#Drawback chess

[charlie-vermin]

You could combine it with drawback chess, adding a different secret rule each player must obey. Let the advisors know each other's drawbacks, while the rulers only know their own drawback. This way the advisors would always have more knowledge than the rulers.

I just came up with a really inconvenient, possibly unplayable four-player game: The Evil Advisor

All you need is a completely normal chess board and a deck of cards that you can somehow divide into an even amount of cards that mean "yes" or "no". Out of the four players, only two need to know how to play chess - those play the role of advisor. The other two play as rulers. At the start of the game, both advisors pull a random card from the deck, which dictates whether their goal is to win the game, or lose it. They keep their respective card, showing it to nobody else.

The rulers, who ultimately choose where to move the pieces, always aim to win the chess game, and also know that the advisor may or may not be on their side, and don't know whether to trust the advisor or not.

If the ruler wins the chess game, they win the whole game. An advisor only wins if they reach their own goal - if an advisor's goal was to lose, but the ruler wins, the advisor loses, and vice versa.

[subtextdecoder]

TBHX: Tying post 1 and post 2 with a few lines that sparked my curiosity.

But first:

Is this Zero? I don't know who this is but it clearly shows that they have some leverage over the heroes, since it shows them being on top of this person's hand. This made me think that the theory @marisandini-chu-blog told me about is in fact possible:

"What if X has a singular someone he's playing chess against?"

Would it be this person? I'm intrigued. I've got a lot to consider now.

For now, let's stick to the sequences that hint at everything I mentioned in the previous posts:

This one is pretty graphic if we think about X's ability. So is it what he is doing? Disrupting the system to establish a new one... It makes sense to think that he is helping the other heroes if we consider this line:

He needs them. Even if X is the most powerful being in the world—even if he were to create an entirely new system—he couldn’t sustain it alone. That’s simply not how life works. No matter how capable one individual is, society functions through collaboration. We rely on others daily to keep the engine running.

And X, surely, knows this. He’s far from naive, which leads us to a deeper question: if he is helping the other heroes, is it truly out of kindness? Or is there a more self-serving reason behind his actions? After all, aligning with them might be the only way to ensure the success of whatever he's trying to build.

Of course, there's always room for speculation. Maybe he is kind. Or maybe he’s something else entirely—an embodiment of fate itself, taking on human form to guide the course of change. Who’s to say?

I think the Commission fears the people more than anything. After all, they hold the numbers, and in a world ruled by public opinion, that makes them dangerously powerful.

Imagine if the average citizen began to grasp the extent of their influence—how deeply their trust, or lack of it, could shape someone else's fate. Chaos would be inevitable. But the real issue lies in the Commission’s response: instead of fostering understanding or transparency, they double down. They tighten their grip, trying to enforce perfect control over something as volatile and ever-shifting as society.

But control, when forced, always slips.

Human nature resists over management. People are not static; they’re complex, adaptive, and unpredictable. The Commission gambled on a false sense of permanence—believing that if the rules stayed rigid, the people would remain obedient. But all it takes is one unpredictable act to unravel the illusion.

Nice's leap from the rooftop was that act. It cracked the narrative and exposed the system's fragility. Maybe that's why X chose that exact moment to step in—to nudge things further off-script. Once the first tremor hits, revolution doesn’t need to be sparked, only guided.

Which leads us to the present moment:

X says that while holding his coin—the one that supposedly helps him make decisions. What’s going to happen now, I wonder? It would be interesting if it turned out X isn’t actually the all-powerful mastermind, but Lin Ling. I don’t know… I just sometimes wonder if he���s really that overpowered, or if maybe his ability comes with a huge drawback we haven’t discovered yet.

[clemymimi]

GUESS WHO'S BACK IDWKEJ, *cautiously dips toe back into tumblr* have this hc to make up for my absence 😔 I missed everyone sm dknwr

yoriichi was blessed with immense power, michikatsu was blessed with a strong mind.

