#Entry-Level EV

[vmantras]

MG Comet EV Executive Review: Ideal Urban Microcar

₹6.98 Lakh Design and Build The MG Comet EV Executive is a microcar, designed for urban environments with a strong emphasis on compactness and maneuverability. Its minimalist body design is both futuristic and functional. Compact Dimensions: At just under 3 meters in length (2974 mm) and a turning radius of 4.2 meters, this car is perfect for navigating congested city streets and tight parking…

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Slate Truck EV, 2025. A new US start-up founded on a disruptive business model of simplifying the manufacturing process and removing unnecessary content to reduce cost and increase reliability has revealed their first product. A compact truck will be offered with 52.7 kWh and 84.3 kWh battery packs providing a driving range between 150 miles and 240 miles. The simplified interior has wind-down windows, no radio, no speakers and no infotainment screen. Pricing starts at $28,000 and flat-pack accessory kits turns the truck into a 5-seat SUV, or a fastback utility vehicle. Backers include Amazon's Jeff Bezos.

[jobyoda-philippines]

Exploring Career and Job Opportunities in Davao City Philippines

Davao City, recognized as one of the Philippines' most progressive cities, continues to experience remarkable economic growth, creating a vibrant job market that attracts professionals from across the country. The city's diverse economy offers numerous employment opportunities, from entry-level positions to executive roles, making it an attractive destination for job seekers at all career stages.

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector stands as one of the largest employers in Davao City, providing thousands of jobs across various specializations. Companies in this sector actively recruit customer service representatives, technical support specialists, and quality assurance analysts, offering competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits packages. The industry's continued expansion has created numerous opportunities for career advancement, with many organizations promoting from within and providing extensive training programs.

Part-time employment opportunities have also flourished in Davao City, catering to students, professionals seeking additional income, and individuals preferring flexible work arrangements. The retail sector, food service industry, and education field offer numerous part-time positions with varying schedules and responsibilities. These roles often provide valuable work experience and can serve as stepping stones to full-time careers.

The Information Technology sector in Davao has seen significant growth, with many companies seeking software developers, web designers, and IT support specialists. This growth has been fueled by the city's improving technological infrastructure and the increasing number of tech-focused businesses establishing operations in the region. Tech professionals can find opportunities in both established companies and startups, with many positions offering competitive compensation and the possibility of remote work arrangements.

Davao's hospitality and tourism industry continues to expand, creating jobs in hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, and tour operations. The sector offers positions ranging from entry-level service roles to management positions, with many employers providing training and development opportunities. The industry's growth has also sparked demand for professionals in events management and tourism marketing.

The education sector presents numerous opportunities for both full-time and part-time employment. Educational institutions regularly seek teachers, tutors, and administrative staff. The rise of online learning has created additional opportunities for English language teachers and academic consultants who can work flexible hours from home or teaching centers.

Job hiring  in Davao, the digital economy has opened new avenues for employment. E-commerce specialists, digital content creators, and social media managers are in high demand as businesses increasingly establish their online presence. These positions often offer the flexibility of remote work while providing competitive compensation packages.

Professional development resources are readily available in Davao City, with numerous institutions offering skills training programs and industry certifications. Job seekers can access career counseling services, resume writing assistance, and interview coaching through various employment support organizations. These resources prove invaluable in helping candidates prepare for and secure desired positions.

The financial services sector in Davao has also experienced substantial growth, creating opportunities for banking professionals, insurance specialists, and investment consultants. These positions typically offer attractive compensation packages, including performance bonuses and health benefits, making them highly sought after by experienced professionals.

Davao's agricultural sector continues to evolve, combining traditional farming with modern agribusiness practices. This has created opportunities for agricultural technologists, food processing specialists, and supply chain professionals. The sector offers both technical and management positions, with many companies providing specialized training and development programs.

For those entering Davao's job market, proper preparation is essential. Successful job seekers typically maintain updated resumes, prepare comprehensive portfolios, and stay informed about industry developments. Professional networking, both online and offline, plays a crucial role in discovering opportunities and advancing careers in the city.

The future of Davao's job market looks promising, with emerging industries creating new employment opportunities. The city's commitment to economic development, coupled with its strategic location and robust infrastructure, continues to attract businesses and investors, ensuring a steady stream of job opportunities for qualified candidates.

Whether seeking full-time employment or part-time job in Davao City offers a diverse range of opportunities across multiple industries. Success in this dynamic job market often comes to those who combine proper preparation with continuous skill development and effective networking. As the city continues to grow and evolve, its job market remains a beacon of opportunity for professionals seeking to build meaningful careers in Mindanao's premier business hub.

[jellykyunnie]

Maybe a yandere jinwoo with a reader whos self sacrificial? It would test his self restraint... (~I like to see him unhiged~)

˗ˏˋ Entry : 063 - Sung Jinwoo x Self-sacrificial! Fem! Reader ◛⑅·˚ ♡ ˎˊ˗

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚ 𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕘 𝕁𝕚𝕟𝕨𝕠𝕠 ˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

[ TW: Self-sacrificing, Death, Pure Violence, Gore, Violent Jinwoo Depiction, Fluff Ending guaranteed so dont come at me with pitchforks. ]

╰┈➤ ❝ [ My Heart Is Nowhere ] ¡! ❞

Again.

You died.

Again.

Jinwoo wordlessly cradles your lifeless body in his arms. There wasn't any other sound aside from the backdrop of crackling fire and buildings collapsing.

His colleagues tremble as they inch closer, sensing the silent doom loom over them.

Sung Jinwoo had always been dangerous. As kind and as polite as he presented himself to the public and them— He was always a dangerous man.

No one can ever determine where his limit lies, he fears no international hunter and looks at the current rank#1 hunter like he's just a small child he flashes a bored smile at.

Those who witness how destructive he is in the gates can only describe the bloodshed he makes as something a warlord can do, or something that the most macabre authors can poetically write that their works would be thrown into the list of banned books.

But anyone with a curious mind can't help but wonder,...

What happens once Sung Jinwoo, the man who controls an army of undead husks— Turns his back against humanity?

What if he decides to forsake his duty towards the people who need him and unleash his wrath towards them instead?

"Hunter Sung... My condolences" Jong-in lowers his head, his throat growing dry as he cannot bring himself to lift up his head and meet the gaze of the man who has just lost someone dear to him even if he didn't know what exactly the relationship between Jinwoo and the body he was holding delicately.

"Three S-rankers, 15 A-rankers, 56 B-rankers and over 100 C rankers, I've only been gone to deal with the other monarchs" Jinwoo starts, his gaze still focused on the person in his arms. "And none of you, none of you, could stop a single woman from giving up her life force in order to completely close off a gate that wont close no matter how many times you had entered inside."

"Her sacrifice was not in vain—" Yoonho tries to say, his words immediately interrupted as Jinwoo was suddenly in front of his face with maddened lilac orbs.

Jinwoo tilts his head, an eerie angle as a vein pops up on his jaw, "She's an E-ranker."

"An E-ranker with a mana level of 5, she is closer to a civilian than a hunter. So unless you have something better to say, keep your fucking mouth shut before I rip your goddamn head off."

Silence befalls the entire place as the temperature felt so chillingly cold despite the ember flames dancing around.

As Jinwoo's back disappears into the distance with his beloved's cold lifeless body.

꒰ .... ꒱

"Dear!' Kyung-hye panics, running down the hospital hallway where he heard his son was in.

Her heart had been racing since earlier since she had heard the death of an E-ranker extremely close to Jinwoo. And now that she could see the blank and lifeless look on his oldest child— She felt a pit in her stomach drop at the sight of him.

The grey eyes he had inherited from her are completely hollow and are now completely pitch black. Jinwoo was in a complete daze as his mother held his shoulder with trembling hands with tears running along her cheeks.

"Oppa..." Jinah could only sob as she hugged Jinwoo who wasn't reacting at all.

It felt as if the life have been completely drained from him.

He wasn't crying.

He wasn't talking.

He wasn't even moving at all even as his family cradles him.

Sung Il-hwan could see it, the pure devastation and helplessness on his son who had always looked as if he could take down anything.

He can only see an empty man completely hollow inside. It was as if Jinwoo's body only houses shadows.

The old man can only purse his lips as he joins his wife and daughter in holding Jinwoo who didn't even bother returning their embrace.

꒰ .... ꒱

He stares at the gravestone in front of him, staring blankly as the rain pitter-patters down his face to simulate tears since he wouldn't cry. It had been seven hours now since you had been buried down the earth to rest your weary soul.

Jinwoo had seen this a total of 5 times already.

This very grey sight where the colours would become muddled and sickening to look at.

He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream and lash out, he wanted to beg it all to be some type of cruel joke. But it seems that his sobs had long been dried that the downpour gave him some fake tears.

