#and secondly its doing its own fun things with it

[skunkovich]

Now how was I meant to expect that an Omen prequel would do all that. Actually kinda stunned!

[galacticlamps]

I just wanted to apologize to my classic whotuals for all the dead boy detectives spamming, but it's also important to me that you guys know two things:

a) I've become aware that a lot of what appeals to me about dead boy detectives is, on a kind of conceptual/thematic level, the same stuff that I love about my favorite eras of dr who, and 6b in particular

And I tell you this not as an advertising tactic but as a genuine PSA for anyone following me because:

b) Being me & having realized this, I know I'm definitely gonna wind up posting some unnecessarily long-winded analysis/comparison, pop it in the main tags for the sake of organization on my own blog, and subsequently confuse a hell of a lot of people there who either have no idea what I'm talking about or simply don't view either piece of media in the same light as I do to begin with

So I just wanted to reassure everyone that at least you're not suffering alone, as I will soon be inflicting the reverse bait-and-switch upon others!

That's all! continue w ur scrolling <3

[kingdomoftyto]

"Carlos, if you could just pause your experiment for a second--if you could only hear me out, hear my hypothesis! I think once you understand the science of the situation, you--" Carlos opened the door. He was crying. She had never seen him cry. He was overwhelmed and unsure of how to express his emotions, since he usually only did so in carefully worded sentences, not with water from his body. "The science of the situation?" he snarled. "That Otherworld. I was trapped there, Nilanjana. I couldn't see Cecil for ten lonely years. I was kept away from the people I love, in that desolate place where you never get hungry and you never have to drink water and so you never live. It is a place that devours. It is a place that is empty. That is the science of the situation, and I study it so I can fix it. Only I can do that. Only these experiments can do that. I'm sorry, Nilanjana; I'm not going to stop so you can tell me what science is."

🫠

[futuremercifulnerd]

New 2024 resolution just dropped - Stop playing overwatch because its fucking garbage now and 90% of the ppl that play it are braindead

[fafefae]

thinking about how in episode four after angel yells at husk. husk realized two things and then did them.

he first realized that he went about looking at angel all wrong, and shared a piece of his own painful past to rectify that. he recognized someone going through what he's going through, and shared a piece of his past to get angel to realize that too.

and secondly, husk doesn't try to comfort angel about it. he knows that the last thing anyone in angels position wants to hear is empty comfort, and he realizes that. so what he says in response to that realization is this:

"You've lost your way, you think your life is wrecked, well let me just say you're correct."

he AFFIRMS angels feelings, because husk IS in angels position. the song isnt husk taking a jab at angel when hes down. its an acknowledgement of his pain, which is EXACTLY what angel needed.

sure a solution to the problem would be nice and probably preferred, but a solution is just NOT possible right now, so the next best thing husk can do is acknowledge that pain and tell him "yeah, its fucked up, and its okay to be fucked up about how fucked up it is."

"There was a time I thought that no one could relate, to the gruesome ways in which I'm damaged, but letting walls down it can sometimes set you straight..."

because they're both survivors, and husk knows that being able to have someone to lean on while you're going through something thats impossible to escape from is the best way of coping with it. and even then, he doesnt make fun of angels coping mechanisms. angel can drink and do drugs and have sex all he wants, husk doesnt care.

"It's okay to be a-" "coked-up dick-sucking hoe?" "Baby that's fine by me."

but husk wont let him self destruct with these coping mechanisms. he wont let angel actually hurt himself, because theres a difference between coping via it, and using it to hammer the hurt in more, and the only time husk stepped in with angel was when he knew angel was in danger of hurting himself with it.

fuck. theyre both losers man. FUCK!

[pandoraslxna]

hi! first and foremost all of ur writing is GODSENT I’m hooked‼️ secondly, i saw ur requests were open and was wanting to see if you could write a neteyam smut where the reader is in heat and is completely insatiable so it leads to some thigh riding and it just isn’t making the cut so he just sits you on his face? and I love ur characterization so with lots of dialogue and him talking you through it pretty please🙏🏽 thank you for gifting us constantly !!

The heat that spreads

adult Neteyam x female avatar reader

Warnings: explicit smut, minors dni, thigh riding, oral, face sitting, praise kink, heat cycle

Words: 1.9k

Notes: thank you so much for your kind words they mean the world to me!! 😭🫶🏻 I had so much fun writing this skfjdks

Being a Na’vi had it’s perks.

The newly unlocked strength, heightened senses of smell, inhuman hearing and the agility of your avatar body— it was incredible! But there were still some things you had to get used to. One of these things being the monthly heat cycle every female Na’vi goes through, once their bodies are fully developed. It’s a blessing and a curse. You still haven’t figured out when exactly it happens, you just know that it’s not regular and therefore usually comes as a surprise. But you and your mate are trying to make the best out of it.

Right now, you’re sitting on Neteyam thigh, helping him braid his hair, when it suddenly hits you. It starts with a strange yet familiar feeling in your stomach, a warmth that spreads from your lower abdomen right into your lap. It tingles. Makes your head feel dizzy and clouded. You can feel your pupils dilate, senses on high alert as you inhale your mates scent. Neteyam smells like rain, fresh cut grass and tree bark. "What’s wrong?", he tilts his head, some of his braids lazily fall over his shoulder and you swallow thickly. He caresses your cheek with his big hand, thumb gently brushing over your bottom lip. "'Teyam", it comes out as a whine and you blush, "I- I think I‘m starting my…" Neteyams eyes widen. Has it been a month already? He thinks back to the last time with a smug grin on his face, when the two of you couldn’t leave the nest for nearly three days.

You try to clench your thighs together for some friction but it’s impossible with Neteyams leg inbetween them. You curse the position your in, but then he shifts under you, the muscle of his thigh brushes against your clit and you gasp.

You don’t even mean to, but your body has a mind of its own and you slowly start grinding yourself against his thigh. "Please", you beg for his touch, "C-Can we, uhm…" Your eyes point to the weaved sleeping matt, that you two share, across the marui pod. A contented purr of your name rumbles in his chest, your toes curling into the soles of your feet as your name drips from his tongue like warm honey. "Keep doing that", he chuckles and guides your hips to keep moving, "We‘ll get to mating soon, my sweet girl. Now I just want to help you get to your release. The first of many." His words aren’t just promises, they’re vows. He enjoys the days of your heat more than anything, willing to bend you in every possible position until you’re finally satisfied. His stamina seemingly increased during these times, thanks to a certain hormone only the female’s mate could smell.

You whimper softly, the tips of your ears burning with an intense heat as you stare up at your mate through lidded eyes. Neteyams words sent your heart a flutter, stomach bunching into a tight knot as your nerves tingle like a live wire.

You felt small sitting on his thigh, dwarfed by his much larger stature as you struggle to stay seated. You can feel the heat pooling rapidly in the pit of your stomach, heart beating hard against your ribs and pounding loudly in your ears as your breaths come out in short, rough pants. Your pussy clenches around nothing and it almost drives you insane. It hurts.

You experiment with different paces and pressures, trying to figure out the best way to get yourself off. It doesn’t take very long to find out what works best for you.

"You're dripping all over my thigh,” Neteyam notes amused. He’s mesmerized by the sight of you using him for your own pleasure.

You take a deep, shuddering breath, tongue darting over your dry lips as you swallow around the lump in your throat.

"'Teyam," you wail, voice turning into a whine laced with tiny hiccups. "It’s, fuck, it’s not enough… It hurts, I want to– need to cum so bad."

"I know, little one. You're doing so well for me", he praises, with his fingers digging into your hips he helps you move faster and cause more and more friction. Neteyam then tenses the muscles of his thigh, which completely changes the feeling. It’s so much harder now, the friction a lot more satisfying. "Better?"

You nod frantically, incapable of forming a coherent response.

Every rock of your hips is bringing you a jolt of pleasure. It feels so euphoric that you find yourself never wanting it to end. Everything‘s being stimulated with each buck of your hips and small shivers shot up your spine every time you brush your clit against his muscles.

You were growing wetter by the second, so much so that a wet patch was beginning to form on his skin. Which was making it easier and even more pleasurable for you to glide yourself up and down his thigh. When you brush your clit once more, you really couldn’t help the loud moan that left your lips.

"You’re close already, aren’t you? My sweet girl is going to cum just from grinding herself on my thigh", Neteyam chuckles teasingly and his intense eye contact is too much for you. You shy away from him but his free hand reaches for your face, thumb and forefinger digging into your jaw as he tilts your chin up. "No, you keep looking at me with those pretty eyes or I’ll stop." You can feel his hot breath against your skin, every hair on the nape of your neck standing up at his close proximity. "D-Don’t stop, please! Please I’m so– so close Neteyam!" Your breathing wavered, hot, burning coil in your stomach threatening to snap as you tremble. He‘s in complete control of your movements, strong hands digging at your hip so hard, you know it’s going to bruise tomorrow. He moves your body along to the rhythm that you desire. Your face twists with pleasure as you moan with complete abandon, his name like a prayer on your lips as your wet pussy slides across his thigh. Neteyam hums, voice deep and thick as he speaks to you in a hushed whisper. "It’s okay, little one. You can cum, let go for me."

