#Reinforced handle case

[crazydiscostu]

Jsaux Upgraded Steam Deck Case

Today we're stroking this case and whispering sweet nothings to it. Join us at crazydiscostu.com

Picture the scene : You’ve shelled out a small fortune for the latest and greatest gaming handheld. You’re broke, but you’re happy. The only problem that plagues your now-perfect life is the lack of protection and portability of your shiny new Steam Deck. Enter JSAUX! Their Steam Deck Case is specifically designed for both the Steam Deck and ROG Ally promising to keep your new toy safe. Today…

[dykrophone]

good GOD can we stop gendering everything. I swear some of y'all just took the futch scale and decided to run with it as gender roles 2.0 (yassified edition)

[plasticsandwich]

i guess i should make a cohost now

[surpriserose]

Good morning everypony

[shslpunkartist99]

So I have to ask, is Ai capable of forming any sort of bond? As in a friendly-ish kind of bond. I nearly said "a friendly normal bond" instead only to pause because I remember some of the stuff you said about her.

Are there also any lines that even she wouldn't cross? Surely even someone terrible like her has a tiny bit of standards, right?

This is actually really interesting! I was gonna say "No, at most she just has a follower, but she hadn't connected with anyone", but there actually was an rp story I did a long time ago!

There was a rich girl who had really shitty parents, and while she was out, she found a homeless beaten girl who seemed like a doll with how lifeless she was (I don't remember if they were both teens or just about adults. We'll say Rich was 20, Homeless was 18. Rich was named Vira btw). She wanted to take in the homeless girl, but her parents were strictly against it.

Before this happened, Ai and Vira had formed a bit of a bond because Vira would vent to Ai about how suffocating it was to live there. When Vira told her about the girl she wanted to take in, Ai decided to "pull some strings" and have Vira live on her own with the homeless girl, while having her parents give them however much money they wanted. Ai saw this as an opportunity to see what the parents would do with their daughter gone, as well as see how this rich/homeless situation goes.

Ai, however, wasn't expecting Vira to be genuinely happy with this lifeless girl. She watched Vira take care of the girl, dress her up in beautiful dresses, slowly but surely bringing life to the lifeless doll. Vira cared for nothing else except for the other girl, and she would thank Ai so much for her help.

Ai was.. stunned. The parents only cared for their safety, the two girls seemed so happy together, and it was all thanks to Ai. Ai doesn't know how to feel about it, but.. for once, Ai didn't want to ruin it

[dekariosclan]

Gale and Tav’s wedding HCs

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Gale Dekarios cries at his wedding.

The moment he sees Tav—either waiting for him at the altar, or walking towards him as he waits, depending on how they wish to do the ceremony—his eyes fill up, and his lip starts quivering, because he realizes it’s actually happening. He can’t help but get emotional when he feels that overwhelming sense of relief and joy.

He might pull himself together for proclaiming his vows, but when Tav begins their vows and Gale hears how much they love him, it makes him realize yet again how he never received that level of affection and love from anyone, and how thankful he is that Tav found him, and how he still can’t believe that someone so wonderful is actually his and—*tears rolling down his face*

Tara (who is a combo of Best Man/Tressym of Honor/Ring Bearer) is constantly loudly whispering “Mister Dekarios, your eyes are wet again! Please pull yourself together! Chin up!”

If Tav enjoys dancing, Gale ‘mine-was-a-popular-hand-at-the-Blackstaff-ball’ Dekarios would be delighted to oblige.

If Tav would like to dance but never learned how, Gale would happily teach them before their wedding OR just straight up enchant them to be able to dance perfectly the day of. Perks of marrying a wizard etc.

If Tav is too shy and/or would not like to dance, no matter. Instead of a ‘first dance’, they will have a ‘first song’ in which Gale will serenade them later that night, as they lay together in their marriage bed. Softly singing into their ear, pausing every so often to press his lips to their neck, shoulders, chest… (spoiler: he does not make it through the entire song without….interruption.)

The song would have to meet with Gale’s exacting standards and perfectly represent his love, which means: NO reference to gender, be 10000% about loyalty and devotion, and mention/declare love AT LEAST TWENTY-FIVE TIMES.

….allow me to present Gale’s Wedding Song.

If Tav is an illithid, Gale WILL insist on serenading them in front of the gathered guests. Just to reinforce how much he loves his mindflayer spouse, in case anyone had doubts.

Gale and Tav will of course get their wedding portrait painted, and Tara will be happy to offer instruction on Gale to the painter: “Don’t paint his tears in! Make him as stoic as you can! And don’t paint that THING on his chin, either, if you please.”

After the ceremony, Gale will not let go of his new spouse’s hand unless he absolutely has to. The moment Tav’s hand is free again, it will be recaptured and their fingers interlaced with his once more.

Gale will give Tav ample forehead kisses, cheek kisses, and kisses on the back of their hand throughout the evening, but if Tav tries to pull him into a full kiss he’ll break it the moment he feels them try to deepen it, their tongue starting to tease his lips open...

He’ll press his forehead to theirs and whisper, “My love, do you wish to torment me? Only a few more hours until we can be alone …unless, of course, I decide to dimension door us both away from the festivities…”

Gale’s mother Morena is over the moon for the entire wedding, and just like Gale, her affection is not lessened a bit if Gale’s beloved is an illithid.

If any of the guests dare say anything even slightly derogatory about her new family member, they will be getting a verbal flaying from her the likes of which they will not be recovering from anytime soon.

The cake will be three tiers and decorated/enchanted to look like the night sky (to match their wedding invite, of course), and Gale will make sure there are exactly 1,000 stars as a symbol of their everlasting love. Yes, he will count them all.

If Tav is an illithid, they will have their own tier that has a layer of whipped brain filling included. I don’t make the rules, Gale insisted on this.

And last but not least—the catering will all be handled by fifteen copies of this guy:

[twistedwonderlandimaginesblog]

Looks like requests are open. Mind if I send one in?

Scenario: Their presence felt comforting to you despite everything that went down. You felt safe to open up about your insecurities to them also. Arguments are an inevitable part of any relationship, but this argument was probably the worst one you've had by far. In the heat of the argument they insult you on the very things you're insecure about. And your reaction to that was a tearful "Thanks for basically confirming that I really can't trust anybody."

How would Vil, Riddle, Jamil, and Azul react to this?

Azul Ashengrotto:

Azul, a man who was careful about allowing his weaknesses to see the light of day, knew he had taken advantage of your trust. It was only natural for him, a born businessman who had started from the bottom and was now securely at the top, to use every bit of information he had on you to prove a point; to get the upper hand in an argument that truly didn’t matter.  He had always fought to change his ways, to have his defenses up constantly, to not have his heart protected by reinforced walls, but it felt like an impossible task for someone like him.

Jamil Viper:

Jamil was the king of self-sabotage. At certain points it seemed he created his own obstacles, tossing them in the path of your blossoming relationship and becoming frustrated when it took even more effort to remove them. He tended to avoid arguments as much as he could but there were times, especially when he was in a foul mood, where he couldn’t help but feel the spark of anger and take it out on you. You can’t say you’d ever expected to hear such horrible things from him, the attack so direct it was unmistakable that he was trying to hurt you beyond recognition. You wondered if the relationship would even be salvageable after this as it wasn’t the first time Jamil had tested your trust, and even as he looked full of regret he bit his tongue, creating yet another hurdle that may truly be impossible to overcome this time.