The first time you had died of the same reason— The media treated your death like some sort of movie. Something they wanted to film, everyone wanted to suddenly know you.

When you were alive, you were always treated as a laughingstock for trying to still be a hunter despite your pathetic state. Jinwoo grew close with you just because he could sympathize with that struggle.

He knew what it's like to be the receiving end of all those mockery, to be looked at with condenscending gaze silently wishing you death— So how could he resist you?

Even when you were given the chance to be selfish and just worry about yourself; you never did.

You had always looked out for him despite it all. So Jinwoo never abandoned you even when he grew strong with the system.

He liked acting weak because he loved your attention, he would come to you with a bruise on his face even as an S-ranker just so you can tell him off. He didn't mind being smacked in the head, he didn't care that he will be treated like a 4 year old coming home with dirt all over him that his mom will yell at him hours on end— Sung Jinwoo only ever cared about you.

The you with dazzling eyes with stars gleaming inside of them whenver you're enthusiastic, the you who has a melodious voice no matter what emotion you're going through, the you who he has decided to revolve his world around.

So why is it, despite everything he did to prevent this very tragedy— That you still choose to sacrifice yourself for the world who given you nothing but disdain?

Why is it that you choose to walk the same path you take over five times now? Why would you choose the world over him who would give you the universe?

Jinwoo can never know.

He will never know.

Since despite looking like you would tell him anything— He can never completely understand what goes on in that pretty little head of yours.

꒰ .... ꒱

So for the following months, he silently dealt with anguish of your 5th sacrifice alone.

Jinwoo would go to work. Go home. Have a beer. Have a smoke. Sleep? Fuck that. Repeat.

Nothing matters anymore, he never managed to protect you, what's the point of eating anything or taking care of himself?

He had this slight delusion, that maybe if he hurts himself enough— Your ghost would suddenly haunt him and yell at him with that voice he is starting to forget from the constant state of disassociation he voluntarily put himself into.

"Ah, it's that lover boy" Hwang Dongsoo's familiar voice resounds, echoing in the massive hunter building Jinwoo walked into the discuss his next activities with the chairman Go Gunhee. "Sheesh, you look so fucking miserable"

The man laughs, patting Jinwoo's shoulder as if they had been longtime pals since childhood.

"Mr. Hwang, please have respect" Jinchul scolds, holding the man's arm to pry off Jinwoo who hasn't uttered a single word despite the blatant mockery.

"Now, now, I'm just greeting a fellow s-ranker who is grieving, is that inappropriate?" Dongsoo smiles, playing coy as he felt the utter thrill of messing around just a bit more.

"You have no right to talk like that towards anyone, colleague or not" Jinchul insisted, putting himself between the enstranged Dongsoo who left for america and Jinwoo who is clearly still out of it despite the months having passed by since that faithful day.

"What? It aint my fault that bitch is dead." Dongsoo simply laughs, waving his hand dismissively. "If she's so special why didn't he—"

Jinchul couldn't even react.

All of the sudden the room was casted in a mist of shadows with the temperature going down at dangerous state, the air is heavy with this thick suffocating malice that the A-ranker was brough to his knees for the sheer pressure of it all.

And in the middle of the brewing storm of darkness— Was Sung Jinwoo repeatedly pummeling Hwang Dongsoo's face—

OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER. OVER AND OVER.

"Mr Sung, I beg you please come to your senses youn man!" Go Gunhee screams, his face completely pale as the pristine white marbles of the hunter association's floors are painted in a deep haunting color of crimson red.

His pleading seemed to be had been succesful as Jinwoo removes his fist from Hwang Dongsoo's face...

What face?

There's nothing there.

Nothing but brain matter remaining as well as bone fragments floating atop the red liquid like tranquil leaves resting on still water.

"S-sung Jinwoo... You" Thomas Andre nearly gags at the sight, his eyes flashing golden but the fire in them suddenly distinguishing as Jinwoo simply stares down at him with that blank and hollow look.

That man always had an odd purple light in his eyes.

But those eyes are only black underneath those ebony locks that had slightly overgrown from Jinwoo not properly tending to himself as of late.

That gaze was a wordless taunt: "Come at me, I dare you, and I'll reunite you with this rotten bastard right here."

Jinwoo wasn't even shaken, he had blatantly commited murder inside a hunter establisment riddled with cctvs and witnesses.

But he didn't even care.

None of the security would dare come near at the sight of his blood-splattered appearance.

They all, perhaps in a way, knew—

That for a man who had already lost everything, nothing can and will ever hold him back.

No amount of rationale, remorse, or anything human can remotely leave a budge on someone who has completely decided to become a monster.

꒰ .... ꒱

No matter how many gates he had been through, no matter how much his army would plead— Jinwoo would become totally numb as he further rises in the system.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.

That sickening toiling of the system notification as he took one life and another back to back like a rabid dog comes to a point Jinwoo owuld rather rip his ears off.

As he holds the head of another high orc, he hears a deep booming voice behind him, "Child, stop this instant."

"Why should I?" Jinwoo asked, turning back to see Ashborn taking in his form.

"I chose you as my heir to stop the monarchs, not to become a senseless murder machine" Ashborn scolds, gripping Jinwoo's bloodied arm who only shakes his gesture off.

"Take it back then if you're so upset" He merely chuckles, sitting down on the corpse of a monster he had just lay to rest. "I've got nothing to lose."

"Emotions are what leads to one's destructions."

"My emotions are also the reason why you chose me to succeed you."

"...."

He couldn't argue with that.

The former shadow monarch had nothing to say.

It was Jinwoo's sheer willpower and stubbornness to keep living was one of the core reasons why he chose him as his succesor. Nobody has the same steadfast and headstrong personality as this very man who is now reduced to a broken and grieving child who only yearns for his family.

"What was it?" Jinwoo asks, "With great power comes great responsibility? Yeah, bullshit."

He grips the sides of his head, trying to drown out all the sounds as tears started streaking down his tired eyes who had completely lost faith in anything and everything.

"Save your sympathy," He chokes out, "Or do monsters like you even feel anything? I haven't slept in a year. That person is the only reason why I ever maintained some sort of humanity even as the system explicitly made sure I will lose all of my emotions, but that single person spared me from ever succumbing into pure madness. I can't remember her voice, I can't remember her face, I can't remember what she smells like."

"So what can I lose?"

He was always the strongest in everyone's eyes. Everyone relied on him for everything especially after he became a high ranked hunter that also took the role of the face of korea. He was put on a pedestal he never wanted to have.

Jinwoo only wanted to take care of his little sister and parents. He only ever wished to be good enough to make them happy and make sure they live good and healthy lives.

So why couldn't he be selfish for even just once?

Why isn't he allowed to to indulge himself after giving up everything for the world?

Why can't he keep you?

The precious and foolish you he loved more than anything than life itself.

Even for just one little request— that he could keep you, but even with that small wish of his— he was denied of it.

He was denied happiness and love.

He was denied of even the simplest of request.

So if he cant have the tiniest of wishes, what hope would he have?

He could do nothing more than weep.

He then feels Ashborn's hand on his head, the digits stroking his strands gently.

"You've done enough, my child."

꒰ .... ꒱

That was the last thing Jinwoo had heard before he woke up in his bed again. Somehow, the late monarch managed to put him to sleep. When he looked in the mirror, his body was built the same before he had the system.

Memories would come pouring in as he looks back at the pathetic him he detested so much.

It seems that in this world there is no existence of gates or any monarch. It's a reality spared from that gruesome world he had hailed from.

Most of his memories are, however, extremely broken. His body clearly remembers things well, but somehow a lot of it are fragmented.

At least it's clear that in this reality he goes to a university studying to become a police. By miracle, he is accepted into his course despite the sorry state of his appearance.

He was cordial and polite with his parents and sister, but he had no appetite so he chose to go to school earlier than usual. Jinwoo just couldn't face them knowing how much he brought them pain and how much of a monster he truly is.

He never went to university in the past, he couldn't because he was immediately went to work due to his mother collapsing and he just never did so in any of his regression.

"...."

"...Woo.."

"Sung Jinwoo!"

He jumps at the silent calling of his name and turned to see,...

You.

"Hey, mister-emo-looking-first-thing-in-the-morning" You grin in a friendly manner, looking up at him with that familiar shine in your eyes.

He looks at you as if he saw a ghost, his hand stretching out and nearly touching your cheek but didn't when his palm almost caressed your delicate skin.

"???"

"You..." He whispers, his voice hoarse and almost broken. "You're okay."

"I'm not gonna die over a hay fever—...." You pause, eyebrows knitting as his blank eyes suddenly tear up. "H-hey, why are you crying? Did you have a nightmare again?"

"You fool." Jinwoo merely replies, suddenly pulling you into an embrace he had oh-so craved. "You absolute fool."

