#I can just see her “doing some shit like breaking the fourth wall | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tyran-the-tyranical · 3 months

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That one line from Raphael's Second Diary will never cease to get me 🥺 LIKE MIGHT I ADD- these are his private thoughts, separate from his manipulation attempts and so he, with his full chest, admits so much in his second diary, like when he says "never have I been so attracted to mortals as I am to those infested by the tadpole." AHH, (my delusions are so real, trust)

BUT WHEN HE SAYS "They gestured to the melting hooks, suddenly glanced my way, and in their face I saw they had the best of me." look, I get the subtext behind all these quotes, but a girl can just ignore all that media literacy and take it for face value, OK? 💅 but also reading into it, he does admire Tav to a certain extent, and I have to wonder, why? Tav isn't an origin character and Tav's actions and character basically changes with every playthrough (Same with Durge, as they can change too) So I have to wonder if it's because Tav is controlled by the player, since, Raphael does end up breaking the fourth wall in his epilogue speech, so perhaps that's what he sees.

Another way to look at it is, either way, no matter what the playthrough, he sees something in Tav, something that makes them stand out much brighter than their companions (For some reason???)

To further that statement, what is the best of Raphael? I mean, if its an evil playthrough, that would be obvious, but if you're playing a good playthrough, what then? perhaps what he sees is someone he can finally use to get the crown, that's also very likely. Still though that's a very to the point (IMO) not as interesting of a reading since it's literally just his end goal for us, BUT STILL A VALID ONE, because, it is true, that's what he wants from us the most.

Also his third diary where he just straight up admits that he's being so honest with us so he can manipulate us, love that for him, "I am master here. A prince of bargains cloaked like scarlet satin. All that hidden under sublimely obvious truths that cannot be discounted." Which also makes me wonder, is Raphael actually an honest person? I mean, Korilla thinks he's at least decent, but honest? outside of helping us, if we look at Yurgir, he really fucked him over lol. Obviously, Raphael isn't what he seems, even if he's honest with us, to what extent? he says it himself, he's honest about "...sublimely obvious truths..." but what about when he says he's grown quite fond of us in his own way, HMMMM?

I wish this man got a proper story arc in the game, outside of the whole deal for the hammer and House of Hope, that's all plot related for the hammer, but a storyline about Raphael as a character? I mean yea, maybe that would whisk away some of his mystery, his intrigue, but I'm sorry- you cant just end it with him fucking himself (poorly) and trying to break Hope (making her a metaphorical symbol of hope anyway, I think....) AND LEAVE IT THERE?!?!? at the same time, I do like the ambiguity of his character, you could think of him as a cruel bastard after seeing what he's done in the House Of Hope to his debtors and Hope herself or perhaps just a Pathetic lil guy who's shit in bed lol, or maybe even soft, if you go off Korillas words and what he does for us in game he can come across as quite nice, especially after we've interacted with Mizora who's is the only other Cambion example we can go off of.

I also just think it's interesting that he sees anything in Tav/Durge at all. Ofc he says he sees the best of him (Always gotta relate back to himself lol) but that especially a mortal is what he could see himself, the best of himself, but then again he does see potential and ambition as admirable (?) or just something he appreciates, you can see that with Mol and Gortash to some extent anyway, But what ambitions does Tav have outside of just trying to survive? Like, the obvious answer is he wants us to give him the crown and we're the underdog in the story but then why does he refer to Tav so differently then? I fear this has turned into another rant again, lol.

Just a final thought here, but, if he did ever get a story arc, similar to the companions, would they give you multiple directions to take his character? i mean with Shadowheart for example, you could help her break from shar or have her fully convert into shars chosen, but even then, if you free her from shar theres the point of saving her family or freeing her from Shars (curse?) there's multiple ways for her story to end. Though, Raphael isnt a companion, so would he have something similar to idk a minor companion like Halsin or Minthara, who don't really have that much of a diversion (I think) in their endings, they don't really have the option, only really if the player decides to be evil or not, they kinda just follow them either way, it doesn't really impact their own stories. Obviously, I would prefer something with nuance but also, HE ISN'T A COMPANION 😭 and pressingly some of the companions need more work done than he does atm lol. Maybe that's me just projecting lol, once again, me wanting to have my cake and eat it too, anyway, that's me done... for now lol

#baldurs gate raphael #bg3 raphael #raphael bg3 #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 raphael #baldur's gate raphael #raphael the cambion #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 korilla

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minimoefoe · 21 days

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space babies and the devil's chord first watch thoughts

a couple of these are things i wrote down while watching but most is off the top of my head afterwards. will probs rewatch in the week and be more on it writing down thoughts etc

spaces babies

starting the episode with however many minutes of the doctor telling ruby his life story is... idk. defo didn't hate it but also it felt very powerpoint-y like they're just tryna get all the info out and hit the bases for the new viewers. which is partly understandable and i do think it make sense for the new therapised doctor to be willing to give out info about himself but that coupled with him giving her the key at the end of the ep is like hm i maybe woulda preferred her to find out misc stuff over time? not just have his life story dumped on her when they've just met??? idrk.

with prev eras, that stuff came over time or with 13 the fam finding out about where the doctor was from was a big thing bc it took a whole season and also there was meaning behind it, she was just telling them to get them to stop asking. where as this doesn't feel as deep? it felt, like i said, more about telling the audience than about anything else. even if it does make sense he'd be willing to be open bc of his new therapised self and also the fact him and ruby relate in certain ways so he might feel closer to her quicker

the exact same phone trick that nine did with rose is so... another thing that's like okay fine and also that rose scene was 19yrs ago now so it's not like it happened recently but it being by the same writer is like maybe think of something new. at least the scenes weren't in the same context like with nine and rose it was right after a fight but this was more chill

the doctor purposely scaring the babies was so 😭😭😭

the babies were so cute like. i low-key felt a bit teary when we first met them and they were saying about being alone or whatever it was

some review mentioned that the doctor said 'space babies' a lot and yeah he did and i noticed it every time and idk if that's bc of the review mentioning it or if i woulda noticed anyways but either way it was annoying

ruby sunday monday tuesday wednesday

fifteen and ruby have good banter idk i didn't list every moment but they're defo good together

gonna be real idk why they didn't just let that bogeyman die like. was he or was he not tryna kill them for half the episode. call him a baby but that is not a baby. that ending felt strange idrk

overall a good ep, gave it 3.5/5. has potential to be a 4/5 on rewatch but we'll see

the devil's chord

maestro i doubted you but i stan kinda

the scenes that were released as sneak peaks were WAYYYY better in the actual context of the episode

a susan mention in the year of our lord 2024 is craaaazy. loved it but again is like my first space babies point where it kinda feels like stuff is being revealed to kinda give new viewers back story?? but ALSO susan finally getting mentioned by name is great and what she deserves so idk

one review said ruby was 'casually bisexual' and i did watch these eps at 6/7am so maybe i missed something but.. i didn't notice a single bi ruby moment

maestro mentioning the one who waits at the end was like omfg can we be more creative. i am really into what this season is doing and the toymaker being maestro's dad is really cool but can we find ways of hinting at stuff that isn't literally just a character saying 'they're coming'. it's so lazy

not sure why there's been a six month time skip between episode one and two???? just to keep up with our time? very unnecessary and i feel like doesn't fully work bc ruby has FRESH companion vibes still (like how by now she would defo have found out that shit going bad in the past would fuck up her life in the future but she didn't) but we're i guess supposed to believe it's been six months? whatever

all the fourth wall breaking isn't my fave

why was there a song and dance at the end i know it was music ep but it felt strange/unnecessary

the doctor aggressively pointing the sonic at maestro was so funny like. worried ppl would play guns on the playground with the old sonic design and then you have the doctor do that lol very unserious

the next time trailer looked really cool i'm looking forward to more darker eps, these were mostly just fun

gave this ep 4/5. could go down, defo won't go up i don't think

#doctor who #doctor who spoilers #dw spoilers #dw live #ruby sunday #fifteenth doctor

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str4wb3rrys1mp · 1 year

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HII! How are are :D I see your a new writer, and I wanted to send a request to you and it hopefully won’t be to hard to do, so since you write for creepypasta….

May I request Homicidal Liu, Jeff The Killer, Brain/Hoodie and Jane The Killer with a Male!S/O who has a Cutthroat Personality from Akudama Drive?

I hope that’s fine with you ^^ thank you so much! Have a wonderful day :D

Omg yes ofc I havnt seen this one but I'll have to watch it!! But I cant write hoodie for shii srry :(( Also I'm good hry?

JANE THE KILLER

Jane admired your childlike wonder, but was a bit jealous of it at the same time.

One night she had broken into your house, initially thinking she'd be in and out like usual.

So imagine her surprise when cute little you not only held your ground but managed to flip her onto her back, making a loud thud on the ground.

Tbh baffled for like five seconds.

After a bit more back and fourth you both hear a knock at your room door, making you and Jane freeze.

Your roommate called your name and asked what the hell you were doing at 2:37 in the morning.

Jane, luckily gave you some time to answer him, before shooting you a grin and dashing to and out of your second story window.

A bit concerned for her, you hurried to your window, but Jane was nowhere to be seen. JEFF THE KILLER

Somehow your friends had convinced you to go into the creepy haunted woods behind your backyard.

When Jeff first say you mf prolly went feral.

Like,, drooling, the whole nine yards feral. 💀

But when your group actually saw him, he was stoic, the most you'd get was him staring at you from the back of the room.

And than you managed to throw hands with THE PROXIES?? managing to break one of BEN's console cords and strangled Masky for nearly five seconds??

Now he's just plane impressed, you don't look the type, in your pastel outfit with a white and pink sailor hat atop your head, but Jeff knows that looks can deceive.

Somehow mans managed to pull you into another room away from the chaos, and proceeds to ask you to "Show him your strength"

so naturally you think,, oKAY maybe he wants me to punch the wall?? idk man

BUT THEN this GROWN ASS man holds out his hand, beckoning for you to grab it, so you do and mf sticks his thumb up and challenges you to a thumb war

so after you kick Jeff's shit in and beat him, he agrees to show you out of the mansion.

He helps you load your bloody and bruised friends into the car that you took to get here, assuring you they weren't dead, they just needed immediate medical attention.

right before you got into your car, Jeff turns you around and asks a question.

"Can I get ya number prettyboy?" HOMICIDAL LIU

Liu had known you since 4th grade, so you didn't necessarily scare him.

most of the time

You've always been like this, but you were really cool! He swears! Just give it some time.

However what does freak Liu out, is when someone makes a comment or a joke that you don't like, because you go deadly silent.

If looks could kill man, these mfs would be long gone.

AND THEN you can just go back to laughing and looking so happy like you didn't just try to murder someone with a glare???

Also freaky, in his humble opinion.

#creepypasta #creepypasta x y/n #creepypasta x reader #creepypasta x male reader #jeff the killer #jeff the killer x reader #jeff the killer x y/n #jane the killer #jane the killer x reader #jane the killer x y/n #homicidal liu x reader #homicidal liu #homicidal liu x y/n #badass reader

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wisefoxluminary · 5 months

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My thoughts on The Church of Ruby Road

SPOILERS AHEAD

The Church of Ruby Road is such a stellar introduction into a new era of Doctor Who. It just has this whimsical sense of adventure and emotion that I love to see in Doctor Who. I like that Russell T. Davis embraces the camp and brings inclusivity into the franchise. It makes the story feel more tender and really resonating to watch.