You don’t hesitate to obey his command, the coil in your stomach shattering into a million pieces as your orgasm violently courses through you. Your body trembles and you scream your mates name with pure bliss, clinging to him like your life depends on it. Your movements falter, fingers numb as you hold tight onto his shoulders and what little sanity you had left. Neteyam forces you to ride out the waves of your pleasure high, pressing his leg hard against your clit until you beg for him to stop, crying that’s it’s too much but not enough at the same time. If he keeps that rhythm up, you’re sure you would immediately cum again.

Your legs are shaking and you pitch forward, burying your head against his board chest and seeking the warmth of his skin. His sturdy grip on you slowly eases, fingers gently threading through your braided hair and his other hand caressing your back to soothe the erratic beating of your heart. You hum with content as you press your ear against his chest, listening to his thundering heartbeat as you try to regain control of your breathing.

"How do you feel, my love?", he kisses the top of your head.

It doesn’t take long for the familiar heat to return to your core, spreading like a wild fire and you hide your blushing face in his chest. "Wasn’t enough", you mumble and it’s barely above a whisper. "Hm, I thought so", Neteyam grins, "my desperate little mate." You don’t even know what’s happening at first, as he maneuvers you into a new position. When your eyes fly open, you find your mate almost flat on the ground, laying right below you and with his head resting between your thighs. Your eyes widen when he playfully bites down onto the soft flesh of your thigh, careful not to actually hurt you with his canine. His hot breathe fans over the wet skin of your cunt and you shiver. "Neteyam, what are you–" He leans forward to place a sudden kiss right on your clit and you choke on your words. "Sit down", he demands and his words alone make you weak in the knees. One of his hands cups your ass and the other one your hip, with his three long fingers digging into your skin he supports you, pulls you down closer to where he licks his lips, ready to consume his favorite meal. You do as you’re told, carefully lowering yourself to sit on his face and immediately, his tongue darts out to lick a stripe from your dripping entrance to your clit.

He moans at your taste, at the way you fist your hands in his hair to anchor him so you can rut against his face. Against his nose and those puffy lips, so roughly that you can feel his head moving with the force of your hips. And yet he’s moaning uncontrollably, gasping and groaning your name and between slurps and sucks.

He’s a voracious pussy eater. Tireless, hungry, eager to please, but most of all responsive even though he’s nearly smothered under your weight as you ride his face.

"Holy shit— oh, fuck, 'Teyam you’re gonna make me cum again!"

His mouth and his tongue work overtime, swirling around your clit. Suckling on your lips. Sticking his tongue as far into you as he possibly can, ignoring his aching jaw to lick up every little drop of your delicious juices. Smothering himself and shortening his breath from stuffing his nose into your mound to reach as far into you as he can. And then– then, Neteyam does the one thing that he knows you absolutely love.

Taking a hand off your hip, he slips two of his fingers into your soaking wet cunt and curls them just right. Pairing powerful strokes of his hand with long sucks of his mouth, he coaxes you over the edge with such familiarity and such confidence that it takes your breath away. Literally.

"Neteyam!” You gasp, hands fisting in his hair and pulling as your thighs snap tight around his head. Your orgasm almost takes you out, it makes you shake like the leaves of a tree in a storm, your muscles jumping and spasming and making you twitch uncontrollably until it plateaus into complete, white-out inducing bliss. His fingers keep pumping in and out of you through the clamping of your walls, stretching out your orgasm until you’re slumping down ever so slowly, your body slowly going limp from the incredible pleasure.

With a gentle tap to your thigh, you untangle yourself from your mate, lifting your hips from his face. He’s glistening with your slickness and it makes you flustered. When he sits up, your eyes immediately fall on the outline of his hard and painfully neglected cock under his loincloth. It makes you swallow almost hungrily.

He grins at you, palming himself over the thin cloth as he repositions himself once again. With a hand flat on your chest he gently lays you down and then sits on his heels, right between your thighs. "Satisfied yet?", he tilts his head and licks his lips clean. You shake your head no and he chuckles. "What do you want? Talk to me, my sweet girl and I’ll do whatever you want."

"More. Please, I want… more."

[neostrayteez]

PLAY MY WAY

PAIRING. mark lee x female reader

WORD COUNT. 5.9k

SUMMARY. you never met a guy you couldn’t score and church boy Mark is no exception, but he may end up surprising you.

WARNINGS. smut, profanity

PLAYLIST. “serial lover” by kehlani

ONLY WAKE ME UP IF YOU CAN TAKE THAT SHIT UNDERSTAND YOU’RE ENTERING AT YOUR OWN RISK

The moment you saw Mark, you knew you had to have him.

Not because he was cute, which he definitely was. And not because he laughed at all your jokes, even the bad ones. But because he was a good little Christian boy, yet there was something in his eyes that told you he would burn down everything he believed in for the right girl.

Mark thanked God for everything - the food his mother spent hours preparing, the clothes his father paid for, even the goddamn sunny weather when rain was expected. It was annoying and made your eyes roll back in your head.

You, on the other hand, despised everything about religion. Especially its misogynistic rules on what you could and couldn’t do with your own body. Sitting through a sermon on chastity (or any subject, for that matter) was far worse than sitting in hell beside the devil himself, you mused.

So, when you excitedly asked to go to church camp, your parents could hardly believe it. A whole week of preaching and bible thumping? Maybe one message would finally get through to you.

Little did they know, you were a girl on a mission.

First, you wanted to know if Mark actually believed the bullshit he so fervently said. Secondly, and much more importantly, you wanted to know if getting him between your thighs would be as much of a fun challenge as you hoped.

From the moment camp kicked off, you had every innocent excuse ready to be near Mark. You needed a prayer partner, because you weren’t very good at asking God for things. You needed a peer to counsel you, because you were struggling in your faith, but the older leaders were too intimidating.

Mark was all too happy to be everything you needed.

You were careful not to be too clingy, avoiding and ignoring Mark in between your moments together, creating a push and pull dynamic that definitely caught his attention, because Mark would start searching for you when you weren’t leaning on him for guidance.

And by day four, you had him.

Mark moaned as he slid inside you, fingers digging painfully into your hips.

You sucked in a breath, feeling yourself stretching around him, and tightened your fist in his hair, your arms around his shoulders. “Just like that, baby,” you purred, nibbling at his ear. “Doesn’t it feel good?”

Mark braced a hand on the wall behind you and groaned, “So good.”

If you had told Mark that morning he would be having sex in a tiny closet crammed full with craft materials and weird stuffed animals staring at him, he would have laughed in your face. But there was no resisting you.

Mark was hooked to the sound of your laugh, to the twinkle in your eye when you smiled at him. He knew deep down you didn’t give a shit about God, but he would eat up any opportunity to be near you, to feel even the slightest brush of your skin against his.

When you took him by the hand and asked him to follow you, Mark’s body was already moving before his brain could comprehend what it all meant.

You had kissed him with a passion Mark wasn’t familiar with, because he’d never known it. He’d kissed girls before, little pecks here and there, but this was something entirely different. You were kissing him like there would be nothing left of him when you were done.

Mark had groaned when you palmed him over his jeans and he didn’t stop you when you began unfastening his belt. The taste of you on his tongue was too addicting; he didn’t want it to end. The warmth of your body against his was more intoxicating than any alcohol he’d tried. Just the feeling of your breasts pushed against his chest as you kissed him was enough to get him hard.

The moment Mark sheathed himself to the hilt inside you, he knew he was fucked. Literally, but also in every other definition of the word.

You knew the chances of an orgasm on your part were slim, but you didn’t care. You were getting off in other ways. You wanted Mark to come and you wanted it to break him.

The closet was dimly lit. Your naked ass was propped on a cabinet against the wall, your skirt hiked around your waist as Mark tentatively thrust inside you again, your thighs hooked on his hips. You found purchase in his shoulders as you tucked your face in the crook of his neck and let a sound of pleasure escape you.

“Fuck,” Mark said, his voice low and raspy in your ear. The heat of your breath on his skin sent a shiver down his spine. He moved slowly inside you, drawing his hips back to push in again. He was trying to savor it, make it last.

You smiled, a little smug and even more surprised. You expected him to go hard and fast, too fucked out by the vice of your body. A pleasure he had never felt before.

Mark snapped his hips harder and liked the noise you made when he did. So he did it again and again, until the cabinet beneath you started to creak with his movements. He shifted his footing, cursing his pants pooled too snugly around his ankles that threw him off rhythm.

“Mark,” you whined, grazing your teeth at the base of his shoulder. You felt his body tensing under your hands and you smoothed them down his back to calm him.