His fingers tangle in your hair, his lips subtly kissing the side of your head as he held you even closer to him. The pressure of his hold nearly choking out the air in you.

You wanted to comfort but at the same time you wanted to curse him out for wherever the hell his strenght originates from with the pathetic build he has!

"Jinwoo!" You manage to wriggle out of his hold and then cup his face.

He kept crying.

Like some sort of child that has been denied something that he cannot communicate his anguish. Jinwoo just kept crying his eyeballs out.

So, you can only soothe him. Whispering comfort to him as your foreheads pressed together so he could feel better.

You stare up at the grey eyes he has. The grey eyes that are dazzling and always filled with kindness.

In front of you, it's just Sung Jinwoo.

He doesn't have any other identity in front of you.

He's just Sung Jinwoo.

So how can he not be a fool who is so inlove with you?

꒰ 🪼 A/N: Should I make a sequel to this? I vibed too hard on fatal trouble hahah. I figured I should give something more meaningful not just another fluffy fic www. So how is it? I hope everyone likes this one heheh,,,, Took me a short while on this one skskskskk. ꒱

ʚ(੭´͈ ᐜ `͈)੭ .｡✧: ~♡ —! stories written by kyunnie; translations, reposts, plagiarism are strictly forbidden.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

On a street in the middle of 2 small homes worth between $350 - $475k, they built this 2024 modern house on a 6,098 sq ft lot in Greenville, SC, and priced it at $5.25m. 6bds, 6ba, 5,700 sq ft. They must be out their minds. So, let's see what you get for $5.25m.

There's hardly any land, but you've got a porch out front. The listing says it's "reflecting its unique status in the area." Well, that's one way to look at it. My dream job would be writing bullshit fiction real estate descriptions.

No grand entrance, you walk right into the living room. The listing says, "Step inside through a 9-foot entry door, flanked by gas lanterns, to discover a sanctuary of design innovation."

Open living room/kitchen floor plan w/a mezzanine. I don't see a formal dining room, though.

"Fisher & Paykel appliances, custom European cabinetry, and quartz countertops in a show-stopping kitchen." I must be a real peasant, I've never heard of those appliances.

"Low-iron glass railings at a dramatic 42” height for uninterrupted views."

The primary bedroom is kind of plain.

I don't like "wet baths"- with the tub inside the shower.

Secondary bedroom. All bedrooms have heated floors.

The bathrooms feature smart toilets and bidets.

This may be a home gym that's actually one of the 6 bedrooms, b/c it has an ensuite.

Guest powder room.

"A residential elevator with glass doors and a full-size cab."

This is an entertaining floor w/a kitchenette.

Nice laundry room w/a mirrored tile backsplash.

B/c there's no land or yard to speak of, the listing says, "With a covered front porch, private decks on every level, and an exclusive rooftop experience, this home redefines outdoor living." Yes, it does redefine outdoor living.

"A custom-built outdoor kitchen and space for an 80” screen." (What?)

"A private home theater, climate-controlled and insulated with Rockwool for superior soundproofing." WTH is Rockwool?

This isn't a patio, it's the driveway outside of the garage. "Garage Goals: The oversized garage is more than functional – it’s a versatile space for entertaining, working, or hosting events. Featuring curated floors, insulated walls, ceiling speakers, and four EV chargers, this is a garage designed to impress." They have a lot to say about a space they don't show.

This is the last house that was approved to be 3 floors high in the city of Greenville.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/114-Ware-St-Greenville-SC-29601/10990604_zpid/?

[jaybug-jabbers]

Gelatopod - Ice/Fairy

(Vanilla-Caramel Flavor is normal, Mint-Choco is shiny)

Artist - I adopted this wonderful fakemon from xeeble! So I decided to make up a full list of game data, moves, lore, etc. for it. Enjoy! :D

Abilities - Sticky Hold/Ice Body/Weak Armor (Hidden)

Pokedex Entries

Scarlet: Gelatopod leaves behind a sticky trail when it moves. A rich, creamy ice cream can be made from the collected slime.

Violet: At night, it uses the spike on its shell to dig into the ground, anchoring itself into place. Then it withdraws into its shell to sleep in safety.

Stats & Moves

BST - 485

HP - 73

Attack - 56

Defense - 100

Special Attack - 90

Special Defense - 126

Speed - 40

Learnset

Lvl 1: Sweet Scent, Sweet Kiss, Aromatherapy, Disarming Voice

Lvl 4: Defense Curl

Lvl 8: Baby Doll Eyes

Lvl 12: Draining Kiss

Lvl 16: Ice Ball

Lvl 21: Covet

Lvl 24: Icy Wind

Lvl 28: Sticky Web

Lvl 32: Dazzling Gleam

Lvl 36: Snowscape

Lvl 40: Ice Beam

Lvl 44: Misty Terrain

Lvl 48: Moonblast

Lvl 52: Shell Smash

Friendship Level Raised to 160: Love Dart (Signature Move)

Egg Moves

Mirror Coat, Acid Armor, Fake Tears, Aurora Veil

Signature Move - Love Dart

Learned when Gelatopod's friendship level reaches 160 and then the player completes a battle with it

Type - Fairy, Physical, Non-Contact

Damage Power - 20 PP - 10 (max 16) Accuracy - 75%

Secondary Effect - Causes Infatuation in both male and female pokemon. Infatuation ends in 1-4 turns.

Flavor Text - The user fires a dart made of hardened slime at the target. Foes of both the opposite and same gender will become infatuated with the user.

TM Moves

Take Down, Protect, Facade, Endure, Sleep Talk, Rest, Substitute, Giga Impact, Hyper Beam, Helping Hand, Icy Wind, Avalanche, Snowscape, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Charm, Dazzling Gleam, Disarming Voice, Draining Kiss, Misty Terrain, Play Rough, Struggle Bug, U-Turn, Mud Shot, Mud-Slap, Dig, Weather Ball, Bullet Seed, Giga Drain, Power Gem, Tera Blast

Other Game Data

Gender Ratio - 50/50

Catch Rate - 75

Egg Groups - Fairy & Amorphous

Hatch Time - 20 Cycles

Height/Weight - 1'0''/1.3 lbs

Base Experience Yield - 170

Leveling Rate - Medium Fast

EV Yield - 2 (Defense & Special Defense)

Body Shape - Serpentine

Pokedex Color - White

Base Friendship - 70

Game Locations - Glaseado Mountain, plus a 3% chance of encountering Gelatopod when the player buys Ice Cream from any of the Ice Cream stands

Notes

I'm not a competitive player, but I did my best to balance this fakemon fairly and not make it too broken. Feel free to give feedback if you have any thoughts!

I have a huge bias for Bug Pokemon since they're my favorite type, and at first I wanted to make it Bug/Ice, since any intervebrate could be tossed into the 'Bug' typing. But ultimately I decided to keep xeeble's original idea of Ice/Fairy. There's precedent of food-themed pokemon being Fairy type, and Ice/Fairy would be very interesting due to its rarity (only Alolan Ninetails has it). Its type weaknesses are also slightly easier to handle than Bug/Ice imo

The signature move is indeed based on real love darts, I could not resist something that fascinating being made into a Pokemon move, even if the real games may possibly shy away from the idea. (Honestly it could be argued "Love Dart" is based on Cupid's arrow so Gamefreak might actually get away with making a move like this though.) Its effectiveness on both males and females is a nod to snails/slugs being biological hermaphrodites. I can see this move also being learned by Gastrodon and Magcargo in Scarlet/Violet

[corviiids]

do you have a preferred translation of the Iliad/Odyssey? or one that you think sucks and should be avoided? or both?

i do for the iliad! i am less helpful for the odyssey just because im not as familiar with it as i am the iliad. also my opinions probably aren't the most popular ones haha.

my favourite iliad translation is by stanley lombardo, which is a slightly lesser known one, but i highly recommend it no matter what your experience level is with homer/classics because it's very accessible and beautifully written and i find it quite unique. it doesn't try to preserve any particular sense of... like... for lack of a better phrase Scholarly Gravity. it's not anachronistic or anything, but lombardo is perfectly willing to use more modern language to capture the right feeling and meaning which i find makes the text more evocative and enjoyable to read and it also presents a lower barrier of entry... separately, it's also my favourite for its pretty turn of phrase which i just prefer to any other version. this one is a verse translation btw. i just think it's really beautiful. he also did it as an audiobook and it's very nice to listen to!

my second favourite is a more common one and it's ev rieu's translation, but this is more geared towards newcomers because the print copy of rieu is annotated which makes it super accessible when you're trying to get your head around all the names and places and events. it's a very straightforward, no frills prose translation but that doesn't make it boring imo. i think this is the first version of the iliad i properly read through (not counting my flip through butler - see below). rieu's iliad also contains my favourite translation of my favourite line: "for nothing, as i now see it, equals the value of life."

if you ask other people the most common answers you'll probably get from scholars are fagles and lattimore - fagles is probably the most widespread translation if eg you were to study the text in class, and i like it well enough. im not as big on lattimore honestly but that's personal preference only. the classics fans i see online (eg on tumblr) tend to really enjoy caroline alexander's iliad, but ive only read it in bits and pieces so i can't speak to it. (i enjoyed the pieces i saw though.)

the most easy to find translation is samuel butler because it is free online. any fancy hardcovers you find will likely also be his. it's passable but i think it's a bit plain and unimpressive personally compared to the others, and a little harder to read, but it's also ok. i wouldn't AVOID it, i just think there are better ones

re: the odyssey: i have heard good things about wilson's odyssey and similar good things about her iliad, but i haven't gotten around to reading either one yet so i am not sure :( i again read lombardo's odyssey and liked it a lot.

