#it was fun to figure out what kind of effect to put and stuff

[esmiara]

[arolesbianism]

I am thinking very very hard abt the toy world guys and oh baby I love dropping in disturbing lore bits that are just sorta dripped into the actual plot and otherwise are not explained <3

[radbelinda]

One of the things that strikes me about the whole Neil Gaiman thing is that people really want to portray Amanda Palmer as being a remorselessly complicit figure, when a lot of things that are very obviously fucked up and menacing when you put it next to the actual assaults going on - are perfectly normalised and accepted within poly/ENM world. All of these things are fucked up and menacing, but the bubble of pseudo-feminist poly world is incredibly effective at making you totally oblivious to the fact that you're opening the door to abuse and emotional damage.

The thing of 'oh we just slept together and I took a consensual nude of you, now can I have your consent to send it to my husband' is a feature of poly culture, not a bug. Suggestive and inappropriate comments to a woman about how hot your husband will find her are completely normalised. A statement from your husband like 'I don't get to play with my Dom side with you, so I need to be with other women who are natural subs' (which I suspect is the reason he gave when he kept having affairs when she was eight months pregnant, after agreeing to be monogamous) is something that culture will expect you to be completely Cool Girl about. Being blasé when a woman comes to you and says 'your husband made a pass at me' is also the expected Cool Girl reaction. Bringing women into your circle that you think your husband will find hot is completely par for the course in those mindsets and part of being a good and fun and sexy partner - no one doing that in poly culture thinks of themselves as 'feeding him women to rape' or grooming. Lots of people seem to find Amanda telling Neil that he couldn't hit on Scarlett, but still leaving him alone with her, to be jawdropping - but, as someone who has had people in ENM relationships exhibit poor boundaries around me and try to insinuate me into their sex lives in inappropriate ways, I know that that kind of thing is seen as due diligence and an appropriate way to navigate a situation. My experience of people immersed in that kind of culture is just this general assumption that words and agreements are magic - that all you need to do is communicate and agree terms and everything is fine, and if an agreement is violated you just need to communicate more and agree terms and everything is fine, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

What a lot of people want (and have wanted all along when they were making jokes about how understandable it was for Neil to 'fly across the world to escape having lockdown with her') is for Amanda Palmer to have been a truly abhorrent person, when the truth is that the whole culture around poly/ENM/open relationships - not necessarily the stated rules everyone claims to be abiding by, but the actual culture itself - encourages this stuff, especially from women.

I'm not suggesting Amanda is a victim in anywhere close to the same way as any of the women profiled in the reportage, and I do think her learned obliviousness enabled her complicity in creating a situation like Scarlett being left alone with Neil, but she has clearly been manipulated as well. Think of how insanely manipulative it was for him to wait until she was in late-stage pregnancy to start violating the terms of their marriage, how he surprised her with a lot of 'dark' elements of his personality after they were already married with a child, how we don't even necessarily know how much control she had over the marital pursestrings, how (as covered in the Tortoise podcasts) he would pressure the woman who lived on his estate into sexual activity by saying that Amanda, not him, wanted to sell the house and kick her out - and that if she kept him sweet he'd be her advocate against his evil wife. He is so clearly a profoundly manipulative person and it's just lunacy to suggest that none of that manipulation will have been targeted at Amanda.

[badninken]

Gamma Knife - painting process

I had so much fun painting this piece and I want to share some behind-the-scenes stuff on how it was made.

I would like to thank MagicPoser for making it possible to try poses, scale, angles and lighting and saving my ass so many times. I use the app on my iPad but there's a free browser version too.

So I wrangled these 3D dudes into the poses I wanted and then I cut them to pieces and stretched them out to make them as leggy as they're supposed to be. Before I did that though I spent forever trying to pick the angle I wanted to paint. Including two other screenshots I considered using before settling, because it's fun. (nevermind Doffy's weird arm angle, it wasn't going to show anyway. The smoke-placeholder makes it looks like he's in The Sims though which is cute. That thing's about to go so red.)

Then I started sketching. I quickly moved Law higher up and changed his pose to make him more curled up, elbow-to-knee, legs bent etc for more intensity. MagicPoser is great as a reference but the end result gets pretty stiff and boring if you follow the 3D models too closely, and I wanted swoosh. So I painted some swooshy shapes to figure out the movement I wanted for the whole painting. Purple swooshes for the curve of Law and the direction of his jump. Pinker purple for Doflamingo's leg and spine arcs.

The b/w image below also shows the rough base for the feather coat. It's painted with a flat, tapering oil brush that created nice curves that I could refine later.

Skipping lots and lots of work to get to the next step. It's all rendering and detailing, mostly done with the HB pencil brush.

Coloring! I started by creating a gradient map bit lots of color steps. I kind of knew what I wanted but there's a lot of trial and error involved while picking colors and dragging sliders. In Photoshop I'd do this on an adjustment layer but in Procreate I do it by copying all visible layers (three finger slide, copy all visible) and making a new layer out of them where everything's merged (three finger slide, paste)

I then put that layer in Color-mode on 77% over the grayscale image after playing around and testing lots of things. I rarely know what I want before I see it. I copied that layer again and put it in Add-mode on a very low opacity because it looked neat. Every image is a new adventure when it comes to layer blending modes, there is no right or wrong here, you just have to test things until you find an effect that you like. Huge potential for happy accidents in this step.

I didn't want everything to be pink so I created a new Color-layer to paint skin, clothes and radiation. Lowered opacity to let the pink base shine through slightly, for a cohesive and more natural look. Color-mode on full opacity often looks a bit flat and washed out unless combined with something else.

There's a lot more that happened after that but it's all detail stuff, effects, lots of layers with soft airbrushed gradients on various blending modes. Also directional perspective blur where I masked out some feathers to still be sharp against the blurry ones in the back, a quick and easy way to create a sense of movement and depth.

Again, thanks MagicPoser, I would have cried so much and probably given up over the angle of Doflamingo's head without your help 🙏

[billthedrake]

LINEAGE (PART ELEVEN)

"You're off your game, Bill," Todd Fiedler said as my drive went far left of the fairway.

My doctor, neighbor and confidante was now fully middle aged and now that he'd started up Crossfit, he was starting to get some major DILF looks. I had only two non-Drake men I was close to, Todd and the pilot dad Doug Newcomb. I had to think it was because they were incest dads, too.

I cursed and put my club back in my bag. "I'm a little distracted, I guess."

Junior looked over at me with a smirk when he heard me say that. He had been watching Todd's youngest son Sam get ready to tee off.

Todd seemed to catch onto something. "Are you two...?"

I gave Junior a look to silently ask him. My son nodded.

"We've been keeping it under wraps, Todd, but Junior and I have our first date night tonight."

That got a surprised smile from Fiedler. "Yeah?" He looked over at Junior. "You excited, Junior?"

"Yes, sir," Junior smiled. "Kind of dream come true, really." He blushed as he said this, though. I realized that like me he was dying to tell people, to not have it be a secret.

"Sorry I didn't tell you before, Todd," I said.

"Tell him what?" Sam asked as he walked back to his golf bag. We hadn't even watched his drive.

"Bill and Junior are dating," Todd announced.

"Way cool," Sam said with a smile.

"Wait..." I said, putting two and two together.

Todd placed his arm around Sam's meaty shoulder. "We're still figuring stuff out..."

Sam got a playful smirk and said, point blank, "Dad won't let me do anal yet."

"Sam!" Todd exclaimed. It was funny to see him be the shyer one, but I could see the Fiedlers' directness in talking about their sex life had rubbed off on their youngest son.

Sam was undaunted. "Come on, Dad.. we can trust the Drakes with this shit."

I looked over. Junior was eating this up. Amused and also enjoying the open talk.

"You can, Dr. Fiedler. I mean, I know you and Dad talk everything."

Todd smiled and looked at me. "Well, I respect that some things between father and son need to be private. But, yes, it's very nice to have a sympathetic family to share with."

The air was cleared that day. Todd and I no longer felt the need to for the private conversations, and that afternoon, I talked openly with him about Braden's fertility pills and the chance for multiples while taking them.

And Todd talked about the pills his dad often took. "We call 'em the Fountain of Youth," he said with a chuckle. "Low dose cialis, low-level testosterone booster, and some supplements for semen production."

I could see Sam's face grin as he listened to his Dad talk about his granddad's sex life. "Lets you get it on two, three times a night, even at his age. Only drawback is it brings the sperm count way down... I mean, the sperm production stays the same but with a lot more cum it's way less effective. So you don't want to go on that pill when you're trying to breed."

"I'm good without the Fountain of Youth, Todd," I said with a proud smile. I had a healthy sex drive and between Braden's full-heat mode and this thing with Junior I was very horny lately.

"It would be fun, Dad," Junior chimed in, playfully giving a smirk of his own. He was 18 and had a crazy sex drive, and I could tell he was imagining my increased libido.

Sam laughed.

It was funny. But I kept my poker face on. "We'll discuss this over date night, young man."

***

I had a garment bag hanging in the back seat of the SUV, with my and Junior's nicer clothes for the night. He was a little quiet as we got in and drove our way to the highway leading into the city.

I patted his knee. "You OK, buddy?"

He nodded, quietly. "Yeah, Dad. I just can't believe it's happening."

I shot a quick look over. "But you're OK with this, right? We don't have to..."

Junior interrupted. "Oh yes we have to," he said and we both laughed.

I could tell he was hesitating to be serious, but finally he said, "I guess I'm young and don't know what I'm doing."

I got a little quiet. "I thought you'd had experience before. I mean, you said..."

He nodded. "That's just sex, Dad. Can I speak freely?"

"Of course."

"I guess until lately, I thought I was one of those guys who just loved fucking or getting my cock sucked."

Just hearing Junior talk so bluntly was getting my dick hard as I drove, but then again I'd been boning up on and off all day. "That's very fun, Son."

He laughed. "Yeah." Then. "Dad... you ever regret settling down with Daddy?"

"Course not," I said. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "I didn't know if you felt the need to fuck other guys."

I paused and weighed whether I should tell Junior. But I figured if I was going on a date with my son, I should be honest with him. "Your Daddy and I... we occasionally play with others. I guess that's our way of having a little extra fun in a serious marriage."

"Beside me?"

"Besides you, son."

That made Junior smile, I could tell even in my peripheral vision. "Very hot." Then I could tell he was trying to figure out. "The Fiedlers?"

I shook my head. "No, they never seemed open to playing that way. Though Todd knows more about my sex life than anyone other than your Daddy." I heard Junior start to ask another name, probably the Connors, but I stopped him. "I'm not playing twenty questions with this, OK?"

"OK, Dad." A little admonished, but I think it was just the curiosity getting to him.

I have another pat to his leg, and this time did not remove my hand. "So... my son's a player, huh?"

"Maybe," he said. "I don't know. I enjoy that for sure... but with you, Dad... if you wanted me to, I'd cut out the other guys."

I gulped. "We'll figure that out, kiddo. For now, let's just enjoy the fun dating stage, OK?"

"Sure, Dad," he said. "I almost made that rule number 7 but figured we should talk about that first."

I nodded. I realized I didn't know my son's experience level. "How many other guys we talking about?"

"Three regular. But I've gotten a bunch of blowjobs, kind of anonymous, you know?" Damn, Junior had done some growing up, real fast. "You mad at me?" he asked.

"You're your own man, Junior. I want you to be careful, and yeah, I'm gonna lecture you from time to time. But sex is a natural part of life." Then, as I made the turn off into the city, I had so ask. "So, Junior... what have you done sexually with these men?"

"Only fucking. And getting head, though I've sucked one other guy besides you and Daddy." I could tell it was still a thrill for Junior to talk openly and crudely about sex with me.

"You're wearing protection right?"

"For fucking, yeah... that condom fund, remember?" he said, lightheartedly.

"Yep, the condom fund. Just making sure it's going to its intended use."

"Definitely," Junior said with a proud tone in his voice. "Found out they're cheaper in the 36 box," he smirked.

Junior and I shared a sense of humor and I had to laugh. "You're bragging," I teased back.

"A little, yeah," he said.

"Your dad can brag, too," I said back.

"Yeah?" he asked.

I reached down to rearrange my boner in my shorts, the other hand on the steering wheel. "I've not worn a rubber in twenty years."

"Hot," Junior said. I could sense him adjusting his crotch, too. "I can't fucking wait to bareback."

"Just be responsible, Junior. I mean it." Easy Bill, I thought. Going too hard into Dad mode will kill date night. But I still wasn't fully convinced of Junior's maturity level here.

"I know, Dad," he said softly. Then, "Thanks for being cool about all this."