His mentality is the sole reason for his success. His mind is so strong, only further strengthened by his intense training as a samurai, the quote that fits him the most is: "I think therefore I am"

"I think therefore I am", a quote created by the Philosopher descartes (descartes began questioning reality so much that he sent himself off into an existential crisis. In the end the thing that pulled him back out of it was the fact: even if nothing is real, the mere fact that I am THINKING about everything not being real, is proof for my existence. Because if I couldn't have any thoughts, I truly wouldn't exist, but I THINK therefore I AM) this saying heavily relates to michikatsu. He is the second strongest human to ever live, and it was obvious that he was not instantly op like yoriichi was, at least not physically. Michikatsus greatest strength is his mentality. His sheer stubbornness. He thinks therefore he IS. He clings onto life with his mere will alone. He rose through the demon slayer ranks due to his will alone. His will is what motivates him to become stronger and to practice harder. His greatest strength is his own power of will, which even allowed him to grow his head back in Canon.

The point is: his mind / intelligence is a double edged sword.

Michikatsu is the type of person that really internalises his feelings and distances himself from others. He feels very disconnected from reality and sees patterns and scenarios that is lost to others.

Michikatsu is a genius when it comes to strategies. He usually prefers more direct approaches EXCEPT for when it comes to wars. He is GOOD at war, good at the fighting, good at the mental hoops, good at playing chess with the world to achieve victory. He enjoys swordsmanship, he enjoys the exhilarating feeling of victory. It's one of the reasons why he so easily said yes to muzans offer.

His mind comes with drawbacks however: because he has been lent a deeper understanding of the world and has no real outlet for his thoughts or anyone to share them with, he takes out his repressed despair on himself:

He doesn't sleep much, he doesn't eat much and he is very anxious in general. He takes care of his hygiene, and his hair and skin will always looked well-taken care of, but his hands are bruised and his eyes have bags underneath them. His hands are also more often shaky than not due to his anxiety and lack of nutrition.

This form of punishment is actually how samurai used to be trained when they were children to build up a certain tolerance towards starvation and sleep. In a way, this is michikatsu pushing his body towards its utmost boundaries because "it is supposed to handle it" and it's also a means to prove to himself how far he can push himself. It's a means to quiet the despair of the world around him, especially to quiet his feelings towards yoriichi because he knows he shouldn't feel this way about yoriichi, that yoriichi shouldn't affect his mental state so badly, yet he does.

[rexila-rites]

Superthieves Narrator for the top 5 ask game? 👀

Let's see if I can wring more here

1. It's imperative that I should be able to picture TSP Narrator lines coming out of this one's mouth.

Whether 'sorry, you're in my story now ' or 'more balls!' or 'UnFUNNY?!', whether i have to impair him to do it, gotta be able to hear him say it XD

2. Make him long-winded when passionate about something

3. Just because he can see future threads doesn't mean he's always looking at them

Listen I've seen people get tied up in knots about characters who are so smart they should be able to anticipate this problem or have a plan for that drawback etc etc and like first that sucks to write around, you lose story and character moments trying to out-chess characters AND reader expectations and second no one can keep that up 24/7. They can try, but something should get in their way, whether external or their own blind spot.

Anyway Narrator's is that he anticipates a lot of things both reasonable and occasionally really out there, but the world is unreasonable enough to blindside him (and he takes that personally), so I write with that in mind.

4. There are some rough 'character building' misadventures and traits from his youth i keep in mind

And if they come up in the story I'll write them, but in the meantime they're in the back of my mind when I write him, so i know exactly when and how he's being a hypocrite or why he might feel a minor way about something in the field

5. Much like Clock 0ut's Narrator, this one had to grapple with once having a specific purpose and suddenly losing it.

... He may still have work to do there.

[dasha-aibo]

Some of the anti-trans women in competition shit gets reeeeeeealy sexist. "You can't expect a woman to beat a *man* in chess. Males are just naturally more intelligent than females."

One of my main beliefs for the last 20 years is that there's little to no intellectual difference between average men and average women. Cis women are able to do 100% of the same White Collar jobs cis men can and around 70% of Blue Collar ones with no drawbacks. There are certain jobs that only outliers among cis women can do, but that's still no reason to bar them from attempting them, if they can show the same level of competence as cis men.

Professional sports is a different issue, but it's my sincere belief that we should just get rid of professional sports (and pro ballet and pro cheer-leading) in the first place. Meanwhile in Iron-Man competitions, where the majority of contestants have other day jobs, women have beaten men numerous times.

[cross-my-heartt]

Nitpicking episode four (affectionately so)

I know this may be controversial but sometimes we nitpick things out of love and that is very much the case for me here.

