve been spacing out by now as you stare at some space after Ranpo decided to excuse the three of you out of that place to catch the culprit as he said — now sitting on the train destinated a little more farther in urban areas, you could almost feel the supple chilling air as the train continues to stride in full force, skin prickling at the sudden change of temperature.

“How did you know I was getting visions earlier?” You voiced out, unable to stay oblivious by the fact that he knew what was happening. He shifted to his seat right besides you.

“You hated crows.” He mumbles. He remembered.

“Do you still remember the visions I unconsciously made you see?”

“I couldn’t forget,” He answers, “You look so scared. You look vulnerable. That’s the only memory I coud keep after seeing you with independence and will as strong now. That you would and could still have that same vulnerability you had before..... you had that expression earlier and I couldn’t erase that possibility that easy.”

You fell silent. There it is, the way your heartbeat constantly sped up. Maybe it’s the vulnerability you started hating when your mind constantly screams how it shows weakness — and weakness isn’t one in your vocabulary anymore. You hate it with compassion; you’re smarter than average, you have a strong will and ideals to hold on so you won’t fall apart and emotions, emotions is your biggest enemy, it is the only thing that you don’t understand that most of the average does.

So, you don’t understand the means of having your heart beats up this fast, racing like the moving train as you heave a sigh. Maybe you’re just offended. Vulnerability? What does this man takes me for? Maybe, he does belittle you too much for his own good. He never saw an ounce of capability to you so he wanted to ‘protect’ you even though you don’t need it. Help? To save you? Hah.

You shut your eyes to keep yourself calm. “I’m not scared by that. I was just surprised. The visions came to me without warning.”

“You should stop taking those pills. It’s actually making that visions worse than they are before. Your visions can be seem by the people you allowed to witness it, but you can’t do that anymore, yes? You can only witness the visions alone and it’s making some of your investigations and court hearing quite difficult.” Ranpo pointed out and you were silent once again.

The pills. Why does he even know about the pills? Why does this man knows everything?!

“If you’re not taking care of yourself properly, you can’t use your ability right, then. Abilities are also the users’ physical capabilities.” He added.

Ranpo could feel your uncertainty and the want to bite back to him, but you stay silent and silence through out the train ride. The pills felt heavy in your coat pocket, your mind swirls with many thoughts and eyes burns trying not to look at him because you knew he’s been staring. He’s right. He’s always right. And you were left with so much doubts if you can keep this set up with him. Because it was only half of the day and you were already exhausted.

The wind blows and the trees hums. Urban places atmosphere feels nice and calm. The sun is still up and it strikes not too begrudgingly hot against your skin.

Ranpo’s hearbeat is unusually frantic, similar to the classical tune you often hear in formal events — it made you uneasy, especially after knowing him years of having that kind of heartbeat when solving a case. But right now, he seems nerved. Like he wanted to prove something.

“(Name).” He whispered your name, yet he never uttered another word again as you walk the path of an unfamiliar place of trees.

The more the place seems to darken, the more Ranpo’s heartbeat lose its rhythm. The place was starting to get familiar, the tall trees seems to be delighted with your arrival as the leaves dances with a tune and your heart started to leap too.

“Ranpo-san, wait,” Atsushi’s voiced out his fear and you only realized how his heartbeat were screaming when you saw the horror on his face. “This place is...”

“Ah,” Ranpo chides, his face fall and unable to look the either of you in the eyes, “This is completely unrelated with the case. The man earlier was killed by a priest who practiced killing people by gouging their eyes out. The corpse were eaten by ravens, not crows. Atsushi, you remember this place, right?”

“How could.... How could.... I.... How....” Atsushi stammers, his whole body collapse on the ground as he shriek with fear. “How ccould I forget?”

“Nakajima?” You called out with uncertainty, unsure hands reaching for him only for it to be slapped away.

“Ranpo....” You called out for the man and he stared at you. “Why did you bring us here in the orphanage? His orphanage to be exact.”

“He can’t control his ability yet and the President ask me to do the favor.”

