#and instead of actually fixing it apparently the fix is just a much easier to deal with bug

[girlbob-boypants]

Know that I say this as someone who plays and has fun with the game but

Eso is a bad game.

[faerievampling]

Killing Time

Chapter 9: Power

Pairing: Ascended Astarion x Spawn Female Tav

Summary: After months apart, Tav and Astarion fight to be in each other's arms once more.

Word Count: 6.6k

Warnings: 18+. PiV. M/M/F threesome. graphic violence. angst.

Link to Ao3

Masterlist

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Seven concubines, each unique in their own way: three dragonborn, a tiefling, two humans, and a drow. The others were hardly remarkable, but the drow caught your eye in particular: a male. You hadn’t seen a male drow in many years, and you had forgotten their beauty: his skin was the color of moonlight, his hair white and long, pooling around his taut waist. He was rather tall for an elf, his shoulders wide and hairless.

Each of the concubines were dressed in a similar fashion as you, only the men had their chests exposed. Each concubine was as gorgeous as the last, but the years of being a toy for an evil master was apparent on their bodies: many of them had visible scars. The drow had taken the most damage, yet his beauty far surpassed the rest. 

“These are my favorites. The others are kept elsewhere,” Moth looks over to you, his hand draped around the back of your neck, pushing your head down only slightly. You understood why he called you ‘little one’ now, despite your old age: you were clearly the shortest and smallest one here, given that most of his favorites were rather tall men, the only other women in the group being two of the three dragonborn.

“Women have too much…mental constitution. Men are easier,” Moth vaguely explains to you.“There is power in taking another man. But women are too smart, too small. You are the exception.”

Creep. Also, you think he may have been calling you stupid. 

“The drow will join us later. Come now, they are restless from your lingering odor. You still don’t quite smell like us.” You never would. There was no way this lord didn’t know that. “Let me show you my collection, Tav.”

Moth guides you out of the day room, down to a staircase that takes you down towards the inner chambers, where the favored and the other spawn lie. The museum was just across the hall from another stairway descent, and you wondered how far down the palace actually went. Moth kept the entire estate dark and damp, its tackiness could never amount to the decadence and good sensibilities of the Ancunín estates.

“There are a certain number of cursed objects down here, unsavory things. Do not touch anything.”

The room is large: filled with various objects, statues, some encased in glass. As you inch closer to the first table you see, you feel your stomach flop down to your core, and you’re already baring your fangs. The relics of the past were here to haunt you. A statue of you, even your old armor. A circular relic with jagged edges and so many books. One in particular catches your eye, you are gravitating to it because of its scent…the musk. the faint smell of bergamot even after so many years.

You bring your face close to the pages, gathering as much of Astarion’s scent as you could. The artifacts outside glass had been magically protected since their discovery, Moth tells you, and the spell book must have been found shortly after the fall of the brain, because your husband’s scent is strong, almost fresh. It makes your eyes water, your gut twist and turn, your dead heart nearly thumping in your chest – it almost feels biological, your body craving him, a spawn desperate for the touch of her Master. You think maybe Astarion was right to have called you spawn…it’s what you are, isn’t it?

You close your eyes. Your thoughts turn ever to the dark, but you don’t know how to remedy this. Astarion did everything for you; your husband fixed any problem you ever had. He wasn’t here now to ease your pain or uplift you. But instead of making you feel empowered, you just feel so lonely.

Knowing that you are a spawn so far from her beloved Master, reminds you, once again, that being around this other lord is wrong. He smells wrong, he is wrong, like his body is inherently incompatible with your own. Why doesn’t he sense it? Even the other concubines had.

You touch the pages, thinking about how Astarion’s hands had once held this book, had once held you. You can’t read the words anymore. Written in a language that had changed a lot in two millennia, and you could hardly remember the symbols of centuries past. They looked like strange characters, prompting you to gingerly trace them with your fingers. Astarion loved reading all sorts of genres, and you wondered what this one was about. Was it something he was studying? Maybe something for pleasure? A mystery? A romance? Smut?

“I have collected for a very long time, as you can see,” Moth says as he admires a plate of what was labeled as ‘infernal iron’. You think you could stay nestled in the scent of Astarion forever, the only comfort your weary mind has found in months. But you move on–you can cry later, in the daylight, when you are safe. Keep your head high.

You wander the expansive museum, finding your way to the statue of yourself located in the center of the room. You can’t help but think how much Astarion and Lae’zel would hate this: some insane vampire lord hoarding the things from your party, your adventure. It was like a creepy shrine with you in the center: and everything was beginning to make a little more sense.

‘It’s simple. He’s insane, has no true consort, and treats his spawn like slaves.’ You say this to your inner voice, the one inside your head that contains your inner monster, the one that threatened to lunge at Moth with every movement he made. 

You study the statue of yourself; your expression the artist gave the statue was curious to you, not what you expected, but you can’t pinpoint it. What is it? Confidence? Heroics? Maybe your outfit just looked really good on you, which was certainly true.

A thump of a heartbeat approaches. Silky fur moves through your legs, the cat’s tail wrapping around your calf as it already saunters away. You look back at the statue, admiring yourself in some sort of jealous awe. Was this statue commissioned before you were turned? Maybe that slightly dumb, arrogant expression of yours was that of humanity. Whatever the artist saw in you was something you didn’t see in yourself – you wonder if you ever really had.

Walking your way through the large room, you spot a collection of scrolls. They have a lovely scent, one familiar to you but you can’t quite pin down the owner. Your eyes sweep over the scrolls as you lock in on one in particular: arcane lock. You swipe it, stuffing it in your robes as Moth admires his collection; he is swept up in the history, in his interest, nearly forgetting about you, the most priceless relic of all. 

You continue to make your way throughout the room, gawking at the various instruments encased. There is a long silence before Moth’s cold, deep voice breaks through the stale air.

“You know, Tav,” Your name on his lips was grating. You grit your teeth. “There are several details and events that have been lost to time. But one in particular has been on my mind for two thousand years.”

He has your attention now. 

“Did you know that there are almost no records about the disappearance of the Szarr family?”

You have to take a minute to absorb his question. “…Cazador. You’re talking about Cazador.” 

“Yes. You really should try to keep up.” Moth grumbles. “Tell me how you did it. How you killed him.”

You huff, your posture challenging as you bring your arms down to your side from where they had once clasped together. “Tell me how you got all this stuff.” The artifacts in here were yours: Lae’zel’s stuff. Your old friends' stuff – your husband’s possessions. These didn’t belong to this mad lord.

A long silence. “I stole it. Bought it. Found it. Bargained for it. Your turn.”

You gather what you can from your own distant memory, and anything else Astarion had told you about the event. 

“We sacrificed him. But before that, my party and I…” You think Lae’zel had been with you, but part of you thinks your mind is creating this memory with Lae’zel, because she was at the forefront. Wasn’t that large wood elf with you? Who was the one who begged you and Astarion to stop? “We snuck up on him. His spawn was incapacitated so we only had to fight his wolves and ghouls.”

“Hmm. And do you happen to know why Mephistopheles refuses to enter into another deal like the one he had with Cazador and Astarion?” His question is cold, calculated. Your gut twisted at the sound of your husband’s name on Moth’s lips. Before you can answer, he chuckles as he walks up to you, his large hand snaking around your neck. His hold on you is forceful, far tighter than a lover should ever hold their other. 

“You do not know much of anything, do you? Maybe I should have taken Astarion instead,” He pauses after this, long enough to make you shutter. “He is more my type. But you were the one I wanted, despite that small, stupid little brain of yours, my doll.” 

His hold on you relaxes, allowing you to speak. Your voice comes out weakly. “Surely you can’t remember everything that’s happened in two millennia. Only my…” my husband. “...my old master can do that. There isn’t another vampire out there who can remember their whole lives.” 

“You have settled for something so close to greatness, you and Astarion both,”Moth rasps; you stifle a whimper at hearing his name again. You know he only does this to hurt you. 

Moth releases you, and you are a bit dramatic with the way you clutch your throat; seeing your pain made him smile, and he might be keen to hurt you less later on. 

The conversation ends here, but the way Moth looks at you confirms that he has far more secrets than he lets on. To your surprise, he doesn’t notice the missing scroll, leading you back to the boudoir in silence. You carefully place it in your wardrobe, deep within the clothes that you were hardly allowed to wear, and you begged to the gods that he wouldn’t find it.

~

Astarion has you in his arms. He’s standing up, the back of your knees resting in the crook of his arms as hands support your back, fucking up into you with such ferocity that you’re jelly in his arms. The tip of his cock bullies your gummy walls, reaching deep within you to meet your delicious g-spot. Every thrust, slick, hot and squelching as skin slaps skin, sends you into utter ecstasy. Your husband knew your body so flawlessly, every in and out of your holes, your tender spots. He nipped at your neck, drawing blood as he tasted you. There are no words between the two of you, caught up entirely in each other's passion – your beautiful connection ensured you knew his every move, all his pleasure, what he felt in his heart. You are both entirely known to each other. 

You hold the man’s cheeks between your palms: his kisses are light, far more gentle than Moth’s. His lips are soft, tender, and it almost feels good the way his hands roam your body. If Moth wasn’t watching you, you think you could have lost yourself in the drow. 

As your hand slides down his hairless chest, you can’t help but note his soft skin– there is something familiar about it, trudging up thoughts of silver curls and elegant ears. The drow looks surprised when you pull away from him, inspecting his face for just a moment. He doesn’t look like Astarion, not really; but the way he carries himself, his strong, lean body, and his white hair reminds you of your amour.

Geldon Moth sat in a chair, fully clothed in a resplendent white and gold garb. He stares coldly at you as you shift away from the man on the bed. 

“What is it, woman? Was this not the one you wanted?” Moth asks; he may have been surprised, you think, but his face didn’t show it.

“I-it’s nothing,” You say, gritting your teeth as you carefully prepare your next words. “Why must I share a bed with anyone but you, Master?”

“It is simple, little one. You are mine to be shared. I shall do what I want with you, and I want to watch you be ravaged.” Moth sits back, his hands resting on his knees. “I expect you will lie with all my concubines after some time, maybe the other spawn too. The pretty ones, anyway. You really are my special one.” A shift in his eyes, a turn in your gut; you feel the lips of the drow on you as he puts his hands on your waist, pulling you closer to him.

You turn your attention back to the drow, bodies joining as you try to keep your composure: you know Moth only means to degrade you, and crying would only make it worse. Moth joined the fray only after the two of you reached your climax. The way the drow’s cock responds to Moth’s touch makes you realize just how much control Moth maintains over his spawn.

The drow hadn’t spoken at all, muttering only half-hearted praises, hardly letting whimpers escape his pretty lips. And the way his body became aroused by his Master was clearly unnatural. When the drow looks over at you, his hand reaching for your ankle, his broken spirit is all you see. Haunted by years of torment, abuse, perversion – a shell of a man. They ignore you when tears start to leak from your eyes: it was involuntary, almost, and you want to go home so desperately. 

Afterwards, you lie between the two men, their arms wrapped around you, caging the animal that you know you are, you try your best to relax. There was something comforting about the drow’s touch, and you find yourself mindlessly running your fingers through his hair. Moth sits up, crossing his legs on the bed as he watches the two of you lay in each other's arms. 

“Moments that I live for…” Moth says, which surprises you: his tone is surprisingly tender. “I knew you would like him. I promise I won’t take him from you. I will not be so cruel as Astarion.”

The hairs on your neck prick up, a shiver of anxiety and general distaste filling your gut; you can even taste it on your tongue. “What are you talking about?”

You push your way off the drow, bringing yourself to a seat, your attention on the dragonborn. He’s smiling at you. “Do not tell me you have forgotten the lovers you and your Master once shared. There were several who met rather tragic, untimely, strange demises. Do you not remember them? Maybe one in particular sticks out to you.”

You gulp. You can't recall his name any longer, but you know in your heart and mind who he was. “Why would I ever want to think of him when the two of you are right here, in front of me?” Your words are like knives in your own heart. 

Moth smile fades as he moves toward you, his body shifting atop of you as his tongue crashes between your lips, meaning to take you again. What happens next is hardly important, the lewd sounds of squelching and breathless whispers, your mind moving so far away from yourself as you focus solely on the pleasure of your body: it was all you could do except silently beg for your husband’s forgiveness, knowing that your pleas went unheard and unanswered.

Your freedom hadn’t been earned. You were nothing more than an object to use and parade around, kept naked and hungry in the boudoir. 

