#Check Code for Plagiarism | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bonbonly · 4 months ago

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pairing: nico rosberg x f!reader ; tw: cunnilingus, p in v, masturbation (male)

college!au nico rosberg works as the ta for dr. norton, your intro to engineering professor. you didn't have a major permanently locked in like your peers, so you figure you could take this class and see if it's your calling. most of the time, you're too busy staring at the ta instead of the lecturer. on the days where nico is teaching the class, you're sitting up front and staring at him dreamily. you don't take notes, you just listen to him speak, your eyes always focused on the way his blonde hair would fall in front of his eyes. and as soon as dr. norton is back to teaching, you're sitting in the back of the class scrolling through your phone.

during a test, nico catches you cheating. you had your phone under your desk, trying to memorize the answers you had found on a website and the disappointed glare he gave you made you lower your head in shame, pleading for him to not rat you out in a low whisper. he's a ta, though. he does his job because he likes his job, and he wants to be a professor one day in the future. so you find yourself in the code of conduct office with nico explaining the situation to the dean of academic integrity, and you're sitting there with arms crossed, tears falling from your eyes because you didn't really think the cute ta would snitch on you like this. considering you'd been on your best behavior previously, the dean merely places you on probation, and says you have to retake the class but under strict supervision from the ta next semester. your winter break is spent trying to explain to your parents what really happened in class. they're not very thrilled to say the least.

you show up next semester, and nico's there as the ta once again which makes you frown. you sit in the very back, not wanting to catch his eye because boy, you really hate him. after what he did to you? come on, everybody else was cheating! why'd he have to call you out for it. the girl in front of you literally had a whole sheet of paper with all the answers just right there on her desk, but nico didn't see that. noooo, he just had to see you!

you had been instructed by the dean that every time you completed your homework, you had to email nico with an attached document of your work and he would do extra checks to make sure you didn't plagiarize any information. it took you hours to just finish one homework and you always submitted just before midnight which made nico mad because he always wanted to get some sleep.

one friday evening, your friends and you get together in your dorm and one of them comes up with a vile idea. she had done it the previous semester and got away with it surprisingly. the rules were to take scandalous nudes of yourself, and a friend would spin a wheel and send the nudes to someone else without your knowledge. you decide to play along, thinking this would be fun. you're already on probation, at this point you have nothing to care for. you take off your top, being the first to volunteer in the game and your friends are all giggling as bouncing your tits. you take off your shorts, spreading your legs and letting your friend take another picture of your glistening cunt. as you put your clothes back on, your nudes are sent off to some mysterious person. only problem was, your friends didn't know much about your relationship with nico, and surely didn't know that you had an assignment that's due tonight which you totally forgot about.

nico's on his laptop, and when he gets your email he's frowning. he glances at his clock, it's around 9:30 at night and he's surprised. usually you'd never be this early for an assignment. he smirks to himself, thinking you've finally come around and he shifts through some papers on his desk before pulling out the rubric for the assignment. he opens the email and much to his shock, sees you spread out for the camera, a smile on your lips. he doesn't even know how much time passes because he's been staring at those pictures for so long. he glances at the clock again, it's 9:45. he bites his lips, trying to be the morally righteous person he always is but in the end, decides to crumple up the rubric and toss it into his trashcan. his hands are in his pants, pulling his cock out as he begins stroking. he's laughing out loud, surprised at your audacity but he must say, in all the semesters he's been a ta, you were surely the biggest surprise he's ever had. he couldn't wait to have a talk with you the next morning as his cum dribbles down his hand.

you wake up at your friend's dorm at 10:00 in the morning with your phone ringing loudly. you groan out loud, checking the caller id. your eyes could barely open so you didn't bother to fully read who was calling you and you place it to your ear, "which fucking moron's trying to disturb my sleep, hm?"

"meet me at my office for supplemental learning, we have a lot to talk about," nico responds on the other side of the phone. you can briefly hear a small chuckle escape his lips, and you shake your head. you must be dreaming. nico was always so serious about everything.

when you show up at his office, he gestures for you to take a seat and he's spinning a pencil in his hands, "i'm really surprised. i opened your email last night, you know."

and that's when you face palm in front of him, "oh no! i forgot the assignment! nico, i'm so sorry! i'll do it right now, please give me an extension!"

and he's laughing at your insolence, "but you submitted something last night!"

"no i didnt!" you frown, "i didn't submit anything! what are you talking about?"

he's logging into his computer, smiling the entire time before shifting the monitor for it to face you and your mouth runs dry at the sight of your bare pussy facing you, bound to haunt your dreams. you gulp, turning to nico, "i am so sorry. my friends and i were playing this game and i had no idea they sent the pictures to you."

"this doesn't seem like a game," he snickers, "i've never met someone that's repeatedly making mistakes worse than the one before. i did get a kick out of this, though."

you cross your legs, unsure of what he means, "a kick? what do you mean?" but he's already standing up and walking around the desk to tower over you,

"spread your legs, i want to see the real thing." he demands, and you stare at him with wide eyes, "go on. unless you want me to call the dean again, and explain to him that my favorite girl's being reckless. what if someone else other than me saw your tits and your cunt, hm? you want the whole world to see what kind of a whore you are?"

and you're growing wetter as his words continue. you bite your lip, slowly spreading your legs and he crouches down, "that's a good girl," he whispers, and his praise goes straight to your dripping pussy, your walls fluttering in hopes that he'll give it the attention it craves. the dreamy ta you were always crushing on is now between your legs. he sighs out loud, his breath coming in as waves against you, you buck your hips whining about how you want his mouth around you, once and for all. he licks a long strip, his tongue delving past your folds and you throw your head back, relishing in the feeling of having what you wanted for so long. if only he ate you out instead of droning on about engineering. you would've aced the class a long time ago! he laps up your juices, rubbing his nose against your clit.

"i want you to be loud. i want you to beg for me to give you a 100 on this assignment, even though we both know you don't deserve it," he hisses, letting his fingers slip inside you. you let out a high pitched whimper, nodding your head,

"i'll do anything you ask. j-just don't rat me out like you did last time," and he's giggling as he's scissoring your pretty cunt,

"i only did it so i could see you again. what if i fail you each semester, i looked into your major. exploratory? please, i'd rather you be my permanent cocksleeve for the rest of your life. god, you taste divine," he hums, leaving open mouthed kisses on your clit that makes you cry out loud as you cum around his fingers. his lips travel upwards as his free hand pushes your top up. he's devoting his time to biting every inch of your tits, wanting to leave marks that you will never forget as his fingers continue to curl inside you, demanding you to give him another orgasm.

so every night before you have to submit an assignment, he's having you send him videos - not photos - of your fingers deep in your cunt. he even goes out of his way to buy you a dildo to ride on, giving him performances through his phone screen. if you've cum once, he's failing you. but if you're cumming 3 times, he's giving you a 100 for the assignment, doesn't matter if you turned in a blank sheet of paper online. he's the only one checking anyway. if he's bored, he'll invite you to his office and has you re-do an assignment for fun, his cock buried to the hilt, making you ride him, a hand around your mouth to silence your screams. he's smiling at his computer screen, keeping a personal file for all the times you've been to his office and he's fucked you in different corners and in different positions. his personal favorite is having you spread out on his desk as he's eating you out, your hands tugging his blonde silky hair.

you pass the class successfully, and nico's planning to ta one of your classes next semester. he just can't get enough of you.

