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willowisbunger · 3 years

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God Im Sorry (A tapeworm clef fanfic)

Before we begin. This is all for jokes. I am so sorry for anyone who has to read this. Its also just a draft and will be complete at some point. For now enjoy what little I give you.

You find yourself resting on the couch of your dearly beloveds bed quarters. You scroll through your phone looking fondly at old text messages of when you and your husband to be's first text messages. All the ridiculous nicknames you two exchanged, all the flirting, photos, and various other things you two have sent to each other over the years. You couldn't help but giggle. You find it hard to believe this all started cause you decided to help some weird blonde guy with a ukulele out with his broken leg.

You two have been dating for almost 8 years and two months ago, the man, Dr. Alto Clef. He took you on a date. Just a nice simple stroll around the woods, which ended in a nice picnic by a river. In which you saw the man you have fallen head over heels for, get down on one knee and began plucking at the strings of his ukulele. Singing a sweet melody like a song bird in the spring, before pulling out a wedding ring and asking those simple words of "will you marry me". Your heart flutters with glee as you chuckle. You feel giddy and so over joyed with happiness. Right as your giggle fit calmed down you heard the front door open, and there stood your beloved. With a wide grin on his face as he held some folders in his hands. He had a doctors appointment that day since he had been feeling strange. With his face showing his usual bright beaming smile and his three beautiful eyes showing their usual mischievous gleam, it was clear that he was in more than perfect shape.

"Heya there pumpkin. I'm home. And I've got some great news." He spoke in a raspy slightly southern voice. At first it was grating on ya, but now its like all your favorite songs combine into one incredible tune. "Welcome home sweetheart!" You chirped as you ran up to your beloved teddy bear to give him a quick peck to the lips as you hugged him close, "What's the good news teddy? I can tell from that big dumb grin of yours ya got somethin real good to tell me. What did the doctor say?" You said as you affectionately pinched his cheeks causing him to laugh as he took both your hands to hold. "Well besides me being fit as a bull. Looks like I'm gonna be eating for two from now on."

You blinked and tilted your head in confusion, slowly processing the information as you stepped back a lil. "How? Babe I never top and we always use protection. Who-" "Oh no pumpkin. I ain't pregnant" He interrupted, chuckling as he ruffled your hair. "I got a tape worm. The doc took some sonograms of my stomach to see if there were any issues and yeah, there's a lil fella in there. Look." The blonde handed you the folder, which you opened and began reading through and your face turned pale at the sight of the tape worm in the photo of an ultra sound. You gagged a lil as you shoved the folder back into clefs arm. "Babe that's not okay!!!! That's a parasite!!!! Its gonna just keep reproducing and shit and its gonna fuck up your insides." You said quite loudly, usually you were quiet but this, this was making you quite distressed. Your fiancés face turned from a smile to a disappointed frown "I thought you would've liked clef junior....".

You stood baffled at the situation before you. Your dearly beloved, just, accepting and seeming to be happy about the fact he has a god damn TAPE WORM living inside of him. You've seen some shit in your days working for the foundation. A sheet of music that makes people go bonkers and try to bleed, Kondraki -clefs ex- ridding on god damn 682, and other shit that would boggle anyone's mind. But this. THIS RIGHT HERE. Just.... Leaves you speechless. "Pumpkin?" the third eyed man spoke in a concerned tone, which rarely came from him. "Are you okay?" You held your head in your hands as you sat back down on the plush couch and just took a deep breathe, and just as quickly as you sat down you sprung back up, grabbing your jacket and zipping it up. "Babe.... I just.... I need a moment.... I'll be out for awhile.... This is just, strange even for you and I need a moment to think about this." You sped walk past your -potentially ex- husband to be to the door. You shut the door, seeing Clef's face look uncharacteristically sad at you. It hurt you a little to leave your teddy bear like that, but you still needed time to just, think and process this whole situation.

You leave the housing area for researchers and quickly the site as well. You hail a cab and as soon as you enter the bright yellow vehicle you tell the faceless driver to "Take me to the nearest motel." Which he happily complied especially with the hefty tip you gave him. You just, Needed awhile to think and god knows how long that could be so you may as well rent out a room away from that hell site foundation to have a clear mind. After all who knows what might happen. Fucking Dr. Bright could tell you to give it a chance and raise the worm together with your teddy bear or some shit. You never know with this job and the people you worked with. While in your thoughts you rented out a room, room 105. Great another reminder of your hell job, even though it was just the simple numbers of 0 and 5 you can't help but be reminded of your faceless higher ups and the fact you work for them.