Mark lifted his head and tossed the hair out of his eyes, staring into your face and wondering what the fuck someone as beautiful as you saw in him that you would let him be inside you like this.

“What’s wrong?” you asked softly. The look on his face was something you hadn’t seen before. You didn’t recognize it. It wasn’t the lust you’d come to expect from boys that got to touch you.

It was more like reverence.

Rather than get into all the feelings rushing through him with the same intensity his pulse was pounding through his body, Mark said, “You promise you’re on birth control?”

You snorted. “Mark, I would not be letting you hit it raw right now if I didn’t have an IUD inside me.”

“Does it hurt?”

“My doctor was nice enough to numb my cervix before putting it in.”

You assumed, since Mark was still sinking his cock in and out of you at a languid pace, that the sudden need for conversation was to distract himself from how close he was and you wouldn’t hold it against him.

Mark bottomed out inside your wet, tight sex and stilled. He wanted so badly to kiss you, but he was a coward. “No, I mean, me,” he said, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Am I hurting you?”

You blinked. Tilting your head, you asked, “Do you want it to hurt?”

Some boys did. You knew that. But Mark shook his head immediately.

You dragged your nails down his spine, getting ahold of his hips and drawing him flush against you, chest to chest, nose to nose. Kissing the corner of his mouth, you whispered, “It’s deep. And tight.”

“Fuck,” Mark huffed, smashing his lips on yours. He couldn’t resist anymore.

You closed your eyes and let yourself feel him, whimpering into his mouth when he started thrusting into you again, smooth but hard. Mark swallowed every sound you made, holding you to him so tightly it was almost painful.

This was what made life worth living - the toe-curling pleasure of him fitting so perfectly inside you, completing you and making you whole again. His cock dragging against your sweet spot almost rivaled the high that came with knowing you had conquered another boy.

Mark moaned into your mouth and broke from your kisses. His gaze fell to your swollen lips. They were parted, endless soft noises of pleasure rolling off your tongue with every stroke of his cock. He shivered at that, knowing he made you feel good.

You grabbed Mark’s arms for dear life when he began fucking into you like he would never get the chance again. A victorious grin spread across your lips when his groans pitched higher and higher, his pace jarring you on the cabinet as he lost himself to the euphoria that was your body.

“Come for me, baby,” you crooned in his ear and Mark shattered in your arms.

He released inside you with a mangled cry, a groan catching in his chest, hips smacking into you messily to empty his load until he was totally spent.

Mark’s mind went blank except for pleasure. He couldn’t think and he sure as hell couldn’t breathe. The high took over every inch of his body and ruined him, making him shake down to his very core.

You snickered quietly, tempted to tease him for how hard he came, but held your tongue. Mark slumped against you, burying his face in your breasts, hands braced on opposite sides of your hips as he panted for oxygen. You kept running your fingers over his hot skin, soothing him, and whispered, “My sweet little virgin no more.”

Mark was relieved you were still holding onto him, even as he went soft inside you. He wasn’t ready to be parted yet. From this feeling. From you.

Get it together, he told himself and finally staggered out of your arms to begin fixing his clothes.

Mark couldn’t meet your eyes, because he’d realized that thanks to the intensity of his climax, he wasn’t sure if you’d finished too. He did shyly ask if you were alright and you told him you were fine. He didn’t need to know you were fighting a giggle at his expense. The boy was so fucked out. Mark was seeing you - and probably his life - though brand new eyes.

It was all a lie. He didn’t get struck by a bolt of lighting from heaven for having sex. Though whether or not he would burst into flames when he walked into church remained to be seen.

After finding your panties on the floor, slipping them on and adjusting your skirt, you sauntered out of the closet without a word and went about your day. You didn’t like to linger and began the long walk to your cabin for a well-deserved shower.

You weren’t surprised that instead of afterglow, there was awkwardness on Mark’s part. It was to be expected for someone who had surrendered their precious virtue. What did surprise you, however, was that you kept thinking about Mark after you left him. That wasn’t like you. You assumed the attraction to him would go away once you’d gotten what you wanted, but no - you found yourself eyeing him from across the way.

Wanting him.

No one had ever looked at you the way Mark did. Other boys focused on your body and all its power, but Mark stared into your eyes. He kissed you recklessly, driven within an inch of madness. Like he was fighting for his life and only you could save him.

Get a grip, you told yourself, the low monotone of another preacher humming like static in your ears as you replayed the memory of Mark fucking you in your head. It made the evening sermon easier to get through.

Mark, despite being at the other end of the row of chairs, could hardly breathe with the heavy tension in his chest. He wanted to stand up and shout at the top of his lungs, “What are we?!”

But he already knew. Out of the two of you, he was the only one thinking about that closet and the secrets it kept inside. You had already moved on and Mark felt totally discarded. He fell asleep that night to a fantasy of you sleeping in his arms.

Ever a loner, you kept to yourself. You had two more days to get through of this stupid camp, but you were satisfied. You’d accomplished what you came there to do.

Sitting at one of the tables outside, the pages of your bible that you had never opened flapping in the wind, you played on your phone and nearly jumped out of your skin when someone slid unannounced into the spot beside you.

“Jesus Christ, Mark,” you exclaimed, setting down your phone. The anger swiftly left your face when you realized how close he was to you and goddamn, why did he smell so good? Your heart was dancing in your chest, much to your annoyance.

Mark had been watching you from afar, catching himself smiling at the way you tucked your hair behind your ear as it swept up in the breeze and how you kept nibbling on your lip as you concentrated on your phone. He decided, at the sight of you, that he wasn’t happy with being discarded.

And he didn’t like that he was falling apart at the seams while you went along like nothing happened.

“I think we should pray together,” Mark said under his breath. You didn’t come to him anymore, for prayer or guidance or advice. Mark felt invisible now and for someone that had been inside you, that seemed unfair.

The anger instantly returned to your face. You rolled your eyes and focused on your phone again. “I think you should suck my dick,” you deadpanned.

If you had one, Mark probably would. He’d never felt about anyone the way he felt about you, but he persisted. “What we did was wrong.”

Like hell it was, you wanted to say. If it was wrong, why did it feel so right? Why were you craving for it like an addict after a high?

You didn’t look up and said in the most disinterested tone you could muster, “Give me one non-religious reason that having sex with me was wrong.”

“We’re not married.”

“Marriage is a piece of paper used by the government for tax purposes.”

“We don’t even love each other.”

“Love and sex are two different things. They are not mutually exclusive.”

Mark knew he would lose this argument, if he hadn’t already. You would have an answer for everything, because you were a girl set in your ways after years of experience. You were the total opposite of him and yet, you were what Mark wanted.

And what he wanted to be - free.

“I’m thinking about you,” Mark confessed in a soft whisper, because it rebelled against everything he’d been taught. “Constantly and in very bad ways.”

That made you finally lift your head and look at him, lips pulling into a devilish grin. “Glad to be of service.”

Mark scowled. “This isn’t funny.”

“I think it’s fucking hilarious,” you shot back, turning toward him more directly. He was already wilting beside you. You knew exactly how a boy looked when he wanted to fuck you. “You’re having an existential crisis about getting your cherry popped, aren’t you?”

Rather than get angry or annoyed, Mark looked sad. His expression sank and he asked, “Didn’t you? Don’t you feel even the tiniest bit of shame?”

That made you bristle. They always resorted to shaming after they had their way with you. You wouldn’t relent. “No. Why should I?”

You expected him to quote the bible. You expected him to rant about purity. You fully believed he would chide you for stealing his virginity. You were prepared for that. It would bounce off you like arrows on a wall, because you’d heard it all before and you would never let a boy’s words hurt you.

Instead, Mark sighed, “Because it’s supposed to be a sacred thing between two people.”

Your eyes flickered. Your mind scrambled for a witty retort, but for the first time in your young adult life, you came up empty. That’s when you realized you were looking at Mark differently.

This wasn’t purity culture talking. It was just a boy wanting to be loved.

At your silence, Mark seemed to gather he had you on the ropes and he leaned in closer, close enough to kiss you, but he didn’t dare. Not out in the open like this. But he’d be a liar if he said he didn’t want to kiss you until you fell in love with him.

“I took advantage of you and I’m sorry,” Mark started.

Anger reared its ugly head again and you glared at him, snapping, “You did not take advantage of me, Mark. I’ve been trying to fuck you since the moment I met you.”

Mark’s jaw dropped and his eyes went wide.

You smiled at getting the upper hand again. “What if I told you that after you filled me up, I got in the shower and touched myself to thoughts of you, and came so hard I screamed your name?”

Mark swallowed the lump in his throat. He really was an idiot to think he could ever beat you at your own game. “...Stop.”

“No,” you said, staring him down. “I’m trying to save you from a lifetime of being made to feel guilty about sex. About intimacy. They want you to feel guilty about being a goddamn human. Don’t you get that?”

Mark opened his mouth to answer. To tell you that you were winning. You were shaking him down to his foundation.

Something that felt so good couldn’t be bad.