#nico rosberg x reader #nico rosberg x reader smut #nico rosberg x female reader #nico rosberg x female reader smut #nico rosberg smut #nico rosberg f1 smut #nico rosberg f1 #f1 smut #f1 x reader smut #f1 x reader #f1 x female reader #f1 x female reader smut #f1 x you #f1 x you smut #formula one x reader #formula one x reader smut #formula one x you #formula one x you smut

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glowettee · 3 months ago

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✧ the foundation for your coquette tumblr presence: the ultimate guide by mindy (1/15)✧

hello darlings~ mindyyy here

i see so many amazing little blogs on tumblr, so many that inspire me and motivate me to post more here on tumblr, so i decided to make a little series helping you to create the most ethereal corner of tumblr you've ever dreamed of for yourself. i'm going to guide you through every delicate step of establishing your presence, ensuring your blog becomes a soft haven that attracts kindred spirits!!!

important note:

all the tips, advice and steps i give you in this series are the exactly what i use for my blog, this is what helped grow my blog to 1.1k followers, while befriending some of the most amazing people i've met, tumblr is an important place for me, and i've been using it for years, i've helped multiple other people grow their own tumblr blog, and i've use these exact steps. this series is superrr important to me and very well-thought out and planned, please don't steal my content ideas, or plagiarize my content or series ideas, they are super time-consuming to create and i put all my hard work into it. this series is to help you all create and build a sustainable coquette blog. keep in mind these tips i give in the series can be used for any type of tumblr blog, it doesn't just have to be coquette, however everything i say in this series is more tailored to creating a coquette blog, so just make sure to know if you aren't creating a coquette blog, that's totally fine and you can still use these effective tips! <3

let me begin with the essential elements that will form the foundation of your digital sanctuary:

choosing your perfect username

your username is like a whispered introduction, so choose carefully. consider these elements:

incorporate soft, romantic words (pearl, rose, moth, sage)

avoid numbers unless they're meaningful dates

keep it easily typeable and memorable

check availability across platforms

consider future branding possibilities

make it very short to keep it neat

pro tip: before settling on a name, write it in different fonts and styles to ensure it maintains its beauty in various forms.

example:

crafting your blog description

your description should feel like an embrace to whoever reads it. (this is both for the pinned post of your profile/blog and the description of your blog) include:

a brief, poetic introduction

your main content themes

posting schedule if you have one

any specific content warnings

languages you speak

your timezone for mutuals

special interests using soft bullets (✧)

developing your signature aesthetic

this is where the magic truly happens. your aesthetic should flow through every element:

color palette selection:

choose 3 primary colors and 2 accent colors

maintain consistent hex codes

save your palette for easy reference

consider seasonal variations

test colors against white and black backgrounds

visual elements to consider:

custom cursor designs

carefully selected fonts (maximum of 2-3)

consistent border styles

signature dividers and bullets

background patterns or textures

sidebar images and icons

essential technical setup

while maintaining our dreamy aesthetic, we mustn't forget the practical:

enable infinite scroll

set up custom links

organize your tags systematically

create navigation buttons

establish post width preferences

configure ask box settings

set up queue parameters

your blog is another part of you. every element should work in harmony to create an atmosphere that feels both intentional and effortlessly beautiful.

before you go:

✧ save your color codes in a pretty document ✧ create a moodboard for visual reference ✧ test your layout on different devices ✧ prepare a tag system ✧ gather inspiration images

with love, mindy xo

if you don't already know, i have my own newsletter here: GlowetteeMindy

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rhineposting · 2 months ago

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" X Reader" is such a fascinating sub-genre of fictional romance, especially on Tumblr.

You crack open a character tag and you scroll down a bit, and in less than five minutes you'll find a beautifully embellished post with custom separators and HTML coded text and fonts. The title? Spinky McHotman Fucks You At a Wendy's.

Then, when you open it, you're faced with the most unimaginative, generic and eye-roll worthy slop of a smut you could ever think of. You check again to make sure the writing is actually about Spinky McHotman, because his lines sound like they were written by an underpaid porn screenwriter and acted out by an even more underpaid porn actor. The tags match, it clearly says spinky mchotman x reader.

So, severely disappointed, you scroll for...A grand total of a minute and a half at most, before you're met with an almost identical post. You check the blog just to make sure it's not the same author, but no. It's actually an entirely different person who happens to use the exact same embellishments and the likes. You read this one too out of curiosity, and somehow this is even worse. It reads like a child who just learned the words for genitalia, plagiarizing a Harlequin story from memory after skimming through it for ten minutes before mom came in. Spiky McHotman sounds like a cardboard cutout with sentient family jewels taped to it.

You continue to scroll some more, and you find a blog that specialises in writing X readers for requests. One request seems... Actually interesting, anon might be onto something! And who knows, maybe the blog owner used the idea creatively and oh no, it's just more horny slop. The actual interesting parts of the idea are barely elaborated upon, almost as if the writer was in physical pain writing about something other than sex onomatopoeia and genitalia descriptors for more than two minutes. The rest of the story is more poorly written, generic smut.

Tired, you check the blog, out of exasperated boredom.

Turns out, the writer isn't even in the fandom Spinky McHotman originates from, so their perception of him is based on other fanfics of him. They post 3 x readers daily, and all of them follow the exact same formula, the only changes being in names and places. Each post has a 100 likes at the minimum.

Desperate, you scroll for a little longer, before you officially give up. You ask God to give you a sign of some kind - and moments after, you see it. The sign itself, louder and clearer than an infant's first cry :

Yandere!Spinky McHotman Kidnaps Fem!Reader At A Wendy's

But Spinky McHotman is heavily implied to be a gay man in canon, you remember while recovering from the psychic flash bang.

#rhine hating #tw suggestive #rhine rambling tag

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thenightfolknetwork · 8 months ago

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I have a problem. Somebody asked me if I was pro-AI, and I said yes, of course, every sensible person is. "A person's a person, whether they were coded or conceived or came to life through other means," I didn't say, because I felt it was obvious. Now I've found out that people use "AI" to refer to non-sentient computer models, so that means I gave off the COMPLETE wrong impression, and it's mortifying. How do I deal with this, and how do I prevent it from happening again?

I completely understand your frustration, reader. The use of the term “AI” to refer to generative algorithms has had several unfortunate side effects, not least among them being the confusion this terminology causes for genuinely sentient programmes and otherwise coded consciousnesses.

I would first like to note that there is no way to completely prevent such miscommunication from happening. There is a hard limit to how much we can control other people's perceptions of us, after all, and language has always had a rather slippery relationship with meaning. All you can do is try your best, and to speak up when you think things have gone awry.

In this specific situation, the simplest way to avoid this confusion is to speak precisely and ask others to do the same. If a person asks whether you are pro-AI, ask them to clarify whether they're referring to sentient coded consciousnesses, or to a glorified spell checker.

If you have the energy, and if you think it would be productive, you might also push back a little on the terminology they're using. Encourage them to specify either “coded consciousnesses” when speaking about actual people, or “generative AI” when speaking about the automated plagiarism machines.

Otherwise, the best thing you can do here is to lead by example. Be clear and precise in your own language, continue to advocate for the rights and dignities of coded consciousnesses where appropriate, and be prepared to correct any misunderstandings as they arise. That's really all any of us can do.

[For more creaturely advice, check out Monstrous Agonies on your podcast platform of choice, or visit monstrousproductions.org for more info]

#answered #the nightfolk network #monstrous agonies #ai #artificial intelligence #machine learning #generative ai #science fiction #fantasy #urban fantasy #advice

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artsluna · 4 months ago

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RP character template {#002} made by @artsluna ⋯ MURDER MYSTERY ⋯ get it check out my ko-fi, i always post content there first • plagiarism is a crime, think before you act • you can edit the contents of the file as much as you'd like to fill your needs. Some photoshop knowledge is suggested. • fonts used: source code pro | blackcraft | scream blood | hey comic • credit is not necessary but appreciated • like/reblog if useful

#template #rp template #rpc #rph #supportcontentcreators #oc template #character resources #psd template #rp resources #roleplay resources #twitter rp #rp promo template #character psd

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cheritzteam · 10 months ago

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[The Ssum] Always Honest 💜Teo’s💜Birthday Event Announcement

Hello, dear lab participant.