You found your room and quickly made your way inside to flop down on the bed, beforehand making sure to put up the "Do not disturb" sign and locking it. You burried your face into the hard cheap pillows of this motel, missing the one you had back at your place with its soft textures and the scent of your beloved.... Which once again brought you back to the worm. That fucking worm. Why the hell was your husband so keen on keeping it? He's at least some form of scientist he should know that tape worms are a dangerous parasite that affect your health. You stare up at the popcorn ceiling just, trying to wrap your head around WHY. Why would your partner; your future husband; the one who knows everything about you and you know everything about them.... just why are they keeping the tape worm?

You of course knew the stuff your teddy was known for, sleeping with that statue after a date, killing a dangerous reality bending child, father to 166 (who you were honestly happy to take in as your new step daughter). Out of everything. The tape worm makes you break. Makes you rethink your relationship with the man you've been dating for years at this point. All you can do at this moment is sigh, hearing the phone in your coat pocket buzz. You pull it out and set it to "do not disturb" as you set the device aside on a night stand. "Maybe I should sleep it off. Maybe I'll have a clearer mind then...." You say to yourself as you threw your coat off and roll onto your side. Feeling uncomfortable in your current clothes but you didn't pack a bag so, you just ignore the discomfort until eventually.... You drift off to sleep. The shallow hum of power surging through the building and the busy city outside envelop you as you feel unconsciousness take over.

While in your state of unconsciousness you hear a silky smooth, deep yet gentle voice speak to you. "Y/N... Y/N its time to wake up Y/N". You slowly awoke, opening your groggy eyes, what laid before you, you didn't know. They had a handsome chiseled face, comparable to the statues found in ancient Greece with even a similar tone of white marble. They had thick luxurious hair that went down to their waste, rippling muscles that went down both torso and back.... They were ungodly white though. And didn't have legs. You stared at the bottom half and slowly processed what you were looking at..... A fucking tapeworm man. A fucking humanoid tape worm what the fuck. "Im going back to bed" You said as you laid on your side, and tried to ignore the hallucination.

The tapeworm creature, slid over you just to get to the side you were facing. You shivered feeling it’s disgusting body wiggle about. You close your eyes tightly as you did your best to ignore it. You could feel yourself holding back even more shivers as you felt their cold hands touch your face. “Y/n…. Look at me…. I just want to talk.” “And I just want to be left alone and not think about tapeworm men trying to seduce me while I’m contemplating breaking up my engagement.”

#alto clef #tw parasites #scp foundation #joke fic #shitpost #please end my suffering #crack fic

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becomewings · 4 years

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The Most Beautiful Moment in Life <I’M FINE>

BTS Universe Story Highlights, pt. 1 / 4

» pt. 2

Introduction

BTS Universe Story, a mobile game published by Netmarble, was released on September 24, 2020. While the majority of the app is essentially a sandbox and engine for users to create their own interactive stories, it also includes official and canon BU content. The first eight segments were introduced between the release date and December 2020, gathered under the title The Most Beautiful Moment in Life <I’M FINE>.

“I’m Fine” is half of the I’m Fine/Save Me ambigram introduced in the Love Yourself era. Notably, all of the BU content available in the game so far falls between events of the webtoon Save Me (also called HYYH0 in its logo) and The Notes 1—chronologically, that is, while bearing in mind that time resets to the morning of 11 April Year 22 whenever SeokJin fails to avert a tragedy among his six friends. I want to assure anyone who is unable to play the game that you are not missing any new, major plot beats from the overall BU narrative. Instead, the stories provide more insight into the motivations and consequences of SeokJin’s decisions in the earlier time loops, as well as more depth to individual characters and their circumstances.

The goal of this guide is to summarize each of the eight stories and highlight noteworthy details, especially if they are not yet present in other BU media. Within each story (which I often refer to as an arc, due to their character-focused nature), episodes must be played successively, but the stories themselves can be played in any order. I will present them over a series of posts in the order they are listed under the <I’M FINE> heading. The Prologue and NamJoon’s arc are free to play; the rest are paid content. Please note that due to the app’s Terms & Conditions, I will not include in-game footage here. The images in this guide are sourced from the official trailers/videos and the live action MVs as appropriate.