I looked over. Bill Jr. really was a special young man. Brade and I had raised him right and now I was reaping the reward. "Thanks for being my arm candy for date night, Son."

That got a pleased laugh from him. "Sure thing. I mean, I got a really hot Dad, so I think I'm the lucky one."

I drove to the hotel first and gave the valet the keys while Junior and I got our overnight bags and the garment bag.

He had an excited smile after we checked in and rode the elevator up to the room. "Are we good, Dad?" he asked. "I worried the killed the mood just now. Talking about other men."

"Nonsense," I said, with a flirtatious smile beneath my ball cap. "I want us to get to know each other more this weekend, Junior. Not just as father and son. OK?"

"Sounds amazing," he said, then lowering his voice, he added, "I'm hard as fuck."

"You're getting me there, too, kiddo," I growled.

I hadn't been sure how date night would play out. I'd initially thought we'd drop our stuff off, get showered and changed and then head to the restaurant. But as we stepped into our room, we set down the bags and immediately stepped toward one another. I gripped Junior's cap off his head and tossed it aside, and he did the same to mine. Our heights were exactly matched and it felt magnificent to kiss that way.

We were worked up and yet not completely rushing it. I felt up Junior's warm body beneath his polo golf shirt and he did the same to me.

I finally pulled back and patted his chest, taking the occasion to feel how hard and developed his leaner, teen pectoral muscle was becoming. "I hope you don't mind when your Dad lectures you."

"Not at all, Dad," Junior smirked. "You still lecture Daddy?"

"Sometimes," I grinned. "Not that much."

"Rule number 6, right?" he smiled. The rule about never being too old to be lectured.

"Rule number 6," I said, leaning in for a quick peck. Here goes, I thought. "Well, I wonder what your thoughts are on getting some kissing lessons tonight and tomorrow."

As predicted a worry swept over his face. "I'm not doing it good, am I?"

I massaged his arm. "You're doing it great, kiddo. You kiss like an 18 year old, and that's hot as fuck. But maybe I can coach you in some other speeds."

That made Junior smile. "I'd like that, Dad. I want you to teach me everything."

I smiled back. "There's another thing. Your Daddy and I..." I stopped myself. "No, I'm not gonna make it about your Daddy. Let's just say I get really into talking during sex."

Junior had seen a little of this, but I had held back before. And we rarely had the chance to fully explore.

I wanted to reassure him. "If you're up for it, that is. We don't have to."

"I'm game to try, Dad. What kind of talking?"

I moved my hands over his shoulders and down his arms again. Sensual, seductive. "About incest. The fact you're my son, and I'm your dad."

That got a positive reaction. "And you're my granddad, too."

"I'm on date night with my grandson," I said back, lust rising in my voice.

"Dad.... is it against the rules of date night to have sex first?"

I shook my head. "Not in the Drake household."

"I'm fucking glad I'm a Drake."

"I'm fucking glad you are, too, buddy."

We kissed, and I could sense Junior trying to go softer at it, to mix it up.

I pulled back. "I want you to suck your father's cock, Junior."

He nodded. "God, yes."

I walked us back and guided Junior to the edge of the bed. I undid my shorts and it didn't take me long to haul out my thick, long hardon. Nor for Junior to lean forward to taste it.

"This made you, Junior. This cock sired you."

"Oh God, yeah," Junior hissed as he licked up and down my shaft. I could tell he was getting into this. "Perfect fucking cock on my dad."

"Nineteen years ago... I fucked your Daddy."

I worried I was going too far, but Junior looked up at me with wide-eyed excitement. "You made me that night, Dad?"

"I made you that night, Son. Most magical sex I've ever had. My first incest kid."

"Shit," Junior hissed. He took me into his mouth and bobbed up and down. Excited to suck me, but I knew he was even more turned on by talking about this. So when he pulled off he looked back up at me and growled, his teen voice surprisingly deeper in lust. "What position did you fuck him in... when you made me?"

"Missionary," I said. While some parts of me and Brade's relationship would remain between us, I felt that date night was an occasion to share more with Junior. "Your Daddy prefers it face to face."

Junior smiled. "How do you like to fuck, Dad?" He asked. Junior had a naughty horny streak that he was beginning to feel freer to show me. It turned me on.

"I like fucking Braden on his stomach," I said. "Or doggy."

Junior LOVED this. Loved seeing me let my hair down. "Doggy is fucking hot, isn't it, Dad?"

"Sure is, Son," I said.

"It's probably my favorite," he said thoughtfully.

I reached down and ruffled his hair. Like I did when he played little league as a kid. I had this intense affection for Junior and was loving every minute of this. "I will say this, though, Son. Breeding a man... impregnating him... missionary seems right. You get to see his face when you knock him up."

"Oh FUCK, Dad..." Junior hissed. "You're so fucking hot." He dove onto my dick again. Sucking too roughly, even. I'd definitely have to give him blowjob lessons this weekend. But for now, I enjoyed letting him work out his lust and his desire for my cock. He sucked me for a minute before I pulled back.

"Let's get naked, Son," I suggested.

Within seconds our golf clothes were strewn on the hotel room floor, tossed aside, and Junior and I connected naked in a father-son embrace. I loved the feel of his younger body next to mine and his hard prick pressed against my own, our dicks so similar other than the foreskin Braden and I left on him. We made out, more impetuously than romantically, and I finally rolled us over till I was on top. Junior let me.

We humped against one another as my son held me tight and wrapped his legs around my waist. I paused and pulled back.

Looking down on my son's cute, handsome face, I ran my fingers along his cheek. "You've never been fucked, have you, kiddo?"

He shook his head. Afraid as much as he was horny. "No, Dad. Don't think I'm into that. Sorry."

"Don't apologize," I said. "I'd never pressure you into anything, Junior."

"I guess I'm a little too much like you, Dad."

I laughed. "It's true, buddy." I rolled off him, but kept caressing his face, his neck, and his body as I took in the magnificence of his naked golf-jock body. "I don't know what two tops do on date night, but I'm sure we'll have our fun."

It was a half joke, and Junior was on my wavelength. "I wanna suck your cock again, Dad. Get you off."

I was rock hard and I smiled as I leaned back and gestured toward my erection. "Have at it, kiddo... only a little gentler this time, OK? That gets me off more."

I thought Junior would feel admonished by the suggestion but instead he nodded eagerly and scooted down to take me back into this mouth. No licking foreplay this time. Eagerly, Junior swallowed about three inches and slowly bobbed his way to four, then five. I didn't even have to coach him. He just cut back on the suction and it felt magnificent. Soft, wet milking sensations from him mouth.

"Oh damn, Son... that's it, buddy... you're making your Dad feel real fucking good right now... like that... up and down... my own son sucking me... make love to that dad cock, kiddo.... Fucking hot incest blowjob.... incest date night."

That idea did it, along with Junior's softer sucking. I blasted hard into my son's throat and it took him by surprise. But within a second he adjusted, pulling off to take the cum into his mouth.

I thought he'd swallow my load but instead he pulled off as the dribbles were still coming out of my dick. Junior lurched up over me and met me in a heated kiss. I opened my mouth for it and felt my own cum being fed to me.

I'd never snowballed before, but it felt fun and naughty. I fed the cum back to Junior, and he repeated the action. Between us, my cum was getting frothier as it mixed with our saliva.

Junior was tugging at his prick and soon I felt his body tense and his hot spray cover my torso.

"I always wanted to try that, Dad," he said as we both pulled back from each other, having finally swallowed the shared cum load.

I patted his thigh. "You're gonna show your old man some new tricks aren't ya, kiddo?"

"Hell yeah," he grinned.

I looked over at the clock. "I could stay like this forever, but we got a dinner reservation to make in an hour."

I let Junior shower first. When I finally stepped out of the bathroom after my shower, it was amazing to see my son getting ready for our date. Hair gelled, dress trousers and button down, loafers. Clean cut, jock next door.

He was absorbed his phone, like teenagers often get, but then looked up at me getting dressed. I'd picked out a navy suit for the occasion, though I decided not to wear a tie.

"What?" I asked as Junior stared at me.

He shrugged. "You're really fucking handsome, Dad."

I winked. "At 56, they call it distinguished looking," I joked.

Junior laughed and stood up to get his sport coat off the hanger. He slipped it on his athletic body, and the effect was incredible, making my son look older while bringing out his fresh-faced youth.

"Talk about handsome," I said. I could see why Junior had such success in finding men to have sex with. I stepped up and leaned in to kiss him softly.

"I still can't believe I'm going on a date with my Dad," he said softly.

"The night's young kiddo," I replied. "But we should get going."

****

Dinner was surprisingly normal. Normal conversation about golf and school. We talked a lot about Junior's plans. The colleges he wanted to visit, what he wanted to major in. He asked me a lot about my career and different parts of finance.

Finally, Junior looked around at the restaurant. Not super fancy but a nice fine-dining place. "When was the last time you took Daddy on date night?" he asked.

I could sense some guilt slipping in, like he was stealing me away from his other parent.

"You know Braden and I have date night twice a month," I said. It was a Friday ritual where Brade and I would line up a babysitter, usually one of the Fiedler boys, to look after our sons, the twins especially, and Junior would help entertain Evan and Keith.

"I mean, like this," Junior replied.

"Once a year," I said. "Your Daddy is happier catching a basketball or hockey game instead. But for anniversaries, I like to get dressed up."

"I like it, too," Junior said with a strange sincerity.

I paid the check after we were done, and neither of us had to discuss what was next. We'd be going back to our hotel room.

It was a nice contrast from the rush earlier. I'd brought a nice scotch and poured some into the rocks glasses from the minibar.

"Here's to an amazing evening, Son," I toasted.

Junior raised his glass and then took a sip. I could tell he was getting used to the taste.

"Not your thing?" I asked.

"It's pretty fucking good, Dad," Junior said. "I guess the expensive stuff is expensive for a reason."

"Pretty much," I agreed. "I take it you're being responsible with the drinking these days?" I couldn't help it. A father's gonna be a father.

"Yes, sir," Junior said. He got quiet.

"I killed the mood," I said.

He shrugged. "I gotta earn your trust, Dad," Junior said. "I know that."

"Kiddo..." I said. I felt very emotional just then. Like, this felt different than dating Braden had been starting out. That was all the guilt and taboo and the rush of incest, my first time connecting with my own son romantically. But Junior was both more headstrong and emotionally vulnerable. I thought I had experience incest dating, but this second son was a whole new challenge.

My reaction pleased him. He gave a smile and a little of the old Junior was back. "I'm gonna do it, Dad. Be the man you respect." He ran his hands along his wool trousers, a nervous tic I was finding adorable. "You're not even gonna have to tell me. I'll know."

I smiled back and gave a sexier grin. I pulled up one shoe to unlace and remove it, then the other.

"What do you say we start those kissing lessons, buddy?"

He nodded eagerly.

We didn't remove our clothes at first. We just lay on the hotel bed, side by side. Close.

"First, the peck," I said. I leaned in and just touched my lips to Junior's. "Some boys grow out of kissing their dads like that."

"Not me," Junior hissed. And repeated it. And again. We laughed.

"What next?" he asked.

"Knocking on the Door," I said.

"You have names for all these kisses?" Junior laughed.

"I'm making them up as I go along," I admitted. "All right, keep your lips closed."

I then pressed my lips against his and opened my mouth to slip out my tongue. Gently I tapped his lips three times before licking along them.

"Fuck..." my son growled.

"You do it, now," I urged. He did and it was sensuous and thrilling. Finally I opened my mouth and let his tongue slide in. I now tapped my own against his tongue tip before pulling back.

"That's The Encounter."

I could tell he wanted to make a wise-ass remark but didn't.

"Again?" he asked.

I took the lead this time. Only rather than pull back I went deeper, gently battling his tongue until Junior got the hint to do the same. Adding a little bit of suction...

"Classic French Kiss," I explained.

I showed him a couple more speeds, inventing stupid names for them, before I said. "And one more. The Need."

Junior was amused and very turned on. "What the fuck is The Need?"

I smiled, scooting closer to Junior. "It's what your Daddy does when he's really in heat.... I'm gonna slip my tongue in and I want you to do you best to suck into your mouth, like you want to pull me all the way into you, Son."

We did just that and as Junior sucked, I plunged in with my tongue and he sucked some more. It drove me wild and surprisingly it drove Junior wild too. We'd been focusing on kissing but now he pawed at my crotch, feeling the hard dick forming a ridge there.

He was breathing heavy when I finally pulled back.

"You got a favorite, Dad?"

I shook my head. "Nope. It's all about mixing it up. Being on the same wavelength as your man."

Junior took that in like they were profound words of wisdom.

"So, Dad... you told me to think about something I'd want to try."

I'd forgotten about that, but I replied, "Tell me, buddy."