“Mark!”

Both of you turned to see one of the youth leaders, his arms folded tightly across his chest. Given how close you and Mark were to each other, you should have known it would draw some unwanted attention.

“That’s my cue,” you said, packing up your stuff and leaving Mark alone with his thoughts.

Mark hung his head. Being close to you made him feel whole again. You’d taken a piece of him and it went with you whenever you parted.

“Jezebel,” the leader hissed as you walked by.

“In the flesh,” you retorted proudly.

But the moment you were hidden in your cabin and sitting on the edge of your bed, tears pricked at your eyes.

It’s supposed to be a sacred thing between two people, Mark said. You were thinking about the way he’d looked at you. It hadn’t left your mind since you left that damn closet with him.

For once, you felt like a thief. You’d stolen something precious from him. Mark just wanted a connection with you, a connection with the person he was intimate with.

But a connection was what you’d learned to avoid most, because boys always ended up changing their mind once you’d given all you had to give.

Except Mark. You’d given him your body and he still wanted more. Boys weren’t interested in your heart or your mind, but Mark was. You thought about all the times you talked with him. Even though you had ulterior motives for it, Mark listened to you. He never interrupted or spoke over you.

Mark cared.

I’m thinking about you - constantly. Mark had said that too. It would seem both of you were in the same boat about each other. Confused and lonely boats adrift at sea, passing in the night.

You skipped dinner and feigned stomach problems when the evening service rolled around, because you didn’t trust yourself to lay eyes on Mark and not burst into tears. You’d hurt a sweet boy that didn’t deserve it, who deserved much better than the likes of you.

The counselors didn’t argue. One look at you curled up in fetal position in your bunk and staring at the wall was enough for them to leave you alone.

It was nice being the only person outside while everyone was in church. You sat on the front steps of the cabin with your arms around your knees and watched the beautiful sunset, enjoying the quiet and trying not to think about Mark. To no avail.

You wondered if he noticed your absence and if he cared. If Mark came looking for you to ask if you were okay, you would probably crumble. It was hard accepting someone cared about you after all you’d ever done was take care of yourself.

Yes, Mark noticed. Yes, he felt like dying. He regretted confronting you that afternoon, but he’d wanted to apologize. It felt empty and worthless now, honestly. Like all he’d done was make things worse.

Mark asked one of the girls in your cabin about you and she told him you were refusing to get out of bed. That told Mark all he needed to know and it made hope spark in his chest that maybe you were down bad for him like he was for you.

The next morning, you were deemed well enough to attend the early service. Unfortunately, because you’d spent all night thinking about Mark - or trying desperately not to think about the feelings you were growing for him - you fell asleep barely ten minutes into it.

Turns out, youth leaders got really peeved when someone was caught either sleeping or playing on their phone during a sermon. If they only knew you’d had sex too. You sat through a stern scolding, which you gleefully ignored, and then you were sentenced to an hour of solitary time in the chapel.

Hurt me some more, you thought with a chuckle. So, you sat on the front row, leaned back and made yourself comfortable, and zoned out. Once again, enjoying the peace and quiet of being alone.

At this point, you wondered if they would hold a gun to your head to try and make you talk to God.

Toward the end of your delightful punishment, a familiar voice called your name.

You opened your eyes and sat up sharply, gathering your things. “What do you want, Mark?” Your tone had an edge. You weren’t in the mood for a lecture.

“You.”

You glanced up at him as he approached you, hinged on whatever he said next like your heart depended on it.

Mark looked like he hadn’t slept a wink either. “I just want you,” he whispered softly.

You smiled. The first real smile to grace your lips in years. “I’m all yours.”

Back in that same closet, you cried out when Mark shoved you against the wall and slipped his tongue into your mouth.

You liked this hungry, impatient side to him. The one that couldn’t go without you for one more second.

Maybe you were his god now.

Mark cradled your head, kissing you deeper, making you moan a little. You would have been content to kiss him for the rest of the day, but you knew time was of the essence. People would come looking eventually.

“Mark,” you stammered, sucking in a breath when he latched his lips to your neck, his hands now palming your breasts over your shirt. “We don’t have long.”

Mark seemed determined to kiss and suck every inch of your neck, in a silent competition with the boys that came before him, but he should have known he’d already won.

“I wanna make you feel good,” Mark growled in your ear. “Like you did for me.”

“Then fuck me.”

Mark spun you around roughly, crowding your back, and kneaded your breasts, kissing down the column of your throat. Your eyes fluttered closed and you moaned softly, rocking a little to brush your ass against his crotch. He was grinding against you, searching for friction, but stopped to unfasten his pants.

You bent over the cabinet, lifted your skirt and shimmied your panties down around your thighs, not getting a chance to take them off completely because Mark was on you again, wrapping his arms around your waist in a vice grip and spreading your legs with his knee.

Mark groaned when his hand cupped your sex, running his fingers between your slit and feeling your arousal. “Do you always get this wet?”

You chuckled at the shock in his voice and answered honestly, “Definitely not. This is all for you.”

“Fuck.”

Sweet little sounds fell from your lips as Mark played with your entrance with two fingers. His hard cock followed, having been rubbing eagerly against your ass. You gasped and grabbed the edges of the cabinet when he impaled you on his length, your pussy fluttering and stretching around him.

Mark had only a string of curses to say. Any other words escaped him. The heat of you knocked the wind out of him, just like the first time.

Your legs trembled as he bottomed out, immediately drawing back to sink into you again slowly. You bit your lip to hide a smile at how hard he was inside you, but how gently he moved.

Mark felt you relax once you’d adjusted, hyper aware of every little move you made. He slipped his hand into yours and said, “Put me on your clit.”

That was definitely unexpected, but you did as told. Steering him down, you helped his fingers find your bundle of nerves and he rubbed at it curiously.

“There?”

“Yes,” you sighed in pleasure.

Mark was salivating at how sensitive you were to his touches, thrusting into you eagerly for good measure. “It feels good?”

“So good.”

“It’s making you tighter,” he said, stroking his cock inside you deep.

You taunted, “If you really wanna feel how tight I get, make me come.”

Mark swallowed loudly. Pressing a kiss beneath your ear, he said, “Tell me how to do it,” with a tone that left no room for argument.

“When you feel close, slow down,” you told him, brushing your hands over his arms affectionately, coaxing him. “Edge yourself for me. Until we come together.”

With a nod, Mark kissed your cheek, which felt both intimate and possessive, and released your waist in favor of your hips.

You were too fucking tight and warm. Mark was humiliated at being so close to orgasm already when he’d only just begun and the sound of his hips colliding with your plump ass turned him on so bad he kept biting his lip to stifle a groan. He was ready to sell his soul to you just for the chance to empty himself inside you again, but he wanted to feel you come.

Mark stilled, body trembling a little with restraint. You smirked, knowing he was close to finishing.

You purred, “Good boy. That’s it.”

Mark’s jaw went slack and he moaned as you started rolling your hips, grinding back against him. You knew exactly what you were doing. There was no thrusting. You weren’t pushing him back to the edge. Your pace wasn’t fast enough. But your pussy clenched on his cock, so wet with arousal the insides of your thighs were slick with it.

You giggled when Mark reeled a hand back and slapped your ass. He just couldn’t resist. You wiggled your hips from side to side to make your ass bounce for him, working yourself on his stiff cock.

“You like being balls deep in me, baby?”

Mark groaned. Girls weren’t supposed to talk like that. But fuck, it turned him on.

“Say it,” you hissed, throwing yourself back on him, sending a loud, wet slap echoing through the tiny closet.

“It’s good,” Mark said hurriedly, wanting to please you. He squeezed your hips in his hands to the point of bruising and watched you take his cock. “You feel so fucking good. I can’t… fucking…”

That made you fuck him harder, arching your back.

“Fuck!” Mark snapped, folding himself over you, pinning you to the cabinet and throttling his cock into you, drilling your pussy at a brutal pace.

Your eyes rolled back, your toes curled and you moaned at the top of your lungs for him. The angle was just right. He was hitting your sweet spot, making you suck in a breath and beg him, “Don’t stop, Mark. Please, don’t stop.”

Unfortunately, hearing you moan like that and beg him to keep pounding you made Mark’s cock twitch with warning. Mark let out a mangled groan, stilling inside you abruptly, because he was there - again. “Shit. I’m sorry,” he stammered, kneading your clothed breasts. “I was close.”

You steered his fingers to your clit again and made circles with your hips with him sheathed inside, trying not to lose the edge he was bringing you toward. “I’m close too, baby,” you assured him. “Hang in there a little bit longer.”

Mark’s heart skipped a beat. He rolled your clit with his fingertips, peppering kisses on your neck, tasting the salt of your sweat on his tongue. He was pressed so tightly against you and locked inside you.

He could feel your labored breaths, just like his. He could feel your racing pulse beneath his fingers. It moved at the same furious pace as his own. Your skin was hot and sticky with sweat. His too. He could feel it running down his back.