~

There is one evening where Moth is particularly rough with you, leaving you covered in bites and bruises. You felt quite broken this evening, your memories of your husband and the friends you made at the Crystalline Spire filling your memory despite your feeble attempts at pushing them away. You missed Lae’zel, and Ziir’o, Marg’o and Quinel, Joss, even Chae and the others. You even found yourself thinking of the pretty Kith’rak Elan, the one with the skin like a peach, and King Orpheus, in his resplendent garb and brutally elegant mannerisms. 

You thought about the Astral Sea, your dreams being filled with images of you and Astarion riding a dragon, Lae’zel and your other Githyanki friends next to you atop their own. Astarion had reminded you of your time in the Astral Plane, and you wondered about the expanded universe, what was beyond that small pocket you had experienced.

You wipe away Moth’s seed and blood from your chin as his cruel voice breaks the silence in the boudoir.

“I will be leaving for a few days.” Moth states as he dresses himself. “I shall leave this evening, while the night is still young.”

You didn’t ask any questions. You didn’t have it in you tonight, and Moth didn’t seem to care if you answered or not. You merely stare at the floor until you hear the click of the door. You had been left alone in this room many times, often bumbling around in the daylight, searching for a way out. 

“But there isn’t one, is there?” A soft, eerily sweet voice came from behind you, making you jump, twisting around in the bed to identify the intruder. You bare your fangs, but the entity merely laughs.

It is a man, so beautiful, his facial features chiseled and angular. His almond shaped eyes gleamed a gorgeous gold, his hair black as night, silky and pushed behind his ears. His body is muscular, built and large, his skin lightly tanned, almost a cream color. He’s taller than you, his nakedness entirely exposed. He has beautiful wings, white and elegant, and you know he must be an Aasimir: an angel. He was glowing.

“Tav Ancunín! How are ya?” He smiled, his teeth so white it nearly blinds you. “That’s right. I’m here to save you, girl.”

Your eyes are wide when he comes to you, arms outstretched, pulling you into a bear hug. You can hardly flinch away, your eyes still adjusting to his bright aura. His energy is warm, so light and fluffy, and it makes you feel some level of hope.

“Ugh, you’re even prettier in person,” He drawls, his voice almost tender.

“Who are you?” You ask, your hands moving to the angel’s shoulders to push yourself away. 

He relents, smiling as he speaks. “Someone who is here to help you. So long as you help me.”

You sit up now, not bothering to cover your own nakedness. You quickly notice this man has no heartbeat, no scent, nothing that would cause a vampire to notice them, other than their otherworldly presence, of course.

“Yeah, I can hide those things. Wouldn’t want to be attacked by some monster, would I?” His smile doesn’t falter, never leaving his eyes. He can read your undead thoughts – rare, you think, and very annoying. “Let’s cut to the chase, beautiful. You’re in very dire straits. I can get one of those silver bands off of you. I predict it would give you just enough advantage to escape this awful place. Enter into a contract with me and I’ll remove a band, give you some new powers and a boost to that little ‘psychic’ ability you have.”

You blink, mulling this over in your head. This was a lot to take in, especially without Astarion’s guided hand. Your husband was the one who dealt with the money, the dealings, all of that – you knew nothing of this. 

“Gah, vampires take so long to decide. So patient. It’s annoying~” His voice nearly twinkles. 

“Well, hold on!” You exclaim, your voice more desperate than you ever wished to hear. “I just don’t know…I don’t know what to ask.” You shake your head, trying to gather your thoughts. “What in the hells are you proposing in return? What do you want from me?” 

He flashes his perfect teeth. “I’ll be your patron. So…I’ll have you do things for me, sometimes.”

You frown. “I hardly want to be bound to you for eternity.”

“But you need to get back to your Master.” 

“My husband. I need to get back to my family.” You can’t think of all the things you need to say. You know you’re missing something.

“Haha! Whatever~”Angel puts his hands on his hips, his abdomen flexing slightly. 

“And you’re only offering to get one band off. Why? And what could I possibly give you anyways? I’m a vampire, my soul is already claimed.”

“I only have the power right now to get one off! Duh. That’s why I need your help, beautiful.” Angel takes your hands, joining you on the bed as you are bathed in a warmth that feels like the sun. It’s so lovely, you want to cry. “I just need your service. Don’t you want out of here?”

You do. So badly. “Yes. I miss the sun. I miss feeling beautiful. I miss my husband. Gods, I miss him so much.” You sob. Angel brings you into his chest, patting your head as you cry. His flesh is warm, and he smells like fresh grass and an ocean breeze. 

“We can put that in the contract, girl. I’ll get you back to your man. I’ll do what I can to help you escape, but I need you to serve me. I won’t ask you to do anything that will harm you or those you care for. But I have enemies, and Moth is one of them. I’ll just have you do some favors for me, that’s all. Normal patron and payee stuff, you know. And I promise I’ll treat you really good. I’ll only fuck you if you ask~”

Well, you couldn’t help but be relieved about that last bit. Still, there are so many questions left unanswered. “What kind of favors?”

“Killing Geldon Moth, for starters. I’m bound to an item in this very palace, you see, and I can’t leave. So that’ll be your first mission. Besides, if you plan on going to the Astral Sea, you need all the help you can get.”

You close your eyes for a moment; just how deep was he able to go in your head? “Tell me who you are.”

Angel’s smile doesn't waver, but there is a new wrinkle in his brow. “Ugh. I’m the son of Lastai, the goddess of modest enjoyment of pleasure or whatever. You don’t need to know my name for now. I liked to play too much, that’s why I’m here in Toril. What I want doesn’t matter: what you need does.”

He was right, maybe it didn’t matter anymore; what truly mattered was being free. Your rational mind is leaving you the longer you think about eating Moth’s heart.

“Alright. What must I do?” You hoped this wouldn’t be a mistake.

Angel’s smile somehow gets even brighter. He was so lovely. “Amazing, wonderful. I already know you’re going to be my favorite girl.” 

With two fingers, Angel gently tilts your chin up to him. Your noses are almost touching, his lips so close to yours. Everything around you becomes white, and it nearly blinds you. You’re wrapped in his wings. 

“All you gotta do is kiss me. I promise to get you back to your husband and I promise not to bother you too much!”

You pause, knowing it’s far too late to back down now. “I know there’s things you aren’t telling me. It can’t be this easy.”

Angel chuckles, his voice uplifting your spirit with every note.

“Kiss me, Mrs. Ancunín, and find out.” You can’t wait any longer, and so you do. Wanting to take your own agency in your hands, even though it was entirely faux, you bring your lips to his. The moment of impact, you feel a burst of light searing through your left eye, causing you to wince, but Angel only draws you in deeper to him, slipping his tongue between your lips. Just as quickly as the pain came, it leaves, and you sigh a breath of relief as you feel yourself slip back to reality.

Angel is already gone, and you think it was some sort of psychosis induced dream, but you note how different your body feels: you’re stronger, more rejuvenated. Your body still aches, but you certainly feel better than before: looking down at your ankles, seeing your left leg free of any silver, you confirm to yourself that this was real. 

This is it. Moth would certainly notice the band gone. Hurriedly, you run to the basin to splash yourself with water, to steel yourself for whatever is to come, before catching your reflection in the mirror: the first thing you notice is your bright golden eye, having replaced your left one. That searing pain…that lying fucking Angel. What the fuck did he do to me?

“What in the hells, Angel!?” You say aloud, nearly hoping for a response, but there is none. You can’t wait around for too long – the sun is approaching, meaning that all the other vampires in the castle would be resting, going into an undead slumber to waste away the day. How many could you kill in their sleep? How big was the palace? How many servants would be running around? There were too many unknowns, and you only hoped whatever the hell you agreed to would be worth it. There was no turning back now, unless you want to be the Rat-Catcher Queen for the rest of eternity. 

You feel yourself glance to the door, something nudging your sight over it. The door to the boudoir functioned similarly to the balcony door, and you find yourself using a scroll of arcane lock, the door creaking open.

You slide out of the boudoir, finding yourself at the level of the house you had seen when you met the other concubines. You run down the hallway, as fast as you can go, and the moment you catch a whiff of a mortal, they are beneath you, your fangs ripping into their skin as you feast on their blood. You think nothing of reason, humanity, nothing of life and the value of it. You aren’t even alive, because you feel like an empty vessel of bloodlust and desire for carnage. 

You want to shroud the world in darkness. 

Your rational mind comes back to you once the servant is far beyond saving. This would do no good – this vessel wouldn’t be fit to fight alongside you. You move on, finding yourself drawn to a door, which opens to the lavish garden. Crashing through it, you soak up the sun. It feels so good, you laugh as you raise your arms above your head, bringing your palms up to face the star. You enjoy this for only a moment before you sense someone near. 

You need to make sure this one will be fit enough to suit your needs.

This one is a woman; you cover her mouth with your palm as you drink from her, her thrashes beneath you being no different than wrestling a calf. When she is close to death, you carry her bridal style, running around the garden until you find a suitable place to bury her.

You claw your way through the dirt, digging as fast as you can, making a shallow grave to toss her in. You think twice about this, placing her gently in the dirt. 

“I’m…I’m only a little sorry. If I’m taking you away from someone you love, then I guess I’ll be even more sorry. Lae’zel would want me to be sorry. My other friends would want me to be sorry. But you’re mine now, because my husband is more important.” You don’t even know why you announce this, maybe to feel something, maybe to evoke something within you that reminds you that you’re still human, because you simply feel like a monster. Even hearing your own voice helped you recognize the human inside because you didn’t think you even looked like one anymore. You are scarred, mismatched, covered in blood with only a nightgown to cover your body. You were barefoot, your hair is wild, already tangled from your motions. 

“So fucking unfair…” You say to your feet, no longer focused on the woman gasping in her grave. Others are coming, and they are only subject to the same treatment as the last woman. But the others only alert everyone else, and it becomes something of a bloodbath, leveling the estates servants in just a few minutes. You bury four of them before losing your patience, your bloodlust overwhelming you as you gorged yourself on their life essence.

You know your spawn would rise sometime mid-afternoon, before the sun set, but the moment you killed any of Moth’s concubines, he would be aroused to suspicion, and you had to make sure your spawn were ready by that point. Once you’ve had your fill, you scope out the entire palace, ensuring there were no others around: everyone else had retired to the crypts below, which was precisely where you were to go next.

Your eye is influencing your vision over towards the door to the museum in the palace. This must be where Angel is bound.

When you open the door, you can’t help but flit back to the book, your nose so close to the pages that you can feel the parchment. Taking in Astarion’s scent one last time, because part of you thinks you might actually die, but the other part of you begs to differ. 

“I love you, Star.”

You turn, looking around until your eyes focus on a strange object in the corner. When you approach the object, you feel desperate to flee, but you don’t. You aren’t too keen on breaking that contract.

With a swift motion, you smash the case, removing the container inside. It’s a wooden box, square and delicate, fitting in your palm. Something is telling you to open it, and you can’t tear your eyes away. With your index finger and thumb, you slowly pry the lid open. A swirl of light comes from the box, procuring Angel behind you, who merely smiles. “Thanks, girl! Okay, bye!✩”

“Wait, are you really–“

“Yep, gotta bounce. Got shit to do. Don’t worry, you’ll be hearing from me. Later, beautiful.” And with that, Angel was gone once more, teleported away to who knows where. You hadn’t exactly expected him to stay and help once he was freed, but you thought he’d do more than this.

Thinking about the seven favorites and gods only knows how many other spawn, you’re starting to think maybe four spawn wasn’t enough. You didn’t even really know much about fledgling vampires, it had been so long since you were around them. You know they need direction and blood.

You take your time cleaning yourself off, brushing your hair, throwing it in a braid for the fight to come. You find the most secure dress you could find, even finding some cotton panties to wear underneath them. You wished you had some shoes, simply because of your right foot, which still burned with every movement. If you got injured running around, it would probably take longer to heal on that side, you suspect. 

You’re absolutely buzzing. You’re filled with energy, bloodlust, and you highly anticipate the rising…they are screaming. They are screaming for you. But you are ready.

‘You will not scream. You will not think. You will think nothing but of me. Rise, hide from the sun, rejuvenate, and join me in battle.’

The spawn are silent apart from the slight sizzling of their skin. One woman and three men: all merely the most convenient choices at the time. They don’t really need to eat, and you think they’ll probably be killed by the favored, but they would buy you enough time. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

You can almost hear Astarion’s voice in your head: Hurry up, my love, and come to me. I need you.