Content warning: contains references to death, suicide, suicidal ideation, child abuse, domestic violence, blood, homicide, depression, trauma, PTSD

This guide contains major spoilers and includes references to other BU media

Do not repost, copy, or quote without permission

Game Mechanic

Before diving into the summaries, I would like to address the primary mechanic of the game: the user’s control of character choices at designated moments in the stories. It’s a primary marketing point that the player can influence the progression of the narrative, with a frequent in-app tip also declaring, “stories’ endings can vary depending on your choices.” The latter is not strictly true—and it cannot be true due to the structure of the game. Choices are presented within most (not all) episodes, but each episode is an isolated unit: episode 2 provides the same content regardless of what you choose in episode 1. Since the consequences of your decisions are not cumulative, each episode reaches the same ending, and each decision inevitably rejoins the “main” story path (effectively reducing the script size).

So what is the point of this mechanic? While the system is not nearly as complex as what major platform titles are capable of nowadays (I suspect due in large part to the story creation portion of the game), it does foster a sense of interaction with the narrative that isn’t present in static visual media like comics or film. The episodes with choices also have incentive for replay to discover the impact of changing a character’s dialogue or action. Sometimes the differences between the outcomes are inconsequential, but other times you unearth new details, interactions, or memories that are missing in the other path.

I say this partially in reaction to all of the comments and tweets I read for the game trailers and even Smeraldo Book twitter’s choose-your-own-adventure style teasers with The Notes 2 excerpts released last summer. Many users expressed excitement, through words or memes, about finally being able to give the boys the happy ending they deserved. I don’t fault anyone for wanting that happy ending—I wish for it, too. But no matter what the rather overzealous marketing has claimed, I don’t believe that the canon ending of BU is ever meant to be in the audience’s control. But I do feel that this mechanism fits the BU narrative. It echoes the “countless loops” SeokJin has experienced in an effort to save his friends, the choices he must make at every crossroad, and the butterfly effect those actions have on all of their lives. I think it is reasonable to interpret the simple branching paths in the game as alternatives SeokJin has explored across multiple loops in his struggle to find the “right” way forward. I’d love to hear if you have theories of your own!

Prologue

The prologue is a brief episode introducing SeokJin’s repeated struggle and failure to save his friends. He wakes up yet again in his bed on 11 April Year 22, the beginning of the time loop. After reflecting on the tragedies that keep befalling the others, SeokJin realizes that he has only tried to fix the problems he can see. He wonders: “Have I tried to understand the root of my friends’ misfortunes? How much do I really know about my friends? Maybe I was never brave enough to confront their real scars and the worlds they’ve been living in. But I need to do it. Because it may be the key to saving them all.”

How to Offer a Hand

In this story, SeokJin attempts to prevent NamJoon’s arrest after he gets in a fight with a rude customer at Naeri Gas Station, his place of work. The first episode opens on the night of 11 April Year 22 with NamJoon curling his fists, glaring as crumpled bills lie untouched on the pavement. (The money looks similar to the shot from the I Need U MV.) SeokJin reaches for his shoulder, but NamJoon shrugs him off and strides away to punch the customer who deliberately dropped the bills for him to pick up. The gas station owner runs over at the customer’s furious shouts and orders NamJoon to apologize. He refuses, and police officers soon arrive and charge him with assault. No one listens to SeokJin’s protests that the customer started it first. The man sneers as NamJoon enters the police car. “Do you even have money for a settlement? Hey, you’re done for.” NamJoon is sentenced to prison again, and SeokJin hears glass shattering before the loop resets.

Rising from his bed on the morning of 11 April, SeokJin reflects on his failed efforts so far. He has hit the customer’s car, called for NamJoon in the middle of the incident, and stopped the fight himself, the latter of which caused his friends to avoid him later. The fight has even escalated; the details are unspecified, but the audience is provided an ominous shot of SeokJin speaking to a police officer alone at the scene. NamJoon is not the kind of person who would normally respond to that kind of provocation with his fists. SeokJin realizes that he cannot merely stop the fight but must discover and fix the true cause of it.