“And bringing him here, back to where his ability lose its control is a good idea? How could you be so insensitive?” You huffed out. Atsushi started to wail, trashing on the ground with his hands protectively slotting on his head, probably the only thing he could protect before.

You knew his history well. Nakajima Atsushi is a child you’ve tormented with your ability. You knew the monster of an ability he had. His potential to save people and slaughter at the same time.

The child who made the scar on your back.

The consequences of your ability is now in front of you. After the tormentation, Nakajima Atsushi was sent to an orphanage and you never heard anything about him. He’s one remarkable child.

“Atsushi...” You mumble his name with cautionary, the timber of his eyes brightened and deepened as he looks up, unkempt hair out of place as his ability began to activate — his emotion is one of the trigger of his ability. It’s out of place. He’s out of place. You hear the bones cracking and the defeaning scream he let out, it bounces through the place. When flashes of green surrounds you, golden specks appeared in your eyes as though you can see the world as science — although it punished the throbbing feeling in your head, the beast came out, letting its fangs out as it glared at you and roar with fury.

You can hear its aggression. Its protecting its host from harm. It got its own mind and own personality and lastly, it’s hard to tame.

The white tiger had roared again and you took it as a sign of affirmation. A confirmation of letting yourself into its conscious mind. When the light fades to darkness, your eyes adjusted to the dark and the only light you saw were the purple and yellow hues of the beast eyes.

“I’m sorry,” You whispered, “I’ve caused you much pain before. All of those memories in the orphanage... I caused that. I... I did that... And, I don’t know the reason why — I...” Your voice trailed, echoing through the walls of nothing and the beast growls, it howls, almost like a sound of whimper, a sound of exhaustion.

The ruckus your ability created had affected Atsushi’s ability to remember his past, to what’s real and what’s not, and how you imprinted to the beast in front of you that he will and will only appeared when the moon’s full to fulfill its bloodlust. The beast in front of you were a product of your father’s scheme.

“Let me apologize properly.” You proposed and you hear a warning growl when you step in the dark, yet a sudden glow of white dust surrounds the path where you could clearly see the beast in the form of a white tiger; yellow-purple eyes and striped fur — this time, its properly propped down on the floor, tail loosely ground down as it stared at you.

You walk slowly and surely, dropping and relaxing your shoulders down to proposed your submission — the thing you never did. Now with a certain knowledge about things you never had when you were a child, your demeanor completely changed, but the remaining scent of the past never wears off and Atsushi’s ability was well aware of that.

A whisper of snarl, one of its paw twitched when you were finally a bite away, yet you remained calm; heart beating softly and your breathing show no signs of delirium.

You raised your palm gently as it begins to glow with the specks of green, until it changes with the shade of red; associated with Atsushi’s ability aggression when the moonlight appears, the shade of yellow; his sheer happiness, and the shade of blue to accompany his sadness — you smiled towards the tiger, “When you mix blue and red, it will become purple. These are like your eyes.”

The tiger whines, low and soft.

“The Law of Attraction; Beast Beneath the Moonlight.”

“You don’t pass out anymore like before.” Ranpo spoke after remaining silent throughout the ride. He had asked to be fetched right in the middle of the forest after your consciousness came back to life.

You remained standing and unmoving during the process of Atsushi’s ability restoration. It wasn’t easy just like before; his ability were still aggressive the whole time and it seems like it has been trapped to its host control. You heard about the white tiger’s case and you were the exact reason why he can’t control his ability.

Ability restoration allows you to restore one’s ability when its user is out of control. Just like the human’s consciousness, abilities lived at the back of the user’s mind to however they want to use their ability. For that, your ability allows you to do such thing as long as it’s related with consciousness and the human’s mind.

It was also difficult to do on your own. Just as for the others, your ability allows you to be used by other ability users just as how much corrupted it can be — as long as your body can handle. But right now, you were safe to say that you can use your ability without other ability users anymore.