It hit Mark like a ton of bricks. This was what intimacy felt like. Tangled together with another person, not knowing where he ended and you began.

And Mark knew then and there he didn’t want to live without it. Nor did he ever want to let someone tell him he couldn’t have it.

Mark lifted you up, your shoulders against his chest. He cradled your jaw in his hand, tilting your head so he could kiss your cheek and the corner of your mouth. You sighed at the affection, both of you still moving hungrily but gently in tandem with each other.

“You were right,” Mark said breathlessly. “There’s nothing wrong about this.”

You smiled. Not from victory this time, but acceptance. Maybe he was right too. Maybe sex could also be treated as a special thing between two people. There was a connection between you and Mark, and you were done fighting it.

Mark desperately wanted you to say something. Deep down, he hoped that he was more than another quick fuck for you. Though to his credit, there was nothing quick about this time.

“You were right too,” you finally whispered, making Mark’s eyes flicker. “Maybe it should be treated with more respect.”

Mark turned your head and smashed his lips on yours, kissing you with such intensity your heart stopped beating in your chest for a moment. At least you thought it did. It was rapturous and made your legs weak.

If not for Mark holding you to him, you would have fallen to your knees.

Mark broke from the kiss, but held you in place, making you stare into his eyes as he took you, as he started thrusting hard and deep again. Your mouth was open, panting for air, because you knew you weren’t in control anymore.

You had surrendered to him.

And Mark knew what to do now. His body followed instinct. He lost himself in your eyes, no thought in his head except how perfectly you wrapped around his cock and how he wouldn’t stop until you came for him. On him. With him.

You’d broken him. He was ready to break you back.

“Mark…,” you choked out, scraping your nails over the cabinet. “I’m coming.”

Music to Mark’s ears. He tightened his grip on your neck, making sure you knew that you were his now. His breath was hot on your cheek, rapid like the pace of his cock slamming into you. He pinched your clit with his fingers, feeling your walls pulse around his dick.

You squirmed. You couldn’t help it. Your body arched into him involuntarily, warmth spilling over between your legs. His touch on your bundle of nerves teetered dangerously toward overstimulation, but it was that perfect cock hitting your sweet spot that finished you.

“Come with me,” you barely managed to say before crying out in ecstasy, your core tightening and your legs shaking.

Mark kept burying his cock inside you to the very end, his hips smacking into your ass. You could hear him grunting and swearing past the ringing in your ears, his thrusts turning ragged with how tightly your cunt gripped him.

“Holy shit,” Mark growled, struggling to keep his hold on you as you writhed. Then with a shudder, Mark came, bottoming out and releasing with a moan that rivaled yours, painting your walls with his release.

As you drifted back down, you undulated as best you could, kneading every drop out of him. You let the cabinet support your weight, catching your breath while Mark went soft inside you.

Mark clung to you, but at this point, you weren’t surprised. And you kinda liked it.

Okay, you really liked it. Finally, you felt like you could belong somewhere. Tangled up with Mark.

With a kiss to your temple, Mark stepped back, his cock slipping out of you, and you sighed at the loss of him, feeling both of your releases dripping from your folds.

Mark’s eyes were on your sex and seeing his cum mingle with your juices made him want to kill any man that dared lay eyes on you. He tried not to think about how he would walk out of there like nothing happened, but you would be carrying the evidence between your legs.

It should not have turned him on the way it did.

The two of you dressed in silence, occasionally stealing glances of each other, but there was no awkwardness this time. Instead, tension settled over the room.

Where did you go from here?

Mark was the first boy you’d fucked a second time. You weren’t usually one for encore performances. He was also the first boy you couldn’t get off your mind. And given what Mark had said to you - to say nothing of how he looked at you - the feeling was mutual.

“What’s wrong?” you asked sweetly, though you had some idea.

Conflicted emotions were colliding in both of you for totally different reasons.

Mark had fully dressed, but made no moves to leave. He stared at you, wishing he could put into words how you made him feel.

“I want to hold you.”

You blinked and your heart clenched in your chest. For a moment, you studied him. Cautious. But you knew from the start it was a losing battle. “Hold me,” you said, reaching for him.

Mark closed the distance between you and swept you up in his arms. You closed your eyes and tucked your head beneath his chin, breathing him in. Mark’s hand was lost in your hair, the other resting at the small of your back.

You didn’t realize how hard you were holding onto him until it was too late to stop.

“Maybe we could see each other again,” Mark said in a low voice.

You fought the tears as they burned your eyes.

Mark tugged at your hair, searching your face. “You could teach me more about intimacy and being human.”

You allowed yourself to smile at him, appreciating his efforts to diffuse the tension. “Okay.”

“And I could teach you about trust and commitment?”

Two things you staunchly avoided, but you recognized the soft lilt in his voice, framing it as a request and not a demand. Too many people had tried to force you to see the error of your ways and they were met with resistance.

You would never let anyone conquer you, but maybe you could make a little window in the walls around your heart so Mark could sneak inside from time to time.

Maybe he’d make a home there.

Either way, you wanted to watch him try.

“Alright, Mark. You win this time,” you whispered, rising to your tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips.

Mark grinned and kissed you back.

END.

[variousqueerthings]

something very aromantic coded in s2 of good omens is that crowley and aziraphale canonically take their cues of what a certain kind of relationship ought to look like from books and films. firstly, very relatable, I did much the same thing throughout my teens (and in some ways still do although I'm not trying to make myself "fit" by taking cues that I've been studying to be the correct way to do a relationship, I just enjoy performing them in the same way all life is performance when you're not-doing-body-and-relationship-to-other-bodies correctly inherently)

secondly, how it plays out in them messing unintentionally with nina and maggie. they don't understand the structure of nina's and maggie's whole thing as it applies to the reality of relationship structures in the world they're in; that nina is initially in a romantic relationship and wouldn't just jump from it -- no matter how bad -- straight into another one that was presented as "more" correct. because of course standing under an awning or dancing at a ball makes people "fall in love" (whatever that is) because... well, that's how it happens in the stories all the time, that's what these sorts of relationships are all about, "one fabulous kiss and we're good" -- it's a shock to crowley that he misread all the cues "you were crying and she was..." isn't that what this romance thing is that humans are always talking about????

thirdly it of course eventually circles around to be about what in the world their relationship is, but when they're trying to figure out what's going on between the two of them, there aren't any words that can neatly sum it up beyond "us" -- whatever it is, it's "us" against "them" (although aziraphale isn't quite ready for that) -- the them being heaven and hell of course, but to be honest, from an aro perspective, the "them" takes on certain human connotations to me as well, because it's all about how these two don't fit into structures and are punished for this not-fitting-in, and while they're not punished by the humans around them, they also aren't... human. they still operate somewhat from the outside of everyone else, even though aziraphale manages throughout history to create a fair few connections from the sounds of things

similarly to how they do it to nina and maggie, they try on these tropes with one another: aziraphale invites crowley to dance, crowley kisses aziraphale, and it doesn't fit quite right (the first because crowley is concerned with all the demons outside and so isn't paying as much attention to the dancing part of the whole thing, and the second because [insert another bunch of analysis here that's its own post]), but they've already been us the whole time. their attempts at explaining using alloromantic shorthand fall short, because they're hampered by needing to define themselves and their relationship with terminology that's suitably correct for whatever dominant structures they're in

fourthly, the fact that their cues for what their relationship needs to be shouldn't even really be coming from movies/books and humanity in the first place, it should be coming from gabriel and beelzebub. gabriel and beelzebub don't even try all of that "this is what romance is," they don't call one another romantic or kiss or even say words like partner, they're not interested in doing human-based customs or "fitting in." their language for one another is based around that song, and that's as much defining as it needs. whatever aziraphale and crowley are to one another is equally all their own thing, but aziraphale and crowley struggle with definitions constantly. they don't fit into heaven, they don't fit into hell, and humanity -- while more the place they've adopted for all its wild wonders -- isn't quite right either, because they're still being put in a box

it was fun to look out for as I was rewatching, because the way they interacted with alloromanticism really did read like two people who have exactly zero idea of how this applies irl, but that's okay, the fiction's got it handled, all they have to do is copy-paste = result, but then the stuff that actually is the romance in those texts becomes a series of contextless tropes, kind of like how amatonormativity often has those exact same tropes recycled in story after story that can't figure out why it worked the first time but not the next hundred times, except in this story it's on purpose. one fabulous kiss did not in fact solve things at all (nor was it fabulous)