Riddle Rosehearts:

It’s all Riddle’s ever known. It was like falling back on an old habit you thought you kicked, filling him with guilt, embarrassment, and every horrifying emotion in between. It made him sick to his stomach to think that he was becoming his mother, the woman he had admired for so long before realizing the methods she used were cruel and unfair to him. He didn’t want to be her but it seemed a piece of her remained within him, not sure how to apologize to you if you could even forgive him for his harsh words. He valued your trust more than anything and it was an admitted weakness on his part that his temper got the better of him, but he had only said those things to hurt you in the way he was hurting, not meaning a bit of what he said.

Vil Schoenheit:

Vil was normally level-headed, with many of your arguments handled in a mature manner that left no open-ended questions. He disliked fighting but he there are some things he can’t help but get irritated over, and it can be difficult to rise to his standards at times. It almost felt like he was keeping a tally of every time you messed up or upset him as he had examples on hand to bring up, thoroughly ‘winning’ the argument to the detriment of your relationship. You had always worried you weren’t enough for him and words from his own mouth seemed to be prove that was the case, leaving you to shakily pack your things as you needed time away from him. If it proved a better existence, you couldn’t say you’d ever come back, a fear Vil had to live with as you refused to respond to his texts or calls while you gathered your thoughts.

[asdfghjklmals]

DOMAIN EXPANSION: UNLIMITED APOLOGIES✩༶‧˚

GENRE + T/W: sfw, fluff. suggestive comment. WORD COUNT: 3.0k words. TAGS: satoru gojo x fem!oc, enemies to almost lovers trope. mutual pining with lots of tension. they are actually an established couple revisiting a high school flashback.

SYNOPSIS: satoru and oc gojo girlfriend tell their students about the first time they sparred and who actually won. AUTHOR'S NOTE: i miss these two and their high school phase. this fic’s flashback happened in the middle of ‘love at first fight’. REMINDER: if you want to imagine yourself in oc gojo girlfriend's character descriptions instead, please do!

you gazed out of your office window as the white haired, blind-folded love of your life was being tackled by two of his students. they were unable to touch him, no matter what attack they tried on their sensei. satoru’s cocky, but proud grin gave you the butterflies. you loved to watch his lessons from your office window during your spare time.

satoru was sparring with hakari and yuta as a demonstration to his current first years the limits of his own powers in close combat and explaining the pinnacle of jujutsu—domain expansions.

“he better not reinforce that punch wi—”

satoru reinforced his punch with blue, sending hakari and yuta flying across the sparring field.

“—and there it is.” you said to yourself while you giggled at the sight.

you decided to head to the sparring field as yuta and hakari might need someone who could heal them with reversed cursed energy.

*************************************

yuta and hakari were throwing up next to the wooden benches on the sparring field as satoru dusted off his hands, not even breaking a sweat.

“that was mean, gojo-sensei!” you called out, laughing at the sight of the nervous first years and a hurling yuta and hakari. “you really had to use blue with that punch?”

satoru loved when you called him sensei.

the first year teacher grinned at the sight of you, your long black hair blowing in the wind, green eyes shining at him, “what brings you here, (y/n)-sensei?”

satoru was usually the one who was trying to avoid his duties by seeking you out on campus, but it seemed that you were the one chasing him around today.

he tried to remember what he did to put you in a good mood this morning before he left for work. did he make the coffee differently? was he able to snag a good morning kiss? what made you come see him today? (read ‘morning routine’ here)

“i saw you reinforce your punch with blue and knew that i had to heal our precious students.” you feigned despair, turning to yuta and hakari who were now sitting on the bench, still shaking from their experience with satoru.

“hi (y/n)-sensei.” all the students greeted you in unison as you smiled back at them.

megumi, yuji, nobara, yuta, and hakari gave you a look of adoration. the students admired the love and respect that their sensei had for you. and how could they not love you? you were like the jujutsu high school mother, therapist, and caretaker all in one.

nobara eyed you, “(y/n)-sensei, do you think you could beat gojo-sensei in a spar?”

megumi scoffed at the question before adding in his two cents about his guardians, “she could bat her eyelashes at gojo-sensei and he would lose immediately.”

“you ain’t wrong about that.” hakari grinned in agreement, earning a laugh from you and the rest of the students.

all of the students knew that you were satoru gojo’s weakness. he could never say no to you and he would never want to spar with you in case he ever accidentally hurt you.

“hey…” satoru sulked, “you think your great teacher gojo can’t even handle little ol’ (y/n)-sensei?”

you winked at the sorcerer before sitting down next to yuta and hakari, waving your hands over their abdomens that received the punches—a stream of water coming from both hands to surround their stomachs, healing them from any injury the punch may have caused.

yuji asked curiously as he watched you heal the two students, “did you two spar when you were students?”

“we sure did.” you said with a sarcastic tone, “your sensei was so full of himself back then. somebody had to humble him and his freakishly strong powers.”

“ha!” satoru laughed out loud, “tell them the domain story, sweetheart.”

all the students cheered, “yeah! tell us the story, (y/n)-sensei!”

flashback

“you’re so full of yourself.” you commented snidely as you walked past satoru after throwing your ice shards at the targets across the sparring field.

all 12 of your ice shards hit their respective bullseye. your nectarine honey blossom fragrance tickled his nose as you walked past him.

satoru looked back at you incredulously, as if no one has ever said that to him before, “and you aren’t?”

he huffed with irritation as he followed you, only two steps behind from where you stood, your back was facing him. why was he following you? what was it about this stubborn (l/n) clan girl that was so magnetic? what made him so curious about you even though you drove him crazy?

you had only been at jujutsu high school for 2 weeks. you barely knew satoru and only had a couple of run ins with him. he was so hot and cold when it came to you and it confused the hell out of you.

after your first run in with him in the dining hall your first night at jujutsu high, you thought things would be okay between the two of you, that you could be friends—however, satoru still somewhat treated you with indifference. (read ‘love at first sight’ here)

“you know for a fact that i’m faster and better at laying out my domain.” satoru rolled his blue eyes at you, sticking out his tongue at you behind your back.

this argument started when yaga-sensei started his lesson on domain expansions—satoru claimed he was the best and that no one could top him. you being the competitive person you were, disagreed with him.

you turned back to invade his space, satoru staggered back a step, “you’ve never even seen my domain expansion.”

“oh, you mean the domain that i broke your first day at jujutsu high?” satoru sneered at you, attempting to hover over you, asserting his dominance and making you stumble back two steps.

suguru’s and shoko’s heads bobbed back and forth as you and satoru went at each other’s throats. a little friendly competitive never hurt anybody… right? and what the hell was this tension they were feeling that was radiating off of the two of you?

you glared icily at him, “and if you were smart, you’d know that domains can be broken from the outside.”

you seethed with emphasis on the word ‘outside’. “plus, if you were caught in iridescent ocean, you’d drown.”