You haven’t felt this awake in a while. Something was rising within you, something that you’ve been missing. ‘Follow.’ The five of you flit down, tearing at the walls and the doors to the favored spawn quarters, where the seven peacefully slept. The first one to go was the one closest to you, who takes a simple plummet to the head, the smell of blood and spinal fluid filling your senses, invigorating you further, and you seemingly forget why you’re here at all. Your body flies around the room, tearing and thrashing body parts around as you destroy Moth’s precious spawn just as he’s destroyed you. Your spawn are ravenous and terrified, attacking randomly and relentlessly, feeding off the sheer energy of terror and violence their Master imposed on them; but they are strong, far stronger than you anticipated, and you find they fare well in battle.

”Hahaha!” Your laugh rings out as you slice into a man’s jugular, blood pooling down your chin, puddles on the carpet. “I invented talent, beauty, and the art of warfare, you know!”

You can hear the slapping of your feet on the ancient wood, slick with blood and other gore, their bodies becoming indistinguishable to you as even more spawn pour into the room. Your mind almost goes quiet, you drown out the sounds of screams, struggles, hisses and cries; even the burning in your leg has subsided, and all you know is bloodshed.

All you know is bloodshed. Should you make more spawn? It feels really good to control so many bodies at once. “I am so fucking awesome. I am the most powerful vampire in the fucking world. Fuck you!” 

One of your spawn knows magic: “Ha. Throw some fireballs, stupid spawn.” Your stomach is roiling in excitement as you hear ‘ignis’ repeated over and over. You transform into a bat, squeaking over the screams, stumbling as you transform back. One of the female dragonborn grabs at your dress, tearing it as she pulls you to you. Your arm goes through her chest, your muscles numb to whatever damage they are taking. 

A rumble behind you. Something is coming. Wolves, ghouls, Moth himself, you know. You turn, “Goodmorning!”, but as you lay eyes on this man, the one that has raped you and assaulted you and ruined you, you suddenly aren’t enjoying yourself anymore. You’re angry, so fucking angry.

Your spawn are fast, but not fast enough: but you are. One by one, you tear through his defenses, before he comes to you, grabbing your throat and throwing you across the room. You jump, your fangs bared and hissing, and he dodges away before running back to you as he grabs you again, slamming you to the ground. Your bones crack, but you can’t even yelp, your hand clutching at his jaw, and using all your strength, you dislocate it, causing a loud crack sound to reverberate throughout the hall. Moth jumps back, screaming as he clutches his face, and you jump stop him, your fists pummeling him into the ground, his face becoming broken and beaten with every swing.

”Arrr, kaaahhh-hnng,“ You had clearly damaged his brain, his words coming out a stutter. His eye widened in panic, and it was delicious to you. His face was crushed in, one of his eyes was dislocated, and the sight would be rather horrifying to you if you had this been a different situation. But seeing him broken and beaten beneath you makes you feel big again.

“Did someone go a bit stupid?” You laugh at him, but you realize that tears are streaming down your face. They fall into the Dragonborn’s mouth, and he licks his lips; and you just start screaming. You scream so loud your throat hurts, your fists beating down on the man’s large chest. With every pound, Moth starts to scream along with you, and you think it’s less from the pain and more from your maniacal cries, which are all Moth can hear: you’re sure of it.

His cock is hard beneath you. Whether that be from something biological, as he is on the fringes of death, or if he truly was that much of a sadist and masochist, you would never know, but in this moment, it disgusts you more than anything he had ever done to you. Tearing through his throat, the dragonborn’s screams devolve to gurgles as your hand reaches for his vocal cords, tearing them out with such tremendous ferocity that they scrape together, creating a sound so unnatural you know you won’t ever forget it. 

You haven’t stopped screaming even after you wretch off his head, your battle cries still no match for that sweet sound of his last whimper, your fingers in the meat of his stupid neck stump as you bring it up to your own, planting a gentle kiss on his cheek. Your teeth violently chatter against themselves. 

“Now, Geldon Moth, you are mine.”

But that’s the last of whatever you had left in you. The palace war was still raging on, but with the Master dead, the other spawn would surely run off or stop fighting if they could. You take a deep breath, Moth’s head still in your hand. You make your way back down to the museum, and you grab two things: Astarion’s book and that old githyanki relic. They are now bloodied, the pages of the book now stained, the metal on the contraption slick with crimson. 

You don't care. You wander around the palace for a while until you find the portal room, which has all been discontinued due to Moth’s death. You merely stare before turning around, walking towards the front door of the palace. The moment you open the door, you spot the silky cat dart out of the palace, running off into the wilderness. 

You walk out rather slowly into the sun. Your spawn follow in toe, and as you keep walking into the expanse of a forest, they fall one by one, commanded not to speak or think. You walk until the sun sets, and you’re finally in the dark, alone in the woods. You’re covered in dried blood and dirt, your fingers are stiff from clutching the head of Moth, and you drop to your knees.

It’s over. The pain and suffering. Your capture. But right now, you hardly feel anything at all. You can smell the smoke and charred flesh as the Moth estate goes up in flames, creating a vibrant light through the trees. You focus on it, your vision blurry, your stomach rumbling, your eyes still wet and puffy. You didn’t know it was possible for a vampire to have so many tears.

You hear the whirring of something behind you, the light breeze feeling nice on your skin. Your tears haven't stopped, and as you turn around, you gasp as you see silver curls and crimson eyes step out of a portal, eyes red and teary. You hold out your hand, the one with Moth’s head. 

“I-I brought this for you, love,” Your words come out shaky, your voice trembling, and you can barely hold yourself up. Astarion is already crying, and he’s on his knees in front of you, taking the head from your grasp and throwing it off into the woods. His strong arms coil around your waist, his forehead resting between your breasts as his sobs ring out through the dead of night. There is a buzzing in your head, and you can’t hear his words, but you know he speaks of love as you collapse in his arms. 

Masterlist

[sometipsygnostalgic]

The best system to play Gameboy games on is... well... you can play them on many devices.

Officially it would be GBA SP because it can run Gameboy and GB Colour games.

However, very few backlit SPs were ever released (they are frontlit). So a better unit for Gameboy Advance games might be the DS Lite, which universally is backlit and which is lightweight enough to not cause problems. It also has better ergonomics than the SP, but I am bugged by the black borders and empty second screen.

A really popular mod is called the "Gameboy Macro", which is when you take a DS Lite lower screen and use it solely as a gameboy advance. It is a great way to recycle DS units with a broken top screen, a common issue, though it makes me cringe to think some people modify perfectly fine units this way.

The Lite also has issues with the cartridge sticking out the bottom, so many prefer using the "phat" for this purpose. The original DS is both frontlit and backlit for some reason. The image is still an improvement on frontlit SPs.

The best units to play DS and 3DS games on are... the DS and 3DS.

Specifically the best place for NDS games is the DSi XL. No non-DS device has the touchscreen versatility to run DS games well, and it's very awkward scaling the tiny screen on an emulator.

The 3DS is also not a great place for DS games. The 3DS top parallax screen is incapable of a 1:1 pixel ratio even in pixel-perfect mode, which already has the issue of black borders around the screens, making touch-based games more finicky.

It is especially apparent on the XL models but is also an issue on the smaller 3ds models.

The best unit to play DS games on is the DSi XL. It has a backlit screen and more power and memory than the first two units, making loading faster. It doesn't have the scaling issues of the 3ds, as it doesn't need to do any upscaling at all - the XL has the same number of pixels as a normal DS.

I've never used a DSi XL because all the ones sold in the UK are these ugly beige colours and they never took off, but if you don't mind the loss of the GBA slot, it's the best device for DS games.

Unfortunately DSis seem to be plagued by yellowing screens. I can tell you the small unit I just bought has some very slight yellowing on both screens.

What's the best way to play 3ds games? Well, on a 3ds obviously. It's even harder to accurately emulate 3ds games than DS games, and you lose the 3d effects altogether.

But which 3ds is best?

It depends on what you want. The 3ds more than any other Nintendo system besides the Gameboy is heavily based on preference instead of objective superiority.

To get it out the way first, while the original 3ds has the sleekest look, it's the worst one. The original 3ds and 3dsXL have a much worse 3D implementation, relying on you to stare at the screen at an odd angle.

Not only does the New3ds fix the 3d with an eye tracking sensor, it also has more power again, and a "c-stick". I also think the screens on the New3ds are of a higher quality and run flat games better too.

However the New3dsXL has some downgrades. The SD card is replaced with a microSD but now requires a mini screwdriver to access, removing the back plate. The stylus is also a really tiny one like on the DS, in an awkward place, and the metallic skin on the console will decay very quickly with use. My New3DSXL's skin started peeling under my hands after just six months of use.

The New3DSXL is the best unit to play 3ds games if you are looking to have all the features at their most optimal. It is the best by far for playing in 3d. It can also run the DS library fine, if in a poor image quality.

Personally I prefer the XL, the larger size is easier on the eyes, though the customizable panels on the hard-to-find normal size New3ds are cute too.

If you don't care for 3d, the Wedge and Doorstop may be for you.

The 2ds has all the features of a 3ds apart from the 3d, while in a wedge shape that looks dreadful but actually feels more ergonomic. It has similarities to the first Gameboy Advance and you can't tell you're holding something so tall.

The original 2DS is sold for much cheaper than the other units because Nintendo sold it for cheaper and nobody particularly wants one, so it's the most affordable way to try every game in the DS library, especially if you pair it with a jailbroken SD card. Unfortunately it still uses the 3ds screen, just with no 3d slider, so it still upscales DS games and doesn't have perfect rendering of 3ds games either, but it's harder to tell as the screen's tiny.

The New 2ds XL was the last DS ever sold, it came out after Switch. A lot of cute variants of the 2ds XL exist, and most games coming out around its release didn't have 3d enabled anyway. The feature had died in popularity, so while a 2d 3ds was originally scoffed at, in 2017 it just made sense.

While the New2ds XL looks fancy in a distance, the ergonomics are worse than any 3ds, and far worse than the wedge 2ds. The New2dsXL is all style and no substance, with the speakers being covered by the user's hands, and it's made out of a flimsy plastic. It's clear Nintendo made the materials for the hull cheaper and cheaper over time, so by the end of the 3ds's life they had gone from a very premium-feeling device to cheap plastic. The Switch would follow this design philosophy.

I do salivate over that Pikachu version and I'd enjoy trying one, but my mind tells me it's not a great device.

All told, which do I think is better? Well I think the 3ds XL having the most features is inviting for me, and I have the choice of turning off 3D. However if you want bang for your buck, the 2ds wedge might be your safest option.

Unfortunately the New 2ds XL and New 3ds XL will cost you as much as a Nintendo Switch these days. It seems that sellers have wisened up to the demand from people who missed out on the 3ds and want to try it out. There's also talk of IPS screens being better and the New2ds XL, 3ds XL and DSi XL all use IPS screens, so people are scalping them or raising prices.

[bonesandthebees]

Okay fuck it. I think scrolling for hours today is enough DJFKGKFK I'll just log back out. I wanna focus my energy on more positive things

Im so gonna log back in the minute my friend sends me another tweet but HDKGKGKD no. I will do my best. He's not worth our time man.

Okay one more tiny rant about him and then I promise I'll stop I just OOOHHMYGODHFJGKG HE JUST. I had so much hope. That. He would reply and it wouldn't fix things, I wouldn't go back to watching him or anything but at the very least I could get closure that like? Maybe his closer friends would be able to heal and move on? Idk if that's parasocial or whatever but he was such a big role model for me the past few years I really had hope that at least some parts of it were real, you know? And instead we just find out that he not only did these shitty things but didn't fucking learn and did it to other people too and??? It's really really upsetting that he created this safe space, this community of people who were all so lovely while just being. Fake. The whole time. And he doesn't even have the gull to properly apologise and I just??#?# idk what to do with my emotions LMFAO I'd finally started to feel better and like move on but now today I'm just angry again grgrgfhfjdkdk and I totally get that like him being a complete dickhead is easier in a lot of ways bc there's no. Doubting it. Or anything. Like there's no redeeming him. And we can get closure from that. But fuckkk it hurts so badly and the tl is a mess of ppl being like "well this person would never do me wrong" and then ppl being like "fuck every YouTuber ever actually. We can't ever be sure we know them" and LIKE!$?_?$?

Dude I am so conflicted on so many levels rn I feel like my entire world has just been yeeted into the sun LMFAODKFKFKFK

Anyways. Anyways. Thank you bee. Ur tumblr is the only account w a brain rn fr lmfaodjfkfkfks

I get it, I'm fucking furious at him. he had a chance to at least own up to what he did. I wouldn't have gone back to consuming his content, but I could be somewhat at peace knowing he was taking steps towards being better.