I love so much about episode four and much of it has already been talked about but I would still tweak some things to make it perfect because I'm an incorrigible Crosshair girlie and I'll both dissect and cherish every moment he's in the limelight while it still lasts.

Anyway without further ado

1.) Crosshair's recklessness. I love me a trigger happy sniper but my man would never come so close to decking that imperial officer.

By all means that should have been Omega. Crosshair's motto has always been playing it safe (the thematic manifestation of dispatching danger from a safe distance). The point of him staying with the Empire is that despite the drawbacks and the Empire's moral corruption, they would have been 'safer' there.

Crosshair is willing to tolerate a lot if it's in the name of safety and the only times he's downright reckless is when he's pushed to the brink (killing Nolan, escaping Tantiss). Omega on the other hand has already shown that she has a lower tolerance for injustice. Her standing up to Hemlock earlier in the season was a reminder of that and it would have been more consistent to make her the one nearly provoked into a confrontation here.

So I would have had him holding her back here seeing as assessing danger and realizing the benefit of laying low is something Crosshair should be better at between the two of them.

2.) Huge missed opportunity to make Crosshair and Omega cooperate during the gambling scene. It was fun to see them bump heads but I would have loved to see more of them cooperating in creative ways, like Crosshair using reflections to see the officer's hand and helping Omega cheat the game.

Otherwise I would have made it a game of Dejarik. Because we have context for her being good at that while we haven't seen her play much sabacc so far. It's kind of like saying that if you're good at chess you're automatically good at poker.

3.) This could just be me but that moment where it seemed like Crosshair was about to let Omega go after Batcher alone felt off for his character. Crosshair lives to fight for a cause and I'm pretty sure it's been established that Omega is that cause now.

The best explanation I can think of is that he was bluffing and I can completely see him doing that in an attempt to change her mind. If it were me I would have made it look more like a dropped bluff and less like a 'this could have gone either way situation'.

4.) Would have loved to see them resolve the escape situation a bit more creatively too. I'm not a fan of the all the creature moments (don't love them in the new Vader run either) and a cute little team up between these two, combining their shooting abilities and using stealth and the terrain in their favor would have been cool to see. And just imagine Crosshair caving in at the very end, agreeing to let the animals go anyway after Omega has puppy eyed him into doing it.

Ten out of ten would have lived for that.

5.) The tremor. Where is it?? Why aren't we seeing more of it??? This really should be a bigger deal, I really need it to be a bigger deal. Yes, we see him miss a lot of shots but I need more.

6.) Reunion. This is the hardest for me to criticize because it does make for some great drama and a great cliffhanger but I'm more for putting character before entertainment.

The only way I see them making dagger eyes at someone they were ride or die determined to rescue not too long ago is if they still suspect Crosshair of setting up some kind of trap. Which is a bit of a reach this far into the plot.

Character wise it just isn't a logical decision for me.

But yeah, I suppose it all depends on where they take this scene from here. Let me know what you think.

[l-llavellans]

✈️🖊️🍰🧐❤️ for Liam please!!!! I'm so intrigued by him and his moodboard had me SAT

thank you for asking!! im glad you like him hehe

✈️ - does your oc like traveling, or do they consider themselves a more homey person?

Liam loves to travel! he would go anywhere in the world if he had the opportunity to. obviously he’s got too much going on at the time the books are taking place to travel too much but he does like to make the trip out to the city as much as he can! he lived there for a bit in college and before he met UB, he was going pretty much every weekend (he’s a little bit of a party animal lol)! it’s not really traveling since it’s just a little day trip but he would go soooo many more places if he could!

🖊️ - does your oc have any tattoos? do they want any (more) tattoos?

he does have tattoos! only a few and they’re mostly on his shoulders/back/upper arms and not really visible all the time. ive played around with the designs for ages and always go back and forth but he’s for sure got a rook (the chess piece) and a snake (he’s a bisexual stereotype lol) he wouldn’t mind a few more either.

🍰 - what is/are your oc’s favorite sweet(s)/dessert(s)?

one thing i will always be guilty of is giving my ocs the same unbearable sweet tooth that i have 😅 and liam’s no exception he loves all things sweet! he’s not a huge chocolate fan though he leans more towards fruity flavors and sour candies but whatever it is he likes it to be sickly sweet, to the point where it’s almost too much to handle. id say he’s also probably a big fan of those like warhead extreme sour candies or something lol just imagine walking into an american gas station and looking at every brightly colored “xxxxxtra sour” candy on the shelf and wondering who in the hell would eat that. it’s liam.