“nah, i’d win cause i’d just lay out my own domain and crush yours.” satoru said as he leaned in closer to you. he took a lock of your soft black hair, twisting and curling it with his index finger, “then you can be a vegetable for 4 months.”

you kissed the back of your teeth in annoyance and shoved his hand away from you and your hair. who did he think he was touching you like that?

“hey! can you two stop flirting with each other?!” shoko called out with her two hands circling around her mouth, projecting her yell across the field.

you and satoru yelled back in unison, “we are not flirting!”

“why don’t you two just have a spar? you both know the rules for domain expansion spars.” suguru suggested as he sat on the grass, the heels of his hands supporting his frame.

the thing about domain expansions in spars was that you could lay out your domain, but you couldn't attack your opponent with it. this would show who could lay out their domain the fastest, and who had the most refined domain—which satoru claimed he had.

shoko looked over at her bestfriend in worry, “you know gojo’s domain expansion would put (y/n) in a coma if he can’t control the duration of it.”

suguru shrugged, “yeah, but (y/n) can use reversed cursed energy to heal herself so that should lessen the hit from unlimited void, plus i’m sure she knows how to do a simple domain.”

shoko thought to herself—it was true that you could heal yourself, and you were still brand new to the simple domain technique. but if satoru couldn’t control the time limit of unlimited void, you’d be a vegetable just like he said.

“i’ll try it.” you said confidently, “i’m not scared of a little satoru gojo.”

satoru scoffed at your comment as you flipped your hair behind your shoulder. he watched you walk away from him. you were so stubborn and feisty—unfortunately he liked that about you.

“fine, don’t let me say ‘i told you so!’” satoru called out to you as you glared back at him.

“let’s do this spar after class.” suguru suggested, “then you two can both shut up about who’s the best at laying out their domains.”

“fine.” satoru said with his arms folded.

“fine.” you said back.

suguru chuckled to himself as he looked away from the brooding you and satoru. he already knew his bestfriend had a thing for the new girl. he just liked to stir the pot.

“$10 bucks they’re gonna get together this semester?” shoko whispered to her bestfriend.

suguru grinned and reached out for her hand to shake on the deal.

“make it within the next month.”

later that day

“ready, (y/n)? got your big girl panties on?” satoru taunted you from the opposite end of the field.

“don’t go crying when i win.” you glared at him. you wanted to see him grovel.

satoru gave you a fake yawn, standing up straight. “ladies first.”

“what if you drown?” you sneered at him.

the white haired sorcerer winked at you, “i won’t.”

if his fake yawn didn’t make your blood boil, his damn wink sure did. it was like you weren’t even a threat to him.

“fine!” you called out, putting up your hand signal of the vitarka mudra. your thumb and index finger connecting, while the remaining fingers remained straight, “domain expansion: iridescent ocean.”

water started to fill the inside of your domain. satoru was swept in by a strong tidal wave, swallowing him whole. as your domain completed, you saw the blinding lights at the top—opponents caught swimming towards the top of your domain would be immobilized, which usually gave you a sure hit with your ice shards, and if your opponents swam towards the bottom, they’d drown or be crushed by the water pressure.

you didn’t see satoru move towards the top or the bottom of your domain. how long was he going to try to hold his breath for? why was he just staying in the same position? why hasn’t he laid out his domain?

you formed your ice shards before satoru crossed his index and middle finger, his hand sign for his domain. “domain expansion: unlimited void.”

a white light went back and forth between you and satoru, the void was trying to take over the spherical water domain of yours. you could feel a strong pressure of cursed energy trying to fight against yours. a mental battle of tug-of-war, and you could feel your cursed energy becoming unstable.

damn it, was satoru gojo going to win?

no. he can’t. you had to prove him wro—

in that moment, unlimited void took over, dissolving your domain of water and before the domain was entirely satoru’s, you reinforced yourself with your remaining cursed energy to channel it to reversed cursed energy.

you couldn’t move.

you couldn’t speak.

you could feel everything, but couldn’t do anything.

you felt the immense pressure of cursed energy release, the walls of unlimited void fell as your body collapsed to the ground.

*************************************

you groaned as your rubbed your temple. you felt a raging headache coming on.

“oh my god, (y/n)!” shoko gasped, running to your side. “you’re awake!”

you opened your eyes, the jujutsu high’s medical office light’s were blinding and not helping your headache. you looked around, you were laying in a hospital bed being monitored.

“what happened?” you asked.

“you’re in the medical room. you were knocked unconscious after the domain expansion spar with gojo.”

you felt a wave of disappointment and embarrassment, gutted that you had lost to satoru. he would probably never let you live this down.

“luckily you reinforced yourself with your reversed cursed technique or you would’ve probably been knocked out even longer.”

“what do you mean longer?” you asked, confused. hasn’t it only been a couple hours?

“(y/n)… you’ve been unconscious for three days.”

three days?

how could you have been unconscious for three days?

“satoru feels horrible.” shoko said quietly to you. “he hasn’t even slept since you’ve been in here. he didn’t mean to let unlimited void to go on for that long. he said it was only 2 seconds.”

2 seconds?

only 2 seconds in unlimited void, while reinforced with your reversed cursed technique landed you in the medical room for three days?

just how insane was satoru gojo’s domain expansion?

you looked around the room, noticing that satoru’s fitted jujutsu high jacket was sitting on an arm chair in the corner.

“he’s been here since…?” you asked the amber-eyed student.

she nodded, “you didn’t hear this from me, but he’s been helping the doctor take care of you. he’s been staying here for the past three days. he’s the one that teleported you to the medical office right after you fell to the ground.”

satoru gojo was nursing you back to health? you felt this weird sensation in your chest—just why would he even do that for you?

“he probably feels guilty.” you muttered to yourself.

“—and he didn’t mean to completely knock out the girl he likes with his domain expansion.” suguru said nonchalantly as he entered the room. he gave you a soft smile, “glad to see you awake and feeling better, (y/n).”

you smiled half heartedly at suguru before realizing what he just said.

‘the girl he likes’.

satoru liked you?

that insufferable boy liked you?

no way.

satoru appeared in the doorway of the room, gaining the attention of the three of you. shoko and suguru made eye contact with each other.

shoko interrupted the awkwardness in the air, “oh, i totally forgot—yaga-sensei said me and suguru have a mission today.”

she grabbed suguru by the arm and dragged him out of the room, leaving satoru at the door. once his bestfriends were gone, he closed the door behind him.

“hey.” he said sheepishly. “glad to see you’re awake.”

you couldn’t contain your teasing smirk towards him, “why? so you don’t have to continue nursing me anymore?”

“i felt bad.” satoru mumbled. he pulled his chair next to your hospital bed and placed his hand on top of yours, rubbing small circles on the area between your thumb and index finger.

“i thought i could control the time limit for unlimited void. i am so sorry, (y/n). i didn’t mean for all this to happen.”

you blinked at the sorcerer in front of you. he was full of remorse, the guilt was clearly eating him up inside.

you put your free hand on top of his, “it’s okay, satoru. i forgive you—besides, it was nice to have ‘the strongest’ be my nurse for 3 days. this will be a story to tell my future kids.” you teased.

his blue eyes looked up at you with surprise. he didn’t think you’d forgive him after doing this to you. he couldn’t contain his relief as the soft smile you gave him was more than enough to get his heart racing again.

