#just because he's greedy for data

[lixenn]

Need to calculate reagent concentrations.

Ughhh

[coracaodeleao]

Viktor x gn!reader, slighty smut but nothing explicit.

As much as you love Viktor, you know he’s predictable in bed.

He’s a scientist, after all. Why change something that’s already been proven—time and time again—to work?

He knows his accent, low and deliberate in your ear, gets you going. He’s well aware of the way you shift in your seat when he’s dressed sharply. He knows exactly what neck kisses do to you, what happens when his hands find your waist.

He’s done all that already. He knows the route to you. And it works.

But lately, you feel like you need something different. Not a new destination—just a new path to get there.

So when you bring it up, you expect something. A little more than an eyebrow raise, a click of his tongue, and a casual:

“Ok.”

You blink. “Ok?”

He shrugs, the motion slow and unbothered, almost rolling his eyes. “Yes. Ok. What else am I supposed to say?”

You throw the shrug right back at him. “I don’t know… a bit more emotion? This is like a bad review.”

Now he does roll his eyes. “Oh, for sure. Poor little me. Absolutely devastated.”

You’re halfway through rolling your eyes when he leans in—just enough to press a kiss to your cheek, then your jaw, then the space just beneath your ear. Classic Viktor.

You sigh. “See? That’s what I mean.”

He pauses. “What?”

You tilt your head, not pulling away. “You’re doing the thing.”

“What thing?” he asks, feigning innocence, but you can feel the smile tugging at his lips.

“The same exact trail. Cheek, jaw, ear. Every time.”

He hums thoughtfully, then straightens a little, looking like a man reviewing data. “Well, it’s an effective sequence.”

“God, you sound like you’re analyzing my orgasm patterns.”

Viktor grins for real. “I am. Constantly.”

You laugh despite yourself, shifting a little on the mattress. The room is dimly lit—just the low amber glow of the bedside lamp painting soft shadows on the walls. Your legs are tangled, both of you half-lounging on the bed in the lull after a long day. His cane rests against the nightstand, his sleeves rolled up, collar loosened. Comfortable. Familiar. Intimate.

But then he surprises you.

His hands—usually precise, almost reverent—suddenly grip your thighs with purpose, steady but firm. He pushes you back just enough for him to climb into your space, not rushed, but different. There’s a new weight to him. A new look in his eyes.

“Alright,” he says, voice still soft, but sharper at the edges. “Let’s reroute.”

Your heart jumps.

Viktor lowers his face to yours again, but this time he skips the usual steps. No slow lead-in, no practiced rhythm. His mouth captures yours with a hunger that’s not rehearsed—it’s raw. There’s a stumble in it, a lack of polish that tells you this isn’t the plan. It’s feeling.

You gasp, and he chases it. Hands sliding up, down, settling at your hips like he’s mapping new territory.

“This better?” he murmurs between kisses, lips brushing yours, voice rough with something he’s not used to giving up.

You nod, breathless. “Yeah. Definitely.”

He nips at your bottom lip, gently. “Good. Because now I’m just improvising.”

You don’t even have time to respond before he moves again—bold, a little chaotic, pressing you back like he’s testing what else you’ll like if he stops trying to predict you and starts trying to discover you.

His mouth finds your throat without hesitation this time—not as a means to an end, not part of a sequence, but because he wants to. Because your pulse is loud there, and he’s suddenly greedy for it.

You feel his breath before his lips, warm and uneven. He lingers at the spot where your neck meets your shoulder, then bites—not hard, but not soft either. Just enough to make you gasp again, sharp and involuntary.

He groans at that, like the sound rewired something in him.

“Do you know,” he mutters against your skin, voice dragging low and delicious, “how hard it is not to rely on what I know works?”

You shudder as his hands move, no longer just resting, but exploring—palms broad and fingers splayed, gripping you like you’re real in a way he’s only just now letting himself feel. Like he’s not thinking through it anymore, just taking.

“But you were right,” he goes on, lips moving with every word. “I’ve been… safe. Predictable.”

A pause.

“Polite.”

His tone dips on that last word, like it’s something he’s about to abandon entirely.

You feel him shift his weight over you, lean body anchoring yours in place, and he kisses you again—messier now, more needy. One of his hands fists into the sheets beside your head, the other gripping your side like he’s bracing himself.

“I don’t want polite,” you manage to whisper, voice frayed with want.

“No,” he agrees, barely audible. “Not tonight.”

And just like that, something breaks open. He grinds down with purpose, hips meeting yours with no preamble. There’s no rhythm yet—just tension, sharp and building, and the undeniable press of him against you like he can’t hold back any longer.

The sound he makes when you arch into him is not dignified. It’s not collected. It’s a curse in his native tongue, rough and desperate.

He pulls back just enough to look at you, flushed and breathing hard. His pupils blown wide, his lips wet and a little swollen.

“I want to know what else works,” he says, voice wrecked. “I want to find it all. With you.”

And when he finally pushes forward, it’s with no plan. No calculation. Just instinct.

And it works—god, does it work.

The pace builds in stutters and surges, not methodical like before. He’s not mapping your body like a problem to be solved—he’s lost in it. In you. Each sound you make, each shift of your hips, draws something raw out of him in return.

His name slips from your lips like a prayer, and Viktor answers it like a vow. No scientist now��just a man undone.

It’s messy. It’s loud. It’s not perfect.

But god, it’s real.

And when it finally crashes over both of you—him trembling above you, you clinging like gravity might give out—it doesn’t feel like the end of something refined. It feels like the beginning of something honest.

The silence that follows isn’t awkward. It’s warm. Tangled. Full of heartbeats and lingering touches.

Viktor’s head rests in the crook of your shoulder, his hair damp against your skin. He stays there a moment, breathing you in.

Then you feel his lips twitch into a small, exhausted smile.

“Well,” he murmurs, voice scratchy, “that was... statistically significant.”

You let out a breathless laugh, swatting weakly at his arm. “You did not just say that.”

He hums, lazily pressing a kiss to your shoulder. “I told you. New experiment. Same conclusion.”

You roll your eyes, but your smile says otherwise.

“And what’s the conclusion?” you ask, turning your face to meet his gaze.

He looks at you like he never wants to look anywhere else. One hand brushes your cheek, thumb slow against your skin.

“That I want more of you,” he says, honest and bare. “Always.”

And this time, you believe it. Every word.

[itsbenedict]

That's Right: It's Another Hot Take About That Dead Healthcare CEO

The websites are abuzz with debate on the utilitarian calculus of whether some guy getting shot was a good thing. What are the odds that the assassination will scare the horrible greedy health insurance companies into changing their ways and fixing the system? Is it worth killing someone over? Will the fear of being blasted by some guy with stylishly-engraved bullets put the fat cats in line? Or will their greed win out over their fear, leaving the nightmarish system unchanged?

Well, what if that was totally irrelevant?

You may have seen a graph that looks like this:

I've seen a few of these going around. These are the rates at which various health insurance companies say "no, you don't get the money" when someone says "hey I need money for this medical thing". UHC, the one whose CEO got shot, is notably really bad in this respect. They've got algorithmic claims denials and all kinds of nasty things that people don't like. All that money they're saving on paying out on claims must be making them rich, right? Let's look at their own financial reports:

Whoa! Big numbers! Six percent looks like a small number, but multiply and they make like thirty billion dollars doing this! That's a lot, right?

Well hang on. They're an insurance company. We can roughly model their profit as the amount people pay them for insurance, minus the amount they have to pay out for claims. Let's look at 2023: simple subtraction, their expenses are $339.2 billion. We simplify other overhead and assume that's all claims. So... that represents those 67% of claims they don't reject. What happens if they approve all the claims?

Multiply: $506.3 billion. They don't have that kind of money. They have $371.6 billion in revenue. So okay- they have to deny some claims. That's pretty normal. But let's pretend they're extremely afraid of assassins now and want to be completely non-greedy: they're okay making zero profit. They make $32.4 billion in profit- how many otherwise-rejected claims can they now afford to approve?

...uh. Well, they can afford to pay out, at most, 73.4% of claims. Still a denial rate of 26.6%, higher than most of their competitors. Not a huge improvement. And in reality, they can't afford to make 0 profit- a company that's making 0 profit is a company investors pull out of immediately, leaving it to collapse, because they can make more money investing in the ones that aren't as afraid of assassins. They've got to at least hover around the same profit margin as their competitors. Which is...

That's average profit margins for the whole US healthcare industry. So, okay, if we match those other companies' profit margins and try to hover around 3-4%... uh. Wait. Hang on. Here's another graph with more recent data on UHC specifically:

Wait, they're still just making that little 3-4% profit margin, even with all these shady automated denials- so how are those other companies doing better on claims? They're obviously not less greedy. They must be making more money somehow, right?

(My guess, sight-unseen, would be that they charge more for their plans, or offer less comprehensive coverage, or use a network of less expensive providers, or other things that make the amount they have to pay out smaller and the amount they're taking in larger. I don't feel like doing a comprehensive consumer review of what every insurance provider's healthcare plans are, but there's always these tradeoffs to make. UHC seems to be offering the tradeoff of "better or cheaper care, on paper" for "but there's a higher risk of getting denied", which is one annoying tradeoff among many.)

Okay But That's Enough Graphs

"Yeah yeah yeah shut up about profit margins and coverage tradeoffs. Is it a good thing that the CEO got shot or not?"

Well, their profit margin at the time he was shot was 3.63%. A company can't survive making 0 or less, so whatever effect fear of assassination has on UHC's greediness, it is going to be no larger than 3.63%.

They may learn the lesson that having their denial rates too high will get them assassinated. Accordingly, they may decrease that metric- by charging higher premiums, kicking expensive doctors out of their network, or reducing their stated coverage. They will not (because they cannot, without ceasing to exist as a company) simply start approving more claims without squeezing their customers elsewhere. They legally cannot do that. No matter how afraid you make the CEOs, you cannot make them afraid to a degree larger than their profit margin.

Well What The Fuck, Then

Like, what, are we supposed to accept that things will literally never get better and that this horrorshow is the best we can hope for? That's some bullshit! If we can't scare the CEOs, who can we scare?

Man I dunno.

Like, for some reason healthcare is stupid expensive! People can't afford to pay for healthcare without insurance- it's like thousands of dollars for basic procedures! Why? Maybe...

Doctors inflate their prices 10x because they know insurance companies will use complicated legal tricks to only pay 10% of the asking price, and this is a constantly escalating price war that serves mainly to fuck over the uninsured

Drug manufacturers and health technology companies fight tooth and nail to maintain monopolies over treatment, so they can charge gazillions to make back the gazillions they had to spend on FDA approval trials

(Trials those same companies lobby to keep necessary because the more money you have to pay for FDA approval, the harder it is for competitors to enter the market since they don't already have the gazillions)

Doctors operate as a cartel and lobby to gatekeep access to medical training so that they can keep doctoring a prestigious and exclusive position, and keep their own salaries high enough to pay their medical school debt and make them rich afterwards- leading to a (profitable) shortage of medical professionals

There is no limit to how expensive things can get but how much people are physically capable of paying, because frequently the alternative to "pay a ridiculous amount for healthcare" is "die", and so healthcare is subject to near-infinitely inelastic demand

Also like a thousand other equally annoying and complicated perverse incentives and stupid situations

This is the human condition: Shit is annoying and complicated and difficult to fix, pretty much 100% of the time forever. A few bullets in some fucko's back isn't really going to make a dent.