I don't want to think it was all a lie, because abusers aren't all completely evil people. the thing is, wilbur is human. a very shitty human, but human nonetheless. and we can't know for sure how healthy or unhealthy every relationship in his life has ever been and I think overanalyzing that or trying to figure out what was fake and what was real isn't really our business or worth our time. wilbur is a guy who has hurt a lot of people, but also refuses to recognize the hurt he's caused. that's it.

I do hate the dichotomy I'm seeing between people trying to prop up their own favorite white boys on a pedestal because apparently people never learn, but also going out and saying every content creator is inherently evil and we shouldn't trust any of them. these people are human. they're all going to fuck up at some point, some worse than others. and sometimes they'll fuck up in a way that they can move past and we can forgive them for, and other times they'll fuck up in a way that shows they shouldn't have the platform they have. they're not all terrible, and they're not all perfect. that's what we should be keeping in mind for the future.

[marvelstars]

Anakin´s politics

After reading many takes in fandom of Anakin´s politics as well as many fics, I believe Anakin´s political leanings are often reduced or misunderstood, in part because Lucas didn´t delve too much into them, because Padme and Obi-Wan kind of dimiss htem and also in part because we have two different ideologies, Anakin´s political ideology pre Vader and Anakin´s political ideology post Vader which are similar but not the same.

Early Vader/Just fallen to the darkside Anakin asked Padme to become his Empress but given that at the time he was in a deep, deep breakdown and practically out of his mind deep into darkside force energies which Lucas has compared to a drug, I personally don´t believe even Vader "post dark side high" would have exactly the same idea.

Vader in general was of the mind that the galaxy needed order, that there was a role the Emperor had to play but given Leia´s and Vader´s whole conversation about the Sentate in ANH where Leia accuses Vader of acting outside the Senate approval to which Vader answers that she was a confirmed traitor to the Empire at this point, so her ship could not longer be considered a diplomatic vessel unlike all those other times Vader let her go to do her "mercy missions" which he knew were a front for her pro-rebellion missions, all this means Vader also was often around seeing Sente proceedings, right allong with his military meetings.

Vader he doesn´t care as much about the type of goverment there is in the galaxy as long as it´s effective and less corrupt than the Old Republic was. "Lest bring Order to the galaxy"

Anakin is a different matter, as a child he just knew he wanted to free all the slaves on Tatooine and do his part to support a more equal and fair galaxy "the biggest problem in the galaxy is that no one helps each other".

As a Jedi padawan, when he was talking to Padme about how the system didn´t work, precisely because Padme told him that it was hard for the senate to do anything because they almost never agreed, he suggested someone to "make them agree" "someone wise" and in that way fix the problem of the current system, Padme was talking about the issues of the working system and Anakin suggested a way to fix those inconsistencies.

Here we can already see Palpatine´s hand in Anakin´s political perception but I believe we often forget there is another important body that influenced Anakin political pov´s in his younger years, when Anakin talked about "Someone wise should make them agree" he pretty much was describing Master Yoda and Windu role in most decisions of the Jedi Council when the Council didn´t agree on something.

So my guess is that Anakin was suggesting someone like Yoda and Palpatine supported this idea because it would make it easier to make the change from Yoda to himself.

Here Padme sees it as a dictatorship but I believe here Lucas didn´t really thought things too deeply, because there are Hereditary Monarchies in the Republic and her own role as Queen of Naboo had an almost absolute authority but well I disgress.

Anakin didn´t believe the the Senate needed to be taken down, in fact in ROTS he gets mad at Padme precisely because she was asking him to ask Palpatine to leave his emergency powers and Anakin believed that was something that had to be taken to the Senate instead of using Anakin´s apparent influence over Palpatine, which was non-existent but neither of them knew that.

My point is that Anakin himself wasn´t suggesting to take down the Senate or the Republic, his pov was that the system itself didn´t work as a system that actually got things done for the benefice of the people of the Republic. Anakin´s priority is to fix the system to get things done, not hold an ambigous ideal that only exists for some people.

Lest remember Shmi´s words in TPM "The Republic doens´t exist out there, we have to take care of ourselves"

This was Anakin´s early relationship to the republic and all those diplomatic missions as a jedi in which he mostly helped the elite of each planet didn´t serve to convince him the republic was good for something other than serving the elite.

So while Padme and Obi-Wan saw the Republic as an ideal that could be fixed with time if only because that´s what they had to work with, Anakin thought that it´s alright to hold republican values, in fact he went to war for the whole "keeping the republic together" but this republic "Is functional?" "It works for what it says it works?" and the answer is no, the system is broken, something Padme found out in the first movie, when she saw how the occupation on her planet by the Federation could be ignored because of their influence and it would take months if not years to do something about it while the Senate discussed it but Padme as a Senator hoped to help fix it but then they were at war and there wasn´t time.

So in short, Padme and Obi-Wan see the Republic as something worth fighting for on itself on principle even when they knew the politicians of the senate often were trash while Anakin sees the republic as something that could be fixed but isn´t worth fighting for on itself if it really doesn´t seek to serve the people outside of a few elites. This is something that he understood because he was directly wronged by the dysfunction of the republic.

It isn´t coincidence Anakin as a general in the clone wars tried to serve not only the needs of official Republic allies but also citizens that just happened to be in the crossfire and didn´t have the means to defend themselves but also weren´t anyone´s priority. (Example: The farmers, Saw Guerrera, the slaves who were not allies of the republic trapped on Zigeria, etc) and on this Anakin showed he prefered the people, citizens to take matters into their own hands instead of having to depend of the Republic, Senate or Jedi to act. Just give them the tools to do it themselves.

Vader is the opposite, no longer trust the people to make the best choice but he believes of having order for everybody.

This is interesting because I don´t believe Padme or Obi-Wan ever took seriously Anakin´s political ideology and so they didn´t discuss it with him, they just expected him to support them because they were his wife and master respectively but they didn´t ask for his pov either and Anakin didn´t try to talk about this with them, only Palpatine seemed interested in his political ideas and so Anakin didn´t want to create conflict with people he considered family, it was easier to go along with them than fighting with them over the details.

So while I think he sometimes disliked Padme´s role as a senator for the time it took from them as a couple, he knew it was important for her and he wanted to be supportive, he definitely resented the republic and it´s politicians hypocrisy.

Now Vader is perfectly capable of discussing and getting mad with Palpatine over political issues, the main problem is that he is pretty much broken emotionally and so isn´t so willing anymore to try to make changes, just fix what little he sees he can fix but his perspective is a lot more authoritharian than it was when he was young. He belives if he had to fight some rebels to expand the Empire towards the outer rim, take down governments and give them a similar way of life to the core system, including education and work, he is totally going to do that. The end justifies the means for Vader

[promise-keeper-papyrus]

Mettaton is actually kinda right, Alphys isn't a great person...

I know it's a bit of a bold statement, but I think Alphys is almost as messed up as Mettaton and Undyne...

But while those two are messed up because they're willing to destroy children and they would enjoy it. Alphys is a messed-up person because she's still friends with them and somewhat enables them. She's also willing to do insane things to please Undyne and Mettaton, as well as Asgore...

Alphys gives Mettaton (her ghost friend) a robot body because he's a fellow lover of human things. She also gave the robot body human-killing weapons, despite being a lover of human things and being in a 'Human Fanclub'. Because she wants to please her crush Asgore and become the royal scientist.

She also has another crush on Undyne, despite the fact that Undyne is hotheaded, violent and probably the biggest human racist in the kingdom. Alphys has crushes on human killers (or attempted in Undyne's case), despite being 'nice'. She either thinks that they're too hot to criticize, or she likes violence more then she lets on, or she only likes human stuff and doesn't truly care about the species (similar to Undyne).

Which makes sense, cause despite her being nice and nervously polite, she's done some pretty morally messed up things so others would like her.

Like for example, she uses the DT Extraction Machine to extract Determination from the sealed human SOULs, then injected it to "fallen down" monsters. The extraction might be painful for the human souls. And Alphys doesn't even feel guilty or properly apologize for that (she probably doesn't know, but still).

She also injected Determination to a potential vessel, a Golden Flower. Trying to create a monster SOUL to sacrifice to the barrier. Alphys is willing to create and then destroy probably hundreds of fellow monster souls, to break the barrier and so everyone would like her.

(I say hundreds cause the monsters souls are that much weaker...)

Unlike the amalgamates, this was done on purpose.

And who knows what she would have done to Flowey, if he didn't escape the lab.

Out of fear of everyone's reactions, Alphys stays in the Lab and avoids inquiries.

Because she cares more about people thinking that she's a great person, instead of actually being a great person.

Which is selfish, cowardly and kinda lazy.

Apparently, it's easier to pretend to be Frisk's ally, then actually fix her problems.

Sure, she eventually apologized to Frisk, but then places them in danger again in the true lab with the amalgamates.

Sure, Alphys confesses about the amalgamates, but not about Flowey's creation or what she did to the human souls.

My point is, Alphys is in some ways as twisted as Undyne and Mettaton. Maybe not on purpose, but the fact that she knows that Pacifist Frisk isn't evil and yet adds to Frisk's suffering, instead of actually helping the innocent child... It's kinda cruel.

Undyne and Alphys do deserve each other.

(There's also the fact that Alphys said that she should have killed Frisk with a smile, during the Queen Alphys ending... just throwing that out there... I know she said it, because almost everyone is dead, but this proves that Alphys isn't as non-violent as she pretends to be.)

[sinsandsweetness]

Sultry (sex and zombies- chapter 5)

pairing- {Rick x fem!reader)

summary- Rick sneaks you away for some much needed alone time.

warnings- 18+ content. seriously. MDNI! smut, oral (reader receiving), squirting, overstimulation...

Fuck it was hot out. 

And you would have loved nothing more than to run through a sprinkler or jump in a lake. It’s what you’d been fantasizing about all morning.

Along with a few other things involving the man working just ten feet beside you. You were on garden duty. Again. And the heat was almost intolerable. Though Daryl had found you an awesome, and rather vulgar, ball cap for when you were forced into manual labor in the blistering Georgia sun. 

Rick didn’t seem to notice your obvious need to cool down. He wiped his brow with his forearm and glanced your way. Only making you redder from the blush on your cheeks. 

But he caught you looking and had started to approach. It was just so much easier to focus on him than the carrots. 

The way his sweat made his shirt cling to his body. The veins in his arms, so apparent as he raked or shovelled or did whatever the hell he was doing. And then that look he gave you. That look. Full of connotations and meaning. Telling you everything and nothing all at the same time. Almost a smirk but holding back. And maybe you were the only one who could see it. 

“Why don’t you go inside and wash up,” he stood over you blocking the sun. You looked up at him. Secretly loving this angle. 

He continued, “Daryl caught a deer earlier. Think supper should be ready soon.” He sort of half pointed in the direction of the courtyard. Where Carol and Daryl could be seen prepping the deer for cooking. 

“Okay,” you nodded and stood to your feet. Rick stepped closer, looked around and when he decided that either no one was looking, or that he didn’t care who was, leaned in and whispered in your ear. 

“I’ll uh… see you later right?” 

Yes. Yes he would. Crawling into his bed and begging him to touch you all over. For weeks he’d been taking any chance he could to get you alone.

“Mhm,” you nod and avoid his tempting glare, making your way to the prison. 

You took a cold shower and did everything in your power not to touch yourself. Saving that pent up need for later when you knew that Rick would take care of it. You ate the venison, carrots and potatoes. An actual meal. You’d been having lots of those lately. Daryl’s traps were working and the runs were successful. You sat in the courtyard that night and the heat from the fire was nothing compared to the heat of Ricks stare. He wouldn’t look anywhere else. Even as he rocked his baby to sleep, his gaze was fixed on you. 

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

At night the prison was pretty quiet. Snoring sounds and giggles here and there were normal. But there really wasn’t much privacy in terms of noise. What was being done in one cell could often be heard in the ones next to it. Sometimes even further. 

When you snuck into Rick's cell that night, he put a finger to your mouth, shushing you. He grabbed your hand and took you on a little field trip. It was in a different wing of the prison and you regretted not wearing real shoes instead of your flip flops.

“Rick where are we-”

“Shh” he pulled on your arm and tugged you even further away from the main cells. Finally taking some stairs and arriving at a room way on the other side of the prison. You weren’t even sure this wing of the prison was completely safe. At least you’d never have been a part of clearing it. But Rick would never risk your safety by bringing you here if it wasn’t. 

“What do you think?” Rick raised an eyebrow at you when he finally came to a stop. 