"I don't know... I guess when I watch porn, I love watching guys rim each other."

"And you wanna try it?" I asked.

"We don't gotta, Dad," Junior said, defensively.

"I'm game, buddy," I smiled, running my hands along the button down beneath his suit coat.

He smiled. "You, um, do that with Daddy?" he asked.

I shook my head. "We've done it some. Just not our thing." I pulled back, and began to undo my belt and trousers. "But let's give it a try, OK?"

Junior followed suit, getting out of his dress trousers and underwear and showing off a dick that was as hard as earlier. That's when I knew he wanted to try being rimmed as well.

We didn't even bother removing the rest of our clothes... dress socks, shirt and coat, watch... that was all still on as I lay back on the bed and looked at my handsome son. "You wanna go first, buddy?"

"Yeah, Dad," Junior replied. His voice croaking he was so turned on. That's what made me want to do this, seeing how much it excited my son.

I pulled back my legs, spreading them some. Junior could see my hairy trench and my tight pucker in the middle.

"FUCK YES..." he hissed, jerking his prick some as he got into place. "That's a fucking beautiful hole, Dad."

I lay patiently, letting my son get his eyeful before he leaned in.

"Shit!" I exclaimed. I'd never actually been rimmed before. It tickled more than anything.

Junior pulled back. "You OK, Dad?"

"Yeah, I'm OK," I said. "Go ahead and eat your dad's ass, Son."

The blowjobs had to be coached. But Junior was a natural at rimming. Eager but not overly eager. He got past my initial defensiveness and eventually it felt good. I mean, I don't think I craved the act in itself, but seeing Junior in hungry ass-eating mode was a turn on in itself.

"Shit, Dad, I almost came," he grunted as he pulled back, sap dripping from his foreskin.

"Let me do you," I urged.

Junior got a big smile and positioned himself on all fours, facing away from me. The very position was enough to make my cock throb and leak, but it was the sight of him pulling up his shirt tails and showing off that golf jock ass that had me going. I'd noticed Junior's butt before, but I was now realizing how frickin' perfect it was. Not meaty-muscular like Brade's, though God knows that was my normal turn on. But Junior had hit leg day enough to have a nice round bubble ass on his taller build. The buns completely hairless and smooth, though as he spread his legs I saw the faint dusting of stray hairs around his ass hole.

I dove in. Hungrier than I expected to taste Junior's hole. I'd done this some for Braden over the years, but Brade never took to getting eaten out, and I never craved it myself.

But running my tongue along my second son's hole and feeling the heat and tightness against my tongue, knowing he was cherry... that made me an instant convert. It was my turn to match Junior's lead, copying his tongue work and adding my own spin on things.

"Eat my ass, Dad. Eat your son out." Junior was also getting into the sex talk, which made me prod harder against the tight ring.

"I'm gonna cum, Dad, if you keep that up." Junior was jerking his prick again.

I didn't stop. Instead I smacked my hands on his hard teen buns and gripped tightly, pulling them apart as I went feral on his hole, licking, sucking, frenching my son's ring.

"OH FUCCK!" came his cry. He was orgasming hard.

I let him ride that cum for a couple of seconds and leaned up. I spit into my palm and that was all the lube I was gonna have. I gave my prick three steady tugs and was firing my dad cum all over his crack.

"Shit..." he hissed, surprised by the sensation but turned on.

I gave it up, until I leaned forward, collapsing on Junior's back some. I circled my arm around him and held tightly as we caught our breath.

"Thanks for that, Son. I loved it."

"I loved it, too, Dad. A little too much," he said in a chuckle.

"We're not gonna wait till next date night to do that again," I said.

Indeed, we repeated the act the next morning, Junior sitting his jock ass on my face as we went longer. Then we switched and he did the same to me.

Turns out, two tops can do just fine on date night.

***

Junior and I got home by 11AM. Junior went to drop his stuff up in his room, while I went to find Brade. He was in the backyard, tossing a football with the other boys, while the twins played with toys in the grass nearby.

My husband gave me a curious glance, maybe apprehensive. Wondering how the date had gone.

I smiled and nodded, then patted his shoulder affectionately as I called out to Keith. "See if you can make your Dad run for it, little man...." Keith got a smile before putting on his serious game face then pulled his arm back to throw it as hard as he could. He was only 11, but he still had some power to his throw. I ran after the ball, barely catching it. I did my best to return it to Evan, with an equally solid throw.

I looked over. Junior was out now, talking to Brade. Maybe sharing details about the date, who knows. The twins were happy as clams. Ev and Keith were getting in competitive mode with me.

It was one of those moments that I realized: I loved being a family man.

[ohno-the-sun]

Oh uh forgot to ask in the previous ask (the one with the digital piece of candy and scurrying and stuff)

How do you draw art so good

Like

Is there a method you use or is that just the style you've gotten over time?

you've activated my trap card

I'm just gonna preface that this tutorial is from someone who was not professionally trained and didn't have a lot of free time for art, so a lot of the tips I have is short cuts I use to get the best results quickly

If you genuinely want to get better at art then please look at references and practice that is always the best

However if you are like me and only really do art for fun but want to go faster then these are for you pfppt

Overall I'd say my style is influenced by speedpaints I would watch when I was younger, I like analyzing how people do things and what makes something look "good" to me

I always recommend watching them because they will often have techniques you've never seen before or do things a certain way that you can try out yourself

I consume good art, it feeds me

but seriously it can be super helpful when developing your own methodology, or just generally trying something new

Usually it starts with me pulling some references from artists I really admire and sort of sketching out how they do the things I like

For example 8um8le has like super good anatomy and poses so I focused on trying to replicate how they do that

venemous-qwille is super good at color and pulling focus so that's what I focused on in my study of them

In general I'd say my process is sketch -> silhouette -> color -> shading -> render

I really don't like doing lineart lol

I'd say for the sketch the most important part is using references and just kind of fudging it until it looks correct anatomically/physically

General rule of thumb is spend time on areas of interest, and keep non important areas light (like the stitching on his pants)

I don't do lineart because I think its unnecessary for most paintings I do

I naturally tend to put more time and focus on areas of interest (like hands and feet) and if you use a brush with opacity for the sketch, those areas are naturally going to be darker in the final sketch

Of course this is gonna be different for everyone but it's what works for me

Sometimes I do a really really sketchy layer underneath my sketch/lineart, just so I know where everything is going

Use thumbnails! They are great to help figure out the general layout of things and what pose I wanna do

Next is what I call the "silhouette" layer

This is super important for me cause it helps me refine the figure and make sure the pose/anatomy looks correct, also depending on what color I choose for the silhouette helps guide what colors I'm going to use on top

This piece is a good example of how it works. The silhouette shows me how the figure interacts with the background, how the pose looks and if its any good

The silhouette layer doesn't have to be super clean, as long as it follows the sketch decently well and shows where the figure is then its fine

I also sometimes make the silhouette layer multiple colors to help guide shading and vibe

Next is the coloring layer. I usually make this a clipping layer on top of the silhouette layer, or I change the silhouette layer to alpha lock, either way it saves me time on coloring everything in

Sometimes I am super rough with the coloring too, using like an airbrush or my fav watercolor brush just to generically block in color where I want it

Works out cause most objects have like a bounce light to them from surrounding objects, so this is sort of a cheat I use to get that effect without all the work lol

Also don't be afraid to have the lower silhouette layer shining through, having multiple colors sort of subtly shining through the piece helps lots

Next is the shading layer, this is usually another clipping layer, usually set to "multiply"

The colors I pick here is usually within this range, any color works, just depends on the piece and vibes.

Since this piece is set in a sunset forest I choose a more desaturated orange for the shading layer

I know there's a whole thing about multiply layer being a crutch (and it kind of it) but it is a useful tool when you just want some darker values across the piece but don't want to go through the process of color picking every single darker shade

Also in my opinion it looks better than picking a darker color and setting it to a lower opacity, idk I just think the color has more "depth"

Next is the hardest to explain, sort of the vibes layer

Usually its just a layer of more concentrated color on top of the normal color and I fudge with the settings and values until I get a result I like

Next is the longest step, is the "extra" or the render stage.

Usually I add a background before this step so that if I need to merge the figure better with the background I can

If I render with a white background but he's supposed to be in a dark forest, its going to mess with the lighting severely

Also this is when I add more "vibe" layers on top to get the figure to match the background better

Backgrounds in general I recommend checking out @/derekdomnicdsouza on instagram he's got lots of great tutorials for breaking down backgrounds simply

I'd say general rule for the rendering layer is to focus on the areas of interest and spend less time on areas you don't care about

I even blur stuff out on the edges I don't want people to see, partially to save time on fixing mistakes in areas I dont care about (oop), but mainly to help draw the eye to the areas I do want people to focus on

Theoretically parts of the background should like mesh with the characters, parrallel lines are a no no unless they are directing a viewer to look somewhere, things that are perpendicular help bring things together

tbh I'm still not the best at layout and probably need more practice, but overall this is what I like doing

Overall this is what my layer set up ends up being

Sort of a sandwich with the lineart/sketch as the "meat" lol

Color and basic shading below the sketch, clean-up and rendering on top

I like this method cause it's super flexible if I ever want to try something different or try to replicate someone's style

I can make each step less or more messy depending on the end result and can add a lineart layer if need be. Also if there's a part that is straight up not working or needs to be removed its super easy to do cause I can just paint over it on the "extras" layer, color picking from the surrounding area to get the same vibe

Generally rule of thumb for my style is: get the initial layout of colors, form and shading to look good, then the rendering should be smooth sailing

Really the best advice I can give to get better at art is to enjoy what you're doing and become very very obsessed with drawing a silly little guy

You'll eventually get very good at drawing them pfptpf

[theamityelf]

The first time Celeste put makeup on Makoto, he noticed his classmates starting to act differently around him.

Taka kept stuttering and his face was as red as a tomato(from holding in laughter, he assumes). Mukuro wouldn't even look at him(probably because she did wanna laugh). Leon wouldn't stop staring and would always open the door for him(probably because as a joke). Chihiro always carried his bags and books(only because felt bad him). Mondo kept getting angry and frustrated with him and rarely talked to him(okay, he doesn't know why that one happens). And Junko kept calling him pretty boy(to make fun of him, of course).

He sees his classmates different behaviors and didn't think much of it once the whole 'Celeste doing his makeup' kind of becomes a thing, thinking they were probably making fun of him. (What he did not see, however, was his classmates being idiots while trying to impress him)

(previous post: class treating Makoto differently bc of makeup)

Kyoko and Sayaka both try to nudge him closer to understanding the effect he's having on the class.

"You sure are getting a lot of attention today," Sayaka says brightly.

"Yeah, it's pretty embarrassing, but part of my promise to Celeste was that I couldn't wash it off until the end of the day, so I'm kind of stuck with it. Hopefully, everyone forgets about it tomorrow."

"Embarrassing? Why?"

"Well, I know I look silly, and everyone's kind of laughing at me..."

"Not at all! You look cute! I'm sure everyone's just noticing how cute you look."

"Haha, you think so? You always have such a positive spin on everything."

Meanwhile Kyoko's approach is more like:

"Do you have plans for lunch today?"

"Yeah," Makoto replies. "Byakuya's kind of ordered me to go off-campus with him to a fancy restaurant, so he can prove something about how bad my taste is. I was worried we might miss class if we go off-campus for lunch, but Byakuya says the waitstaff will be moving at the speed of light to accommodate him. So now I'm just worried that we won't hear the end of it from Taka when we get back."

"I see. Has Byakuya invited anyone else out to lunch?"

"Not that I know of. Oh, did you want to come, too? I think he's in the library, now, if you want to go ask him together."

Kyoko hides a smile behind her gloved hand. "As tempting as that is, I was more curious to discuss the exclusivity of the invitation. Has he ever invited someone to lunch before?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. From what he's said, probably not."

"Interesting. Then something must be different about you."

"I think it's great that he's ready to start having friends. If I can convince him to take Celeste somewhere nice, maybe she won't put this stuff on my face again for a while."

"You don't like how you look today?"

"I don't know. It's...weird for me. And everybody's staring and laughing."

"Laughing? I think maybe you need to think more about the reactions everyone has had. Try to get past your initial assumptions and really pay attention. I believe you can figure this out yourself."

"Figure what out?!" Makoto asks, as she walks away.

[lullabyalikpoptarot]

Stray Kids Thoughts on Love

Disclaimer: No facts, all alleged. This is my interpretation of the cards and energy.

I haven't really done a reading for them in a while, so I thought I do this reading for them and see what they can give me for their thoughts on love and how they view it, like with BTS. I also like to see how the past affected them and how their viewed by their exes or how they would be viewed by their partners. Let's go.