“it’s the least i could do. i thought you’d hate me forever after this.” he sighed. he couldn’t imagine being forever scorned by you.

“satoru, i don’t think i could ever hate you…” you said quietly.

you wondered if he could hear how fast your heart was beating—the ecg monitor surely reflected your beats per minute, didn’t it?

the sound of someone clearing their throat and knocking on the door interrupted the tension filled air between you and satoru. it was your doctor, ready to let you go back to the dorms.

end flashback

“and that’s how your gojo-sensei landed an unlimited void on me.” you said as all of his students’ jaws dropped at the story you just told them.

“and you still dated him after that?” nobara asked, truly curious at why you’d date an idiot like satoru gojo. especially after he landed you in the medical room for 3 days.

the rest of the boys laughed while satoru frowned, defending himself, “hey… i made it up to your (y/n)-sensei eventually.”

“him and his credit card made it up to me for the next ten years after that.” you winked at the students as satoru put his arm around your shoulder, sneaking a kiss on your temple.

you laughed, “i decided to keep him around since he’s given me unlimited apologies for that one.”

in all actuality, satoru won that spar back then when you were students, but when you really thought about it, you won because satoru gojo was yours.

EXTRA:

the dusk sun rested in the horizon as you and satoru walked hand in hand. the work day finally coming to an end. you couldn’t stop giggling to yourself.

“what’s got you giggling like a schoolgirl over there?” satoru asked curiously, squeezing your hand.

“you and your damn domain expansion…” you grinned, closing your eyes and shaking your head at the memory.

satoru hummed, “i can think of another domain i can expand.”

“satoru gojo.” you glared. his full government name coming out of your mouth made him flinch. he may or may not have went too far with that one.

“what, sweetheart?” he asked so innocently.

“that’s enough.” you whispered. “save that for later.”

“did you two forget what i’m walking right behind you guys?!” megumi groaned, “so gross.”

you and satoru glanced behind your shoulders to see your miserable adopted 15-year old’s face showing disgust in what he just heard. laughter erupted from the two of you as megumi scoffed back at his guardians.

he couldn’t wait to be home in the confines of his own room.

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Ramming Speed

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

The idea of ramming space ships into each other as a form of combat maneuver was beyond many galactic military minds comprehension.

A single spacecraft, let alone a military grade class vessel, would cost up in the billions of credits. Entire galactic economies had nearly bankrupted themselves trying to maintain a fleet large enough to secure their borders, so in turn each military ship became an asset not to be squandered lightly.

Perhaps it was this conservative mindset that nearly shattered when these powers first looked upon the Terran ship codenamed “The Ram”.

Unlike other modern vessels the ships of this new classification lacked all weapon emplacements. No energy cannons, missile launchers, rail guns; it was entirely free of weapons. What it did have was excessive amounts of armor plating, several separate shield generators, and a pair of overly powerful engines that could reach max speed in roughly five minutes.

The first time it was observed in combat was during the Terran/Crux war. Both powers had sizable fleets at their disposal and for the first couple months the two powers played cat and mouse games between each other; each trying to find a more advantageous position to commit their forces. Much to the dismay of both powers the first large scale battle was triggered by mere chance than a tactical decision.

A Crux patrol stumbled upon a Terran patrol emerging from a dense nebula in the Viper System. Both patrols requested reinforcements. Nearby patrols were soon diverted to the engagement and within short order what was a small skirmish ballooned into a full scale battle.

There were no battle lines or frontlines as ships opened fire at near point blank range with each other. Even when higher rank Admirals arrived to take charge both sides were too embroiled in the slugfest to make any more nuanced tactical moves without exposing themselves to the enemy.

It was here that the Ram emerged and showed its prowess.

Crux warship crews were not trained on how to handle enemy vessels rushing towards them. What’s more several gun crews became panicked when they saw the Ram ships rushing headlong towards them without diverting course.

With the extra armor and shielding the Terran ships not only struck head on into Crux ships but emerged from the attack relatively unscathed. In most cases the prow of the Ram ships punched clean through the entire hull of the Crux warship and emerged through the other side.

The Crux fleet desperately tried to regain order and form battle lines but each time they did so the Ram ships would plunge head first into their formation and take out the command ship coordinating the effort.

As more and more Terran ships arrived and formed their own battle lines the tide of battle soon drastically changed. After thirteen hours of intense fighting the last of the Crux fleet withdrew from the battle leaving the Terrans the victors.

A full fifth of the Crux navy was lost during the battle with the Ram ships having personally claimed 45% of the kills.

While the war itself would continue for another two years, the Ram ships and their unorthodox tactics had earned them a modicum of respect from the wider galaxy, and a great measure of fear from the Crux.

[windcarvedlyre]

Thinking about Venti's role as an archon and how he might be doing his job- as Celestia intended- better than we think.

Archons, in Gnosticism, rule over the material realm and prevent souls from leaving it. Barbatos, in the Ars Goetia, "reconciles disputes between friends and those who hold power".

Everything we know about Venti implies that he hates Celestia and opposes all forms of tyranny, but if their goal is to keep humanity from advancing, realising the truth of the world and taking actions that could threaten the status quo...

...isn't the best way to prevent rebellions and slow progress to make the people you rule content with what they have?

Venti is all about making his people's lives leisurely and seemingly free (I'll get to that in a second). It's in his gemstone quote, the thing which summarises his approach as an archon:

"Still, the winds change direction. "Someday, they will blow towards a brighter future… "Take my blessings and live leisurely from this day onward."

We see this reflected in Mondstadt's culture and economy. There are still hardworking individuals in the Knights of Favonius, the Church of Favonius and the Adventurer's Guild, but this attitude isn't universal even within those organisations and the rest of Mondstadt's people generally have a slow, relaxed approach to life relative to other nations. They haven't produced any internationally notable industries outside of alcohol, and why would they? They have everything they need, graciously provided by the anemo archon himself*, so why strive for more?

This has already left them vulnerable to the whims of more powerful nations, incapable of meaningfully opposing the Fatui without inviting consequences they can't handle.

*Also see Jean's story quest for a scaled-down version of this. Mondstadt's general population relies on her hard work a bit too much and she enables them.

We also see Mondstadt have a softening effect on outsiders multiple times in-game. There are at least three cases of people questioning their life choices because its people and/or scenery are that nice. Two are branches of hangout events, one is a soon-to-be-ex treasure hoarder chilling on Cider Lake's coast. I've joked that Mond is a lotus eater hotel scaled up to a nation based on this, but what if that's somewhat intentional?

But why would he do this?

It could be an unintended side effect of efforts to improve people's quality of life. He was allegedly naive enough not to forsee the aristocracy situation, after all. But at the same time... he's a god of freedom and hope in a world where his people have no hope of freedom.

-Harmost's Notes (II), Remuria.

