#Civilian Craft Conversion

[firstoccupier]

Breaking the Blockade: Tactical Innovations in Scarborough Shoal

WPS News Staff Reporter Baybay City, 1/25/2025 In recent months, the strategic waters of Scarborough Shoal have been under intense scrutiny. A determined group of Filipino fishermen, alongside the Philippines Coast Guard (PHCG), have devised innovative surface tactics to challenge a blockade, leveraging civilian craft for military-like maneuvers that have captured international…

[miraclechatbug]

The way Marinette and Adrien consciously and unconsciously choose to portray themselves as Ladybug and Chat Noir respectively is fascinating to me. We can take just the first two released episodes S6 and see the differences and similarities.

Marinette is clumsy, forgettable, scatter-brained, and constantly in anxious, worst-case scenario mode all the time. She's frazzled, speaks faster than her brain can keep up with, fidgets constantly, and is always doing something or the other. She always over-prepares and has a plan for everything. Her mannerisms as Marinette resemble her dad (Tom Dupain) and when she is Ladybug, I think she unconsciously channels her mom's (Sabine Cheng) confidence.

It's clear that as soon as she transforms, she carries herself with more composure and certainty, something she only occasionally manages as Marinette.

As Ladybug, she moves with more certainty, effortlessly taking charge and trusting her instincts. But at the same time, she carries the weight of responsibility, bound by the pressure of being the leading face as the savior of Paris and the expectation to always have a solution. Even though she’s more confident in her abilities, she isn’t necessarily more free— if anything, she’s more constrained. Every decision matters, every mistake has consequences, and she has to think about the bigger picture at all times. As Marinette, she doesn’t have that same overwhelming burden. She’s anxious, scattered, and often lost in her own thoughts, but she has the space to obsess over the little things, whether it's an overly detailed plan, a small interaction with her crush, or a passing worry that spirals into something bigger. While Ladybug has to act, Marinette has the luxury of hesitation, of focusing on minutiae instead of the weight of the world.

And then in contrast there’s Adrien, in how he navigates his dual identity. As Chat Noir, he thrives in the freedom his mask gives him, in being playful, loud, and entirely unrestrained. He takes up space without hesitation, making himself seen and heard in a way he never does as Adrien.

As his civilian self, he fades into the background, careful and composed. He rarely draws attention to himself, moving through the world with quiet politeness rather than asserting himself wherever and anywhere he wants as Chat Noir. He’s considerate, always attuned to the needs of those around him, and I think he very much consciously and unconsciously he holds himself back. Where Marinette over-prepares and overthinks and often falls into spirals, Adrien is overly polite, often depressed even though he hides it very well, repressed, avoidant, and non confrontational. It’s only as Chat Noir that he allows himself to be messy, make mistakes, rambunctious, and completely unfiltered.

That’s why their conversation about being the best versions of themselves in Sublimation is so interesting to me. They both genuinely believe that they are better, be it more capable, more confident, more themselves when they’re transformed and fighting side by side. It’s not necessarily true, and in many ways, they underestimate their own strength as civilians, but it’s what they feel, and that belief shapes how they carry themselves once transformed.

What makes this so fascinating is that, whether they intended to or not, their masks have now became more than disguises. Over time, they’ve unconsciously crafted personas around Ladybug and Chat Noir, leaning into traits they suppress in their civilian lives. Marinette channels a confidence and decisiveness that she struggles to access as herself, while Adrien embraces a level of freedom and self-expression that he never allows when he's de-transformed. It's like when they are Ladybug and Chat Noir, they give them permission to be the versions of themselves they think they should be.

I’m really excited to see how they keep changing, how the lines between themselves keep blurring. And honestly, their best selves were never just one or the other. It’s not Marinette or Ladybug, Adrien or Chat Noir— it’s all of it, all at once. They just need to learn to find the balance in that.

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: The Royal Welcome

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

“My royal decree of the Tekmek Authority Council, this world is now under the dominion of Tekmek Autocracy. All rights, privileges, and claims of ownership by the Terran Confederation are hereby rescinded and void. Prepare for the arrival of your new overseer.”

 The announcement was played over and over on every frequency to the people of Devron V as the human population looked up and saw a Tekmek fleet orbiting their planet. Their ships long and slender like icicles slowly circling the planet in their hundreds with the largest concentration of them hovering in lower orbit just above the planet’s capital city Arminius.

There had been no announcement over the galactic news or word from Earth regarding this sudden change of affairs, but the Tekmek’s were quite insistent that their new overlordship of the world was sound. To the current planetary governor, Claus Beckler, this was an outright proclamation of war that he would not take lightly. Yet as his military advisors were well to warn him, the difference in current military power was vast and should they choose to resist destruction on a global scale would surely be a result.

Beckler was well aware his standing defense forces were only sufficient to repel the occasional alien raiding party. He also knew that even with the dispatches sent back to Earth it would take at least twenty three days for a relief force to arrive. He needed to play for time and thus came up with a devilish plan.

“We welcome our new overlords of the Tekmek Autocracy.” Beckler said over a video communication link to the Tekmek flagship. “Allow us the time to prepare a proper welcoming party here in the capital so we may celebrate the new dawn you bring us with your enlightenment.”

Drowning in their smugness and the performance Beckler made to stoke their egos, the Tekmek gave him three days to assemble a proper celebration.

From around the planet human convoys could be seen making their way to the capital carrying all manner of lavish gifts and offerings. During this time Beckler made repeated conversations with the Tekmek discussing the finer points of the transition of power and assisting them with getting any requested information such as current mineral veins and outputs along with agriculture surplus. From these dealings Beckler was able to piece together that despite their grandeur the Tekmek were in dire need of raw materials and had made the gamble of taking Devron V to prop up their failing economy. To his annoyance he also learned that they had chosen his world as it was far enough from human core territories that it would be listed as a low priority world and more negotiable for transference.

Three days came and went and by the dawn of the forth the capital city was alive and thriving like never before. It was as if the entire population of the world had come as every street and alleyway was bustling like never before in celebration.

From the flagship came a lone landing craft decorated entirely with gold and studded with all manner of jewels that formed elaborate murals. Several squadrons of fighter craft escorted it to the surface followed behind by bulky landing craft that bore the occupation forces of the Tekmek military.

At the outskirts of the capital a grand landing pad and walkway had been erected for the Tekmek to land on that led directly to a raised platform. Beckler and several honor guard stood atop the platform watching their new rulers land while the walkway was lined with soldiers on either side carrying large flags that fluttered in the wind. A small crowd of civilians had gathered behind the platform waving a variety of flags and cheering as the ornate landing craft touched down and the boarding ramp slowly lowered.

For the first time Beckler had come to see the Tekmek in person and he was likewise unimpressed.

Like their ships the Tekmek dressed in overly elaborate clothing that in their eyes was meant to highlight their superiority, but to the average human screamed of obnoxious indulgence. Peering behind the delegates Beckler could see the soldiers were no better as even though they wore more practical combat armor and weaponry they too were decorated with studded jewels here and there.

Claus had to suppress a smile thinking of them trying to sneak through the night in such adornments and standing out like a disco ball.

Pulling himself together Claus stepped forward as the Tekmek’s strode down the walkway and made their way to him at the platform.

“We welcome our Tekmek guests to the planet Devron V.” Claus began as the lead delegate finally reached the platform and stepped on to it.

Standing before him he noticed that they were slightly taller than the average human coming in around 6.3 ft tall. Claus had to tilt his head back to look up at the lead delegate, a Tekmek named Con’gorda he had spoken with before. They held out a document that was in short a transfer of ownership of the planet and all its assets to the Tekmek in which Claus was meant to sign.

It was certainly a surprise that instead Claus slapped a pair of security cuffs on to Con’gorda’s arms with an overly loud locking sound as they activated and trapped the delegate.

“By the powers of the Terran Confederation I hereby place you under arrest on charges of unwarranted aggression, planetary threat, illegal occupation, violation of sovereignty, inciting unrest, and disturbing the peace.”

Without waiting for Con’gorda to react Claus turned to his security detail and shouted “NOW!”

Without hesitation the guards reached into nearby decorative flower vases and pulled out pulse rifles. Shouldering them with smooth precision they opened fire on the other Tekmek’s as they stood dumbfounded. The delegates went down screaming as the pulse rounds tore them to shreds while the soldier’s armor took the rounds better.    

“Activate city shield!” Claus shouted into the transmitter nestled into his ear. He drew his own pistol and popped off a few shots and the dwindling alien guards as Con’gorda fell to his knees from a stray round clipping his thigh.

In the distance Claus could see a tide of Tekmek soldiers now rapidly disembarking from their landing craft and the wings of fighters swinging around to start a strafing run on the city.

A loud humming sound came from behind Claus and he turned to see an energy beam shoot up from the center of the city. It had just reached higher than the tallest building before it began rolling back down in a giant dome shape. Claus watched as the energy shield crashed down into the ground, bisecting an unfortunate Tekmek soldier in half.

Several Tekmek soldiers were not cut off from their reinforcements who were now trapped on the opposite side of the shield. With nowhere to retreat and no reinforcements they laid down their arms and surrendered to the human guards as they encircled them. The gathered crowds of civilians behind the platform began cheering as Claus turned to them and held up a now cowering Con’gorda.

“My countrymen,” Claus began as he addressed the crowd, “in the coming days much of you will be asked but as you have seen just now I assure you our victory is inevitable!”

The gather crowds cheered louder as outside the enemy fighters began firing off pot shots at the shield to no avail. The energy barrier was capable of withstanding sustained orbital bombardment for thirty days before the energy reserves ran out, but even then Claus knew the Tekmek would not know this nor risk the life of their official who was now his prisoner.

Springing the trap had gone flawlessly and now all Claus and the citizens of Devron V would need to do was wait for the relief force to arrive and wipe out the orbiting Tekmek forces. A notion made much easier by conveniently using the excuse of a party to gather provisions and the entire population into one easily defensible area.

[astraystayyh]

We recently learned in our media class about the four indicators that reveal a country's use of propaganda to justify its actions/build a national and international consensus over its stance. This is exactly what Israel is doing now. Please read this to learn more about the Israeli propaganda (with sources) :

i. Establishing a distinct "us" versus "them"/"the others" divide: The Israeli media has been actively engaged in crafting a narrative that portrays Palestinians as sub-humans and animals, that deserve to be killed, butchered, and deprived of essential resources such as water, electricity and fuel. This dehumanizing narrative serves to rationalize the grave atrocities committed against Palestinians, reducing them to mere statistics, rather than acknowledging them as fellow human beings who have the right to be protected as well.

A recent example of this dehumanization (that encompasses children as well) is Israel's Prime Minister's words in a now-deleted tweet, on Oct 16, stating: "This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle."

This is also a common practice in Western media as a whole. In the context of conflict, the choice of words plays a significant role: Israelis are often described as "killed," and Palestinians are referred to as having "died" (example of BBC). The distinction can be seen as a way to omit Israeli responsibility, portraying the deaths of nearly 10,000 Palestinians as a result of circumstances beyond its control, rather than the outcome of deliberate and targeted actions.

ii. Use of emotion instead of logic: a stark example would be the whole international outrage that was first sparked due to the false claim that Hamas had beheaded 40 babies. This fake news was confidently shared by U.S. President Joe Biden, who later admitted that he had never actually seen any pictures of such events, neither did anyone in the IDF because there was never any instance of 40 beheaded babies (source) (also trust me if Israel did have any pictures of killed children they would not hesitate to share it)

CNN journalist who first shared this fake news has later apologized for being "misled." (which isn't the case that was a conscious choice of the news agency but that's another conversation)

Israel knew what it was doing by sharing this particular false information, they knew that the simple imagery of such a horrifying notion, even without concrete proof, would be a strategic tool to garner international support through emotional manipulation.