Bang Chan

He starts off with Pisces energy, so this man is a romantic. He seems to be a very imaginative lover. A bit of an idealist. He could use relationships as an escape as well. Relationships can also be very healing for him. He can also be a compassionate and empathetic person in love. Feelings will be expressed when it comes to love for him.

He is all about seeing both sides of the story or argument. He isn't biased with how he goes about things. He likes to hear his partner out. As I mentioned about him, he is very diplomatic in love. He sees both parties should come together and hash things out effectively without too much arguing and defensiveness. He is open to hearing his partners ideas.

Now, how does past relationships affect him. Not sure he has had many past relationships with this King of Wands. This kind of gives me he prefers to focus on his creativity and being an idol and being in the spotlight. Now, past relationships could have helped him gain confidence and foster his creativity I can see. But he seems to put a lot of attention on his creative power.

So, what do exes think of him or past partners. He got the page of pentacles. He could be a work in progress for them. He is someone who goes a bit slow, maybe too slow for them. He is someone very cautious as well. He may struggle to put too much effort in a relationship or invest in it too much.

Overall, he isn't that bad as I continue seeing for him. He seems like a good dude that will make a good boyfriend in the future. Just not that invested in it right now.

Lee Know

He starts off with Sag energy, so he is all about the adventure when it comes to love. It seems he would enjoy taking the lead. He seems like the type that may like to travel. Maybe he likes to meet partners in different countries. He may prefer someone who is from a different country or culture. That could be exciting for him. Not sure he would do that in real life, but his energy likes to explore, so dating someone from a different culture can be fun for him.

Interesting to see the companion card as he has not given me that vibe that he is about bonds and connections. Maybe this could indicate he would want someone he can be friends with as well. He would want someone loyal and dependable. Someone he can let loose with and be himself. Someone who knows who he truly is and doesn't judge him. This is when he can let down his walls and feel comfortable with a person.

So, how does past relationships affect him now. Interesting, the Judgment card popped up. It is like what I just said. He may have felt judged and criticized in the past and did not like that and can be closed off to relationships due to that. Let's be real, this dude is a bit of weirdo, in a good way and may has had some crazy experiences as an idol, so he may need someone who understands him and what he has been through without judgment. Very interesting stuff. I like him, he intrigues me.

So, what does his exes or partners will think of him. He gave me two cards, so I will take both. He incites a curiosity in them. They seem to want to know more about it, but not really get to know the true him. This seems to get boring after a while, or there is a lack of growth and progress, and things eventually get stale. So, they do find him interesting, but it may be hard for them to figure him out or get more information from him.

I felt got a bit of new information from him that helps me understand why he may seem a bit closed off from love when I read for him.

Changbin

He kind of has an aloof energy when it comes to love, but I can also see him as someone who is giving and enjoys serving others and the person he will love. He has an open-mindedness to him. He also seems to enjoy expressing his individuality and would want his partner to do the same. He may have an unorthodox way of approaching love. He may like to do things differently. He has an independent, free spirit energy when it comes to love.

But he is about serving his partner in love. And being there for them. So, he will give whatever his partner will want from him. He is very loving and doting when it comes to love. It is like I am here at your service. He seems like an acts of service type of guy. Interesting to get these two different energies here lol

6 of Cups is literally about the past, so he has fond memories of past relationships. They could have been too childish and immature. Or he had relationships in childhood, or early teenage years. He may have dated young. I just get a lot of fantasy and immaturity here, so his relationships were not able to mature and prosper. There wasn't a lot of practicalism there.

His exes or partners would think of him as he is. A very giving person. He got the 6 of pentacles, so he is what he says he is. A man who will give his partner anything they need and be there for them in times of need. Anything they want. If he can offer it, he will. He seems to like things to be fair and balanced in relationships and they may have liked that. He seems pretty straight forward in his approach to love.

I actually really like his energy. I feel he fits my style the most when it comes to the type of guy I like.

Hyunjin

Okay, he starts with House 4. This also gives me Cancer energy. He likes someone he can feel at home and comfortable with when it comes to romantic relationships. I also think of the 4 of Wands as well. He would want a happy home full of joy and laughter. A place he can be himself. A place to call home. He may prefer to stay home a lot, cook things for his partner or vice versa. He may also like someone with a similar background to him and have the same ideals and roots.

He likes to have a lot of information on his partner. He seems detail oriented. He would like to keep dates on certain things. I think he would be the type that would know every little detail about his partner. So, he would want to know everything there is to know about his partner. Passing on information and knowing each other well will be important to him when it comes to love. It is like knowing the little details will be important to him.

I see him being defensive and having his guard up when it comes to past relationships. It may have been hard for him to let his guard down or maybe partners have been this way as well. It seems past relationships have been a struggle for him. It was hard for either party to open up. There also seems to be a lot of obstacles that made his past relationships difficult as well.

His exes can see him as devoid of emotions. A bit distant. Not at all in the relationships. He doesn't offer much love. He can also just be down a lot and in his own world. Not at all connected to the relationship. Relationships can be difficult for him, so it is hard for him to put the effort in when it is. It is like he is not all into it or puts his all in it. I say he may when he feels comforted by the person or feels at home with them. He may not have that person yet.

Han

It seems he got strong opinions on love. Cards just came flying out. So, he starts off with Aries energy. He seems to be someone who is on the hunt when it comes to love. He is assertive and dominant. He is someone who likes to take charge. He can have an aggressive approach when it comes to love. He is self-assured and confident. And seems to like a bit of competition as well. Maybe he likes the thrill of a chase. Or obtaining someone that isn't easy to get.

Now, there could be another side of him that likes to be pampered as well. He is a sensual lover. He can also embody a more feminine energy of calmness and patience. He seems multl facet in his approach to love. There is an aura and confidence he does have within himself when it comes to love. He seems to have this natural ability to charm his partner when in love. I also got he is pretty durable as well.

So, how did past relationships affect him. They allowed him to grow on a personal level and work on himself. Maybe it helped him to find himself and find what he truly wants out of love. Relationships helped him discover and find himself. He could be in a period right now where he is trying to find himself and doesn't want to emmesh in a relationship.

His exes or partners may not see him as favorable. They can see him combative and argumentative. This goes a long with the Aries energy to start. He is a bit aggressive, competitive, maybe can get jealous. I can see lots of fights and arguments happening with him. He comes off very confrontational and may lack effective coping and communicative skills.

Felix

Love is a lesson for him. A way for him to evolve and grow as a person. He may want to learn a lot from the person he loves. House 9 is about spiritual lessons and challenging oneself, so love could be that for him. I think people mentioned he is religious or spiritual. He may want someone that way too, or just someone who believes in a higher calling, but he would like to blend their ideas together. I can see him wanting to travel and go on adventures with the person he loves to.

I see him being all about love. He seems to like the idea of love. If he finds the right person. He may latch on to them. Be clingy and admire them a lot. He is lovable person. He would show a lot of love and passion for his person. So, although he comes off as not wanting to find love in my readings. That is due to him not finding the right person. Once he does, he is hooked and can be all loving and sweet. He seems like a ball of love and comfort.

There is something about learning and gaining better awareness and perspective of life and things with his partner. That will be important to him. It is like two worlds coming together. So, his past relationships have helped him understand that love is about bringing two worlds together, learning and growing from another. He may want someone who has a little bit of a different world view from him, so he can learn from them.

Hmm, his exes also don't see him favorably. To them he may seem like he has a lack mindset and that he doesn't have enough. They may have felt he didn't support them enough or wasn't there. They may have felt neglected or even abandoned by him. To them they may have felt like an outsider. It is like he always wanted more or tried to chase something more.

Seungmin

This boy is all about communication when it comes to love. Someone he can have great conversations with. They just never get bored of another and always have something to share and talk about. He may want someone more on the Extroverted side. I can see them having lots of gatherings and parties and entertaining others a lot. He would like someone social. But fun conversations may be a must for him. They both stimulate each other's minds.

Once again, their words and how they speak to another will be important. Helping each other, uplifting another, inspiring one another. The power of language and speech is important. He would want effective communication when it comes to love. You definitely need to be able to keep a conversation going or speak well or eloquently. Just having an effective communication style.

With past relationships. There has always been a sense of fairness and balance. I feel he may not have had many bad past relationships. He seems very balanced and diplomatic. He is pretty levelheaded and willing to see his partners side of things. I say he has good, effective problem-solving skills. Relationships in the past were about fairness and balance and working things through in an effective manner. He is very good at reasoning and dealing with any disagreement with partners.

His exes or partners will see him as patient, calm. He has this knowing about him and this wisdom. He could be a bit secretive and mysterious to him. They are not too sure how he knows the things he knows. There is this sense of wisdom, maturity he expresses in relationships. There seems to be a lot of information he has, and he may keep surprising them with that information.

I.N

Like Seungmin, he is a chatter box and would like strong communication between the two. He would like constant communication. Someone he can connect with and talk for hours with. He may also enjoy fun banter as well, some gossip. He would just want someone he can enjoy talking to.

He does seem to have his low moments. Times he wants to chill or be calm. He may want someone with this energy as well. He is kind of confusing here. I am not really understanding his energy. I am not sure he knows what he wants out of love to be honest. He isn't really giving me much information. Not sure he has had a fully mature relationship to know what love means. He may want someone who can handle the down times and also someone who copes with struggles as well.

I don't think he has had a lot of relationships. Maybe as a child or young teen. There could have been crushes in the past. I am not picking up on full blown relationships with him. He may have dated briefly or had situationships, but not a real relationship I am seeing with him.

So, I just asked what people he dated or how would partners see him. I got the Hermit, so yeah, he is a bit of loner and prefers his time alone, so they see him as that. He doesn't seem like someone completely engaged in romantic relationships and keeps his distance mostly. I don't really see him ever being in a relationship. That is interesting because I remember picking up on him being in one before, but maybe that was a fling who knows. It may not have been serious.

Okay, that was fun. It was nice to see more of what they think of love and how they behave when in love. I do enjoy getting to know more of this group through these types of readings.

[liesofpepperoni]

My thoughts on Overture.

Non-Spoiler Part

Amazing. Beautiful. I cannot put into words how amazing this was. But I shale try. It made me feel so many things, and I quite literally cried at the end. It was Heart Wrenching. Honestly.

It was honestly very hard. I think maybe it was because of the fact I was playing it on playthrough 1, aka, No Ergo to Lvl up for meeeee- I started at lvl 83 and ended at 97, and I was out of everything CONSTANTLY- I recommend doing this at the end of Playthrough 2, after you beat the final boss. You should be well leveled and things will be a bit on the easier side. You can also change your difficulty, it only effects damage taken and output (Friend and I did tests).

I will say one thing, I found that more enemies got out of the way of the fully leveled puppet string, and it was real annoying. :/

But yeah, It was really good, I didn't find everything, so I'll do that on my next playthrough! :D

10/10 would recommend if you really love this game!

OKAY! Spoiler time! Spoilers under the cut! (PLEASE DON'T READ UNTIL AFTER YOU BEAT THE GAME)

Ahem- Anyways-

ROMEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

LEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-

MY HEART

If you aren't at full Humanity, YOU WILL BE- Reading things will give you more of it, P is quite literally having an unknown panic every time someone talks about Carlo or anything comes up about him, and I love that.

I was wearing the new snow outfit the entire time, but with the short white hair. So I feel like that fit? Because I was already at full Humanity, and Sophia is a puppet in modern time and stuff? I got the good ending, then went into this.

First area? Had fun. New favorite Gesture; "Play Dead". It's amazing. Use it next to the dead bear! :D

First Boss? Ouch. Alligator go brr, they do tell you a few times what it's gonna be, and I do really like how they hint at the area bosses if you read everything!

Second Boss? Puppet Lady? Very fun! I didn't have much trouble with her, ignore the puppet, she just revives it when you kill it. I use Puppet Ripper, and the charge does a big ol attack that hits everything, so she and her puppet were never far apart HP wise.

There are a LOT of small areas, and the Bow is OP when you figure it out! The new arms? Shot gun? fun. Icarus? USEFUL. Kept switching from Bow + Icarus and Puppet Ripper + Puppet String (I did use Proof of Humanity for the final battle.)

I didn't like the Lab. I didn't like the sounds, I was NOT vibing and I Don't want to do it again, but I Will! For Romeo! For Lea!! FOR CARLO!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAHH-

Alidoro is amazing, he is so soft and kind and he talks so quietly and I love him! I know why he was such a big shot! And Why That Parrett SUCKS- Hugo will be a great addition, he can carry on Alidoro's legacy.