Ncuti Gatwa might be my favourite iteration of the Doctor we've gotten so far. He's just so charismatic and he owns every scene that he is in. You can just feel his infectious energy radiate off the screen. He feels like someone I'd want to be best friends with.

I really like Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday, she really stood out in this episode. She seemed so clumsy and loveable. Everything about her backstory is really intriguing, I want to learn more about where she came from and who her birth mother is. The way Davina was talking about there being no records of her family makes me think they are something not of this earth or located somewhere beyond space and time. She gives me strong Rose Tyler/Clara Oswald vibes and I think that will play a key role in her story going forward. I think she will have some power or type of destiny awaiting her like Rose had with Bad Wolf but that's just my theory.

The chemistry between Ncuti and Millie was so good, they really seem like good friends who gossip a lot and you feel that in every scene they share together. I also liked the relationship between Ruby and her adoptive mum. The fact she fostered 33 children and was able to bring happiness to her house because of Ruby was something I found really touching.

I liked Davina McCall's cameo as I found the way they included her show Long Lost Family in the episode and tied that in to Ruby's search for her family to be really smart. The fact she got the same bad luck as Ruby and got impaled by a Christmas tree was hilarious. I'm glad The Doctor saved her lol.

The Goblins were wee little shits who were doing everything they can to fuck up poor Ruby's life. Their song by Janis Goblin was so catchy and morbidly dark and when The Doctor and Ruby started singing, that was so unexpected yet amazing. Their voices were so good! They need to make Doctor Who a full blown musical at this point.

I liked the twist that the Goblins hunted babies using coincidence and time as that was really compelling. I was so scared when Ruby was erased from existence, I thought Ruby and The Doctor's relationship would be ruined forever. I'm glad The Doctor fixed everything and returned time to normal in the end.

Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood seems like a interesting character. Her fourth wall break at the end was so funny. I wonder if she has a past connection to The Doctor as she seemed very familiar with the tardis.

That trailer at the end there has my blood pumping with excitement! I can't wait for May 2024!

#doctor who #fifteenth doctor #ruby sunday #ncuti gatwa #millie gibson #the church on ruby road #review #doctor who spoilers #it is so good!!!

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misseviehyde · 1 year

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BAD-BARGAIN

This is a tribute story to one of my favourite artists and online friends. Ashley Hacksaw whose OC Vivian is a sexy slime Goddess. Please check out her work at @hacsaw8 on Twitter. Vivian is her character and I have posted this with her permission.

Billy cowered and whimpered as he listened to his bully Josh tearing up and down the corridor outside the computer room looking for him.

"You can't hide for long nerd, my mates have the exits blocked. I'm gonna tear your fucking head off when I find you. Come out!"

Hiding behind a row of computers, his palms sweaty and his heart pounding, the computer nerd had no intention of complying. Billy was small and weak, Josh powerful and strong. The muscled quarterback was the biggest bully at school and had put people who crossed him into hospital, so perhaps hacking into his social media accounts and sending nudes of Josh's huge cock to every girl at school (including the female teachers) to get him into trouble hadn't been such a good idea.

No one had known it was him of course, but Billy hadn't been able to resist the temptation to brag about what he'd done and now the whole school knew after someone had blabbed. It didn't matter really who had got him in the shit, as soon as he told one person it was inevitable the secret would get out.

And now he was dead.

There was no way out of the computer room and this section of the school. The exits were blocked and Josh would find him soon. What was he going to do?

Hahahahahah!

An amused female voice, sexy and confident with a mischievous and slightly malicious catch to it was laughing near his head. He nearly jumped out of his skin until he realised it was coming from one of the computer monitors.

"What the hell?" he gasped as he lifted his head a little to look at the screen.

A strange... creature... was looking out of the screen with a toothy white grin, breaking the fourth wall and regarding him with big hypnotic eyes. She was clearly female... VERY DEFINITELY female, with curves in all the right places and huge round breasts. Her body was entirely black and her skin looked strangely latexy, as if it could stretch and flow at will. Magnificent red hair cascaded down from her head, flickering and flowing like it was alive like the flames of a fire. Pointed ears swept back from a beautiful perfect face, with full firm lips and the cheekbones of a Goddess. She tapped her face thoughtfully with long sensuous nails... or were they claws?

Hello Billy. I'm Vivian.

Billy backed away, terrified beyond his wits. Was this some prank? An AI accidentally left loaded on the computer, or just some youtube video left open? But no... it.... SHE... had spoken to him. It seemed like her voice was being projected directly into his head. Like she was rooting through his mind.

Oh dear Billy. You're really in the shit aren't you? I like to flow and surf through the web looking for fun and I was drawn by the drama of this situation. You're a weak, pathetic little boy about to be destroyed by a strong powerful Alpha. I really don't see any hope for you and I thought it would be fun to watch. I can really cum hard to something like this.

"This... this isn't real. I'm having a fucking mental breakdown," whimpered Billy - his troubles with Josh forgotten. "What the fuck are you?"

Ohhhh, I'm lots of things. A void creature from another dimension, an all powerful slime Goddess, a sex obsessed little slutty bitch - I'm so fucking much that reality struggles to contain my power. I have to spend most of my time existing here, though I like to pop into reality from time to time. This situation is kinda intriguing. How about I pop through now and say hi.

Billy's head felt fuzzy and he thought he was going to faint as the screen began to bulge. Then with a pop, a sexy head with a crown of dark flames and long red hair pushed through. Moaning and grunting, using her clawed hands to drag herself forward - Vivian pulled herself out of the screen with a hot wet gloop. Her body slid out till with a plop she landed on the floor in front of Billy. She smelled delicious and being near her, Billy felt a strange dusky pheromone rising from her body that made him unbearably horny. Her body... her skin... her hair. He wanted to reach out and touch her, to feel that body.... to know what it was like.

Vivian was tiny, she stood at full head height with her lips at his crotch. For some reason that made his dick twitch hard and the thought of what she could do from that position made him groan with lust. He noticed now for the first time that her hair was so long and thick it was like a tail. It swished behind her like a cat. He wondered how it would feel to grab onto it, to use it to pound her harder. What the fuck was wrong with him?

Her hypnotic eyes held his gaze and she tossed her amazing hair sexily with another wicked grin.

"Like what you see? Unfortunately for you, my scent drives losers like you wild. You're already falling under my control. You see... I can't manifest long in real life without a host. I need someone inside me... I need someone to BECOME me. So I wanna make you a bargain. Get inside me Billy. Become me and I'll protect you from that nasty bully."

As if summoned by her words, Billy heard Josh laugh in triumph from outside. "There's only one place you can be loser, I'm on my way to the computer room."

Jumping up onto the computer bench Vivian spread her legs wide and giggled. Between her wicked thighs Billy could now see a tight slit, a hot wet pussy that was already dripping with lust.

"Fuck your way inside me Billy... get your dick inside my slot and let me flow all over you. Thrust and fuck your way into Goddess until YOU ARE me."

Vivian's obscene scent was blotting out all thought. Her body seemed to ooze power and the thought of mounting her, pushing into her, becoming her was getting too hot to resist. As Vivian he would be unstoppable and safe from the pathetic bully. By allowing her to possess him, Billy would never be weak again.

"Yesssssss," he hissed eagerly as Vivian grinned happily.

"Oh I love it when guys get horny to become me. Hurry up and get inside, I wanna feel you inside me."

Dropping his pants, his cock hard Billy advanced. Vivian eagerly slid forward to meet his cock, moaning as he pushed into her for the first time. "Yessss that's it baby, TAKE ME!"

"Oh my GOD!" screamed Billy. He was a virgin and had never fucked a pussy, so not only was Vivian his first but he had never felt anything so good. Her legs wrapped round his waist, dragging him in even deeper as her hungry pussy seemed to suck and pump him in with every thrust.

"Give yourself to me Billy," hissed Vivan. "Become my boy-host."

"Ohhh my God, I want to become you so badly, take me!" groaned Billy as Vivian's grin nearly split her face and with a laugh she began to melt and ooze all over Billy. Vivian turned to sticky black goo, Billy melting inside and it closing up around him as he jerked and pumped with desperate thrusts.

His cock began to erupt, sperm blasting out everywhere as Vivian absorbed him inside her body, her hair coiling around his head and rooting into his scalp. He felt her claws spring from his fingers, her breasts greedily suck onto his chest. Her face closed over his and he gave her his soul, becoming a willing passenger in his own body as Vivian took full control.

Vivian giggled, her red hair moving as if it had a mind of it's own. She was bigger now - temporarily human sized now she was on a host, and her breasts were even bigger. With Billy inside her, she no longer needed to concentrate on holding her form and now all her powers were at her disposal.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?!"

Vivian raised an eyebrow and laughed as she saw that Josh had finally found her. He had stormed halfway into the room expecting to see Billy, but now as his eyes drank in the monstrous, yet alluring creature in front of him - it was clear he didn't know what to do.

"Hello baby," laughed the slime Goddess. Raising her arms, she levitated slightly into the air and floated across the room towards Joshua... his mouth dropping open as he beheld her true power.

"Wh... what the hell are you?" he gasped in confusion.

"Call me Vivian. That little nerd you want to destroy is inside me, so unfortunately you can't touch him anymore. What he doesn't realise though is that I LOVE a mean bully Alpha. I want you to fuck me Josh. His tiny dick barely satisfied me, but I know you have more to give me."

Josh groaned, Vivian's proximity making him horny and unable to resist. This creature was like no woman he had ever known before, yet somehow she was the sexiest and most wicked creature he had ever beheld. She was making him horny in ways a mortal woman never had.

"My pussy is tighter... my body better than any bitch you've ever fucked baby. I can make you cum so hard you'll be pumping cum into me until your balls run dry. And best of all - all that cum will be going into Billy as well. Just think of him - deep inside me, absorbed but still conscious of every feeling. Helpless to stop you breeding me with your Alpha bully cum until he is addicted to the taste."

Sinking to her knees, her hair whipping out and dragging down Josh's pants, Vivian opened her mouth and slid her thick wet lips around his cock.

Glug, glug, glug.

Joshua moaned as Vivian's sucking mouth slurped and worked up and down his throbbing cock. She didn't appear to need to breathe, so the suction was constant and perfect. Her claws played with his balls, tickling them as her perfect goo like body sent shivers of pleasure into him.

Josh gasped - he'd never had a blowjob this intense, this perfect before. It was like being sucked off by a greedy hoover desperate for cum. It was too much, and with a heaving groan he began to cum.

Vivian moaned happily, gulping down thick loads of hot white cum. Deep inside her, Billy groaned as it flowed into him - his own bullies semen flowing into his stomach.

"Mmmmmh more," she gasped pulling her head off his cock and laying back. Her hair whipped out and dragged Josh in and he groaned as his massive cock slid effortlessly inside her pussy. He had only just cum, but the feelings were so intense and so good that in moments he was horny again.

"Yessss fuck me Joshua," groaned Vivian. "You're such a fucking stud, so much better than Billy. Pump more cum inside me. Pump it in my pussy, my ass - cream me so he's drowning in your semen."

Joshua was only too happy to obey. He groaned as he erupted again, and Vivian screamed in happiness as cum blasted deep inside her and within her perfect body Billy was pumped full of more and more.

"I can't believe I ever considered using Billy as my host," laughed Vivian as Joshua remained buried in her pussy - her legs wrapped round his waist. "It's time to upgrade. Become me Joshua. You know you want this body. Take me from Billy."

Joshua wanted it. He wanted Vivian's body, her power for himself. "Yes bitch, give me your fucking body. Make me into you!"