They are still trying to use emotion when it comes to children particularly to sway the public opinion : Israeli government spokesman has shared images of "fallen teeth of burnt children." This post has been debunked by dentists, pointing out many contradictions in the pics that conclude that these are props and not the teeth of actual children found in rubbles. (source)

(Meanwhile, there are factual documented videos and pictures of dead Palestinian kids and babies, decapitated, injured beyond belief, tangible proof of the war crimes Israel commits and yet the public outrage isn't the same, because Israel has already established that Palestinians are lesser people)

iii. Attempting to Influence Both Elites and Ordinary Citizens: In addition to their efforts to secure international support from world leaders, Israel has employed a multifaceted approach by spreading advertisements that regular civilians view. These ads serve to rationalize their actions, and they are strategically placed ahead of unrelated programming, including children's shows or games.

This tactic aims to integrate their ideology into various aspects of our lives, in order to promote their agenda and inundate us with recurrent pro-Israel messages. This strategy capitalizes on the psychological principle that the mind tends to retain information it encounters most frequently. (a more detailed video explanation)

iv. media manipulation tactics : For example, the night before Israel bombed the Baptist hospital in Gaza killing more than 1000 people, BBC published an article with the headline "Does Hamas build tunnels under schools and hospitals?" giving way to a "justification" for the heinous, war crime act that is bombing a hospital, under the guise of targeting Hamas hidden bases.

The use of the Israel-Gaza war as a headline for the news leads us to believe that this is a war with two equal (or slightly disproportionate) parties who are both able to defend themselves. Whereas this is a genocide led by Israel (a powerful military with international backing by the world's most powerful nations- U.S, U.K, France, Germany.. to cite a few) and CIVILIANS. Because those are the people that Israel is targeting, by bombing hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, refugee camps.

It is a genocide, an ethnical cleansing, an attempt to eradicate entire families, then to relocate the survivors out of Gaza, making it impossible for them to reclaim their land, and resulting in a total takeover of Palestine by Israel.

Another manipulation example (because there are so many) is the first and most prominent question that many Western journalists ask their guests: "Do you condemn the attacks of Hamas on Oct 7?"

This question completely disregards the root of this entire conflict, which is the 75-year ongoing colonization of Palestine. By omitting all the previous crimes against Palestinians that led to the attack (the killings, the wrongful imprisonments, the torture, the stealing of land…) these 'journalists' actively manipulate the public opinion, portraying the Hamas attack as unprovoked, when you cannot possibly expect a colonization to have 0 resistance.

And an honorable mention to the zionists who are trying to morph the anti-Israel stance into an anti-Jew one. This isn't about religion, I've said this once and I will say it again, Jews around the world are condemning the actions of their government. Just recently, Jews were arrested in NYC for standing against Israel. (source)

This is a humanitarian cause. We're humans, this is the one denominator factor that unites all. We read about previous genocides in history. We wondered how people could support the killings of innocent people, men and women, and children and babies. It is happening right now again, and media propaganda plays a significant role in shaping public perceptions.

I couldn't include everything here but please, I urge you to use your critical thinking. Don't believe everything the media tells you, and this is coming from a graduated journalist. We learn about propaganda and how to counter it, which also means we learn about how to manufacture it.

So don't be gullible, boycott the companies who support Israel (mainly HP, Siemens, AXA, Puma, Israeli fruits and vegetables, Sodastream, Ahava, Sabra. check BDS for more information) and urge your governments to support the ceasefire. We have a voice and we should use it, even if we're uncomfortable, even if we're scared. Do it. By staying silent you become complicit in genocide.

[heliosunny]

ROOTS OF OBSESSION

Yandere!WilliamVangeance x Reader

The Clover Kingdom had always been your sanctuary, your small garden tucked away from the bustling capital. As a gifted healer specializing in rare plants and magical herbs, your reputation brought frequent visitors, from civilians to Magic Knights. It was a peaceful life, and you treasured every moment of it.

One late afternoon, as golden sunlight spilled through the garden’s greenery, William Vangeance arrived for the first time. His serene presence and his signature mask immediately caught your attention.

“You must be Y/N” he said with a polite bow. “I’ve heard remarkable things about your work from the Wizard King.”

His voice was soft, almost soothing, and as he glanced around the garden, you noticed a certain reverence in his gaze. He explained that a mysterious sickness had affected some members of the Golden Dawn and sought your expertise in creating remedies.

“It sounds like a curse-induced fever” you mused, inspecting a sample of the afflicted member’s blood. “I can prepare something with Silverleaf and Emberroot. They counteract curse magic effectively, though I’ll need a few days to brew it properly.”

William stayed longer than necessary that day, his curiosity leading to conversations about magic and plants.

“Your World Tree Magic must be incredible to witness.” you said, carefully grinding some dried leaves.

“It has its uses” he replied humbly. “But your craft is far more intricate. Nature itself bends to your touch in a way that even magic cannot replicate.”

His words warmed you, and soon his visits became a regular occurrence. Each time, he brought rare seeds or books about ancient magical herbs, eager to discuss their properties with you.

“I found this in an old archive,” he said during one visit, handing you a dusty tome. “it describes a flower that blooms only under moonlight. Perhaps it could be useful in your healing work.”

You couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll need to find a way to grow it, but thank you, William. You always bring me the most interesting gifts.”

------

Your tranquil routine was disrupted when Yami Sukehiro, the brash captain of the Black Bulls, made a surprise visit to the garden. He stomped in with his usual lack of decorum, holding a broken blade and an awkwardly wrapped hand.

“Oi, doc, you got something to patch me up?” he asked, grinning. “Got into a little scuffle with a guy who didn’t like me calling his magic weak.”

You rolled your eyes, already used to Yami’s antics. “A ‘little scuffle,’ huh? You’re lucky you still have both your arms.”

As you cleaned his wound, Yami leaned back against a tree, chewing on a piece of grass. “You’re wasted in this garden, you know. You should join the Black Bulls. We could use someone who actually knows what they’re doing.”

“And deal with you every day?” you teased. “I’d rather take my chances with the plants.”

He laughed loudly. “Fair enough. But seriously, you ever need a change of pace, we’ve got plenty of idiots who could use your help. I mean, Luck alone keeps breaking ribs just for fun.”

When he left, he threw you a mock salute. “Take care, doc. Don’t let any of these fancy Golden Dawn types bore you to death.”

His visit left you in high spirits, but you couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Later that evening, you spotted William standing near the edge of the garden, his gaze unreadable.

------- The next time William visited, he lingered longer than usual. You were working on a poultice when he casually asked, “Did Yami come here often?”

“Not really” you said, not noticing the slight edge in his tone. “He was just picking up a potion. He’s funny, though. Did you know he calls my work ‘plant witchcraft’?”

William’s lips curved into a faint smile, though his eyes didn’t match the amusement. “Yami has… an unconventional sense of humor.”

“True” you replied, chuckling. “But it’s refreshing. He’s not afraid to say what’s on his mind.”

William’s gaze darkened slightly, though he quickly masked it. “I hope he doesn’t distract you too much. Your talents are too precious to be wasted on reckless antics.”

You frowned, sensing a strange undertone in his words, but brushed it off. The conversation shifted back to plants, and you showed him how you mixed potions.

“Did you know some leaves amplify elemental magic?” you asked, holding up a dried specimen. “For example, the Azure Fern strengthens water-based spells.”

William leaned closer, his curiosity genuine. “And what about Earth-based magic?”

You handed him a sprig of Goldenroot. “This one’s perfect. It stabilizes and enhances earth magic. Actually, I think it might work well with your World Tree Magic.”

He studied the herb, his fingers brushing yours as he took it. “You have such a deep understanding of the natural world. It’s… extraordinary.”

You blushed at the compliment but quickly returned to your work.

------- When the vines appeared at the edge of the garden, you were confused at first. But when Yami tripped over a particularly aggressive root and muttered, “What the hell is wrong with your plants lately?” you knew something was off.

One night, you caught William in the act, his magic weaving through the garden, creating an impenetrable barrier of vines.

“William!” you shouted, running toward him. “What are you doing?”

He turned to you, his expression calm yet unreadable. “I’m protecting you.”

“From what?!” you demanded.

“From them...” he said quietly. “From people who don’t understand your worth. This garden is your sanctuary, and I won’t let anyone disrupt it...or you.”

“William, this isn’t protection. You’re trapping me!”

His calm facade cracked, and he stepped closer. “Do you think I haven’t noticed? The way they look at you? The way they try to take you away from this place? Yami, Klaus, even Julius—they all want a piece of you, but none of them deserve it. Only I can truly understand you.”

You shook your head, tears welling in your eyes. “This isn’t love, William.”

His voice softened, but his words were laced with desperation. “If keeping you safe makes me a monster, then so be it.”

The garden, once your sanctuary, now felt like a prison, and the man you thought was your friend had become your captor.

-------

KPI rush during my birthday go!!!!!!!

[theresattrpgforthat]

games to play with my long distance partner? we’re queer nerds, i have a lot of dnd experience and some not dnd experience, they have a little bit of dnd experience, we both have fucked up schedules so something that’s asynchronous or short would be best. uh. there’s two of us. yeah i think that’s everything.

THEME: Long-Distance Games.

Hello friend, I am excited to introduce to you the joys of epistolary games!

From the Petals to the Leaves, by somewhere with stories.

This is a two player game about writing to a loved one while you are apart.  Throughout the game you will write to each other while in different gardens, surrounded by plants and flowers of your choice. 

This looks to be a pretty small game, but I think it fits the mood of writing to a loved one, with a concrete topic to base your conversations around - the plants in your gardens. I don’t own this game but I own a similar one by the same creator, so I’m assuming that the game provides you with a prompt list for each letter you send each-other. You can create your characters slowly as you write, uncovering bits and pieces about each-other through your fictional personas. If you just want something a little extra to flavour your letters to each-other, this might be worth looking at.

Soulum Scriptum, by Radmad.

Featuring the art of Marisa Bruno, Soulum Scriptum is a letter writing game for two or more players. You are isolated and alone, until a mysterious courier arrives at your door. They give you a proposition: write letters for someone just like you and they will bring you letters in return.

Develop the broken world and the haven that protects you, all while fighting despair and taking what hope you can find in your new connection across time and space. 

This is a game of connection, between two isolated individuals who are struggling with despair. There are pages for various steps of the game, from world and character creation, to how to manage your feelings after your first letter. There’s also instructions for what to do when you fill certain tracks, including the track for your Haven (your home) and your Hopes (lines and pieces of the letters you receive that give you hope). If you like emotional games that have great potential to tell a story that grows brighter as you play, I recommend Soulum Scriptum.

Talking Thunder, by Eleanor Hingley.

‘Talking Thunder’ is a two-player correspondence RPG about finding connection in a dystopian world. 

As the world changes, you never know what news each letter from your only friend will bring…

If you even hear from them again.

Another game about connection, this time in a post-apocalypse of some kind. I’m curious about how the letters are meant to reach each-other in the fiction of this game, although I suspect that ultimately that is up to the two of you!

We Are Ciphers, by Jgurantz.

We Are Ciphers is a 2-player letter-writing game where you craft a story using coded messages sent through the mail.  You and your partner both covet the Prize, which you believe will transform your lives for the better. But acquiring it is an extremely tricky operation. Many things stand in your way, including the Target. 

This is a letter-writing game with an added layer of complexity, because both of you could be writing in code! The code part is optional, but the premise of the game is that you are two spies trying to get your hands on the Prize - whatever you two decide that may be. The game comes with a list of popular media for inspiration, as well as a series of checkboxes for you to tick off to help you create a game that would be fun for the two of you. There’s also a number of worksheets to help you build your world, craft your codes, and create your characters. If you would like a fair amount of guidance as to how to play the game, We Are Ciphers might be up your alley.

The Wanderers, by AdventureByMail.

You and your friend wait to board two ARK-4 Civilian Class Shuttles charted for new colonies in the hinterlands of space. Though you will be several light-years apart, you promise to keep in touch through the interstellar communication network known as the Unified Starways Parley System. You'll use this network to tell each other about the life you build and the love you discover in the far reaches of space…

This creator makes a number of games designed for long-distance play, so if you like The Wanderers, you might want to check out some of their other work as well! The game itself is small enough to fit on a brochure, so it should be easy to print out and keep somewhere for easy reference. There are roll tables to help you create a character, and some advice on how to write your first letter. Following letters will be provided prompts based on a deck of playing cards, with special rules for drawing Aces. If you like using a bit of randomization to help drive a story, this game might be for you!