He knows what happens to human civilisations that advance too far and attempt to rebel against this world. He likely knows a god much like him, themed around music and desperate to free his people from fate, tried and failed horribly. He lives in the shadow of a celestial needle. The Cataclysm would only reinforce this perceived futility of resistance. He still hopes for a brighter future, but he may be pinning all of his hopes on a descender taking pity on Teyvat's people and choosing to help them. To quote the description of Mondstadt Statues of the Seven:

A monumental stone statue that watches over Mondstadt. Legends say that it was sculpted in the image of the Anemo Archon. "Seeds brought by the wind will grow over time." The statue silently anticipates the arrival of a noble soul to arrive, while thousand winds of time will soon unfold a new story...

Apart from that, what else can he do besides be passive and complacent? Besides make his people comfortable and hope they don't rock the boat too much before liberation is actually possible?

And the thing about resolving disputes with those in power worries me. It could just translate into his pacifism, but it could also mean he's less willing to act against Celestia than we'd hope. Why did the Tsaritsa, the only archon named after a saint and willing to take a stand against Celestia, fall out with him? He has reasons to be pissed at her methods but I suspect that won't be the only factor.

All we can do is wait and see.

[literatureloverx]

F Y O D O R D O S T O E V S K Y

mild NSFW headcanons

Mdni, fem!reader, yandere behaviour etc.

Note: I’ve tried to keep it as canon as possible, interpreting how his sexual/romantic behaviour might be with someone he fell in love with. 

Headcanons under the pictures. Enjoy.

It is canon, or at least semi-canon, that Fyodor exhibits Yandere qualities, which, in my humble opinion, manifest in how he handles you.

Someone with a deep and complex personality like Fyodor, driven by ulterior motives, would likely have a profound attraction to his beloved, or not have a darling at all.

This would translate into a deep, sensual, controlled, intimate, and intensely romantic relationship, characterized by high sexual tension.

He is not going easy on anyone or anything, why should he with you? It is an important part of his personality.

Despite his apparent lack of interest sexual encounters, which suggests he might have limited experience, Fyodor compensates with his profound understanding of your mind and body.

To answer the question of what he would love about you during sex, it's crucial to first consider the kind of partner he would desire, as this would influence his behavior.

He would want a virgin. There. I said it.

He would relish the idea of corrupting your innocent body, marking it as his in every possible way. Because he is a man of control.

He would derive pleasure from knowing that you have never experienced tender touches except those he provides, making him your sole source of such sensations.

This would make him feel superior, reinforcing his power over you (which he indeed possesses).

He would take pleasure in seeing you submissive and easy to mold, even more so if you are eager to please him, allowing him to do whatever he desires with you.

You would assume the role of his wife, sharing a life that is both peaceful and intense in every conceivable way.

Fyodor's love for art suggests he would take delight in seeing you dressed up (or in this case, naked) , looking pretty and vulnerable for him.

He would mold you to his will, taking pleasure in making you sob and cry for him as he makes love (because “fucking” like every other petty human being, similar to a wild animal *cough cough* is not an option) to you.

His preference for domination and control, not out of a need to be a control freak but due to his overarching motives (which I will discuss in another post), implies he would enjoy restricting you, either through physical bondage or psychological manipulation.

He would torture you mentally while denying you your own pleasure.

He would know your body better than his own, knowing exactly where to push and where to caress, driving you to the brink.

He would reward his "good girl” with material, over-the-top gifts.

You’re taking him so well, all pretty and desperate? You own a bookshop. You made him some piroshki when you can barely walk because your sorry legs are trembling? You own your favourite city.

He would despise bratty behavior; don't even think about it. You wouldn't like the punishment he has in store for you.

Physical punishment wouldn't hold much significance for him; breaking your mind would be far easier and safer.

He wouldn't want to see his beloved harmed, after all.

Speaking of harm, he might mark you, but in a possessive, old-fashioned way.

He wouldn't appreciate you flaunting your bruises to others.

Be an obedient partner and avoid making him angry. You won't like the consequences.

He’s doing it all out of love.

With love…❤️

To read my other works => MASTERLIST

[decolonize-the-everything]

It is disappointing that a Kentucky federal judge dismissed felony charges against two former police officers charged in the death of Breonna Taylor during a 2020 raid. But the decision by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Simpson III to place blame for the 26-year-old emergency-room technician’s death squarely on boyfriend Kenneth Walker III defies logic. And it reinforces the difficulty of holding police accountable, even when one detective has already pleaded guilty to lies and coverups. Walker shot once from his legally owned gun as Louisville police burst through Taylor’s apartment door unannounced on March 13 at 12:45 a.m. Police returned fire 32 times, with several bullets hitting Taylor. Her death added fuel to international protests over police killings that summer. Walker’s decision to shoot is “a superseding cause” of her death, the judge said. “There is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death.” The link appears obvious: If officers had not lied that a drug dealer lived there, the shooting would not have happened. “If they had just knocked on the door and said, ‘It’s the police,’ we would have opened the door,” Walker said in an Instagram post on the ruling.

Also, in a legal system that endorses “stand-your-ground” laws, why is Walker criticized for exercising his right to self-defense? Why single him out when prosecutors dropped charges against him for wounding an officer in the leg, and the city of Louisville reached a $2 million settlement with him over police misconduct? Will the next argument be that Taylor is responsible for her own death, just for being asleep in her bed when police showed up? Federal prosecutors intend to appeal the judge’s ruling, according to Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer. “The only thing we can do at this point is continue to be patient,” she said in a statement. “The appeal will extend the life of the case but as we’ve always maintained, we will continue to fight until we get full justice.” What this means right now is that former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany, who handled the warrant but were not at the shooting, face only misdemeanor charges that could end with fines. Jaynes and Meany were charged with depriving Taylor of her constitutional right to be free of unreasonable searches. Simpson, a senior judge appointed by President Ronald Reagan, said the facts did not justify the felony charge. Jaynes is still charged with conspiring with another detective to cover up the false warrant and of falsifying a document to mislead investigators. Meany is still charged with making a false statement to FBI investigators. This tragedy began with police efforts to arrest Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, DeMarcus Glover, for drug-dealing. He was arrested the night of the raid at another location.

[l-in-the-light]

Trafalgar Law and shreds of closeness part 3: Donquixote Family Edition

What can I say, I got struck with inspiration yet again, the thoughts just do not want to leave me. This time it will get dark. And it will hurt, so feel warned. I will take a closer look at Law's closeness to the Donquixote Family and also do a small case study of affection between Doffy and Cora and their dad as well, to get a fuller context. Main focus will be on physical affection, yet again.

So what do you think, did Law get support and affection from his "second family"? I would say, very little. But let's look at evidence:

We have verbal support from Doflamingo himself when Giolla and Buffalo start to fear to touch Law or to even stay in the same room after they learn he's sick. That's 1:0 for him, I'm sure Law appreciated and remembered it. In retrospection, it would have been better for him if he didn't.

Then we have Giolla and Machvise who handled him like he's an object. Giolla keeps touching Law on the head, probably not caring why he seems displeased with it. She's just reinforcing the trauma, but I think overall she means well, she just doesn't think much about it. Giolla also shows Law the most physical affection and I swear it feels like she's trying to make up for her initial reaction, she's just not going the right way about it, making it worse instead.

Meanwhile we have Doflamingo, who despite defending Law before, never touches him. And I mean, never ever. Doffy remains cold not only with Law though, which we will see in a moment.