🧐 - is your oc more logical or emotional?

more emotional for sure! liam presents himself to everyone he meets with a perfectly crafted persona that’s laid back and charming and sarcastic and untouchable but he’s actually pretty prone to being swept up in his emotions. he broods like no other, he just doesn’t do it where other people can see him usually lol he has a bad habit of letting his emotions (especially negative ones) lead him to make rash decisions/say things he doesn’t mean and it’s gotten him in some tricky situations before!

❤️ - what are three of your oc’s positive traits?

he’s funny! liam’s sense of humor is probably the thing he likes about himself the most. it does have its drawbacks when he ends up never taking anything seriously, but he has a genuinely witty personality and can have even the most stoic people fighting a smile

he’s also very caring. he shows it in ways that are maybe more subtle than others, but the wellbeing of the people he cares about is important to him and he goes out of his way to protect that! similarly to that, liam is very loyal. he has a lot of “friends” that are more like acquaintances, people he’s not actually being himself around, but once you’re in with liam then you’re in. tina, verda, verda’s family, unit bravo (after a little while), etc - he’s very committed to the people he loves and he feels a strong need to protect them.

thank you so much again for asking!! 🫶🫶🫶

[lunarsilkscreen]

DragonBall fans don't understand Ultra Instinct...

Frequently in the series, Goku and Co are taught to "Move without thinking". This is not ultra Instinct, it's the absolute fighting basics.

Something we call "Muscle Memory".

Grandpa Gohan, Roshi, Popo, Wis, basically have to remind the protagonists to "Return to the Basics" every single time, because they are such good fighters; they start thinking faster instead of maintaining their "Muscle Memory" actions.

Part of this is the necessity to conserve Energy and Momentum. And so it becomes necessary to fight an opponent as if it were a chess match, trying to find a weakness.

And so they frequently forget to enter that state of calm.

For the Energy/Ki based fighting, it becomes necessary to relearn this as well. In order to develop that muscle memory.

Vegeta long forgot these basics because he *thinks* they're beneath him..he has of course trained several excellent Saiyan warriors since (including his own Son).

But Goku keeps being retaught this lesson because he always wants to learn from people stronger than him.

And their most common response? "You're slow, it's probably because your muscle memory sucks."

So what exactly is "Ultra Instinct"?

This, oddly enough, is easier to explain if we cross into [Hunter X Hunter]> A series created by one of Akira Toriyama's protege; Yoshiro Togashi--that uses *a lot* of the same core concepts of fighting and ki/energy/nen use.

The fighters are taught that focusing their Nen(energy) only into the points they need increases their energy's effectiveness.

This is *because* using it "Full Body" increases your power total, but not as much as if you focus it into a single point.

The same can be seen with Goku periodically "Shown" and not "Said" instead of explicitly "Telling them".

At parts of the series, Gokus hair bounces between SS1 and SS3 despite Goku basically avoiding SS3 after the Buu saga. Not because it's weak, but because it's a waste of energy.

And because of this; many art panels and shots in the show show Goku's hair getting longer during a particularly powerful action.

To showcase that he enters SS3 sparingly, either consciously or unconsciously is unknown. But we do know; Goku never figures out how to regulate his energy in SS3. And because of this; believes it to be an inferior form.

So [Ultra Instinct] is simply the extremely balanced form of energy dispersal.

Instead of using SS all at once, he's in that *powered up state* without the power generation until he uses it.

So instead of displaying it at all times; it shows when he's expending his Ki.

He's using his energy at its most effective. That's why he needed to be in a weakened state (so he's forced to use his remaining energy sparingly) and he's tired enough that he's only using muscle memory.

It's also why after the Jiren fight; Goku doesn't actually know what he's doing. He just knows that, from how he's fought before; he was a lot weaker overall. And somehow came out superior.

He, like the audience, believes it's extra untapped energy, or an alternate source of energy.

It's not; it's the extreme effective use of energy, but only when and where it needs to be expended.

The one drawback, like Nen usage in HxH; is if he gets hit and doesn't put up his Ki guard in the right place; he could take a lethal form of damage.