(But like, sure, fuck that guy. He probably sucked, as do the hundred other identical suits in line to replace him. Just... don't expect this to help.)

[purpdrawsthings]

You'll Be Back Mr Puzzles MAP!

No this is actually real soahsodhsoshsi

Hihi everyone saw my last post hahahhhh I wasn't joking 💀

READ THE ENTIRETY OF THIS IF YOU WANT TO JOIN ‼️‼️‼️‼️

I don't want no nobody to not understand anything

Anyways, onto the details!

Wait, what's a MAP?

Ah.. I should explain that shouldn't I?

MAP stands for Multiple-Animator Project. It's basically a collaborative project made up of numerous animations by different creators!

You might have seen these before in the art fandom, if not, you're not a real artist /jk /nsrs /lh

Jokes aside, these projects tend to be fun for most creators and I'm hoping that this would bring some fun to the people joining :)

Is this begginer friendly?

Why yes it is! Regardless you're good at animation or not, you're welcome to join! Just... At least put some effort rather than being lazy?

Regardless, everyone is welcomed with open arms here! So don't be afraid ;)

What canvas size should I use?

1280x720 preferably! Just to make sure it doesn't take up too much of my data ;w;

But you can use any canvas size you'd want besides that! A box shape, or that weird YouTube short form... Nvm exclude that one but anyways, yeah any canvas size that you're comfortable with!

Is there a specific theme?

There's actually none! The map is supposed to just be a silly Mr puzzles map :3

This includes the setting and etc like- go crazy! Do a sad, fun, crazy, angry moment or something! Do what your imagination can make out of that song using Puzzles ^^

Is it okay if I can't remove my animating apps watermark?

It's completely fine if you can't remove it! Don't worry you're not the only broke one here ;)

Am I allowed to put my watermark?

Yes! You're incouraged to add in your watermark so people know it's your part!

Dw, if you don't have one them I'll just put your name while I'm editing the entire thing :)

Can I include my OCS or my Mr puzzles design?

Yes you can! You can also change your Puzzles aus whenever you'd like.

E.g my Showman Puzzles on part 1 and my Puzzles kinsona on part 2

It's just an example! If you're adding ocs, it's good! But the animation should primarily focused on Puzzles! He can interact with other characters but it's mostly just him. Oh and if you're wondering, it doesn't have to be SMG4 OCS :)

How many parts can I take?

Hey hey don't be greedy /hj

2 parts! I want everybody to take their chances and do some cool stuff :D

Where should I ask for parts or send submissions at?

In the discord server I made! The link will be at the end of the post. I know I just replied to some in this blog and they got their parts, I will NOT be accepting any ask parts OUTSIDE of the server.

The same goes with submissions/finished parts, please do send it in discord.

Why is this? This is because I want everything to be easier for me so I could manage stuff. I get frustrated very easily so yeah 😭

Is there a deadline?

Well uh- I'm not sure! But it's probably going to be planned on the June or July, somewhere in the middle of the year. Though I will be making sure nobody feels rushed for their sake

Have you ever host a MAP before?

Wait where tf did that one come from-

No I haven't unfortunately, this is my first one! I've always wanted to make a MAP because of how cool the idea itself is.

Now that that's done, here are the parts! As time progresses a and people enter, I'll fill them up :3

Intro : me

1. @e-v-e-l-l-e

2. @rainbowrocketraichu

3. Entity-lol

4. @lari-the-dragon

5. @rat-n-atty

6. @madhalo

7. @mrtophat518

8. @fenicearts420

9. @cosmicoreo9

10. Entity-lol

11. @niranutcake

12. @madhalo

13. Me

14. @alex-dolmatescu2-0

15. @libbytwq

16. @alex-dolmatescu2-0

17. @rr3d2y

18. Me

19. @niranutcake

20. Rainbowrocketraichu

21. @messydoodlesyt

22. @messydoodlesyt

23. @icedbeverageenjoyer

24. @mrtophat518

Outro : me

Last but not least.. Please do enter your submissions in the discord server below this sentence :D

You can post your part outside the server if you want but I'm only taking the ones submitted in the server itself :)

Andddd that's about all! You can ask questions here and in the server. Yeetus chat!

[mydearlybeloathed]

── 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐄, 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐋𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: a mission to recover your prized research from your greedy ex-employer goes awry when you, the crew's pacifist, decide to join the fight in the name of saving your beloved captain. when you awake from your near-mortal injuries, luffy demands to know why you put yourself in danger, and you're not sure you can answer him.

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: luffy x gn!reader

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 4k

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭: title from cariño by the marías, description of injuries, angst and fluff, researcher!reader, requested

𝐚/𝐧: i really liked writing this 🙆 thanks for the request! sorry it took a minute 😃

𝐎𝐏 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

Luffy didn’t know if he should try to hug you or get as far away from you as he could. Did you want him to go? Did you want him to stay? He tired gouging it from your face, but all he found was indifference, your fingers toying with the edges of your latest read. 

“Say what you think,” he finally said. Luffy pulled up your desk chair and sat across from where you sit cross-legged on your bed. 

Your lips pursed, brows meeting. “I think… I think all of this is stupid.”

Luffy had to fight back the instinct to disagree, unsure if that would bode well when your usual easy smile was nowhere in sight. But it wasn’t stupid, not to him. Not when it concerned you. “That guy stole your research.”

A strangled laugh left you. “I can rewrite the journals. I can do more research. I…” You clapped the book shut and set it aside, eyes on the ground. “I can’t get a new Luffy.” Your cheeks burned instantly. “Or—or a new Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp.”

He ducked down to catch your gaze, startling you into looking right into his warm eyes. He tried a tiny grin. “We’ll get your journals back, okay? Years of research can’t be lost like that.”

That’s what he’d been saying since your old employer finally caught up to you—you and your seven years of study. Mister Fike thrived off the work of others, loafing off people who once trusted him and his dream of an enlightened, freely educated society. 

Bullshit. All of it. The moment you realized he only wanted your research for his own gain was the day you started running—and what luck you had to run right into Monkey D. Luffy. 

Perhaps it was foolish to think Mister Fike would allow so much money to just slip away, but then maybe you were foolish. He’d caught you unguarded in the dead of night, docked at an out-of-the-way port, and swept away with all the data and observations you’d spent so long crafting. Your life’s work, gone in the blink of an eye.

Your hand grazed your cheek where a bandage covered the cut Mister Fike had given your face—his only warning before you were frozen into fear and let him walk away. 

Mister Fike would do much worse if Luffy got in his way. You clamped shut your eyes and pleaded, “Don’t. I can start over, Luffy. It’s not worth the risk.”

He stayed a moment in quiet thought and you nearly hoped Luffy was hearing you out, until he opened his mouth. “‘Cause you’re pacific, right? That’s what Robin said.”

You blinked at him before a half-amused smile rose to your lips. “Pacifist, Luffy. I’m a pacifist.”

“I just don’t get it. You’ve fought before.”

You shifted at the unpleasant reminder, memories flashing in your mind of a time your hand had been forced. “Because I had to.”

Luffy sighed and sat in thought, taking in your nervous twitching before he caught sight of your desk, where papers were scattered across the surface from where you’d searched for any notes you had left. Your life’s work, stolen from you. One day your research was going to help people—it was your dream—and by the gods, Luffy was not going to let some asshole take that from you.

“We know where to find him,” Luffy said, standing. He met your widened eyes. “Nami was able to track him down pretty easy.”

You lurched forward and caught his hand, rising quickly. “Please. Don’t do this. I can’t risk it.”

Luffy simply cast your hand a look before he was prying you off him, squeezing your fingers as a less than reassuring smile took his face. “Then I will.”

He turned swiftly and made for the door, already back in his head about how he would go about tearing Mister Fike apart when a loud thump had him swiveling around again. You stomped across the floor, collecting your shoes and the bo-staff you hardly had any use for, spinning it around sharply to test your rusty skills. You settled him with a firm glare with nothing too real behind it. “If we do this, we do it together.”

And just like that he was a kid at Christmas, bouncing on his toes as he hooked his arm through yours and started hurrying down the hall, your staff clanging against the walls. “We never fight together! This is great!”

You failed to share in his optimism, trying with everything in you to keep the looming dread at bay. 

જ⁀➴

Your whole body locked up at the horrifying crack of a skull under your staff, and you swiftly defended your actions to your own self. They attacked me. I had no choice.

You just had to get through this battle without looking too long at the red splotching your weapon. 

Mister Fike’s ship hadn’t changed much from when you’d frequented the place. The halls were a bit dustier, though. No wonder he needed your research so bad. There was no one left to take advantage of.

Past the third deck security, you flew down the hall, muscle memory taking you back to Fike’s office. The plan was simple. Get in, get out. Simple. You had nothing to worry about.

Zoro’s familiar shadow suddenly ran up beside you, dragging a relieved gasp out of you. “Oh, thank God.”

He cast you a grin. “I figured you’d want some help.”

Just as the warmth set into your chest, the whole ship tilted sharply before righting itself. Gritting your teeth, you glared at the ceiling. “Luffy!”

“Keep moving,” said Zoro, ushering you along. He busted down the door to the office and sent it splintering around the room. 

“Right, right…” Mumbling kept you steady as you rushed around the office, rifling through drawers and papers till the tell-tale baby blue of your logbook came into view. You pressed it to your chest in a short embrace, sighing deeply.

As much of a fight you put up, your research meant the world to you. Getting it back meant even more. Luffy knew that. Maybe you could consider forgiving him, later, when you’re off the ship and back to safety. 

You and Zoro made it to the main deck in record time; the southern part of the ship just started to tip beneath the waves. Gravity dragged you down, teetering precariously on your heels when Zoro’s hand grounded your shoulder. You murmured a thanks and bolted across the tilting deck. The crew gathered on a level spot, allowing you to catch your breath—before all of it was stolen when you noticed someone was missing.

“Where’s Luffy?” you demanded needlessly as moments later chaos erupted farther up the ship at the helm. Luffy faced Mister Fike, each man contorted by a terrifying rage. Fike’s strength might’ve been great, but surely he was no match for Luffy. Your blood ran cold as you noticed a flash of silver in Fike’s smile. In his wide maw, three rows of rotating teeth glinted in the sun. A zoan-type fruit, perhaps. “That’s new…”

You stood paralyzed alongside your friends, eyes locked on the fight as Luffy lunged at Fike, the man in turn snapping his jaws and narrowly snagging Luffy’s arm. You jolted forward, the only thing stopping you being Nami’s hand closing round your wrist. “He can handle it,” she snapped, her face betraying her panic. 

A guttural scream struck the air. Luffy’s right arm was trapped in Fike’s teeth while his left tried to pry the shark man’s jaw open. Shock shot through everyone before it hit you, your heart dropping. Nami shouted as you took off at break-neck speed, not a thing on your mind aside from the need to help him. Fike’s henchmen—your old colleagues—struggled to stand from where they’d been beaten to a pulp, their efforts useless as you jumped over their heads and reaching hands. Feet pounding across the steel deck, you swept up to the helm, leaping over the last step to find Fike tossing Luffy aside. The boy rose from the ground slowly, chest heaving, eyes blazing. Luffy would terrify you if he didn’t mean so much to you.