“W-what is this?” You asked him. Stepping into the room. 

“The blueprints say that it's an employee break room. For the guards and nurses I'm assuming.” 

It was set up similar to the cells. A bunk bed with two mattresses against the one wall. Except there was real paint on the walls and a writing desk under a window. Plus a small couch on the other side of the room. It felt much cozier than the cell blocks. 

“I just thought you might like to escape once in a while. Somewhere that the others don’t know about.” Rick sat on the bed and looked up at you. 

“It’s so much nicer than our rooms,” you marveled. Running your hand on the soft duvet. It was so much nicer than your room. And Rick’s. And anyone else’s. It smelled fresh and it was clear that he had cleaned it up just for you. 

“I love it,” you smiled as you sat down right next to him. 

“I thought you might,” his fingers grazed at your pj shorts. Pulling lightly on the fabric. His touch sent goosebumps down your legs. 

It seemed innocent but you knew better. 

“You’re getting so tanned,” he traced a pattern onto your thigh. You looked down at your bronzed skin against the white comforter. Watched him trace letters that your eyes couldn't decipher. Butterflies from his touch erupted in your belly. 

“Cause you always got me cooking to death out there,” you shot back with a little grin. He smiled.

“You can have tomorrow off,” he offered. 

Your eyes widened. 

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“If I'm not working my ass off tending to the carrots, then what on earth will I do all day?” You left your flip flops on the floor and shifted on the bed, falling back, and down onto the cool, cushiony duvet. Rick kicked his boots off and laid down next to you, propping himself up on an elbow. 

“Maybe I’ll take the day off too. We can hangout.”

“Hangout?” 

“Sure.” He brushed a strand of hair from your face. Looking at you so intently it made you blush. 

“Like old times?” you teased. Referencing your friendship back at the farm. A friendship that from day one you hoped would blossom into something more. 

“Something like that,” his voice was a low whisper and he leaned in to kiss you. Starting off as an innocent peck. Then when you kissed him back he took that as permission for more, and his hand went to the back of your neck, pulling you in even closer. Pressing his mouth onto yours and tracing your lips with his tongue. Almost immediately both of your hands found themselves grabbing any part of him accessible. He had one on your waist and your face, and yours were wrapped around his neck, and grasping his arms, pulling him on top of you. 

He shifted and cemented a knee in between your legs. Practically grinding into you. The feeling of his denim clad thigh against your thin fabric shorts almost made you moan. To which Rick was able to slip his tongue in your mouth. Massaging your mouth with his own. When he added even more pressure between your legs you actually did moan. Quietly of course. 

Rick leaned back and started to undo the buttons on his shirt. “You don’t have to be so quiet in here you know,” 

You were used to suppressing your sounds. And honestly that was part of the reason you hadn’t gone too far yet. After he made you come with just two fingers, you didn’t know if you’d be able to take anymore. Not with other people around. As much as the thought of getting caught was somewhat exhilarating, you couldn’t fully relax. And he could feel that. 

“Okay,” you pant. Already out of breath. Once Rick's shirt was off his body and on the floor, you reached for his belt but he stopped you. 

“Just let me, alright?” He came back down and kissed you again, pausing only to strip you of your own shirt. The cool air made your nipples rise into little buds. He kissed his way down your neck and chest, nipping at the skin to make you gasp. Something he clearly seemed to enjoy. 

Finally he made his way down to your shorts, kissing along the waist line and hooking his fingers under the band, he pulled them down gently. Leaving you in just a pair of panties. 

“So wet for me already,” he placed a gentle kiss on the fabric covering your clit. You were. And he could see it. 

He kept kissing the fabric, putting more or less pressure depending on the reaction he was getting.

“Rick please,” you raised up on your elbow in order to watch him better. 

“Nuhuh. Lay back down.” He pushed a hand on your chest, shoving you back down. 

He gently tugged at your panties and slid them off. Discarding them alongside the other pile of clothes on the floor. He nestled back in between your legs, propping them up on his shoulders. He blew cold air onto your pussy. Earning a gaspy little moan. 

He kissed your inner thighs, nipping and teasing and paying attention to everything except what you needed. Not that you’d stop him. You whined his name. 

“You want me to lick you sweetheart?” He whispered, placing another kiss on your sensitive skin. 

“Uhuh” you nodded. Hands letting go of the grip they had on the duvet and moving to Rick's head, fingers lacing into his wavy locks.

“Tell me.” He kissed your clit again. More pressure this time. 

“So bad. I want it so bad Rick, please,” you whined. 

You couldn’t be bothered with the fact that you were begging him. You’d needed a release since well before this morning and his teasing was becoming an actual form of torture.

“Such a good girl, asking so nicely,” then he licked you. Fucking finally. 

Your legs tightened around his head. 

He flattened his tongue and gave your cunt no mercy. He licked and sucked and ate you as your moans filled the room. Unbothered at the noise this time. 

Your hands in his hair pulled him even closer, so that his nose ground against your clit when he started to fuck you with his tongue. That earned him a sob. 

He moaned against you and nothing felt as good as that. Knowing how much he enjoyed making you squirm. 

He went to focus his attention on your clit and you felt two fingers tracing the wetness at your entrance. He pushed them in with ease and curled upward. Hitting exactly the spot that they needed to. 

You cried out and Rick looked up at you. Fingers still curling upward but his mouth was no longer on you. 

“You like that?” 

You couldn’t even answer as his fingers continued to work. You were so close and his talking made it so much worse. Or better. A drawn-out moan was all you could offer. 

“Tell me how much you like it when I touch you,” 

“Fuck,” your breathing was heavy but you just wanted a tongue back on your clit. “I love it- I love it when you touch me-” you cried out again at the feeling of him sucking your clit. “When you -oh fuck. Rick I-I-”  and your sentence trailed off into a cry. Your orgasm took over and you could feel your thighs starting to shake. 

He didn’t stop the assault on your cunt. Despite your hands pushing him away, he continued. Still sucking at your clit and fucking you with his fingers just right. Almost immediately another orgasm hit you and your moans turned into screams. Fuck that felt good. 

You pushed at his head and he stopped once he could tell that it was really too much. Leaning up on your elbows, your eyes widened. His face was soaked and so was the blanket beneath him. 

“Oh my god,” You could feel the redness on your face “did I -”

He nodded. His pupils were dilated in a way that told you exactly how much he loved that. And while you may have been a little embarrassed about cumming like that, something you didn’t even know you could do, he obviously didn’t care. Actually, he liked it. He dipped his head back down and started to lick you again. Slowly and sensually. 

“Rick I can’t it’s- ” you pushed at his head. “It’s too much,” 

“I am not stopping until you do that again,” but he moved his assault over to your thigh. Kissing and biting. Giving you a minute to recover at least. 

“I don’t think I can I didn't even kn- ”

“You will. Just relax.” He grabbed the back of your thighs and pushed them upwards, opening you up completely to him. Everything on display. 

“So fucking pretty,” he whispered against your cunt. 

He kept his promise and he didn’t let up until you came again, shaking and whimpering and begging him to stop. 

He dressed you after, using the duvet to dry both of you off. Then he swapped it with the one on the top bunk and laid next to you, kissing down your neck. 

“You alright?” He asked into your shoulder. You were spent. You’d never orgasmed like that before. Never that intense and never that many times in one sitting. 

“Mhm” you started to move and pulled at his belt buckle, giving him those eyes you knew he couldn’t resist. Ready to return the favor no matter how tired you were. 

But he shook his head and gently grabbed your wrist, halting your attempt at undressing him any further. 

“We have all day tomorrow, remember?” he pulled the duvet up to cover you both, and pulled you against his body. And though you would have taken him then and there, sleeping in his arms was just as tempting. 

[v-i-r-i-d-i-a-n]

GUESS WHAT!! Another post that had a point in the beginning and then I got derailed again 🤪🤪🤪

Thinking about Mike thinking Will had moved on from him,, “joined another party”

Between his calls never going through and Will never trying to reach out, and El telling him everything was fine and she had friends (and that meant Will had to have friends) and their being a girl Will might like-

Mike probably thought he’d moved on, that whatever friendship they had Mike had destroyed, because at this point I don’t think they’d talked about all the stuff that happened in S3, all that they’d done to reconcile was that conversation before the Byers left- why did Mike think that’d ever be enough?? He was stupid to think that? Wasn’t he.

So he’s all awkward and has these pent up emotions because all while dealing with the fact he might’ve lost Will to whatever California friendship, he’s also dealing with the fact he isn’t even sure he loves El anymore- and all these other confusing emotions about said friend he feels like he’s lost-

SO OFC HE GREETS WILL WITH THAT WEIRD ASS SIDE HUG, I MEAN WOULDNT YOU??

And then he see’s the painting that’s apparently for this girl, this person that’s REPLACED HIM. And Will had the balls to bring it with him when they’re coming to the airport to GREET HIM?? And Will gets all awkward when he asks about it so obviously he doesn’t want Mike to know and- when did that start?? When did Will start feeling so uncomfortable telling him things

When did they change so much??

Mike was foolish to think they’d stay the same. That Will wouldn’t find people that were better than him. Better friends, better people. Just better.

And then he ignores Mike all day and Mike tries so hard to ignore him too. To focus on El instead of all these confusing feelings and actions and the way Will can’t even seem to look at him.

And all that time he doesn’t even notice Will feels the same way, like he’s been replaced and like Mike’s moved on from their friendship and AGHRJRHSIDHDHSO THEY MAKE ME WANT TO BITE SOMEONE

And then rink o’ mania happens and- Mike finally gets it. At least somewhat. That Will didn’t know- Will didn’t know how hard he’s been trying to keep their friendship going- Will doesn’t know that he makes Mike feel so weird in his skin- Will…doesn’t..know… and Will didn’t replace him- and Will still wants to be his best friend and fuck. Mikes messed it up again. BUT HE CAN FIX IT THIS TIME

He wasn’t replaced- they both thought they’d forgotten about each other

So he apologizes and they’re back to normal making jokes and smiling at each other and god he missed this, the easier flow of conversation and being able to look at each other again- and even if they’re on the run in a stuffy weed filled pizza van they’re them again and that’s all that matters.

And then he figures out the panting was..FOR HIM??? Which yk, actually makes sense- since if El didn’t have any friends that means Will probably didn’t either but why wouldn’t he let El look at it- did he maybe feel the same?? Did he still need Mike the way Mike needs him- wait… El commissioned it .. .. … ……….. ?????????

Well they’re back to normal right..? Will wouldn’t- lie to him because they’d fixed them. They were them again- so Will wouldn’t lie right???? Right????

…….

Byler does miscommunication RIGHT!!!!!

[comicaurora]

Sorry if this is a weird question but how long did it take for you to start making art you felt was good enough, at least at the time? I have a lot of ideas for projects I want to make but I'm slowed down by not quite being at a level I'm happy with for professional endeavours. Wondering if I should quit while I'm ahead and just hire an artist I like.

Hoo. Good question.

It's hard to keep track of, honestly. I think every artist is going to feel a degree of "this could be better" about anything they make, and if that's all you're keeping track of it can feel like no progress is being made - but in hindsight, I think "this could be better" means a lot of different things, and what it means for my work has changed over time.

One of my earliest art-related memories is having a very clear image in my head of a pencil sketch I wanted to make (a family portrait of some wizards, a mom and dad flanking a young daughter) and then being immensely frustrated that what I produced was a pale, inexpert shadow of that image. The starting point I was at was "this doesn't look right and I don't know why," and I stayed there for a long time, even as I got overall better.

The first time I remember trying and failing to emulate a specific cartoon style, it was the manga Steam Detectives - I'd mostly been exposed to newspaper comics and scientific illustration, so I had never seen that sharp-angled straight-lined manga style before. There was a liveliness to it I couldn't capture, and that frustrated me. At this point I could see what was wrong, but couldn't yet correct it - my unconfident pencil sketching wasn't going to produce the same kind of three-dimensionality and flow as the brush strokes used in the, in the same way that a traced figure can look strangely odd and off-balance because it's only mimicking the outlines. At this point I'd hit "this doesn't look right and I know why, but I'm not sure how to fix it."

At that point, practice was kind of the only solution - unconfident linework can only be improved by honing the muscle memory and confidence of the artist, which I didn't know at the time or do on purpose but ended up happening anyway, especially once I got going on the channel and was regularly doing dozens to hundreds of drawings per project.