With this in mind, SeokJin heads to Naeri Gas Station during the day and tries to engage NamJoon. This is their first time meeting since they both returned to Songju, although SeokJin has experienced it in many loops already. “It’s been a while,” he greets (as he does at the end of the Blood Sweat & Tears Japanese version MV). Before SeokJin can dig deeper in their conversation, NamJoon is called away by his boss. SeokJin enters the small employee break room which serves as NamJoon’s living space when he’s not at the container, hoping to find some clues about his friend’s life. SeokJin locates something bundled in newspapers. If the player chooses to open it, he sees a strange shard of glass inside that may belong to a car or motorcycle headlight. He continues on, finding the book Cosmos by Carl Sagan and a notebook. SeokJin hesitates over the invasion of privacy but decides to read it since he needs all the information that he can gather. The journal entries detail NamJoon’s daily life since returning to Songju: his work at the gas station isn’t too bad despite the occasional rude customer; he purchased a book and hopes to get more in the future; he picked up a second job at a wedding hall to help catch up on bills; his brother NamHyeon got in trouble again, leading to more expenses; and his dad’s health has worsened, with hospital bills after an emergency surgery rising to levels that the family cannot afford. SeokJin knew that NamJoon was the de facto head of household due to his father’s illness but was unaware that it was to this degree. He feels sorry for NamJoon yet is also impressed by his maturity, for NamJoon never writes how difficult his situation is.

NamJoon arrives and asks what SeokJin is doing in the room. If the player chooses to answer “reading” instead of “just sitting there,” SeokJin privately observes that the conversation flows more easily when they talk about books. NamJoon says he must leave and declines when SeokJin offers to wait for him there. SeokJin knocks over a pile of books along with money and receipts as he stands. He thinks it is unusual that NamJoon picks up the books before the money. The books seem to be more than a hobby to NamJoon, holding special meaning. Walking to his car, SeokJin wonders if it is pride or determination not to falter that keeps NamJoon from journaling his grievances. He realizes that money is a constant source of frustration and misery to NamJoon, and that’s why he can’t stomach being insulted over the customer’s dropped money. SeokJin’s new plan is to prevent NamJoon from picking up the money. He also calls Palgok County Hospital and offers to pay the patient bill for NamJoon’s father. Anticipating that NamJoon will be angry if he finds out, SeokJin says the payer is Songho Foundation.

That night, SeokJin returns to the gas station with the excuse that he forgot to fill up earlier. The luxury car arrives with a honk, and NamJoon hurries over to assist. He shakes with anger when the customer drops the money on the ground. “Why aren’t you picking it up? You don’t want it? What’s with that look? Pretty arrogant for a part-timer, aren’t you?” goads the customer. SeokJin intervenes. Whether the player chooses to have him advise NamJoon not to pick it up or to order the customer to pick it up himself, the end result is the same. SeokJin asks the customer, “Why are you harassing a pitiful part-timer?” The customer drives away, and something about NamJoon seems off. His face is expressionless, not mad or humiliated. “SeokJin, you…” He stops. “Never mind. Thank you for your help.” The words sound difficult for him to speak.

SeokJin believes that he has saved NamJoon, although this ending feels sloppy. He continues on in the loop to rescue JungKook and later YoonGi, but uneasiness plagues him. Though he meant to help NamJoon with his actions, SeokJin wonders if he hurt him instead. On 5 May Year 22, he returns to the gas station and follows NamJoon when he leaves work early. NamJoon enters a bookstore, and SeokJin sneaks in after him to watch from afar. He overhears employees talking about NamJoon, worrying that he might dirty the pages of the book he’s perusing. NamJoon is too absorbed in the book to notice one of them calling for his attention. SeokJin recalls a memory from their school days when he found NamJoon reading alone in their classroom hideout: he asked why NamJoon read so diligently, and his friend explained that he found it comforting to empty his thoughts of everything else while focused on the book. In the present, SeokJin wonders how he forgot how much books mean to NamJoon. He sacrifices some of his food and transportation budget to afford them, but they enable him “to endure the weight of the world he’s forced to bear on his shoulders.” After realizing this, SeokJin wants to apologize for carelessly sympathizing with the reality that NamJoon has weathered alone.