“Fike!” You raised your bo-staff and marched toward him. His slitted eyes took you in like a last meal. 

A laugh rumbled in his chest. “Looks like someone got their sea legs! Last I saw you, you were bent over the side of this very ship emptying your lunch.”

Luffy murmured your name, drawing your attention as he stalked toward Fike. His arm was practically in shreds, flesh torn and bound to scar. “Let me handle this.” He chanced a look at you, eyes softening. “You’re not a fighter.”

“I can be,” you breathed, resolve solidifying. You set your jaw and faced your old employer, taking one step at him just as Luffy’s arms grabbed your middle and flung you behind him. “Luffy!”

“Stay back.” His tone left little room for discussion, and the way his eyes flashed at you had you frozen in place, not able to stand. 

Watching from the ground, your blood boiled at each strike and slash Fike took at your captain—your friend. The future King of the Pirates. Fike’s eyes darted to you every other move, glimmering like he wanted you to watch. Like Fike expected you to sit by and do nothing. 

You’d been a pacifist most of your life. Ever since your home and half your village were burned to the ground due to the actions of quarreling pirates and marines, you made a vow to never be one to perpetuate such violence. You’d done pretty well at keeping that vow, going out to spread knowledge to those who couldn’t access it on their own—and then you met Mister Fike, who tricked you into thinking he wanted the same as you, for everyone to get the chances you never had as a child. But Fike was a liar, the kind of liar you hated the most; the kind who burned down people’s lives with their selfish lying. 

Finding Luffy was both a saving grace and an inevitable end to your vow. He was kind and just and generous, and you loved being on his crew dammit, but he asked things of you you weren’t sure you could give. Things like fighting. You almost heard his cheery laughter and litheful voice now, saying, “Fight for what you believe in, for the people you love, and you won’t have anything to regret!”

A sharp gasp left you breathless as Fike nearly caught Luffy’s head in his jaws. Luffy grabbed at Fike’s razor-sharp teeth, prying them back open even while in the shark-man’s grasp. 

Luffy asked many things of you. Things you wanted to give him. Like fighting for those you care about and care about you in return. You hated violence with a burning passion—but perhaps you loved Luffy more. You rose to your feet and lunged forth, bo-staff catching Fike’s gut. Fike lurched back and snarled, throwing Luffy aside to zero in on you instead. You sent hit after hit at him, driving him back all while he kept that smug grin on his maw. 

Angry huffs of breath puffed from your lips until Fike caught you staff in his fist, cracking it between his jaws. Luffy grunted your name and your eyes found him instinctively, guard dropped as soon as you spotted him in a lump a few feet off. Fike grabbed you instantly and suspended you in the air, his claw-like hands constricting your diaphragm. He leered right in your face, tongue passing over his lips. “Should’ve listened to your friend.”

Letting slip a growl, you snapped your head forward to try his own tactics, biting his oblong nose sharply. A nasty metallic taste filled your mouth causing you to recoil, gagging. Fike’s grip loosened for all of two seconds before you could no longer breathe, his large hand crushing your torso till a horrifying crack rang in your ears, followed quickly by another, and all at once you hit the ground in a lump. Choked whimpers fled your lips as you curled in on yourself, too focused on your breathing to think about Luffy bellowing your name.

You forced every inhale, the action pinching something in your chest. God, you’d never felt pain like this. Panic surged up your body till it hit your brain—Chopper once yelled at Sanji for his broken ribs, needing to check if his lungs were damaged or impaired. Oh god… You sucked in a breath only to whine it back out and tug at your constricting shirt, sweat beading along your skin.

Through foggy vision and fuzzy ears, Luffy’s voice was the only thing louder than the terrible ringing and ache wrought throughout your body. The pain preluded the numbness that blazed through your ribcage, leaving you unable to breathe quite right but without the pinching to blame it on. Two arms scooped under your shoulders and legs, lifting you into a broad chest. The shifting of your body dragged out a strangled cry. “‘M sorry… ‘M sorry…”

You blinked up to find Luffy’s face silhouetted by the sun blazing behind him. You murmured his name and Luffy picked up his pace, ignoring Nami berating him, ordering him to slow down. He couldn't! He had to get you to Chopper. He chanced another look down at your face to see if your brows were any more pinched just to find your eyes shut and expression relaxed. 

“Why’re they sleeping?” he demanded, bounding up the Going Merry’s gangway with Zoro hot on his trail. “Wake up. Gotta wake up so Chopper can ask what’s wrong.”

“They can’t hear ya, Luffy,” Zoro said evenly. He gripped his captain’s shoulder and guided him in a quick pace to where Chopper would be held up in the galley. 

Luffy gritted his teeth, no longer occupied with watching where he’s going, only focused on you. “Then they need to wake up.”

Zoro had both his hands on Luffy’s shoulders, jerking him down the hall and pushing him into the galley. “They will. Give ‘em a minute.”

From the way Zoro said it so softly, Luffy had a feeling it would be longer than a minute.

You woke from a surprisingly restless sleep far later into the day, when the moon peaked up over the horizon and the sun retreated to her home beyond the sea. The very first thing you noticed was that you weren’t dead, which was something. You sure felt like you were dying, but maybe that was due to your lack of experience being mortally injured. The others seemed to be used to it, breaking bones and ribs like it’s an idiotic game. Did this draft you into that game? If so, you had the sense you were losing.

“Good!” Chopper popped through your bedroom door, beaming at you. “You’re awake!”

A gentle smile graced your lips. “Hey, Chop.” A brief glance at the wall clock, and face fell. “You should be in bed.”

The reindeer shuffled toward you, waving his hooves dismissively. “I couldn’t sleep, not till I know you’re all right.”

Warm affection for your friend burst through your chest. You tried to prop yourself up but nearly immediately you settled back down, your torso aching sorely. “Thank you.”

Chopper checked over your chest, feeling here and there for anything still out of place. “You’ve got two broken ribs, but nothing punctured or damaged.”

“Lucky me,” you laughed, fizzling out to a cough. Chopper patted your shoulder, his brows met.

“Don’t overexert yourself,” he stressed. “I’ll get you some water.” He pattered back over to the door, hummed, and peeked back around. “Uhm, Luffy’s awake too.” You blinked widely, unsure what to say. Chopper simply smiled. “I’ll go get him!”

“Wait, Chop—Ah!” One hand on your side, you squeezed shut your eyes and laid back down slowly. “Bad idea. Bad idea…”

You plopped your head back and stared at the ceiling, straining to feel the way the ship rocked on the waves. Left and right, gravity shifted on the rolling waters, calming your suddenly racing heart. Minutes passed, and another figure appeared in the doorway. You lolled your head to the side. Luffy’s eyes stuck to the floor as he entered, his hands fidgety at his sides. 

Too exhausted to break the silence, you waited, beckoning him closer with a flick of your hand. Luffy only took one step, gaze raising to your own. “I got rid of him—Mister Fike.” 

You nodded, trying so very hard to release the tension building in your shoulders. You didn’t care to know what he meant by that at all. Pursing your lips, you steeled yourself to attempt to sit upright one last time. Luffy jumped toward you, hovering his hands over your struggling form, finally taking your arm and helping to prop you up against the headboard. You murmured a thanks, but Luffy only stared at you, eyes flickering over your face, a thousand thoughts behind those eyes. 

Sighing deeply, you took the bait. “Spit it out, Luffy. What’s wrong?”

He narrowed his eyes like it should’ve been obvious, sucking in a breath and shoving the words out. “You shouldn’t have risked yourself for me.”

A small fire lit in your heart, right where Luffy usually occupied it. You raised a brow in challenge. “But you’re allowed to do the same for me?”

Luffy replied a curt, “Yes.”

You rolled your eyes to that. “Ridiculous. You ask me to fight and when I do, you tell me I shouldn’t. Pick a side, Luffy.”

He plopped himself down on the edge of the bed, face hard as he formulated exactly what he wanted to say in a way that made sense. “I asked you to fight, not get hurt.”

“If the roles were switched, you would’ve done the same.” Your hand found his. “You have done the same. You’re my captain and above that my friend. I regret nothing.”

Luffy stared at how you cupped his hand in both of yours, his eyes drifting to the dark bruising around your midsection. “Just don’t do it again.”

You deflated like that, dropping his hand and shifting away despite how it hurt. He didn’t understand, and you weren’t sure how to get him to. “I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.”

Luffy didn’t know what that meant, but he knew he didn’t like it. “Fine. You don’t have to talk to me anymore.” He made to stand when your eyes widened, not expecting him to actually walk away, and you reached out to grab his arm. A grunt slipped past your lips, causing him to whip back around.

“Luffy.” He froze, hearing the difference in how you said his name now, like a plea instead of the usual reprimand. “I had to compromise my values today.”

A brief apology flashed across his face. “I—”

“Even if you hadn’t asked me to,” you cut in sharply. “I would have done nothing different. Don’t ask me not to risk myself for you because it's useless. I’d do it a hundred times over.”

He assessed you carefully, skeptically. Desperately? “Why?”

“Do I need a reason?” You chuckled wryly.

“I do.” You gazed into each of his eyes, the words so far out of reach, buried beneath months of excuses.

“You know why.” He had to. Your eyes implored him to see right through you like he always had before, to see how your heartbeat sounded like his name. You knew Luffy was smarter than anyone gave him credit for, so he had to know you loved him. But… Luffy just stood there, confused as ever, breaking down your hope. “Do I have to spell it out?”

He blinked. “That’d be nice, yeah.”

You gave him a long, hard look, trying to gauge if he was serious (of course he was) and promptly set your jaw. “I… care about you. In ways I didn’t think I could care about someone.” You averted your eyes. “I don’t regret breaking my vow of peace, because I did it to help you. I’d do anything for you. And I…”

Eyes shut tightly, you wondered if that was enough spelling out before he finally got the message and put you out of your misery. The sooner he knew, the sooner he could tell you you’re an idiot and you could both move on like it never happened. You didn’t expect Luffy’s warm, warm hands to take your face so gently, eyes baring into you hotly. 

It was unfair of him to have such pretty eyes. Despite their chesnut-y hue, they reminded you of the sea. Wild, reckless, filled with unabandon. You envied him when he looked like this. Luffy loved with every muscle in his body, unable to hold anything back, and you… you weren’t like that. You held your cards flush to your chest, discomfort chilling your skin with every piece of your heart you gave away.

He smiled at you now; not the bright, beaming ones he shot around willy-nilly. Luffy’s soft smile caught you unawares, drawing you in like a moth to a fervent flame till your lips parted and a tiny sigh left you. His lips curled up, almost teasing as he said, “I know.”

“You know?” you asked, brows met.

“Yep,” he replied, popping the p. “You’re not as sneaky as you think.”

“Oh?” You scoffed. “Really. And what exactly do you know, Captain?” 

Your breath hitched at Luffy’s sudden proximity, his forehead meeting yours in a skin-kiss you only ever read about in your silly romance novels. You squeaked rather embarrassingly, “Luffy?”

Your captain’s smile never faltered as he leaned into your ear, whispering, “I know you like me.”