[yanderespamton78]

sometimes i feel like toby fox made spamton and the addisons especially for people to hyperfixate on. everything about them seems so perfect for people to go rabid about its insane to me

for one, spamton himself pretty much counts for 4 people, those being addispam, big shot spamton, in game spamton, and spamton neo. now sure you mostly see people going rabid about in game spamton but ive seen plenty of people who are obsessed with a version we dont get to see on screen

secondly, even the main in game spamton himself is kinda up to interpretation. loads of people characterise him differently. if i compared two aus to eachother theyd often be very different and depending on the ones i chose could be almost like 2 different people, and then if i compared those to in-game spamton, theyd still be very different. also since you dont see addispam and big shot spamton on screen you dont even know what they acted like so again basically you can make your own guy to fixate on with a few prompts as to what he was like

dont even get me started on the addisons. now im biased as fuck here seeing that ive been fixated on the addisons for like 6 months now (send help) but toby fox basically gave us 4 templates for us to have fun with. sure based off of in game dialogue you have a bit to go off of when it comes to their personality (pink being an asshole and blue being caring for example) but even then every addison in every different au is slightly different and i have never seen two addisons turn out exactly the same. ALSO you dont even know the relationship these characters have to spamton meaning you can have them be siblings, you can have them be friends, or you can ship them based off of what you enjoy. OR you could just ignore them altogether (which a lot of people do lmao)

also another thing is the fact that you dont necessarily need to have your addisons' personalities just reflect off of spamtons. I mean the main 4 addisons give you enough to go off of to make your own, and you are given cyber city, an entire fantasy world for you to put them in. cyber city again is up to interpretation, some people have it be like a normal city, some people make it a utopia, some people make it a hellscape. the choice is yours!!

and even then in game spamton is so versatile. he is perfect for angsty stuff, fluffy stuff, or jsut silly stuff, and none of it is out of character. you couldnt really make an angsty spongebob edit could you, itd be weird and out of characer and no one would take it seriously. but also you couldnt make a silly walten files video, sure people do but its out of character and wouldnt actually happen canonically. but spamton on the other hand. hes the kinda guy who you can draw holding a wallet in his mouth like a cat and generally being silly but also you could draw him sobbing at the bottom of dumpster and neither would be out of character!! AAAA

also extra thing i thought id add but his backstory is also very up to interpretation, like i dont think ive ever seen two people who think spamtons rise and downfall went exactly the same. sure everyone has the same general idea of how it went but some people believe in acid theory, some people believe in puppetification theory, some people have a mix of both, some people have their own idea of how it went down, and with that you can project different parts of your own trauma onto whatever happened to him.

ok sorry that was so long thank you for reading my very biased ramble about why spamton is perfect byeeee

[adobe-outdesign]

Thoughts on the Aisha? It’s been my favorite neopet ever since I got a mcdonalds plushie of it when I was like 8 before I even knew what neopets was

Aisha are great because they're almost somewhat normal cat-like creatures—except they have two pairs of ears, one normal set and one set sticking up like antennae. These ears are the most important part of their design, as they're both visually distinct and very memorable.

Aishas also vaguely implied to have some degree of extra-terrestrial origins due to the existence of alien Aishas, which is a nice bit of worldbuilding and helps explain the weird ears even more (not that they're that unusual by Neopet standards, but still, it's neat).

In addition to the four ears, the other main notable thing about Aishas is their near-constant closed eyes (though some Aisha characters do have theirs open), which are punctuated by a ring around the outside. The ring is nice, as it helps break up their otherwise solid body colors a bit.

I'd also argue that Aishas benefited greatly from customization. First, their old artwork was getting very dated and needed a refresh anyways, and secondly, the only real change is that they're standing now, which doesn't really affect anything.

But the other big benefit the Aisha received is that their collars became a wearable item that can now be removed. I'm not going to lie, I never liked the collars. First, they're weird because in-universe, Neopets are anthropomorphic, and indeed, no Aisha characters sport the collars. Secondly, as a species, where do those collars come from, and why do Aishas wear them? And thirdly, they tend to add unnecessary color to their designs (like how the blue and green Aishas shown above sport red and yellow collars—though this varies depending on paint job). The "A" tag also feels clunky. They're not the worst, but having the choice to remove the collars or keep them is the best of both worlds.

The only big benefit to the collars is that they do sometimes do some really fun things with them depending on the color, as I've spotlighted below.

Favorite colours:

Alien: No Aisha review would be complete with talking about alien Aishas, which are absolutely iconic in their own right. Species-specific colors are always enjoyable, and the fact that the alien Aishas have SIX ears is fantastic. I also like the spacesuit/helmet combo, and the red triangle at least accents the red color a bit if you choose to keep it on. I just wish they had done something fun and futuristic with the collar, instead of sticking to the standard version.

Darigan: The converted version of this pet isn't terrible, but the unconverted version is fantastic. The thin body looks great, almost snake-like, and the pointed tail matches the tall ears, which are given a delightful devil-horn look. The spots help break up the body a bit, as does the addition of an underbelly, and the collar changes shape to a D for darigan, which is fun.

Mutant: Mutant Aishas, my beloved! What a great design. Replacing the second pair of ears with mouths and then accenting the pink lips with floppy, tongue-like spikes on the back is just great, with the pink working great against the blue. Bonus shoutout for the singular eye and the mutated "A" on the collar. My only nitpick is that the collar tag should've been the lighter teal of the stripes on the ears, and the band should've been pink.

BONUS: I'm cheating by including this, but I have to give a shout-out to the baby Aisha for being downright adorable with its little binky collar and soft blue color. I'm not usually big on baby pets, but this one's actually pretty great.

[anim-ttrpgs]

An absolutely incredible review of the beta version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy by review Willy Muffin on youtube, complete with visuals and actual analysis!

I'm going to also add to this post a comment that I left on the video, offering further insight into the design intentions of the game, though the comment might not make as much sense if you haven't watched the video yet.

Hey, lead writer of Eureka here, first of all I wanna say how good and professional this review is, it’s almost indescribable how it feels to see our project taken so seriously and given real analysis, complete with visuals and everything! We would be super impressed and happy with it even if you didn’t like the game—but luckily it sounds like you loved it hahaha

I’d also like to address a few things throughout the video, not as arguments or rebuttals, just further developer insight for everyone

Re: “Urban Fantasy.” “Urban Fantasy” is basically just another term for “modern fantasy”, just a fantasy story that takes place in the 20th or 21st century and deals with the intersection of contemporary life with the supernatural, and it might be an Americanism, or even a Southern-ism, since it has a lot of connections and origins in the living folklore of New Orleans, so I shouldn’t be surprised it isn’t a term everyone is familiar with. Just think of it as the kind of genre where instead of the vampire living in a secluded scary castle, his name is Phil and he’s your roommate haha. What We Do in the Shadows, Shadowrun, and the World of Darkness games are all some other good examples of “urban fantasy.”

Re: Scooby-Doo. Oh we would LOVE for you to run a Scooby-Doo-like wacky mystery with Eureka. Even though the main tone is dark and gritty and noir, we did intentionally build it so that it could run more lighthearted stuff as well! There’s even a few Scooby-Doo references to be found throughout the text, and if we hit a certain stretch goal on the Kickstarter, we’re going to be adding a bunch of Scooby-gang-inspired traits, including the option to play a Talking Dog!

Re: Combat being the largest section, even larger than Investigation. First of all, that’s kind of an illusion that is the result of the game being unfinished. I have a tendency when I write rules to use really long sentences, overexplain things, repeat myself, etc, and that dramatically bloats the rules text and page count, but that’s why we have an editor! She goes through after the fact and trims most of the fat off my bloated writing style to make it flow smoother and read faster, and take up less space. The PDF that was read for this review has had the Investigation chapter copy-edited (and cut down in size by about 25%!), but the editor hasn’t gotten to the combat chapters yet, so they still have a hugely inflated page count. When she’s done with them, you can expect each combat chapter to also be cut down in size by about 25%, so they won’t be nearly so large a chunk of the book.

Secondly, I’ll explain our reasoning for why the combat chapters and advanced combat rules are such a big chunk of the rules text, it’s intentional design which I will now explain. If anyone still doesn’t agree with that design, that’s fair, and that’s why we made the Basic Combat Rules an option.

The reason that the advanced combat rules are the default, and the reason they exist at all, is because it incentivizes and rewards Investigation. If combat is super deadly, it makes Investigation, snooping, and spying more appealing than kicking down the door and getting your head blown off. But of combat is super deadly, it also needs to be very deep and tactical, because if it’s deadly but shallow, then there’s no player agency. “Combat starts, roll some dice, okay your guy is dead.” That’s no fun. So by adding rules and modifiers for cover/elevation, distance, the difference between a pistol and an assault rifle, etc. we make it so that not only is combat its own high-stakes puzzle, but make it so that when the PCs HAVE to engage in combat, all their investigation can really pay off and save their lives. Spying on a building to find out the number of goons stationed there and how they are armed helps you plan and assess risk, stealing the blueprints to the building helps you know how to get the drop on the goons, and know the best places to attack from so that they are stuck out in the open and you are not, etc. and having rules for those things means that all the PCs’ snooping and planning makes a real mechanical difference in whether they live or die.

That’s just my opinion though, and one of the biggest reasons WHY we decided to write the combat with as much depth as we did.