"Yes Joshua, take it - I'm yours!" screamed Vivian and he began to pound and thrust into her. Each sucking pump of his huge cock now caused Vivian's body to flow and melt, sucking backwards and over his skin.

"NOOOOOO!" screamed Billy as Vivian was ripped off him by his bully. Joshua laughed triumphantly as Vivian flowed all over him - her oozing black slime eagerly attaching to his superior body.

Standing up, the last of Vivian merging with her new host - the slime Queen looked down at her body with glee. Joshua's huge cock still jutted from her crotch. His muscled body meant that she was now over six feet in height and muscled and toned.

She looked down at Billy whimpering below her. He had cum oozing out of his mouth, his ass - it was all over his face and in his hair.

"Look at how pathetic you are Billy," she giggled. "Did I forget to warn you - I'm really bad at sticking to bargains. I just take what I want when I want it. Merged with Joshua, now I'm even more powerful and he LOVES being me."

Grabbing Billy's hair she dragged him up. "Thanks to your little stint inside me, you're now addicted to Joshua's cum. But don't worry, I can give you plenty more."

Moaning and grinning with her wicked toothy smile, Vivan gasped as she slid her huge cock into Billy's eager mouth and he began to suck.

"Good boy, you're my personal cumslut from now on."

Vivian felt herself relax nicely as Billy sucked her off. She was going to enjoy manifesting in this town. She'd spend a few weeks here corrupting and fucking everyone she pleased - then perhaps she'd leave and dive back into the net.

Afterall - there was always another loser looking to make a bad bargain with her.

THE END

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zorlok-if · 7 months

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if the zorlok cast were bg3 characters, what would they be and what kind of decisions would they make?

I'm assuming you mean who they would be in BG3 and not what kind of characters they would play. Also, hmm, don't want to give away spoilers here, so if you look below the cut you can see what I think they'd be up to (just beware of spoilers).

Tommy: Human, Level 9 Warlock (Fiend + Chain) / Level 3 Bard (Valour)

Dev: Wood Elf, Level 11 Rogue (Thief) / Level 1 Warlock (Archfey)

EJ: Human, Level 12 Sorcerer (Wild Magic)

Adam/Eve: High Elf, Level 7 Cleric (War) / Level 5 Paladin (Vengeance)

Lucía: Half-Elf (Wood), Level 7 Ranger (Gloomstalker) / Level 5 Rogue (Assassin)

Ciel: Lightfoot Halfling, Level 6 Barbarian (Wildheart) / Level 6 Druid (Moon)

Danny: Drow (Seldarine), Level 9 Paladin (Oathbreaker) / Level 3 Warlock (Fiend + Blade)

The Celestial: Aasimar Forest Gnome, Level 10 Wizard (Transmutation) / Level 2 Cleric (Knowledge)

Rose: Human, Level 12 Bard (Lore)

[Beware of Spoilers Below!]

Tommy

Not romancing anyone (obviously, he's 15)

Best friends with Wyll, Karlach, and Gale. Shadowheart is too cool for him, he's way too intimidated by her. Lets Astarion do whatever the hell he wants. Lae'zel scares the shit out of him. Adopted by Halsin the moment he meets him.

Just wants to hang out with the cool tiefling kids

Very easily persuaded by Raphael. Wyll and Karlach are constantly trying to talk some sense into him.

Aylin is the coolest person he's ever met

Sobbing his way through the horrors of Faerûn—I can see him in a little crumple at Withers feet, blowing his nose on Withers' decaying robes as bone daddy breaks the fourth wall and stares into the camera miserably

Eventually hardens into a truly terrifying force to be reckoned with (Karlach is very proud)

Tommy has two hands, one for Scratch and one for the owlbear

Dev

Romancing non-Ascended Astarion and fucking Halsin occasionally, Lae'zel and Shadowheart are xyr besties (xe forces them to get along), Gale amuses the hell out of xem, Wyll and Dev are constantly trying to one up each other's stories

It's either Ethel or Volo, whoever xe comes across first, but that eye's out of xyr head comically fast

Just wants to talk shit with Withers all day, hates that he never has much to say to xem

Wants to kick the shit out of Rolan but keeps saving his life somehow

Always covered in blood. Like it doesn't make sense half the time. How did that much blood splatter on xem? Why is it still on xem?

Absolutely head over heels in love with Gale, friends with and trying to fix everyone, Astarion terrifies them but they won't give up on him, they know there's a good person hiding beneath that veneer

Panicked and accidentally yeeted a gnome

Tried a tadpole once, wasn't for them

Holding Gale's hand and squinting through every dark space

Sleeps cuddling the owlbear and is always covered in feathers

Adam/Eve

In a relationship with Lae'zel, didn't get along at first but Laez grew to respect A/E and A/E was charmed by Lae'zel's... strengths. Shadowheart is their sister, hates it when the girls are fighting. Friends with Gale and Karlach. Doesn't trust Wyll fully. Never let Astarion join them. Immediately enamored with Halsin but Lae'zel is... stronger.

Normally out of spell slots cause they're terrified of long resting

Loves potions and alchemy, will stop every 30 meters to pick yet another sprig of balsam

Doesn't make deals with villainous beings. Doesn't trust any voices in their head. Doesn't respect any gods they come across.

Loviatar loves them

Lucía

In a relationship with Karlach, best friends with her and Wyll, had a crush on Shadowheart before meeting Karlach, never liked/trusted Astarion and staked him the minute he tried to put his fangs on her throat, Jaheira is her idol, probably left Lae'zel to die (cause she didn't want to upset Shadowheart)

Speaks to every single animal, picks every single lock, looks in every single barrel, fails almost every charisma check

Scratch is always by her side

Will go to Hell for her besties 😉🥲

Ciel

Dating Shadowheart, really close with Astarion and Minthara... But, seriously, they have a big redemption arc. They grow and change alongside Shadowheart, both goth edgelords are completely changed by the end

Starts the game eating every tadpole (like the Guardian barely has to suggest the idea, it's already in their mouth) but goes one step too far and suddenly becomes terrified of what it means to be monstrous(/illithid)

Diplomacy? Ha. Sorry, that's not for them. They only like talking to animals and corpses.

Loves permanently seeing invisibility...

A loot goblin, their high strength score is great for fighting and jumping and shit, but mostly for the increased carrying capacity

Mol is their idol

Danny

I'm honestly not sure who they'd be in a relationship with, I think they'd be close with everyone but I don't think they'd be in a headspace for anything more than friendship over the course of the game, maybe after the fact they'd grow closer with Shadowheart but that would just be my headcanon, they wouldn't romance anyone (no matter how much Withers mocks them for it)

They are doing everything they think is right in the moment, though they'd regret rash actions later

They empathize greatly with the undead and hate people like Balthazar who twist them to their will

No one threatens a child in their presence. Well, no one who's still alive.

They cannot pretend to be under the Absolute's thumb, they are going in swinging every time, no chance for diplomacy or manipulation

They pick up a teddy bear early on and it never leaves their inventory

The Celestial

In a physical relationship with Halsin, slept with Astarion but now they're just very good friends, sees Karlach, Wyll, and Shadowheart as eir children, loves and is very intrigued by Lae'zel, doesn't like Gale at all (cannot and will not trust a wizard like him)

Always has the Disguise Self spell going, and it's always a different disguise

Eir traveler's chest is filled with the weirdest collection of random shit you've ever seen: noble portraits, rotten eggs, gold chalices, a couple goblin corpses, poutine, 30 mindflayer tadpoles, etc.

Chats with every corpse, even the ones ey killed

Lorroakan can (and does) eat shit

Despises everything about Orin, zero redeemable qualities—even her shapeshifting, eugh, it's so... crude, no grace or skill

The moment the Celestial learns Otto's Irresistible Dance is the last moment Faerûn knows peace

Rose

In a passionate romance with Wyll but he's very good friends with everyone (they are all his children)

Does everything within his power to avoid violence. Will charm, sing, and sneak his way across Faerûn

Adopts every child and animal he comes across

The hardest thing he has to do is tell people to stay in camp. Why can't everyone always be in his party? They all make him feel so bad...

Always taking long rests (doesn't want people being tired or hurt) and spends an hour cooking a delightful meal with Gale every night

#yes i'm a habitual multiclasser #if you can't tell #thanks for the ask!#asks #bg3 #cast #tommy #dev #ej #a/e #adam/eve #lucía #ciel #danny #the celestial #rose #dnd

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rykno-j · 2 days

Text

Reschedule (H/elluva B/oss)

Happy Birthday @selfindulgentsuffering!!

tada! This is for you, thanks for getting me into this show, and I hope i did alright.

ship: s/tolas x b/litz (i forgot the ship name)

s/tolitz?

disclaimer: they might be out of character since, well, i dont really know how to write dialogue but fuck it! am i right? also theres a true lack of snz in the fic, apologies for that, plot took over.

word count: 2k

---------------------------

"Pick the fuck up, you dick obsessed piece of shit-!" Blitz hurled his phone onto the ground, shattering it in the process. Seriously, this was like the fourth? Fifth? Sixth? time he broke one and it was always (mostly) due to that shitty bird.

It's not like he expected a whole reception for his monthly visit to the mansion to return the book, but it was unlike Stolas to just straight up ignore him for the past couple of days.

Not that he.. cared or anything like that, fuck no.

Well whatever, he might as well start scaling the walls if he planned to reach the bedroom anytime soon, an endeavor which would have been much easier if he wasn't lugging the huge book around.

Finally reaching the balcony, Blitz took a quick look around to check for security before ramming straight into the tainted glass windows.

What the fuck? Since when did he lock his doors? Stolas practically didn't care about his own safety, always shitting around and expecting someone to save his ass, it was annoying, really.

Tap tap. Tap tap tap tap. "STOLAS, BEFORE I BREAK THIS FUCKING SHIT DOWN YOU BETTER-"

"..Blitzy?"

To his left, Stolas peeked his head out of the ajar door. In silence, Blitz looked towards the window he was pounding, then at the door, then back at the window again.

"Oh so you still don't lock your doors." (completely ignoring the fact he tried opening a fixed window)

Inviting the imp into his room, Stolas returned to the edge of his bed, curling up in his sleeping robes. He was unsure why Blitz had come to visit, he was sure the full moon was not here for at least a few more nights.

"What? I got a stain on my shirt? Whyya looking at me like that?"

"Hm? Oh I was just wondering what you're doing here Blitzyy, breaking into my bedroom of all places especially-"

"Are you fucking serious Stolas? I'm here to return your damn book."

"O-Oh its that time of the month already?" Fuck he had been asleep longer than he thought.

"Yeah yeah poor you," Blitz mumbled, shoving the book back into its designated hole in the shelf. He then hopped off, starting the action of unbuttoning his shirt while walking towards the bed.

"Blitzy dear, what are you doing~?"

"Seriously, Stolas. Is this confusion act another one of your bird kinks? ..Eh you know what? You do whatever you want, I'm just here to do whatever I need to."

As Blitz advanced towards him, Stolas started back crawling deeper into the sheets, tripping over his robes in the process, leaving him pinned under the other's shadow.

"I uh, this might not be the best time Blizty, you see uh- well, Octavia is home tonight and I would hate to wake her up with, uh, well, sex sounds."

"Oh I can keep you quiet alright, just you watch."

"Oh! No, please! I could, well, we should, reschedule this, r-really. You see, I'm not really, uh, in the mood right now." Stolas forced out a smile, trying his best to ignore the little pulse of pain in his head.