The Forbidden Lab sends you news on events in celebration of Teo’s birthday.

July 7th is our sweet and Puppy-like Teo`s birthday!🎉

Teo, who always approaches lab participant honestly, without hiding his affection! It is said that he can’t hide his heart racing for his birthday with you, lab participant🤭

< ① City of Free Men : Celebratory Lab >

For the following period, a Celebratory Lab📚 celebrating Teo’s birthday 2024 will open in the City of Free Men.

With the other lab participants celebrate Teo’s birthday and

become the best lab participant or the lucky lab participant (5 each in each language) and win 200 Aurora batteries! *If you have won an in-game event within the past 3 months, you will be excluded from the raffle for this event.

Q&A Q. How can I go to the Infinite Universe? A. If you go to the Main Menu and check all the menu icons, the “Forbidden Lab” will open on the left. Tap the Spiral Galaxy Button at the bottom left to enter the Infinite Universe!

♥Bonus Event♥

Use both dedicated hashtags #TheSsum #TheSsum_HappyBirthday_Teo on X(Twitter), Tumblr, Instagram, or Tik and share a screenshot of your study post on social media!

10 lucky winners will receive 100 Aurora Batteries🎁

Event Period: July 4th, 2024 (Thu) 9 AM ~ July 25th, 2024 (Thu) 9 AM KST* Winner Announcement: August 8th, 2024 (Thu) KST *Posts will not disappear after the open period, but you will not be able to write new posts.

※Disclaimer※ * Bonus event prizes will be sent to the Lab Code displayed on your screenshot. * For Instagram users - you should DM us a link to your post via our official account(@thessum_official) to ensure that your post is noticed. * Posts should be set to public until the winner announcement, and plagiarism is prohibited.

< ② Seasonal Content >

Teo, who knows the joy of being together better than anyone else, is waiting for you!

Press the Happy Birthday🎂 button under the Day display to make a special call📞 and receive a memorable photo📸 of your Ssumone.

You will also earn an exclusive Trivial Feature for Teo’s birthday 2024 to add to your collection.

Seasonal Content open on: July 7th, 2024 (Based on your time zone) Seasonal Content includes: Commemorative Call + Photo Memento + Trivial Feature *The Celebratory Calls and Photo Mementos for Teo and Harry are the same as last year’s. *Commemorative Calls and Photo Mementos can be revisited at any time after unlocking in your Milky Way calendar and Gallery.

Also, don't forget to collect game-access rewards that will be available throughout the birthday event period🎁

Game-Access Rewards available through: July 4th, 2024 (Thu) 9 AM ~ July 25th, 2024 (Thu) 9 AM KST In-Game Access Reward: 10 Aurora Batteries + 3 Hearty Meal

< ③ What Teo Said >

Archive of Sentences has all kinds of sentences in its collection📑

To celebrate Teo's birthday, look back on the loving conversations you had with him!

What were his words that gently stirred your heart during the time you shared with him?

Turn your Teo’s sweet sentiments into bookmarks🔖 in the Infinite Universe’s Archive of Sentences!

Event winners receive Aurora Batteries🎁

How to Participate 1. Tap the pencil button on the bottom-right corner on the Archive of Sentences 2. Tick “Unknown” as the source and tap “Enter” to change it to your Teo 3. Tick the event checkbox before auditing your sentence

TIP! Tick the event checkbox on the top bar of Sentence Studio to view only event posts.

Event Period: July 4th, 2024 (Thu) 9 AM ~ July 25th, 2024 (Thu) 9 AM KST* Winner Announcement: August 8th, 2024 (Thu) KST *The general participation reward will be distributed on winner announcement day.

Q. Archive of Sentences is not in the Infinite Universe! A. Go to the Emotion Incubator and produce 20 Realizations to unlock the Root of Desire. If your Incubator is not accessible yet, go to the Infinite Universe and tap the Flask Button!

♥Bonus Event♥

With the hashtags #TheSsum #TheSsum_What_Teo_Said please share a screenshot of your Registration Certificate on X(Twitter), Tumblr, Instagram!

Through a raffle we will be giving out 50 Aurora Batteries to 10 people 🎁 *Please be sure to include your lab code in your post.♥

Event Period: July 4th, 2024 (Thu) 9 AM ~ July 25th, 2024 (Thu) 9 AM KST* Winner Announcement: August 8th, 2024 (Thu) KST ※Disclaimer※ * Bonus event prizes will be sent to the Lab Code displayed on your screenshot. * For Instagram users - you should DM us a link to your post via our official account(@thessum_official) to ensure that your post is noticed. * Posts should be set to public until the winner announcement, and plagiarism is prohibited.

Also, Teo sent a message asking you to wait for the coming winter! Don’t miss out on this special moment✨ with Teo!

Thank you.

Cheritz

#cheritz #thessum #ts #dating sim #TheSsum_What_Teo_Said

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javob · 6 months ago

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Something that worries me about schooling in relation to ChatGPT is the ratcheting effect it will have on work load and assignment design.

When I was in high-school, I didn’t cheat, but found out later my peers had been using some apps and websites (among other things) to effectively cheat on tests and assignments. The teachers had an inkling that such cheating was going on, and their solution was to make the assignments much more difficult than before to overcompensate for the perceived cheating. My grades didn’t suffer, but only because I ended up putting in way more time than normal for those assignments.

I’m sure other students simply suffered grade losses or got intel from other students on how to effectively cheat. But none of the students who used web clients to write papers or plagiarized answers really saw their grades suffer (other than not being able to answer easy content questions during class and looking stupid).

A more concrete example could also be the relationship between AI being used to write papers vs AI being used to check for cheating.

I was in school before ChatGPT was a thing, but I was still forced by the school to put my papers through plagiarism checkers.

There is no doubt in my mind that my school signed away the rights to my writing content to be used in the large language models that would become iterations of ChatGPT. And I would say the process is still ongoing, that whenever you submit a paper to be checked for plagiarism, no matter the service, that it is being used to train a large language model somewhere.

Which begs many questions and shows many problems, a significant one being, once a large language model is able to perfectly imitate my writing style, would I ever be able to escape the charges of plagiarism or honor code type violations involved using ChatGPT? If the plagiarism checkers feed the chatbots, and I feed the plagiarism checker, shouldn’t I be able to escape some culpability if my writing style matches to some degree? Where does that point lie, and can it even be measured?

All of this is also contingent on an even bigger question and that is “Can your average public school teacher even tell what good writing looks like anymore?”

I don’t really know the answers to any of these questions, but I can say that it seems like ChatGPT creates a lot more problems than it solves for an educational environment.

#chatgpt #longpost

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onedoornet · 10 months ago

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before you submit your application, here are the house rules that should be observed at all times.

always keep in mind to remain respectful to each person within the network—with that, this space does not tolerate any form of bullying. all forms of hate speech, toxic stan behavior, disrespect, and the like will not be allowed here.

there is zero tolerance for any form of plagiarism. every work is crafted with care, and plagiarized works do not fall under that.

this space does not condone any work that subjects a minor to nsfw acts nor any nsfw work written by a minor. this also means we do not condone minors reading such works. the house code is: knock knock! it's onedoor!

all works that will be reblogged are member x reader or member x oc. aside from that, we are not accepting any works that glorify triggering themes and topics such as rape, pedophilia, incest, etc.

the house will only be accepting members who are ages 16 and above.