Games I've Recommended in the Past

I've played The Reaper's Almanac with a friend before and I really really love the premise of it. It has a chance to dive into some pretty traumatic material, however, as it is about death, so make sure to talk about your partner about the things you'd like to steer clear of if you play this game.

[frozenjokes]

Unbeknownst To Grian, Doc Hasn’t Had A Real Conversation With A Person In 15 Years, And It’s About To Be Grian’s Problem

Grian did not like to be predictable. He didn’t like to follow expectations, he didn’t like to give people what they wanted. This could manifest in small, annoying ways; if something he was curious about got popular, he was more likely to lose interest, think negatively of it for no reason. Grian valued uniqueness in his craft. If he was going to fuck with someone, he would do so in the most creative possible way, and just so much as seeing a similar idea online to one of his own was enough to void all his motivation.

If Grian was going to make his mark, he would not do so giving the people what they wanted. He’d change the game. He’d sprint as fast as his legs would take him against the grain.

They wanted him and Scar.

The clips from yesterday had gone completely viral, Scar’s suggestion to velcro himself to Grian’s back so they could fight together to retrieve his legs from the villainous Goat spawning waves of excited chatter, cheering, and trending hashtags to varying degrees of ridiculousness. Now, even if Grian had wanted to team up with Scar like this in the first place, the amount of insistent attention would be enough to change his mind in a snap of an instant. Please. He was not some showpony that lived to serve the community. If he was going to put on a show, it would be on his own terms, superheroes be damned.

So that’s how Grian found himself at The Goat’s doorstep, a massive, impending thing. Most supervillains took utmost care in hiding their identities and home addresses; they had to, otherwise the police force would have no reason to pretend they couldn’t arrest them. The Goat, however, was an exception. This place could hardly be called a house; it was more like a fortress that loomed over the entire city, spires like lightning rods collecting energy from storms in a light show that you could see for miles. While The Goat had been arrested several hundred times by now (he’d been around for as long as Grian could remember, very possibly before he was born), he never quite stayed in jail, always finding a way to escape in one way or another. At this point, it was common knowledge that The Goat was only ever taken into custody because he wanted to be; successfully imprisoned for only however long he allowed. While quite famous, The Goat also happened to be a bit of a hermit, only surfacing from his lair once or twice a month, so really, it was pretty unlucky for Scar to come across him the one day he had chosen to lay pathetically on the concrete, legs ripe for the stealing.

Regardless, this mysterious reclusiveness made the villain quite popular among many, his nonchalance combined with the insanity of some of his works of engineering drawing a great deal of attention. That, and people were just outright thirsting over him. Unabashedly horny. Grian had never seen The Goat in person before, but he’d seen enough pictures to understand- not that he agreed or anything, just that it made sense. The Goat was a big guy, like, big; Grian didn’t know the logistics of his exact species, but he was a sort of centaur-like creature, built like a clydesdale but even taller, half of his chest, left arm, and face entirely cybernetic, armaments that were constructed by the man himself.

It was at this point that Grian realized he was stalling. In fairness, he wasn’t exactly sure what to do with himself. The knocker was purposefully high above the typical human height, something he could reach regardless with a flap of his wings, but it was relatively obvious The Goat did not like visitors. Grian wondered how many civilians had turned up at this very doorstep, only to be ignored for hours until they left. Would The Goat even care about CuteGuy? Maybe he had seen all the hubbub online and would keep him locked out on purpose. Grian hadn’t really considered that before coming. Honestly, with all the cameras around, it was very likely The Goat already knew he was here.

Well. No time like the present!

Grian beat his wings in a small jump, but the door swung open before he could reach the knocker, causing him to fall and stumble a little pathetically at cloven feet. He looked up. Holy shit.

“Speak of your intention,” The Goat spoke gruffly, tucking his hands away in the pockets of his long lab coat. Grian had to crane his neck just to see his face, a dark, cold expression looking natural on The Goat’s imposing figure. His eyes were pupil-less, narrowed and difficult to read, but Grian didn’t detect any hostility. Maybe he was delusional, but it almost looked like The Goat was more curious than anything, interest evident in the way his mechanical eye moved in quick saccades, taking all of him in. Grian took a deep breath, puffing out his chest.

“Just wanted to hang out, that’s all. This is a pretty secluded place, you know, thought I might be able to get away from all the mess,” Grian forcibly relaxed his shoulders, waving his hand in a vague gesture.

“Hang out?” The Goat said the words like they tasted bitter, but then again, he said most things as if they left an unpleasant taste in his mouth, “You sure you’re not looking for anything?”

“If you’re referring to HotGuy’s legs, then no, I’m not looking for them. I don’t care about him or his legs, actually! I’m more concerned with my reputation, that being, how good it’s been lately. I think this city needs a reminder that I don’t work for anyone.”

The Goat chuckled, the sound far more soft and pleasant than Grian would have thought he could produce. “Is that so?” he mused, and Grian hoped that was interest behind his tone, “You don’t serve our government? Contractually? Won’t they be displeased to see another of their pets mingling with the enemy?”

Grian scoffed, “I don’t serve anyone. As far as I’m concerned, they’re being scammed out of a paycheck. And no, honestly, I don’t think they care what I do so long as it drums up media attention and puts more coin in their pockets. So long as it’s advertiser friendly.”

“I hear you are famously not, friend.”

“Well that’s not my problem.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“The court of public opinion indicates otherwise. People are crazy about me, nearly as much as HotGuy. It would be stupid to let me go, not before they milk my novelty for everything it’s worth. By then I’ll be rich enough to retire or something, I don’t know. That’s a problem for future Grian.”

“Grian?” Grian’s heart dropped as The Goat smirked, lips raising just enough to reveal pointed teeth. But just as Grian started to stutter to a defense, the villain laughed, drowning him out, “Do not fret, I could not care about any person’s identity, superhero or no. Nor do I particularly care to shield mine. Please Grian, call me Doc. Follow me.” Doc turned without another word, leaving Grian to gape as his massive hooves kicked up clouds of dust. Doc did not look to see if he was following nor slow his pace, so Grian had to run to catch up. Nine foot tall monsters walked very fast it turns out! And if Doc noticed Grian struggling to keep up, he certainly didn’t show it.

It occurred a little late to Grian that he should probably be keeping track of where he was going and how he’d escape if necessary, but Doc’s fortress had so many twists and turns, by the time he had the sense to think of this, he was already hopelessly lost. Well. Hopefully Doc wasn’t planning on dissecting him and displaying his wings on a pedestal or something. (Many of The Goat’s fans seemed to insist this was a big thing for Doc, though, Grian could not find any actual evidence of any dissections occurring. On second thought, those people were probably just horny.) Oh well.

Eventually, the two of them reached an elevator with, quite frankly, an alarming amount of floors- “What do you need this much space for?'' The thought was spoken aloud before Grian could stop himself, far more judgemental than would be advised for the company he was keeping today, but luckily, Doc didn’t seem to care.

“The lower floors are where The Hivemind works. Building, innovating, grindingoptimizingautomatingthriving, you know. A lot of the space is storage from past projects, and upkeep generally takes a lot of my time. My machinery can get to be quite large. You will not see most of it. We aren’t going down far.” Doc selected B1, making Grian question why they were even taking the elevator if they were only going down one floor, but after a particularly long ride, he got some idea.

Basement Floor 1 was massive and sprawling and dark. Grian had better eyesight than most, even at night, but the only parts of the ceiling he could see were spots of reflective metal and small pools of light that bounced off stalactites.

“Do- do those ever fall?” Grian asked, eyes wide at the ceiling, and Doc stopped, turning in a slow swivel so Grian could see his entire upper half.

“Yes.” He flexed the fingers on his mechanical arm, glowing red eye boring into Grian, “It is a good thing The Hivemind is smart. And quick. Though, after the second incident, we hope to have fixed the problem. On the other floors. My workstation remains as it is.”

“You- You can’t just knock them all down?”

“I can. But I believe that if God wishes for me to be struck down, then she should have the means to do so herself. She’s gotten a couple good shots in,” Doc narrowed his physical eye, and Grian was pretty sure there was humor there, “but she knows I am above her power. So instead we will continue to feud, and I will continue to break her precious world. And if one day I die, then I would have it to be no other way than by her hand.”

“If-?”

Doc only laughed, continuing to walk down the corridor. Grian was forced to follow lest he be left behind.

It occurred too late to Grian that he probably shouldn’t be surprised Doc was leading him to see Scar’s legs. Regardless, Doc was amused, chuckling when Grian took a sharp breath.

“I wanted him to come and get them. With or without you. Worked all night on the programming with The Hivemind, though, turns out that wasn’t necessary. You two are slow. HotGuy isn’t even here.”

Grian cast a nervous look at Scar’s legs, laid flat on a desk next to a large monitor. The workspace had the feel of an organized mess, all the clutter making it difficult to tell what exactly Doc had done. Well, if he was programming something, Grian wouldn’t be able to see it anyway. Were- were the legs even programmable? How would that work?

“What did you do to them?” Grian finally said, feeling incredibly daft at the note of worry he failed to suppress.

Doc snorted. “Nothing. I did make a mechanical waist though,” he hummed, shaking his head, “Well, that’s not true, I’ve had the actual machine bit made for a while now, I just did most of the other stuff last night. It’s been some time since I’ve gotten a look at these, and the technology has advanced significantly since then. At least my tech has; imagine my surprise when I see his useless government agency has hardly updated his prosthetics at all! If it’s not broke don’t fix it I suppose, but these are certainly broke. I’ll make sure to get started on a prototype for an update soon, yeesh. Regardless, after digging through my old blueprints, it wasn’t hard to hook everything up to a little remote control. Oh, his face will be priceless. His own legs greeting him at the door and kicking his ass?” Doc laughed, missing Grian’s open mouth gaping, “Unfortunately balance is still an issue, I obviously didn’t have time to work out all the kinks, but I’m just here to mess with him, it’ll be serviceable for-“

“Wait- Wait-“ Doc did not look happy about being interrupted, fixing Grian with a glare that stopped him directly in his tracks.

“Go on.”

“You made his prosthetics? His legs?”

“Obviously. Who else would have made them? Have you seen the typical modern-day prosthetic? They’re nothing like mine, borderline barbaric. Of course, mine are quite expensive, and people don’t just go and commission a guy like me over the table. HotGuy’s parents must love their son very much, though, they threw a whole tissy when I told them I’d need to visit him in the hospital. Idiots. As if I would trust anyone other than myself to collect the measurements I needed. They made me arrive under a sheet-“ Doc cut himself off with a groan, “The things I put up with sometimes. HotGuy’s lucky it was an interesting project. Human legs are very different from my own, so I wouldn’t be messing with them without an excuse. Of course, he grew up to be a fucking pain in the ass, didn’t he. Could have done a better job just raising the kid myself.” Grian had so many questions, but Doc hardly even stopped to breathe when he spoke, and Grian wasn’t about to interrupt a second time.

“Fuck, if they haven’t updated the legs, they probably haven’t touched his back either. Did you know that? His lower back was completely shattered- now that was an interesting project. Idiots, seriously, commissioning me to make their son legs when he’d never be able to use them. I ended up doing a lot of work on that boy, and not one thank you. Not from him all these years later or his useless family. He’d still be in that hospital bed without me, I know it. I bet if they’d let me have my way with him he would have been walking in under a year. But no, no, I was only on the project for two years, and I believe it lasted five? Six? Those idiots made me sign an NDA and everything!” Doc barked a hard laugh, “What are they going to do? Take me to court? Arrest me? Stupid. Amusing in hindsight, but they were insufferable.”

“I- okay. I mean, it’s not like this is common knowledge or anything. I feel like I would have seen this somewhere by now if the public knew you made all his prosthetics.”