I do remember the first time I thought "oh, that's actually better than I expected" - I had broken my clavicle and my right arm was in a sling, and my art teacher encouraged me to try drawing something with my left instead. I am very much not ambidextrous and my lines were spidery and shaky, but when I stepped back at the end, the thing I'd tried to sketch - a portrait of a regal-looking elf man - actually wasn't too bad. The muscle memory in my right hand was completely absent from my left, but apparently my basic understanding of shapes and shadows had come through and made something that got across the gist of what I wanted. That was the first time I felt "this doesn't look right, but I already knew that, and what it does do is actually pretty solid."

At some point in the process of cranking out channel illustrations, and later chibi character commissions, without even noticing I hit a baseline level of confidence in what I was doing. Certain things got easier because I was doing them a lot more. I stopped thinking about whether a facial expression was communicating exactly what I wanted it to, stopped spending long stretches of time trying to refine poses - because in those specific areas I was no longer experiencing "this doesn't look right and I don't know why." I'd draw a face, realize it could look angrier, redraw the eyes and brows to be angrier, then move on. I'd block out a pose, decide the leg didn't look right, redraw it, line it and move on. It wasn't that I was nailing everything first try, it's that I'd had enough time and practice to quickly diagnose what wasn't working and quickly try something else to correct it.

Instead, I was thinking "this doesn't look right and I don't know why" about other things. Trees, buildings, figure shading, fire, water, metal textures. I still didn't feel ready to do the comic in earnest, but I'd started doing digital illustrations of the characters and mock-up pages/covers, and I kept finding problems in the composition. It didn't look right and I didn't know why. If I didn't know why, I couldn't fix it. A lot of that process boiled down to redrawing stuff until it managed to look right, then trying to reverse-engineer what had worked about that. I'd accidentally draw the most perfect torso and try to figure out what magic combination of lines had made that work. And again, it was a slow process, almost unnoticeable from my perspective, because I just gradually stopped worrying so much about unsolvable artistic problems because the solutions had just arisen with practice and experience. The background looks wack - it's probably under-shaded, darken some corners to make it match the foreground. This texture looks off - probably needs some particle effects to help give it detail. Etc etc.

At present, I very rarely think "this doesn't look right and I don't know why." I still have moments of "this doesn't look right" - almost constantly, probably - but they aren't noteworthy because I've had enough practice improvising solutions that it turns into a brief experimental phase before I fix whatever was bugging me and move on. It doesn't mean it's perfect, it just means whatever problems or places it could be improved are either subjective choices that are fine either way, or small mistakes I don't notice at the time. The process of error-correction and bug-fixing becomes quick and painless enough that I hardly think about how I used to spend ages agonizing over something that was wrong that I couldn't make look right.

The point I eventually got to could probably be best described as "I could make this better if I wanted - do I want to do that?"

Making a comic like this, it's very important for me to consider the value of pouring too much into any one page. If I vastly overdesign anything, I'm going to need to keep up that level of design every time it shows up. If I drew every forest shot by hand-drawing every single tree I'd never get anything done. If something looks off and I know the solution would be more detailing and more texturing, sometimes I'll do that - filigree and particles and all that good sauce - but sometimes I'll just try a few things until I find a shortcut that makes it look fine to my eyes. Art can always be more polished, so that's not really a metric for completeness or ready-ness - I really do think the most helpful metric is whether you're regularly struggling because you can see something is wrong but you can't figure out what. If you consistently know what's wrong - or, more accurately and less judgmentally, what could be polished if you wanted to polish it - you're probably in a pretty good spot.

[damnfandomproblems]

I think one issue with the AI debate (which is apparent with this exchange) is that even if their heart is ultimately in the right place, some anti-AI folks would prefer to insult and scold rather than to educate.

I'm currently anti-AI myself, though about a year ago when it was just starting to blow up I was somewhere between pro and neutral to AI, because the way a lot of anti-AI arguments were presented just didn't make much sense to me at the time.

There was a lot of "its ugly!!" which is, for one thing, is EXTREMELY objective, and from my perspective, not always true. There was a lot that I found interesting or even beautiful. (One thing I still think even today, despite my disillusionment with AI is that it's the closest thing I've ever seen that accurately represents the real uncanniness of dreaming, although this is usually unintentional.)

I didn't like the "it's bad because it doesn't MEAN anything!" or some out-there woo-woo "it wasn't Created with the Divine and Blessed Soul of the Human Spirit" type stuff, because a part of what art is about is what meaning the viewer brings to it. Maybe the computer doesn't understand what symbolism is, but I could still find it whether it was meant to be there or not, and in this way, something that "no one made" is elevated to something a little bit higher.

And while I was more convinced by the argument of theft of individuals art, I still thought, "well, it's not like people are going to pass it off as their own creation! it's more of a starting off point, like an inspiration board! of course people are going to CHANGE it and actually make it their own, and that's a transformative work!" And this final point got proven wrong very, VERY quickly, because people WERE releasing clearly jacked-up images as "their own creations" with no regard to the artists whose work it came from. All it did was make people extremely lazy, because look at all the AI images with screwed-up text, the part that would be the EASIEST thing of all to fix, no artistic skill required, just ten seconds in any editing program and the ability to give half a shit. People either didn't even notice they were posting absolute nonsense, or didn't care, because they thought no one else would.

And not just people, but businesses, corporations. In such a short time, people's standards for quality control has dipped below zero. Quantity over quality, now half of any Google Image search is AI. When misinformation gets passed along faster than ever and no one ever thinks to question it, let's just create misinformation at an exponential rate! Now every website has its own AI feature it wants you to try, phones have AI generators built in, everyone is racing to capitalize off a technology we haven't even figured out ethically.

And then, most important of all, is the environmental impact. Like yeah, you might not feel like you're doing art theft with your character AI chats, since you keep it to yourself and don't profit from it. But if they have to cut down a tree every time you want to pretend to talk to your blorbos, isn't it just easier to open up your Notes app?

I don't think AI will never work, I think someday someone will be able to figure out a compromise that doesn't steal artists work and doesn't overheat the planet, where it actually can be a tool artists enjoy using instead of something to replacing artists entirely. But I don't believe that day will come very soon, when potential for quick profit reigns over all else.

Posting as a response to a previous problem.

[mystic-myrtille]

Do you think people who always hated the LS have an easier time hating on Movie!Adrien than people who used to ship it?

From what I've seen anti LS peeps like movie!Adrien, while fans of the show hate him. I thought that was weird at first, but after thinking about it, I think I have an explanation as to why.

The focus of Movie!Adrien's sad backstory was the death of his mother and that causing problems in his relationship to his dad (who wasn't as much of a horrible person as in the show, so abuse wasn't really an issue the movie touched on) but also affecting him as a person. He was closed off and afraid of getting close to people. Basically you could say he was more like his PV version. That's already a strong contrast from his show self with the strong craving for human friendship and love, so that probably already threw people off who liked show!Adrien.

We first learn about his mom when he goes to that theather where she used to perform. It's his place where he feels closest to her. Then he starts talking about it with Marinette/Ladybug and in the end he reconsiles with his dad, telling him that "yes, mother's gone, but we're still here" and they hug it out, accepting things for what they are. Now I don't want to give the movie too much credit because this "arc" was not fleshed out at all. Most of that happens in the montage. The basis was there, but after establishing that, they rush through the movie and put their focus more on fights, the romance and the music. And I think this rushing through things is the reason Adrien enjoyers couldn't connect to this other Adrien. Basically "The first one was great, so why should I care about this new one that is so different? He's less outgoing despite his dad already pushing him away and him hating loneliness? He's more mean to LB during their banter for no apparent reason? Where is Chat being a shoulder to cry on when LB looses her self confidence?"

If you present a new interpretation of a character to fans of said character, you'll have to try a little harder to convince them this interpretation is good with actual good story telling, which this movie severely lacks due to the very simplistic plot, and also... not relying on the show and the audience having to fill the blanks with information from the show as much as the movie did.

Meanwhile salters see show!Adrien as someone who gets a lot just handed to him because he made a sad face, generally has no agency and makes Marinette's life harder than it has to be and they don't like that. Then along comes this other version where his emotions don't feel like a constant pity party but are something he learns how to deal with, he doesn't constantly makes missions harder than they have to be (expect the ending sort of) and he finally has some agency. That's what I like about the way he's being portrayed. And as I said, the movie doesn't flesh those aspects out, but the premise alone of Adrien having to overcome his mother's death with the help of people around him is so much more interesting and likeable for me and probably others too, unlike the constant whining about how hard his life is until somebondy (Marinette) comes along and bends over backwards to fix it for him while he stands around and looks pretty.

So yeah, that's my take on the situation. I do find it pretty funny though how some stans act like Movie!Adrien is some alpha dude bro while show!Adrien drinks his respect women juice. Not to burst your bubble but both handle LB's rejection very poorly and are dicks to her about it. At least movie!Adrien still jumped to action instead of immediately abandoning his miraculous

[thespectral-wolf]

Junctions - Part 2

Weeks after the space-time rift closed, Rei runs into Warden Ingo. It soon becomes apparent that despite sharing a similar fate, they don't know how to put themselves in the other's shoes.

Part 1 - Part 3

---

“Psst! Rei! Hey, Rei!” Akari poked him in the shoulder, rousing the boy absorbed in his Pokédex. “Do you think we should worry about the alpha?” she pointed towards the large Clefable between the trees.

They were currently at the Fabled Spring to study the moon-dance of the Clefairies. While Rei usually completed the requests alone, with his hand still healing and unable to call the ride pokémon, Professor Laventon insisted that they go together. Of course, Akari didn’t need to be asked twice, as she wanted to see the phenomenon herself.

They even got to borrow the Professor’s camera to take some pictures – although between Akari, who was relatively new to the concept of photography, and Rei, who only ever used digital devices, figuring out how to use it was a challenge on its own.

He put down his ‘dex and brushed away some of the tall grass to see better. He watched the massive pokémon for a moment before shrugging.

“Clefables aren’t normally aggressive. As long as we keep low, we should be alright.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” she nodded and rested her head on her hands. They were out there for more than an hour now, the full moon already bathing the mountains in its bright, silver light. So far, nothing happened.

“Have you ever seen Clefairies dance?” she asked, suppressing a yawn.

“Nah,” Rei scratched his temple. “It happens very rarely and I guess I couldn’t get myself to stay up late to watch it. But Cotton would always get very jittery during full moons. I had to make sure she got a good view of it, otherwise she wouldn’t let anyone in the house sleep.”

“‘Cotton’?” Akari raised her brow.

“Oh, right, Cotton is my Clefable… back home…” he felt a lump in his throat forming as he was reminded that his pokémon were left behind in his own time. His family probably looked out for them in his absence. He hoped that they were alright.

Akari lightly nudged him, snapping him out of the thought. “Hey, that means you know your stuff about Clefairies, right? Now I know who to turn to if I ever want one on my team,” she tried steering the subject. Her face showed understanding. She may not know everything about his life before Hisui, but she knows how much thinking about it hurts. Rei smiled.

“Hey look! Something’s happening!” she suddenly called out in a whisper, and they both laid low, eyes fixed on the lake.

Just as if on cue, a group of Clefairies appeared, lining up on the lakeshore. They started moving in unison while letting out small cries at the full moon. Akari and Rei watched the event with wonder. They were so enamored by the spectacle, they almost forgot to actually record it. Akari quickly jotted down notes on her own Pokédex, while Rei maneuvered the professor’s camera with one hand. He hoped there was enough light for the pictures to come out well.

But just as quickly as it started, the Clefairies got alert and dispersed.

With it all over, the two teens packed up and made their way back on the riverbank, carefully treading the rocky environment while whispering excitedly. It was a long walk back to the Mountain Camp, especially without the aid of Wyrdeer, but with the full moon lighting the area, they didn’t mind.

Arriving at a ledge, they decided to cut some of the way and drop down instead. Akari went ahead, taking the almost two-meter jump with finesse. Rei hesitated a bit. Despite the months he worked as a surveyor, he was still behind her in terms of physical fitness. Maybe he should just take the way around.

“Don’t get so worked up, I’ll catch you,” she joked, holding her arms out in emphasis.

Rei grimaced at her, took a deep breath, and aimed at an outcrop of rock to jump on, hoping it’ll make the landing easier.

As his foot made contact, it jolted, almost causing him to fall. The ‘rock’ pushed itself up and angrily rumbled at him.

“Shit!” he yelped, jumping away. They were staring down a Rhyhorn that looked very upset. The teens backed down. It roared and soon enough, the whole ground around them seemed to come alive. Three, four, five, six… they stumbled on a whole herd of Rhyhorns and Rhydons that now started to surround them.