“I told you, there’s no need to be sappy about not wanting to come back in the Agency anymore. I can handle myself. If you only need me to bring Atsushi’s ability to submit to him, you could’ve just told me or ask me about that. I’m willing to help.” You replied, exhausted as you ran a hand through your hair, eyes threatening to close anytime soon. Despite not passing out anymore, you definitely felt sleepy after that.

“You know it’s not just about that.” He retorts, eyes shifting everywhere but never on yours. You completely get how misdirecting Ranpo’s ability to point out his real intentions, his words always got to make other meanings and as much as you want to understand him (— you somehow ended up understanding him like some sort of a client that wasn't really sure of what he witnessed), the thought of his were just keeps revolving from the past.

“And you know damn well, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” You sounded annoyed and fed up and your ears perked when you hear the man besides you sulked in the corner.

“Uuuuuuuuh,” You heard him groaned, “Then let’s make a deal.”

“That’s so childish.”

“Okay, Miss-Already-Matured! Just because you had your diploma, that doesn’t mean you get to call me childish!”

“I’m not calling you childish! The dare! It’s the dare I’m calling childish!”

The man was quick to shut up, but he remains to be sulking with his arms crossed on his chest, lips formed in a pout and his body were slouched down on his chair. You shook your head with a sigh.

“Fine,” You gave up, “I’ll give this another shot. As long as you help me dig to my father’s name.”

“You want to know everything?”

“Not with you just telling me,” You quickly pondered, pointing a finger to him. “I know you already had an idea or even a hunch before. But I need evidences.”

“You want me to lead you on to your investigation,” His statement wasn’t even punctuated with interrogation — he stated with sure and firmly. His face became serious, expression dropping down in an instant as he finally stares at you. “You know, it’s dangerous. But it was a right choice asking the Agency for it; we were always up with danger no one could ask for.”

He shot you a look as he grinned. And you know you might as well fucked up — not only the possible danger, but your heart is quick to malfunction when he offered you a reassuring smile.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved 2024 © ddostoyevskyy. Do not repost without permission or plagiarized.

[eldritch-spouse]

what are the lust demons' opinions on ero games that require strategic thinking? example: in hunie pop you have to do lots of connect-three stages in order to complete dates and sleep with women. or in what in hell is bad, you have to complete strategic tower defense stages in order to read the story

personally i think it's annoying and would only play them if i were just a little horny

[Oh, you mean the games I used to play when left alone on the family computer unsupervised? :)) No joke, I really wanted to get that poorly animated redhead to show me her tits. Unfortunately, I was bad at solitaire.]

Nena is the one who has the most amount of patience for this. She can take things slow, or maybe she just likes to tease herself, one of the two. She'll sit there and actually take the time to puzzle things out while her tail grinds over her pussy until she's actually too soaked to form thoughts. The imp does get a great sense of accomplishment when she makes it past the hardest levels and gets her prized ero scenes.

Vesper unfortunately has little interest in these games. Sometimes there's one or two that'll catch his attention for a while, but he grows bored because he knows he can have better in the snap of a finger. A bigger challenge, with a more stimulating prize than pixels on a screen. Eh, it's just not worth the investment.

Lacai has too many things going on to dedicate his time to erotic video games. His spare time is already well occupied with other hobbies, primarily his insect fixation. There's one or two visual novels he digs, mostly for the story, which he'll replay every now and then. But that's usually where it ends with him.

Santi is also not too familiar with these games, but he understands the appeal. If you're playing one, he'll definitely watch and comment. Unfortunately, his hot pocket brain doesn't really like the idea of putting any effort into strategically "seducing" someone that won't feed him. He'll roll back around when you unlock the porn and come rub you off to it.

[scr33ch1ng]

So,

There really is nothing on system littles. And what I mean is, despite how long I've been searching I can't find much that helps us actually raise a child. System hosts will mention it, sure, or they'll have a specific alter who is great with kids. But we don't have any of that, and I bet other systems are struggling with this too. So, I'm compiling what I've learned in the past year or so and sharing it as an attempt to help.