Eyes blown wide, an awkward laugh erupted out of you, your hands pushing him away. “O-kay. Ha! Real funny, Loof.” His hand pressed right over your heart, only worsening the sporadic and slightly concerning rate of your heartbeat. “L-Loof… Luffy, don’t do that.”

One beat, then two. Luffy’s eyes drifted up to meet your own, his hand dropping to his side. His brows rose just so. “So you don’t like me?”

A firm no rose to the tip of your tongue and fell right off, leaving you to choke on nothing. Luffy looked at you so earnestly it was painful. “I…” You couldn’t say it, no matter how his eyes asked you to. Perhaps there was one thing he asked you couldn’t do. “You need sleep.”

“You need to be honest,” he snipped back. “You know I could’ve handled it. Why did you help me?”

Warmth flooded your cheeks under his gaze. “If you know everything then why be so mean to me, huh?” Again you shoved him off, wincing as your chest muscles pinched. “If you know I love you, then why interrogate me? It’s unfair! You know I can’t say it! I’m not like you! I broke a few ribs saving your ass, so what? I’d do it again! Why the fuck are you laughing?!”

Chest heaving, you sniffed and wiped at your damp cheeks, heartbreaking as all Luffy did was throw his head back and laugh. Crestfallen, your waterline dotted with anguish. “Go—Go away, Luffy.” Is this what he wanted? To humiliate you? Fine. You won’t bother next time. You’d let the next shark-man snap his pretty face off. See if you cared. 

The tears spilled over, Luffy’s smile dwindling down to something barely there. “‘M sorry. You’re just… funny.”

An afflicted laugh tumbled off your lips, hardly believing any of this was real. Luffy’s left hand clasped around yours, tightening when you fought out of his grip, and his right reached to wipe away the tears glittering down your cheeks. Your face scrunched up as you swatted at him, falling apart. “Fuck off.”

“I love you too.” The words seized all the breath left in you, which wasn’t a lot, leaving you to gasp it all back in. 

You shook your head slowly. “What?”

His finger poked your forehead. “You said it first.” Blinking perplexedly, you replayed all that you had spat out, mortification shadowing your face… until Luffy’s own words eclipsed your own.

“You… what?”

“I’m sorry for laughing,” he grinned, making work of drying your face before he sat back on the bed, legs crossed. “And for calling you funny.” He glanced away, fiddled with the bed covers, and snapped his eyes back to you. “Can you say it again?”

You heard your heart in your head, feeling every swipe of his fingers against your skin as he took your hands, chasing away all discomfort surrounding those little words. From the way he smiled, you felt he wouldn’t mind if you didn’t, and something in that sparked a need in you. You sucked in a breath, letting it out as a forceful, “I love you.”

Luffy grinned blissfully, letting out another tiny laugh, kissing the backs of your hands. A hesitant smile rose to your face, ready to meet his, and with your bottom lip between your teeth, you risked scooting over, shyly making him room beside you. Luffy wasted no time in slipping in beside you, careful not to hurt you. Not a word passed between you as his skin flushed against yours. Each touch was tentative, new, yet strangely familiar. He sparked up a conversation like nothing had happened at all, asking about what you’d do with your research when it was all complete, telling you about his whale friend Laboon and how you’d get along. 

Right as your eyes grew fluttery, the morning sun peeking in through the window, Luffy lifted his head from the nook he’d made of your neck, prying you away from sleep. “Yeah?”

“If you’re gonna get hurt for me,” he mumbled, “don’t pass out. You scared the shit outta me.”

You carded your hand through his hair, pushing him back to lie down with a laugh. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭:

@100520s

[sheerfreesia007]

Lee Felix Masterlist

Status Report: Police themed. W.C. - 1,694 You and Felix have been friends for years and while your careers are opposite of each other they compliment each other. Your mind has always been faster than his in every sense, and now as a surprised confession slips in between the two of you will he be able to catch up?

Just a Glimpse: Seeing you in a bikini themed. W.C. - 1,883 Part One. Your relationship with Felix was always teasing and fun. But what happens when Felix gets a look at you in your bikini, will he want to take your relationship further than just teasing?

Try Me On, Take Me Home: Seeing you in a bikini themed. W.C. - 2,236 Part Two. When a sultry bikini shopping trip turns into a private dressing room fashion show, Felix finds himself helplessly captivated all over again by the woman who stole his heart—and his sanity—a year ago. With their tropical anniversary trip on the horizon, things heat up fast as teasing turns to tension, and love blends seamlessly with desire.

Data Breach: Boss themed. W.C. - 5,834 Felix is the newly promoted head of your company’s I.T. Department and you’re thankful for his expertise because computers are not your thing. What happens when he finds your computer illiteracy absolutely adorable as he tries to teach oyu about the digital side of things in your company?

Gameplay Confessions: Love confessions themed. W.C. - 952 You’re hanging out with Felix in his bedroom while he games with Jeongin and Seungmin. What happens when Felix confesses to you even with an audience of two?

Greedy (Angst): Arranged marriage themed. W.C. - 6,875 Part One. You’ve always been considered the Ice Queen of society, always quick to cut people off and never open up to anyone besides your best friend San. But what happens when your father insists that you marry his new protege that he’s taken in while your heart yearns for your best friend?

Twilight Zone (Angst): Arranged marriage themed. W.C. - 4,014 Part Two. It’s the holiday season and to show good faith you agree to spend some time with your father before leaving for vacation with San. But what happens when there’s an unexpected guest to your father’s home?

Card Up His Sleeve: Mafia/Mob boss themed. W.C. - 2,603 Part One. As a kid you had a natural talent and skill at playing cards, your grandfather had recognized it and cultivated it. But now as an adult who had to grow up far too soon to help your mom you found yourself back at your old habits of gambling poker. What happens when you win too many games at the mob boss Lee Felix’s card house? Will he finally catch you or will you get away once again?

Checkered Flag: Vehicle/Motorcycle themed. W.C. - 1,677 Felix has been racing for a while on the street scene, but what happens when one of the flag girls catches his eye? Will he be able to capture her attention as well or will she just wave him on?

Love Creases: Love note themed. W.C. - 2,118 You find a way to show Felix that you love him through your origami hobby and he’s absolutely giddy with love over it. What happens when he decides to show his love through origami as well?

Angels in the Snow: Winter/Snow day themed. W.C. - 815 You teach Felix how to make snow angels for the first time and he’s absolutely tickled pink with this new thing to create in the snow.

New Beginnings in the New Year: New Year’s Eve themed. W.C. - 1,977 Felix is hosting a New Year’s Eve party at a local club, when he invited you to come you’re more than happy to join him for the party. You don’t expect anything for your evening but to have a good time dancing and drinking with you friends, but Felix seems to have other plans for you once the New Year rolls in.

Worry Wart: Guardian angel themed. W.C. - 1776 You’ve always worried about things that were out of your control and as your guardian angel Felix has found a way to help you through that worry. But are you able to find peace when you see all your friends at your school reunion?

Too Early For This: Date match themed. W.C. - 2,961 Felix is your date match up for your college’s event, but what happens when he takes you to your own cafe that you co-own with your siblings? Will the date flop?

Fitted Love (Soft Smut): Soft smut themed. W.C. - 2,385 MDNI. Felix has invited you to be his plus one for a Louis Vuitton event and you need to be fitted for a dress for the event. When Felix notices that your mind is starting to grow dark with you insecurities he reminds you how perfect you are for him in the best way possible.

Wardrobe Malfunction: Walking in while they’re changing themed. W.C. - 703 Felix has invited you to a photoshoot that he’s in for one of the brands that he’s an ambassador for. You’re absolutely delighted and love to learn all about the details of a photoshoot, but when you walk back to share everything that you’ve learned with Felix you’re surprised to walk in on him getting changed.

Meddling Family: Drunken confessions themed. W.C. - 1,004 Part One. After being invited as Felix’s plus one to a party to celebrate Stray Kids’ success you get to meet his family finally. But when Felix’s sisters recognize how he acts around they decide to meddle in your relationship

Office Loner: Nerd loner themed. W.C. - 3,206 You’re a bit of a loner at work but when Felix joins your department his nerdy ways manage to draw you out of your shell and the two of you become friends. But what happens when the office mean girl finds out the new hour nerd has befriended you?

Floral Confessions & Runway Hearts: Receiving flowers from them themed. W.C. - 1,040 When a misleading photo sparks rumors about Felix and another model during Paris Fashion Week, he rushes home early, bouquet in hand, to reassure you of his unwavering love. Through a shared language of flowers and heartfelt words, the two of you reaffirm the trust and bond that make your relationship so special.

Certified Lip Inspector: Pouting their lips themed. W.C. - 1,732 Felix keeps obsessively asking if his lips look weird, using it as a cheeky excuse to get your attention. What starts as playful teasing slowly unravels into tender moments that reveal just how deeply he craves your affection.

Ice Cream Promises & Eiffel Dreams: Ice cream themed. W.C. - 1,807 On a dreamy trip to Paris for Felix’s Louis Vuitton fashion show, the two of you steal quiet moments of romance amid the whirlwind of events. From playful teasing to sweet gestures and an unexpected “marriage” moment over ice cream, the city of love brings you both closer than ever.

Always, Sunshine: Sick/Illness themed. W.C. - 2,711 When Felix is rushed to the hospital after a performance due to a flare-up in his back, his girlfriend drops everything to be by his side, offering the comfort only she can give. As the night unfolds—from quiet hospital moments to surprise takeout and soft kisses—she proves, once again, that she’ll always show up for her sunshine.

[improbable-outset]

📂 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧

↳ 📂 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭.𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞

𝐓𝐖: Brief blowjob, hair pulling 🔞

This isn’t even proof read, I’m just spitballing here. I don’t know what it is about men with big nerdy brains and a grumpy personality that has me weak!

Just imagining Miguel, pealing off his lab coat and coming home to you. He’s exhausted and his eyes are sore from looking at the monitors full of data of genetic information and his limps are stiff from sitting in one place for so long.

Being with you, he’ll always feel safe to unwind and be vulnerable with his emotions which is an achievement in itself because this man is stubborn when it comes to venting sometimes.

He announces his arrival as soon as enters through the door, calling out for you. Of course, you’re always eager to greet him and offer to take his jacket.

But tonight he was extra pent up and hot. You didn’t expect him to grab onto you arm and spin you back around to face him with his forehead touching yours.

“I need you right now, mi alma,”

He could smell the detergent and soap from your clothes along with your natural scent, and feeling the tip of your nose trace the edge of his wasn’t helping his case.

Your hands reached for the button in his dress shirt, unbuttoning them one by one until his whole abdomen is exposed.

Your hands were all over him while he kissed you feverishly. You were his biggest weakness and he needed you more than anything.

You had him lie down on the couch because your man worked so hard and needed to be taken care of.

You settled yourself between his legs with your mouth now full of his achingly hard cock, pressing against your tongue that was already leaking with precum.

His shoulders instantly drooped and his brows relaxed as pleasured washed over his body. You were always so eager to please and right now he felt greedy.

You knew you were no longer in control of the pace when you felt his hands grip a fistful of your hair before he started fucking your throat.

Dinner was gonna have to wait because it was going to be a long night for the both of you…

Inspired by this fan art ;)

[maxybabyy]

winter warmers day 2: coming untouched (GP/Max; explicit)

Qualifying will start in less than an hour, and there’s still a debrief to be had before Max has to be back in the car.  