“Oh no, the information isn’t public. I’d rather peel off my skin than be associated with that lot, and I’m sure HotGuy’s managers feel similarly about me. There’s a reason his prosthetics are so outdated- look, feel this. The movement at the joints is awful!” Doc took Grian’s hand, uncaring for his own strength as he yanked Grian forward to touch (something that felt deeply invasive toward Scar, though, it wasn’t like Grian had a choice) as Doc bent the knee. Grian had no idea what he was supposed to be feeling here, but Doc must have mistaken his discomfort for agreement because he let go right after.

Grian cleared his throat, rubbing his wrist, “And you think HotGuy knows?”

“Knows what?”

“That you made his prosthetics. I’m just curious, I mean.. He’s never mentioned it- not that we’re close or anything. It just feels like something that might have come up before to uh- well I don’t know if dating is the right word, but he and my roommate have something going on-“

Doc rolled his eyes with a huff, “Of course HotGuy knows! He’s just conceited like the rest of his family- his workforce for that matter. God forbid the public know how blurry the lines between ‘hero’ and ‘villain’ actually are. The only actual reason I’ve got the government breathing down my neck is due to the IRS- no, I will not be paying ridiculous sums to DC just for the money to be wasted on international affairs the States have no business sticking their nose into anyway. I only immigrated for the, quite frankly, insane lack of weapons regulation. You can do whatever the fuck you want in America. Regardless, I’d do better to put that money into the community myself.”

“Do you?”

“Not locally, I have a reputation to uphold and I like this shithole the way it is. Occasionally if I see something that really pisses me off I’ll pour some money into it.” Doc scowled, like the thought of doing any good at all was deeply unappealing, “For the most part though, I only keep tabs on the world as it pertains to me. I care very little for pettiness.”

Grian snorted. “Is using HotGuy’s own prosthetics to kick his ass because he never said ‘thank you,’ not petty?”

“For personal matters, I indulge. Most of the time however, I am far too busy for nonsense such as this. Speaking of, I have work to do, so I am going to hold you for ransom to speed this up. Do you have a problem with that?”

“If I comply, do I get a share of the cash?”

“You can take whatever you want. I just want HotGuy here.”

Grian’s wings fluttered, his mind already moving miles a minute, “Do you need a picture? Oh please, let’s take pictures. Something fun, ambiguous- I really want to mess with him.”

“Can I not just take a picture of you right here. Maybe try to look at least mildly unhappy, I’d like if HotGuy had a reason to be prompt.”

“Oh he’ll be prompt- do you have a tripod or something? We don’t need one obviously, I just feel like you’d be the type of guy to have something like that on hand. Do you? How do you feel about the lightest of the light kind of suggestive pictures? I think it would be funny. Ambiguously suggestive. Honestly, I just kinda feel like you’d be a fun person to pose with, y’know? I have a vision. Just saying, if you really want to fuck with HotGuy, this would go crazy. Your fans would go NUTS. Do you know about your fans? I saw some things while doing research.”

Doc snorted, ears flicking in what Grian was pretty sure was amusement, “You remind me of a man I knew long ago,” he sighed, sounding dangerously wistful. His eyes shone as he raised a shaking fist to the ceiling.

“You don’t have to divulge-“ Grian started in great alarm, but there was no stopping the rapidly approaching trauma exposition hurdling his way.

“Ren was a brilliant man. Awkward, but damn clever, an incredibly talented engineer with ideas to rival my own. Struck down too soon, too soon. Sometimes I wonder if that stalactite was meant for me, or if it was meant as a punishment greater than death. She knew I would try to bring him back, friend. She knew he would come back wrong.”

“This seems really personal-“

“A hippie.” Doc growled, and Grian got the sense this train was not slowing down any time soon. Might as well settle in.

[maskedmenmakemeferal]

New neighbor(Konigs version)

Konig watched you.

Every movement,every footstep,every breath.

His eyes watched you.

In his mind,you were his.

His cute,little,civilian neighbor.

He had retired from the military a few months back and had moved into a small neighborhood. You were the first one to introduce yourself and make him feel safe.

He towered over you,but you weren’t terrified of him.

Anytime you smile,his heart feels like it’s going to burst.

He knew then and there,you were his to protect.

So,whenever you invited him over for dinner to check up on him,he had to calm himself.

You open the door,wearing something very nice and pretty and he felt all of his blood rush to his cock.

“Hi Konig.” You let him in.

“Hello.” He nods,not wanting to say more due to his raging hard on.

“Dinners almost ready.” You smile.

He felt like he was going to break. That smile,that pretty face,the women who’s been in his dreams for months.

“C-can I go freshen up in your bathroom?” He asks,praying you can’t see his bulge.

“Of course.” You lead him to the bathroom.

He thanks you and steps inside,making quick work of his belt once he knows your back downstairs.

He bites his mask as he jerks off,keeping his moans to a minimum. His hand isn’t working though,knowing that you’re downstairs,so close. He accepts defeat,putting back on his pants and washing his hands.

He walks back downstairs to find two beautifully crafted plates. He sits at the table.

“Thank you.” He smiled under his mask.

“No problem,Konig.” You down and start eating.

The dinner was filled with a sweet conversation as you eat the amazing meal you created.

You smile at him,and he’s about to hit his breaking point.

“Konig?” You look at him expecting.

“Hm? Sorry.” Konig snaps out of the trance.

“Are you feeling okay?” You gently grab his hand.

He nods. “Yeah,I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

“Okay,good.” You smile.

He snaps at that,his breath getting heavy and his face is flushed. He grabs your hands,looking at

you pleadingly. “Liebling,please.”

“Please what?” You say innocently.

“I need you.” And he did. A deep,carnal need that oozed into every crevice of his being.

“Where do you need me?” You get up.

“Let me fuck you,Liebling.” You’re a bit taken back at first,but take the challenge,straddling his lap. His hands go to your hips,squeezing the delectable bit of fat there.

You lift his mask,thankfully to see his face. He has a lewd look on his face,pupils blown in lust.

You kiss him,a hungry all consuming kiss like you were trying to take his very essence into you.

“Let’s get this dress off,yes?” He smiles and reaches for the zipper. He unzips it,letting the shiny material pool inbetween you two. He makes quick work of it,tossing it to the side.

You kiss him,unlatching your bra and tossing it to the side. His large hand slides inbetween your lush thighs,thick fingers touching you over your lace panties.

You let out a high pitched moan,hips rolling for more friction.

“Be a good girl,Liebling,and let me prep you.”

“You don’t have to,Ko.”

“No,Liebling,I really do.” He tares the fabric of the lace,throwing them with the rest of the clothes.

“Oh so wet.” He smiles,observing your pussy. His fingers slowly pump in and out of you,at first it was only one,but soon it was three. You moan,grinding into his hand.

“Hng,fuck!” You toss your head back as a unholy moan leaves you.

He smiles when you come onto his hand. “Good fucking girl,Liebling.” He unbuckles his belt and pulls down his pants,showing his bulge.

You reach out,raking your nails down his abs to his underwear and sliding it off.

“Oh my god,how is it so big?” You look up at him,wide eyed.

“You flatter me.” He smiles. “Now,take it like the good girl you are.” You sink onto him,moaning at the adjustment to his size.

“Holy fuck,your cunts so fucking tight,Liebling.”

He helps you ride him,his hands providing a comfortable coolness to your hips.

You lean forward and bite his shoulder,not enough to draw blood,but enough to sting.

He takes your face with his free hand and kisses you,sloppy and sensual.

You moan into the kiss as his dick stroked your clit,loving the feeling.

After a few amazing moments,the coil in your stomach snaps and you cum,your walls spasming. He comes too,his cum filling you too the brim.

He smiles hazily up at you.

“That was amazing,Libling.”

You’re too fucked out to formulate a response,so you nod and nuzzle into his chest.

“Mhm.” You murmer against his warm skin. “Amazing.”

(Old writing,so kinda shitty ,I’m sorry)

[armadillos-and-dragons]

Hello Lizzie. Would you like to talk about your ocs, particularly puppetsverse?

Okokok so:

(You’ve awakened the beast, I never shut up about my ocs lol) (sat down to write a brief preview and ended up with 2 thousand words) (warning: some parts are very rough)

So, one day, four teens awaken tied together in a room containing nothing but a door, painted beige to match the rest of the room. Eventually, they manage to get out of their bounds and find the key to the locked door (don’t ask me how: some puzzle or something I’m not quite sure). Turns out they work pretty damn well together.

On the other side, they find a combined living room and kitchen with a hallway that leads to four separate bedrooms (two to the left, two to the right) and a locked door at the end. The door looks to be a front door, but it’s impossible to tell since it won’t open. There are no windows in any room.

The teens exchange a look as they realize that this place must be another puzzle. But, before they can start discussing their strategy, a loud ping sounds from the living room. There, on the TV, reads a message:

Thus starts the team’s first mission: (insert mission here) (something with going out to fight someone I think) (the front door unlocks and then they go outside and their mission awaits) (also superhero suits or something)

One mission turns into two, two turns into a dozen, and suddenly months have gone by and the team knows very little about who is sending them on these missions or why they are fighting. However, they without fail, every time the TV goes off, they suit up and head out the door. They try to resist, but it’s the only time they get to leave the house and cabin fever is killing them. And the second they finish fighting whatever monster lays on the other side or saving whatever innocent civilian needs it they all pass out and wake up the next morning back in their new beds.

During a fight on a particularly stormy day, one teen tries to escape. But, before he’s gotten 20 feet, he’s out cold. The rest of the team is too overwhelmed with fighting to try and help him, and he lies there the entire fight. Afterwards, he wakes up with everyone else like normal.

They don’t spend all their time doing missions, however. At some point a training gym shows up in their house. There are also tons of board games, craft supplies, books, video games, and anything else the teens could want. They are never bored. The fridge is always full. If someone mentions they want anything, be it food, entertainment, or comfort items, it appears somewhere in the house after the next mission.

Even the missions aren’t too bad. No matter how dangerous the threat seems to be, nobody has yet to get more than a few scratches or maybe a bruise. The team works well together. They win every time, no matter the odds.

If you ignore the fact that they are trapped in a place without windows, only allowed outside to fight, and aren’t allowed any way to contact the outside world, the team is living pretty nice. But of course they are constantly planning an escape. However, every time they try, they end up thwarted. It’s scary how perfectly they’re stopped every time. It’s almost as if someone is always listening. They quickly figure out that they must be bugged, but even the quietest conversations seem to get picked up. There is no privacy in this place.

Let’s meet the team!!

But first! One of them is hiding something. Can you guess who (I’m curious. Also, give your reasonings)?

Alex (she/her), 19, lesbian:

Alex has been an actress for as long as she remembers. Alex is actually the main character of another of my stories, “the before” (stand in title. It’s called that ‘cause it happens before “Puppets”). Alex doesn’t let anybody in. Nobody knows the real her. Honestly, even Alex feels like she’ll never know the real her. Her real personality has gotten so tangled with her celebrity persona that she doesn’t know where one ends and the other starts. And just when she’d gotten casted with in her next big role, and her team had managed to convince her co-star to stage a romance to mirror their big-screen one, she’s shoved into this fucking situation. Her career is all she has at this point and this is going to ruin it. She has worked for this all her life. There is nothing she hasn’t sacrificed to get where she is and she needs to get the fuck out of here or it will all go down the fucking drain. (I do have more info about her if you’re curious. The tag is #alex oc. This bio is short because I’ve been writing about her for months lol)

Quick facts:

*She loves musicals. Her favorites are Hamilton and Heathers at the moment.

*Most of her acting jobs have been horror movies/shows

*When she was younger, Alex always wanted to be on Broadway. This was never an option for her, however, since her parents didn’t have her trained in live performance or vocally, and a pivot could ruin the reputation they were building for her.

*She has trouble trusting people, especially friends. She’s only ever had one close friendship, and that didn’t end well. (see “the before”, which I’m currently editing and plan on posting some day, or #the before or #alex+seb)

Azklynn (she/her at beginning of story, they/them at the end) 19 (for the case of simplicity, they age the same as a human would), agender, unlabeled:

Azklynn is… terrified, honestly. This is their first time on Earth and, well, it’s looking like it might be their last. They’re not exactly sure how long it’s been but the shuttle that would return them home has surely gone by now. Azklynn has no idea where they’re going to go when, or if, they get out of here. At this point, they’ve lost all interest in getting out of here, but they’re trying to care because everyone else has entire lives that they need to get back to.