[pan-matsuri]

Just learned about auto-dubbing on Youtube videos. There is no way currently to disable this feature as a viewer, which means that some videos are no longer able to be viewed as the original creator intended. I think this is a bad thing!

Generative AI is not worth the drawbacks for what limited benefits it may currently provide. Big tech has this fascination with it but is unable to define to what end it is being pursued. I've read plenty of literature, attended classes and guest lectures, and I've never felt that I recieved any good answers to the question "why are we doing this?".

I sincerely hope we enter another AI Winter because I'm so tired of this risky technology being forced on people. In just the last year, generative AI has transformed creative spaces in a very bad way. We used to create and share art for the simple sake of expression, and now generative AI has only exacerbated the notion that the goal is to create content to be monetized. Everything has to be about productivity and I'm so sick of that mindset that is so prevalent among my peers in computer science.

I argued in a paper once that AI research misses the point. It plays Go and Chess to win, but that's not really the reason why people invented those games. It creates images and sounds, but it doesn't really understand why humans spend so much time doing that ourselves. AI research doesn't seek to understand the world. Rather, it primarily seeks to optimize it.

Generative AI is soulless. That which is created by it is uncaring, unfeeling, and often incorrect. Researchers spend so much time and money trying to understand why it even functions the way it does. It is clearly not ready for general use and is a dangerous addition to a world already gripped by a crisis of authority.

It is too much to ask our leaders in business or politics to suddenly be compelled by morals or ethics; for too long, they have shown that they clearly do not care about anything past their own bank accounts. So instead, we need to reject this technology ourselves.

If you are a creator, please consider disabling auto-dubbing on your channel. Filter out AI-generated content on any art gallery sites you visit. Boycott the use of applications like ChatGPT or Character.AI that are built on large language models.

Speak to a neighbor. Draw a picture. Write a story.

We don't need generative AI.

[alectoperdita]

AU where Kaiba have a youtube channel about chess (he is the world champion ofcourse) and ppl keep sending him stupid IA to challenge, even doing the "go back to futur and parallel universe" playing stuffs

Anyway, one day, Jou come across his channel and start to watch it even he don't understand well, but he found out Kaiba voice is the best ASMR for him

Then Kaiba start a series of video explaining how to play (with Mokuba for fun) and Jou start playing but it's hard to understand sometime, so he sends DM to Kaiba

Long story short, but Kaiba decide it's easier to learn check to Jou face to face, so they see each other and they began to date, ect

(I wake up with this idea, thank you brain I guess, even that I feel like someone already had this kind of idea)

Haha my first thought were silly chess games like the ones on this channel.

I can totally see Kaiba moving beyond normal chess to take on more challenging stuff like drawback chess. Kaiba's voice would be a lot more soothing (and sexier) than that text-to-speech synthesizer for sure.

It's perfect for putting on right before he goes to bed. Which of course doesn't help Jou understand the game much better haha.

Ahhh the thought of them becoming chess boyfriends is so cute! Thank you for this wonderful scenario!

[true-blue-sonic]

Silver V Clutch in a battle of wits would actually be an interesting match up.

Basically Clutchs whole deal is manipulation, he's greatest strength is figuring out what people want to hear and saying it. He made a deal with Jewel and rigged it against himself so she would feel like she won when all it did was give him an in and he's made a partnership with Mimic whose slowly realising that Clutchs unconditional friendship has conditions in the fine print.

The way I see it, Clutch would only succeed in manipulating Silver if A) Silver is isolated and potentially vulnerable, B) No one has told Silver about Clutch before, and C) Clutch had done A LOT of research on Silver. It would then be a game of pro chess where one wrong move could result in Clutch getting slapped with a psychically propelled chair. Also, if Clutch DID succeed, every interaction between the two would be the same song and dance since Silver would instantly catch him if he started slipping.

That's only if their 'friendship' lasted that long. Decent chance of Silver telling someone about meeting Clutch and them spilling the beans on what the Opossum is really like and Silver instantly disenvalueing an 'deals' he made if he made any at all.