— should you be caught not upholding these rules, the admins reserve the right to decide the proper consequence, whether it may be to penalize you or terminate your contract.

WHAT WE LOOK FOR IN YOUR APPLICATIONS...

being open to joining the network's discord server. this acts as a space for easier navigation and tracking for the admins

you must be 16+

following onedoornet

our pinned post has been reblogged

have at least one (1) published work for boynextdoor before applying

ROUTINE CHECK...

any works over 500 words must include a "keep reading" divider

smut must be under "keep reading divider"

always include the pairing/s, genres, word count, and warnings before the start of your work

written fics, teasers, series masterlists, smaus (every five installations), headcanons and bullet fics will be reblogged so long as they follow the guidelines

make sure to use #onedoornet in the first 3-5 tags

send your works in the respective discord channels

now that you've gone through the house rules, you can go ahead and submit your application! always remain on the lookout for a message from one of our admins if your room is available.

application form

#house rules #navigation

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codedetect · 10 months ago

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Codequiry: The Best Way to Check Code for Plagiarism

Codequiry is the best way to Check Code For Plagiarism, with accurate and reliable detection to ensure your projects' originality. Our advanced tool is ideal for educators, students, and developers, as it protects your work and ensures academic integrity. Trust us to provide accurate plagiarism checks, allowing you to easily protect your code and maintain standards. Try Codequiry now!

#plagiarism checker #check code For plagiarism #code plagiarism checker #code plagiarism #detect code plagiarism #code similarity checker #code plagiarism checke #website plagiarism checker #codequiry #Detect Code Plagiarism #code #Coding Plagiarism Checker

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silentglassbreak · 1 year ago

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Anonymous

Noah Sebastian x OFC

Here's the 3rd part. Hoping to also get this one up quick. This story is really coming together in my head. Also, I know I promised smut, and so far have not delivered. That is coming, pinkly promise. We've got to get the foundation man!

Warnings: Alcohol abuse, overall abuse, mild violence (ie. bar fights), smut, swearing, and altogether just a lot of fuckery.

+It goes without saying. This is a work of fiction. My words are mine. Plagiarism is a crime.

Part 3 - The Grey

Sleep was a wild idea, given everything I had learned last night. I couldn't seem to quit scrolling through Google, YouTube, listening. I felt as though I was educating myself. Learning, in some way, what I was getting into. I wanted to see what I could learn about him, but he was an overall private human, even for a musician.

I did learn he is a Scorpio, born on Halloween. Originally from Virginia. The names of his bandmates. He had quite a few wonderful songs that I had added to my iTunes quickly after hearing them. So far, my favorite was Limits, which was saying a lot, given Just Pretend was still so incredible.

Throughout all of my 'research', the most important fact I learned was that Noah was very good at hiding his alcoholism. I expected to see articles, tweets, or even a TikTok about some scandal. An arrest? A fight? A drunken performance? I found nothing.

I suspect Noah is what I consider a silent drunk. Someone who doesn't drink for fun, but for release. For something to escape to. This had to be true, because I found zero evidence of his addiction on social media or in the depths of Google. I even shamelessly searched 'Noah Sebastian alcoholic' and came up with some very strange fanfiction. Interesting thought...

This almost worried me more. This meant I was going into this blind. The rockstar lifestyle was something not only musicians lived. So how did he manage to do it so quietly? Was his publicist just that good? Did he even have one?

Despite my determination, sleep finally took hold about 4AM, me waking up at noon with the videos of their music still playing on YouTube. I slammed my laptop closed and wiped the drool from my lips.

I needed caffeine.

I slipped into my house slippers, and sauntered to the kitchen, Angel following behind. I heard his quiet whine, and quickly paced to the back door to let him out before he had an accident.

Once I had slurped down half of my energy drink and let Angel back in, I snatched my phone from my bedside table. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I checked through my notifications.

Given it was my day off, I wasn't surprised to see a text from Sam asking if I wanted to come in and help him with his case files. I didn't even open it. That should answer that question.

I opened my messages to reach out to Laura. Her and I needed to speak immediately.

Before I could open her thread, I noticed a message from Noah, which made my throat dry.

Noah: Hollywood Palladium. Doors open at 6PM, but you should get there about 5 to get into your suite. I'll text you once I get offstage and we can figure out how you'll smuggle me out. We go on before Motionless in White.

Noah: Thank you again, Leena. I know this is a pain for you.

This guy isn't actually real. He is sweet as honey. Smooth as butter. And wakes up at 6:30AM, apparently? Who the fuck is this guy?

Me: I'll be there. I haven't told Laura yet. Pray for me.

His response came quickly.

Noah: Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name...

I only responded with laughing emojis and flipped to Laura's thread.

Me: Can you talk?

This was our code. She was working and if she was busy, she would respond. If she wasn't, she'd call.

My phone vibrated in my hand immediately.

"Hey." My voice was a fucking mess. I realized I hadn't used it at all yet.

"What the fuck is up, Kyle? You getting sick?" I cleared my throat and sighed.

"No. Just woke up."

"Late night? You doing okay?" I could hear the concern. 3 years sober, didn't mean it wasn't still something to keep an eye on.

"Yeah babe, I'm good. I need to fucking talk to you, though."

"Sure, what's going on?"

I sighed, not even knowing how to begin. I couldn't exactly tell her the lead singer of one of her favorite bands was a newly recovering alcoholic. Not without permission.

"I uh..." My brain drew a blank. "have not thought this through."

The other end was silent.

"You sure you're okay?"

I sighed hard. "I met Noah Sebastian."

Now there was dead silence on the phone.

"I'm so fucking sorry, I've lost my mind. Can you repeat that?" Her voice was deadly.

"You heard me."

"Noah Sebastian? From Bad Omens?!" I could hear her voice raising some octaves.

"Yeah a few days ago."

"Fucking where?!" I had to hold the phone at a distance from my ear.

"At...my work." My brain worked overtime to work out this lie.

"I call bullshit." She is too good at seeing through me.

"Laura, would you fucking listen?"

"Noah Sebastian did not walk into a fucking mortgage office and just happen to meet my best friend, the loan officer. Bullshit."

"Laura, listen!"

"Fuck! Fine! What?!" I could feel her irritation.

"I have tickets to their show tonight. In their VIP booth."

"Did you help him buy a house or some shit?!" That actually wasn't bad.

"Possibly. Still up in the air."

"You're such a fucking liar."

"Do you want to go or not? We'll be seeing him after."

I could feel her jaw drop to the floor. "We're going to meet the band?"

"No, not the band. I don't think. Just Noah."

"Just Noah? Christ Mileena, did you fuck him or something?!"

"Absolutely not! Laura what the hell?!"

"What?? You don't even listen to Bad Omens." I scoffed at that.

"I fucking do now."

After a solid hour of interrogatories from Laura, planning on getting to the event (I would drive, obviously) and what we would wear, we finally hung up.

I had about three and a half hours before I had to leave to pick her up. I had enough time for a walk with Angel, lunch, and to get ready.

When Angel and I set out on the sidewalk, and I had set up my AirPods (3 guesses who I was listening to), my phone chimed with a text. I groaned. Didn't we get through enough details?

When I saw the text though, I was surprised to see Noah's name.

Noah: Hey, weird request, but could I call you for like ten minutes?

I was puzzled, but typed a quick affirmative response.

My phone rang a few moments later.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I'm sorry." His immediate apology confused me.