Azklynn had been waiting for years to come to Earth. They’d been studying its cultures since the third year of the school. In the fifth year of the school, they’d gotten a chance to take an Earthean language class and had picked English because their friend was taking it. They worked their buttocks off to be good enough at English to join the school trip to Earth in the fifteenth year of the school. But now, the month-long trip they’d spent years preparing for has turned into a real life nightmare. Everything here is so new, so different, and as much as they are enjoying it, someone from their species is not allowed to stay on Earth forever.

Additional character stuff: Human gender is weird. The idea that humans introduce themselves based on their genitals has always been a concept that is hard to grasp for Azklynn. Their species has four different sexes, although they are not always distinct as humans’ seem to be (obviously humans don’t always fit into distinct sexes, but Azklynn thinks they do (they weren’t taught about intersex people in their Earthean classes)). And the idea that your genitals determine your place in the societal structure is absurd. Of course, Azklynn’s culture isn’t perfect by any means, and they find other reasons to think less of others, but seriously.

When they mentioned these thoughts to Holly, she told Azklynn that some people were neither, and that they were called “they”. Azklynn knew Jade was called “they,” “he,” and “she,” so it made sense that some people were just “they.” Really, it makes more sense. Azklynn has sometimes wondered about being called “they.” Maybe it makes more sense than “she,” since this whole human idea of gender is completely crazy. But, this option is new information, so Azklynn will have to think about it.

Quick facts:

*Azklynn also hates the idea of sexuality labels as a concept. They think they needlessly limit people.

*Thanks to Alex, Azklynn has been getting into musicals, too. They really like The Sound of Music because they used to listen to it in English class, so it reminds them of home.

*Azklynn has always been fascinated by human culture, but they are especially entranced by the entertainment industry, since in their culture, time spent not working is seen as time wasted, so there is nothing like it back home.

*Because of this, they never quite get used to having days on end with no work to do.

*Azklynn’s Earthean classes were put together in the 80s’, so some things are a bit outdated.

Jade (they/he/she), 18, genderqueer, pansexual, gray-aromantic: Jade was about two months away from graduating high school when they were kidnapped. They were ready to leave their shitty small town, the friends they never really got along with, and the helicopter parents they were almost free from.

She had been planning to move across the country to study (I’m not exactly sure what actually) at (some college on the west coast USA). But, seeing as she has no idea how long she’s been trapped in this hellscape, she might have missed her one chance to escape her small town.

He’d been able to get a full ride scholarship, since his parents–who could very much afford it, by the way–were not willing to help cover any costs unless he went to the college in their hometown. Um, not happening. Not in a million years. But, he can feel the time running out as the days turn into weeks turn into months? Jade isn’t exactly sure. Time is weird here, but no one else seems to notice.

See, Jade isn’t fully human. Her mother’s mother–her grandmother–was actually a fairy. Jade’s mom has always despised that she’s part fairy. She hates anything that is outside the norm. Including Jade, it sometimes seems.

Jade had never really known their grandma, since she died when they were fairly young, but their grandpa loved to talk about her. He was fascinated with fairies and their magic. He passed that fascination down to his grandchild. Unfortunately, with their grandma unable to teach them and their mom unwilling to, they never learned how to actually wield their magic.

Still, sometimes, Jade notices things no one else does. Sometimes it’s little things–like the one time he caught the stormy sky flicker into a bright blue hue mid-fight. He had, of course, run for it, desperate for freedom. Then… nothing. Sometimes, he notices big things. Like how, when they wake up after missions, he swears they were out for longer than the few hours everyone assumes they were. Or, the weird, magical vibe he knows is coming from one of the bedrooms. Someone is hiding something, and Jade is going to figure out who it is. Hopefully without alerting anyone else to his search.

Quick facts:

*Jade has always hated Alex. They find her cheesy and think all her relationships were obviously faked. Needless to say, they’re not happy to be living with a girl that they deem spoiled and fake. (Jade also hates musicals, which doesn’t help Alex’s case) (dw, they become friends eventually)

*Jade had an older sister. When she was 17, she snuck out and ended up getting hit by a drunk driver in the middle of the night. Since then, Jade’s parents have been extra protective of Jade, who was 12 at the time. This has really strained their relationship with him.

*Despite her fairy heritage, Jade’s aesthetic leans more witchy. Her closet is mostly purples and other cool tones. However, she’ll never miss a chance to snatch some bold earrings or patches.

Holly (she/her), 18:

Holly loves everyone. Well, maybe not everyone, but it’s pretty hard to get Holly to dislike you. And even harder to get her to let you know.

Holly is the glue that holds the group together. She is a self-proclaimed meddler. When Alex and Jade argue about one thing or another, calling each other stuck-up or lazy, she’s there to mediate. When Azklynn wonders aloud why humans even have gender, Holly gently tells her that she doesn’t have to be a girl. When she notices Alex sneaking glances at Azklynn, she’s right there, encouraging her to go for it. And when she spies Azklynn staring at Alex while she eats… well, Holly always did love a good romance.

And she loves her friends. She’s never really had many, and despite everything, she’s really enjoying finally having a group. They have to rely on each other. There is no other way to survive at this point. Leaving people out isn’t an option. It’s new for Holly

Holly still struggles with letting the others in, though. She’s had a lot of problems with friends in the past. Growing up, she was the weirdo. The outcast. All she’s ever wanted was a good, solid group of peers to care about her. And now she has that. And she hates that she has to feel guilty for finally having that.

Quick facts:

*Holly grew up in a very small, secluded community. When they were very young, the kids in her community pinned Holly as the weird kid and she was never really included after that.

*Growing up, Holly would have said her best friend was comic books. No matter where she was, she always had a superhero comic tucked under her arm or in her bag. When she wasn’t reading, she was imagining fighting bad guys with her own superhero team

*Holly likes to focus on other people’s problems to avoid her own. That’s part of why reading appealed to her so much. It’s also why she has such a hard time letting people in.

Ummm hope you enjoyed my little ramble, I’d be happy to answer any more questions you have of them.

[dreamerarchives]

MAHOU DIARIES: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A REAL MAGICAL GIRL.

NOTES 。this is NOT a roleplaying account, nor is this a form of delusion. the owner of this account is a practitioner of witchcraft, and IRL magical girls fall under the chaos magic and pop culture magic aspect of witchcraft.

hello, everyone. this post will basically be a quick and realistic run-through of what it is like to become a magical girl in the real world, which i remind you is specifically told through my own perspective because every other magical hero is different. also, today is the day i celebrate being an active magical hero for at least three months!

i havent been posting a lot because of life, but im still here. :]

being a magical girl does sound appealing because it is shown to be full of sparkles and happiness, but not everyone lives in that type of life, even in the world of magical heroes. it's not an easy task because that means you would have other things to deal with aside from your civilian activities.

outside of my life as a magical hero, im a student who does their best in their academics and extracurriculars, paired with the responsibility of being a committee officer at my educational institution.

this means, i have a bunch of things that i must attend to even in the mundane world; school life and participating in contests, my social life, family life, and other things. im just like any other person as well, especially if i exclude the fact that im also a practitioner of witchcraft.

usually, i simply go to school and live life as any other normal human being would—im a closeted witch, and moreso, a closeted magical girl off-screen. but that doesnt mean my duties do not intersect with each other, and actually, there have been plenty of circumstances where ive patrolled on school grounds.

★

MORNINGS.

i tend to wake up early to prepare for school if it's a weekday, and then decide if id like to patrol for the day or no. not much to do on the magical aspect of my life, aside from basic everyday crafts such as enchanting my school items or weaving my magic for good luck and convenience.

AFTERNOONS.

after school, i either head straight home or go on the pre-planned patrol. whenever i do patrol, it's only one to three times per week. i have created patrol routes around my school area, as well as two different prepared paths on the way home.

i walk around until i find a spot where i believe it would contain negative energy via clairsenses. and i do a quick check by poking into the energy until my clairvoyance would provide me a visual representation of its energy, i sort of attempt to "monitor" it to see if it is an apparition entity or if it's normal negativity, and i bring along my familiar sometimes to double check for me!

id take images of the spots i find to capture its energy (as it can be sensed through photos too based on my experiences and interactions with other witches) and observe it when i get home to see if what ive sensed is consistent enough. i will note down the seal that i receive through clairvoyance which will serve as my anchor to an apparition's boundary.

most of the time, id ask my friends who are magical heroes through our group server, and other witches from a separate witchcraft friend group server, if they could sense anything as well—this is also to make sure that im not the only one who is experiencing it.

i usually dont fight these apparition entities on the same day because of mundane life, unless it is an emergency or if i feel like i have mustered enough energy to do so.

on days where i do not go on patrols, i just enjoy my after-school hours as if i were a normal student like everyone else, and sometimes id have my familiar hop on my shoulder or sit on the top of my head while we talk through clairaudience. i sometimes have the habit of buying snacks or offerings for my deities during this time.

NIGHT.

during evenings, i make sure that i have completed and done any of my schoolwork before i proceed to converse with my friends or participate in magical things. i tend to spend my nights in a way thats chill unless theres a deadline thats looming up ahead, or if i finally decided to face an apparition in the astral.

before i sleep, i make it a habit to visit the astral realm to work at my astral observatory and research area. i spend time there until i feel drowsy enough or until i accidentally fall asleep—if not my observatory, then other places in the astral where i feel at peace in and spend time with some entities that i know of, until i drift off to my dreams.

it really depends on the schedule but this is what it's like on most days as a magical girl. i do study magic occasionally if i feel the need or want to, and then share my findings with my friends who are also magical heroes (and are in magimetro!).

at this point, i think i have gotten used to my schedule that i dont question it anymore, i think of it as a part of my normal life now. if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask and ill do my best to answer them!

[cuckoo-on-a-string]

The Moon's Lies

Summary: Kylo Ren x named!Reader. It was never going to be black or white, Light or Dark, friend or foe. Who wouldn't let the galaxy burn to keep their loved ones safe?

Warnings: 18+, Murder/"execution," graphic violence, unspoken threat of bodily harm, twisted morals, Kylo Ren being himself

Masterlist

Canon Divergence Notes: There is no Rey. Finn is the destined Jedi, and he leaves the scar on Ren’s face during the climactic fight on Starkiller Base. The only original canon kept after TFA is the destined Jedi (Finn) leaving to find Luke and Snoke pushing Kylo Ren to the breaking point, continuing the student-kills-the-master cycle. Summary: No Rey. Finn is training to be a Jedi. Kylo Ren takes the throne from Snoke.

This chapter is the only pre-TFA part of the story. Everything after that is in the AU as described.

A/N: Holy shit, I'm having so much fun with this. You all have no idea (but you will soon). Out here crafting whole-ass mythologies and cultures for this shit. Literally forgot to post this first chapter because I'm neck-deep in the next. Please, please, please do comment! I post for interactions with friends new and old. Otherwise I'd hoard all my embarrassing stories like the grouchy old dragon I really am.

1.

He needed to maul something.

His lightsaber practically vibrated on his belt, answering the pull of itching hands as Kylo Ren stormed into the planet-side depot. Civilians scattered from their orderly lines in front of the First Order’s regional bureaucratic office, startled like so many kaadus. The system had so little to offer, the Order couldn’t even justify a separate complex for the port authority and notary.

A shabby little base on a barren little world. If he could, he’d sink his saber to the planet’s core and kill it all in one, fell stroke.

What a waste of his time.

The rebel insurgent had nothing. They hunted him to the edge of the First Order’s territory only to discover a dead end whose handful of contacts met the heat of Kylo’s blade long ago. They’d missed something. He’d missed something. Instead of fresh leads into the Resistance’s plans, he would leave empty handed. This detour took weeks, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that their enemies were planning something. But in the end, the only thing the dead Rodian had been good at was hiding. Any trooper could’ve shot the scum and been done with it. No need for the Knights of Ren.

He looked like a fool.

Rage tipped over the edge of reason, flooding logic, and plans, and anything but the dark urge to destroy.