“Run!” Akari grabbed his good hand and pulled him towards the direction not yet blocked by angry pokémon.

Their getaway did not last long though: they were quickly met with a cliffside. Without the option to climb it, all that was left was to battle the pokémon that quickly encircled them again. Akari sent out her Staraptor, Rei his Decidueye.

The owl ruffled its feathers and sized up its opponents. Their adversaries snorted and grunted in anticipation, ready to strike. Rei couldn’t waste time.

“Leaf Blade!” he pointed at the Rhyhorn directly in front of them. With quick moves, Decidueye sent a barrage of sharp leaves at the enemy, overwhelming it. At the same time, Akari’s Staraptor took on a Rhydon with Close Combat. The Rhyhorn fell immediately and did not get up, whereas the Rhydon weathered the damage, but seemed to be on the edge of fainting. Rei breathed out. So far, so good. If they can create an opening, they can flee without prolonging the fight. One of the Rhydons roared in rage, kicking up sharp rocks at Decidueye, digging into it. Another caught Staraptor off guard with a Rock Slide, the bird not standing a chance with its lowered defenses. Akari breathed in sharply, as she recalled her partner. Not good.

Rei was ready to shout another attack, when the earth started to shake beneath them. The kids grabbed at each other for support. Rocks and soil moved around as the glistering snakelike body of an alpha Steelix emerged, roused by the cacophony of battle. The other pokémon yelped in surprise but didn’t flee. Slowly and drowsily, the Steelix shook the last pebbles off it and its burning red eyes sized up the teens. It roared.

The kids shared a look. There was no way they’d be able to fend off this many opponents. They had to make a run for it. Wordlessly, Rei gave Akari a nod.

“Triple Arrows, Strong Style!” Rei called out, pointing at the alpha. Decidueye acted quickly, barraging it with sharpened feathers. The Steelix staggered.

“Go, go, go!” Rei yelled, and Akari bolted off. She rushed past a small gap between the pokémon, hoping that in the chaos they will not have enough time to react. But the sudden movement caught the Steelix’s attention: it turned, lashing its strong tail at the girl, and struck her with such force, it sent her flying to a nearby rock. Rei shouted in panic, forcing the large metallic snake’s attention back to him and Decidueye. It slammed its head against the bird, albeit with less force.

Rei anxiously watched Akari. She lay on the ground several meters away from him, clutching her shoulder, face contorted in pain. He had to do something, and quick. If he tried to run to her, he was risking being attacked by the pokémon, the only barrier between them and him was his stalwart partner demanding their attention.

“Triple Arrows again!” Rei cried out.

The arrows hit true, and the Steelix faltered, but it refused to back down. As Decidueye landed, he was immediately rammed by one of the Rhydons. Rei winced. Despite the type advantage, Decidueye cannot fight against this many. Should Rei send out another one of his team? Gastrodon or Goodra could fight the rock types, but he never had a double battle in his life. No, this wasn’t a trainer battle, wild pokémon rarely abided by arbitrary rules, this shouldn’t matter. His chest was tight, his thoughts becoming a scrambled, panicked mess. Decidueye side-eyed him, the battle already wearing it down, but still waiting patiently for his command. He needed to reach Akari, but how? He can’t, he couldn’t-

Something from the cliffs dropped at the Steelix, hitting it hard on the head. The figure of a tall pokémon stood in front of him, the moon practically lighting it up. It was Sneasler. The pokémon hissed in warning, claws ready to strike again. The alpha turned at the new offender, giving Rei the opening to gather himself and make his way to Akari.

“Are you alright?” he asked, trying to look for signs of injuries.

“I’m in… one piece…” the girl heaved. She tried to get up, but could barely pull herself from the spot.

Rei glanced behind him. Sneasler and the Steelix were not attacking yet, instead they exchanged growls and hisses in an attempt to intimidate the other.

He heard running footsteps, which soon came to a skidding halt. Rei looked up to see Warden Ingo standing frozen at the scene. His figure was clear in the moonlight, but his face was obscured by the brim of his hat. He seemed hesitant, hand hovering over the pokéballs on his belt and looking between the teenagers and Sneasler facing off the Steelix. Sneasler broke the stare-off with her opponent, and mewled at her warden. It seemed it was all that Ingo needed. He sprung up with surprising speed, throwing two pokéballs, releasing his Tangrowth and Machamp then ordering the two to fend off some of the Rhydons. As soon as the pokémon were distracted, Ingo sprinted past them, reaching Akari and Rei in only a few steps.

“Is anybody hurt?” even when keeping his voice down, Ingo sounded very loud.

Akari tried to sit up, but hissed in pain as she tried to move her shoulder. Rei caught her and glanced at the Warden. Ingo’s face was tense, he took in a sharp breath before standing up straight.

“Hold on you two,” he told them and commanded his pokémon, which forced the wild Rhyhorns to back away with devastating attacks. He reached for Akari, and lifted her.

“Come on, quick,” he called out, moving away from the fight while holding the girl. Rei called Decidueye back and followed. As they were getting further and further away, he couldn’t help but glance back ever so often at the pokémon still battling.

Ingo noticed the boy’s anxiety. “Worry not,” he said, not taking his eyes off the road. “They know how to handle themselves.”

Once they reached the camp, the security corpsman stood up with alert, raising her lantern.

Laventon, who was snoozing by the fire, jostled at the sudden noise. His eyes widened when he saw them and rushed there with panic.

“Oh my stars, what happened?” he immediately started looking Akari over.

“A whole herd… and an alpha… too many… overwhelmed,” Rei sputtered, hands on knees, his head rushing with adrenaline.

Meanwhile Laventon got Ingo to lay Akari down at the tent, and helped the girl take off her coat to get a better look at her injury.

“Can you lift your arm?” Laventon asked while examining the damage.

Akari winced as she tried to move it.

Rei only glanced towards them, catching a big, ugly bruise forming on her back, and her side where the Steelix hit her.

“It’s swollen, but I don’t think anything’s broken,” Laventon sighed after inspecting the bruises,” but captain Pesselle could tell more… you must get to Jubilife immediately,” he urged.

“We really don’t have to, I’ll be fine,” Akari tried to reassure him.

“I say you rather not go this late,” the guard chimed in, “Jubilife is almost a day’s walk from here. It would be risky to go out so late.”

“But you can’t expect them to camp out in the mountains in this state!” the professor protested.

Rei scratched at his bandaged hand. He wished he could call for Wyrdeer. He got better at handling stuff with one hand, but failed repeatedly to use his Celestica flute, the notes never coming out right. Now Akari’s hurt. This was his fault. He should’ve been more careful.

“My home isn’t that far,” Warden Ingo spoke up suddenly. Even he himself seemed surprised at it, and now with all eyes looking at him, he was shifting uncomfortably. He continued, eyes on the ground. “Akari can stay the night there. It would be more comfortable to sleep under a roof. If you wish, of course,” he quickly added.

“Oh, in that case,” Akari piped up, as if she just remembered something, “could Rei come along? I think he could use some proper rest too.” Rei’s attention snapped at his fellow surveyor. Akari was the only person he confided in about his fight with the Warden, and now she was setting him up for an uncomfortable situation. He gave her a dirty look, at which she just rolled her eyes. Oh, she knew exactly what she was doing.

He looked at Warden Ingo, who seemed equally awkward at the suggestion, eyes flicking between the kids, swallowing hard.

“Of course,” the man stammered.

Ingo did not have a reason to invite him. Rei did not have a reason to go. Rei sighed.

“Yeah, that’d be nice. Thank you,” he said reluctantly.

Laventon did not catch on to the tension between them, and smiled at the warden.

“Thank you, Warden Ingo, you truly are kind,“ he then turned to the children, “But you two should head for Jubilife first thing in the morning so you can get properly treated.”

“Should I send a message to Jubilife for an escort?” the guard asked.

“No need. I’ll sort it out,” Ingo said. “Signal, once you’re ready for departure,” he composed himself, straightening his back as much as he could.

After taking a little breather, Rei helped Akari up, supporting her. Ingo threw his arms up in his signature pointing pose, and led them. The teens walked a few paces behind him.

“Traitor,” Rei whispered in her ear, making sure Ingo did not hear him.

“Oh, come on,” she whispered back, “Warden Ingo hasn’t been to Jubilife since you apparently yelled his head off, and you refused to come to the Highlands because you didn’t want to run into him. You two act like little kids. Sort it out! Seriously, how did you manage to save Hisui when you can’t even handle an argument?”

“Throwing balms at pokémon is not even comparable to talking to people,” he hissed through his teeth. But Akari’s words did make him think…

It was true that he felt betrayed by the warden’s inaction. Did he only trust Ingo because he felt familiar? The uniform that had seen better days suggested that Ingo was coming from the same time or at least time period as Rei, and the man seemed as out of place as Rei felt. Comrades in fate, or something like that. Was he too quick to latch onto that idea?

Did he ever stop to think whether Ingo felt the same?

And it wasn’t like Rei was one to hold grudges. He didn’t use to, that is. He always strived to be on everybody’s good side and the idea of somebody hating him was one of the worst things he could have imagined. He knew better now of course. He has his captain to thank for that lesson. And he was angry. Angry at Kamado, angry at Jubilife, angry at Arceus, angry at whoever was responsible for all of this mess. But in the end, he didn’t tell those people outright how he felt, did he? Was Warden Ingo any different from those people? Would staying angry at him do any good?

Rei made his decision: this was not a bridge he wanted to burn. How he was going to mend it though, was another question.

They walked in silence for the rest of the way to the Warden’s hut. It stood under a treeline, protecting it from the ocean winds that blew from the shore not far from there. Ingo opened the door for them and urged them in. Before entering, he fished out his Celestica flute and played on it.

“Now my partners know where we are,” he explained.

Inside, Rei helped Akari sit down and took place next to her. Ingo opened a chest and started rummaging through it.

Rei looked around the room. It was barely furnished, only the essentials found there: storage chests, a dresser for clothes, a workbench, a futon haphazardly left on the floor. The Pearl Clan insignia hung from the wall, and there were all kinds of little stuff laying around the place… There were several items that looked like they were used for training and entertaining pokémon; a wooden beam from which he just noticed Ingo’s Gliscor dozing on; failed attempts of making pokéballs around the bench, tools and wood for whittling; a small figure of a dragon-type Rei couldn’t recognize sat on the dresser. In its simplicity, it resembled his own quarters in Jubilife, yet it couldn’t be more different. It actually looked lived-in. It actually looked like Ingo made a life here.

Ingo stepped to the kids, a vial and some wrappings in hand.

“You can use this on the injuries. It should help with the pain and the swelling,” he explained as he handed them over. Rei took them with a quiet ‘thanks’, and with some embarrassment, helped Akari to lift her garments to treat the bruises.

Meanwhile, Ingo turned away, took off his torn coat, and laid it on the dresser neatly folded, putting his hat on top of it. He then quietly turned to the hearth to stoke the fire.

Rei occasionally peeked at the Warden while carefully applying the medicine on Akari’s injury.

“If you are perhaps hungry, I can prepare something quick,” Ingo said in an unsure voice, turning to them. Rei couldn’t help but notice how every time the man addressed them, he always looked at Akari, not him. If Rei did manage to catch his glance, Ingo quickly avoided the eye contact. This whole situation was… awkward, to say the least.

Akari hissed as Rei applied too much pressure on the wound. He quickly apologized, and tried to be more careful while wrapping it. Akari answered Ingo:

“Thank you, but we’re more tired than hungry, I think.” She looked at Rei, and he agreed. It had to be around two in the morning already, and with all the action they had to go through, he wanted nothing more than to conk out.

Ingo nodded and went on to prepare a second futon, laying it out next to the other one. He made sure both of them were neat for his guests to sleep on.

“I do apologize in advance for the amount of fur that may be on the sheets,” Ingo coughed with a little embarrassment in his voice, “I hope you’ll be able to rest well nonetheless.” With that, the Warden sat back at the hearth, poking the wood to catch more flames.

Rei stared at the futons for a moment with furrowed brows.

“Uh, where are you going to sleep, Warden?” he asked. “I mean, Akari and I are used to sharing the camp’s tent when we’re both out surveying. It’s… really not that a big deal.” he tried to sound reassuring. Akari snorted.

“Speak for yourself, I like it when you don’t punch me in your sleep,” she joked.

“That only happened once!” Rei snapped back.

“Three times.”

“Fine.”

Akari snickered, and turned back to Ingo, “He’s right though. You don’t need to sleep on the floor, Warden.”

Ingo just waved it off.

“Don’t worry about that. The comfort of my passengers takes priority over mine,” he answered without taking his eyes off the hearth.