Anyway, thank you again for this review and analysis of our project, our Kickstarter jumped up by about ten more backers in the evening when this video went up after several days of no new backers, and we have to assume we have this video, and all of you watching and reading this, to thank. You’re really making our dreams come true. :)

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is kickstarting from right now until May 10th! Back it while you still can!

If you want to try before you buy, you can download a free demo of the prerelease version from our website or our itch.io page!

If you’re interested in a more updated and improved version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy than the free demo you got from our website, subscribe to our Patreon where we frequently roll our new updates for the prerelease version!

You can also support us on Ko-fi, or by checking out our merchandise!

Join our TTRPG Book Club At the time of writng this, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is the current game being played in the book club, and anyone who wants to participate in discussion, but can’t afford to make a contribution, will be given the most updated prerelease version for free! Plus it’s just a great place to discuss and play new TTRPGs you might not be able to otherwise!

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[wishful-seeker]

How to Make Your Own Spells

(Or at least this is how i do it)

What makes a spell?

In my opinion, a spell or ritual is the physical act of manipulating the energy around and within us to achieve a specific goal. A spell can look like anything from a few spoken words, like a prayer, to weeks long complicated rituals. You can attempt to cast a spell with nothing but your voice and some intent, or a whole pile of ingredients and tools.

How do spells work?

If we look at rituals in folklore there are a few characteristics that most spells share, but every one is unique, and spells have worked for a looong time even with no set rules for them. In folklore, witchcraft has reoccurring traits, like the number 13 "dance around X 13 times", dancing is also mentioned often, and black animals like black hens, black cats, and black goats. But times have changed, we aren't okay with harming animals for spells, and thousands of people don't use the number 13 or dancing. So why do spells still work even though they all look completely different?

I like to think we as humans have innate power within us that we can choose to utilize in our own unique way. Some spells work really well for the people who made them, but don't do squat for others trying to cast them. I think this is because the act of making a spell or ritual personal, whether you made it from stratch or altared someone elses, is similar to signing a piece of your artwork. You create a bond with those specific actions with you energy, like putting a spiritual signature on it. I think this allows us to utilize our personal magic easier.

I think spells work no matter how they look because the one thing each spell has in common is that we are making a petition to the world and ourselves that we want to make something happen, and because we all have a little bit of magic in us, we can make these things happen.

It doesn't hurt to get friendly with the land spirits of your home, or your ancestors or what-not to help you preform magic. Its very likely outside help will increase spell success.

So how do i make a spell?

You can either be simple or extra with this.

First decide your goal or intent. The more specific, the better. I believe magic follows the path of least resistance so if you aren't very specific with your ask, things might happen in unpredictable ways. Saying "I want a promotion in my current job and enough money to move to a better place." Is better than "i want a better life."

Secondly decide if you want ingredients or tools. This could be herbs that you research correspondences for or crystals you research the metaphysical properties of. This could be items like a skeleton key, a feather you found, maybe a letter someone wrote. I find spells to be more powerful and easier to enjoy and connect with if you use sentimental items you feel particularly drawn to. You don't always need ingredients that have set correspondences, its okay to use things just because you have a good feeling about it or to put your own personal correspondence on things including trinkets, herbs, and crystals. When it comes to tools, like a pendulum, wand, or scrying mirror, you can use these if they feel fun, but they are not always necessary. Some tools can be very helpful in spells, pendulums and scrying mirrors can be used to speak with spirits during your ritual.

Next figure out what you want the spell to look like. This is where your creativity shines. You could do the classics everyone knows: spell bottles, spell candles, and sachet spells. Or you can do what intuitively feels right to you. I personally arrange my ingredients in a pretty way intuitively on a plate then light a candle on the plate, but spells can look like anything. Like i said before, in folklore there is a lot of dancing. A spell could be a dance you do around a fire, or for astral travel dance until you fall and leave your body. A spell can be an art project, perhaps a collage of pictures of things related to your spell. A spell could be something you cook and eat. Let your imagination go wild.

Next thing is optional but i feel like it helps. Im sure you have heard of wiccans casting a circle before each spell to trap certain energies in for the spell. You can do this but i personally like the opposite: creating a liminal space and thinning the veil to really open up to all the energy around me. You can create a liminal space either by being in one ex: at a crossroads, in the woods, at midnight, dusk, and dawn. Or you can make one by creating a 3 or 4 crossroads shape like you would cast a circle. These are both optional though.

Next lets talk about charging your spell and how to actually put energy into it. Again, you can do anything you want. You can charge by dancing, moving clockwise, singing, playing an instrument, meditating, visualizing energy coming from your hands or wand, anything you feel drawn to. For me personally i have to speak my intent allowed and imagine what it'll look like when my spell succeeds to charge it.

If you need inspiration for spells, folklore, fairytales, and stories in general can give you a good idea on what would be fun to do.

Hope this helps, stay punk.

[revacholianpizzaagenda]

A rebuttal of the theoretical entroponetics diagram

This one here:

PJÕL references in the last paragraph but kind of vague

As far as I'm concerned, the argument is threefold: the diagram's title positions itself in-universe theorizing. Which it almost is! It's very very close to Gary's (even though in his case it's textually not entroponetic). And it's a fun in-universe position to explore, imho. The subjectivity of people who want to believe this of the pale is interesting to me.

Secondly, check the following page on the author's website: it's his own magic system based on the same exact idea, inspired by the Mistborn novels. It seems to me like he envisioned the Elysium version of his concept (a fun practice), and agnostically framed it as a hypothesis in-universe.

Here it is!

But, thirdly... it massively shifts the themes, so no, as an actual legit thing... no thank you for me. The phasmid says something that I believe to be irreconcilable with this theory: the pale came with mankind. Not with special people. We're talking about the human condition, not about special people. It just doesn't track! Not thematically, not in practice.

The things that are shown to arrest or even recede the pale's advancement are not a lack of innovation. Ignus Nilsen himself didn't nail a godly Rhetoric check from hell for people to think that the pale wouldn't advance if we just ignored the future. Conversely, the characters who are shown effectively drawing knowledge from the pale on-page are NOT shown to increase its advancement (on the contrary: Ulv's practice temporarily halts it!). That one character who does in fact cause the spread of the pale certainly doesn't do it by bringing about innovations, DOES HE.

[cloudyyoimiya]

Hiiii :)

First of all, it's nice that you are back. I hope you had fun with your friend!

Secondly, I saw your post about wanting more Verlaine requests, so could I please request something for him? Maybe reader comforting him when he gets homesick for France? Headcannons or a scenario prehaps? You can choose if yandere or not.

Take your time and make sure to stay hydrated (it's scorching hot where I am 🥵) and have a great day/night!

i’m sorry i got to this late!! it’s been hot where i live too… i hate the weather here. its horrendous. anyways, thank you for requesting! i had fun writing this <3

A Taste of Home; Paul Verlaine

Format; Headcanons and scenario

Genre; Fluff

Possible warnings; None

Word count; 1123

Little note; Translations are at the bottom :)

Unedited.

Verlaine never thought that he was one to miss France. So many bad things had happened to him in that country, an example of it being his creation. But sometimes when he did think about his somewhat good memories, he would miss the culture of his homeland. He also missed speaking French because learning English was hard enough, but Japanese? He was too proud of admit that he struggled speaking in both languages.

One time you brought up purchasing an expensive bottle of wine from France to Verlaine, but his facial expression alone showed you that he was longing to go back to his homeland. You felt bad that he was unable to travel back to France due to his current situation in the Port Mafia’s basement, so you thought that you’d try to bring his culture back to him.

You looked up how to make French cuisine and French pastries. It was hard at first, but after enough practice while Verlaine wasn’t around, you eventually got the hang of it. Hopefully a taste of home would do him some good.

You also started to learn a little bit of French. Sometimes you could see how he struggled to form sentences that weren’t in his native tongue, so you thought that it would be a pleasant surprise for him to be able to speak comfortably in French.

Though you would have to admit, learning French was hard. The grammar is much different than how it is in English, and the way you pronounce certain letters gave you a little bit of trouble. Honestly, it’s surprising how your boyfriend didn’t hear you cursing late at night because you couldn’t figure out how to say certain words.  

By the time you set up your little surprise, you didn’t know how to speak French fluently, but you knew enough to hold up a small conversation.

…

You couldn’t help but be nervous as you finished up the final meal preparations. Recently, Verlaine has been showing signs of missing his homeland, France. For anyone else it would be hard to pick up on these signs because your boyfriend was rather stoic, but for you, it was quite clear to you.

You felt bad that he was unable to travel back to France due to his current situation with the mafia, but there wasn’t much you could do besides having him leave the mafia’s basement for a day or so.

As you were setting up the dinner table, you heard a knock on the door to your apartment. You quickly finished putting down the dining utensils and rushed to the door, straightening out your outfit as you did so. You then opened the door and looked up at Verlaine, offering him a small smile.