He marched through the door, well ahead of his knights. The stormtroopers were nearly as eager to avoid his wrath as the civilians, and he burst into an empty hall. The faintest conversation reached him, a hum of living Force further inside. He followed it. Down the hall. Around the corner. Gathering fuel to further spark his hate for this place and all the people in it as he approached.

A crisp, core world accent he had no doubt belonged to an officer carried farthest.

“I’m afraid it just won’t do. If you want clearance to leave for Gan Moradir, I’ll need those credits in my hand. Today.”

“You already have them.”

The second voice almost surprised Ren. He could barely feel the speaker’s signature, and he rested his hand on his saber, ready for a battle. No one unskilled in the Force could veil themselves like that.

From the sound of things, he had two valid targets to suffer for his humiliation. With new focus, he prepared to take the last corner, the heat in his blood ready to burn through the traitors and fools ahead.

Just out of sight, the officer tsked. “Not enough, I’m afraid.”

“Do you plan on demanding more every time we visit your system?”

“I could.”

“I’m afraid that will be very bad for trade.”

Ren saw the pair before they saw him. A First Order corporal with his hands clasped behind his back and a sneer on his face stood opposite a civilian girl, both oblivious to their approaching doom.

“Corporal.”

The man practically jumped out of his uniform, eyes bugging wide. The girl barely even flinched, following the officer’s panicked gaze with guarded curiosity. Ren would deal with her after he thinned the ranks. It was important to cut out rot before it spread, after all.

“Lord Ren!” The officer’s voice wavered, nearly breaking like a teenager’s as he took two steps away from the civilian and bowed to his superior. “My apologies. We’d heard your knights may be in the system, but we had no idea you’d actually –”

“What is the First Order’s standing on bribery?” He asked like he didn’t know simply so the criminal would recite his own conviction. Let him know how he’d failed. Let the fear string out his last moment.

The corporal’s mind couldn’t keep pace with his spiking adrenaline. He shifted, eyes darting for an escape, an excuse, as he tried to drag an explanation through his dry mouth.

“Well, I…”

Ren had no mercy. And no patience. His hand clenched over his blade’s hilt, and he imagined he could already feel the subtle vibration as it came to life to end another’s.

“Well?”

The corporal swallowed, and Ren watched the confidence roll away down the man’s throat.

“Soliciting or accepting bribes in any form, be it credits or goods, is a class three offense, sir.” He spoke clearly. Responding to a clear order with clear rules he would’ve learned by rote in training. He knew the consequences for disguising this theft behind the First Order’s banner, and now Ren would reveal a new part of the corporal. Blood. Bone. The messy things he wrapped out of sight beneath his skin.

Ren hummed. A mockery of consideration as he swayed nearer, forcing the smaller man to stare up at a painful angle. Decapitation was too neat for such a selfish little traitor. Maybe he’d sheer away half the man’s chest. Or leave him in a dozen pieces for his command to discover.

“I see.” He stalked forward another step, savoring the building dread like a cool wind beneath his mask. “And what is the punishment for class three offenses?”

The officer’s lingering hopes to put off his superior with a lie – Blame the girl, his mind screamed – finally crumbled. The dread Force-wielder had caught him. He knew enough to damn him. He’d been judged. He’d been sentenced. Only one step remained. Kylo Ren loomed, a Loth cat playing with vermin caught raiding the larder, and his uniform was an invitation to deal justice, not the shield the corporal once believed. He backpedaled, nearly foaming at the mouth as he spluttered a final plea for mercy.

“Lord Ren, please! I merely –!”

Red light and a crackling hum cut him off.

Ren speared the traitor through the belly, letting the fool totter backwards, wheezing for a breath that would never come. The corrupt officer groped over his exposed diaphragm as he tumbled to the floor, and his head met the polished floor with a crack as he continued pointlessly gasping.

It wouldn’t be a quick death.

Satisfied, Ren looked at the second actor in this little scene. She’d barely flinched when he struck down the corporal, but her attention remained fixed on the dying criminal. Ren waited for the inevitable wave of panic, ready to toy with a fresh target, but the life ending at her feet held her gaze. Something about her blunted his senses, and he struggled to pry into her mind beyond what she projected: caution and studied calm.

Maybe it was shock. Or maybe she needed reminding of her own mortality.

Ren cut off the corporal’s death rattle with a stroke of his saber, and as the head rolled across the hall, the girl finally looked up to meet his gaze. He glowered back through his visor, itching for her reaction.

She bowed. Maintaining the poise of a diplomat who hadn’t just witnessed a brutal execution, she dipped at the knees, dropping her eyes in polite deference before rising to meet him all over again. Still as a lake.

His lightsaber hissed, twisting in his grip. He pointed it under her chin, demanding she answer every question he hadn’t asked.

“You.” He didn’t bother with the show he’d put on for the corporal. Her careful placidity irritated him, and it felt like her very presence muted his senses when he hunted for her fear.

He looked again, noting the grey stone pendant and loops of beads she wore. A memory teased the edge of his lingering rage, dragging his focus away from his quest for bloodshed. He’d seen that material before. He recognized the numbing sensation in the Force from a failed project to build better restraints for Force sensitive prisoners. “What is that?”

Her fingers rose to the pendant, brushing over an unfamiliar pattern of engraved stars.

“It’s Selenubis, sir.” She paused, flicking her gaze over his mask like she might find a clue to his expression. When he didn’t answer, she pushed ahead. “A traditional protection charm from Lethe. If it’s offensive to the First Order I can come again with out it…?”

Behind his mask, he ground his teeth, clawing against the foggy wall so few of her thoughts penetrated. Selenubis proved useless to the First Order when it became clear the stone did as much to shield a prisoner from other Force users as it did to shackle the target.

She wanted to return without her shield? She wouldn’t leave with it. He’d hack it off her neck, and if he didn’t like what he found in her head, she wouldn’t leave with that, either.

His flickering saber reflected in her eyes as he angled it up, forcing her to expose her throat as red lightning reflected in bottomless reservoirs of control. He didn’t believe for a second she was ignorant of the power in her little trinkets and beads.

Just as he prepared to cleave through her jewelry – and likely leave a deep burn to remember him by – one of his knights burst into the hall.

“Commander. The Supreme Leader requests your presence. Immediately, sir.”

His foiled rage rebounded, arcing like a current through his bones and burning him with his own intent as he growled in frustration. The sound hissed through his modulator.

This would have to wait.

Deactivating his saber, he stepped back, pivoted on his heel, and marched back the way he came. He would have to relive his humiliation at his master’s feet, and there was no time to vent his frustrations.

He left no orders in his rush to answer his master’s summons. No one held the girl or even took special note of her name and business as he knelt before Snoke’s projected image, and by the time he returned to the hall, she was gone.

The documentation the dead corporal had been withholding, a pile on the floor by his headless corpse, had gone with her.

[carionto]

Overwhelming presence

Monitoring space is a complicated task due to the literal cosmic scale of the undertaking. However, security is paramount, all species learn this in their own histories, thus technology and methods to effectively keep track of most relevant objects in space has been thoroughly developed.

The (relatively) simplest and most commonly used is the Quantum Web - a series of micro-satellites dotted around a star system, each maintain a large field of quantum-entangled particles and relay any changes within it in real time to all associated monitoring stations. The primary method is by detecting changes in energy levels, as simple physical displacement often clutters the feed with random asteroids and debris, or other objects of non-sapient origin.

As the United Federation and the Galactic Coalition are in a bit of a... tense stage in their relationship at the moment, the bordering Neutral Zone is heavily monitored by Federation agents, especially all systems close to where they have deployed their Battle Moon.

One day, a Federation monitor was returning from a short break to notice something off about the readout. There were many big bright white dots moving quickly within the Neutral Zone. They had never seen anything like that before. Normally all readings are color coded based on known ship or station designs and typical power outputs throughout said vessel.

The flow of energy throughout a vessel is sort of a fingerprint in a way. If you zoom in on the readout, and if the Quantum Web field is saturated enough, you can sometimes make out individual power generators and consumers.

This was something else. Going closer just made the whole projection go white, as if the thing was hundreds of kilometers in every direction, but that couldn't be. First, even the Battle Moon doesn't produce an image like that and it is literally a 340km large moon. And second, these dots - spheres more accurately - seem to overlap constantly. Logically, this must be an error of some kind.

What was not logical is when those bright lights came up to relative physical viewing distance of the hidden monitoring station. Letting curiosity get the better of them, the Federation agent pointed a telescope where this "error" should be.

There was nothing there. Just an error then. Feeling relieved even though they didn't think they were nervous to begin with, they set about filing a report on the situation and requesting maintenance support. As they were about to finalize all necessary paperwork, an open channel hail pinged them.

"Hey there, is anyone out here? We, uhh, messed up and wiped our navcom, so we're kinda lost here. Could someone please send over a copy of the local system chart? We'd be real grateful if you also didn't tell our parents about this, okay? Like, we can trade for something, like Mick's fancy guitar" "Hey!" "What? You don't play, your dad just gave it to you cuz you randomly said you wanted one while high."

Taking a quick glance at the projector and comm-observer, the agent stopped. The messages were coming from those bright lights. Rushing back to the telescope, they quickly zeroed in on their location and found three small apparently custom built space craft of unknown design.

As the trio of ships kept sending out random conversations among the clearly young civilians on board, the agent maintained total silence. Not long after, a Coalition military scout craft appeared on the projector in the expected yellow energy pattern, confirming that the Quantum Web was functioning without fault.

Throughout the ensuing conversation and reprimand, they learned that the three ships belonged to Humans, a species very recently integrated into the Coalition. Little investigation had been done on them so far, mainly as they are quite far away and only reside within a single system.

So the question stands - what kind of energy signature would produce such a massive bright light? it couldn't be a ruse. You can't "trick" a quantum-entangled particle. Maybe... There are ancient anecdotes of true fusion reactors - miniature stars - but no, nobody utilizes that, it's far too dangerous and difficult just to contain let alone exploit.

No one in their right mind would use literal stars right next to them. Right?

[zenshigarakilover]

🙌 isekaied into captain hero afo au!!! Please share some ideas if you want!

yes, I have some! gonna be messy as I'm still thinking through a lot of things but here we go.

for people who don't know the premise of this au is that after afo dies in canon he gets isekaied into the captain hero comic universe and wakes up as captain hero. he's forced to be a good hero and he's unable to do any evil deeds. even if he tries they somehow always turn out to be good in the end.

anyways I like to this au as it's afo at his most miserable. his attitude is mainly like why couldn't whatever power out there that forced him here just have let him just die? why force him through this humiliating tirade? theres praise from civilians which he finds sorta nice, but then he's reminded of how captain hero will suffer a humiliating defeat by the demon king and all the pain and strife he has to go through until he defeats him once and for all. pain and strife that afo will be forced to go through and he's going to have to defeat the guy he's admired and wanted to be like since he was a kid. he thinks he should've been made the demon king in this world, he's so upset about this more than anything he's forced to fight the demon king not to take his spot but only to stop him from doing more evil. the demon king would be so confused as to why the hero is always complimenting his work lol.

but I think it would be an interesting way to explore the man beneath the villain persona. we all know afo has made his whole identity about being villain, to the point where he only goes by afo and nothing else. so you put him in a situation where he no longer has his power, total control and in the body of a character he hates. well it'll be interesting to see afo's true colours shine through as the mask he's so carefully crafted throughout the years begins cracking more and he is at his most vulnerable. 

and as I said yes yoichi also got isekaied as well, he actually got isekaied into the body of an upcoming journalist thats chases after captain hero and tries getting pictures of him and talk with him. yoichi enjoys the quiet life and freedom he has. he only got to enjoy one month away from afo before dying so he's enjoying his freedom. so you can imagine how he feels when he sees afo once again only in captain heroes hero suit. at first he laughs right in his face then tries to get away because that's the last person he wants to see right now. afo is so so so happy, happier than he's ever been and he kind of forces him into a hug. he can suffer anything as long as yoichi is there by his side. he's basically like even if I wanted to kidnap you and force you to stay by my side (I do), I can't because the rules of this universe won't allow me to so you're safe :). yoichi isn't amused, but after some arguing he decides he'll keep in contact with afo and even help him with some hero stuff.

afo and yoichi get to talk with each other without having to fight each other and it's awkward. they choose to avoid the topic of the past when trying to spend time together however it's hard to ignore the elephant in the room. eventually though they begin having some normal conversations and get to know each other better. it feels oddly domestic and strange, but it's nice in a way and it also makes afo slowly realize how much happier yoichi looks and how yoichi was more willing to open up to him when afo isn't forcing his presence and beliefs on him. he won't admit it, but it hurts to see how much better yoichi seems without him.

there is a catch to all this however, yoichi actually took the place of a character that dies during some point in the story. yoichi knows this detail because he read past the first three volumes, but afo doesn't know because he stopped reading after volume 3. yoichi doesn't tell him about this until later on which almost causes afo to have a meltdown at the thought of losing yoichi all over again. most of the conflict lies here, will they even be able to save yoichi or will he just die a terrible death once more? is afo forever going to be forced into the role of the hero or can he get out of it? putting afo into situations he feels completely helpless in and has to cooperate with yoichi, good stuff to me. can't rely on your previous methods of getting out of trouble so what will you do now that almost everything has been taken away from you? that's all I really got lol.