The next episode is from NamJoon’s perspective, revealing his excitement over being able to purchase a book for the first time in two months. He wants to buy two but can only afford one. The employee at the register sighs and asks why he leafed through a book he wasn’t going to buy. NamJoon apologizes, and she mutters, “So dirty.” He notices his reflection, clothes worn and smelling of gasoline, and realizes she’s talking about him, not the book. He tries to shake off these depressing thoughts, but he is still not accustomed to this treatment despite experiencing it regularly at work. As NamJoon begins to exit the store, the security alarm goes off. The employees demand to check his bag despite his insistence that he didn’t steal anything. Their certainty of his theft angers him. NamJoon allows them to look through his bag, and they are suspicious of the like-new book in it which he brought from home. One begins to call the police until SeokJin appears, vouching for NamJoon by saying he saw everything. The employees accept that the alarm malfunctioned and excuse their suspicions as a mistake.

Outside, SeokJin asks NamJoon if he is all right. NamJoon is thankful but wonders how SeokJin materialized right when he needed him. “How’d you find me here?” he asks aloud. SeokJin explains that he happened to notice him while walking through the neighborhood. NamJoon wonders if it’s because they said goodbye on a weird note last time. He thanks him and turns to leave. SeokJin calls after him. “I’m sorry. I wanted to apologize. I didn’t mean to upset you that day at the gas station. It was a mistake to have called you pitiful. If my rash actions hurt you, I’m really sorry.” NamJoon accepts his apology, believing it to be sincere, and says that things would have turned out a lot worse if SeokJin had not intervened. Thunder rolls overhead, and NamJoon uses the impending rain as his excuse to depart. He declines SeokJin’s offer of a ride and runs home, feeling his friend’s eyes on him.

Before he can settle down to read at home, NamJoon receives a call from his cheerful mother. She thanks him for paying off the entire hospital bill. NamJoon is perplexed and asks what’s on the receipt, since he didn’t pay it. His mother wants to leave it be, but he insists that they investigate so they don’t get in trouble or sued. She reads that the Songho Foundation is credited as the payer. NamJoon calls the hospital, introducing himself as the guardian for Kim YoungMin, but they can’t transfer him to the administrative department at this time. Disappointed, he looks up the foundation’s website, unable to recall why it sounds familiar. He wonders why a scholarship foundation in the city would get involved with him. Spotting photos of a recent launch ceremony on the site, he recognizes a few people: Songju High School’s principal, the familiar-looking face of the foundation’s chairman, and SeokJin. First, NamJoon forces a laugh, and then it’s difficult for him to breathe. He thinks that SeokJin really had pitied him at that moment. The only thing keeping NamJoon going is the idea of getting through life on his own strength. Why does he have to live like this?

The last episode opens on 5 May back in SeokJin’s perspective. He is confident now that he has saved NamJoon, although it occurs to him that a better alternative may have been to simply pick up the money himself instead of stepping forward. (This decision is enacted in a later loop and depicted in the Euphoria MV.) While reflecting on what comes next to save his other friends, he receives a text from NamJoon. “What’s your account number? I’ll pay you back for the hospital bills. I don’t need your help. I’ll handle my concerns on my own.” Heart sinking, SeokJin wonders how he found out. With a sense of foreboding, he tries calling NamJoon, but no one answers. SeokJin texts him back, pretending that he doesn’t understand, and tells NamJoon to call him. SeokJin’s second attempt connects while he’s gathering his car keys to visit the container. “That’s enough. Just send the account number over text,” NamJoon instructs. SeokJin coaxes him to talk for a moment, and NamJoon asks flatly, “Are you going to apologize again?” SeokJin attempts to salvage the situation, but his friend turns cold when he insists that NamJoon is misunderstanding and that he just wanted to help. “So, why? Why are you helping me?! Yeah, you’re always a good person. You’ve done nothing wrong and I’m the one misunderstanding.” SeokJin apologizes again. NamJoon refuses his request to meet in person. “No, I thought maybe there was a reason for everything you did… But I guess I misconstrued it. I’ll pay you back, so I’d prefer if you stopped contacting me.” Long after the call ends, SeokJin stands holding his phone, feeling that the glass is going to break at any moment. He wants to believe that it’s not over, but hope is slipping through his fingertips.