"Sorry for what?" I could hear him chuckle, his voice slightly hushed.

"Calling. I know it's weird." I half-smiled. There was a level of innocence to Noah that made me feel better about this entire situation.

"Noah, I'm your sponsor. You're allowed to call me any time, day or night."

"But what if I call you at 3AM cause I'm craving sugar?"

I shook my head, weaving down the sidewalk with Angel heeling nicely at my left.

"Then we go get ice cream?"

I could hear the smile in his voice. "No way. You don't mean that."

I proudly responded. "Wouldn't be the first time."

He only snorted in response. I did wonder why he needed to call.

"Are you okay?"

"Mm, yeah. We're at the venue. Did sound check a while ago. The guys cracked open some beers. I told them I was going to take a quick walk to get some air. I feel like they might know something." His concern was thick in his words.

"Ah, okay. Well, super proud of you for walking away. That's amazing on it's own."

"Yeah?" He sounded unsure.

"Oh, one hundred percent."

"Thanks Leena." He sighed. His voice then came out a little smoother. "Did you talk to Laura?"

"I did."

"And how did that go?"

I smirked. "Well, she doesn't believe that I met you at work, so now she's got horrific ideas of how I met you, but she's in."

This made him laugh. "Horrific like how?!"

"I won't repeat it. But either way, she doesn't know how we actually know each other. I'm struggling to figure out how I'm going to explain us giving you a ride home?"

He was quiet, my guess was thinking. "How well do you know her?"

"Better than anyone, why?"

"You trust her?"

"With my life."

"Tell her. It's easier that way. Just maybe ask we don't all chat about it?" This took me back. As private as he is, and he doesn't even know me that well? Why trust me, or someone I trust, with this secret? His reputation is somewhat on the line.

"You sure?"

"Should I not be?"

I sighed. "I wouldn't risk your good name Noah. I promise."

"Thanks Leena." I heard muffled voices in the background. "Hey, I've got to go. See you later?"

I agreed, and we disconnected the call.

The ride to the venue was mostly quiet, aside from the soft music on the radio playing.

"So...anything else I should know before we walk in there? Ronnie Radke isn't going to be hanging with us too, is he?"

I chuckled at this.

"Listen babe, I've got to tell you something."

She lifted her eyebrow in a knowing look. "Knew you were lying."

I shrugged. "Look, I'm going to tell you this, but this is covert level secrecy. No one can know. Or Noah is fucked. So promise me? Not even your husband gets to know?"

Her look turned more serious.

"Of course babe. Anything."

"I'm Noah's sponsor." Her jaw dropped open, almost unnaturally so.

"He's in AA too?" I nodded.

"He just started. And he needed a sponsor. I offered. He needed help getting through this show and the after party. So he's going to pretend to be sick after, meet us backstage, and we're going to smuggle him out and drive him home."

I could see the wheels in her head turning. She believed me now. She knew I never lied about AA.

"Oh my God, babe." She shook her head. "I'm so sorry. I pried too hard. Jesus, I feel like an asshole."

I waved her off. "Don't, my love. He gave me permission to tell you." She nodded at that, sitting back in her seat.

After a beat, she giggled to herself. "You sure are the luckiest sponsor ever." That made me laugh. I wasn't so sure yet.

The show was electric. The man on stage, singing, was a different person entirely. If it weren't for the fact that he made direct eye contact with me several times throughout the night, I would've never believed him to be the same shy, unsure, uncomfortable man he was in group. On stage, he was confident, he was in control, he was the leader, and the crowd, his flock. It was insane to watch, and I would be lying if I hadn't said I felt absolutely mystified at points. I teared up when they played Just Pretend, vehemently singing along. This was not lost on him, and I caught the smirk he got when he saw my glassy-eyed singing. No different than any other fan. That's okay, that's who I was for now.

We were to not be seen or noticed. We were shadows waiting to seamlessly remove him.

Once the set ended, and everyone waited for Motionless in White to come out, moving in and out of their seats toward the bars and bathrooms, Laura and I followed the security guard who had been told to allow us backstage.

I checked my phone a few times, but still had not heard from him. As we made our way to the meet and greet area, we saw the giant line of fans waiting for their band to show up. We slyly waited against a wall behind the line. We blended in.

"Have you heard from him?" I checked my phone again with no results.

"No, but I would bet he has to do meet and greet first. I don't strike him as the type to disappoint fans."

She nodded in agreement, so we waited.

After about twenty minutes, we heard screaming, and looked over to see them come out, waving at everyone waiting in line. I saw his eyes searching. Was he looking for us?

Pulling out my phone, I shot a quick message.

Me: By the trash cans.

He was talking to a girl with his face on her shirt when he slipped his phone from his pocket and his eyes immediately scanned and found mine. The smallest hint of a smile lifted his lips. I saw him turn his back for a moment, and turning back to sign autographs

Noah: Thought I lost you. M&G will be over in 45min. Meet me in the parking lot?

I sent a thumbs up, instructed Laura of our plans, and we began our trek to the car. Once in the car, I sent a quick location pin to him so he could find us. I got a response a few minutes later.

Noah: Just look for the ancient Tahoe. Roger that.

I rolled my eyes, and despite Laura watching her concert videos, she noticed.

"What?" I showed her my phone, and she smiled.

"Well, he's funny, huh?" I nodded.

"An absolute dork." She bit her lip, turning in my seat.

"Leena?" I looked up at her from my phone screen, looking at my own videos.

"Hmm?"

"Do you like him?" I paid little attention to the question.

"Oh sure, he's a nice guy." She put her hand on my shoulder, making me give her my full attention.

"No, Mileena," she pushed my phone down. "do you like him?"

This made me scoff. "Laura, I barely know him!"

"What's to know? He's a singer in a near famous band. He's got the voice of an angel. He's adorable." This made me roll my eyes again.

"I'm his sponsor." She threw her hands up.

"Is it illegal?" I shook my head.

"No, but it's awful and would make me a terrible human. And I work very hard to be a good human."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "I don't believe that, but okay. I respect it." I smiled at her.

"Thank you Laura."

"But I still think you like him."

I was silent in response, not amused by her pushing.

“He has a girlfriend anyway, Laura.”

I watched her eyes nearly bug out of her head. “He does?!”

“Yeah, he told me yesterday.” I could see the disbelief on her face.

“I’ve never heard that. What’s her name?” I sighed, thinking back to our conversation the day before.

“He…didn’t say? Just mentioned he had one, and she didn’t know about AA yet.”

Her lips pursed. “Not buying it.”

This made my eyes widen.

“What?”

“He has a girlfriend but doesn’t even tell you her name? And doesn’t tell her he’s made a life changing decision to get well? I’m not buying.”

I rolled my eyes. “Christ, Laura, you’ve got trust issues.”

She pointed at me. “Facts. But it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t believe it.” She sat back in her seat.

“I’ll just ask him when he gets here, no worries.”

This caused a flood of panic through me. “Please don’t! He’s not the type to talk about personal stuff. He’s actually pretty withdrawn.”

Her blank expression was telling. “Noah? Noah Sebastian? The guy who just went absolutely insane on that stage? Is withdrawn? Mhm, sure.”

I sat back in my chair and groaned.

“Please? That’s his personal business.”

She nodded. “Fine, but you should ask him.”

I didn’t respond, attention now on the text I had from him saying he was headed our way. I started the car, ready for a quick getaway.

After about ten minutes, I saw his tall frame in the doorway of the elevator, jogging over to the car. I snuck a glance at Laura, who looked as though she may absolutely burst.

“Here comes the rockstar.” She let out in a sing-song voice.