And then we have Baby5. She feels sorry for Law and even cried for him when she heard the story of Flevance (not in Law's presence tho), but she herself is bad with affection and care, because she also never received much, it also doesn't help that she is genuinely scared of Law's angry glares. All she can do to show him she cares is to smack and scold him. And of course when she does smack him it's on the head, which only becomes a trauma trigger over and over again. Those two just completely miss each other by a mile.

That's it. No other Donquixote Family's member ever tried to show some care in front of Law. They train him of course, but would you count kicking and punching him as a positive experience? Yeah, I don't think so.

And let's not forget Corazon, who carried Law like a bag of potatoes (and threw him around) for a long time, even after he kidnapped him. The Trip to Hospitals All Around the World kinda made him become better, holding Law close, trying to make him smile, carrying him all the time and at one point he even begs Law: "please give me the chance to do things right, stay strong for 3 more weeks!". Doesn't change the fact the touches he did give Law at the beginning were brutalized forms of affection, and we can't really forget that fact: that's exactly how Law's trauma of being touched on the head even started in the first place.

He already trained for awhile, but he still failed in the confrontation, and I think it was because of the touch. Being pinned down made Law probably freeze and unable to move. But even after being saved by Doflamingo, Law doesn't even try to seek support in him, unlike Baby5. Here we can see Doflamingo is alright if someone seeks comfort in him, but he will not give it by himself. That makes Doflamingo-Law combo the worst possible match up, a person who will never give it first and a person who will never ask for it, no wonder things were always cold between them.

Thanks to the fight against Smoker in Punk Hazard we learn that Law managed to overcome his trauma of being pinned down to a significant degree, because he manages to escape on his own. This scene gets an extra focus in the manga (it takes like 5 different frames!) which further convinces me it's that siginifcant. Law probably trained himself not to get overwhelmed like that ever again. Still, I can't help but notice soon after this happened Law starts to have troubles breathing, which means it still didn't leave him unaffected. He pushes to finish the fight faster afterwards as well.

One of his trauma triggers is feeling helpless and being pinned down definitely counts for that. I don't think this started with Vergo, I would say it was already a thing after Flevance, when he had to discover more and more dead bodies of people dearest to him, unable to do anything about it.

Let's look at his symptoms thanks to which we can recognize he's going through a triggering situation. Visible shivering, heavy panting (to the point of weezing which makes me think it can even go as far as bordering on hyperventilation or the opposite - apnea). And then in the last image he just goes stiff which I interpret as him completely freezing up. Damn, that's actually a lot. It's very similar to Robin's trauma responses in Water 7.

You can also notice that Law clenches his fists and it seems to be a sign that he's struggling or forcing himself to be strong. He still does it *a lot* when he's an adult. I think it might have honestly became a habit. He does that just before a battle, in most stressful situations when he knows he can't show his emotions (or just doesn't want to), and well, if we go by the anime version, also when he leaves Wano with his own crew. Basically any time he makes a firm resolve or a hard decision, he also does that. I swear sometimes it feels like he struggles for half of the Dressrosa and Punk Hazard, which you know what, might be way too accurate.

Also bonus wholesome points for Luffy caring more to support Law and Muucy than caring for falling into water himself. I'm not sure how much that helped Law when he was dealing with a triggering situation, especially that unfortunate contact with the top of his head. I guess it's still better than similar situation but with Law completely alone.

This puts this scene into a completely new perspective, right? He's shivering here and definitely froze up, even his speech bubble looks distressed. He's not getting angry here, his trauma trigger kicked in. I did check if he ever shivers or freezes up when he tries to, for example, stop himself from feeling angry, but no, we never see that happen. I'm sorry for ruining the comedy :( tho to make it better, he's also shocked, because just moments before Strawhats feared him, and now they already don't and even laugh at him. Damn, I'm now so torn about this scene, I mean, Strawhats couldn't have known!

Now a promised closer look at Donquixote family's approach to closeness and touch. When they were still Celestial Dragons, they barely touched each other. No small touches on the back, hand holding or anything else you usually share with kids. The closeness starts only after they're all starting to be persecuted. First time we see Doffy holding his mom's hand is when they run away from their burning house. First time we are shown Homing hugging his kids is when village people are beating them up and he is just trying to cover them with his own body, so he takes the beating instead of his kids.

The last memory Rosinante has of his father is the hug. And the first memory he has of Sengoku is also a sort of half-hug. Might be why he got so attached to him.

Little Doflamingo and Rosinante are always together, but they never touch in any way. It's clearly Doffy who takes care of his younger brother, probably also telling him to toughen up.

Weird mocking touch on the head from Trebol. And like always, no one ever touches Doflamingo, not even his own officers, and that's true ever since Doffy was a child.

He even tells Trebol he's too close. Doffy doesn't want touches anymore, because it seems in his mind he understands them as someone protecting him, and he doesn't need protection. Ever since he killed Homing, Doffy took the role of being a head of the family and protecting Rosinante, so no more hugs or hand holding for him. In other words, Doflamingo associates physical affection with protection and incoming abuse. And whenever he touches someone it's exactly for that reason: to hurt them.

An interesting parallel because this happens in exactly same chapter: Law is trying to move away because Luffy's "too close". He even lets him take the transponder away and just stands there and waits. And you might wonder: what for? Is he hoping Luffy will give it back by himself?

No, it just took some extra time for Law to brace himself to touch Luffy and shove him to the side. Even though both Doffy's and Law's first instinct here is to move away, Law is struggling but actually tries to overcome it, contrary to Doffy, who seems content in his "no touching" comfort zone.

Let's take a look at Dressrosa now. Doffy is carrying Law by his clothes, Law is unconscious, but he will not touch him directly anyway. Cora-san used to do it as well at first to Law.

But then, you might ask, they fought so much in Dressrosa, surely some kind of touch had to happen as a result? I mean, most of them were indirect touches with Doffy's strings, kicking Law or stopping him by grabbing his sword. But you are right, exactly two touches do happen. You're not gonna like it.

This is literally the first time Doflamingo ever touched Law. To stop his attack he forcefully grabbed his hand. Law is shivering, this actually triggers him, and there's just no way Doflamingo doesn't know that, he can feel it.

And then he makes the full use of the situation. Doflamingo holds Law up in the air, but we can see by the onomatopeia that he's literally holding him up by his hand alone and Law is just freely dangling there, Doffy's not using any strings to immobilize him, not even armament haki. He doesn't even need to. Finally he gave Law the touch he must have been craving when he was a child from him, but it's not a caring one, and what's the next thing Doflamingo does to that hand he just touched? He cuts it off, ripping open the psychological wounds, making them deeper, perhaps hoping Law will never recover from them. Because that's the easiest way to control him later if he wishes to do so, to make him pliant, defenseless and unable to fight back and terrified. But also to punish him for the "rebellion" against him... but also to punish Law for his need and fear of touch. This is a lesson: never want affection, closeness or touch, you're never getting any. Unless it's this: abuse. And if you don't think this is terrible enough, let me remind you: this is their first touch *ever*, Law probably waited for it when he was a kid.