“Hello, my dear,” you said as you opened your door fully. “Come in, come in!”

Verlaine gave you a small smile of his own and entered your apartment. He then took out of the bouquet of roses that he was hiding behind his back and offered them to you. “Here, I got these for you.”

“Oh! They’re beautiful!” You exclaimed as you took the bouquet from his hands. You then took a small sniff of the roses and chuckled. “And they smell good too. Thank you, Paul.”

Verlaine simply nodded and he took off his coat. He placed it onto your coat rack then looked down at you, an awkward smile adorned his features. Despite all of the times he had bought you flowers, he was always scared of accidently messing up and getting you flowers you didn’t like.

Your boyfriend cleared his throat then started to speak gently. “I’m glad you like them. Anyways, you said you called me over for a date, right? What exactly will we be doing, chérie?”

“Ah, I just prepared some dinner is all,” you spoke as you went into the kitchen. You set down the roses onto your counter, then pulled out a vase from one of your many cabinets. “I think you’ll like it! I tried pretty hard to make it perfect.”

Verlaine walked behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist, resting his chin onto your shoulder. He silently watched as you prepared the roses of the vase. He was happy that you put so much care into the flowers, oddly enough.

“When was the last time you had coq au vin?” You suddenly asked as you put water into the vase.

Verlaine paused for a little bit, thinking. When he answered, he seemed a little bit unsure. “I’d have to say a few years ago. Why do you ask?”

“I made it for our dinner tonight,” you stated while putting the roses into the vase. You then gently took Verlaine’s arms off of you and walked over to the dining table. “I hope you like it! It took a little bit of trial and error, but I think it tastes good.”

Verlaine followed you and watched as you placed the vase of roses in the center of the dining room table. “You made coq au vin?”

“I did indeed. I noticed how you were starting to miss France, so that was the least I could do since I can’t physically bring you back to France.”

Your boyfriend let out a small chuckle and wrapped his arms around you once more, nuzzling into your neck. He was never one to show affection first, so this act was a pleasant surprise to you. You smiled as you hugged him back, content with the affection that Verlaine was showing.

“Je t'aime,” Verlaine murmured into your neck.

“Je t'aime aussi,” you said before you giggled.

Verlaine looked at you and quirked an eyebrow. “Tu parle Français?”

“Oui, mais seulement un peu,” you said with a smile. “Is my pronunciation okay?”

“It’s good for a beginner,” Verlaine chuckled. “Did you really do all of this for me? I find that hard to believe, chérie.”

“I really did do this all for you… I knew it’s not all that much, but it’s the thought that counts, right?”

“The thought very much counts,” Verlaine spoke as he kissed your cheek. “You’re adorable, chérie. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Just think of it as showing you how much I love you.”

Verlaine nodded and stopped hugging you with a genuine smile on his face. “Then I shall think of it that way.”

“Good! Now, the food might be getting cold. C’mon, let’s go eat before I have to go throw it in the microwave to reheat it,” you giggled.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go eat then.” Verlaine gave you another kiss, but this time on your lips. “I love you, my dear. Thank you again for doing all of this for me.”

Translations;

Chérie—Dear

Je t’aime (aussi)—I love you (too)

Tu parle Français?—You speak French?

Oui, mais seulement un peu—Yes, but only a little

[nekropsii]

Hi! I've recently gotten into homestuck and I've read quite a bit of it, as well as other people's blogs analyzing and criticizing the media. I've heard a Lot about Dave's arc being centered around internal homophobia and toxic masculinity, so it surprised me to hear taht you disagreed! I was wondering why you think that, and what are your thoughts on what his arc actually is? I know you don't like writing about the alpha/beta kids, so feel free to ignore this ask completely if you want. Thank you, I hope you have a great day!

Hello, Anon! I'm glad you've been having fun with Homestuck lately!! Despite its many flaws, it is a deeply compelling piece of fiction, and I'm always glad to see new eyes on it and new voices being added to the analytical sphere. To answer your question...

Personally, I have never seen what people are talking about with regards to Dave's whole character arc surrounding overcoming Internalized Homophobia and Toxic Masculinity. These are fundamentally not what his arc is about, and this is never what his arc has ever been about. I'd honestly never seen that analytical lens until after DaveKat rose into prominence (mostly due to Post-Canon's heavy featuring of the pairing), and I feel as if these things are related. It is easier to make easy-to-stomach, shippy angst out of addressing your own personal shortcomings than what Dave's arc is actually about. No shade intended. This is because...

Dave's character arc is, and always has been, about Recovering from Childhood Abuse.

This is the conflict we are made aware of in his introduction, and it's a theme that persists all throughout the story. We meet Dave as a 13 year old boy suffering some pretty extreme abuse at the hands of Bro- Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, and Sexually. Dave's home life is such an active threat that he struggles to even admit to himself that it is abuse in the first place- that's an admission that takes a level of vulnerability that he just could not afford, and it's something he's only left to truly unpack during the Meteor Arc.

I have a couple major problems with the "Toxic Masculinity and Internalized Homophobia" takes. Firstly, Toxic Masculinity is not inherent to any expression of Masculinity. The only Toxically Masculine trait we see that's applicable to Dave is that he struggles deeply with vulnerability and sincerity in his emotions. However... These don't really have anything to do with what his views on what a man is or should be. They have everything to do with the fact that he was abused by someone who punishes any display of weakness, because Bro excused his abuse with it being "Training". Secondly... Dave is Bisexual. Even if the process of Dave struggling to accept being attracted to men was a major point in the story, it would not be called Internalized Homophobia. It would be called Internalized Biphobia, because Dave is canonically Bisexual, not Gay. We have seen Dave be attracted to more women than men, and attraction to both genders was present simultaneously. It was not Compulsory Heterosexuality. If it was, it'd be actually written into the story. Bisexual people exist. This is not a Homophobic argument to make; I am literally a Gay man.

It's anthropologically fascinating how this take arose... Basically out of nowhere from my perspective, especially considering how all of Dave's most iconic dramatic lines have something to do with him having to sort through his own abuse. Does no one remember the rooftop scene between Dave and Dirk, where Dave starts telling Dirk all about the horrible way that Bro raised him, and how deeply it affected him?

If not, I'm posting the most striking part of it here.

[Homestuck, page 7749.]

... So, yeah, no. Dave's character arc is not about "Overcoming Toxic Masculinity and Internalized Homophobia". It's about Abuse. Dave is an Abuse Victim. Point blank period. Any trait even loosely attributable to the ideas of Toxic Masculinity and Internalized Homophobia are a consequence of how he was raised, and how he was abused. This does not mean that this is what his character arc is about. That just means that's included within his character arc. It's a way to show growth, not a way to define his arc in its entirety. That is legitimately not how character writing works. To claim such would be to express a remarkable amount of Tunnel Vision.

Inclusion does not equate to Totality. There is a bigger picture, and that bigger picture is Abuse Recovery.

[punkitt-is-here]

Could I ask about dealing with anxiety when starting to make games? Also I hope your day is going well when you get this

Sure!

I think the most important thing to learn about, as with any new skill or tool or what have you, is that you have to get cool with sucking. I didn't get this far in being a fun gamedev internet person by caring immensely about the perfect quality of what i put out; i was just proud to do it! If I cared about getting everything right the first go around i'd never get ANYTHING done. Underneath all the neat stuff I show online is actually a mountain of things that I would call subpar or even failures, but I don't mind having those at all; they're important steps in the creative process! And I think being bad at something is better than not doing something at all. And I'll say this much: in gamedev, even the tiniest, most insignificant victories feel like GIGANTIC wins when you're dealing with something as fickle and intimidating as gamedev, and those victories are what motivate me. The second you get far enough to have your own lil guy walking around in your own little world is the moment when everything starts to click for me and i go "boy i fucking love gamedev so much". it's tough, but i think when you hold out long enough to start seeing even the tiniest little fruits of your labor you'll see why it's such a rewarding experience.

Secondly, recognize that you're doing this for fun!! If you're going into ANY medium with the goal just to earn money or make the next big hit, I think you're gonna hit a roadblock pretty quickly. Make things because YOU wanna make them, and you'll find the anxiety washes away pretty quickly. Don't make things because it's hot right now to make uhhhh i dunno Among Us Roguelikes with FPS elements or something, do it because you have an idea that sounds fuckin sick and you wanna make it real. It's 100% why i make ANYTHING i make at all.

Additionally, cheat!! Use shortcuts!!! All the gamedev stuff I've shown is actually made off of engines that require little-to-no programming experience (SMBX2 and RPGMaker 2003) and while I eventually want to move on to stuff like Godot, I think it's INCREDIBLY fun and rewarding to work with engines that do a lot of the initial ground work for you. I don't think there's anything wrong with using engines that'll get you quicker to where you wanna be as long as its something you feel like you can get behind. So have fun with it, be ready to be bad (and that's okay!) and take it easy on yourself.

Hope you have a wonderful day! I am :>