[dr-maitland]

Maitland, Hiram

Civilian, CACSI - Program Director, Paris

Basics

Species Human (Runi) Gender Cisgender Male Age 35 Face Claim Craig Horner

Biography

Appearance 5'11", Tall, weedy and unassuming with a runner's physique, Hiram's fluffy brown hair and slender shoulders do not belie any degree of strength. But as one well knows, appearances are often deceiving. Hiram's frame brims with concealed power and musculature that comes from hitting the heavy-bag and sprinting track almost daily.

While the rest of his features are plain, his hishuri-brightened eyes, artificial and eerie, set him apart when he looks at you - vivid, otherworldly blue. In addition to this, due to his disorder, he presents with horizontal nystagmus which can be quite jarring to those who aren't accustomed to it, often appearing as if reading invisible lines of text.

He's quick to smile, and to convey the full range of emotional expression that is expected from a human, but those who are observant can tell it's often manufactured for their benefit. Hiram's Starfleet uniform is always tidy, neat and polished within regulation specifications.

Hiram has one tattoo of Escher's impossible cube on his right bicep, and three lines scarred into his left bicep undissolvable by current Federation technology, along with a few raised circles-presumably these indicate a rank, position and blood type as well as personal identification in the case of death or grievous injury.

Personality Hiram presents a very curated, very stable face to the world and it is not often that he deviates from this in a significant way. He is an excellent and attentive clinician and often picks up on cues that others miss, particularly when it comes to behaviors and emotions-something which serves him well in his role with the Palais de Concorde's Interstellar Criminal Court. It's when you really get to know him on a much deeper, more personal level that some structural pattern inconsistencies hinting at a prior catastrophic instability begin to emerge. Fortunately Hiram is keen and self-aware, and is able to regulate himself very easily, as he largely lacks emotional interoception altogether. As a bonus, he is ultra-handy to have around in a crisis, and can tolerate a vast quantity of chaos. Composed, compassionate, diplomatic, grounded. It is nearly impossible to faze Hiram, given his personal and professional experiences, and he can have a conversation with just about anyone about any topic. Most people consider him a good friend and a capable colleague, though he has courted some controversy given his high-profile status and tenure as a forensic evaluator at the Palais, this is mostly due to sensationalist rags rather than true moral compromise.

He has training in self-defense and hand-to-hand combat (a form called Davryn ["contact"] from Laile) and in a variety of disruptor pistols and rifles, tactical planning, military strategy, defensive driving, helm systems and a working understanding of computer systems and engineering components from various crafts common to Satiz-Irath.

Shallow/blunted affect, formal, secretive, indifferent to praise or criticism. Those who know Hiram for long enough recognize that he can be insincere, utilitarian and lacking in felt (affective) empathy. While Hiram is not a dangerous individual, he exudes a vibe that most people who get close to him find "disarming." Hiram has also been known to lie and manipulate when the situation requires it, which is individual to his assessment in the moment, but generally he is pro-social and prioritizes acting with kindness.

Relationships Hiram is gay, and has only had a few relationships prior (Ashki'de, an Andorian he met at Northside and Rael, a Vulcan he met at McKinley). Because of Hiram's surface nature, his romantic endeavors have not been very successful, as they typically only progress to a certain point before a prospective partner finds a wall they cannot breach and moves on. He is still good friends with Rael. Hiram also grew close to Christopher Darnielle, the documentarian who filmed and edited I Swear By Apollo. The two are still in contact.

Interests Hiram has a variety of hobbies including music (he played drums for the previously-illustrious Centralia), reading (specifically anatomical and pharmaceutical texts such as Harrison's and PDR), vinyl records, gardening, board games, jigsaw puzzles (often numbering well over a thousand pieces), running and cooking.

He owns a large Maine Coon named Phyllis Diller or Phil for short, as well as a tortoise named Sonny. Hiram's other abiding interest is martial arts and he practices with a sharpened lightweight alloy metal spear that he keeps in pristine condition in the trunk by his bed. He enjoys an old Earth sport known as paintball, although he does not play this with other people, and has a private holo-program for it.

Languages (In order of learning) speaks Runi, Federation Standard, K'iche and beginner's Vulcan. Hiram has a slight Runi accent, which is typically smoothed over by his Universal Translator.  Family (parents, adoptive) John Maitland, Nathalie Maitland. Split their time between Chicago, Paris and Guatemala, where Nathalie is from. (ex) Rael, a Vulcan psychologist and TII+ advocate, raised by Orions aboard the OSS Khadri. They remain close friends. (pets) Phyllis "Phil" Diller (calico cat), Mr. Sunshine "Sonny" (tortoise). Both live with his parents, in Chicago. Education (3-5) Early childhood, basic combat training, Laile Resistance (Trainee)

(3-5) Early childhood, generalized education, Laile Resistance (Trainee)

(5-10) Adolescence, advanced individualized training, Laile Resistance (Trainee)

(10-11) Mechanic, DTV/LOV, Laile Resistance (Attendant)

(12) Pilot, low orbital aircraft, Laile Resistance (Attendant)

(12) Commanding officer, shuttlecraft LRV Navas (Specialist) Highschool Diploma - Northside Preparatory School, Chicago Bachelor of Social Work - Hyde University, Chicago Medical Degree - Hyde University, Chicago Pediatric Intern - McKinley Station

Forensics Fellowship - Comer Children's Hospital - Special Forensics Unit Postings  Comer Children's Hospital - Special Forensics Unit - DDR Program  Forensic Evaluator, Pediatrician - Palais de Concorde Office of the Prosecutor Fact Finder, Expert Witness - Palais de Concorde Office of the Prosecutor CACSI Program Director - Palais de Concorde Federation Rehabilitation Council

History Hiram has a bachelor's degree in social work from Hyde University of Chicago (formerly the University of Chicago), and obtained his M.D. at Hyde Medical School. As a forensics fellow working at Comer, Hiram's daily routine was massively disrupted by the Victims Participation and Reparations Section of the Interstellar Criminal Court (via Federation v. Polis) when the leader of the Laile Resistance – Ratan Polis – was remanded to Federation custody during the arrest of its high-level officials. As one of over a hundred victims consenting to participate - the majority children and young adults - Hiram (Witness # 12) testified on-and-off for the entire duration of the proceedings (approximately 2 years) on behalf of the Office of the Prosecutor, Neilan Sherer. He also faced Polis in open court, who according to Insterstellar Law, had the right to cross-examine his accuser directly. This trial is also the subject of a documentary, I Swear By Apollo by Christopher Darnielle, which received significant traction on Holoflix. Hiram's testimony was followed as one of the few Federation-aligned adults willing to cooperate with the journalists. Its success is attributed to Hiram's high degree of verbal competence, his (then-current) employment with Comer's Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program (which he also attended as a child) and his professional standing. 

Patient Screening

Maitland, Hiram

Emergency contact John Maitland Next-of-kin John Maitland, Nathalie Maitland Dependent/s N/A (please ensure my tortoise is cared for)

DNR status Acquiesce to the considerations and demands of my next-of-kin.

Do you have any history of heart disease or cancer in your family?Unknown.

Do you now or have you ever used any addictive substances? I was physically dependent on hishuri and doqqu'.

Have you ever been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection or bloodborne pathogen? Yes, an IDV of unknown origin. I completed total cellular replacement therapy at McKinley.

Are you on any form of contraception/prophylactic? Prep.

Do you have any allergies? No.

Medications Topiramate (50mg bid hs) Retinax V (5mg bid hs) Phrenic nerve pacer (Synapse implant) BiPAP (prn) NRB mask (prn)

Hishuri

Native Name: tropane alkaloid/hishuri Origin: Laile Street Name(s): Hishuri, shur (his-'sure-,ee) Description: Blue/white powder Dosage Method: Inhalation Desired Effect: complete bodily paralysis, closed eye visuals, empathogen/entactogen, telepathic enhancement, hallucinations.  Story Relevance: Hishuri is often used to deleterious effect via Synaptic Proximity Pairing, which occurs in combination with psychological imprinting and high doses – this results in complete suppression of free will by the affected party. Long-term Use Effects: Dependence. Respiratory failure, heart failure, anticholinergic adverse effects (anaphylaxis, somnolence, dyspnea, seizures, tachycardia, arrhythmia), Medullary Dysregulation Syndrome.  HISHURI NOTES | Hiram has a constellation of symptoms described by Dr. Tala Riel at McKinley's pediatric short stay unit and Comer Children's Hospital as Tropane Alkaloid-Induced Medullary Dysregulation Syndrome (MDS) or Riel's Syndrome which is characterized by three primary presentations: damage to the respiratory center of the brain, damage to the eyes, and severe sleep disturbances.

Medical Records

2356

TALA EMJIN-RIEL, MCKINLEY STATION | Pt administered physostigmine and entered into an induced coma to facilitate total withdrawal from tropane alkaloid hishuri. Pt exp. respiratory failure & anticholinergic syndrome.

TALA EMJIN-RIEL, MCKINLEY STATION | Pt released from neurological rehabilitation unit after completing substantial physical and occupational therapy. Pt underwent total cellular replacement therapy for IDV of unknown origin.

TALA EMJIN-RIEL, MCKINLEY STATION | Pt presents with permanent damage to the medullary respiratory center of the brain responsible for generating rhythmic pulses and transmitting them along the phrenic nerve to the diaphragm. TALA EMJIN-RIEL, MCKINLEY STATION | Pt shows evidence of bilateral heterochromic iridocyclitis, and significant anterior stromal atrophy, which accounts for the changes in his eye color. Recommend regular eye check-ups to monitor vision field loss.

2357 MAIDA, COMER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL SPECIAL FORENSICS UNIT |  Pt diagnosed with somnambulation, restless legs syndrome, & severe central sleep apnea. MAIDA, COMER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL SPECIAL FORENSICS UNIT | Hiram received surgery for a phrenic nerve pacer and alignment following ARDS. Synapse implant successful. MAIDA, COMER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL SPECIAL FORENSICS UNIT | Pt diagnosed with cluster headaches. Pt diagnosed with Conduct Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

2361

HAROLD CALNIN, COMER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | Pt has completed Comer Children's Hospital Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) program. He is connected with his family and community, attending Grade 11 at Northside Preparatory College, and is optimistic about his recovery.

2369

ALLISON REYES-SANDERS, FEDERATION REHABILITATION COUNCIL | Pt successfully undergone entheogen-facilitated combination forensic narrative exposure therapy and dialectical behavior therapy as an adolescent and does not currently meet the diagnostic criteria for Conduct Disorder [312.81 (F91.1)] or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [309.81 (F43.10)]. Pt is in remission. Patient does not exhibit current cognitive malign as a result of his experiences. He has been determined fit to deploy with the FRC provided he attends regular maintenance check-ins.