And Law is just hanging there, not even trying to move, and it lasts for like three or four pages long, and I remember when I reread this a couple of times, I was a bit puzzled. Why isn't Law struggling to release himself? Why is he just letting this happen? Especially when it's becoming very clear what Doflamingo is gonna do next. So I have my answer: Law froze up, it's his body shutting off on it's own and all he can do is to just be there and wait for it to be over. It's painful, because we know Law always struggles, always fights back, and he tries here, with words, but he can't do anything else and he just watches it happen.

And this is the second time Doflamingo touches him. It's after the Gamma Knife attack, Doffy knows what he's doing here, he chooses to make contact with Law's head/face (he must have noticed Law's discomfort to it before when Giolla often did it to Law as a kid, and now he utilized this knowledge). He tries to make Law freeze up so he can't finish his move and who knows, maybe that was the final factor of why Law failed to kill off Doflamingo.

To wrap things up, I will share the interesting parallel that I think can be drawn between two rather unexpected characters: Law and Boa.

Both Law and Boa are most comfortable around Bepo (and the snake in Boa's case). Both are victims of brutalized touch and lack of loving and caring one. But while Law fearfully accepts what's given to him, Boa rejects it (even symbolically by kicking fluffy animals away or refusing any show of affection like gifts). Both are touch starved, but Boa will never even try to touch Luffy, and the only time Luffy touched her was in that stealth mission in Impel Down (they didn't have the choice) and hugging her after she gave him the key to Ace's cuffs. Boa doesn't return the gesture, she is very flustered and falls to the ground afterwards, which reminds me a little of her later scene with Rayleigh. Not even Boa's own sisters are shown to share any sort of physical affection with her, Boa shows cold and manipulative attitude to almost everyone besides them. The only other person Boa ever touched was Rayleigh (she's on the ground here again) after he helped them fight off Blackbeard's assault on Amazon Lily and it might be a traumatic response: Blackbeard tried to strangle her after all. Boa's love is passionate and platonic, she shows her affection and caring with indirect gestures (food preparation, offering support and help etc.), probably because that's what she remembers others tried doing for her before. She can't even deal with intimacy face to face and Law also tends to act cold to very open displays of affection and emotions.

Big thanks to @tae-rambles for mentioning the scene with Boa that completely slipped my mind <3 added it in the edit!

[littleholmes]

​This chapter just reinforced that Satoru does everything for his students—even healing his brain after almost dying five times and giving his all to the point where he burned himself out and couldn’t open a domain anymore.

Satoru’s cockiness has always been there, but over the course of the series it’s become clear that with age it’s become more of a facade, a brave face he keeps for his students and those around him because if he (as the strongest) isn’t worried and knows he can handle it/doesn’t show weakness, then they won’t be worried.

He does this and keeps this up because he knows that everyone puts so much faith in him and that showing weakness allows enemies to think they have a leg up in a situation (the great Gojo is weak!) and also shakes the confidence of his students who look up to him and believe he can always handle situations. And we see that played out again in this part of the fight.

He kept a brave face on, and did his best to hold on to his cocky facade so his watching students wouldn’t worry more than they already were (and with his six eyes he can likely pick up on poor Yuta’s anxiety, but I digress). Toward that last moment he still kept a brave, if resigned, face on, even while accepting that Sukuna was likely to finish him off.

So when it turned out that Sukuna fought so hard that he couldn’t open his domain again either and they are back on equal footing, his relief was palpable and he let it show. (After all, his worried students are watching, the whole world is too, but they deserve to see he’s relieved and hasn’t lost yet!)

Everything almost wasn’t okay—everything almost wasn’t okay for most of this fight tbh—so this upper hand/even playing field is a major relief and we get cocky Satoru again telling Sukuna that the kids are watching before he goes in to fight Sukuna hand-to-hand.

Idk I’m rambling and I’m gonna tag @theanimepsychologist in this in case I missed something, but I just love this chapter for so many reasons, especially how we got more info about domains and techniques and their effects on the body, but I really love how it showed us how much Satoru cares about his students, just how hard Satoru fought (even to his own detriment) for them, and how the way he presents himself even in battle is for them and partly because of their faith in him as the strongest.

[prince0fpaints]

Letting off some steam..

Venture x Reader

Warnings under cut!!

WARNINGS - mentions of male genitalia, choking, name calling/degrading, PLEASE PLEASE PLEAASSSEEE PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻ੈ*✩‧₊˚

“Hey, Sloan, did you hear about this deal at the mall today?”

God.

“Hey Sloan-y look at this cool stick I found!”

What now?

“Pebble.. Pay attention to me!!”

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, Sloan was already swamped with backup work from the wayfinders society, they were assigned a pretty difficult case; finding the location of king Beau’s ceramic crown, said to be lost forever, but with bits and pieces being found in iceland gave the society hope and they, in turn, decided to put the best of them on the case.

Sloan was honored, they were incredibly ecstatic! The second they got home and told you about it you were equally excited and willing to help them. However, they told you they could handle it on their own, and even though it put you in a pouty mood, you let your lover work.

You let them work.. And work.. And work.. And then you began to miss them, they rarely left the house and that was thanks to Joel at the society to give Sloan all the time they needed to pinpoint a rough location on the artifact. Every now and again you brought them food but never lingered too long, until they would be moving around the house, just for a change of scenery not to be pelted by your requests for attention. They were nice to you at first, being as gentle as possible, scolding you and giving you tiny bits of attention.. Which unknowingly reinforced you to bug them more for attention.

“Baby, I know you’ve been missing me but I've gotta work, okay.. Fine, one kiss.”

. . .

“Amor, I’ve got work to do.”

. . .

“Minx, compórtate bien. Odiaría castigarte.”

You forgot for a moment what their Spanish did to you. You couldn't make out much, barely any at all, but they were smiling so it must have been a praise! You smiled back and went back to chatting their ear off. Sloan was currently sitting criss-cross on the comfy futon in the living room, you sat next to them talking about nothing in particular, just chatting.

You would trace the outside lines of their tattoos, lingering over the one on their wrist as their arms were bare and vulnerable, thank you tank tops! They were dressed quite casually, A black tank top, and those cartoony boxers with skulls and crossbones printed on the fabric.

“And then she kinda just left without her cup of extra cheese, and then got mad when she came back when the movie ended and ate her nachos! Like c’mon lady! That's your fault, so like-”

You weren't able to get any more words out as a hand moved to cover your lips, your eyes recognized the beautiful tan skin that was littered with tattoos, your pupils traced up the appendage to sloan’s eyes. They looked pissed.

Messy hair, bags under their squinted eyes, eyebrows furrowed to enunciate their current emotion of annoyance. A slight grimace on their lips caused their teeth to peek out slightly as they tightened their grip before adjusting your body.

You were laying on your stomach now, nose pressed against their thigh as they placed their computer on the arm of the futon, you squirmed and grunted as you tried to move and they silenced you, quick.

“callarse la boca. quedarse quieto.”

Hot.

You did as told, even if you could barely translate, you knew full well what Sloan would say when they wanted someone to be quiet. Your movements stilled, eyes looking up at Sloan from where they held your head, much gentler now as they shifted on the futon.

They released you momentarily before lifting their hips off the cushions and slipping their boxers off just to the middle of their thighs. You swallowed, hard, eyes first spotting the leather straps wrapped perfectly around their sculpted abdomen, and a familiar sight met your gaze.