There seemed no point in arguing, so they thanked him and prepared to sleep, although it took Akari some time to find a comfortable position with her aching side and shoulder. Nevertheless, she was fast asleep, judging by her slow breaths. Rei wasn’t that quick to doze off. Thoughts still racing, he stared at the man for a little while – the smoldering fire deepened his wrinkles, making him look so much older and tired than Rei had ever seen him. Slowly but steadily, he drifted off.

[teruel-a-witch]

I still can't wrap my mind around how Danny could repeatedly make the absolutely worst relationship decisions possible. Of course Steve makes shit relationship decisions, that poor man has never had a single healthy relationship of any kind his entire life! But Danny?! That man should and DOES know better and really ought to get an earful (actually multiple ears) of his own ranting!

it's true that Danny is the emotionally intelligent one of the two and should know better, but I think you are being way too harsh on him for something that's not his fault, it's the TV show writers that dictate his love life and not his supposed emotional intelligence. That said let us try to go through The Big Three one by one.

First of all, just to get it out of the way, Gaby was a perfect woman, no notes, she and Danny were just incompatible because they had NOTHING in common and let's be real Danny didn't pay attention to her because of her doctorate in history. Their relationship was perfectly nice but that's all it was, and Danny never fell in love with her. It was pretty mature of him to recognise it would not be fair of him to ask her to give up her dreams when he wouldn't do the same for her.

Second, Amberlissa, she definitely deserved better and he should have broken up with her sooner instead of stringing her along for 5 years despite knowing he will never love her.

I mostly blame the writers for that, it was convenient, they needed an alibi girlfriend for Danny and didn't want to put much thought into his storyline but that made him look kinda bad. It made sense that it had to be a younger woman he was dating because a woman his age would not have stayed with him for 5 years without him so much as saying 'i love you' to her. (I don't want to think about the implications of Melissa being a victim of abuse and not knowing she may deserve better because I'm sure the TV writers didn't actually think about those optics. They just wanted both their leads to be dating hot blondes that look good in bikinis.)

Thirdly, well, I have a sneaking suspicion that when you talk about Danny making 'the worst decisions' you mean Rachel. Mostly Rachel.

While their late s1 dalliance was ill-advised it did kind of make sense, it was actually pretty human and realistic, as I've written about it before many times, Danny still couldn't let go of the fantasy of the perfect nuclear family that he was raised to believe was his goal, plus, he never got rid of the feeling of failure after his marriage fell apart so he couldn't pass up the chance to fix that. Even tho the truth of the matter, the honest truth is that he probably never loved Rachel as much as she loved him and he actually did completely get over her while she apparently never got over him.

As for later seasons, I don't put that on Danny, I just chuck it up to the writers beating the dead horse, introducing a new character takes time and creativity and it's just so much easier to go back to an established storyline, it's just lazy writing is what it is. 'How could he even consider getting back to her after everything she did?' duh. Make him pick up the idiot ball (a subset of the idiot plot trope lol).

Bad decisions can be in character but if it feels like a character lost a few IQ points in order to achieve a plot point then it's just shitty writing. I do believe Danny eventually forgave Rachel in order to keep toxicity out of his children's life, but he would never trust her after her massive lie. Everyone knows that quote about the definition of insanity being doing the same thing and expecting different results and Danny definitely isn't insane.

The show is a workplace drama/comedy/action/procedural, the writers were never gonna put that much thought into the characters' personal lives. Definitely not as much as the fans do. For us characters come first and for them it's the plot so I personally don't put much stock in their characterization. It's up to us to fill in the gaps.

I tend to be happy with my own interpretation that both Danny and Steve hide in nowhere relationships because they are hung up on each other.

Why not remain single if you can't have what you want? Well, I personally cannot relate to that line of thinking because I'm on the aro/ace spectrum, but for many regular people the goal isn't to be in a good relationship it's just to be in some kind of relationship at all because the amatonormative society makes it the end-all be-all and there's pressure to conform.

Besides when people reach a certain age and are still single, well, people talk and we can't let people suspect our read blooded hetero macho main characters are not interested in dating women, right? So if it seems they are dating women just for the sake of dating women it's exactly what they are doing.

Anyway, I say we cut Danny some slack because you know if it was up to him (or Scott) he would be dating Steve 😜

[whsprings]

some updates!

I am officially discharging in one(1) week! it doesn't feel real yet. I am very nervous about being able to maintain recovery long-term, especially because I still supplement multiple times a day to meet my meal plan due to fullness. and occasionally due to poor food quality, lol.

I did try to get my dietitian to compromise on my meal plan because I physically cannot do it and uh. that did not work. I am not surprised. but like girl i am not gonna supplement myself so we gotta figure something out here

i have my first snack pass tomorrow! I've been eligible for like two weeks but I didn't get around to planning anything bc I was procrastinating but I guess it's happening.

speaking of passes, apparently insurance wants me to do a full day pass to get some practice before i leave. technically that's a phase 3 thing (I'm phase 2) but my team said they'd make an exception. I'm kind of annoyed that I'm doing passesbfor the first time literally my last week here but in a way being responsible for one snack and one meal per day on php is kind of a pass?? I guess?? also even if things go horribly wrong on my theoretical day pass it won't affect my discharge date so part of me is like oh?? this means I can use the behaviors?? but I don't Want To Do That. but also I do.

the meal outing today was to the fucking cheesecake factory 😭 like this had to be some form of cruel and unusual punishment. like first of all it's not that good and second of all the menu has the calories listed AND is like 10182552 pages long AND we were required to get cheesecake with our meals. oh, and they took forever so by the time we got back to programming it was literally time for pm snack 😭🙃 they let us supplement with dinner (thank god) bc what the fuck

that being said it actually wasn't horrendous. like we tried to keep conversations going and no one was (that) fucking weird about what they ordered. the anticipatory anxiety was definitely worse than the actual thing. I had very strong compensatory restriction urges BUT I still completed my silly little meal plan soooo

my mood has been lower the past few days which has led to me bedrotting after programming instead of doing anything which in turn makes me feel worse which makes me not want to do anything wh-- anyway I love living with depression and having a brain that just fucking wakes up sad for no reason

I am fully, painfully aware that I will not have access to my weight starting when I discharge and it's freaking me the fuck out. despite me completing the past few weeks my weight has been stable which is incredibly soothing to my silly brain and has made completion so much easier. my weight has changed very little from what I admitted at and I would love to keep it that way. that being said, no one seems to have any idea of what my set point is, and I Cannot just. trust my body to take care of that for me. i feel like if I just Knew my weight and could therefore "make sure" it isn't going up and maintain my ability to reassure myself, then maybe I can do this. maybe.

like I can tolerate my current body and size and weight and even though my body image fluctuates I can always come back to the fact that things haven't really changed. but I can't fucking do that if I dont know the number. also if I know the number I can "fix" things if it starts going up. fucks sake.

anyway. ive spent way too long on this and it's almost midnight.

tldr things are mostly going well and i discharge in a week and I am still a control freak.

[joysmercer]

☕️ + mr sweet and eddie?

im so sorry this is 90% dissing sweet sldkfjsl

mr sweet isn't 100% evil or anything but he's a shit dad and no excuse he gives can negate that tbh. he spends so much of s2 trying to "fix" eddie's behavior, despite the fact that he's a teacher and should realize that a lot of eddie's antics were literally just for attention from him. and then when eddie finds out he's the osirian, sweet uses that as an excuse instead of properly apologizing – after all, if they were going to keep joy hidden away for a year anyway, there was no reason for eddie to be kept away (especially since they knew the date of the ceremony well in advance—why did sweet just ignore eddie for 16 years then??) and with season 3…man he pisses me off so so much. eddie's destroyed at the thought of his dad being involved in the society and his dad apparently didn't tell him anything about anything over the summer (despite promising to) so that doesn't help. and yeah like you said, the kids could've been a lot less sneaky about things to help their credibility, but idk if my son is deliberately meddling in something super important to me, i'd wonder why and try and figure that out instead of ignoring, gaslighting, or punishing him time and time again (especially since doing so would make my life so much easier!!). and ik it was played off as a joke almost but what kind of father just assumes their kid is faking illness and *sends them off in an ambulance* instead of a) double-checking they're truly faking (like. the eclipse breakfast had completely disappeared and it's not out of the realm of possibility for eddie to be behind that), and then b) trying to figure out why/having an actual conversation/not sending him to a fucking hospital all by himself. and then he has the gall to expect instant forgiveness after all that + the expulsions (which he didn't even bother to come say goodbye for)??? tl/dr; mr. sweet did nothing but pretend to show him love and affection before pulling it away the minute eddie stepped out of line, and it's heartbreaking.

god like if sweet knew the osirian had to be sacrificed in tor before the events of tor, i wouldn't have been surprised if he acted like eddie dying was nbd for the "greater good".

[retphienix]

As it comes to an end,

The Gargoyle's Cry was a rather exciting time for me.

It's been 3 whole years since the last event, Orphix Venom, and I was on hiatus at the time!

As a matter of fact the last one I did was Hostile Merger in 2019 and I have all the mats and oplink stuff from Scarlet but I never did it.

So my memory of operations, as I've done so incredible few (THEY KEEP WAITING ON ME TO GO ON HIATUS), is extremely unrewarding but very fun.

Things like the Pyrus Project where we coordinated to fix up a relay which gave us the weapon I probably hate the most in the entire game, the Zylok.

Or the aforementioned Hostile Merger which gave the Glaxion and Spectra vandal, MR fodder if anything though at the time I was extremely excited for the Glaxion.

I'm being harsh in retrospect but in all honestly I LIKE the small scale operation structure- just doing a quick community thing and being given a new toy to play with- I enjoyed that and hope we get a lot more of it- but I talk in this tone because this is THE FIRST "meta rewarding" operation I've ever done- wherein the entire gimmick is "Here's a list of those arcanes you need, grind em out" instead of a new toy.

Apparently, Orphix was the same, so this literally isn't "new" but this is the first time it's happened in over 3 years and the first time I've ever experienced an operation just giving me friggin' Arcane Energize, so I was stoked.

Now. Gameplay wise.

Fuck this operation man lol

I LIKE the boss fight, but doing it something like 160 times made warframe a drag over these last 4 weeks lmao

Now, that's my fault, but when I log into warframe and it goes "Yeah, you could go crack some relics, or farm some rep for arcanes to dissolve, OR- YOU COULD GO KILL THAT BOSS AGAIN FOR ENERGIZE (and others)" you shake you head and give in to the temptation -.-

I guess I'll never actually know since I never experienced it, but researching it back when I was bitching about the modern Orphix missions being extremely unrewarding it read as if the EVENT Orphix was a much much much easier fight and it was a pseudo endless mission that ended at 24 for normal and advances and 36 for the expert version that was most rewarding.

Dude.

Doing an 'endless' mission for arcanes sounds so much more chill than doing this boss fight 100+ times. My god. I want that instead.

But even with that though- this is technically more rewarding than even Orphix was.

For main drops in Orphix you got the necramech mods- which were a pain to get after the fact until this exact update where now you can just buy them from the cavia.

For main drops in this operation you get up to 2 arcanes (boss and angel) and a pinion and there are voca. So you can rep up 2 factions, collect 2 pools of arcanes, all the while building up splinters for a THIRD much more tedious to grind normally pool of arcanes.

Like I've been saying, this operation is extremely rewarding- like ludicrously so, and fucking TEDIOUS lol

I guess I'll round out with my haul, and closing thoughts.

I did something like 160 runs, which should have been enough to max 2 legendary arcanes (nearly 3 I think, it's like 60 runs or something for them) but I shuffled my purchases around.

I maxed Arcane Energize, Arcane Guardian, and Arcane Strike.

FINALLY I have the arcane most impactful to the meta, even if it's not one size fits all. FUCKING FINALLY lol.

I got Arcane Grace to rank 3 (with some extra), Arcane Barrier to rank 2 (with some extra) and bought all the cosmetic nonsense.

That's pretty fucking nice in my book.

My buds also came out like bandits, with one maxing their energize and the other coming VERY close (unless they maxed it and didn't update our chat). Nice :)

~

I sincerely hope this is a sign of things to come, with operations being rewarding (hopefully allowing those of us who hate eidolons to get our collections complete lol) and NOT TAKING 3 YEARS TO HAPPEN AGAIN lol

I hope we get more small and large operations and return to what appears to have been the old standard of 2 per year, only time will tell.

Now if you don't mind, I am going to take a break for like a week from warframe because this burnt my entire brain doing so many times lol