[inosukenumberonefan]

How to catch (my pookies) inosukes eye

For Inosuke i feel he would prefer a s/o who's a little weaker then him but can still keep up because:

If you were stronger then him, he would constantly ask you to fight him (casually harassing you) then he would get all pissy after you beat him avoid you and the cycle would repeat. Youd probably never get to interact with him outside of him demanding a fight and annoying the shit outta you, you wouldn't ever get to see the soft side of him and prolly wouldn't be able to develop feelings. But he would probably grow to admire you a lot he doesn't know it but he would have a crush on you but he would be to proud to tell you and you can't tell since you barely see him so it wouldn't be reciprocated.

If you were significantly weaker then him, he would get annoyed with you real fast and you wouldn't be "flashy" enough to catch his eye but there is a way! (Will be explained later on) But he does want to be a traditional type man ex providing and protecting. He will pride himself on being your protector.

So being on (almost) the same level is the perfect balance cause you get the best of both worlds because he will admire you a lot for your skills but his ego will also be stroked and fed.

His ideal personality would be.

Playful: He NEEDS someone to do his shenanigans with. An example would be someone who goes along with his king of the mountains gag.

"Underling fetch me some food!"

"Of course my lord!" Bro is blushing under his mask but blames it on the fact that its hotunder his mask.

I am a firm believer that he loves playfighting especially wrestling. You will be rolling around on the floor for HOURS.

Competitive: He LOVES competitions so you better bring that energy back, eating dinner? No. Eating competition. Find a flower on the ground? Now It's a flower finding competition now. He doesn't realize it but he constantly one ups you any chance he gets so if you're not competitive it'll get annoying pretty fast.

Motherly (Stern, caring and kind): We all know he goes CRAZY for any sign of kindness especially compliments. I'm 100% sure he would go for someone who's practically the opposite him it helps balance the chaos. He needs someone to tell him where the boundaries are, someone who will drag him back to a person he insulted and make him apologize but also someone who shows immense care for him, someone who only wants the best for him (its hard for him to see it though)

(A motherly persona is honestly perfect for him because of how stubborn he is)

Adventurous/Fun: Since he fights demons for fun, I feel he would get really bored in his downtime, so keeping him entertained is a must. I feel as though he LIVES for adrenaline so its a bit hard to keep him focused and entertained with simple conversation so you have to take him on little adventures so he doesn't go absolutely nuts and starts wrecking things

Patient: He doesn't understand some of society's customs, so you have to be patient with him and explain slowly. He's impatient as hell so when he doesn't get something first try he'll get mad for a bit so you have to wait for him to cool down before restarting (He actually appreciates this a lot)

Also having something your really good at (hobbies like paintings, sculpting crocheting) and he isn't, at first he'll get pouty but then he'll be determined at becoming better then you. You'll teach him and if its something with his hands like crafting chances are he'll like it and you guys will get to bond.

Brave: This is just another way of saying you gotta be a demon slayer lmaoo. (I honestly can't see him with a civilian)

Good cook: Actually you don't have to be a good cook as long im pretty sure he'd eat anything smash up some bugs and grind them into juice and he'll eat it with a smile

If you like cooking you get extra points because you could give him extra food or teach him how to cook properly.

You have two options for your first meeting

Option 1 (the short one where you are a demon slayer)

He comes in, in the middle of the battle with a demon which you were struggling with and he comes along and anihalites it. You very obviously thank him and he gives you a bandage since your bleeding (He might even apply it depending on how much you're complimenting him)

"Wow! I've never seen anything like your breathing style! Whats it called?!"

"Its called Beast Breathing i made it myself!" He brags

My vision is that you gas him up so much, you somehow become his understudy. Now thud is a DREAM COME TRUE for him because he finally gets an "underling" (its kind of like a tsusuko for the hashira) Now be warned he's the world's worst teacher he explains like this ⬇️

So you won't learn much but the moment you use something he taught you he's over the moon and takes all the credit. (This was more just a cute idea then something that could be developed but whatever 🐗)

Option 2: ( where you're a helper/ nurse at the butterfly mansion)

A couple hours ago your crow had informed you a big battle with a powerful demon was just starting so naturally everyone started preparing. Beds were made, medicine on stand by and everyone waiting by the front door.

"Injured demon slayers approaching!" Your crow cawed. With you at the head all the girls ran outside. A couple Kakushi were running towards the mansion people hung limp on their backs as blood dripped down. Aoi and the others rushed beds with wheels outside, the only person still conscious was a boy with yellow hair, he was bawling.

"We have to go back for Tanjirooo!!" He whined draging out "Tanjiro" like a toddler.

"I'm sure Tanjiro will be fine!" Aoi scolded as she pushed him down onto a bed, she seemed to know who Tanjiro was. "Now rest up." Suma begun wheeling him inside to the infirmary so they could start on treatment.

"What about Inosuke?! He was right behind me, where is he!?" He screamed at you as he was dragged away. "The demon must have got to him!" His tears really started to come down now, it was a good thing he was gone. His cries were quite annoying.

You now started to take notice to something in the distance a Kakushi practically wrestling something to the ground.

"That idiot." Aoi scowled, pinching the bridge of her nose as she sighed heavily. "We're going to be swamped. I need you take care of him." She pointed to the Kakushi and the person struggling? Usually you would be tending to multiple people at once but he seemed like a handful.

"Of course. I'll get him in here as soon as possible." You rushed over, you could see more clearly now a Kakushi was practically dragging a demon slayer to the butterfly mansion. The demon slayer was yelling and trying to squirm free, he wore a boar mask. How odd.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"This idiot-" Before the Kakushi could finish answering your question the demon slayer started yelling at you two.

"Take me back goddammit! Kentaro can't fight it alone!" Wasn't it Tanjiro? No that didn't matter he was extremely hurt and he was failing around, if he continued he'd lose even more blood. It didn't seem possible since he was drenched and caked in blood but whatever.

"Sir you need to relax."

"No!" As the poor Kakushi (+you) desperately tried to drag him into the mansion, he was only losing more and more blood, you made an executive decision to knock him out. A quick blow to the back of the neck and he was out and foaming at the mouth.

Surprisingly the only two people that were conscious were the ones with the worst injuries. Tanjiro came in about 30 minutes after you and the girls stiched everyone up. It seemed that those 3 boys were the ones who had fought the hardest and in consequence had the most injuries a total of 36 different stiches were spilt in between them. They had to have their own individual rooms and the 3 young girls were assigned to them You finally got to bed at 4 am, you were completely exhausted unfortunately you weren't allowed to rest because at 6 Naho, Kiyo and Sumi came bursting in.

"Y/n!" They cried out, you were so tried you hadn't bothered changing to go to bed.

"Yes?" You tiredly called out to them.

"Were sorry for interrupting, but the boar demon slayer is going crazy Aoi-san is out and we need your help." You grumbled before getting up fixing your hair and walking to his room.

The few Kakushi that had stuck around were now forced to hold down the crazy demon slayer. You threw the door open, storming in.

"Whats the issue?" The Kakushi quickly stumbled out the door.

"Where's Kentaro?!" He yelled at you jumping out of bed. Huh no concern for the yellow haired boy.

"Tanjiro is in a different room due to the intensity of his injuries. Now if you want to see him i suggest you get back in bed so you can heal faster."

"No! It's boring." You both went back and forth the good news about arguing was that he was only focusing on winning the argument instead of going to find his friend and tearing his stiches.

"Look, you're bored right? How bout we play a game. I win you go rest and you win..."

"I'll get extra food."

"Yeah, I challemge you to a thumb war hows that sound?"

As you thought he was keen on the idea, by using how weak he was to your advantage you won. He was pissy and demanded you do a best out of 3. You did and you won. It turned into a best out of 5 then 10 but after 20 minutes you worried you were wasting time on trivial matters so you wrapped it up.

"I won, so now you've got to rest up alright?"

When you delivered his food he challenged you to another game, you won.

He was a terrible patient honestly Aoi couldn't get him to take his medicine without shoving it down his thoart, he wouldn't rest, he'd fight anyone and everyone and he was loud as hell.

Aoi and Sumi couldn't deal with him anymore so she passed him down onto you. Getting him to take his medicine was easier you just had to win a simple game. He still gave you the stink eye but it didn't matter.

Time skip to a couple days later.

"Hey I got your breakfast." You layed his tray down on his bedside table.

"How long until I get out of here?"

"In a couple weeks but with you resting so well you're sure to be able to move around freely soon. As soon as you can walk we'll set you up in a new room with your friends." You sat down on the side of his bed laid down the bandages and extended your hand.

"One two three four i declare a thumb war." He won. Dammnit.

"So whats on the menu for tonight?"

"Tempura!" He energetically responded, how were you going to get him to change his bandages now?

"Hey I tell you what if you let me change your bandages ill get you extra food."

"No fair we had a deal!"

"Thats true. So what about we do best out of 3?" He won all 3 times.

"Guess you really are regaining your strength i guess ill have to stop betting for it."

"What no! They're the only fun thing around here!" You now made a new deal, youd spend a certain amount of time playing games with him each day, bring his favourite food and he would let you change his bandages and take his medicine.

Before you knew it Inosuke refused to be treated by anyone else and you were spending most tof your time with him even though he wasn't that injured anymore

Even though this was supposed to be an inosuke appreciation account I haven't posted him until now :((

I got kinda lazy at the end lolll

[incrementumxmaxima]

@versalpha

Eden Lloyd was a powerful man; a renowned man who's name in the business world was synonymous and equitable to success and fortune. A man to please all, he was the face of the American Dream to those who wanted to become entrepreneurs like him and, for those of old money, he came across as having his head screwed on enough to make real waves in any scene he inserted himself into. His reputation was something of a behemoth, complete with the man to match it.

Civilians saw the muscled man with a sharp jawline, handsome and the eye of multiple beholders. Lovers saw his gargantuan cock, big balls and an ass like no other, always thanking the lord that he was, by some miracle, versatile and open to any and all parts of him being worshipped. Eden loved it that, no matter the scenario, people knew when he was present and fawned over him incessantly, both silently and verbally appreciating his muscles and physique.

Once upon a time, however, Eden had wanted a very different body for himself. Now fully entrenched and in love with his Adonian body he had crafted, long ago he had wanted to be the antithesis instead; a man with a huge gut, moobs instead of pecs and gluttony and hedonism ruling his life over moderation and strictness. Trying to gain under the pretence of a dirty bulk had worked well for a few months before Eden had decided that it firmly wasn't for him. Since that day, he shifted his focus towards feeding men and letting them realise their dreams of being huge, helping them every step of the way to make it a reality. And, for a long time, it satiated him - until it didn't.

It'd been a month since he had put up the ad on a sugar baby website. It was simple, straight to the point and didn't hide or conceal his expectations out of the arrangement. Simply put, instead of company and sex in exchange for money, all Eden wanted was a young man to fatten. His own personal project, he had called it in the advertisement, the next step from what he had been doing before; helping already big guys had lost its touch and, now, he wanted to ruin a college jock. Sex wasn't off the table, but was merely an added perk for pounds well gained.

Luca had responded to the advertisement fairly quickly, indicating an interest under some hesitations. Through their conversations on the advertisement app, Eden had learnt that the idea fascinated Luca but an actual commitment to it was something he was still on the fence about. To remedy it, Eden had begun giving him half of the weekly allowance he'd be entitled to when the full conditions of the arrangement began under the pretence of giving the younger boy some time to come to a decision. In the mean time, the two could (and had) met and interacted, defiling various places close to Eden, all culminating in a meeting in a small, private café near Eden's home. It was there that Luca would give final decision and, if deciding to go for it, discuss with Eden an initial goal weight. Seeing as Luca hadn't shied away so far, Eden was cautiously optimistic.

The high-end café that he had chosen to meet at was just busy enough where their conversation was discreet but still empty enough to give allowance for Eden to initiate anything if he so chose to. Having gotten there earlier than Luca, he lounged around and nursed a black coffee until the younger boy finally took his place in front of him. Though they had met before, Eden still found himself entranced by Luca's natural boyish charm.

"Good to see you," He said, smiling, the natural charm and charisma oozing out of him. "College going well?"