But Max had come back from the shower no less tense than before he left, and Gianpiero knows race prep sometimes requires something other than reviewing data to put Max in the right headspace for the race. Sprint races aren’t the optimal time or place what with the compact schedule of Max being in and out of the car multiple times in a day, but they have made it work before, so they make do.

His collar has become askew where he sits on the couch shoved into the corner of the room. Max is in his lap with wide beautiful thighs spread around him, ass loose with too much lube as Max fucks himself on his cock.

Gianpiero touches his waist, thumb pressing into a bruise that hadn’t been there yesterday, and shushes the moan that slips from Max’s mouth, “You’re okay, Max. Shush love, you can be good for me, can’t you?”

Max whines and he probably does try, but the volume stays the same.

His cock is hard against Gianpiero’s stomach, dripping pre-cum onto trousers he really should have taken off before he coaxed Max into his lap. But his back arches beautifully as he chases his high, and Gianpiero knows it won’t last long now.

“Insatiable,” he says and touches where Max’s hole is stretched around him. “It’s never over with you, is it? Taking everything you can and still wanting more. Greedy, some would say, but we know better, don’t we?”

“GP,” Max sobs, and that too is too loud, but neither of them can care about that now. Max shoves his face into the crook of his shoulder, teeth biting into the skin of his neck barely drowning out the, “Please, please, please – “

“Because you deserve it, don’t you Max?”

Max turns to liquid in his arms as he comes untouched, chest pressed against Gianpiero’s as he smears the come between them. Wet and sticky with sweat, and Gianpiero already knows it will be a nightmare to get him back into the suit.

But for now, he stays sweet, head turned to the side for a kiss.

The moment doesn’t last long. Max stirs in his arms and the kiss turns sharp, teeth biting into his lip until Gianpiero has to pull him back by the hair, “Behave, won’t you?” Max smirks and kisses him again, harder this time.

But then, Gianpiero doesn’t need him to be good now, he just needs him to be better than the rest of them. And well, Max usually is.

[kweenluxa]

TWOM Rant: Rebellion

this is going to be me rambling but the way The Will of the Many by James Islington talks about responsibility and rebellion is so interesting because even though they realize that the people at the top are corrupt and the system they built is terrible, the anguis despises people at the bottom for being complacent in the system.

page 172:

"They were innocent"

"Innocent?" Estevan has just been listening thoughtfully but he stirs at that, offended. "Were they not Octavii and Septimii, ceding their Will to Canten, for Canten's purposes?"

...

"Should we not hold others to the standards to which we hold ourselves? Anyone who does not resist them, Diago, is lending them their strength. Is complicit in all that they do. The Octavii are not just guilty - they hoist the entire Hierarchy on their shoulders."

Estevan/Melior knows that the lower-ranking members of the Hierarchy outnumber the higher ups. It's important to recognize that when you are at the "bottom" rung of society you have so much more power than you realize. The Hierarchy has 24 million people and people ranking above Octavii make up barely 2 million people. They would be terrified if people at the bottom ever joined together to overthrow them because when the Octavii die, they are losing the amount of Will being ceded to them, making themselves weaker. It would be extremely complicated to go to war with the Octavii and keep their power because the more casualties there are the more exposed they become; either way it would make it easier for some other group to take power.

pages 281 - 282

"Based on a standard pyramid, how many people out of every hundred would you expect to be Ovtavii?"

"A little under ninety?"

...

"About ten should be Septimii, a couple of Sextii. Quintii and above don't even factor into it at those numbers, but you get the idea. Given that, with twenty-four million people in the Hierarchy, how many would you expect to be Octavii?"

"About... twenty-one million?"

"A little less. Then two and a half million Septimii. About half a million Sextii." He jots the numbers, then glances up at me to check that I'm following.

"So?" The rations do sound a little off to me- I'd say that Sextii were more rare than that- but then, I've hardly shared the same space as senators and the like over the past few years.

...

"Regionally, most communities are arranged so that the Sextus is the highest position; everyone else of importance out there is a Septimus. Census data from last year said that there are only sixty thousand Sextii, eight thousand Quintii, and about two hundred Quartii in the Republic. Not in Canten, or in Deditia. In the entire Republic" He looks at me significantly.

I frown, doing the calculations in my head. "That's..." I shake my head. "That doesn't change the Octavii and Septimii numbers much, but it means that one person in every thousand is a Sextii. Not one in every hundred."

The illusion being sold to the people of the Hierarchy is that anyone can become a Sextus based on merit, anyone can climb the ladder to become a high ranking member of society, is based on false claims. The people in charge of the system are greedy, ensuring that people have false hopes or believe that society is somewhat fair helps squash feelings of resentment towards the Hierarchy. If you are an Octavii it's not that hard to move up to Septimii?? You're just not cut out to be a higher ranking member of society. If you believe that you aren't worth that much to the Hierarchy and that you are weak and replaceable it crushes your spirit to rebel against them. This mirrors how people are sold the false narrative of how anyone can become rich if they just work hard enough. The factors that limit opportunities and growth are ignored, success is in reach and it is your responsibility to take it. Additionally, because they are so "weak" they need to continue ceding their Will to the Hierarchy in order to protect them from threats like the Anguis, like people who have to work in low-paying jobs with limited protections in order to keep society running. But this is why Vis is sympathetic towards the Octavii and other people who are complicit with the system the Hierarchy has put into place, when you have nothing, why would you care about issues you aren't aware of? The Hierarchy is corrupt, but it is a way of life for these people.

page 280 - 281

"A fair system only works if there's an unbiased means of assessing merit. When there is no pride or selfishness involved." He gives a soft snort, shaking his head. Which means that fair systems cannot exist where people are involved"

...

"The Academy's a perfect example of what he talks about; we're meant to be the brightest of the Republic, but almost all of us here are the children of senators and knights. We've been trained, educated, since we could walk. Of course we're going to be 'better' than some fifth son of an Octavus who's been ceding half his life, just so his family can get by. Especially at tests which are devised by the same people who trained us. Who decide what merit is"

They were born into a world where it is normal for you to give up half your life force in order to "benefit" society as a whole, "Stronger Together" and whatnot. If they don't cede their Will, they'll be whipped until they comply. They aren't aware of the disparities in the power distribution, the corruption going on with Military and the Anguis, or the horrors of the sappers. Even Vis and his peers are barely aware of the census data and the only ones who know the true horror of the sappers are Vis and Eidhin. Vis and Estevan are able to see the corruption of the Hierarchy from an outsider's perspective- a prince and an advisor who know the horrors of Will. But Vis' time in the Republic mingling with people who were born and raised with the ideals of the Hierarchy showed him another side of these people. He wouldn't have been able to get by without the help of the villagers when he had just escaped from Suus, but the Anguis had burned their village down. (pg 171) It is impossible to fix a broken system without violence. It is also impossible to have a successful rebellion without good people dying. What matters more? Human life or ending human suffering?

page 486

"No country's governance is perfect. Anyone who looks at a system of people and thinks the system is the problem, is a fool. But I also want you to understand that the Hierarchy's is far more insidious. Because it's not imperiled by flaw. It is built on one."

"The Hierarchy?" I was puzzled. The Hierarchy were a wall, smooth and strong and impossibly tall. They were an insurmountable obstacle, a force beyond my comprehension. "What flaw?"

"Greed." My father turned to me then, and his dark eyes held mine. The wind whipped us, a chill to it that far up. "Greed is by definition the moral ruler of the Hierarchy, Diago. All decisions are based upon it. It is not the strong who benefit in their system, no matter what they say- it is the weak. It is the ones willing to do anything, sacrifice anything, to rise. It rewards avarice and is so steeped in a wrong way of thinking that those within it cannot even see it"

Estevan and Vis’ father, Cristoval recognize the way the Hierarchy has brainwashed its citizens but still hold them to a higher moral standard. Vis recognizes the issue but is torn on what to think (I would be too if I was a double agent and always on the verge of death) 

However, he sees the way the Anguis works and how the people within it have to cede to its leaders. 

even tho they hate the system of the hierarchy they use it nonetheless with sedotia ceding her will to estevan

they have birthwright that means you can't kill people

"hate is a form of violence"

quote about the right to die from edwin

them working with the high ranking officials in the senate quotes

shows how rebellion is complicated and there are many aspects to it that are ugly but would you rather be in a world where you have to kill people to get the freedom that you deserve of be complicit in the suffering of 22 million people

hard choices to make

did I say anything meaningful at all? probably not but I finished this book last night and cannot stop thinking about it

[dark-frosted-heart]

Roger Barel Main Route - Chapter 13 His POV

As usual, can’t guarantee 100% accuracy on this. I’m doing this for archiving purposes and you can probably find a better translation out there.

(He wanted to eat the person he liked…?)

In this case it wasn’t a euphemism for love, but literally that dead man’s intent.

Roger: —Could it be that…

His cursed sin is…cannibalism?

(I’ve never Cursed One with cannibalistic urges. There’s no past data. But…)

But when you think about everything that happened—It all made sense.

(That guy…was really Cursed)

He didn’t know he was Cursed and didn’t know that his urges were from his cursed fate. He died blaming himself.

(Ah, it happened “again”. I…led another innocent “Cursed One” to their death…”again”.

Roger: “‘Cursed One’s’ tragic fate can’t be altered. In the past, there have been no exceptions.”

That’s so true, it makes me laugh.

Kate: Um, Roger…

???: Hey, hey. A man dressed in all white with a nice smile and parted bangs just told me something.

You were talking about the murder from last night.

(...?)

I turned around and saw a stranger leaning against the counter with a smile.

Kate: And you are…

Nicholas the novelist: Just some insignificant novelist called Nicholas. And these are…

Michael the playwright: Michael, a playwright.

Joanna the caricaturist: Joanna, a caricaturist.

Barkeep: Ah, these three are people of culture who are regulars here. They like to stick their noses in other people’s business.

Nicholas the novelist: We have to! We’re always looking for inspiration for our works.

Man tries to eat a girl with red hair. It’s like the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood.

Joanna the caricaturist: Don’t lump this together with a childish fairytale like Little Red Riding Hood. It’s an insult to a sensational incident.

Michael the playwright: A bloodstained girl and a man standing over her in shock. Aha, I have an idea!

(...Ah, I see…these guys…)

The reason why they came to be known as “Fairytale Curses” is because of novelists, playwrights, and the like who created works based on existing “Cursed Ones”.

But nowadays, the relationship’s been reversed and they’re referred to as “Fairytale Curse”.

My curse is the Double-Crossing Hunter.

Elbert’s the Greedy Queen, Alfons the Mirror.

The reason for these names must have come from Cursed Ones that lived before us.

Tonight, another fairytale would be born from a Cursed One.

(I know people are free to create what they want and no one can fault them for that)

(—However)

Michael the playwright: I hope more tragic incidents happen. That way I can create the best stage performances!

Nicholas the novelist: More material for our works! Haha, just kidding!

Next thing I knew I was slamming my mug down on the table as if to cut their laughter off.

Roger: They didn’t die to be a spectacle for you lot.

Michael the playwright: Ah, erm…

Nicholas the novelist: Um��We didn’t mean to make fun of people’s deaths.