Trismegistus! For those who don't know this area (Plus the lab) was in base game! People used to glitch into it before they patched that! It's now filled with LORE and Enemies! :D

The Coast? Idk what your talking about, I ran through that mf SO fast, I HATE the fish! I really think being on Playthrough 2 would have helped a LOT! And the Stalker fight there- Interesting! :D I liked it!

The little town was cute as well, I liked the fishermen's story.

ALSO! The little las! Rosaura! I LOVE HER! She is so cute! And she is heartbreaking, a little spoilers in the spoilers area, before Carlo was shipped off to the Charity House, his best friend was Rosaura! She was her besty! AND NOW SHE IS OUR BESTY! (Do heart at her)

Now. Lea. (The Legendary Stalker) I ran through the area with her using Proof of Humanity, and I always loved the head canon that THAT was Carlo's weapon. Use it on your playthrough! The fighting styles are almost IDENTICAL! There is no doubt in my mind that that was Carlo's weapon.

TALKING ABOUT DOUBT! That is the first Gesture P made up ON HIS OWN! All the others were shown to him or he mimicked something or someone! THIS was ALLLLLL him! :D Also he smiles at the kitten, and I loose my mind about that CONSTANTLY!!

Lastly Romeo.

My boy. WE are the Prince! XD

Gotta cosplay that- Gotta make all the P / Carlo Cosplayers cry XD

But yeah, actually- Just thought of something-

Geppetto wtf.

Also, Geppetto murdered Lea using CARLO'S CORPSE- Then stole Romeo to do THIS to him- I mean, Romeo already has the arms, but we also saw he was Disarmed... Those gotta be new...

Long story short, the DLC made me cry about Carlo, Romeo, Lea and P all at the same time, hate Geppetto even more, and now I'm gonna log into Genshin so I can throw Arlecchino off a cliff because I gotta run through the DLC again to do that in Lies of P.

I will say, Arlecchino's design SLAPS. Phase 2 looks like TOTK Ganon lol, which is even funnier thinking about how he is stuck against a wall in base game XD Canon event? More like GANON Event!

Lets see anything else?

SURVIVOR.

THAT SONG. It's a Duet with the Trio. Carlo on Piano, Lea on Lyrics and Violin and Romeo on the Cello.

Anyways. I love this so much.

Like, It was heartbreaking, but it makes me love this story so much more. It does so much with that it has, and I just... It's so good. Please play it.

This was the perfect ending for this story, and I don't know how they will top it. But I cannot wait to see what they do with Dorothy's story.

Amazing game. Honestly a 10/10 from me, no joke. Story is SOLID, Gameplay is SOLID, Characters are SOLID, It feels good to play, the weapons are fun to use and mess with, the quests are good, I don't care if it's linear, it's a GOOD game, and I like the ride it takes me on. It has it's ups and downs and it has moments that make me cry and full me with determination!

Base game is P fighting for his chance to live.

DLC is P fighting for Carlo's Family.

The Family Photo.

[avelera]

Your take on Fem!Jayce was inspiring and so carefully thought out - it was very nice to read with so much of the fandom calling him h(b)imbo, I swear, people can be frustrating.

I've always found him fascinating exactly because he exhibits what (at least to me) would be considered feminine qualities - he wants to be agreeable, make his parental figures proud, he's absolutely the preppiest of girls even when he's Masc!Jayce, and he just wants to be a caregiver. None of these are per-se purely feminine, of course, but we can consider them as traditionally expected of women rather than men (it was baffling to me to see how many people headcanon him as butch femme), That's what captivates me in him, plus the fact that I rarely see it mentioned, but usually "infuriatingly beautifull" women (in academia, STEM, and frankly, in general) do suffer from prejudice based on their appearance, and it's funny (in a non-fun way) that he will surely be struggling with something similar because of his physicality (as fem or masc) and so few people talk about it (other than the people who effectively judge him in exactly that way).

That said, I'd be super interested to hear your thoughts on Fem!Viktor - as I see him as the one in the duo with more "traditionally" masculine qualities, or at least - if not traditional - then at least more well received in male characters than female - melancholic, almost byronic type, snarky, stubborn, sometimes arrogant, and socially inadept - or plain uninterested (I'm listing all these with absolute adoration).

Obviously ignore the Fem!Viktor question if you're not interested in that type of headcanon :)

Oh man, I’m so glad you liked my take on Fem Jayce! I was kind of worried posting it because people can be touchy about that stuff but yeah, Jayce to me always sat at the prep table when he’d rather be at the nerd table. Or like… got dragged to the prep table so to speak when he’d rather be playing D&D. And the idea of the fem version of that experience for the upsettingly hot girl in STEM who everyone projects onto as being a bitch when she’s really just a nerd is just… very charming and apropos to Jayce for me.

As for Viktor, I think the joke is that fem and masc Viktor are literally the same person and I sort of agree with that.

Consider we mostly see women in dresses and skirts in Piltover but not in Zaun. Zaun in general seems more gender egalitarian in the way people dress and it would be cool to see fem Viktor reflect that in a way that sort of sticks out in preppy Piltover.

That said, if we only see Jayce dressed as an academic or as a scion of House Talis, we REALLY only ever see Viktor as an academic. His one outfit ever is his uniform (or that blanket lol). And I think there’s an element of armor to it. He might be from the Undercity but he’s a Piltover Academy academic first and foremost. It’s camouflage and protection.

So I see fem Viktor as maybe always wearing the school uniform too but the trousers version for comfort and because of being a Zaunite. Perhaps also because of poverty, as the nicest outfit she has (sort of canon to him being snuck in by his parents buying him a uniform and sneaking him in). (Whereas Fem Jayce wears the skirt version because she’s trying to project socially acceptable femininity for Piltover.)

I don’t see fem Viktor as bothering with makeup or long hair, especially when she gets increasingly sick. So again, almost exactly the same appearance.

But I do love to picture fem Viktor and fem Jayce geeking out together. The image of the hyper beautiful preppy girl with her proper but formal Zaunite friend who is nowhere near as put together but still has a dignity to her just charms me to the core. Especially if it’s fem Jayce who no one has ever asked out before because she’s so hot just who in turn is pining after fem Viktor, thinking she doesn’t have a chance because no one has ever asked her out before for some reason. Like jsut the visual incongruity of it is so appealing. The fact that everyone thinks fem Jayce is a mean girl until they see her best friend that she’d literally die for is that Viktor girl who is sick all the time and scarily brilliant and those two just stay up at all hours talking science like… that gender swap with preppy fem perfect Jayce is much more interesting to me than just making fem Jayce masculine because he’s incidentally masculine, especially since as you noted he doesn’t actually project many butch or masculine qualities except incidentally.

[jessicaloons]

Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince:

Chapter 15

Masterlist - Previous - Next

Miss Americana

"That's a lot of stuff..." Arthur huffed, when he sat down another big box on the floor, taking in the bedroom, now lithered with big and heavy boxes, paper bags and half a dozen buckets full of paint "We'll need all of that?"

"I mean... that's the new furniture, because sorry, but the ones your brother had was... well it was practical, I'll give it that, but it didn't look that nice... and then of course some decorations... and the paint... actually, there is one bucket missing... I bought 7 buckets..." Lauren looked around, lifting paper bags and packages around "Ah, there it is!"

"7 buckets? Isn't that a little too much?" the Monegasque native looked at her.

"First off, it’s small buckets. More like containers… little tubs. And secondly, I want to create this kind of gradient effect, all the different colours blend into each other… trust me, it will look great! Together with the new furniture? And the new lamp? Oh and project flower wall! It’s going to be amazing! I have a good feeling." the girls excitement was contagious and Arthur nodded.

"Alright, alright, alright! Now, where do we start?" he asked and Lauren looked around, a plan already in the making inside her head.

"Old furniture out, someone will come and pick it up, then we’ll put everything in the middle of the room and cover it up and start prepping everything for painting… well and then let’s paint!"

"Sounds like a plan!"

"Let’s go then!"

"What did you do today?" Charles asked, using the tiny frame of himself as a mirror.

"Oh nothing, we read a lot of books, played with the insane amount of toys a certain someone bought his daughter…" Lauren winked at him and he chuckled "… and that was it actually… how was your day?"

"Sounds like you had a lot of fun… black or red?" he asked, sounding unsure and Lauren was confused for a moment, but then spotted the two ties he was holding up.

"Oh, tough question. Red is Ferrari’s colour but black is timeless and goes with everything…" she thought out loud and Charles nodded.

"Yeah, my thought exactly… so black it is?" he looked at her and Lauren smiled.

"Black it is. Looks like it’s a really fancy dinner you’re going to?"

"Just another sponsor dinner… maybe some potential new sponsors…" Charles sighed straightening his tie "Mostly boring dinners…"

"You’ll survive." Lauren chuckled.

"I guess I will… any plans for you two?"

"A ton! I don’t even know where to start!" she cocked an eyebrow and pretended to think, then she smiled "I’m going to feed Ava, then she’ll have a nice bath and that’s it."

"Sounds like a quiet night then…" he smiled back, when Lauren propped up the phone on the table so he could see Ava sitting in her lap "You’ll be good, little princess, right?"

"She’s always the sweetest girl, don’t worry…" Lauren gently stroked over the girls little tummy, making her giggle.

"Yeah, because of you…" Charles began and then looked up "Shoot… I gotta go. Good night, baby girl. I love you." he cooed at the screen, looking at his little girl "I miss you." his eyes now on Lauren, who looked down at Ava in her lap.

"Good night, daddy! I miss you too!" she gently held Ava’s arm up, waving with it.

"Good night, Lauren." his soft voice making her insides melt.

"Good night, Charles. Enjoy your evening." she smiled at him and ended the call "And now it’s time for you, little Miss Sunshine, to take a nice bath… and as soon as your asleep it’s time for me to prepare everything to torture your uncle Arthur a little more tomorrow…"

"We should’ve asked them to assemble the new furniture as well… not only picking up the old one…" Arthur mumbled, still trying to figure out the instructions for the new crib.

"Oh come on! You did good with the changing table and the shelf! We figure out the bed as well…" Lauren encouraged him and sat down next to him, Ava in her arm "Here, let’s switch…"

"Hi baby girl… enjoyed your little snack?" Arthur cooed at his niece, cuddling into his chest exhaling loudly "I know, Ava, I know… being 4 months old must be so tough!"

"It’s tough to always be this cute!" Lauren chuckled, looking up from the instructions "But not as tough as assembling this crib… I don’t get it."

"Maybe I can help?" Lorenzo said, making Arthur and Lauren turn around "Or at least I could try."

"Yes! Please!" Arthur let out a sigh of relief.

"Wow… Lauren… the walls look amazing…" Lorenzo looked around, impressed how the walls were painted before.

"I had this vision in my head and hoped it would turn out just like I imagined it…" she replied, looking around as well.

"It’s beautiful."

"Thanks…" the girl blushed a little and then handed him the instructions "Well, maybe you get it…"

Lorenzo read the instructions and Lauren checked her phone. Since she knew who Charles was and heard him and the rest of the family talk about Formula 1, she decided to follow some F1 accounts on Instagram, using the fake profile that came with her new identity. The way Charles talked about racing, with so much passion and excitement, made Lauren reconsider her opinion about 20 men driving in circles for 2 hours. And he was right. They all were. Formula 1 was more than that. The narrow tracks with the cars breezing past the walls, so close that only a sheet of paper would have space between the hard concrete of the walls and the strong carbon fibre of the cars. The qualifying sessions, where milliseconds decide who is starting from which position. She was all wrong about Formula 1.

"What’s a WAG?" Lauren asked a moment later, when she saw a reel of a girl with the caption new WAG alert.

"WAG?" Arthur chuckled and looked up from Ava "You don’t know what WAG stands for?"

Lauren shook her head and read another sentence she didn’t understand.

"No? And who’s the Heartbreak Prince?" Lauren looked at Arthur who then looked at Lorenzo, both seemingly uncomfortable "What?"

"Well… WAG is short for Wives and Girlfriends… that’s how the fans and media like to call the- well, wives and girlfriends of the drivers… or athletes in general..." Arthur explained and then looked at Lorenzo again, who nodded quietly "And the Heartbreak Prince… umm- that’s Charles."

"Charles? As in our Charles?" the moment she realised what she said, Lauren blushed "I mean, our Charles- as in umm- your brother Charles? As in my boss and Ava‘s dad Charles?" a desperate attempt to cover up her slip up.

"Yup, exactly… our Charles." Lorenzo replied only "New rumours?"

"Umm- they write did the Heartbreak Prince find his new princess of the season…" she began when both brothers sighed, rolling their eyes.

"Ignore those gossip accounts… they only want to stir up some drama… with DTS there’s already enough of that." Arthur said, tickling Ava’s tummy, making her giggle.