This is written from my experiences with my little brother, a traumatized headmate around 10 years old. This might not apply to everyone.

Traumatized children require constant reassurance. They might be easily scared or startled by anything, and hold irrational beliefs that everything will hurt them (me too buddy). They can be the most vulnerable and emotional part of a system. This makes them really important, and in a unique position. They DEMAND attention. Even if they are quiet, if they are dissatisfied, it will come back and bite you in the ass. They require patience and special consideration.

You have to make your child headmate feel safe and comfortable. This is easier said than done. It's a lot more complicated than simply buying some toys and watching cartoons. Children have emotional needs, we all do. They need to feel love and feel like they are part of a family. This is why communication is very important. Communication is different with every system, and we communicate via a variety of writings, pinterest boards, dreams, co-fronting, and more direct but vague ways of throwing emotions at each other, and asking questions and receiving a vague response. This is all to say that even if you literally can't hold a conversation, there is many ways to talk to each other.

In order to meet your littles needs you have to know them first. You can assume the basics, yes, but that will only get you so far. Children also aren't known for their excellent communication skills, so this is a process. My little benefits from a pacifier, which was easy to figure out. But it took longer to realize he also wants his own clothing, and he refuses to wear black because it's a color that is worn too frequently by other alters, and he needs to feel like his own person. This might be a bit ridiculous. A color is just a color, right? No one is going to die by wearing black. But to him it is very important, and he will be distressed if he is not wearing clothes comfortable to him.

And the way our system works is it's easy to feel another alter's distress, so there is no point in wigging a systemmate out for no reason. You want to work together to reduce stress. It makes an easier time for everybody.

Anyways. You will have to make compromises. You make compromises just by being a system. I adjusted our living space to be more "child friendly". I removed the animal bones we had on display. I don't buy decor that my child alter would find scary, even if it's a horror movie character I like, even if I think it's not that bad. If you can make your little feel comfortable even by one percent, it's worth it. I adjusted our room to feel more cheerful. I have a shelf of easily accessible toys. I decorated our house more with cute things. Fridge magnets, goodwill figurines, a printed photo of a puppy, anything to make your syskid feel like this is also their space will help .

This is all I have for today. Thanks for reading!

[ylissean-manakete]

Finally got what i needed and remembered to make the actual lorepost so far for Snugmon and their evolution line drawing-wise!

Any pictures used are as a reference point for the overall design. I still have to finish the rest of the line, so Snugmon has the most pics while i make them consistent enough for my liking 💀

I will be posting all pictures of each form. Mostly for the fun of it to document the designs too as I go, I guess?

The Baby-I Form, Comfymon is a frequently drowsy newborn digimon made from compiled data of baby mammals, and purrs in a frequency that promotes relaxation, and in the case of already sleeping individuals close by, a deeper and more restful sleep. However they are often timid and require patience and quietness to befriend them. They would rather run away than attack, even when cornered.

The Baby-II or In-Training form, Hugmon, has gained a curious "security blanket" comprised of jumbled sleep-pattern data from an unknown source, and never tears or gets stained, which gives the Hugmon more confidence in a similar vein to Gabumon, and leads them to rarely remove their blankets.

Rookie Level Snugmon, being made of compiled mammalian data have been documented in multiple animal shapes, but ultimately physical variations of the same species in order to escape from danger in the environment they find themselves in. No alternative species have been found otherwise and Tamers enjoy the variety of shapes that Snugmon can take, leading to extensive research in younger fanatical researchers.

They have been documented to wash their covering in the manner of a raccoon, which has now torn somewhat through the body outgrowing it during the evolutionary process, but it still hasn't fully gained the confidence it needs to survive in combat and continues to cover its body as though to protect itself.

Champion level Napmon have torn most of their blanket away through the energy burst they got through evolution, and can sometimes become aggressive towards those that harmed it in the past, but usually they defend their own families and teach the youngsters how to fight for themselves, bearing the scars of their previous fights and battles to live.