"You serious? I lubed up and shit for this!" Blitz groaned, rolling his eyes as Stolas feebly struggled against his hold. "What's with all these fallen feathers anyway," he gestured towards the mass of fluffies all over the bed. "Been sleeping with someone else?"

"Oh Heavens no."

"Masturbating, then?"

"Oh never! Not when I have a glorious imp dick such as y'hh! yours!" With a sudden burst of strength, Stolas pushed Blitz's weight off of him, rolling to the side to stand. "But seriously Blitzy, you should go."

"I didn't come all this way just to be turned down by-"

"hih-'tshh! 'tcshh!"

"some-"

"ng'tshH!"

"cock hungry-"

"snff- ungh"

"Hey uh, you okay there?" Blitz asked, his voice tinged with a hint of worry. Normally, he wouldn't have got so far in his speech before Stolas would completely take over, ramping up the horniness to the maximum before pulling his pants down.

"Just f-fine darling~" Stolas laughed in response, though his voice sounded strained to say the least.

"Hmm.." Blitz scurried up behind the other, pulling on his arm when he won't look his way. "Nah you're hiding something. No horny remark, no dirty talk of how much you want to be dicked, something is wrong here, Stolas. You held at gun point or something?" Blitz climbed up the bedframe to reach Stolas' eyelevel. "Need me to off someone for you?"

"Noo, oh no, of course not! Just-"

"Just?"

"I've just been, well.. feeling a little unwell, that's all."

"Oh that's all?" Blitz hopped off the bed pole. "Gotcha, I'll get my guys at I.M.P to send over another care package to you. How was the last one we sent? Good enough?"

"It was.. brilliant. The fork really.. helped. Uh, soo Blizty? Could we discuss a reschedule of this.. thing?" It hadn't occurred to Stolas that moving their fuck-date to another night would mean the other takes his leave now.

"Hm? Yeah of course, but what's there to discuss? I'll come down a few days later to pick up the book and fuck you. Sounds good? Great, alright. I'll uh, see you then."

Before Blitz could take even a single step towards the balcony, a thin hand reached out to stop him.

"W-Wait!"

"What?"

"Oh! Uh, sorry." Stolas released his grip, brushing his hand awkwardly on his robe. His body had acted subconsciously. He had not meant to do that. "Well, I was wondering if you'd like to stay over for the niii-dinner! Dinner. Well I've not had dinner yet, so whaddayousay?"

"Fine."

"Oh please Blitzy, it would- wait. What did you say?"

"I said fine. Now, can you actually cook or are we just going to eat cereal again?"

And so cereal for dinner it was, if you could even call it dinner. To Blitz, it was more akin to watching Stolas struggle and fail to stay awake every 30 seconds. His head feathers (hair?) was a mess, puffing out in several angles that could normally only be achieved after a night of rough sex.

"S-Stolas look. If you wanna go to bed, you can just go."

"But I've been doing nothing but sleep for the past few dayys Blitzy, I wna spend time awake with youu."

"You're being fucking weird." Blitz stood, picking Stolas up with minimal effort. "Look, I came here to fuck you and that's it. I'm not your dinner date or your playmate, okay?"

"I know.." But truly, it was unsure at all if the bird was really listening or not. "I've just been so lon- and I just wanted to hav- around to make me fee-" the ruffle of the blanket drowned out Stolas' mumbles as Blitz deposited him back in bed. And to think the owl was actually older than him.

"Blitzy, would you stay the night?"

"I thought you wanted to reschedule?"

"Yes but well.." Stolas shyly thumbs the blanket between his fingers, "we don't have to have sex."

"Then what's the point?"

"..."

Receiving no reply, Blitz made his way to the balcony, hopping onto the railing and preparing a quick jump down. Despite himself, he casts a quick glance back at the owl, brows furrowing as he watches Stolas turn to his side, the blankets curling around him into a small tight ball.

Ugh fuck.

As Stolas miserably tried to fall back to sleep, he suddenly felt a dip in the mattress as if something of substantial weight was placed on it. Tilting his head a little to check what it was, he could barely contain the squeak of delight when his eyes landed on Blitz.

"Yeah yeah, don't get your feathery ass in a twist, I'll stay for the night, whatever, no biggie." Blitz flipped over to face the window. "It's not like I have anything else to do. M&M are sleeping, the book is with you, and Loona is not going to appreciate me coming home this early when I specifically told her I'd be gone for the night."

"Thank you, Blitzy."

"Mhm, you're welcome." Ignoring the fact that Stolas' eyes were staring holes into the back of his head, Blitz closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and tried to fall asleep.

"hh' hih!- nhh~"

Stolas pulled the blanket over his beak, trying to muffle out the little sniffles he was forced to make. Dammit, the excessive sleep was making his head woozy, yet he was still somehow too tired to get up and do things.

Looking over at Blitz, he was suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to pull the little imp under his covers into a hug. But Blitz was already going out of his way to stay here, so Stolas cuddled into his blankets instead.

"hH! ..hih'nngchiew! ..sorry."

This was bad. Stolas knew, (more so than anyone else, of course), that his sneezes came in fits, itchy ones that didn't want to stop the moment they started. Usually, this little tidbit of his was nothing more than an inconvenience, something that he dealt with by himself at home, with the occasional help of a feather.

But now, oh how could fate do him like this, Blitz was in the room. More so than simply 'in the room', at that, for he was a mere inches away, within cuddle's grasp.

Stolas groaned, beating his fists lightly against the mattress in annoyance, causing a small bundle of feathers to fly up. It's definitely a sight to behold. Normally, someone would come by his chambers to sweep up the feathers. But since he had put a strict 'no entry' order on his bedroom since 3 days ago..

"hiH' atchhw!!"

..One of them was unfortunate enough to land directly on the tip of his beak.

"Bless you."

"Oh-!" Stolas jolts up. "I thought you were already asleep my dear."

"How could I, when you're beathing behind me like a broken vacuum cleaner someone mistook for a fleshlight so they're shoving it down their dicks wondering why there's so much blood everywhere after they cum."

"That's- oddly specific."

"Yeah well, it happens to the best of us. My point is, sigh, if you need to sneeze, you should just do it. No need to make yourself suffer more than necessary."

"Yes, but it's impolite, and-"

"I've licked feathers off your asshole before, so don't come to me talking about this whole impolite shit."

"Well, yes Blitzy, but this is different!"

"Oh yeah?" Blitz's voice held a challenging tone. "And why's that? You know, I've read somewhere before that sneezing and getting off gives that similar rush of pleasure."

"From one of my books, perhaps?"

"Ah great, so you've read the same one."

"I suppose I have, but Blitzy-"

"SooO, maybe we won't have to reschedule after all."

"Whatever do you mea- ah-!" Before he could process what had happened, Stolas felt someone flip him over onto his back. Blinking, he watched as Blitz straddled him, expecting the weight of the imp to settle on his ribcage, the same way it would whenever he was being bondaged for sex.

But it never came.

It later occurred to Stolas that Blitz was putting his weight onto his own knees rather than sitting on him. Whether on accident or on purpose in attempt to look out for him, a light blush dusted the owl's cheeks.

He was thankful that imps can't see in the dark.

'Let's get started, shall we?"

"S-Started with what, Blitzyy?"

Tired of answering his stupid questions, Blitz reached for a feather in the dark. Once he found one, he held it between his fingers, lifting it up to barely above Stolas' nose.

"With this." Letting go, Blitz shot out both his hands to Stolas' wrists, pinning them against the mattress as the feather slowly glided down.

Tilting his head to avoid the feather proved futile as Blitz's tail whipped out from behind him to hold it in place.

"B-Blitzy.. hh'! I- need myhH'! -hands bhhH'-ack n-now.."

"Not unless ya-"

"hihh! -gssht!" The sneeze caused Stolas to curl in onto himself, his thighs bumping into Blitz, making him loose his balance and fall onto the owls' chest.

Arms finally free, Stolas lifts one to his beak, sniffling softly.

"S'hh-orry darling~ It's just- hH'! hih'Ngxtt-w! ..ow-" Stolas flips onto his side, Blitz still against his chest. "It appears my nose is rather painful."

"Yeah no shit, with the way you've been treating it." Blitz pokes Stolas' chest fur accusingly. "Ever heard of a tissue?" When he was replied with silence, Blitz rolled his eyes, reaching into his pocket to look for some. "Here you fucking g-"

"..hHt' zzscht-iw!!" Stolas sniffled into his wrist, laughing softly as he felt Blitz jolt up in shock. "I'm sorry dear, that one snuck up on me."

"Don't worry about it, it's not like I've never been covered in your bodily fluids before." Blitz shrugged, handing the other a pocket tissue he happened to have on his person. "Here."

"..Blitzyy~ why are you handing me a condom? You know I don't have a d-"

"Oh. Shit, wrong thing. That one's for me, was for me, for tonight."

"Mm, right, right. I'm sorry that you had to come all this way for nothing Blitzy. You know what? How about you keep the book for the whole of next month hm? Save yourself the trouble of coming down?"

"Right. But you know, I actually don't quite mind the trouble." He watches in annoyance as Stolas does nothing more than press the tissue to his beak. "Ever heard of blowing?"

"Oh my Blitzy~ right now?"

"What the-? Oh fuck you! Not everything is about sex you perverted bird!"

"Well yes," Stolas went silent, and for a moment Blitz thought he was going to sneeze again. "But I am glad you're here, Blitzy, even if- especially, when we're not having sex."

"Right, keep saying that and I might start to believe it's true."

"But it is true. I love you Blitzy~"

"That fever's making you talk crazy." Blitz sighed, pressing his palm against Stolas' forehead, ignoring how the other leaned into him. "Just- rest, okay? Get better soon so I don't have to send that stupid care package, shit takes money you know?"

"Mm, whatever you say Blitzy." Stolas pulled the other in and under the covers, tucking his chin between Blitz's horns with a soft croon.

And Blitz, despite himself, didn't try to struggle free. Even with their monthly rendezvous, the pair rarely cuddled. This was different, it was nice, even if Stolas was warm, (hot), and delusional from his fever.

Imps are immune to fire after all.

And of course, the care package still arrives the next day.

-end-

--------------------

Notes: if anyone's wondering, i'd place this fic (in terms of in-universe timeline), somewhere where blitz and stolas are still in pretense

Thank you all so much for reading!

(and for my very special friend, happy birthday!) heres to waiting for hh s2 and for stolas and blitz to break up!