"What’s DTS?" Lauren knew she had read it before but she couldn’t quite place it.

"Drive to Survive. It’s a show on Netflix… they create more drama then there actually is." Lorenzo answered and then put the instructions down "I think I got it."

"Yeah? Perfect." Arthur smiled at Ava "We’re building your new crib now. You will love it! But I think before that, I need to check on your diaper…"

"I’ll do that, you two take care of the crib, I take care of Ava." Lauren, got up from the floor and held her arms out, taking the little girl from her uncle "It’s time for her nap as well, so I lay her down and then I’ll come and help."

"Alright." Lorenzo waved at Ava, who yawned, a sleepy smile on her lips "Sleep well, little one."

Lauren left Ava’s room and made it into hers next door, laying the little girl on the changing table.

"Let’s get you cleaned up and then off you go, taking a little nap, how about that?" she cooed at the baby, changing her diaper and clothes and not even 10 minutes later she fell asleep in her arms and Lauren gently put her down in her crib, sitting down on the stool next to her. She took out her phone again and scrolled through Instagram, finding the reel from earlier and this time she watched it, instead of only reading the caption. Charles, arm in arm with a beautiful blonde girl, smiling and laughing, posing for some pictures. And then another shot of them sitting at the table together, next to Carlos Sainz, Charles teammate and a girl who looked like she was his girlfriend. Lauren focused on Charles and the girl. They seemed to enjoy each other’s company. And now she knew for who Charles dressed up this chic. For the girl. The girl by his side, labelled as his new WAG. No, his new princess of the season. She didn’t know what that meant. But she didn’t like it. Something inside her began to boil while looking at the pictures. Something that surged through her veins, filling her with disdain for the blonde girl. And when Lauren saw a comment stating that they looked like a cute couple her heart clenched painfully. She knew what it was she was feeling. And she didn’t like that as well. Jealousy. She was jealous of the girl who went on a date with Charles. Her boss. Ava’s dad. The one who paid her. The one she shouldn’t feel jealous over. But she did. A lot. And she didn’t know what to do with that. She swiped through more pictures, some from today according to the caption and she hated the way her heart clenched. The way the jealousy was crawling under her skin.

"Lauren?" Lorenzos soft voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she turned around "We’re done with the crib, do you know where you want to put it?"

"Already? You’re fast! Give me a minute and I’ll come!" Lauren replied pocketing her phone and checking in on Ava one last time, switching the baby monitor on"Focus!" she mumbled to herself and followed Lorenzo.

"I don’t know where you want to put it?" Arthur said as soon as she walked in.

"I want the crib on the right wall, as soon as we’re finished with it…" Lauren replied, looking at the right, almost empty wall. Only the beautiful wood trimming filling it for now.

"Alright, so what’s next?"

"I think that’s it for today. Tomorrow someone is coming to install the new ceiling lamp and then… well then the big project starts." Lauren smiled, looking at the wall again.

"Sounds ominous…" Lorenzo chuckled.

"It does… do I have to be scared?" Arthur cocked and eyebrow but the girl just shrugged.

"That’s for me to know and you to find out…"

Lauren sat on her bed, zapping through the TV channels, when she came across the sports news, talking about the upcoming Formula 1 race in the Netherlands. A reporter walking through what looked like a little street, other news teams, team members and even drivers breezing past them. One of those drivers was Charles with the pretty blonde girl. She had to think back to her FaceTime call with Charles earlier and how she first thought the blonde, Sophia, was indeed his new girlfriend but how he was denying it. He was adamant in explaining her that the girl was only the daughter of a potential new sponsor and his team asked him to woo her a little. Make sure she has a good time. Unfortunately it was part of his job. Lauren believed him, felt how the tightness in her chest loosened up. And although she shouldn’t feel it, she felt relieved. Charles was still single. It made her calm down. She went to bed, watching another episode of Drive to Survive, because even if Arthur and Lorenzo told her not to, she thought this way she learned the most in a short amount of time about Formula 1. Maybe a more dramatic version. With lots and lots of fabricated drama, but it helped her understand more about Charles. What kind of person he was at his job, on track. And she liked it so far. The other drivers seem to respect him, he was good friends with some of them. Even the other team principals seemed to like him way more than his own in the last season. Something about Mattia Binotto, the way he spoke with Charles after the race in Silverstone, the way he didn’t see any fault in Ferrari at Charles messed up race, gave Lauren the ick. Big ick. She was glad that he was gone. Charles talked about his team principal. His name was Fred. Not Mattia. So probably Ferrari got rid of him. Good for them. She finished the episode and checked in on Ava one last time, before she climbed back in her bed, pulling the blanket over her head, ready to fall asleep and prepare for the next day. Lauren knew what she had planned would take a long time. Probably the whole day, but she knew that in the end it would be worth it. She only hoped that her little helper would feel the same way.

"The entire wall?" Arthur repeated sceptical.

"The entire wall..." Lauren smiled at him.

"That must be a thousand roses… if not more…" he looked around the room.

"More. Definitely more. Believe me.l I have this vision… it will look amazing!" she practically beamed at him.

"Youre the interior designer, not me..." he joked and Lauren shoved him a little.

"Come on, this will take ages, we have to start now to be ready until your brother comes back home!"

"Aye, aye Captain!" Arthur saluted and they began to glue every single rose to the wall.

Lauren had no idea how long it took, with breaks in between to feed Ava, change her diaper and make her take a nap. Playing with her every now and then, or just holding her while sticking the next who knows how many roses to the wall. The little girls eyes widening, seeing all the different colours and shapes of the roses. The sun already began to set when Arthur let out a triumphant scream, looking at Lauren.

"I think we’ve got it?" he said, taking a step away, taking in their hard days work "Wow…" he breathed out, his eyes big.

"Good wow or bad wow?" Lauren asked stepping next to him, Ava half asleep in her arms.

"The biggest and most amazingly wow… Lauren this looks… it looks incredible. So beautiful. Combined with the other walls? This room? I think she’ll never grow out of it. Even as a teenage girl she’ll love it!" Arthur was impressed.

"Oh stop it!" she gently nudged his shoulder but he shook his head, turning a little.

"No, seriously. Charles will be at a loss of words when he comes home and sees this…"

"Yeah… maybe…" Lauren scratched the back of her neck, looking at the last package "Can you help me with that? And then you’re officially done."

"Sure… what is it? I thought we have all the furniture now?" Arthur looked around.

"It’s a rocking chair… I’ve spent hours and hours to find one in the same or at least similar design to the rest of the furniture and thankfully I did. It arrived late last night…" she explained opening up the package.

"Let’s just hope we can assemble it…" he chuckled but Lauren shook her head.

"It’s really simple, l watched the video. We should be able to do it."

And she was right. 30 minutes later the rocking chair was assembled, matching the bed and the rest of the furniture.

"Wow… Lauren it really looks like it’s the same design… you really outdid yourself with the room." Arthur side hugged the girl, turning around with her, looking at what they had created over the past couple of days "You really deserve your day off tomorrow."

"About that… is it possible if I watch the race with you guys? I have nothing else to do and the only thing I would do tomorrow then would be finishing Ava’s nursery, putting all her stuff back in…" Lauren began.

"Yeah no. You’re right. You’re coming with us. We watch the race, I can explain everything for you and you leave this room alone. It’s not called day off for no reason…" Arthur looked at her intently and she smiled.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

"Your first Formula 1 race… you’ll love it."

Lauren woke up early, ready to finish up Ava’s room before Charles would return back home later in the evening. She wanted everything to be perfect for him after his race the day before. He looked devastated. Like the world was about to end when they filmed him taking off his helmet after retiring his car in lap 41. Lauren knew that racing was important for him, but seeing his fallen face, expressionless eyes, she knew just how important it was. How he blamed himself for the lap 1 incident with another driver, how he could’ve done better. His voice missing that excitement, that passion, his eyes that sparkle that made him him and that Lauren liked so much. She hoped seeing Ava’s room all new would cheer him up at least a little. So she started her mission. Little corrections here and there at the walls had to be made, the nursery needed new sheets and bedding. Ava’s clothes needed to be stored into the drawer and closet. All her toys and stuffed animals arranged around the room. Lauren didn’t look at the clock once, she cooed at Ava whenever she held her in her arms, or was extra quiet when the little girl slept. She washed out the remaining paint from the paintbrush, when she heard Ava waking up. Drying her hands and leaving the brush in the sink, Lauren walked into her own bedroom, where Ava was babbling, hands and legs moving around.

"Hi, little Miss Sunshine!" Lauren cooed and leaned down, Ava’s eyes immediately on her, her whole face lighting up "Did you sleep well? Yes? That’s good, because I’m almost done with your room and as soon as I’m ready, how about you and I go for a little stroll out in the sun until your dad gets back home? Yay, daddy!" Lauren smiled when Ava began to happily chortle at the sound of the word dad "You’re so clever! Already understanding words!"

The next minutes Lauren made the finishing touches in the room, put the decorations at their designated spots. Fluffed up the pillow in the rocking chair. All while holding Ava in one arm, singing softly to her.

"I think I’m done…" Lauren looked around.

Everything was the way she had imagined it. The walls. The furniture. The rug. She smiled at Ava, twirling around, happy the room was done when she stopped dead in her tracks flinching, spotting Charles standing in the door. His eyes wide open.

"Charles, you’re early!" Lauren breathed out, feeling herself blush while he took a cautious step inside "I thought you come home later tonight?"

"That was the plan, but… what is this?" Charles turned around, looked at everything "How- who? I mean when?"

He was at a loss of words, his hand smoothing over the painted walls. Touching the rocking chair with its fluffy pillows and then stopped in front of the wall covered in roses, carefully threading through them.

"Do you like it?" Lauren asked slowly when he didn’t say anything "If not we can-… umm we can change it again, make it more the way you like it?"

Charles still didn’t say anything and now Lauren was worried. Maybe it was too much. It was his daughter’s room after all. She crossed a line, went too far. He said he wanted to do it and she should’ve listened and waited. Not just take it in her own hands, not even asking for permission.

"I’m sorry, Charles. I shouldn’t have done it behind your back… I crossed a line… you wanted to do it on your own and I ruined it… I’m really, really so-…" Lauren rambled, her soft voice barely above a whisper, full of concern and that woke Charles up from his trance.

"Stop… what are you even saying…" he replied slowly, taking a step closer, his hands working on their own accords, carefully cupping her cheeks "This is beautiful… it’s perfect… it’s-… it’s everything I ever dreamed of and more…" he made her look at him, his eyes spotting how glassy hers were "How can I ever repay you for this? I can’t possibly thank you enough!"

"So you like it?" her voice so quiet, so unsure.

"No, I don’t like it. I love it. I really do Lauren. It’s perfect. I have no idea how you managed to do it and gosh! This must’ve cost you a fortune! How many people worked in here? Painter? Someone who build the furniture and took the old one with them? I need the receipts, you’re not paying for that!"

"I had help from Arthur and Lorenzo, we made it all ourselves… and after I received my first salary, which was more than generous, considering the fact that I don’t have any living costs and basically can throw out all that money? Yeah no. It’s fine. More than fine…" Lauren replied, a big smile on her face, her cheeks a gorgeous shade of pink, feeling Charles warm hands on them, his warm breath fanning over her face.

"But I have to thank you somehow… this is… Lauren, this is perfect."

"You know what you can do? If you’re up for it? Ava and I wanted to go for a little stroll outside… will you join us?" Lauren asked.

"There’s nothing I’d like more… we can take the car and drive a bit outside of town… it’s quieter…"

"And no one will recognise you…"

"And no one will recognise me…"

"Alright. Then let me change Ava and myself and then we’re ready to go." Lauren smiled up at Charles.

"Yeah… I take care of Ava…" he replied "You have a little paint on your face… just here…" he lifted his right hand from her cheek and gently stroked it along her forehead down her brow, making Lauren’s cheeks turn a shade darker.

"Thanks…" she whispered and Charles realised he was still cupping her cheeks, being way too close.

"I umm-… yeah I take Ava…" he mumbled, taking his daughter out of her nanny’s arms and taking a step back.

"Okay… umm- I go wash my face and change and then we can go." Lauren replied hastily and Charles nodded "Alright, then let’s go…" she walked past him outside the room into hers, closing the door and leaning against it, taking a deep breath.

The close proximity. His touch. The way he looked at her. Lauren’s cheeks were on fire. Her forehead and brow. Everywhere he touched was prickling. She had to calm down. It was the heat of the moment. He was just thanking her for doing Ava’s room. He was grateful. French people were more touchy than Americans. Monegasque. He was Monegasque. But weren’t they just like the French? Lauren’s mind was doing summersaults and she closed her eyes. Charles was her boss. Her boss. He paid her for being around and taking care of Ava. That was it. Another deep breath and she pushed herself off the door, slipping into a pair of jeans and a shirt. When she stepped into her bathroom she immediately spotted the paint on her face, rolling her eyes, washing it off. A faint knock on her door and she knew that Charles was ready.