[lgbt-cishet-movie-tournament]

Most LGBT cishet movie?

Movie Submissions!

Sometimes a cishet movie is a hit in this community even without any stories or characters reflecting us (or at least not explicitly or intentionally or... tastefully). Either because of its campiness and witty banter, its drama, its weirdness, amazing soundtrack and costumes or its diva-like personality taking center stage. Please don't take this poll seriously.

Examples of movies that follow the rules below:

The Wizard of Oz (1939), Clue (1985), The Exorcist (1973), The Servant (1963), The Sound of Music (1965), Heathers (1988), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), All About Eve (1950), Jawbreaker (1999), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), 9 to 5 (1980).

Rules for Submissions:

Please don't fight we're literally just ranking the straightest gay movies and transest cis people. The most conforming and queer paradox.

Because of the tendency of this site to call something "gay" just because 2 conventionally attractive men stand next to each other for 5 seconds, I'm not counting shipping possibilities that much. The level of drama, camp and the number drag parodies it has is way more important than possible romantic relationships or sexual tension in submitted films. Also there's ace and aro people voting. Keep them in mind!

It has to be cishet but somehow still queer. Can be the camp, general weirdness, gnc clothes, sassiness, the inclusion of a diva, accidental coding, or some other secret option. Honestly if you find a way to reason so hard it works, you could even try to submit The Godfather (... it is very quotable...)

Submit movies that aren't just American!

Submit movies that are cult classic masterpieces or movies that objectively suck!

I love Mamma Mia but it does have gay characters. This poll came about because I found that a lot of older movies had queer fans that were able to connect to others through these movies while creating their own spaces. This was despite the movie being "straight and gender conforming". I love that there's more rep now, but I'm aiming for this to poll contain more vintage movies for a reason. and I want to expand my watchlist. I'm aware that there are movies from the 70s, 1920s, and other older eras with explicitly gay themes and characters like Victim 1961 or Salome 1920 (and I encourage you to widen your scope of historically significant films) but this isn't that poll.

Old movies with very stealth trans or gay coding with its side characters and unintentional lgbt+ coding is allowed, but you know these things can be hit or miss. Besides, I put Heathers on here even though it's homophobic. Fun but homophobic. You can submit movies with homophobia or conformist themes to a degree.

You can submit propaganda videos, text, and images! If you know any drag parodies of the movies, send them my way!

If you don't want to submit directly, you can @ me

Posts with polls will be tagged as #mlcm poll. Movies posts with #user submitted or #user submission means it was submitted through the google forms and will enter the tournament

Given that not a lot of people watch older movies, the battling polls will be paired by decade until it gets whittled down to the finals where old and young will both compete.

Competition will start May 1 in honor of The Wicker Man 1973, which i wish counted as a poll entry, but I limited myself to one movie I'd slip into the tournament despite the fact that there's not a lot of lgbt fans of the movie. And this was my runner up because I really liked The Exorcist's Regan and Karras. Unless someone else submits him, Wicker Man's not gonna be there. Rest in Peace Christopher Lee and his ugly blonde wig.

[eyeballplanets]

To rephrase it in my typical posting style, my description of Anissa (in the show) as a vector for racial and gender allegory rendered as equal to Mark in suffering coercion and dispensing subjugation transmitted from their respective and parallel superiors isn't based on any personal squeamishness around sexuality in fiction nor a presumption that the show lacks a thematic language around such violence. To the second point, the show, in contrast to the comic, understands that these violations and disruptions are generated by hegemonies and the subordinating interactions therein, and cannot be extricated from other forms of violence: the husband's control of the wife, the father's control of the child, the general's control of the soldier, the soldier's control of the colonized victim, are all placed in this same suggestive language for violation. Cecil barging into Mark's bedroom and making him keep this intrusion a secret is commensurate for gradually transforming Donald in a living artifact of the GDA's will. The comic, by contrast posits these violations as existing outside of these structures, and presumes that these structures can in turn prevent this violence—the show takes on a more mature tone about bodily and ideological violations that the fandom should adopt even outside of discussing Invincible: rape is not dispensed by aberrant individuals lurking in the margins, but is a necessary tool for all coercive systems to function, be it the house, the government, or the invading army.

The show establishes a language around erotic boundary violations, whether explicitly describing sex or by placing the breach in the context of sexuality. Nolan braggadociously cooks up a kaiju tentacle for its aphrodisiac qualities, Debbie giddily tells Mark that she know’s he's having sex, &c.—one of Mark’s first lines is ‘bathroomdoors are closed for a reason, and parents should never ever talk about sex in front of their kids!’ He makes clear what his wants and expectations are, rather than letting the audience conclude independently that these permeate boundaries that should be otherwise kept more rigid. This same casual intrusion primes Mark to accept that Cecil’s entry into his bedroom is typical for the life of his superheroes: Cecil himself tells Mark that he needs to accept this level of surveillance if he wants to be a hero like his father, playing up Nolan’s position as these joint paragons of strength, of masculinity, of fatherhood. Conquest, too, succeeds as a depiction of eroticized violence where the comic’s salient reception fails, precisely because Conquest is neither positioned alongside marginalized identities—he is not a short-haired muscular woman who does not desire children—nor is his violation underpinned by reproductive teologies. Rather than desiring the conception of a super-powered child of imperial blood, Conquest’s domination is entirely enclosed within this assumption of Mark’s body, this reification of his beholdenness to this older conquering soldier, who breathlessly tells him how badly he wants him to resist, supplementing the expected violence of superhumans with imagery drenched in sexual violation, pulling Mark’s hair, licking his blood, cupping his cheek, pinning his wrist, whispering in his ear, begging him to fight, &c. That he apportions this violence equally unto Oliver, a child and the descendant of a colonized people, and Eve, a young woman whose strength defies the Viltrumite schema of power, demonstrate that this violation is part and parcel for invasions and martial violence.

By contrast, the comic’s most prominent vehicles for sexually coercive imagery, Telia and Anissa, were each positioned outside of hegemonic structures, and aligned with marginalized identities. The comic’s Telia was a civilian woman removed from Allen’s responsibilities to the coalition, with tentacle braids and familiar revealing clothes; Anissa was the short-haired soldier vocally disinterested in having children. Despite the audience appending this discursive eminence to the assault, none have uncovered the simple fact that Mark is her superior by virtue of being the son of the current emperor made heir apparent by his blood: there is no axes by which Mark is marginalized outside of physical strength. The show has revised each of these characters, making evident their marginalization and exploring these identities as conduits for its fantastical subtext: Telia is now a general, a soldier in the fight against the deathless colonial agents assailing the many planets; Anissa is now younger, smaller, and brown, and is coerced by a man whose violence takes the same form as Nolan and Cecil, controlling white man who claim ownership of Mark’s very body. That is, their revision is not merely a consequence of the show distancing itself from the sexual gratuity of the comic, but integral to its emphasis on coercion as being generated by those near the apex of these hegemonic structures. The comic’s depiction of Telia and Anissa as sexually coercive—and the audience's insistence that one of these characters be so framed in the show—reinforced chauvinistic conceptions that serve to obfuscate instances of sexual abuse, where the show instead has built up a language that accords all bodily violations under these unambiguous oppressors.

It’s not that the show is incapable of depicting sexual violation, it’s that the show has demonstrated that it understands the optics of associating violation with non-normative perpetrators and has instead reinforced the marginalized imagery that surrounds these female characters; it’s that the in contrast to the gleeful domination that defines the older Viltrumite men, Anissa is the most cold, sterile, and distant, even opting to choke Mark where her foot where others lower their body onto his and choke him with their hands; it’s that all of the series’ storytelling channels—visual, verbal, subtextual, and even musical—posit Anissa and Mark as comparably coerced, under these dominating authoritarian men.

[heyimflame]

Fuck it. Reveal Time.

REGIPSYKI

This, is Regipsyki. The Legendary Pokémon for my Pokémon Fan Game. A pure Psychic Type.

Why a Regi? Why not. I have my reasons. Take a Battle Theme.