I really don't know so well what Clutch is like, so I'll take your word for it🍀 I think Clutch might indeed be like "Well shit" when he realises that Silver only hearing what he wants to hear has huge drawbacks, due to Silver just being so OP a shmuck like Clutch stands no chance against him. The moment Clutch changes his tune or the plan, Silver's gonna fuck him up; the moment Clutch outright reveals he lied, Silver's gonna fuck him up a dozen times more badly. In such a case, Clutch would really have dug himself into a hole he just can't get out of, because the truth always comes to light in the end. And if Silver is in very deep, his wrath at finding out he got deceived might not at all be pleasant!

Though indeed, the fact Silver has a network of close companions around him that he has learned to work together with is even more of a con. He's teamed up with them far more than he's been solo; if some rando appears and smoothly promises a lot of big things, I think Silver would go to them to get their help immediately. But that also makes me wonder what Clutch could manipulate Silver about in the first place? Silver believed Mephiles because of his deep-seated frustrations with the fact Iblis kept reviving himself, making Silver question the point of fighting Iblis endlessly because "it'll never end" with the way he and Blaze were doing things. But in Colours DS, we hear the future is a happy place, which I argue is supported by the prosperous state of Onyx Island in Rivals 1. So what could Clutch offer him that Silver doesn't have already?

[cadaverousdecay]

Hey! Another dream that I can actually remember this time, since your ask button says to feed you my dreams :>. The entire thing was me watching a Video Essay on a game called Atrm(pronounced Atrom/Aturm, community was divided) and it was like if you fused a heavily speed-based platformer like Ultrakill with chess-esque turn-based combat for bossfignts and card-based skills/buffs/debuffs. It was super cool.

The bossfight mechanics relied on a sort of "party" called a BeaconCall(play on words for beck and call) which would summon special characters called (servante(s) —obtained through beating normal enemies across the map(ones without the special boss combat-system)—, Knighte(s) —gotten through level ranks/boss-encounters, though the official name for the ranks were "Judgements" given by things called Watchers—, and Patrin(s)(like patron but with an I "l")—you get these instead of knights of you get perfect scores, or "judgement: Statuesque(the S had a slash through the middle)) and we're generally better, a long with letting you smite a random Servante of a boss).

It was super intricate, with special perks that you could unlock via "Thorns" (basically skill-points) that you could use to unlock different buffs and perks that you could draw from this character called "The Dealer" who was this "ominous looking Devilman stand-in", as described by the commentator. However there was a possible drawback to taking a card, as when the cards are drawn this rose vine will grow around the your health bar which was a statue that would crack when you take damage(which is what the Statuesque judgment references, I think) —also, a rose would grow, which you could hover your mouse over to show what perk/buff it was you got— BUT there's a chance that you could draw a card that would crumble to dust when the dealer tries to show it to you, and the thorny vines that grow around the statue would wrap around the neck and squeeze before decaying off the neck and causing a red tear to run down the face.

There's even MORE to this dream that's still in my mind that I would HAPPILY tell you, if willing :3

It was SO FUCKING COOL

I mean yesterday I had a nightmare where I was interrogated and no matter how much I told the interrogator I didn't know what they were talking about about he would listen and I got my wrist peeled off like a banana near the end but-

oh wow that sounds really cool!! i love how intricate dreams can get

sorry about ur wrist being peeled off

[genericpuff]

i'm going to spoil a little bit of time gate but TRUST me, there's a reason for it

so there's this bit in one of the later books where one of our former main protagonists explains the concept of meta jumping through timelines

essentially, it's to answer the question, "can you keep jumping after a jump?"

and ofc the answer is, well, yes

but it comes with drawbacks

and he goes on to explain those drawbacks with a chessboard

the concept being that, if you (represented by the king or queen or whatever piece you so choose) jump to another chessboard in a similar or otherwise the same state as your ongoing game, you can have multiple outcomes play out

but if you want to go back to your original timeline, pre-jump, that will become more difficult the more meta jumps you've done, as your original timeline is left further and further behind

in this case, your original timeline is that original chess game, and the more you meta jump, the more your pathway back becomes more obfuscated and confused and you risk being detached from your original timeline forever

so anyways

i'm saying all this

because 5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel exists now

and on the one hand, i'm screaming as i think about hale trying to explain exactly what the game is doing

but i'm also heaving a sigh of relief because omg my chess analogy wasn't stupid ??? it's literally the PERFECT analogy to explain quantum physics and time travel and i'm just

i'm not some PhD student in quantum physics or anything y'all

i'm just failing upwards JFKLDSAFJDLKSFJKALS

[nelegance]

Chapter 4: Welcome To The Azalea

“You need to take your vitamins and iron,” Lestat said, wiping my chest with the bedsheets.