"I’m coming…" she said, grabbing her purse and stuffing her phone in "Ready." she opened the door, Charles and Ava both looking at her.

"Let’s go then…" Charles smiled at her and they walked down the hall, not without him taking another look into Ava’s room "I owe you something…"

"No you don’t. I loved doing it…"

"If that’s the case… maybe we can talk about renovating the whole place… one room at the time…"

"What?" Lauren looked at him.

"Maman’s salon? Ava’s room? This is clearly your talent… and my place is boring. Nothing special. But with your help? It can be something more. Something amazing…" Charles looked at her, smiling his all dimply smile "I think you could transform this into a real home for us all."

Lauren smiled at him, her heart skipping a beat. A home for us all.

"We start from Singapore on. We drive in two separate cars to the airport. You’ll be there earlier, getting into the jet and while you’re safe inside, I’ll follow you then… that way no one sees us together at the airport…" Charles explained the plan for their upcoming trip to Singapore "You could come to Monza this weekend, but then we’d need a different disguise, because-…"

"No, no. Monza is wild. Crazy. Way too many people. Someone will spot them!" Pascale added and Lauren nodded.

"Yeah, I agree. Singapore is fine…"

"Alright, Singapore it is. Silvia changed my room into a suite with two bedrooms, I told her to not request a crib… I don’t know if we can trust the hotel employees… we take the travel cot with us. It’s a big bag I know. But I checked, it fits into my big suitcase…"

"You really thought this through, didn’t you?" Pascale looked at him impressed.

"I want this to work. So yeah, I had to think of everything… and I hope that I did."

"And what will Lauren’s role be exactly?" Pascale asked and Lauren turned to Charles.

"Officially you’ll be a media assistant for Ferrari. More in the analytics and stuff. You’ll have to wear Ferrari gear, to keep up the story. They always make sure you’ll get an office close to my drivers room and there will be everything provided you need for Ava and yourself. Also a desk and laptop just in case someone happens to stumble inside… you’ll get a personal driver, someone from the team who knows about you and Ava, and he’ll pick you up from the hotel and bring you to the back entrance of the paddock, that way you don’t have to walk through the whole paddock. He’ll get you back to the hotel in the evening as well."

"But wait… they’re locked up the whole day inside of the office?" Pascale cocked an eyebrow "That doesn’t sound pleasant…"

"It’s okay… really…" Lauren began.

"No, Maman is right. You’re not locked inside the whole day. You can walk around the Ferrari hospitality freely. You’ll be introduced to the team by Silvia anyway. That’s fine. But I guess if you want to go outside during the day, maybe it would be a good idea to have some spare clothes with you, so no one will associate you with Ferrari immediately. Just a pretty girl in the crowd…" Charles added.

"This could actually work…" Lauren replied, trying not to blush at his last comment, failing miserably.

"I sure hope it works. Having Ava with me, knowing that Maman can live her life again without changing plans all the time? I really hope it will work!"

"Don’t worry, Charles. It will work. You put so much thought in it…" Pascale smiled first at her son, then at Lauren "I have a feeling it will work out." a knowing smirk on her lips "More than a feeling. I just know it will be fine. Perfectly fine."

Chapter 15 - I have a feeling it will be more than just perfectly fine 🤭 let’s see what happens 🥰 also, sorry for the looong delay, life got in the way 🙄

Please leave a comment/ like/ reblog/ message and tell me how you liked it! I'm dying to hear your thoughts!

If you want to be added to the taglist, drop a comment!

Last but not least, English is not my first language and although I tried my best: please excuse any mistakes I made!

Taglist:

@glitterquadricorn @lottalove4evelyn @janeh22 @itsjustkhaos @mariclerc @fangirlforever2000 @guaaafiiburg @giov13 @alittlebitofbooksandmagic @bravo-delta-eccho

I also made a little mood board for Ava’s nursery, I needed something visual to describe what I was writing about:

[jellazticious]

bing bong bootleg SS au

very long ramble under the C

stuff are subjected to change

The working title isn't solidified but I'm leaning on either Candy Castle or Pastry Castle

Tho I think I'm gonna go for pastry cuz it has the same amount of letters as castle much like pizza and tower have the same number too

The tower is a gingerbread castle. According to a friend of mine (It's Beefy, it's always Beefy go follow him) that Hispanics love their bakeries and yeah, I guess that makes sense. Not only do I have a theme based on the protag's culture but also the theme gets narrowed down to just baked sweets. Candy in general is too broad, I would die figuring out how to put every kind of sweet in it, and if I did it's gonna be really cluttered hooboy

Noise is called Theo because that's Peppino's name formula. Peppino is a nickname for Giuseppe so I thought I'd give Noise's swap a nickname to Theodore as the main name

Hazel Nutt is pretty self explanatory cuz Noisette means hazelnut in French

Their outfits are pretty simple to mirror Peppino and Gustavo's with just coloured shirts and aprons

Hazel doesn't get a mount because she would have Theo's prototype rocket skates. Just like Gus, she would have different stages of getting used to the skates per floor. First she gets blasted from end to end cuz she can't control the thrust. Second, she manages to turn it off but she's trying to keep balance on it. Third, she catches her breath now that she could stand still without moving or slipping. Next she would make a card castle, in reference to the very castle they're inside. and lastly she'd be holding a box of sweets without giving a shit about the scary floor.

To parallel the og Noisette, Hazel would smile bigger when Theo faces her direction.

Hazel is also Theo's delivery gal to match and switch with how Peppino WAS Gustavo's delivery guy

The "kick the rat" function would be Hazel swinging one of the skates and the cops grabbing Brick would instead hold a weapon detector that also functions as a magnet

Unlike Peppino, Theo is more aggressive than anxious. Imagine an injured cat defending itself from what it thinks is a threat

the name of Pizzaface's swap is Pieface for obvious reasons 😭

but HEAR ME OUT

both pizzaface and pieface are used as insults. pizza face is used for people with so much acne and pie face is used for someone with a flat face or dull expression. It isn't just a pun on what food the characters are made of. Pieface is also a reference to the trope where people headshot other people with pies. With the mech floating towards the protag, it would look like a pie is being thrown and targeted at Theo

Honestly drawing what food makes his face is so fun. Did you know that before the croissant smile it was supposed to be syrup shaped to a smile? The nose was a long whip of cream before turning into a cut strawberry for the mustache effect

Pizzahead's candy version would be called Gingerhead because of how ridiculous it sounds.

Gingerhead is based on Willy Wonka much like how Pizzahead is based on Ronald McDonald which is why he has more of a showman look than a clown look

okay side note, it just occured to me how ironic PH being based on Ronald is considering McDo's isn't a pizza place

actually Wonka doesn't even sell cakes and shit so, I guess it's fair game

Theo has the nickname Muffinman to reference the rhyme. but this time, it's the gingerbreadman chasing the baker

Next up is Mr S, who would be Peppino but he becomes rich. Mr S is the stage name he uses. He is a known celebrity much as Noise is but he is more of a boxer than a host. Like Dwayne Johnson or something. His name is partially a reference to ResEvil's Mr X, another absolute unit of a guy

also the reason why he doesn't wear a shirt. He's committing to the bit. If he needs to cover himself when he isn't playing a role, then there's his robe. He doesn't take out his mask most of the time tho

Mr S's mask is based on the Chef Raider design but also part of the scrapped superhero design much like Pizzano. Actually speaking of Pizzano, S is characterized so similarly to him cuz Pizzano is the only SS character who was actually written well to my standards. To be fair we've seen too much of Peppino to flunk characterizing him sksksk

Since this is Peppino that Mr S is based on, he's not as tech savvy or as self centered as Noise so he doesn't have robots that look like himself. Instead he has ants for a crew

the ants swap the place of rats. the rats in PT reference the new york pizza rat while ants just generally eat your food especially if it's sweet when left alone for five minutes

the ants come from Mr G, who would be Gustavo's swap with Noisette. He's Mr S's lawyer. at the end of S's bossfight, G would snatch him away with Click (the ant) because S would make a foul and embarrassing move on live camera

I can't seperate Gustavo and Brick so Click stays with Mr G instead of assisting Hazel

inside what would be Noisette cafe, instead of Mr G and Click being behind the counter, they would be sitting as customers next to Caraman. the barista isn't seen anywhere

Honestly when I'm writing everyone, my logic of swapping them isn't "make them switch places AND personalities" but more of "write every single one of them with the og personality because giving them a different lifestyle/role would drastically change their motives and how they behave"

I'm practically just swapping each character's place of birth

I mentioned this because it's kinda funny with Noisette and Gus since they play the exact same role of assisting Peppino/Noise so swapping them won't change much in how they act. They also have the same cheery and welcoming personality by default so Hazel and Mr G would act REALLY similar to their og

The only difference is that Gustavo can be threatening whenever Peppino fucks up. It fits right in with being a lawyer for the same goon

Now we got Mel Caraman who would become this au's Vigi. Lemme just say off the bat that Caraman is just as delusional as Vigi. He gets hired as a guard for floor 2 and took it way too seriously that he thinks he's some sort of sentinel. Hired as a guard but thinks he's an ancient guardian or something

his name vaguely references James Bond because you also VAGUELY get "caramel" out of "Caraman, Mel Caraman"

Caraman is a caramel apple but he's half glazed to form an eyemask. he's also got a stick poking out his head that stretches his chorro hat. the big hat makes him look cooler anyways. Bro I was so ready to settle for a shitty wild west mayor hat and I owe Beefy one for suggesting a new hat. I was gonna make him look like Doug Dimmadome with the short brimmed tall hat��😭😭

but yeah Caraman doesn't have the same dignity as Vigi does. He can fight crime decently on normal circumstances and badass when he's full serious. But like day in day out he's so obnoxious about looking for crime that people get tired of him nor would they take him seriously

he would also be mistaken for a pepper

Next to last, Cam M. Bert or just Bert who would take place of Pepperman. he's an artist who appreciates the world instead of himself, a freelancer also. There was only a bossfight because he was coincidentally commissioned to make a mural for the castle the same time Theo busts in. He didn't like how Theo ruined some of his works with his rush to open the door

Bert is a cream cheese instead of a cheese slime. his beret is actually a little cherry to distinguish him from the other creams.

Bert is really chill and humble, He's like Bob Ross, whenever he can, he'd try to talk about how every beauty in the world should be immortalized through a canvas

In parallel to Vigi's delusion of thinking he's a human, Bert thinks he's actually a living painting (which is completely possible for someone to be in the PT world since Pepperman was able to do it with his own art)

instead of a :{ face that Vigilante has, Bert has a :3 face

the naming formula is taken directly from Vigi

Vig E. Lantte

Cam M. Bert

There is a type of sweet cheese that's really creamy called camembert which his name is a direct reference from. Here is a picture of a camembert since it's hella cute

Camembert cheese was also suggested by Beefy, brother thank you for not allowing me to name this cunt Creamlad

Mr Lardo would be in place of Mr Stick but his motive is that he's collecting Theo's money on BEHALF of Mr Stick. They're probably the only ones who completely stay intact because there's not much canon info of Stick WITHIN the game itself I also feel he's a crossover character from his own "series" with how long McPig has him prior to PT so I just swap the character who makes the "cameo"

The toppins are still called toppins because they'd be used to decorate a cake or pie. They would be

Strawberry - Mushroom

Cream - Cheese

Cookie - Tomato

Icing (in a piping bag) - Sausage

actually I dont know yet for the pineapple but I'll get to it. I've only been figuring out this au since four days ago....

Lastly (of the characters), the Faker in this would be mechanical to match the original Noise's familiarity in robots

Fake Theo (temp name) would be engineered to be "Theo but way better" while actually being succesful with it. Faker would also sort of look like a mini figure of a ballerina. Referencing The Nutcracker

Opposite to Fake Peppino, Fake Theo is more graceful than terrifying but it's so uncanny how unnaturally pretty it is

and now some misc stuff

Title of the final level is When The Cookie Crumbles

the pepper pizza will be replaced with an extremely sweet pie and the immunity is caused by the sugar rush from it

Pizza Time is called Crunch Time

Pillar John would be a giant graham cracker since the walls are made of cookies instead of bricks. Gerome however, is a solidified bar of brownies. like a shittily made brownie that it just turned into a construction brick

Snotty is a pure white cream cheese and that's cuz he's actually made of glue. His name is Sticky

Pigs would either be bears or rabbits with how many times those two animals represented sweets

I'm gonna be clear with everyone here. I literally made this au cuz I'm going insane trying to make swap stuff with Pascal/Stefano when the au itself is so empty. sure it's colourful but it's so empty like I can't draw SS characters outside of poses

I tried like doing fanon modifications as I always do then there's so much I "modified" that at this point it's not Sugary Spire anymore. Just straight up a completely different au. The only similarity is that it's a swap au with sweets

it is what it is yknow. this is my life now. I said fuck it and went with the flow and boom, new personal au that I poured too much into

basically I blame Pascal for this

[mongoosingisme]

Would the smut break mean that the current in progress works (13 ways, and I think you said something about pepper problems?) would be put on hold?