Also yes. Literally everything about this Pokémon is complete. It's Ability, Height, Weight, EV's, Dex Entry, Base Stats, Learnset by both Level Up and TM, EVERYTHING.

[vmantras]

Citroen eC3 Shine Review: Features and Performance Insights

₹13.2 Lakh Powertrain and Battery Performance and Efficiency Motor: The 41.92 kW Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor delivers a modest 56.22 bhp and 143 Nm of torque. This setup is designed for city driving, with enough torque for quick starts at low speeds. However, it may lack the punch for high-speed overtaking. Acceleration: A 0-60 km/h time of 6.8 seconds highlights its agility in…

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Volkswagen ID. EVERY1, 2025. A prototype for a new entry-level electric hatchback that will go on sale in 2027 with a starting price below €20,000 ($21k).

[ranticore]

Chapter 3 - To Be Phocid [Qedivar's research]

It's that time again. Ishmael is a teenage boy, fair warning.

I'm posting this on mobile so I cba linking the previous chapters but go into the siren tag to find them.

x

Following these events, and at Maris’s insistence, Ishmael began to keep a journal. To the delight of this author, his writing was deep, introspective, and highly detailed. From now on, I no longer had to rely on pieced together scraps and reports, but from a primary source. As such, the way these events are related will shift a little, but that is only for events concerning Ishmael.

Cherta, unfortunately, did not keep a journal at this time and remains frustratingly opaque, given Ishmael’s somewhat biased recounting of their activities. Although one must concede to the difficulties of keeping a journal underwater, before the age of sub-aquatic writing systems, and with eighteen other overambitious adolescents in relatively close proximity.

Ishmael’s journal was recorded on a computerified device and was not written by hand, though his deep dream education had serviced to educate him in handwriting skills. This was tested when he was younger, as part of an evaluation to determine the extent of his dexterity. Although the notion of a form of writing which is stored in a purely hypothetical space is very odd, especially in its permanency, it has enabled us to access his thoughts at this day and age, whereas traditional aquatic knot-writing would have long since rotted away.

He wrote in the language of the Predecessors, which I believe to be the root of all air-speaking language families. The translation of these texts is what has taxed me more than any other part of this process, aside from the grievous bodily harm, and it has taken a fantastic span of time to achieve this translation. I cannot credit my sources for fear of implicating them but you can be assured that the finest minds of the Spire collaborated on this project. This Predecessor tongue is what is spoken in all of the videos, enabling me to learn it to a conversational level, though I am hardly fluent.

Some of the journal is rendered untranslatable due to it referring to objects or concepts which were considered common knowledge at the time, requiring no additional definition. These concepts or objects will be clearly marked. However, I believe much of the text to be familiar to many people, telling of the frustration and longing common and recognisable today. That said, I believe it is also important not to take for granted the relatability.

Ishmael is not always familiar to us and existed in a time we would find nigh incomprehensible. Do not take this as reason to doubt his interiority or personhood, and do not fall into the trap of believing that you would have done better in his place, that you would have seen clearly what he obviously did not (and had good reason not to). They may have been phocids, or the predecessors of phocids, but they were new. If you were the first of your kind, could you do better?

I will now present the text in chronological order, starting from the eve of his sixteenth birthday:

-

Entry 1 – I hate seeing that baby siphonid. It’s still moving. It drags itself around on the leg the researchers didn’t take. Now I’m just going to remember this forever, since I wrote it down. Great. I hate that fucking noise. Why can’t they just get it to shut up?

Thank [deity]. They took it away.

Update – it didn’t even taste good.

-

Entry 2 - Maris told me to talk more about my feelings. What does she know? Nobody understands me anyway. I don’t think they can feel all that on their face like me. The sipho noise kept touching me. The researchers are always talking about hydrofoils and antennae but I bet they don’t know what I do - how the siphos talk to each other. I told Callum and he didn’t know what I meant, even though he has a beard.

Talked to Lee again about sex since Dan said he wouldn’t tell me himself. I don’t think Lee told the truth about a lot of that stuff. The other kids sometimes joke around a bit too much, but it is kinda funny I guess.

Update - Dan shouted at me for asking, but now I have proof Lee was wrong.

-

Entry 3 – The phocids click at each other underwater with their tongues.

Dan got so angry after I pulled my face hair out. He made the interns [untranslatable] search my room for the hairs and they actually found them. They didn’t even do anything with it, just put it in a bag and sealed it away. Looks like nobody wants it at all. Dan says Atom spent 120 billion nua making me, so I think one face hair is worth a few million. If I started selling them to the people outside the lab, I could buy my own stake of land on Siren just like them. I wouldn’t let Lee in. My fingers are probably worth a couple billion each.

Should I

-

Entry 4 – Emer (the intern) looked at me like I did something wrong when she changed my pillowcases.

Spilled bile EVERYWHERE when they were testing me. I keep thinking about somehow saving it and trying to sell it. I’m supposed to be a digestive model for Siren food, so my insides are probably worth a lot. I should ask Dan when he calms down.

Callum came around to talk to Dan again. He’s getting really tall, he’s taller than me now even when I stand up straight. He’s so skinny, like the baby siphonids (I can snap one in half with just my teeth now). When Callum was there, he didn’t want to look at me, but I get it. They didn’t even cook the siphonid this time, it was raw and with the shell on. His leg is the same width as one of them.

Emer won’t stop changing my pillowcases. Is there a way to prevent them from smelling like that?? Callum hasn’t been around so I can’t ask. Maris thinks it’s just because people my age start getting sweaty but Dan specifically told me he made me not have sweat glands anywhere but my hands. Then he said the phocids do have sweat glands. I still don’t get the point of sweating if you’re already a stupid wet rat who lives in the

-

Entry 5 – I’m seventeen now. Since I’m an adult, I decided to stop being reticent around the phocids. I want to know if they found a comfortable way to walk without the skin coming off their tails. So I went to talk to them today for the first time. There is a window where you can do it, they let it open ever since the climate control got busted again last month.

Cherta is really weird. I knew they couldn’t stay in the pool for very long because they might have a seizure but apparently it can happen any time, not just underwater. They have a button implant that makes their muscles relax. Anyway, their tails have thicker skin than mine so that was useless. But it is still worthwhile, I think, to meet with the phocids. They remind me why I am a human, and they are not. I kind of pity them because all they're ever going to be is a bunch of test subjects in a tiny swimming pool.

Cherta told me that one of the phocids died a year ago. I don’t remember Dan ever talking about it to me, but they said it was a big deal. Apparently they got pressure sickness when climate control broke the first time. I think Cherta broke it the second time, they sounded too proud to mention it. I don’t get it. Anyway, breaking stuff in the lab is against the rules and I think I’m going to tell Dan about that.

-

Entry 6 – I made the right choice. Cherta got so angry when they found out I told on them that they had another seizure. The other phocids had to pull them out of the pool. Dan thought I did the right thing but I don’t think he liked me going to tell Cherta about it afterwards, told me no one likes a snitch. Well, then, what am I supposed to do? Just let it happen? I hope Cherta chokes on that gross pool water next time.

Dan suggested I go do something other than visit the phocids and I agree, they’re clearly not worth my time. I went to see Callum instead but he wasn’t in. He has a games console, I saw him show it off to Lee the other day. I wonder if he’d let me try it.

[End of Journal Entries]

-

It paints an interesting picture. As Ishmael mentions, Cherta suffered permanent neurological issues as a result of their birth mishaps. This was a point of contention within the lab, beyond Ishmael’s knowledge; the finance manager of the settlement questioned the wisdom of keeping a test subject in an aquatic locomotion study group who could not spend much time underwater. Every time, however, Dan Loris would respond that Cherta now provided essential information about phocid neurology and drowning mechanisms.

The phocid whose death Ishmael mentions was number seventeen, Ambla. It is highly likely that number seventeen’s death was accidental, but the circumstances were not caused by a failure of the lab’s climate system.

I have found the experimental notes from that day; Ambla was brought to an isolated chamber which was controlled by the climate system, with its own test pool, and the quality of the atmosphere was changed to match that of the Precursor home planet. The force of gravity was thus increased. What the Humans did not expect was Ambla’s sudden inability to swim to the surface. They inhaled water, which settled in their lungs and caused them to drown even after they had been pulled out of the pool.

Dan expressed grief in his notes, and surprise. He did not understand why such a thing would occur and blamed the climate system for somehow altering the test beyond his parameters. This is likely what led to Cherta’s misconception that the climate system had killed one of their friends, and their subsequent sabotage of the climate system every few months after that.

But any phocid or selkie reading this will intimately recognise the problem, and I believe the mystery of Ambla’s death may now be solved. The water taken to fill the pool was likely Tel!am’s Blood, a phenomenon all sea-faring people will know about. The Precursors, it seemed, were unfamiliar with it, and had pumped water in to the pool which nobody could swim in. But with the increased gravity, even the fittest phocid would struggle to rise in shallow water.