Joanna the caricaturist: That’s right. Just having jokes at a bar.

I heard voices repeatedly try to defend themselves within my distant consciousness.

I was already well aware that the “sinfulness” of “Cursed Ones” couldn’t be understood.

That’s why they’re “curses”.

Roger: —Just kidding.

Michael the playwright: …Huh?

Roger: You were starving for stimulation, so I thought I’d surprise you.

Michael the playwright: …Wha

What the heck! You scared me!

Roger: Ahaha, sorry.

Michael the playwright: That performance was so real. Want to join my troupe?

Nicholas the novelist: You can scout later. Let’s have a drink as thanks for surprising us!

Roger: Yeah, sure.

They’ll never know what we “Cursed Ones” mourn over or what’s fated ends are.

So I just pretended that nothing happened. This “acceptance” was a technique I took up to get by in this world.

—However, there was one person beside me that didn’t agree with this acceptance.

Kate: Roger…

There was a hint of anger in Kate’s voice and disapproval in her eyes. 

(...Kate, you’re too nice. You’re the only one willing to stand with the Cursed)

Kate was a kind person and now held feelings for the Cursed, Crown included.

That’s why there wasn’t a need to feel worried or hurt anymore.

Roger: Hmm?

I downed my beer and ruffled her hair like usual.

Kate: Stop…

Roger: We heard what happened. The investigations’s over so there’s no point in digging any deeper.

Kate: I don’t think that’s how you truly feel.

(—Yeah, you’re right, Kate. It’s not…how I truly feel)

When Kate wasn’t looking, I went outside. The rain poured down relentlessly, but I didn’t care.

Alone, pitch-black despair that I’d been holding back starts creeping up from beneath my feet.

(If we told Lance “you’re a Cursed One” back then, would things have changed?)

I could imagine all the what-ifs I wanted, but the dead never return.

~~

My dear little friend, you will no doubt encounter despair in the future. However, don’t let yourself be defeated.

~~

I remembered the words of a dead friend, words that I’ve repeated over and over.

(...I’ll be fine. I won’t let despair consume me)

(I’m strong, I won’t be defeated, I won’t be lonely, I won’t let my soul rot, and…I’ll fulfill my ambition)

(That’s why I’ll be fine. …I’ll get back up and continue like nothing’s happened)

(I still don’t know if there’s a shadow watching over me)

And that its existence will save me.

Next

[kurios-development-hell]

I had time to put into sketch a rough draft of how my SpamEX [[TAQUIÖN]] would look like. I need to do a ton of research about him before doing a clean ref-sheet.

Basically he has 4 arms, but they are braided in bundles of two to each side and tucked against the chest-plate. Because those arms are useless to manipulate objects (the hands are literal laser-guns that can split in half), he produces some kind of ionized smoke from the porthole filters to the sides of his skull faceplate (based on the gas used on old casino machines to fill up the lights -- he's basically constructed after old broken wild-west casino machines and software). This ionized smoke is able to coalesce into more solid things like arms and deft hands (that he uses to play his 15-player Baccarat at his casino or to drink his coffee and spirits). He's used to manipulate objects with just his smoke, and leave his real arms for when he needs to deal with foes, rivals and unruly bounties.

More about him when I get the time to develop him a little more. Thanks to the "Spam Fam" for helping me get the courage to finally draw a first draft of my SpamEX (AFTER A YEAR; I was very shy and unsure about how people would react to my "Enterrador" SpamEX...).

The poncho should have some Mexican "Día de los Muertos" patterns that I need to research later to give it a more readeable pattern to the poncho. The symbols on it (the Pique, Trèfle and Coeur) means "LIFE, LUCK, LOVE" respectively (Fortune is forfeited since he became a greedy casino mogul when he became a SpamEX). The buckle of his belt is a big Spamton NEO skull (represents his transition from the dead NEO and reborn as an "undead" SpamEX).

Anyway, I think he's taller than that Kris, but will make that ref sheet with cleaner profile data when I get the time. If I reckon well, he was made after Kris forgot to check on Spamton tangled in the wires after Kris and co. defeated him with violence. So Spamton's view on the Lightners soured so much that [[TAQUIÖN]] can't see them as anything else but mere walking SOUL capsules waiting to be pop'd...

oof I'm so hungry, I better go make my lunch... 🍝

[thefreakandthehair]

@eddiemonth prompt, oct 10th: College | Loser Denial - Heyrocco | Determined a/n: steddie, college au, really just fluffy getting together. un-betaed because I’m challenging myself to write these in under an hour. read on ao3 | link to masterpost on ao3

They say that the most basic human need is to feel a sense of belonging, to feel welcomed. Eddie’s yet to find that acceptance at Ivy Tech Community College in Fort Wayne, about 25 miles southeast of his hometown. He’d hoped that getting away from Hawkins and joining a program for automotive technology would give him a good shot at meeting some like-minded people but so far, it’s been nothing short of a bust. 

Not only is he yet to touch a car because he’s had to focus on meaningless general education classes first, he’s made one friend. One single friend in the form of a lab partner, and he’s not actually sure if they’re even friends so much as they are two people forced into talking on a regular basis. But Eddie counts it, because it’s all he’s got for now. 

Without his high school reputation and the safety of a familiar environment, college is an ominous beast with sharp teeth. Each day feels like stepping into a pasture with no shepherd, but he’s determined not to fail. Three attempts at graduating high school is enough failure for a lifetime. So yes, he counts his lab partner. 

Besides, if they aren’t really friends yet, Eddie would like to be. Steve’s a good dude— not quite his normal type in company, sure, but he’s studying to become a nurse, he’s smart in a quick-witted non-traditional sort of way, and Eddie can’t imagine anyone being on the receiving end of that smile and not going a little wobbly in the knees. 

Alright, so maybe Eddie wants a little more than friendship but he’s only greedy when the end goal seems possible. And determined as Eddie may be, he can’t imagine that he’s Steve type. Some days are harder than others though, like the days when they’re crammed next to each other in the library at tiny tables, or the days when they hang back in the lab to work through their latest experiment. 

Today though? Today is downright painful. 

Today, he’s in Steve’s fucking apartment. Steve’s tiny, off-campus apartment that he shares with someone named Robin who Eddie can only assume is his girlfriend. There are pictures of the two of them all over the place, distracting Eddie from the lab report they’re supposed to be working on. Words jump off the page in front of him as he sits cross legged on the floor with his back against the couch Steve’s sitting on. It doesn’t help that Steve’s sitting so close, his foot occasionally grazing Eddie’s side, his thigh close enough for Eddie to rest his head against. 

Twice now, Steve’s leaned down over Eddie’s shoulders to get a closer look at the data chart, turning to face him close enough that their noses nearly touch. Eddie’s just about stopped breathing both times because his hair tickles Eddie’s ear and he smells so good. 

Molecular weight. Boiling point. Propanol. 

He tries his damndest to focus on his section, opting to take on the procedures and data analysis while Steve works on the lengthy conclusion section, but he just— 

He can’t. Maybe he can’t be friends with Steve after all. Not when he’s sitting in his apartment, surrounded by happy pictures of Steve with his girlfriend, feeling his disappointment grow stronger and stronger. Through his haze, he barely recognizes Steve asking him a question. 

“Hello? Eddie? Earth to Eddie Munson?” Steve nudges him gently in the shoulder with his knee. “We have to rank the order that the pure substances traveled through the column from fastest to slowest, and you’ve got the data.” 

Eddie shakes his head, trying his best to hide his disappointment that Steve can’t be a friend because of his own stupid crush and that Steve can’t be more because well, he’s clearly spoken for and why wouldn’t he be? Who wouldn’t just fall ass over ankles for Steve? 

Apparently, he already has. 

“Uh, hey man, you good? Seriously, you’re kinda freaking me out.” Steve drops his papers on the coffee table and slides off the couch to kneel in front of Eddie. He reaches out and gently tips his chin up, probably checking for some kind of medical issue. 

Stupid nursing program, Eddie thinks. But he just looks up, lets himself be guided by Steve soft, practiced hand and makes eye contact. Hazel, he thinks. I’ve never been close enough to notice that. 

But he still hasn’t spoken and can see that Steve is truly starting to panic so he swallows and finds his tongue again. 

“I’m fine, I’m good, promise. Just uh, just lost in thought. That’s a thing that I do a lot, you’ve seen my notebooks,” he tries to laugh it off but Steve doesn’t drop his hand. He simply slides it to the side, resting carefully on Eddie’s cheek. Eddie’s sure that Steve can feel it growing warmer beneath his touch. 

“What about?” Steve asks, inquisitive. Eddie must be going insane because he swears he sees Steve’s eyes flicker between his gaze and his lips. 

Eddie smiles, mostly fake but there’s something about Steve’s touch that does give him a reason to. 

“Didn’t know you had a girlfriend, that’s all. Got a little lost looking at all the pictures, she seems awesome.”

Not that he’s thought too deeply about how Steve would react, but hysterical laughter wouldn’t have been one of them if he had. But that’s what he sees: Steve falling to the side, his face turning red, his hand slipping from Eddie’s cheek to his chest, and his elbow leaning on the coffee table as his entire body shakes with laughter. 

What the fuck is going on here? Eddie wonders.

“That’s—” Steve tries to speak but takes several tries to get audible words out. “God, she knew that was gonna happen, I owe Robin $20.” 

Eddie sits, stuck in place, his eyes wide and brows knitted tightly above his nose. “Robin? What was gonna happen? $20?” 

“Oh my God, Eddie, I’m— no. Robin is the girl in these pictures, and she’s my best friend. She bet me $20 that the pictures were gonna throw you off and I thought I’d been obvious enough by now that you wouldn’t go down that route. But no, we’re definitely not dating. I’m uh, I’m not exactly her type.” Steve grins and slowly sits back upright, this time cross-legged to mirror Eddie’s position, their knees touching this time. 

“How the fuck could you not be someone’s type?” Eddie lets slip, his mouth moving faster than his brain. No surprise there. 

Before he can take it back, Steve just quirks one eyebrow up. “Well, unless I wake tomorrow a woman… not gonna happen. Did you miss that picture?” 

Eddie follows Steve’s finger that’s pointing to the largest picture hung on the wall, one of them at a Pride event. Robin sits on Steve’s shoulders, wearing a flag of varying shades of reds, oranges, and purples like a cape around her neck. Steve’s smiling from ear to ear, otherwise dressed as he does every day save for the pink, purple, and blue stripes painted on his cheek. 

It’s the largest picture in the room, and somehow, Eddie’s missed it completely.

“So yeah, not really her type. Is that why you’ve been so quiet? And completely ignoring all of my attempts to make a move?” 

“A move? On what?” Eddie asks, incredulous. 

Steve shrugs and leans forward, resting his palms on Eddie’s knees. “You, dumbass. Why else would we study here instead of the library?” 

“Gonna level with you here, I didn’t even think about it. I figured you were just tired of me almost getting us kicked out for being too loud or something! That was not obvious, Steve.” Eddie’s heart pounds in his chest, hope clawing its way through a graveyard of isolation. 

Steve just huffs a small laugh through his nose and bites his lower lip. “Let me be clearer, then. I like you. And maybe we can see if we’ve got as much chemistry as propanol and… whatever the fuck else was on that list, I don’t remember.” 