“I have been. I promise.”

I covered myself up and laid my head deep in the dusty pillow.

“I can taste that lie. You’re putting your own life in danger.”

“I can never remember,”

One thing that happens to humans when they’ve been constantly bitten by a vampire and or live with one is that your memory gets wiped away. Little by little, nothing stays. That’s why I have you.

Lestat smiled up at me and rested his hand upon my chest. “I’ll remind you.”

I was still in bed when Lestat brought in a small handful of pills and a cup of water.

“How many are there? 7? And the iron makes me sick to my stomach,” I whined. 

Lestat sat on the corner of the bed and held out the cup and the pills.

“You will take them. If you’re ill, you’re ill. Just take them. I need you to be healthy.”

I took the pills and water with a sigh. They stuck in my throat and I knew I was in for a night of feeling like I had to throw up. But I had to do this for Lestat. I had to. I had no other choice.

“Thank you. Now, what are we going to do tonight? Chess? You almost won last time. Maybe you’ll get lucky this time,” Lestat patted my head like I was a dog, “I doubt it but maybe.”

I batted his arm away, “I was wondering when you’d take me to that club. The one you meet Louis at. I’ve always wanted to see inside.”

Lestat seemed taken back by my curiosity. He seemed to ponder it for a moment and then shook his head while laughing.

“Absolutely not. Never ever. A human surrounded by vampires who are all high on blood? Blood that has alcohol and god knows what else in it? Never. Ever.” He stood up and started dressing. 

“Please? I won’t stray. You and Louis can watch me.”

He put on a beige smoking jacket, “Oh? So we are nannies now?” 

“Please? You know I can handle myself. I mean, how did we we meet? What situations did you and Louis put me in? I survived those. I think I can handle sitting in a club.”

Lestat was wrestling with the laces of his fly. His head snapped up. He knew I was toying with him. Testing him. 

“Louis and I never put you in any situation. You give us too power. You got yourself into every situation you’ve ever been in.”

My lip curled into a smug smile. 

Lestat gave up on his pants and brushed his hands through his hair in frustration.

“And it’s not the sitting down I’m worried about. I know you, Madeline. You will wander around. And that is when a so-called situation will happen. Except this time, you won’t be able to fight or flirt your way out of it. You will die. And while you may be willing to let that happen, I will not,” Lestat walked over from the wardrobe and cupped my face in his hands. “I made a promise to protect you. I protect you and you give me blood. You gave me blood, so let me protect you.”

See how much more interesting this is compared to the tale of how I found Lestat? Wouldn’t you rather read this? 

Gwen, as she was called, led me to a small room. A supply closet with a bed really. I had been offered a job as a chambermaid. The only drawback was I was required to be available at a moment’s notice and, because of this, I had to sleep at the Azalea. This didn’t really bother me to be honest. It was better than relying on the kindness of various charities scattered around the city.

I was to clean, prepare rooms and help the girls with their costumes. I loved that part the most. The corsets, the fabrics, the pearls….beautiful.

I was invisible. This made my first few months easy. No one bothered me. No men tried to slip a hand up my dress or lean against me to peak down at my chest. No one spoke to me though and after months of silence, I was starting to lose my enthusiasm. He was the first one that spoke to me.

“Do you have a towel by chance?”

I was walking out of my room when this gentleman with a French accent stepped in front of me. 

I had heard this voice many times but I never looked up at who it belonged to. He gave me chills for some unknown reason. This time though, I lifted my head and I met his icy blue eyes.

His red hair glowed blonde underneath the lights. His pale chiseled face was angelic. He neither frowned nor smiled. He looked peaceful and elegant. He wore a fitted light brown suit and polished black dress shoes. Everything he wore screamed “money”.

I snapped out of my observations and opened the door to my room.

“How do you manage in such a small room? What is that smell?” the French gentleman asked, stepping into my room with me as I went to retrieve a towel.

“Floor cleaner and polish. I’m sorry, sir,” I held out a folded fluffy white towel. 

“Don’t apologize. It just doesn’t seem healthy to be in this room…” he trailed off while he looked around my room.