#h/elluva b/oss #s/tolas #b/litz #snz #happy bday <3 #hope i did them justice with this fic #honestly i wasnt too sure how to write their dynamic bc its so up in the air #plus this fic was supposed to go up after ful/lmoon dropped but the delays

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thegeminisage · 4 months

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This is weird of me but you said you're reading Jane eyre and it's my favorite book (it does get better in the sense that her whole upbringing is so rough and depressing) and so many people Don't Get It because they're like oh this is a weird relationship and Rochester is a dick and Jane is so meek but I feel like you'll get it, but I feel like it's worth saying that Rochester IS a HUGE DICK but Jane is NOT MEEK she's WEIRD AS SHIT, I feel like that gets lost in the historical context A LITTLE BIT but she's the kind of weird dramatic sassy bitch where most people don't know she hates them, she's a hater, but Rochester does and LOVES it and she loves that he's a dick and the whole book is SO SO much about an abuse survivor deciding what SHE wants, it's basically a female escape and power fantasy. Sorry I'm so so so not normal about Jane Eyre, if you watch an adaptation after watch the Ruth Wilson miniseries not the Fassbender movie ANYWAY I'd love to see your thoughts when you're done okay bye

this is such a funny ask to get because i am LITERALLY reading jane eyre against my will. here's what happened: i got serial reader because i felt like i should read more books (i already did p&p!!), and on my list of "read laters" was jane eyre, and when emily saw it they were like YOU'RE GONNA HATE JANE EYRE BUT YOU HAVE TO READ IT. and i was like why on earth would i read a book i'm going to hate this is over 100k long. but for some reason i am reading it. and so i''ve only JUST finished like chapter 5 which means so far mostly what i've read is poor jane getting abused by a variety of people. and i'm like WHY WOULD YOU HAVE ME READ THIS but they said the same thing that the character jane is very important. and i do get that because she's already yelling at mrs reed for being a horrible old bitch or whatever and so good for her. i am going to keep reading unless it becomes absolutely wretched.

re: the movies...i actually had seen the michael fassbender one a long time ago, but i barely remember it except i know the part about the wife in the attic and also i remember thinking it was boring and confusing. i will not WILL NOT watch the other movie because even though i kind of fell in love with ruth wilson watching HDM, i have become absolutely radicalized against the very SIGHT of toby stephens's face thanks to pjo passions, and i absolutely refuse to look upon him because the very sight of him fills me with revulsion and rage second only to b*nedict c*mberbatch. sorry. i also read an article that was like, the movies can never be good anyway because they can't break the fourth wall the way the book can in narration, they lack jane's Personality. so that's all fine i guess, i can live without adaptations. JUST for you though i will try to make another post when im finished <3

#liz answers asks #anonymous #jane eyre blogging #i guess #thanks for writing in this is genuinely so funny #multiple people warning me that jane eyre SEEMS bad but its really good they prommy

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subliminalbo · 2 years

Text

One Shot #0: Josie's Mantra

The woman claimed her own corner of the elevator as I entered, offering me a polite but somewhat uncomfortable nod. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen inside the walls of the high rise. I knew with just a passing glance that she had to be mine.

I nodded back and pressed the button for my floor, noting that she was headed to the very top. I doubted from the look of her that she was a new tenant. Not in the penthouse, at least. And the way she guarded herself, clenching her elbow, told me that she wasn’t familiar with the place either.

“New to the building?” I asked as the doors closed.

“Just visiting friends,” she shot me something like a smile, then dropped her eyes to the floor.

“Top floor,” I said. “You have some impressive friends.”

“I try,” she replied. I knew then that she was here to meet one of the big shots that lived in the building. A Hollywood producer or a modeling agent. And considering that a private meeting in the home of a potential employer wasn’t the most professional setting, she had to know what they had planned for her.

“Acting? Modeling?” I asked.

“A little bit of both.”

The elevator dinged too soon. It opened on the fourth floor and she looked me over expectantly.

“Your floor,” she said.

“I changed my mind,” I replied. I pressed another button, this time causing the doors to slide closed before anyone else could slip in with us.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “Waiting for you,” I said. She shrunk into her corner as I closed in. “What are you doing?!” she repeated louder, but her screams were cut off as I pressed my hand to the back of her neck and whispered: "Montreal."

The young woman sank into my arms, quietly responding, “I am listening, Master.” The door opened to the penthouse floor, but I had other plans for my new conquest. I knew she’d be happier with me anyway—

“Wait, stop,” Josie interrupted Adam’s reading with a dramatic wave of her hands. Adam looked up from his laptop and asked, “What’s wrong now?” “Montreal?” she asked. “What does that even mean?”

“It’s a trigger,” Adam explained. “It’s what Asher uses to put women under his spell. This is a little ‘inside baseball,’ but I just think Montreal has a good sound to it. Like ‘cellar door,’ y’know? But I guess more for the story’s sake, I dunno, Asher’s hiding a dark secret and it all ties back to his mysterious past studying transcendental idealism in Montreal.”

Josie pursed her lips and, feigning patience, said, “How can you trigger someone who isn’t even hypnotized?”

“Asher’s the most powerful hypnotist in the world,” Adam replied. “As soon as he enters the elevator, he’s going to work breaking down Jodie’s mental defenses.”

“Hon,” Josie sighed. “In the business they call that lazy writing.” “You’re not even in the business!” Adam said. “You sell condos.”

Josie looked around the bedroom, the one paid for by her salary so that Adam was free to pursue his dream as an unemployed writer, then she said, “I’m more in the business than you are.”

“That’s not fair,” Adam said. “But trust me, babe, people aren’t gonna care about the induction. They want to see hypnotized babes droning nonsense mantras. It’s point A to point B, no one cares about the in between.”

“I care about the in between, baby,” Josie said, leaning into her boyfriend with an exasperated whine. “You know I slaved all day at the office so you could write this shit?”

Adam frowned. That wasn’t exactly the truth. Adam had only thrown together this quick piece of smut because he knew that Josie would be expecting it. He had managed to write a full three pages in his historical fiction manuscript, but that rarely got Josie going like the smut did.

“It’s just all too easy,” Josie said. “No one just falls under like that. I want to see a struggle. I want to see Jodie fight for her freedom!” Just thinking about a proper struggle was all Josie needed these days. She could already feel herself burning up. She’d been burning all day, imagining the kinds of situations that Adam wrote for her.

For Josie, Adam’s smut was the only escape she had from the constant stress of her work life. In the last year she’d taken a leadership position within in her firm. Josie was a quintessential type A, accustomed to controlling all facets of her life. That meant work and home. And for a while, things were looking swell. Adam was able to leave his old IT job to pursue his manuscript, and Josie’s success as a people leader had exponentially boosted her confidence. And then the pandemic hit, and the world stopped moving, and Josie found herself leading a real estate firm with no real estate to sell. Work in the office became work from home, and the social butterfly that was Josie suddenly found herself cooped up in her office doing nothing but work.

Josie teetered on the edge of “fine, this is fine” and “I’m going to absolutely lose my goddamn mind if another email comes back undeliverable.” It wasn’t until Adam found an unconventional solution that she found some kind of relief. When Josie began exploring hypnotic files on Reddit, she was only trying to find a full night’s sleep. But her nightly ritual of popping in her earbuds and sinking off into the stratosphere awakened something she’d long forgotten. Buried deep beneath the crust of a Josie’s outward type A personality was a deep, intoxicating desire to be controlled.

She’d first learned this as a young girl watching Saturday morning cartoons. She knew it in the way her interest piqued anytime the hero was taken captive and put under the villain’s spell. It was a surprisingly common plotline, and every time it popped up in Totally Spies or Yu-Gi-Oh or Ben 10, Josie’s desire to be taken deepened.

But the sleep files were never going to do anything more than help her get a good night’s rest. That was why she had Adam write her smut. Place her in his own stories and make her the obedient slut she dreamed of in her dirtiest fantasies. That was why she held his smut to a higher standard than his own manuscripts.

“And the mantras!” Josie continued. “I don’t care about mantras. I want to see a change. I want to see a fundamental transformation of the character being controlled. I want to know that the power that this mind controller has over them is so strong that they’ll completely go against their own moral code. And that kind of thing can’t just happen in a—”

—Snap! Josie’s eyes glazed over as Adam brought his fingers together. Her shoulders slumped, her mouth hung slightly open as if frozen mid speech. She was silent, as vacant as the woman in the elevator in Adam’s story. Adam knew that she was right about the whole induction thing. It had taken a whole week to condition Josie who, despite asking Adam to mold her into a proper docile girlfriend, still fought her hardest against his conditioning.

Adam wasn’t a professional hypnotist. He was learning everything on the spot on Youtube and Reddit and occasionally Wikipedia. Josie fought because she wanted to, it was all part of her weird fantasy. She wanted to be controlled, of course, but in order for it to be hot, she couldn’t really want to be controlled.

“Are you sure this is okay?” he would ask at the sign of any resistance from her.

“Jesus Christ,” Josie would groan. “Do I have to hypnotize myself?”

They tried several methods. Candles, metronomes, swinging necklaces. When Josie wouldn’t cooperate, Adam took drastic measures. He tied her to the bed and forced her to watch a twenty minute induction video he’d found online. He played the video on repeat, taking time between the inductions to add his own suggestions to Josie’s increasingly pliable mind. She loved every moment of it.

Adam had worked on Josie’s suggestibility until he was able to trance her with just the snap of his fingers. Josie didn’t like to know when it was coming, she liked knowing that the man she loved held that kind of power over her. For the first few years of their relationship, she had been the largely dominant partner. Adam would follow her plans: see what she wanted, eat what she wanted, fuck how she wanted. It was invigorating for both Josie and Adam to have equalizer like this.

“Josie?” Adam said. “I am listening, Master.” she droned quietly. “Do you know why I tranced you?” he asked. “I was doing it again, Master.” “That’s right,” he said. “And what did I teach you?” “You are a brilliant and gifted writer, Master. I am wrong to question any of your creative decisions.”

Jodie repeated her new mantra as she rode me. “I live for Master’s cock. I live for Master’s cock.” Though I had emptied her mind, she moaned passionately as she bounced up and down. “That’s right,” I said. “Fuck, you’re good.” We came together, and she settled in bed next to me. “What’s wrong?” I asked, noticing a bit of sadness on Jodie’s face. “I was just wondering if you were going to turn me loose, Master.” She said. I sighed and said, “Normally, yeah. It’s the right thing to do.” “The right thing would have been not brainwashing me to be your mindless fucktoy.” She giggled. “True,” I replied. “I don’t know, Jodie. You’re high in the running for best I’ve ever had.” “You’ve had better?” she frowned. “Do you want me to let you go?” I asked. She wrapped her arms around me and pressed her naked body against me. “I’m yours forever,” she said. “If you’ll have me.” I wanted to keep her. I wanted her to stay like this forever. But I knew in the end I had to forget it. It’s Montreal.

Josie cried, “Take me!” as her own mantra echoed in her mind: My body belongs to him. My body belongs to him. My body belongs to him. She was coming down from the buzz of her trance, but the mantra had become enough of a truth that she never really needed to be in trance to believe it. She had surrendered herself completely to Adam long before the hypnosis.

He rode her gently in the way he preferred. A more intimate kind of sex that spoke in the way he looked into her eyes as he thrust himself inside of her than the aggression in the act itself. Josie always preferred sex to be rough, but there was more to Adam’s eyes than love. It was a message that he didn’t have to take her hard. “I own you,” he was saying. “And I can have you any way I want.” When they were finished, Josie rest her head on his shoulder as they absently watched Seinfeld in bed. An end-of-night ritual.

“What did you think?” Adam asked her. “The sex? It was great, baby.” “No,” he replied. “The story?” “Oh,” she smiled. “It was great! You’re such a…” and here she said the only word that could come to mind. “…gifted writer, baby!”

“How are you feeling?” Adam asked. “You think you can face tomorrow?” “Yeah,” she said, tracing her finger over Adam’s chest. “Especially knowing you’ll be here when I get done.” “I love you so fucking much, Baby.” Adam said. “I love you too,” Josie replied.

Adam turned the light off as Josie took out her ear buds and slipped them in. She began to drift away as the track played on repeat, unconsciously mouthing the words looping in her ear: Your body belongs to him. Your body belongs to him. Your body belongs to him.

I originally published this story on my Deviantart last year as my first and only story request. It's a personal favorite of mine, so I felt it was a good fit for my first post back on Tumblr. It felt a little weird calling it by its original title "Story Request #1" (considering the only other requests I got were for smutty fanfiction for fandoms I haven't the first clue about, I will likely never do another), so I numbered it 0. The request was for a story about a couple who use consensual hypnosis to relax. Hope this is a good enough reintroduction!