The back left door opened, and he slid inside the seat quickly, buckling his seatbelt and running his fingers through his long, and now greasy, hair.

“Hey!” My voice was about three pitches higher for truly no reason at all. This was not lost on my best friend, whose eyes I saw flash over to be before turning around and looking at Noah, eyes absolutely bulging.

“Jesus, it’s like trying to escape a wild pack of hyenas!” He sat back and sighed heavily as my truck backed out of the space and began moving down the aisle. “I mean the guys, not the fans.”

I looked up in my rearview. “Did you do like we talked about?”

“Yes. Made sure to gag as loudly as possible and everything.” I could see the smile crinkling the corners of his eyes.

He turned his attention to Laura, holding out his hand. “I’m so rude, I’m sorry.” She took his hand, looking absolutely stunned. “I’m Noah.”

All I heard from her was a weak ‘Laura’ in response.

Once we hit the darkened streets, putting the venue behind us, the tension in the truck relaxed.

I looked up in my mirror again, catching Noah’s attention.

“Do you mind if I drop Laura home first? She’s got to get up early for work tomorrow and her house isn’t very far.”

He smiled. “Of course. I’m all the way in Calabasas, so no worries at all.”

I just nodded. The ride was smooth for a moment, until I heard the familiar ring of an iPhone. It was Noah’s.

“Hello?” I couldn’t hear the voice from the other end. “Hey babe.”

Laura’s face whipped over to me, I’m sure seeing my expression darken ever so slightly.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay. I’m not sure what happened, but I started feeling off before the set and by the end, I was throwing up.” He waited for the response. “No, uh…” he hesitated. “I actually haven’t drank at all today.”

Something in my chest swelled. I was such a proud sponsor. He was making an effort, and all I could do was appreciate it.

He nervously laughed. “Yeah, right? Shocking, I know.”

I could hear his tone. It broke my heart for him. I knew that conversation, I had many myself. When people don’t believe you haven’t been drinking, or are shocked to hear it. They’ll even go so far as to get angry at you for quitting. It’s a long, torturous road he’s set down, but hopefully with the right support, he will stay on track.

“Well I just caught an Uber, and I’m going to go home and pass out. Try to get over it.”

I made a conscious effort not to look at him, doing my best to respect his privacy. I could see Laura doing the same, scrolling through her phone.

“Yeah, uh, maybe we should wait until Monday? Make sure I’m not contagious, and all that?” His voice almost sounded brightened, but I was likely imagining things.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But do you want to catch this crap?” He made a sound of approval. “Thought so. I’m almost home so I’ll talk to you later babe.” He wasn’t, but okay. “Mhm, I love you too.” Slight poke to the abdomen. Nothing to worry about. “Bye.”

My hands relaxed slightly on the wheel. No one spoke for a little while. I could see his eyes just watching the streetlights fly past the window. He almost looked sad, but I couldn’t piece together why exactly. I could guess, however, that this is harder than he initially anticipated. It always is.

Laura shared my concern, so she spoke up.

“The show tonight was awesome, Noah! Better than the one back in November!”

This sure perked him, making him sit up in his seat. “Yeah? Thank you for saying that.”

“Oh fuck yeah, dude! Watching you guys play is spiritual, honestly.” This made him crack a wide grin.

I felt a poke on my shoulder, causing me to look up.

“What’d you think Leena? How was your first Bad Omens show?” I could see him searching for my answer, but he’s not the only one who could be a smartass.

I waved my hand in a topsy-turvy fashion. “It was alright.”

“Oh shut the fuck up, you cried during Just Pretend.” Laura was triumphantly smiling.

She’s so dead.

My cheeks were getting warmer, and I instinctively cracked my window. When did it get so hot in here?

Noah let out a giggle, an actual fucking giggle. “I thought I saw that.”

“Dude, how can you see anything up there? Fire? Smoke? Lights?”

He shook his head dismissively and flopped back in his seat. “Please. I can see anything if I’m looking for it.”

His words rang out followed by silence. Laura’s face was deadpanned.

What the fuck does that mean? In a literal sense, I get what he meant but wow, what an innuendo to make. Unintentionally, I’m sure.

The context wasn’t lost on Noah, who only cleared his throat, not speaking another word.

Luckily, we were already cruising down Laura’s street, stopping in front of her driveway.

“Welp, this is my stop.” She turned to look in the backseat. “Thank you so much for the concert. It really was awesome.”

This earned her a grateful head nod from him. “Anytime.”

She wouldn’t be forgetting that.

“I love you babes, call me tomorrow?” She wrapped an arm around me while I agreed to her request. She hopped out of the car and within seconds, she was gone.

“You want to stay back there, or hop up front?”

Without answering, a long leg reached over my console, plopping Noah in the passenger’s seat. I stared at him incredulously while he beamed at me.

I shook my head and put the truck back in drive, waiting for him to direct me to his house.

#noah sebastian fic #noah sebastian #bad omens fanfiction #bad omens #fanfic

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dreadark · 1 year ago

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Fresh Snow

some drabbles of kim dokja's company during a snow day, before the story of orv starts

One could say Kim Dokja was lucky for reaching his apartment before the snowstorm truly picked up. Another could say he was unlucky for the storm happening exactly on the night he meant to go grocery shopping. And the first would argue with the second, saying if he’d just checked the weather forecast a day earlier he wouldn’t even be in this situation, so that couldn’t be called bad luck, only a lack of forethought…

…Damn it, he really was hungry.

It was lucky he had time to eat lunch during work today, and unlucky he had literally nothing left in his fridge or pantry now for dinner. Clear proof that trying to cut himself off from instant noodles was a mistake.

The cold was worse than the hunger, though. Kim Dokja knew this building had terrible insulation, but now he was feeling the lack of it seep into his bones. Wasn’t it some building code violation to let the temperatures indoors drop this low? Of course, having the time or money to do anything about that was out of the question, but he could daydream taking his bastard landlord to court anyway.

For now, he just had to bear it. If the Iron-Blooded Supreme King Yoo Joonghyuk could withstand being plunged into the coldest depths of Poseidon’s ocean, then Completely Average Salaryman Kim Dokja could definitely triumph over a particularly cold Seoul night…!

Before he could cringe himself to death over that thought, a notification popped up on his phone. A new chapter of Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World? tls123 had announced another hiatus earlier this week, which from previous experience would last a couple days longer, so he hadn’t expected an update today. Maybe, they’d come back early just to save him—?

>> lol there ws rly smn like this… s5gir antis r so sad

Unfortunately, it was only a reply to a comment he’d made years ago. Specifically, one on a chapter of SSSSS-Grade Infinite Regressor pointing out how obviously “Yoo Joonhyun” was ripping off his Joonghyuk-ie…

The person who replied had probably assumed his account was old enough to have been abandoned, especially with how much backlash his comments had gotten then. So they’d surely be in for a shock if the original commenter shot back with definitive proof of this so-called author’s plagiarism.

…Kim Dokja was twenty-seven now. Having graduated university despite all odds he now “contributed to society” by going through the motions of a meaningless QA job, so he would definitely be considered an adult. Definitely too old to participate in flame wars online. Definitely too mature to start typing up a cool reply (carefully composed, he couldn’t seem like he was letting emotion get to his head) on how much evidence he’d collected to support his point (all saved to a draft on his personal email account, so he could access it wherever) and how they should at least apologize to tls123-nim in place of this pretentious “writer” who still refused to…

And really, ‘s5gir’? With an abbreviation that clunky, no wonder they had to copy someone. Couldn’t even come up with a decent title.