Regardless, there exists a substantial gap between that last journal entry and the next. Almost a year, in fact, when Ishmael did not write at all, and neither did he participate in Maris’s therapy sessions. I do, however, have a copy of Callum’s journal with me which provides at least half of the narrative, incomplete as it is.

[viric-dreams]

The Brass Embassy

After several months of correspondence back and forth with his "surface fiancée," Suzette, the pair finally receive word from their boss to meet together to discuss an upcoming mission .

Jones is running uncharacteristically late, and rushes in the door seconds after its start only to come face-to-face with the man he'd drunkenly hooked up with on Christmas Eve, in the midst of his post-breakup morality crisis. Despite how alcohol-hazed the memories are, that's clearly got to be him, because he's making the exact same face as he is right now from the moment the first word left Jones' mouth. This is Suzette?

If "Suzette" was a part of the Game, then maybe he was put in his path to spy on him, to keep a close eye on his movements when he'd started slipping at work those weeks in December. He knew he was on thin ice with the Game since this start. Moreover, he'd asked "Suzette" for information on an entirety personal matter, Elias Leroux and their connection to the Chessboard. It's technically a grey zone, but a misuse of Game resources could also be seen as a blunder. They could be preparing to take him off of the board again after all, as they'd once threatened.

"Suzette," as it turns out, is named Shaw.

Their boss is explaining their mission, but he's not listening to a word she's saying, still trying to figure out what the angle here is. When their boss leaves and they're alone, well, he's a professional, isn't he? They jump straight into work.

Jones does not do field missions. It is not his forte and the Game knows this. The reason, it turns out, he's been dragged in here is his connection to the diplomats of the Brass Embassy. He and Shaw are in charge of extracting sensitive documents from the Embassy.

It doesn't take long to discover that the two of them work spectacularly well together. They seem to seamlessly be able to operate on exactly the same wavelength. Putting personal mistrust aside (and again, he will, because he's a professional), he's able to work with Shaw so easily and comfortably.

He can't ignore the mistrust forever, however. It's two day later when they're on their surveillance mission that he finally breaks. Jones does not do well with silence. They make it an hour in before he's finally forced to ask. Did Shaw know? Did he know who he was when they'd slept together?

Shaw seems thrown by the question. He didn't, he insists. Or at least that's what Jones thinks he's saying, his usual diction is suddenly hard to parse. Jones finds that he believes it. Perhaps it really was some strange coincidence.

They find their target, The Brimstone-Scented Attaché, but they're too quick for the two of them to act and the Attaché disappears into the Embassy.

Rather than an ambush, the Mission has now become a heist. They're going to need to infiltrate the Brass Embassy. This is absolutely not what Jones signed up for. But Shaw seems to know what he's doing, and despite his initial personal misgivings, he trusts Shaw on a professional level.

Their entry goes well. Jones' social engineering gets them through the door with minimal trouble. All seems to be going according to plan, and they should be able to locate the documents and leave before they're spotted.

At least that was the plan. Fate, however, seemed to have other ideas, and the pair find themselves locked in a break room trying to plan an escape before the devil can alert security. The whole time, a jazz ballad blares from the gramophone in the corner, adding to the dissonance of the situation. The music is making it hard to think.

He doesn't like how still Shaw is, clearly thinking when they should be doing... something. He, however, does not intend to stick around long enough for that door to open again, because the prospect that waits on the other side is a one way trip back to prison, sans trial. He spent fourteen years in a cell and does not intend to spend a minute longer. He makes this clear to Shaw as he opens a third story window.

The shimmy across the building's ledge is precarious, but he's able to make it to an adjacent window of an empty room and unlock the door from the outside. They know where the briefcase is located. They need to get it and get out as quickly as possible. Except...

Jones needs to make a detour back into the room. He catches up with Shaw soon enough though.

They get the suitcase and run for it, run as fast as they possibly can out the door and down alleyways, hoping the treachery of London's streets will aid them in dodging their pursuers.

What feels like ages later, they come to a stop, breathless. They did it. They succeeded. Jones holds the briefcase in his hand, contemplating the innocuous weight of it, compared to the sheer weight of the information it contains. He's part way through saying something when a voice stops him in his tracks.

The Brimstone-Scented Attaché stands in the mouth of the alleyway, knife pressed up against Shaw's throat. Hand over the briefcase.

He's not sure what happens next. He has the gun in his hand. Shaw's saying something to him but he can't make out any of the words. He knows he has to take the shot. Or to run. To ensure the briefcase stays in his possession at any cost. But he can't. He's frozen to the cobblestones, cycling through hundreds of options, everything that could go wrong. Shaw's mouth is moving but he can't hear anything over the blood rushing in his ears. Then Shaw jerks and the devil recoils with a howl. It happens so fast he barely registers what's happening. There's Shaw, on top of them, driving a knife into their body again and again until the devil finally stops moving.

There's something within the papier-mâché skin, trying to crawl out, and Jones comes back to himself, grabbing the body and dragging it out of eyesight of any passersby whilst Shaw stomps on any of the bees that attempt to emerge. He moves on autopilot, dismembering the skinsuit, whilst crushing any bees that get within range. When he turns around again, he notices Shaw looking at him, a bloodied handkerchief pressed against his neck. The undercurrent of discomfort is palpable. When he ultimately speaks, his voice is quiet. What happened back there?

There's no hiding from this. He knew this might happen the moment they decided to send him into the field. He's not cut out for this, and his deficiency has consequences. Regardless of what those may be, he owes Shaw honesty. That's the only way to be able to successfully work together.

I'm sorry. I panicked. There was... so much happening. And it would've been so easy to miss. And then there were the implications of killing them, of not killing them, of killing you. I... I froze. I'm sorry for that. It's not professional, and there's no good excuse for it. There's a reason I'm not usually in the field. He hopes it's enough.

No, no. It's alright... It was quite overwhelming. Shaw doesn't appear judgmental, nor angry. If anything... worried. Either way, It’s been handled - and wouldn’t have been able to do all that if they hadn’t been focused on you. So, try not to dwell on it.

He tries. It's only then that he realises just how blood-soaked Shaw's handkerchief has gotten. No chemical, Neathy or surface-sourced could possibly save it at this point. He takes out his own, offering it to Shaw. It's only at this moment that Shaw appears to become aware of the extent of the injury. Perhaps he should get home. Jones can walk him there, he doesn't live so far, from what he recalls, though Jones only has a vague recollection of where (he tries not to think of why he has this knowledge).

He slips his arm around Shaw, and pulls him close, carefully tilting his hat to cast the bloodstained collar of his shirt into shadow. To the casual observer they would simply look like a couple enjoying an evening stroll. Shaw leans into the illusion, up until the point they arrive at his front door. It's clear from the shift in the air that he remembers the last time they were both here. Jones wishes him a good evening, set to turn around and dispose of the body more permanently. They can have their post mortem after they've both slept.

It's only when Shaw pulls away from his side that Jones feels the bump of the object against his torso and remembers.

Wait, hold on. Slowly, he slides the pilfered record out from the inner lining of his jacket and presents his ill-gotten gains to Shaw, using force of will to keep his face perfectly blank.

Shaw breaks into delirious laughter.

[erotischer-lesestoff]

The pleasure booster

Chapter 19&20

That evening he asked himself the same thing again. Where was all this going? He sat at home in the living room bent over his diary and checked what he had written. It was the first longer entry for some time. Now he was reviewing the day and thinking about what they had agreed in the end: He would do everything to convincingly play a woman for Robert and thus make him happy on his birthday. He even had to make Robert a solemn promise.

Now that he thought about it, he wondered if Gabrielle had planned the whole thing and was only with him to get to this point? Kevin shook his head. No, that couldn't be the case. But one thing was clear: Gabrielle had turned his life upside down. Everyone thought he was gay, even himself, and now Robert even believed of him that he would have preferred to be a girl when he was young. How did Gabrielle come up with such a thing? Could it really have occurred to her spontaneously, as she said it? He had never said anything to her about it.

All Gabrielle knew was that Valentina had dressed him up as a girl on vacation and given him a lot of women's clothes, which he had put back on for Gabrielle's sake. It would have been better to throw the clothes away right after the holiday, but he had missed the chance. Late in the evening he went over his entries again, thought they were good and went to bed. But sleep was out of the question, too many thoughts swirling in his head.