#mind control #brainwashing #brainwashed #mind controlled woman #hypno story #mind conditioning #series: one shots #hypnokink

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tobiasdrake · 10 months

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Something I've mentioned before: I'm not really a fan of the whole fourth-wall breaking meta-awareness thing as a serious plot point. Like, I don't hate when characters break the fourth wall. I think you can get some hilarious gags and bits out of it. But the more it interweaves into the story, the more I start to have problems with it.

I thought I'd take a moment to delve a bit more into that.

Like a lot of people, I discovered Doki Doki Literature Club through word-of-mouth. I heard a lot of people gushing about it. "There's this dating sim that suddenly turns into, like, Silent Hill psychological horror!" And naturally, I had to go check that shit out. That sounds wild.

And it was. The game lived up to its hype, and Monika was every bit the charming yet dangerous menace that I'd heard her to be. At least, at the time. I played the game to its end and I felt satisfied.

But.

More and more, as years pass, I find myself thinking back on Monika. Because the more I try to understand her character, the more the gaps in her complexity become apparent.

Monika's character motivation is that she became aware of her function in a Dating Sim. As the head of the titular Literature Club that serves as the basis for the dating sim, she hosts all of the events, but is not available as a romance option herself.

Infatuation with the player and frustration with the game's design for not giving her a romance route of her own ultimate drives Monika to increasingly desperate lengths. She frantically manipulates the game code in an attempt to force the player to interact with her instead of with the other girls - With horrific consequences for the other girls.

On the surface, it's a really cool idea for a complex meta-villain driven to madness by comprehension of her role as a fictional character.

But the more I think about it? Like.

Okay. Walk with me to this pier.

Monika's sole motivation is that she was pissed off about being excluded from the dating sim's romance routes. So. Here's a question.

Why was she excluded from the romance routes? Why, in a dating sim, would the beautiful, confident, and highly intelligent leader of the girl squad not be considered a viable romance option? Who would actually make a character like Monika and not give her a route?

The answer, of course, is that Monika doesn't have a route because the game needs her not to have one, for the sake of her villainous motivation. That's it. That is the only reason she isn't romanceable: So that she can be driven to madness by not being romanceable.

Her reaction to discovering that she's fictional is similarly suspect. The problem is that she doesn't have a route. And once she obtains the ability to reprogram the game, rather than writing a route for herself, she... starts messing with the other characters' files to try and coerce the player into picking her at selection screens where she is not an option? That's pretty bonkers, Monika.

It doesn't really achieve her goal to do that at all. Because, of course, she can't be allowed to achieve her goal. She can't be allowed to make choices that might actually work. We need her to be the villain of the game. So she can't be allowed, within the constraints of her writing, to do things that might actually get her what she wants.

Are you starting to see the problem here?

Monika's fourth-wall awareness doesn't give her more agency in the story; It actually gives her less. Because she is, like every other character, still a slave to the writer's pen. But the illusion of freedom forces her to engage directly with the creative choices driving the words from her mouth, rather than sheltering under the narrative's pretense of free will. It exposes her directly to questionable creative decisions that could normally be ignored.

She is still just as much of a stick figure as Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki. But because the game pretends that she makes choices, it lays the bare the choices that were nonetheless made for her, never giving her a chance to actually grasp for what she wants - And then ultimately punishing her for the decisions she didn't make.

This is how every character is, when you get down to brass tacks. But the fourth-wall serves as insulation between audience and creator, so that we can buy into the illusion that there are real people onscreen making real choices. But once you break that fourth wall? It becomes that much harder to take the character at face value, and to overlook the puppet strings holding them up.

And this ultimately makes the character shallower, not deeper. Monika, ultimately, did nothing wrong because Monika did nothing. She is a villain solely because she was created to be a villain; With the puppet strings so thoroughly exposed, she is capable of no more complex characterization than that.

#writing #fourth wall #meta storytelling #doki doki literature club #monika

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all-the-fun-of-the-cirkus · 20 days

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so now i've seen both episodes, i have some Thoughts. suffice to say i enjoyed both, with reservations

the virgin chris "make it like prestige telly" chibnall vs the chad russell t "knock off baby geniuses for the worldwide premiere" davies

in continuing the "yes, and" approach of the specials, i appreciate how hard rtd's gunning in on chibnall's retcon as the main throughline of the series, but honestly the weird thing is that both these episodes feel fully like pastiches of moffat. it has the fairytale vibe of series 5, and 15/ruby's chemistry reminds me of the giddy enthusiasm of early 11/amy (that probably comes as much from gibson though). plus, stuff like the pronoun correcting abbot and costello routine from the start of devil's chord is fully moffat dialogue

side note, that routine was both hilarious and far less cringy than the beep the meep pronoun scene. so there's your head pat of the day rtd

given how little the previous era seemed to really about anything, except in a sort of shrugging "what can you do" sense, i appreciate how very hard rtd is making this pointed. the swipes at pro-lifers and anti-refugeeism are welcome, if a little throwaway, but he's still trying to do interesting things, like the whole "power of music" stuff, his constant pushing of queer stuff (apparently everyone ruby knows is gay lmao), constantly in dialogue with itself and the earlier eras... it doesn't all come off (largely bc of the pacing, which i'll get to) but i like it

the pivot to fantasy is bringing an increased interest in abstraction and non-realism (see maestro taking the two aside for a chat in a soundstage, the constant fourth wall breaks) which is exactly my shit

while rtd's bringing plenty of new stuff to the table, murray gold is hurtling towards self-parody at an alarming rate. the music is so fucking loud and obvious, it's actively annoying me at this rate, although it was less noticeable in episode 2

fred the dog is his best composition though

they were both good episodes, but they felt like they were missing something. i think part of it is that is that the pacing is just... weird. the episodes grind to a halt for a continuity revision session that i can only assume is for americans who never bothered with it before and can't be bothered to wait for gradual lore reveals. i mean, c'mon, we mention susan in the second episode! it took until series 7b of the reboot to even acknowledge her existence! and the rest of the time it's going at breakneck pace, such that i can barely keep up with it. all the episodes of this era feel... compressed, like they've had to trim bits off the complete ep, so emotional beats in particular feel accelerated in a slightly surreal way. idk. about half of this era has felt weirdly hollow for me so far

gatwa and gibson have insane chemistry. like holy shit they bounce off each other amazingly, they're an absolute joy to watch. i don't mean to rag on chibnall, but fucking hell it's so nice to have a tardis team that actually like each other

one musical number at the end was cute, two was pushing it. either the twist or the zebra crossing scene should've gone

i'm very much interested to see how moffat writes an episode in a series so deferential to his run

#doctor who #doctor who spoilers

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supahstarrr · 6 months

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Favorites to least favorite DRDT characters! Consider the most of the categories as a spectrum kinda thing. Some characters placed first in a category may lean towards the category above them, which would mean some characters are "between" two categories. WARNING, long reasons below; and these are just my opinions! If you'd like to talk to me about these opinions and/or how I interpret a character (positive or negative ways) then going to my askbox is an option. As expected, a lot of characters are on the neutral side since it's only the beginning of the series, though it doesn't mean that I'm not interested in these characters!

Teruko Tawaki (Favorites) ― Starting off, I enjoy her as a character very much and she's good written! She is an incredibly interesting character. I love all the different spins to her role as a protagonist, she's a lot more distrustful, got more attitude, and different ways of handling her trauma and the game itself than the DR protagonists. In fact, she's different from many protagonists that are seen in media outside of DR. She wants to be more ordinary than she is, unlike a lot of protagonists in general who mourn their average life, because her life is so unpredictable. She's "self-aware", like, not self-aware enough to break the fourth wall but aware enough to know she has an important place in the killing game; she is meant to survive.

Due to this, it raises the question if a lot of the behavior she's doing not only stems from this killing game and her life, but also any previous killing games (considering the beginning of DRDT and the "I will kill teruoko tawaki" stuff may hint at previous killing games). It could be possible she has subconsciously remember some events and/or the habits + behavior from the previous killing games, which could influence her in the present in a couple of ways. It's quite funny how she's associated with luck yet is also associated with bad luck, which is a refreshing thing to see when it comes to "ultimate lucky students." She is incredibly destructive to herself, it's quite sad, but will be interesting to watch her navigate the story.

Rose lacriox (Favorites) ― She's a character that I'm fond as much as I fond Teruko. She stands out for various of reasons. At first glance she seems "air-headed" yet she's incredibly observant and just SO smart, I love that SO much about her. The one thing that gets me about her is that she is depressed, yet at times it can be hard to even know the exact symptoms that stems from her depression, since the traits of her being incredibly sleepy and zoning out are portrayed as typical character traits and used for the funny lols gags yet they're heavily associated with depression, as they're common symptoms of depression. It could be possible that those are her genuine personality traits, but became prominent as depression became worse? It's just odd and a bit confusing. Anyways, the topics revolving her character (freedom/identity) hits SO damn hard for me. It's even sadder that she has less of a choice to claim her art and identity. Also ADORE the fact―despite it being played off as an "average quirky moment" of hers―she dumps black paint on top of her paintings of her nightmares to "wash away" the nightmares.

Other than those things, what is a bit jarring yet something I love about her is her voice. It's pretty and soft, yet it sounds robotic in a way. It's odd, but a lovely yet unexpected aspect to her voice that gives her even more charm! I love that she is artistic, though mainly because I love creativity and artsy shit. I love that she used her artsy skills to find out more things about the cases and games, she's SO smart <3. What is slightly interesting about her is well, her role in the game. She is noticeably smart and quite observant, she could possibly become a supporting character for Teruko when it comes to the cases. Like a Nagito or Kyoko or Chiaki kind of role. It possibly won't happen, but it is a good opportunity for her to step into that role.

What I also adore is that. She is SUCH good representation when it comes to black + darker-skinned characters in media, and ESPECIALLY black characters in games inspired by DR. Knowing the original series is incredibly shitty when it comes to representing black and characters with skin tones that are darker than fair-skinned. I've already said these things in a post before, but it's just refreshing to see a character that's good representation in media that carry some aspects I liked about DR.

Eden Tobisa (Like alot) ― I love that she just. has a genuine interest in spreading joy and good times to other people. Although a lot of characters fitting the "nice character" are often portrayed as naive and don't have much depth to how they view the world - Eden isn't like that. She knows the world can be such a cruel world yet decides to just you know, be fucking nice? She knows the world doesn't HAVE to be cruel, and that you don't HAVE to be cruel to "fit in" or survive. She isn't naive, she's not "stupid", not "innocent", she is STRONG; though she acknowledges people would think she's stupid or too innocent, and is ready to prove that to people. It's always a joy to see the "nice character" to be nice, and have a passion for showing kindness, and acts out due because they KNOW the world isn't always nice. Also, loving the representation when it comes to black biracial characters!

Other than those things, can I also say something kind of considered "small" interests me a lot? The fact she believes that herself crying, just expressing her emotions, is "weak"? Unsure why it interests me that she claims that - and It would be wrong to immediately assume that because she says this while SHE cries, it means she thinks the same when other people cries. I guess it's something that isn't always expecting of a "nice character", commonly known to encourage people to express their emotions. I know it's a small thing LOL but moving on:

Whit Young (Like alot) ― His personality is quite charming in general! It's implied parts of his personality comes with the looks meant to mimic his mother's (blonde hair)―possibly meaning that either the way he acts is an interpretation of his mother, and/or he chooses how he acts because he considers it a "good personality", and he associates all good things with his mother (the implication comes from an Q&A where the dev revealed he's actually quite prudish!). The implications and reasons for them are quite sad, to be honest. Find it very interesting that his neglectful childhood (of course) affected him in negative ways, yet it's probably the root of him being more open-minded about emotions since he already had a difficult relationship with his father AND it's likely he wasn't fed as much harmful ideas about empathy and the mind, causing him to learn about the human mind and emotions in a healthy manner―and we can see all of this when observing how he tries to help Charles.