It’s Eddie’s turn to laugh, wild and free as he throws his head back against the couch. When he looks back at Steve, his laughter lulls to a soft smile. “Jesus Christ, that was so bad and I can’t believe it’s about to work on me.” 

“Yeah?” Steve grins, leaning closer, almost closing the distance. 

Eddie nods, breathless. “Yeah.”

Terrible chemistry puns and pick up lines aside, kissing Steve does feel like a chemical reaction, one that deserves its own lab report. 

His lips are soft, a little chapped to match Eddie’s, but he moves with intention and care, two things Eddie isn’t familiar with. He’s kissed before but not like this, not like his partner is trying to pour affection into him with every movement. Over time, he’ll grow to learn that that’s just how Steve is, all-in on everything he finds worth his time and energy. 

Their lab report goes forgotten in favor of learning more about one another until Robin comes home hours later, thankfully after they’ve washed up and settled in on the couch in a much less precarious position. 

“Aw, man,” she bemoans, dropping her bag next to the door with a loud thud. “I really thought the pictures were gonna cockblock you.” 

Eddie elbows Steve in the side. “Pay up, Stevie. Be a man of your word. I don’t date men with poor integrity.” 

“You two are gonna be the worse fucking tag team, goddamn it,” he mutters under his breath as he lifts his hips up to fish around for his wallet, tossing a $20 on the coffee table. “I don’t think it should count because it was fine once I explained!” 

Robin grins, walking over to the couch and grabbing the bill off the table before making herself comfortable in the free corner next to Eddie. 

“Eddie, I’ve heard a lot about you and I think we’re gonna be really good friends.” 

He finds himself sandwiched between Steve and Robin for the rest of the night, comfortable and welcomed, as though he’s belonged there the whole time. The evening doesn’t end with Eddie making a friend out of Steve, but how can he complain when he finds so much more?

[the-eeveekins]

The 25th Day of G-Witch

For the first time in her life, Suletta goes against her mother's wishes. Pushing back against her mother, who reveals she'll soon be fully paralyzed and doesn't care about her fate, Suletta rejects the plan that would lose her her mother.

Elan 4's appearance here is a surprising one, especially because there was no reason to believe people could be passively uploaded to the Data Storm until this moment. Even more confusing is that unlike the other "ghosts" seen in this episode, he seems to fully co-exist with the Data Storm like Eri. Suletta finally gets some much needed closure with her first friend, and Elan helps bear the load of the Data Storm so Suletta can connect to Quiet Zero and reactivate Aerial.

Suletta has always struggled to voice her wants and needs, to express her desires. But here, finally, she calls herself a greedy person, because she doesn't want to accept a future without her mom OR Ericht, and she expresses that desire to Eri. Working together, their hearts aligned, Suletta and Eri surpass Permet Score 8 and create a massive Data Storm that even reaches the moon.

Rainbow Calibarn is my favorite mobile suit ever.

Miorine's is so brave. We finally see the results of the deal she made with Shaddiq in the last episode. She dissolves the Benerit Group and transfers it's assets to Earth, just like Shaddiq had wanted to do. And with Shaddiq's testimony, the world will know that the Space Assembly League had a hand in the various terrorist attacks at Plant Quetta and Asticassia.

Despite that, the SAL still intends to fire the laser cannon, reasoning that they can still justify wiping out millions as long as Quiet Zero still exists.

Suletta's crowning moment of awesome, as she uses the Gundam and Quiet Zero to create a massive Data Storm and override the laser and shut it down, all while The Witch From Mercury plays triumphantly in the background. It's the climax of the action in this series, and for a show titled "The Witch From Mercury", it's appropriate that it ends with the titular Witch casting a massive magic spell to save the day while her theme and the theme of the show itself plays. Suletta turns the Gundam's Curse into a Blessing.

This scene breaks me every time. The culmination of the Samaya/Mercury storyline. Suletta's validation of Prospera's choice to save Ericht, the moment where the mask breaks, Prospera "dies" and Elnora sees her daughter for the first time in 17 years. As both her daughters tell her they're ready to move on and live together, Elnora finally gives up on her crusade and makes a tearful apology to both of them. Wish playing in the background is the cherry on top to this cathartic climax.

My only complaint was the implication that Prospera had long ago completely given up on revenge for Eri's sake. It's true that she set aside her hatred of Delling to work with him on Quiet Zero because she believed it was the only way to give Eri a future that wasn't trapped in a mobile suit, unable to directly communicate with anyone. But that also goes against her portrayal in multiple scenes. She's seen to be revenge minded in Cradle Planet, and one of her most iconic moments in the show is whispering in Miorine's ear that she wants revenge against Delling. And then immediately dragging Miorine through hell for seemingly no reason than as revenge for her father's actions.

It kinda felt like something added to the script at the last second to tone down the "harshness" of her actions while ignoring the fact that she was openly revenge-minded 8 episodes ago.

I was firmly in the camp that believed they wouldn't kill Suletta at the end of the show. It just didn't make sense from a narrative standpoint and would've just been a downer ending for the sake of being a downer ending.

But despite that, the first time I saw this scene, they absolutely got me. The deafening silence of Miorine's screams and the absolute horror on her face sold me for a moment that they had killed Suletta, and I just felt my heart absolutely sink. And then Suletta finally responded, and I shared Miorine's relief and joy.

Shaddiq's ending is often a contentious one, especially the fact that he ends up in jail and on trial for his crimes while the former heads of the Benerit Group seemingly escaped justice. But I think a lot of people take too much of a black and white stance on this topic.

Shaddiq is in jail and may even face the death penalty for his actions, something he was fully prepared for, but through Miorine's actions, Shaddiq achieved all his goals. The Benerit Group was dissolved, with Earth gaining the assets that once belonged to their greatest oppressor. His testimony likely did severe damage to the Space Assembly League in the process, exposing the crimes of it's members. And the girls he cared for have their freedom, working for Miorine as part of GUND-ARM Inc, free to make their own impact in the future. And as one final gesture to Miorine, he even takes the blame for Quiet Zero, so Miorine's newfound family won't have investigators trying to jail them. Shaddiq may not be a free man, but I believe he is a satisfied man, no matter what happens next.

As for the leaders of the Benerit Group, yes, they survived and have thus far escaped imprisonment for their various crimes. But their empire is over.

The Benerit Group is no more, the empire Delling built over two decades dissolved by the very daughter he neglected and tried to control. Delling himself doesn't even appear in a scene with Miorine in the epilogue, in stark contrast to the scenes she shared with her new family, and I don't think they're close. She definitely doesn't let him come around her family after all the pain he caused them. And he's under inquiry for this actions that led to Quinharbor and Quiet Zero, a sign that he may still face justice for some of his many crimes.

Likewise, yes the Peil Ladies appear to be in a retirement home and likely had some wealth hidden away so they can have a nice, comfortable retirement. Something 99% of us would be satisfied with, but not people like them. They lost their entire business empire, their plans to come out on top after QZ completely ruined, and even 3 years later they still look miserable that their vast wealth and power is gone.

These people did not come away with a happy ending, they're miserable, even if they're free. For now.

Speaking of miserable, I wonder if Guel is truly happy with this path in life. Guel was an awful person at the start of the show, and through his often horrible experiences, he did grow into a more mature person who wasn't a raging asshole to the people around him, and maybe even learned to trust the people closest to him and not push them away.

But ultimately Guel is the only one not to escape the shadow of his abusive parent, still running his father's company 3 years later. It's unclear, but he's still likely running the company as a weapons manufacturer and possibly still contributing to the problem. I just wonder if he'd ultimately be a happier person if he wasn't trying to live up to his father and instead pursuing his own path like he did when he was "Bob." Regardless, he now has a short-term future of being absolutely sassed to death by Elan and Secelia.

Another slightly contentious topic is Eri's fate. Is being trapped in a keychain really much better than being trapped in an 18m tall killing machine. For a few reasons, Eri is definitely better off now. She's still beyond score eight, something which allows her to reach out and connect to or override any Permet device. Her "body" may be a small keychain, but it comes across to me that Eri's consciousness has been extended and she can see and interact with things beyond her body now, and that when Suletta pushed her beyond score eight, it granted her the freedom that would have been possible under Quiet Zero, but without the massive Data Storm oppression the entire Earth Sphere. And of course, we're shown in this scene that Miorine wears a device on the back of her neck that Eri can connect to and directly communicate with (Suletta is also shown to be wearing one).

Even if she's still "trapped" in an object, she's far more free and mobile than she was as a mobile suit, able to travel and see the world with her family. And her family wears devices to accommodate her unique situation so Eri can communicate with her family. She's no longer trapped in a weapon, unable to communicate with her loved ones. Her existence may not be perfect, but it's undoubtedly better and I think Ericht is happy she's survived this long to once again experience a loving family.

Oh, and "Sister-in-law." It's not as common now, but when the show finished airing and there wasn't an on-screen kiss or wedding, there was a lot of complaining that the show was subtextual bait. And a lot of people overlooked or ignored the fact that Suletta and Miorine being married was explicitly confirmed in the text of the show with this one line. You'd literally have to invent another sibling for Eri that didn't exist 3 years ago for this line to mean anything else, but a lot of people ignored it to argue the show was only subtext because they only see textual romance as specific words and kisses.

Three years have passed, Suletta and Miorine have married and live together on Earth with Ericht and Elnora. A family they fought hard to earn. Suletta was disabled as a result of piloting the Calibarn, with visible Permet scarring on her cheeks. But she's thriving and happy, and clearly loved by her family and friends, ultimate proof that she is loved for who she is and not her abilities. And she's accomplished all the dreams we saw her set for herself during the show: She's built her school on Mercury, married Miorine and saved her mom and sister so they can all live happily together.

It's an severe exaggeration to say that Gundam protagonists always have bad endings, but they're usually more bittersweet. But Suletta fought to earn her happy ending, and to see the first female main character in Gundam earn a happy ending while also being queer, disabled and a person of color is so inspiring to see.

Miorine too, is probably the happiest we ever see in the show. It was rare to see her genuinely let her guard down and smile, something she pretty much only did around Suletta. But she's all smiles when she's with her wife, and after pushing her away once and almost losing her forever at QZ, she just will. not. let. go. of Suletta now, both physically supporting her but also making sure she'll always hold onto the person she loves.

In the first episode, Suletta was hungry, but too shy and nervous to ask for food when she saw Miorine tending to her tomatoes, and Miorine gave her food (and love). Now Suletta has grown and can comfortably express her wants and needs to the people around her, even if it's just the simple act of saying she's hungry. And Miorine responds with the warmest smile possible.

Suletta & Miorine go home together to the house they share. Surrounded by friends and family, sharing a warm meal that symbolizes the love they've nurtured together. They're in love and they're happy, and they leave us with one final wish...

May All Blessings Find Their Way to You, I'm Wishing It

I love The Witch From Mercury and I love SuleMio, and I love sharing my love of this show and these two wonderful characters with others. Is G-Witch perfect? No. But I love it far more than any other piece of media in my life.

Thank you for joining me during these 25 Days of G-Witch. If you celebrate, I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and if not, I hope that you're enjoying the holiday season.

[holymaccaronii]

So how does BE’s simulation work? Is it like a big dome on the surface of the earth with like real plants and animals or are they fake? Also how big exactly is it and how many biomes does it have?