Hello, anon! You probably didn’t intend this, but you opened a door to an opportunity for me to Talk About Myself a bit, so I’m going to… do that?

Short answer: not officially, but a slowdown was coming anyway

Long answer: I started writing fanfic after ending a 15 year long career as a freelance copy and content writer (ask me my opinions about generative AI sometime! 🫠). I figured I was burned out on writing altogether, but after a few months of nothing I’m like “I wonder if I could write something different?” Operation: Doctor Support happened, and I was like “oh, okay, this was really fun, and I’m not mad at what I’ve written, so what now?”

The answer was, like, a rubber band effect of a decade and a half of writing product copy and stupid brand blogs that no one would ever read. My brain was like “smut smut smut smut that’s the exact opposite you never got to write that stuff dooooooooooooo it”

It’s starting to work its way out of my system, and now I’m looking at things more like “okay, I’ve coasted on my base level of writing skill forever, but now I want to, like, improve.” Which is scary and overwhelming and I’ve been getting into my head about it a lot.

So. 13 Ways. I have big ideas for that one, but I’m not sure my skills are up to pulling it off. I’m at a bit of a crossroads with it, and I’d rather take the time it needs for me to figure out my next steps. I expect that I’ll keep updating it at the pace I had before, about once a month. I have a chapter for it written, but I want to give it some time to simmer and come back to it with a clearer head to make sure it’s doing what I want it to do

Pepper Problems…. I kind of just black out for a while and then read over what I wrote and ask myself “is it angst? Is it hot? Yes and yes? Okay! Post!” So it’s hard to predict on that one, but I don’t see that one slowing down too too much.

I’ve talked with some other creators in the fandom recently about the effect of dopamine/feedback/likes and kudos. I’m incredibly susceptible to that sort of thing, and it does impact my writing choices sometimes. I want to make sure what I write is what I want it to be, but I struggle not to project what I expect readers want onto what I’m trying to create. My livelihood depended on my ability to intuit what others wanted from my writing for a very long time, and I need to accept that it’s not something I can shake off in a few months. But it’s vital that I do so, I think.

All that is to say…

Not sure? Nothing is officially on hold, but slowing down is something I’ve known I needed to do for a bit anyway.

If you read all that… why? Also I love you. At the risk of sounding, like, overwrought, the past few months have been healing for me in a way I didn’t know I needed. It’s been incredible to just write, and I’m so grateful that it’s being read. Truly. Thank you.

[dreamerinthemoonlight]

Spring Date HCS (Kaeya, Diluc, Albedo)

I always love it when spring finally comes around. Even though the grass where I live is almost perpetually green (like wtf??!! How can it be freaking Christmas and some of the grass is green?!!!), I love seeing the trees start to bud out. And the sun. Having the sun out more is nice too

Under the cuts, spring dates with Kaeya, Diluc,  and Albedo

GN reader

cw: slight mention of after hours fun. Not much because that’s a different set off head canons entirely, but it’s there

Kaeya

His first suggestion was to go drinking

Of course the answer was no, not happening

So instead you’re walking around on the Mondstadt version of a mall date

Kaeya seems like he’s the type who looooves PDA, so he’s always holding your hand

Or maybe you’re holding his hand because he’s definitely the type to tease you with little touches that are designed to turn the date very R18 by the end of the day

To be fair, he really doesn’t have to try that hard

He’s hot and charming and he uses it to full effect

In the evening you two climb up venti’s statue (Kaeya is a charmer and will happily go the extra mile. Probably made you a pretty staircase else style to get up there too hehe)

You sit and he pulls you closer so that your head rests against his chest

And the two of you want the sunset from the best seats in city

Diluc

Have you seen this man’s voice lines?

The guy is sweet as hell (10/10 would date)

He picked you up, right on time and had roses waiting. Really nice ones because he can definitely afford them

Instead of staying in the city, you two went out on horse back

Brought a picnic lunch

But most of the time is spent riding and talking. Or riding and not talking. 

The both of you are just happy to have a day off with no real itinerary

Just let the wind lead

So around lunch time you guys find a nice spot-- preferably slime free, but Diluc doesn’t have any problems clearing a spot for you if the spot is nice enough’

You eat lunch and continue just handing out

Really date day is the day that both of you can just be you

You watch the sunset while you’re out

And when you get back into the city he walks you to your door, gives you a goodbye kiss that might turn into more but shhh

Albedo

Last but not least

Our favorite Mondstadt nerd

It’s not on Dragonspine

You put your foot down on that one. No freezing on a spring date

You also handed off Klee to Kaeya archons save us all so the two of you have time alone

I’d say it’s a work date, because his work is basically being as curious as possible, but really, his focus is on you

He can’t stop being curious

But he’ll spend the entire time studying you, figuring out what makes you laugh and smile and then work on doing those things

He seems like the kind who remembers all of the small stuff

If you told him your favorite flower, that’s what he brings you when he picks you up or greets you at the foot of Dragonspine

After that you go exploring

Not unlike with Diluc, but with Albedo your wandering has a distinct purpose

For some reason the desire to know is just there when you’re around Albedo

Not that you’ll complain, not when his attention is on you

If your hair is in your face, he’ll tuck it behind your ear, letting his fingers linger on the edge, feeling the skin only he gets to feel and feeling a certain amount of satisfaction that your his

Even if he doesn’t talk much, he listens. He’ll respond when need be, but he really does love to listen

While you’re out, you eat a picnic lunch he packed and then continue walking around

Instead of taking you home that night, he brings you up to his cave in Dragonspine

It wouldn’t be the first night you’ve spent there and it beats the noise of Mondstadt city in the spring

And there’s no one to hear if you decide the two of you want to do some more intimate experimentation

[amethystfairy1]

In my head they’re all living happily ever after, and the hot cave has made a safe rift that Cub watches over because he told Scar he was a hybrid/mutant and Scar was like, “well that solves that issue! Hot cave it is!” (Let me live in hope)

When the rumbling started I thought Blackwell was LITERALLY drowning everybody from the undercuts out. Like shoving it with so much bedrock that they had no choice but to go to the surface where they’d get killed or arrested…… (I’m scared)

My theory is the breakup tag will probably be Zed and Tango, TRUST. Because I don’t think Jimmy is giving up his chance in the sky, Pearl doesn’t have anybody (unless you count her breaking up with the soup group, but if she stayed topside then she could atleast send messages down via the podcast), Grian isn’t going to stop being Cuteguy up top so he can’t go back now, and the only thing I can think of is Zed completely giving in and moving down with Tango because he’s done with the overcity’s bullshit, or tango maybe living in the hot cave as it’s the only place he actually KNOWS the location of up there? OR (worst of all), Etho has to do topside to collect a child, and gets stuck up there….but I’d LOVE to see that. Like maybe he’d just drop by one of their apartments (I feel like Jimmy’s would be closest for some random reason), and just be like “so……yeahhh….funny story..”

but anywayyyy, I LOVE YOUR WRITING OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! Your like genuinely so good??? I found this fic right in the beginning, it was one of the first flower husbands fics in the series that I happened to stumble upon and went, “…..huh, gonna save THAT for later!” And put it in my read later spot. Everntually I got sound to reading it, but noticed it was like..12th in a story or whatever so I figured might as well go to the start for the full effect because it seemed cool, and FELL IN LOVE!

I finally caught up during etho and doc’s meeting fic (don’t remember when that was). So I think it’s a little ironic now that the director’s debut was my catching point. (Granted I have lost track for a bit since then bc it’s been TWO YEARS, you mad lad.)

And sorry if you mentioned it before, but what is your inspiration for this fic? Other than the obvious ofc (like HermitCraft, traffic series, Hotguy/cuteguy, etc). Because my boyfriend pointed out (as I was ranting to him, he’s somewhat in the Matt scene but hasn’t fully fallen into it head first unlike me for literal YEARS (I digress)), that the undercity over city concept is a lot like arcane with pullover and…the other city (don’t watch the show myself I’m remembering from something he said) so now I’m curious!

(Hopefully this was intelligible, woke up in the middle of the night and had the inescapable urge to ask)

Awwwh THANK YOU! I'm so glad you've enjoyed my writing and all my work on TTSBC! I can't answer a lot of this stuff :P Buuuuut it's gonna be so much FUN!

As for inspo, I actually did not watch Arcane until way after I started TTSBC. Honestly, I didn't really have any other strong inspiration for it other than the Hermits and Life series and Emperors themselves! I've always loved the 'someones got a big secret' kind of tropes, so I wanted to expand on that! And I've been playing around with the idea of a city in the depths beneath another city as a setting for a story for a long time, and so TTSBC just kind of happened! ^-^ I hope that makes sense! Thank you so much for your kind words!!!

[canmom]

altered states of mind explored so far

LSD ✔️- currently a favourite after two trips. highly sensitive to input, needs to be treated carefully with a degree of 'ritual'. benefits a lot from interesting company and artworks to look at.

mushrooms ✔️- only done once but great fun in company

other psychedelics - todo. wanna go to a rave at some point

weed ✔️- it's nice to vibe on with friends, not particularly inclined to go out of my way to get it otherwise

alcohol ✔️ - it's ok, but i really do not see what the fuss is about, except that i guess that it's the only popular drug that's legal for weird historical reasons.

adhd stimulants❔- not been allowed a high enough dose to be effective. hopefully will get a better try in glasgow

ssris ✔️- still on these fuckers, i go a bit mental whenever i forget to take them and not in a fun way sadly

'sub space' ✔️- recently found out how fun this is, need to explore this one a lot more :3

'top space'/'domme space' - todo, doesn't come naturally (you'd be shocked to hear) but want to explore when i have more exp

hypnosis - todo, learning about this one recently, seems very promising

roleplaying games ✔️- it's not usually thought of like this but i think getting really into character or really creatively vibing as a DM/MC is an example of an altered state of mind, and a really fun and often meaningful one. probably related to...

adhd hyperfocus/'creative flow' ✔️ - wrt computer games, programming, writing, playing music, doing maths etc. - absolutely great when you can figure out how to activate it. very unpredictable. does not always fixate on what 'you' (see: mild plurality question) would want it to, so it's not exactly a superpower. but tbh the things that activate this are what my life revolves around.

social connection ✔️ & loneliness ✔️ - the last few years prior to moving here I was very isolated, and my landing in Glasgow was kind of rocky. the contrast makes it really noticeable how much an evening with friends will change my mood and feelings about the world. not having enough irl social contact reliably leads to....

getting really neurotic about stuff/emotional flashbacks ✔️ - a frequently recurring state of mind, and sadly not a fun one. much more likely to end up here with ssri withdrawal. recognising it as a state of mind is helpful though because i can then think about what activates it/how to transition to another state

movement ✔️ - cycling, flying a glider (years ago now), going on one of those fairground rides that spin you around really fast, dancing, roller skating, tai chi - it feels really good to move, and be in control of that movement through space, to tie it to other stimuli such as music, etc etc. movement in a virtual space is pretty good if the interaction is sufficiently textured, but irl movement hits more of your senses including your physical sense of acceleration/proprioception, and is thus more powerful.

encountering art ✔️- this covers so much. but think of 'getting lost in' a book or 'getting really absorbed in' a film. for a time you are caught up in a flow of emotions and connections driven by the provocative thing you are encountering. this is a big reason why we do it, after all.

intense fever ✔️- illness can be a pretty intense drug (c.f. 18ft leash - scouts honour)! it's funny to talk about 'being high on covid' but the analogy is there, thanks @cean-untitled for pointing out the analogy. since you don't get to choose when you go on it or prepare in the same sort of ritualistic way and your body is usually in a bad way at the time, the results are often less fun, but can still be pretty dramatic and powerful.

sleep ✔️ fatigue ✔️- as xkcd put it, to 'go comatose for a few hours and hallucinate vividly'; fatigue is also a common and very abruptly arriving state of mind these days.

lucid dreaming - todo

i'm sure i could think of more, or divide these up more granularly, but i think this serves to illustrate the unifying frame here.