So interesting that he kind of just, treats flirting and romance more of a "joke", which can be a distraction to how in reality, he views romance as SUCH a serious thing (because of course he does i mean... look at his ultimate title lol). An interesting flaw of his is the fact he values privacy too much sometimes- it's odd wording, and although I'm not denying that valuing other people's privacy is a good thing, what I'm not gonna deny is that he values other people's so much to the point of contributing to harm, resulting in him hiding scummy things that can affect people (Like hiding David's secret). Although he could possibly be scared of being responsible of sharing David's secret because he could end up being homeless if he loses his business, and/or just don't want to bare the responsibility of sharing something so huge, the mindset of the act of hiding scummy behavior being justified to hide because of "privacy" reasons is pretty harmful in general.

Hot take but, some of his personality (his charm) reminds me of Kokichi's charm but without lies (the people are mad and looking at me like im a fool, i know i know).

Charles Cuveca (Like) ― Genuinely just love the way he's enlightened as his "arrogant asshole" personality is crumbling. You can see the passion he feels towards emotions and being intertwined with people, you can see how something considered "weak" like joining with other people, expressing empathy and emotions has such a STRONG impact on him; and it's a beautiful thing. He is learning more about all of these things, and how to care and tend to people, which is such a lovely thing... I'm very interested to learn more about his background and how his character progresses (well I mean, that's how I feel about every character). I love shitting on him, mainly him in the beginning of the series, but now the urge to whoop his ass has disappeared <3. I also find him turning so red and being a cactus lover so cute

Nico (Like) ― Kind of unexpecting that such a reserved character turns out to be blunt, whether it's by accident and on purpose. But it's something I genuinely love that being shown!!! They also seem a littleeeee dangerous, knowing the threat that was said by them, which got me even more intrigued. They also hate humans? I relate sometimes, bud. It's refreshing to see the "cute uwu short" character not be infantilized by the WRITERS themselves, and actually acknowledge the depth they have!

J rosales (Neutral leaning to Like) ― She can PREACH the truth and I love that for her like my woman WILL put bitches (Ace and Nico) in their PLACE. Also very much love that the topics of freedom/identity are connected to her character―although unlike Rose, who she's suppose to parallel―she's a very active character when trying to reject roles and form her own identity (becoming free). She is quite privileged, so she kind of has more of a choice when rejecting roles and claiming her identity more than Rose. Although yeah, she noticeably does adapt to hating and fearing things considered "feminine", which is pretty damn annoying, although explained by her background story. I can admit her "tsundere" behavior can be kinda cute!! She's honest, and doesn't really take pride in being mean, despite her coming off as "mean" a few times to other characters. Despite her trying to act so tough, she's such a sweet person and polite, which are basic reasons to like a character but yeah, I like her for those reasons as well!

Levi (Neutral leaning to Like) ― He is so mysterious... like all of the "my family was shit i moved away" shit coming from his mouth keeps making me SCREAM like i need to know the details NOWWWW. But also like, I can also fucking applaud him for taking the STEPS to improve himself... like you often see a character actively improve themself in the story but it's nice to see a character who has already done that. I also find him not knowing that many social cues and social awkwardness charming, and also relatable in some ways honestly haha. He's so sweet and protective, and sometimes awkward, until things are taken so far, but its good that he tries to manage himself before threatening people and letting his anger out in negative ways. Also his observant skills when it comes to fashion and how people look expresses people are so fucking cool and a charming aspect to him!!!

Hu Jing (Neutral leaning to Like) ― She quite interesting and oh my god I just severely love the amounts of symbolism to HER, water and especially butterflies, thus possibly meaning that she will change throughout the story. I feel like Hu's character can just go a VARIETY of ways, but it is established that she adapts the role of being the "mature" one for the sake of being useful to people and having a purpose. Unfortunately to be "useful" and "have a purpose", she PURPOSELY reduces herself into simple tropes (like being "mature" one), but I know she's so much more than that. Since she's thriving to BE and FEEL as if she has a purpose, she subconciously and/or conciously reduce people to basic traits (example; infantilizing Nico, demonizing Ace) in order for her to fit more into her "purpose."

I'm not saying that she's a villain, i'm not attempting to say that "the caring character is actually JUST selfish and evil", despite that my words can easily be interpreted as that since other people say that a lot; I'm just saying that she just has some flaws, and these flaws are motivated by her constant need to have a "purpose" in life and being "useful." It's clear she has self-esteem issues and just wants to have a purpose, and she's unfortunately severely affected by the way society create this standard of NEEDING to have a "purpose" in life. You already have a purpose; it's to just... breathe, until you can't breathe.

Also the anger she let out to David was so intriguing, like, I def can imagine her being one with grudges and wishing for someone's down fall. Other aspects I love is that she encourges herself to be deep into her culture! also not many people say this but its refreshing that a plus-sized character's physical looks are designed with HUMAN fucking aspects in a series meant to mimic a lot of DR aspects!

David Chiem (Neutral leaning to Like?) ― His placement on the "Neutral" chart was so fucking confusing. Like he's interesting and all, but even I struggle with figuring out if I lean towards liking him or not; but it's like I lean towards disliking him either. It was expecting that he was going to be shady I mean, his ultimate title relates to the self-care industry, which is an industry that is SUPER shady itself. Honestly was so shady how he treated Nico and their secret, pressuring them to come out when they weren't ready to; it's not as if David knew that was their secret but like, still man. Anyway it's pretty clear to see that this goofy fucking man is acting in the trial, like my guy trynna be a comically evil super villain and for what bro?

All this shit about "people not changing" and honestly what he's TRYING to imply about how he "felt" about Arei while comforting her during her breakdown was just........... QUITE a choice from you SIR. I'm also very intrigued to see if Hu and David are suppose to connect some how when it comes to themes or topics, due to what he said about "people cant change blabla" and Hu's character very obviously revolving around the themes of change (due to her heavy association with butterflies).

I will never let go that before Chapter 2's trial, this man gave me the vibe that he's a 30 year old man living in the suburbs with a wife a kid and golden receiver that's on a verge of divorcing his wife. In Chapter 2's trial, David give me vibes of a virgin chronically depressed college-aged man living in a messy room with a roach

Arei (Almost entirely Neutral) ― Okay first off I will ALWAYS be surprised that she nearly perfectly fits the "cute mean character" trope except for being a tall mother fucker. Who was gonna tell me that this woman's like 5'7??? Anyway yeah it was hard to actually entirely like her character, although she did have entertaining moments and slight charm (the part she got the pen in the trial and revealed it was her best moment), her mean personality wasn't intriguing enough. I got a little more interested in her when her background story and her perspective of the world (influenced by her background) explained her behavior. Though I did find the "coming out about her trauma" moment too fast, the little bits of redemption was kindddddd of satisfying, since it was shown through flashbacks and stuff. She's active when it comes to whats right at times (saving Eden, the whole shit with David), which is cool shit. Very sad she was killed by rope like who ever did that knowing DAMN WELL the type of stuff sent to her in middle school was NASTYYYYYY

Ace (Almost entirely Neutral) ― The most interesting thing is that his "cowardness" stems from like, severe anxiety. He is SO obsessive due to replaying and making up scenarios that cause so much anxiety, his anxiety is so uncontrollable, like what he said about his anxiety truly did remind of what some people with severe anxiety and even OCD express about the struggles with anxiety they go through and how out of control they feel. It wouldn't be surprising of he has a confirmed mental health disorder, and/or he's probably not diagnosed. The whole situation just makes his character pretty tragic in a way, It's something I just can't truly let go you know. Though, I do wonder if there's a time when other characters FULLY acknowledges the full extent of the constant anxiety he has―like honestly, i'm not mad that the characters don't fully acknowledge it, especially since they're busy with their own struggles too, but it would be nice if that moment could come.

Always nice to see characters fitting "the coward" AND "the jerk" tropes having depth! Other than those things, good lord this fucker can be exhausting when it comes to how he treats Nico like FUCK OFF??? His jerk-ish attitude and trying to "act" tough can be exhausting, because of the way his acts impacts others in negative ways. But anyways, I do enjoy how he can be unintentionally funny, like his voice is such a perfect opportunity for funny moments!!

Xander Matthews (Neutral) ― Okay first off I LOVE how fucking passionate he is, and its something that drew me to him! It's also extremely interesting to see an "ultimate revolutionist", as I believe there's a lot opportunity of depth to be offered to a character with that ultimate title like IMMEDIATELY, because of how complex being a revolutionist is in the first place. Although there is something that irked me about him―I've already said this before, but―It's so annoying that he wanted to deny the slightest possibility of David being not what he seems like, because he as a revolutionist, thus is knows not all things appearing as good as they seem (systems) and experienced dealing with those things that are like that, so why must he deny the possibility? It just really comes off as if he isn't consistent with his morals and beliefs

Other than those things, I'm so interesting in his role in the game. It's a possibility that he is one of the key things to figuring out what's going on. I've figured out when I watched the series in the beginning, that he could've been the one to write the note he had. Speaking of the note, it was so odd that there wasn't more discussions of the note but I know the secrets are supposed to be revealed later in the series but it just seemed out of place yknow

Min Jeung (Neutral) ― Nothing much to say about her! I mean I like the little aspects to her character- she's way much more than her studies, I'll just say that, and it's good that she makes it known. Also was kinda funny to find out she holds a grudge and that she can be a procrastinator. What I can say is that, well, I kind of expected her to act more shady in the beginning, like i was getting bad evil devil auras from her. Miss ma'am had me watching out for my life bro... BUT she turned out to be more sweeter in the start, until, yknow. She's sweet and smart and those are cool aspects of her

Dog (Dislike) ― die

Arturo (Dislike alot) ― I'd say it's quite expected that people not like him that much. Although I'm interested in his background and stuff, and he SOMETIMES can be smart, he irks the shit out of me. His character is just a reminder of the many many people that idealize beauty standards. He idealize standards that are EXTREMELY influenced by racism and colorism, plus its creation are created/influenced by other harmful beliefs and the beauty standards fuel those harmful standards even more. I sound "extreme" when I say this, especially because people are more scared of the word(s) more than the actions/beliefs, but it's not so far off to think that Arturo's bigoted.

Veronika (Dislike alot) ― Of course I'm gonna dislike the person who dehumanizes people, basically treating them like a damn case study, even when it comes to people's trauma. I don't care if she's "meant to be flawed" either like, imma still be pissed off. I know that some of characters I like at times dehumanizes people, it's just that Veronika has no other interesting qualities to her. And yeah, I can acknowledge that she has other traits besides dehumanizing people, but that one aspect is such a big part of her character, other than the fact she feels boredom to such a huge extent, which motivates her to dehumanize people. Like man this girl really does lack life. Perhaps it could be interesting to see why she feels boredom to a huge extent and lack life, which is likely to be revealed. Anyways, I need someone to restrain me or else this woman is getting a good ass beating

#drdt #danganronpa despair time #sunny's thoughts #this took such a long time to do im so relieved that IM DONE #now i will do the “drdt design” tier list soon enough. I've already figured out a way to make a tier list #drdt thoughts

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pb-dot · 5 months

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Time to Nerd Out over Undertale

So I found myself listening to some undertale covers here the other day (RichaadEB on the excellent PlayFrama YT channel for the curious) and it struck me how I'm still not over how good Undertale was. It's not just that the music is truly amazing, although I challenge anyone who's played the game to listen to, say Bergenstrückung or SAVE the world without getting a bit emotional. The game is just the kind of experience that is so vast that it's hard to see from up close.