Their cock, their crazily colored, beautiful length.

You stared at it, unable to tear your eyes away as your eyes looked over the pinks, purples, and yellows on the slightly curved length. You swallowed once more, body twitching unknowingly as you felt Sloan’s gentle hand wipe away some drool you didn't realize escaped your mouth.

“Messy. Here, make yourself useful while I work.”

You wanted to, to just wrap your lips around it and make your partner happy but were met with resistance as their hand tugged your hair back.

“Control yourself. Don't you dare misbehave, I can stop this at any time.”

You whine, you love when they get all dominant like this but hate when they threaten to stop playing with you like this. You felt your head nod mindlessly, Sloan’s strong hand guiding your wanting mouth to the tip of their length.

You bobbed your head in a slow rhythm, Sloan groaned in satisfaction, their head rolling back as they praised your skillful tongue, though the shaft occupying your mouth was silicone, you swore sloan was feeling every little lick and suck. They removed their hand from your now messy locs and went back to typing. You mentally pout, you don't have their undivided attention. You wanted to hear them, to feel their hands on you, to be praised about your skillful mouth. You began to pull off to groan at them only to be pushed back down, gagging slightly in the process.

“You've been mouthing off all day, god, you've been so desperate for me, haven't you.”

Your hips shift at their tone, mind so clouded, their voice felt like it wormed its way into your brain.

“God. If you'd only shut up, I wouldn't have to stuff your useless mouth like this.”

You let out a muffled moan, tears dripping down your cheeks and onto their perfect thighs and the leather straps.

“But knowing you, you probably like this, don't you?.. Apuesto a que estás todo mojado ahí abajo. ¿Sí?”

You moan around the silicon you were choking on.

“putita.”

You quite literally prove their point right after.

[kaelio]

I haven't been talking too much about the IWTV show lately, and that's because I found Season 2 genuinely a bit disturbing. Not because of the blood (I love blood), or Claudia's death (necessary and done well), or individual changes to the book canon. It's disturbing because it gave us uncomfortable answers about the perspective of the show, especially where the show varies and is thus differentiated from the books. The show has some fairly repellant views about vulnerability which bleed into issues in how it handles sexuality (which is less important with how it interprets pathos overall).

The show seems to take the view that you're annoyingly "not allowed" to be mad at someone for "being weak", but that you are expected to feel contempt for someone for being weak.

Like when Louis is listening to Armand talk about his past, and "Dreamstat" huffs at it. Dreamstat is Louis, guys. It's not Lestat. Louis was a pimp and views the pimped-out with contempt and this is never challenged. Hell, the only way Daniel ever comes close to challenging it is saying that Armand might have been lying about his abuse. Louis listens to Claudia recount her rape again. This storyline doesn't have any closure for her, and now she's dead; it can't. It only exists for Louis to look uncomfortable having to hear about it. He's disgusted by it and the scene exists to remind us he's disgusted by it. Like the annoyance he felt when we first met him, chewing out Bricktop for responding to being raped (because yeah, using a hole without permission is... rape). Bricktop, who was a real person who really moved to Paris, who we never hear or see from again. And not much sympathy for Lily, really, was there? Or Jonah, a poor man, who Louis even admits he saw again in Paris but feels no need to mention, because that's a weak person to him and the narrative has nothing but contempt for the weak. Louis is our viewpoint character, and though he also lies and misremembers, and isn't presented as perfect, his view of weakness is reinforced by Daniel (who despite his brief crisis of spine in S1E8 basically serves as his fluffer) and it basically gets to stay intact. When Armand follows him, fearfully, in Episode 8 because the last time Louis stormed out it was to try to kill himself, Louis smashes him into a wall and holds a rolled paper like he's about to beat a dog.

In the book, Armand wants Claudia out of the way and she says as much. He very much could have "prevented it" and he knows, and Louis knows. In the show, he doesn't seem to particularly dislike Claudia, personally, or have any motive to kill her once she's moved away. He wants her to follow the rules everyone else follows, and sure he puts his hands on her, but no more so than other characters who the narrative forgives for it. He's strongarmed into playing director. And yet, this is a weakness Louis can't forgive. You can have it one of two ways; Armand can be a more willing participant in the play or Louis can break up with him about it, but making both of those changes is revealing. The show hates characters who are put in a corner; it has no love for them. It also fundamentally misunderstands the appeal of many of the characters as they appear in the books. We love them because they're sincerely flawed. Because they do bad things. We're not just "not allowed to be mad" at them because bad things have happened to them. We choose to love them. But the show views it like we do so under duress. It thinks it's a relief to us that Louis is giving the Batman monologue at the end. And to some viewers, this seems to be the case! But frankly, I do find it disturbing. And again, this bleeds out into the show's view of sexuality and, to be honest, of women overall.

The only sex scene we ever see that seems basically equally enjoyed by both participants and isn't loaded down with "psychically agonizing with one's sister while it's happening" or strongarming or killing a trusted confidant who had also been involved or some very poorly-negotiated and worrying power dynamics is... Santiago and Elgee! Which on its face (though their actual ages are different) is heterosexual sex between a white older-looking man and a white younger-looking woman! What on Earth! And even then it makes the point that Santiago dumped her not long after. Every time the show adds something or makes an adjustment, it's towards a rigid and regressive view that is completely at odds with the books.

Season 2 was the opportunity to be critical of Louis' narrative in Season 1; how he truly views living people and how he assesses his relationships to others. How he treats others! Hey, in this version, Armand doesn't punch Lestat off a tower, but Louis does openly use him to hurt Lestat in a way that makes explicit to Armand that he doesn't really care about Armand at all. That no one ever has. Hey guys, that actually wasn't a badass power move. That sucked.

Mistreating your partner sucks. This isn't a kink, this is sad. And if it is thought to be a kink, the show certainly doesn't respect taking particular roles within that kink. Thus far, we only have what the show has displayed to us: an Armand under duress to go along with the trial and a willing Lestat. How come Armand gets beaten for it and Lestat gets a hug? Because Armand is weak (by Louis' account specifically because of his grooming) and weakness is disgusting. Deserving of scorn. And in S2E5, Armand certainly didn't want Louis out fucking strangers and doing drugs! But this is portrayed as him being a nag. A drag. A bitch. A good partner, a cool partner, one who isn't so dull and boring, would not have "driven" Louis to this, clearly.

But instead of any real incisiveness on this, or anything, Daniel basically just decides Louis is cool and that Armand is a loser and that obviously "Lestat would never--" even though, in this telling so far, Lestat still didn't attempt to save Claudia. (And Daniel seems to take vampire-status as basically just an upgrade, because now he can exert more power on others. Doesn't even seem to care about his family anymore, probably because they were uncool people who thought it sucked their dad was a self-absorbed bad father.) Oh, hey, didn't Daniel finally recall that what made Louis blow up was the implication that Claudia didn't love him enough? By what standard did Claudia owe Louis anything? But, you know, Claudia died because she was small and couldn't be independent (that gets you raped, you know), so implicitly she also owed stronger things her love, and Louis' woundedness is righteous, I suppose.