He did not fall asleep until the early hours of the morning. It was a good thing he was off between the years, because the next day he felt groggy. But that quickly improved when Gabrielle called to remind him of the New Year's Eve party he had been invited to with her and Robert. She didn't say a word about what had happened the day before, and he was careful not to bring it up himself. Maybe it would all come to nothing. That would be fine with him. The two of them talked for quite a while. Gabrielle told him that she had heard that Jo was coming to the party and if he had a problem with that. He assured her that he wouldn't mind. Actually, that wasn't true, but he didn't want to spoil the mood. After all, he didn't have to pay much attention to Jo. They talked a bit more about what would happen at the party, when they would meet and how best to get there.

On New Year's Eve, everything went smoothly. The celebration took place in a private party cellar. Robert had drawn up the plans for the apartment building and had been in loose contact with the owners ever since. Kevin was once again the youngest at the event and felt a little out of place at first. He knew most of the guests, but it was still a different league that people were playing in. But it was the same as always, alcohol and probably some party drugs brought all the guests to the same level and the later the evening got, the more exuberant the atmosphere became. It went so far that Kevin even had an erotic experience. A couple friend of the host dragged him into a guest room where he gave the man a blow job in front of his wife. In the beginning she even participated, but Kevin took over the finals. This happened shortly after midnight. A few hours later, the guy wanted to use Kevin's services again, but fell asleep blissfully before the climax. Kevin didn't care. Considerately, he pulled up the pants of the blissfully snoring man and left him lying on the bed.

Later, it was already approaching six o'clock, he saw him again. Now in a slightly better condition. The guy just nodded at him and disappeared with his wife. A cab was also called for himself and Gabrielle together with Robert. When Kevin lay in bed a little later and he felt the after-effects of the alcohol, he realized that he had started the year with a gay act. With these thoughts, he fell asleep and didn't wake up until late afternoon. His internal clock was all messed up and he had been dreaming weird stuff. He was so confused that he had to look at the calendar to find out what day it was. New Year's Day, that was clear, but which day of the week?

He looked at the date and saw that it was a Saturday and thanked God for that. In the kitchen he made some instant soup and wondered if he should add some sausages to it. He decided against it because he didn't trust his stomach yet. Kevin laughed softly. He had already had a sausage today. His first spontaneous blow job. I wonder if the guy remembered him. His wife certainly did. She wasn't as drunk or drugged up as her husband. In the living room, he slowly spooned the hot soup into himself, watched TV and concentrated on his stomach. He felt a little uncomfortable, but the soup wouldn't come out.

Jo came to his mind. He hadn't shown up at the party. Too bad, Kevin thought, he would have liked it if Jo had noticed his actions with the couple. A moment later he was glad that Jo hadn't noticed. Maybe it would have been painful for him. Kevin sighed. Jo had been his first man. It was said that the first man was something special for a woman, but was that also true for him? Anyway, for today he didn't care. Kevin grew tired and went back to bed. Against all expectations, he slept through the night and woke up around five-thirty in the morning. Outside it was still dark and uncomfortable. The wind was howling around the windows. A day made for staying in bed. But Kevin was awake. He had caught up on all the sleep he needed.

So he made himself some toast and jam and tried to kill time by watching TV. A few hours later it was light, well, light was an exaggeration. It promised to be a gloomy day. Kevin lurked through the living room window, looking down at the street and parking lot. Some kids were looking for New Year's Eve firecrackers that hadn't exploded yet. Kevin remembered doing the same thing when he was a kid. He had even found some then, but he couldn't get them to explode. It would be the same for the children down there. He rubbed his forehead; it was already the second of January. The kids should have been looking for them on New Year's Day. Kevin rubbed his forehead again. They probably had, he just hadn't noticed because he had spent the whole day in bed.

That was a really wild bash! Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll, this saying came to his mind. Was it a saying or a song? Kevin didn't know, but that was it. Sex he had had, drugs, well, drugs he had not consciously taken, only alcohol. There was also music, not always to his taste, but very loud. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't believe that he had just given that guy a blowjob like that. A complete stranger! He shook his head, it must have been the alcohol. Alcohol disinhibits. Anyway, almost everyone at the party was more or less drunk, and who knows what else could have happened.

Kevin stored the experience away as a life lesson. He stood indecisively in his apartment, what should he do? He was bored, should he call Gabrielle? She was probably still in bed with Robert or had gone for a walk with him. Should he go out too? Kevin looked out of the window and lifted his shoulders. It had started to drizzle. Go out now? Better not. Better to go to bed and laze around. But Kevin didn't feel like doing that either. So he turned on his laptop. Jo had given it to him and hadn't asked for it back, just like the cell phone that Kevin now called his own. Oh yes, he thought, it was nice with Jo, if they were still together he wouldn't be bored. The thought of Jo made his penis move in the tight prison that was also a gift from Jo. A new chastity cage, higher quality than the one he had received from Gabrielle. He liked the tight feeling on his cock. Gabrielle's chastity device had given him that too, but it was harder to put on than the new one.

The laptop had booted up and Kevin sat in front of it indecisively. Although he was a child of the modern age, surrounded by WiFi, smartphones and the omnipresent internet, he had little to do with it. He didn't like to read, didn't like to hang out on social networking sites, and mostly just used his PC to watch movies. Yes, even cat videos. When that ended with Jo, he had looked around the gay scene on the Internet, but was quickly repulsed by it. It was mostly about fast and hard sex and Kevin couldn't relate to that.

He had read a few stories about it, but they were also mostly about fast, hard sex. One short story, however, was different. It wasn't about sex or anal sex or anything like that, but about the beginning of a romance. Two young men found each other. Both had only ever been with women and had no idea that they felt more for each other. It was only when one of them fell ill and the other spent a night at his bedside that they realized they had more in common than just a friendship. Kevin had gotten goose bumps while reading, he was so fascinated by this story. But now he didn't feel like searching the internet for stories like that, he just wanted to kill time, so he typed "YouTube", hoping to find something boring to watch until he got tired and could go back to bed. He fell asleep thinking that tomorrow everything would be back to normal.

Chapter 20

At first, everything seemed normal. Kevin woke up in the morning, went to the bathroom shivering, took a hot, long shower, and scurried back to the bedroom, teeth chattering, to get dressed quickly. Winter was not his time. He had to laugh as he imagined that his cock was probably even smaller now, all shriveled up in its tight prison.

It didn't really get light all day. Damn winter, Kevin thought, why can't it always be summer. You feel so much better when the sun is shining. By mid-afternoon it was dusk, and when Kevin got home it was completely dark outside the windows. Well, he said to himself, another day closer to summer. He took out his diary and was about to start writing when the doorbell rang.

Gabrielle stood in the stairwell and pushed past Kevin into the hallway. She looked at him with wide eyes and asked, "Why aren't you properly dressed?"

"I'm dressed properly," Kevin replied, looking at his girlfriend in confusion.

"You're supposed to be practicing," Gabrielle explained.

"Practice?" Kevin was even more confused now. What did Gabrielle want him to do?

"Robert's birthday. Don't you remember what we agreed?" Gabrielle explained.

It slowly dawned on Kevin what Gabrielle was getting at. He hadn't taken it at face value and hadn't expected her to be serious. He thought the whole thing was a stupid idea anyway and didn't want to make a fool of himself.

She didn't let him get away with it, reminding him of his promise and saying that Robert was looking forward to seeing Kevin in a short skirt.

Gabrielle also didn't accept the objection that Kevin didn't have anything suitable to wear and told him to put on his summer clothes first. The main thing was that he wore a skirt and a blouse. Kevin wanted to say that he no longer had the clothes, but he knew that Gabrielle would see through the lie. He tried to argue that the clothes would be wrinkled because he had put them back in the suitcase. But Gabrielle brushed that objection aside. She pulled Kevin into the bedroom and opened the closet.

"So the clothes are in the suitcase," she said triumphantly when she saw the blouses and skirts hanging neatly in the closet. In one of the drawers at the bottom of the closet, she also found the lingerie Kevin had brought back from his vacation.

"Hmm," she remarked critically as she examined a bra more closely, "you need to get some new bras, Robert likes big breasts."

Kevin looked at her questioningly.

Gabrielle grinned, "Don't look at me like I'm the eighth wonder of the world. Come on, get changed!" She took some clothes out of the closet and laid them on the bed. From a bag she had brought with her, still in her hand, she took a pair of shoes and a pair of pantyhose, still wrapped. She handed both to Kevin, who accepted them, lost in thought.

Gabrielle made another encouraging gesture and left Kevin alone. "I'll wait in the living room," she said as she left.

"I can't wear this." Kevin stood in the room, still holding the tights and shoes.

Gabrielle, already holding the door handle, said, "Of course you can, I've even seen you in them and you looked good in them."

Kevin tried to object.

Gabrielle wouldn't let him get a word in edgewise, "Remember, you promised Robert and me!"

Kevin sighed. He tried to make one last objection, saying that these were summer clothes and it was winter now. Gabrielle smiled and explained that they would buy matching dresses. For practice, these clothes should do. Without another word, Gabrielle left. Kevin stayed behind. For a moment he stood in the room undecided, then he shrugged and started to get dressed. What the hell, he thought, I'm doing Gabrielle a favor, she'll see for herself that this is a stupid idea.