I mean, let's start by talking mechanics, why don't we? Undertale is built around the idea that classic turn-based RPG menu combat is inherently violent and that violence is inherently bad and worthy of being rebelled against. It's refreshing stuff. You don't get Experience points for killing enemies, you get Execution Points, your Level doesn't go up, your LOVE - Level Of ViolEnce does, and the reward for doing so are progressively simpler and less rewarding boss fights (up until a point, more on that later) and an emptier bleaker world.

Undertale sells itself as "The RPG game where you don't have to destroy anyone," and it's very much the mindset one's supposed to carry into the game. It builds tension towards a fitting final boss for such a game, a powerful man who will absolutely not change his path or step down, a man who has sacrificed everything good in his life to do things he considers abhorrent for the greater good. Asgore Dreemur, the penultimate boss of the game's initial route, is determined enough about the whole thing to break through the game's fourth wall to destroy the button that'd allow you to spare his life under the right conditions. Only one of you can leave this encounter alive, and in true game logic, you dying doesn't give you an alternate ending as much as a game over. It's a bleak spot, and it doesn't get less so when the final boss turns into this mixed media bullet hell nightmare (designed by the ever-unsettling Everdraed ) that shuts down your game when you lose to him.

Where I would argue Undertale goes from good to transcendent, though, is in the second of three possible playthroughs, where you, the player, is enticed by a character seemingly living partially outside the continuity of the game to go back and give it another go. Perhaps, the game posits, your quest to resolve the plot without killing anyone doesn't have to end with a failure. I also love that the way you prepare to take on the tall task of trying to talk some sense into Asgore is by helping basically everyone else get their shit together so they can give you an assist on talking down the reluctantly murderous goat-man. It's mostly more shenanigans, except one sequence that I can only describe as "truly horrifying," True Lab.

The final boss you fight once the goat man has been smacked some sense into by his ex-wife, her skeleton boyfriend, and just about everyone else who's ever worked for him is a bit of a twist. It doesn't come out of left field exactly as it does resolve some foreshadowing, but it does go both wild and hard. Asriel Dreemur is at this point a bit of a mirror of the protagonist, an innocent child who is functionally being sidelined by an external force that uses his child's wonder and imagination to its own ends. You know, a bit like you the player do for the protagonist character Frisk.

It is actually really interesting to me how Undertale does its metafictional elements. Initially, the game prompts you to "name the fallen human" as a name input before showing our protagonist character falling into the underworld the game is set in. The implication is clear, your player character is the fallen human, and thus it makes sense when characters start calling you the name you chose. This is, however, a clever twist, as the protagonist isn't the fallen human, but rather a child named Frisk. The fallen human is a character from earlier in the story who looks a lot like Frisk and has a similar arc, although theirs ends considerably grimmer. They are also who possess the final boss and have twisted the wonder and playful energy of a child into a megalomaniac tyrant, letting the desire to keep playing twist time and space into this never-ending spiral of violence.

It's heady stuff, and to make it worse, alternatively better if you're into this kind of stuff, it ties into Undertale's most profound theme: When it's time to stop playing Undertale. Now, that sounds like a mean-spirited joke, but Undertale is, I would argue just as much about letting go of the story as it is about telling it. You see, after you complete the second playthrough, most commonly referred to as the True Pacifist route, the game is arguably over. The stated goal of telling an RPG story where nobody has to die is achieved, just about every character story is resolved, hilariously awkward dates are had left and right, the peaceful way of achieving Asgore's goals are found, peace between Humans of the world outside and the Monsters of the underworld is implied to be just around the corner. The story is, in many ways, at an end.

"Gee, Peebs," you might say, "that sounds like some portentous narration going on there" because you're a very perceptive reader like that. "Also," you might add, "isn't there a boss fight with a skeleton in there somewhere?"

And indeed there is. The Sans/Megalovania fight is easily the most famous part of Undertale, partially for how insanely difficult it is due to a confluence of unexpected mechanical interactions. Sans only does one damage at a time, but that damage is per frame and he attacks A LOT. He has no defense so one strike will cause the bone boy to crumble, that is if you could hit the dodgy bastard at all. Hell, if his onslaught of bone-themed attacks don't get you, he has also figured out that if he stops attacking you and just has a nap instead it'll never be your turn. It's a very clever fight, and Megalovania is an iconic track for a reason. That said, the most ingenious part about the whole thing for my money is that you're not really supposed to get to it. It's arguably an extended part of a fail state, but the fail state isn't mechanical as much as it is thematic.

So, after finishing a True Pacifist run, the one remaining designed way to play Undertale is by going through what's called a Genocide Run, although the game's creator Toby Fox has stated he prefers the term No Mercy route for reasons I am sure are obvious. In the No Mercy route, you play Undertale like any other RPG. When you get to a new area, you grind it, killing every monster that you encounter until it stops giving you good XP. In Undertale, this is taken a step further, as you will literally kill all the monsters present until the game presents you with empty encounters. I will mention I'm not really working off personal experience here, as the No Mercy route struck me as tedious and unfun, and I was pretty happy with the second ending in the game so I haven't played it myself.

The approach of the No Mercy run does change the game around you. Characters will be less friendly to you, and their boss battles will in many cases be harder as conflicted characters go all out to stop the combine harvester of misery that you've become. The game is, I would argue, less fun as your growing levels make you strong enough to trivialize bigger and bigger parts of the game until not even the bosses going all-out even provide a challenge. Near the end, you encounter Sans, a character you haven't fought in any of the other routes, a jokester and moral guide of sorts, and, unless you are entirely unreasonably good at the game and prepared for a surprise, he absolutely bodies you due to the mechanics mentioned above. It doesn't matter that you have high enough defense for Sans to do only one damage to you, he'll do one damage to you per frame for just about as many frames as it takes, it doesn't matter that you'll one-hit kill the slacker bag of bones, he's just going to dodge it. The only thing you can do is get really REALLY good at dodging Sans' many many attacks, and all the while, your moral guide and former friend berates you for not leaving well enough alone. What you've done is fucked up, and it's fucked up that you did it just to see if you could.

It's an interesting point to arrive at given how modern fandom is just about designed to lead you down the path to get you there. Fandom is about wanting to experience everything about a work, every line adapted, every scrap of worldbuilding expanded on, every weird little gremlin made protagonist for a day. It's the kind of sentiment that has people seek out gradually more expansive cuts of movies, to want to listen to unedited podcast episodes, to troll every line of game code for unused content, to test every interaction. The goal, I would argue, is trying to find a way to never stop consuming the content you like, to ride the high of it forever by just getting increasingly granular and obscure about which parts of it one keeps getting into. This, Undertale argues, is where love turns into obsession, where fandom enthusiasm turns sour.

Playing the No Mercy route isn't something you do because it's fun. The clever puzzles of sparing every enemy and boss is replaced by tedious grinding. The sympathetic characters all die trying to stop your murderous ass, and the marvelously cathartic ending is replaced by disappointment and anticlimax. No, you play No Mercy because it's there, it's possible to do, and despite how obviously unpleasant it is to actually play through, it does provide new content, new lore, and at least one highly memeable boss fight.

Is it worth it? I'd argue no. Even in a world where the sole good part of the No Mercy route isn't available in a million different iterations online, even in a world where completing the No Mercy run didn't flag your save file in ways that change future runs in small but unpleasant ways, it's not something you're meant to enjoy. The No Mercy route is the game's way of telling you there is a right time to stop playing Undertale, and it was before even starting that cursed run.

One of the reasons I think this is such a clever move is because it sidesteps one of the chief criticisms of trying to work morality into gameplay, i.e. "Why is the game giving me shit for something it told me, no, required me to do?" See the criticisms of The Last Of Us, Spec Ops: The Line, and others for examples. Undertale doesn't tell you to do the No Mercy run and shame you for it as much as it lets you know that it's there and just let the natural fandom impulse take you on an ill-advised journey. Granted, there is a level of the same as the whole thing is designed with the purpose of delivering, functionally, the same message, but the confidence Undertale has in not insisting you see every last inch of its content does counteract it a bit in my mind.

The wacky part to me is that all of this shameless praise is without getting into the music, you know the reason I started my breathless cheerleading in the first place. Toby Fox, as it turns out, can compose the hell out of a soundtrack. Megalovania is the most famous piece and rightfully so, but there's also Bergnegstrückung, Death By Glamour, Bonetousle, and a bunch of others. Just about every boss theme is so instantly evocative of their characters that the game feels like it has voice acting although it provably hasn't, and the wide range of styles stretches from ambient to jazzy to a couple of songs that would not sound at all out of place on a metal album. It's a cover artist's dream, as the simple but effective melodies leave ample room to put your own spin on things. I personally recommend the Insaneintherainmusic's whole Live At Grillby's album for the jazz and RichaadEBs Determination for the metal stuff.

Undertale is a weird work to get worked up about at this point for me, I think. People just about unanimously agree it's good, but it feels like an understatement to say that. This game changed indie gaming, charting out a course that's defined just about the entire creative space since then. The supreme confidence with which Toby Fox and his minuscule team wielded their own irreverent nerdy humor with laser-guided precision and made us all weep over a goat woman and a stout skeleton bonding over terrible terrible jokes, made us sputter with ineffectual rage at a rude flower and cry tears of joy as we contemplated whether to give the homicidal goat-man a hug or not. Undertale is weird and wild and meta, but I'd argue that it's most important feature is that it's earnest. It expects us to roll our eyes at it, but it'll roll 'em right back as it delivers some meta jab.

Perhaps Undertale's greatest strength, though, is probably also the reason it's kind of faded out of the public consciousness outside of the Megalovania meme and the sequel Deltarune. Undertale is a very complete story. It's the story it is designed to be, it closes off its loops, dots its is and crosses its ts. Thematically, it's about telling you a good story and closing the book on that story, trying to preserve it in your memory rather than have you re-experience it again and again. Granted, there is lore and implications and obscura with the whole W.D Gaster thing and Chara, the thing isn't hermetically sealed, but once you're done with the story you're supposed to be done with the story. It makes for a great experience in my opinion, but I suppose it doesn't naturally lend itself to being preserved in the public eye.

I will say this though, as far as sequels to things with functionally perfect endings, DELTARUNE is doing a way better job than those post-show Madoka Magica movies has ever done, although I haven't really gotten into it myself. To me, the story of Undertale is so perfectly conveyed and closed off that going back there feels wrong. Like I left it just the way I wanted it to end, and any further meddling on my part is bound to just make it less perfect. Maybe that means I've understood the assignment, or maybe it just means I've put the darn thing on an unreasonable pedestal. Who am I to say?

#peebs thinks #undertale #gaming #I feel like I'm a bit down on fandom in this piece #and I don't want to harsh anyone's buzz #I've just come to see fandom very differently after the mainstream entertainment giants started getting invovlved #capitalism does get it's grimy claws in everything eventually I guess #but that's a topic for another essay #I should really get into why I think the ending to Madoka is basically perfect one of these days #but I probably should rewatch it beforehand #and I'm not sure I have that in me right this instant

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