Only after posting the reply did Kim Dokja realize he’d completely forgotten about the cold while typing.

read the rest on ao3 here

#orv #orv fic #kim dokja #han sooyoung #yoo joonghyuk #yoo mia #lee gilyoung #yoo sangah #shin yoosung #jung heewon #lee jihye #save writes #omniscient reader's viewpoint #kdj calling yjh joonghyuk-ie in his twsa comments is infinitely funny to me #i need to watch this guy get into twitter fights #who needs heating when you can be hating

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chameleonspell · 8 months ago

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HTDC commentary - 17: VCDRKAA & 18: language & 19: knowledge & 20: again

[Looking back at HTDC after nearly ten years: comments on lore, character notes, influences, art, whatever. May contain spoilers for later chapters.]

chapter text: 17: VCDRKAA & 18: language & 19: knowledge & 20: again

I hope no one was expecting a line-by line complex exegesis of chapter 17, because I generated a wall of TEXTSLOP. It was never intended to mean anything specific, although I did edit it selectively, for poetry and interest. I didn't really expect anyone to read it, I just wanted them to open the chapter and go "what the fuck is this shit??"

I think I used this page to generate it, which must be twenty years old, at the absolute minimum, and the code is from the 1990s. It's beyond irritating that Markov chain text generators, along with other venerable methods of cut-up and creative mixology, are probably now tarred with the same brush as bullshit like chatGPT. Anyway, you could call it a Small Language Model, in that it only uses the text you put into it, doesn't steal it to do plagiarism, and doesn't require the energy and water usage of a small country to run.

I... had totally forgotten which texts I put into it, and had to spend way too long cross-checking fragments. All I remembered was that the nonsense-title of the chapter was taken from the title-letters of the input books, and it was supposed to be things Iriel had recently encountered, to represent a chaotic vomiting of his subconscious.

I think it's this:

V = 36 Lessons of Vivec

C = Chimarvamidium

D = The Book of Dawn and Dusk

R = A Less Rude Song

K = The Ruins of Kemel-Ze

A = Song of the Alchemists

A = Words of Clan Mother Ahnissi

...but I'm pretty sure there's also Special Flora of Tamriel there, in an uncredited role. I don't think that, or Song of the Alchemists is mentioned as something Iriel reads in-fic, but since Ire's an alchemist, I shovelled them into the word-hopper, too. I suspect I never noticed at the time that Song of the Alchemists is not an alchemical textbook, but silly Marobar Sul doggerel, and not exactly something Iriel would read.

Anyway, please do go ahead and cancel me for "writing fic with AI".

Playlist pick: Of Montreal - Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse. For when you really, really need the drugs to work. Or something to work. Anything. It's all just chemicals, right? C'MON, CHEMICALS!

Once we're done with the psychedelic breakdown, we have a temptation scene, specifically, Iriel wakes up in a wizard's bed, and barely resists intellectual seduction by House Telvanni.

The mage laid the book across the bed and opened it, revealing page after page of writing in Dwemer script.

Neither of them can read it yet, but the book is Divine Metaphysics, one of the three books you need to solve Trebonius' Dwemer mystery quest.

He sighed, and turned another page, revealing a complicated diagram of… Iriel wasn’t sure, but he was interested enough to sit up fully, and examine it. “Chimarvamidium,” he said, eventually.

Iriel is reacting to the diagram in the book of an anthropoid Dwemer construct, a theme that also occurs in Chimarvamidium. The picture under his nose is almost certainly Numidium, something he should be at least theoretically aware of. Tiber Septim used it to conquer Summerset in the Second Era, within living memory of older Altmer, and if Ire wasn't concentrating in history class, he was fourteen years old at the time of The Warp in The West. Admittedly, the giant robot was stomping about in Daggerfall, by then (so no trying to claim it had any weird effects on Ire's developing psyche!), and perhaps even a Dragon Break was barely a blip on his radar, compared to the horrors of being a teenager in Lillandril. Either way, Ire misses the obvious fact about the picture, and makes a more remote connection, something Baladas takes as evidence of a subtler, more esoteric intellectual approach, when it's actually far more to do with:

“I’m sorry. I think I’m still sssomewhat under the effects of an Imperial fuckton of skooma.

Iriel was previously only ever doing moon sugar. Skooma is much, much stronger, more addictive, and, for a magic-sensitive Altmer, extremely psychoactive and hallucination-inducing. He also drank two bottles, straight. Skooma is a liquid, and can be drunk, but is more commonly smoked (inhaled as a vapour?) through a pipe. I am assuming that smoking is the preferred method because the effects are slow and gentle, whereas drinking it is extremely neither of those things.

Yes, fine, the line about skooma being like "eight hundred orgasms tied to a brick" is an echo of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy description of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster cocktail as being "like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick". NO that is NOT a pop culture reference, that's just me stealing shit, which is totally different okay?

“Was that a Daedroth back there?”

Baladas keep a pet Daedroth. Wait... is it a pet? Are they sentient? Some of them are named, and have relationships to other characters that could imply they were intelligent. But... hmm. Dangerous tangent. Let's assume it's just a pet, yeah?

“It’s adorable! What’s its name?” Ire poked it, giggling in delight as it contracted its metal limbs back into its shell.

Again. Please let the record show that the first time Iriel interacted closely with a non-hostile Dwemer automaton, he was overcome with nothing more lascivious or sinister than childlike glee and wonder. You filthy animals.

Poor little centurion, does your daddy not even care enough to–”

He did indirectly call a Telvanni wizard "daddy", though. I can't really defend him from that one, since I'm pretty sure he knew exactly what he was doing*. And so did Baladas, because he shut that bullshit down FAST.

(* exactly what he was doing = being very silly and no-filter. Iriel is not actually looking to get "mentored" by a much older wizard, even if he could find one more interested in doing it.)

“The miners report that a screaming, semi-transparent Altmer, covered in weeds and soaking wet, broke into the eggmine from the lower levels.

This whole bit is confusing, and I don't like it. It's not funny, and it really doesn't matter about the stupid route Iriel took to end up with the book on Baladas' doorstep. But yes, you can get into the Gnisis eggmine via the riverbed outside town, and from there, into the Dwemer ruin and back. If he knew, Iriel would feel smug about the fact Edwinna would have tried to make him go there, on purpose, later, if she hadn't expelled him by then.

“Auri-El, what did you do to them?” Ire had heard about Telvanni methods.

While he hasn't encountered many Telvanni in Morrowind, he would have read things like this, in which Telvanni mages are notorious for being fans of inventive magical torture.

Iriel knew the score. Baladas Demnevanni was a serious Dwemer scholar, [...] He could make far better use of it than Ire ever would. And yet, something in Iriel resisted.

Iriel does know the score, and part of the score that he knows is: while Baladas is much older and more powerful, he's not technically Iriel's senior. Because Ire's not in House Telvanni, or any other structure that makes him Demnevanni's subordinate. Which Ire leaves free to resist. Sure, Baladas could take the book by magical force, but Iriel has enough pride to want to force him to do that, to not capitulate based purely on academic bluster. (Yes, of course Iriel can have a powerful and resilient scholarly ego, while simultaneously having zero self esteem. You've met academics, right?)

“It’s mine,” he said. “I found it. And I never asked you to take care of me.”

Saying this feels good. It's true: he didn't ask to be taken care of. And Baladas' reasons for doing so are cleanly self-interested, and make perfect sense to Ire. There's no messy pity involved, no need to spare the feelings of someone who thought they were being a good person, when you're too bitter and damaged to be grateful. This whole conversation is, in many ways, Iriel's ideal type of social interaction.

I will give you information about the location of Dwemer ruins on Vvardenfell, and in return, you will bring me any more books that you find there.”