After changing, he had to admit that he liked it, pleasant memories came back. The last thing he did was to put on his shoes. Gabrielle had brought a matching pair of sandals. Kevin wondered how Gabrielle knew his shoe size. The shoes fit well, but they had a wedge heel and were over three inches high. Kevin stumbled rather than walked as he entered the living room. Gabrielle looked up from the TV guide she was flipping through and smiled.

"You need to practice walking in women's shoes, too." She said as she stood up and tugged at Kevin's blouse and skirt. "Luckily we have four and a half months to do that."

That was not what Kevin wanted to hear. "I don't think I can do this," he said, and as he was about to continue, Gabrielle interrupted him.

"Of course you can! You're forgetting that I've seen you in these clothes before, and I've seen you move in them. The shoes are still unfamiliar, but you'll get used to them. They fit, don't they?"

"Yes, they do, but listen, I can't."

"You can," again Gabrielle didn't let him finish, "you promised, and Robert is counting on you to keep your promise."

"This whole thing is a crazy idea. Robert will die laughing when he sees me in these clothes."

"He won't," Gabrielle shook her head, "and do you know why? Because you'll be perfect. It'll be a lot of work, but I've never shied away from a task. We're going to fix you up so that Robert won't believe his eyes."

Gabrielle looked at him critically: "You are very slender, but with the right clothes we can conceal that. She lifted the hem of Kevin's skirt, looked at his legs and said: "Your legs look good." She shook her head and corrected herself: "That would be an understatement, your legs are perfect."

Kevin took two steps back, or rather, he wanted to take two steps back. Because of the shoes he could only take stumbling steps and almost fell. Gabrielle let the skirt slip from her fingers and looked up.

"This isn't going to work. Never!" Kevin looked at his girlfriend pleadingly.

"Yes it will," she countered, "it will work. You just have to work on yourself."

"What if I don't want to?"

"You promised."

"I don't care." Kevin made a dismissive hand gesture, "Then I'll just break my promise and - will the world end?"

"Robert would be very disappointed and so would I."

“I can live with that,” Kevin said defiantly.

Gabrielle looked at him, the corners of her mouth twitching, and suddenly tears ran down her cheeks. She tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come out.

Kevin regretted his words. Gabrielle's tears did not leave him cold. He took her hands, wanted to tell her gently that he still thought it was a stupid idea. But he couldn't get a sound out of her either. Instead, Gabrielle spoke now, sobbing softly, "Please Kevin." She only said the two words and then the tears flowed again. Kevin had to swallow, he too suddenly had water in his eyes. "I'll try."

Instead of an answer, Gabrielle took her friend in her arms and sighed softly.

After a few minutes, when emotions had returned to a normal level, the two sat on the couch and discussed what to do next. It felt strange for Kevin to be sitting next to Gabrielle in a skirt and blouse. Sure, she had seen him in it before, but it had only been for a brief moment and Kevin hadn't been wearing high heels.

The sandals bothered him while he was sitting. Because his feet were in an unnatural position, he didn't know where to put his legs. In the beginning he had sat with his legs wide apart, but that seemed strange, almost vulgar. Kevin shifted around a few times but couldn't find a comfortable position. Only when he oriented himself towards Gabrielle, put his feet together and tilted his legs slightly to the side, could he relax and follow Gabrielle's explanations.

She had thought it all through. He should put on a dress or skirt and blouse every day after work, not forgetting his shoes, and get used to the clothes. At Kevin's remark that he had few things to wear, Gabrielle laughed at first, then said that she would take care of it. When she also talked about matching underwear and makeup, it was almost too much for Kevin again. He wanted to protest, but Gabrielle reminded him of his promise. She tried to explain it from another side. By presenting himself to Robert as a pretty young woman, he would be the guarantor of their relationship, because Gabrielle knew that one day she would freak out if Robert continued to stare at strange women, and that would be the end of their relationship.

Gabrielle brushed aside Kevin's objection that he was not a woman. With a little practice and the right clothes, there would be no problems, and if Robert were to stare at him, have lustful thoughts, and then have hot sex with her, she would not feel jealous either. Kevin still had doubts. He was a man and not a woman, how could he be attractive to Robert? Practice, practice and more practice, Gabrielle said. Practice makes the master, she said, then improved and said, makes the perfect woman.

She also said that Kevin should look at other women. He should pay close attention to how they move, study their gestures and rehearse these observations for himself. Gabrielle also pointed out that there were lots of makeup tutorials on the Internet that he should look at and try on himself. Kevin's doubts continued to grow, and when Gabrielle started talking about his hair and earrings, it was too much. He stared at her and asked if she wanted to turn him into a woman. Gabrielle just smiled but said nothing.

They were both silent for a moment until Kevin shook his head and said, "It won't work."

"You're just too negative," Gabrielle replied. She looked into Kevin's eyes. "Look," she began, stopping herself to think, and then continued, "You were never a real man.

Kevin looked at her in disbelief, was about to open his mouth, but was interrupted by Gabrielle before he could say anything.

"No, listen to me," she said, "you've never been a real man and you'll never be one. I sensed that from the beginning of our relationship. I also sensed that you were more attracted to men than women, and now I sense that your feminine side, the woman in you, wants to come out." She took his hands, "If you listen deep inside you will realize that I am right and who knows, maybe as a child, as a boy, you really had the desire to be a girl?"

"But I never did," Kevin started to protest, then stopped himself and thought.

Gabrielle didn't give him time, "See, you're not sure there wasn't something there." She stroked his head gently, "Just let it out. You can't deny the woman inside you." Gabrielle took his hands again, looked at him and said, "Jo felt it too, he saw you as a woman too."

Kevin sighed. He still missed Jo and he had to agree with Gabrielle, his relationship with Jo had failed because he wasn't man enough. "I never wanted to be a girl," Kevin said quietly.

A joyful shiver ran through Gabrielle. She heard from Kevin's words that he was no longer sure. "I'm sure you repressed it," she said as quietly as Kevin and continued, "Maybe your life would have been very different if you'd given in to that inner urge."

Kevin shrugged, "I don't think so, I'm sure I never wanted to be a girl."

"One hundred percent sure?" asked Gabrielle.

Kevin wanted to answer but remained silent. He was confused, completely confused.

Gabrielle waited a moment to hear if he was going to say anything else, when he remained silent she stood up and said, "I'm going now, come back tomorrow, okay?"

Kevin nodded.

At the door to the living room, Gabrielle turned and said, "Please promise me you won't change right after I leave."

After a moment's hesitation, he promised her.

Click here for Chapter 21 & 22

https://erotischer-lesestoff.tumblr.com/post/779077164247154688/the-pleasure-booster

[astercontrol]

okay this is very tangential to that other post about the churchgoer who expressed outrage at someone wearing a backwards baseball cap at a Christmas Eve service and said "you can't make this up"

But I find it kind of sadly fascinating that so many of the things people claim "can't be made up" are like. the most mundane things, that would not even take more than the absolute minimum creativity to "make up"

if you were a writer trying to make up a scene where a character dressed in a way that the congregation might view as disrespectful for church, "wearing a backwards baseball cap" is like... probably the very first or second thing that a decent writer would reject as Too Cliched

"can't make it up" WTF. (Why? because every 10-year-old writing their first fanfic already did?)

...at one of my jobs, probably the worst one I ever had, I came in one day to see everyone, from the site manager to the entry-level employees, talking absolute vitriolic trash about some applicant who'd failed to show up for her interview on the scheduled day and then later called saying she'd be in for the interview on a different day. "Who does she think she is? The nerve! Like we're gonna give her a chance after she just straight up ghosted us" etc etc

And not once did anyone even mention what seemed to me like the obvious explanation (that there had been a misunderstanding about what day the interview was scheduled). And I knew that if I mentioned it, I'd just get disdain, because the culture of that workplace was "always assume deliberate malice, from everyone always" and if I broke that code I was clearly just the clueless newbie talking about things I didn't understand (and if I turned out to be right, then I'd get disdain with resentment-coated embarrassment on top, and none of that would be pleasant for anyone)

so I kept my mouth shut, and what do you know, it did turn out to be a scheduling miscommunication. Big surprise. And then I sat there with my mouth still shut, in a room full of coworkers expressing total astonishment and going "you can't make this stuff up!!!" over and over

... inwardly going, yes you can, jfc, it doesn't even take creativity, it is the first thought that pops into any reasonable person's head, what is wrong with this place

Anyway, I have a difficult time trusting people who say that something can't be made up.

Or at least I have a high threshold. It's gotta be a thing that I actually have some difficulty imagining how a person would make up.

And I've... very rarely seen the phrase used for anything like that.