He was right. It wasn’t healthy. I had almost constant headaches and sick to my stomach most mornings. But it was a room and I wasn’t going to complain.

“Is there anything else I can help you with, sir?”

The gentlemen smiled weakly at me, “No, thank you. I can talk to Mr. Pointe du Lac on your behalf about your room. I’m sure he’d be as unamused as I am about the conditions.”

“Who?”

The gentlemen furrowed his eyebrows at me, “Louis. Your boss. Have you not met him yet?”

I shook my head.

“Gwen. She hasn’t told him about you,” he smiled to himself. “That conniving witch!”

I was confused. I didn’t understand why this mattered. Maybe it was the fumes killing off my brain cells. I wasn’t getting paid is was what was happening. Gwen, in her unprovoked hatred for me, hadn’t told Louis I had been hired.

“Do not worry, ma chérie, I will fix this,” the gentleman touched my cheek. His hand was so cold but very soft. He took his hand away when I lost myself and leaned myself head into it. I hadn’t been touched softly in a long time. 

“Excuse me. Thank you for the towel,” he pulled down the front of his suit and stared down at me. He stepped back to the doorway before turned around, “My name is Lestat de Lioncourt. Please just call me Lestat. I am co-owner of this saloon and I will see that you get a proper room and your pay…miss?”

“Madeline Ellsworth, sir.”

Lestat nodded once. “Welcome to the Azalea, Miss. Ellsworth.”

[ao3feed-superbat]

What's In A Name?

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/0el52qC by frozenpotions Clark accidentally walks— or rather, flies in on Bruce enjoying a private moment. He'd probably have an easier time moving past it all if Bruce hadn't been saying Clark's name. Words: 6849, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: DCU (Comics), Superman - All Media Types, Batman - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, a brief appearance from the Justice League Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Accidental Voyeurism, Voyeurism, Masturbation, mild exhibitionism kink, Dom/sub Undertones, Semi-public masturbation, Anal Sex, Switch Bruce Wayne, Switch Clark Kent, both in more than one sense of the word, Mildly Dubious Consent (for the voyeurism), Sexual Pining, a new tag I've just made up, Jealousy, kinda sorta cuckoldry kink (but not really because they're not together (yet)), bruce plays 4D chess about sex stuff, manipulation as extended foreplay, look I know these tags are pretty intense but it's actually not that dark???, they're (mostly) having a good time I promise, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, alternate title: The Unexpected (But Sexy) Drawbacks of Superhearing read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/0el52qC

[squalishhateschess]

why u hate chess

Complexity: Chess can be very complex and intimidating for beginners, making it difficult to learn and enjoy.

Time-Consuming: A single game can take a long time to play, and mastering the game requires a significant investment of time.

Pressure and Stress: The competitive nature of chess can create a high-pressure environment, which might be stressful for some players.

Repetitiveness: For some, the game can become repetitive, especially if they play frequently or against the same opponents.

Steep Learning Curve: The initial learning curve can be steep, requiring patience and dedication that not everyone is willing to commit to.

Mental Fatigue: Chess demands intense concentration and mental effort, which can be exhausting and not enjoyable for everyone.

Limited Physical Activity: As a sedentary activity, chess does not provide any physical exercise, which might be a drawback for those who prefer more active pastimes.

Skill Disparity: Playing against much stronger opponents can be discouraging and frustrating, while playing against much weaker opponents can be boring.

Social Isolation: Although it can be a social game, chess is often played in silence, which might feel isolating for those who prefer more interactive and verbal games.

Perceived Elitism: The game is sometimes associated with intellectual elitism, which can be off-putting for those who feel excluded or intimidated by this perception.

Limited Appeal: The strategic and cerebral nature of chess does not appeal to everyone, especially those who prefer more action-oriented or luck-based games.

Rigidity: The strict rules and structured nature of chess leave little room for creativity or personal expression compared to more open-ended games.

Accessibility Issues: Chess might not be as accessible to individuals with certain disabilities, such as visual impairments, without specialized equipment or accommodations.

Cultural Disconnect: Some people might not have a cultural connection to chess, making it less appealing compared to other traditional or culturally significant games.

Negative Experiences: Past negative experiences, such as losing frequently or encountering unpleasant opponents, can create a lasting dislike for the game.