The location of known Dwemer ruins on Vvardenfell is not, at this point in time, especially secret information, so Baladas is rather getting the better end of this deal. But if he wasn't, he wouldn't be making it, would he?

The only people qualified are my fellow mages, but Telvanni do not co-operate. Anything they found, they would keep for themselves.

His reasoning checks out, though, so Iriel is inclined to trust him. I really did think Ire would take him the other books at some point, and Ire himself intended to at various points, but... in the end, things got complicated. Iriel comes back to Gnisis, but not to Arvs Drelen, and he keeps all his findings to himself.

“Sweet Mara, no. I just want to be left alone to read.”

“You have just spoken the unofficial motto of House Telvanni.

The problem, I suppose, is that Ire is entirely too Telvanni at heart. It was always touch-and-go, as to whether he'd find an excuse to join the House. After all, he's perfect for it... but that's exactly why he resisted.

Iriel knows he's an obsessive, isolationist weirdo, who's probably going to end up alone in a tower, reading esoterically taboo books all day. Surrounded by robots and summoned Daedra, because that's the only level of social contact he's capable of tolerating. He knows all that, he knows exactly the sort of person he is. He just doesn't like that person. And when Telvanni start tempting him to fully embrace weird hermit mage life, he's forcefully reminded of what Telvanni are known for, and how isolating yourself with only Daedra for company makes you lose all contact with pedestrian concepts like "morality", and "not torturing people to death with lightning spells".

Clearly, Ire's being ridiculous to think his own morality is so fragile, but after the day he's had, he's feeling fragile in all sorts of ways, and unwilling to trust his own limits.

each mage seeks only solitude and freedom to continue his or her work.” [...] “Knowledge may be power,” he was declaiming, “but for some of us, it is enough that knowledge is knowledge.

And Ire's right to question the actual content of Baladas' rhetorical flourishes: freedom to do what? Power to do what? Knowledge of what? Doesn't it matter? The Telvanni answer certainly seems to be "no". But Ire's experiences with education have left him questioning the value of the "knowledge" he obtained. Certainly, if he was supposed to convert it into power, he appears to have missed a crucial step in the process. He's not sure he wants Telvanni instruction, for taking that step.

He stood up, and began to concentrate a sphere of magicka between his hands. “Where should I send you?”

I have a question about teleportation. What are the rules? Guild guides only transport people to other guild halls, but is that restriction due to rules, or ability? UESP says that guides "maintain magical contact with their counterparts in other branches", but I can't find an ingame source for this. If true, that would explain the restriction, but I'm not sure I buy it. It's possible for a guild guide to send you into a guildhall where the "receiving" guild guide is no longer there, for example during this quest. And the mage who sends you to Mournhold in the Tribunal expansion isn't a guild guide, but sends you as a favour, since she's a "powerful mage".

So: my theory is that it's totally possible for a skilled mage to teleport people to other locations without another linked mage "catching" them, but the right location helps. Receiving chambers are magically set up in guildhalls to act as teleportation beacons, and that's the focus, rather than the other guide. This fits with how Divine and Almsivi Intervention work, not to mention Mark and Recall. Guild guides are trained to be specially attuned to these beacons, but any sufficiently powerful Mysticism expert can sling people into them, as Baladas does, here. Really powerful ones might not even need beacons, though I imagine there are exponential risks to the subject, as the location gets more distant and/or unfamiliar.

So, because it's theoretically possible, if difficult, I also think there are strict rules about where guild guides can send people, just like you can't ask the bus driver to take you anywhere you want, even if he technically could. Because teleportation would have to be a highly regulated skill! You can't just send people anywhere, that could cause all sorts of trouble.

As an aside, every guild guide in Morrowind is a beautiful woman. There's something a bit retro air stewardess about that, isn't there? Male game devs thinking women should be in travel service roles, or something? Hmm.

“Um… Ald'ruhn, please. The Mages’ Guild, for preference, but as long as you don’t teleport me inside a wall, I’ll be happy.”

Iriel's not keen to launch into his Queer Coded Villain arc, yet. So despite Baladas' blandishments, it's back to the loving arms of the Mages' Guild, for now.

“I want you to know,” Edwinna was saying, “that this is not about the Dwemer tube.

...Ah. Never mind.

“Whilst you were gone, some disturbing information came to light. When I agreed to mentor you, I was unaware of the crimes for which you were convicted in Cyrodiil. I’m sure you understand why the theft of magical artifacts is not something I can simply ignore.”

I realised something really funny just now, which is that if Edwinna has been digging into Iriel's background check, presumably through a contact at the Arcane University, then she must know Iriel is also supposed to have straight-up murdered one of his professors. But that's not what's bothering her at all!

“In addition, there is the matter of your drug abuse.

I can only assume that when Iriel took a little too long returning with the Dwemer tube, she couldn't resist the temptation to go through his bedroom. In her ensuing freak-out at finding DRUGS, it emerged that no one had ever actually looked into the squirrelly-looking Altmer's claim on application that he'd studied at the Arcane University.

Ire stopped recasting the Paralyze spell on himself

I was determined to try and find creative ways to use Illusion spells, and to some extent, that was the motive for this whole scene.

He had fully expected to burst into tears as soon as he was alone, possibly sooner, but instead, he found himself gripped by a cold fury.

So, I had planned to get Iriel expelled for a while, and originally I, like Iriel himself, assumed that he would be devastated, because the number of times he's got himself kicked out of magical institutions is ridiculous at this point. But coming right off the conversation with Baladas, that wasn't where his head was at, at all. He was furious, and when a character gives you the gift of an unexpected emotional reaction, you always gotta lean into it, because it's one of my favourite things about writing. Iriel's vitriolic contempt for the Mages' Guild (and Edwinna Elbert in particular) gave him the motivation to do all sorts of fun things later, and really channel that "I'll show those fools at the institute!" energy. Even if he never did join House Telvanni.

At the last minute, he stopped, turned back, and retrieved Vivec’s Sermon 14 from under the bed.

On the one hand, yes, I am making fun of Iriel for considering porn* an essential, but also... not entirely? At the risk of getting too brutally real about mental illness, masturbation can be a key hammer in the mental toolbox, albeit one that tends not to get included on cute little listicles of harm-reduction coping techniques like taking bubble baths or snapping an elastic on your wrist. For people who spend their lives trying to manipulate their brains into staying above the line marked "basic functionality", orgasm can occasionally seem like the brief boost of feel-good chemicals that might kick it over that line. It is, at any rate, cheaper and safer than many alternatives, and while it's not nearly as effective as skooma, at least you don't have to fight smugglers in a cave for it. Or worse, interact with Tsiya.

*Iriel's current opinion of said text. We can make fun of him for this one.

“I’m sorry, Iriel.” Erranil shook her head, primly. “I’m no longer authorised to transport you.

It is the stupidest fucking thing that you don't have to be a member of the Mages Guild to use guild guide transportation, but if you've been expelled from the guild, they put you on a permanent no-fly list! This was often extremely annoying, ingame.

That said, it was funny to be playing the opposite of a "proper" Morrowind character, who ends up head of all the factions, including being Pope of two different religions at once. Iriel, by contrast, got expelled while still Apprentice rank in the Mages, never got past the early ranks in Thieves, and while he got one or two Imperial Cult ranks, he stopped once it wasn't going to get him laid any more.

But yes, I did get Iriel ingame-mechanically-expelled from the Mages' Guild on purpose (possibly by stealing a spoon?). For immersion. Method gamer, y'know.

next: 21: refinement & 22: fragile previous: 13: legs & 14: plan & 15: claws & 16: door

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