HELLO DEAR MUTUAL sorry for responding so late 🌞, had stuff to do from college,,

I promise I’ll depict it later visually (because I really want to) but BE’s simulation/nature works with a dynamic I mostly made up to fit the lore. Here’s some important info from the background before I explain:

Up in the moon, 34RTH units (the division BE belonged to) besides being used by HEL-102 as showcases for the highest “beauty standards” also were constantly put to training sessions to test their skills when taking care of living organic beings, since that was technically their future purpose once they settled back on Earth. You’d think they would use the actual seeds and animals they had stored in their vault, but HEL-102 being the greedy monarch he was wasn’t gonna let not even his own creations handle them. SO, he developed a system inside the 34RTH units that allowed them to project holograms to simulate real living plants or animals for them to take care of. Take in mind that these holograms weren’t alive, they were simply a reflection of the knowledge of natural processes 34RTH units had inside their data banks.

Now talking about BE’s nature: once BE had pretty much merged herself with a thousand robotic corpses down in AM’s complex (following the lore I had explained a while back), she also merged herself with the seed she had stolen from the moon’s vault and had it integrated into her systems. This allowed her to reflect actual living beings through holograms that could grow, interact with other real beings like BE’s survivors and undergo all natural processes with an actual mind of their own now. All of what BE creates still depends on her however, think of her as a core that fuels her own creations and if corrupted or low on energy, it directly affects them. Ik this seems like pulled out of nowhere because it technically was but since I liked the headcanon of AM being able to create bodies or puppets all controlled by him down on his complex, I wanted BE to be able to create independent minds. This was a short a explanation with probably excluded info but if you’d like a simpler description, just imagine the Earth’s surface turned into an actual Minecraft world where BE is in creative mode :P.

Answering your second question: I wouldn’t think of it as a dome, but BE is able to harden the atmosphere into one if she’d like to. BE manually purified the air thus I think one shouldn’t be necessary. And yeah you could say the plants and animals aren’t real since they aren’t organic, but they can still interact around with full sentience and act as a real one, they’re just big clumps of energy minding their own business.

Answering your third question: BE’s “territory” extends from the Earth’s atmosphere down to the lowest point life has ever reached. I definitely don’t have this info as developed yet but I think it’d be fun to indulge into both AM’s and BE’s territories by representing them thru a diagram of Earth’s layers. Regarding the biomes, I don’t think BE herself would’ve created a new one since her objective was to rebuild everything just as it was before the global massacre, so the number of existing biomes in her nature stays the same as the og nature. Nevertheless, her survivors (COUGH* probably Adam or Terry) most likely asked her to simulate a fantasy-like biome at least once just for shits and giggles.

As always if you or anyone has any specific questions I’ll gladly answer them. This mechanic is still a bit under construction so things might change later.

[wickermayne]

Hot Tub - A Naruto/Sakura Smut Oneshot

nsfw! Naruto/Sakura

“Hey, Sakura-chan, what’s that?”

“Oh, Naruto, thanks.” Sakura gave him a tired smile as she took the cup of tea he’d brought her.

“It’s a medicinal hot tub. It’s a prototype we’ve developed to try and help shinobi with relaxation and healing after strenuous work outs. In the future, we’re hoping we can use it as a passive healing source as well, for non-life-threatening injuries.”

“Oh, that’s neat,” Naruto said as he walked toward the hot tub. “The water’s green like when you use medical jutsu.”

Sakura took a sip of the tea, perfectly brewed, before she answered. “There’s a crystal that can be charged with chakra. We use it to power the healing aspects of the hot tub.”

“Huh, then it must be somethin’ like a battery, right? Gotta charge it every now and then?”

“Not a bad deduction, Naruto. That’s right. Once we find a way to optimize how much chakra the crystal can use, then we can improve how long the tub can run for and also increase its effectiveness.”

“Maybe I can help? I got hella chakra, y’know. If you teach me whatever jutsu it is to charge the crystals, maybe they’ll last longer!”

Naruto pumped his fist, smiling at her and her heart fluttered at his sweetness.

“That’s very thoughtful, Naruto, but there’s a limit to how much chakra the crystals can take. You’d break it in a second, I’m sure.”

Naruto hummed, tapping his chin in thought before smiling. “Well, we gotta find a bigger crystal then, yeah?”

Sakura laughed. “If we do, I’ll call you up for some help.”

Naruto turned back to the hot tub. “So how will this one last ‘fore you need to charge it?”

“Um, maybe an hour.”

“That’s plenty of time.”

Before she could question him, Naruto shed his jacket, pulling off his t-shirt as well.

“W-what are you doing?!”

He gave her a lazy smile that stretched out his whisker-marks. Sakura’s eyes darted down the chiselled form of his abs before it was back on his knowing face.

“I wanna try it out, Sakura-chan. I was workin’ out so I’d be the perfect test subject, y’know?”

“Naruto, it’s not a toy! You can’t just use it because you want to.”

He ignored her as he kicked off his sandals and then removed his pants and boxers.

She’d seen his cock many times before, but it still took her breath away, the tremendous size even when only half hard.

“Pervert.” She scowled at him and Naruto shrugged.

“What can I do, a pretty woman is oglin’ me.”

“I am not o-ogling!” Sakura sputtered, her tea cold as she put it down on her desk. “You’re going to get me in trouble…”

“Hey, no worries. You can blame me.”

Sakura sighed, rubbing her forehead and Naruto sighed too as he entered the hot tub.

“Fuck me, that’s nice.”

Sakura walked over to the edge of the tub, Naruto watching her with a contented expression, his back pressed against jets of rushing water.

It really did look nice.

“Why don’t you join me, Sakura-chan. The water’s warm and the way you guys infused it with the medical jutsu feels so good.”

“Well…I guess some first-hand experience would be valuable data,” Sakura reasoned.

“Atta girl.”

Sakura’s cheeks flushed as she undressed under Naruto’s greedy eyes. He whistled when she was in her underwear and then moaned loudly when she removed those too.

“I musta had some fantastic karma in my past life, with how many times I’ve got to see your perfect body naked.”

“Oh stop blowing smoke, Naruto.”

“You know I’m serious, Sakura-chan. Now come here.”

She took his hand as she stepped into the hot tub, moaning at the way the water tingled lightly against her skin, the same kind of effect as a mystical palm technique, but more muted.

“Nice, ain’t it?” Naruto’s voice was husky, and it drew Sakura closer to him, his tanned cheeks darkening along with his eyes.

She hummed in agreement, her body pressing against Naruto’s, his cock hard now and rubbing against her thigh.

Sakura should have known better, that this would be inevitable with Naruto, but she didn’t stop him when he kissed her.

Their mouths moved against each other, practiced, slotting in just the right ways. Their lips brushing, tongues teasing, soft sighs from Naruto that made Sakura’s heart flutter against her chest.

Naruto’s eyes twinkled when he broke their kiss.

“If they complain’ it was all my fault, okay?”

And then he swung them around, the jets of water rushing against her stomach as Naruto slipped his cock into her cunt.

“W-wait a second, Naruto —”

He pulled her tight against his body, his hips barely moving as he let her adjust to his size stretching her out. He angled her hips down and Sakura almost screamed as the jet streams, meant to massage aching muscles, rushed against her clit.

“Ooooh my god!”

“You like that?” Naruto murmured into her ear, his hips rolling now, fucking his entire length into her cunt. His hand cupped her jaw and when he pressed his thumb against her lips, she took it into her mouth, sucking it to try and ground herself as Naruto’s cock and the jet streams had stars about to burst behind her eyes.

Naruto’s hand was on her stomach, leveraging her as he pounded into her cunt, his tip catching at the front before stroking all the way to the back, seating her against the root of his cock.

The pleasure was unbearable. Heat washing over her skin, heat washing between her thighs.

Naruto kissed behind her ear. “The way your pussy is clenchin’ ‘round me, you must love it, yeah? That’s good. Let’s test this hot tub out. We got an hour so let’s see how many times that stream can make you come.”

Number one happened when Naruto replaced his thumb with his lips, the jet heavy on her clit, and his cock heavy inside of her.

[witchofthesouls]

What's Blaster's coding quirks? I know you said Soundwave (in most continuities) was seeker-kin, but I don't think there was anything said about the other him.

(also can I be tentai anon cause uh- you know why :))

First of all, I really like that name 🤣

Second, I need to tag that post specifically since I mixed my own headcanons with an ask that requested a 'what if' scenario where Casette-Carriers paired up as part of their coding quirks.

I'm thinking of host pairs au because more details keep growing in my head...

I just really like the thought that Soundwave has Seekerkin-coding since it could explain his telepathic abilities. Same can be applied to this particular au as well.

In general, I like to think that Cassette-Carriers have quirks that make them really great at sorting an impressive amount of data, which amplifies their extrasensory perception, and they make excellent studs/sires due to their very high-yield sparks that constantly need to be drained and they have the associated reproductive hardware that's geared for it. (So Blaster also has a glowy pair of balls, too.)

Their datacables are unlike other Cybertronians' cables. It's not the delicate uplinks every mecha has or the thin cords of S.T.E.M. specialities. Datacables are thick, malleable, and the density can be manipulated by the host with many capabilities. Because of the fighting and trapping potential along with sinuous movements and how those cables can spring from everywhere from their frames, it reminds many of their ancient boogeyman: the many-faced, many-limbed Quintessons and the mythical monsters of sparkeaters.

Combined with the frame-type's rarity, they have a lot of negative stereotypes.

In host pairs au, very young tapedecks gravitate to their own kind of similar ages to form a type of bond that's essential to their functioning since they can't build cassettes at that point of development. Pairs synch their systems together via datacables into every opening to drain out their sparks back into healthier, stable levels by grounding. Some pairs go as far to even blend their frames together because of the instinct to help balance out the overstressed spark.

It's a type of intimacy that freaks out a lot of mecha as the sparklings straight up go into this state with few-to-no words. Meanwhile, the few adult hosts need to calm down creators and guardians because it's not a sexual deviancy or a Resonants thing. It's a health necessity. Medics don't have the necessary knowledge on how to counter the flares and simultaneously drain the charge in a host sparkling's unstable spark.

In this AU, Blaster and Soundwave have a really complicated relationship that stems from their backgrounds and their own habits. Blaster comes from a family of performers and musicians with ties to universities. (That's why he wasn't given up or stolen away.) His family tried their best with good intentions, but they're very much 'conceal, don't feel' as they overfretted on Blaster's "unfortunate condition." Soundwave, on the other hand, was a lost, wandering sparkling, trapped in his overwhelming abilities.

Blaster provided the mental and physical buffer to help Soundwave navigate his advanced telepathic powers, and Soundwave was the emotional security that Blaster desperately needed as he constantly felt out of place everywhere else.

Ravage, who had known both of them since she came from another Casette-Carrier that mentored them, still calls them "greedy, little slaggers" as both of them had been highly dependent on each other since youth. Usually, paired hosts lessen their reliance somewhere after adulthood as their sparks stabilize with final development and the support of cassettes. However, due to Soundwave’s troubles with his powers, they're both used to a deeper level of intimacy that freaks out more people. Blaster has long carved a place in his mind for Soundwave to easily slide into: a living, breathing home that held true ever since they found each other.