The episode finishes in NamJoon’s perspective. On 8 May and 9 May, he accepts part-time delivery work and reflects on his three jobs. Whenever he thinks he’s at his breaking point, he focuses on his new goal of returning SeokJin’s money. On 10 May, NamJoon wakes up to his buzzing phone and is called in to work. On a scooter, he passes by a bus stop and notices graffiti. (This is the same bus stop, with matching graffiti, that appears in the Highlight Reel.) Mesmerized, he wonders if it’s TaeHyung’s. As soon as NamJoon looks up, the scooter’s brake fails, and he crashes. The shattered glass on the cold pavement reminds him of the headlight shard and the kid who looked like TaeHyung. (So the piece of glass SeokJin saw in April was really a memento NamJoon retrieved from the scene of the crash in the mountain town, where the delivery boy whom he privately called TaeHyung died. This event is described in NamJoon’s 17 December Year 21 entry in The Notes 1.) NamJoon’s vision grows blurry, and the distant sound of an ambulance doesn’t come any closer.

The arc concludes there, but it obviously marks another reset for SeokJin. It is interesting to note that in this failed loop, NamJoon suffers the same fate that he narrowly avoided in the snowy mountain town before returning to Songju.

Please stay tuned for the next Highlights post featuring JungKook and YoonGi!

#armiesnet #networkbangtan #bangtanarmynet #armysource #dailybangtan #bts universe #hyyh #bangtan universe #bts universe story #bts universe story highlights #seokjin #namjoon #namjin #bts theories

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lesserfandomappreciation · 3 years

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Bumi II with an s/o that is Zuko’s daughter?

This evolved into so much more than what I was aiming, but here you go. Enjoy!

Bumi II with fem!s/o that Zuko’s daughter (Legend of Korra)

They have been friends since childhood and it shows. Those visits to the Fire Nation were not always possible with the Avatar’s schedule, it did not stop the two from forming a bond at a young age. By “bond” I mean “rivalry” and by “forming” I mean “kick starting a strange competitive rivalry that baffles to this day.”

Bumi as an adult has some sense of common sense, he just chooses to put it to the side sometimes. Bumi as a child is a Sokka gone feral with a need to bug others. S/o being a proper princess with manners was going to become a rival to him at some point or another, it was just natural.

The distance between their homes made it possible for this rivalry to peak and fall with lulls of peace when visits were over. It’s when they both join the newly minted United Forces that things go from “meh” to “oh no.”

Both families knew this day was coming. Aang and Katara knew for sure that the way those two acted, the universe would play a joke on them and force them to spend time together. Zuko knew, but was really hoping that the forsaken day would never come. The amount of damage reports he gets about his daughter and Bumi’s antics...

Their rivalry only worsens with their cadet-hood. Bumi’s happy-go-lucky attitude is nails on a chalkboard for s/o. What’s worse, his cheery attitude means getting unfair attention from higher officers despite his terrible antics, while all her hard word and diligence is commended but hardly noticed. It’s infuriating! To Bumi, her being so diligent and so hardcore about their positions only makes him want to rile her up more to see the cute angry looks on her face. It’s always hilarious to see ‘Miss Princess’ get all frustrated.

Cadet-hood brings a strange moment of understanding though, at least in the final year of it. They unfortunately have to spend more time together much to the amusement of their comrades and commanders. Pranks have gone down somewhat, but the same back and forth hasn’t been lost. It does give them something neither excepted to have though. Understanding.

It strikes Bumi as odd that his rival/friend from childhood is always working hard. In fact, the moments where she is angry with him are the only moments he really sees her not working or training. Chatty as ever it doesn’t long for him to figure out from co-workers that he’s really one of the few friends she has on the ship. Women aren’t common in the new United Forces yet, and there’s a lot of sexism in what is proper in a military/what isn’t that affects her. Princess or not, she’s had to work hard for what she has because she’s had to no choice.

It explains why she gets so frustrated with him. Bumi gets to make jokes, slack off, be silly and more and no one bats an eye. A female cadet doing that, a royal one at that, would just be proving all the lies and rumors that some of the others believe in. Who wouldn’t be upset with that?

S/o isn’t without a sense of humor, or a sense of being. There’s a time and place for everything; she’s just of the personal belief that the middle of paperwork isn’t it. A lot of her days and nights are filled with work, and work, and work, and it’s not like she can really complain about it to anyone. Bumi’s jokes and cheeriness are frustrating, true, but time together as cadets has laid the foundation for something new. Respect. Pranks have gone down, he’s respecting her space more even as he’s wasting her time with some form of positive chatter but... it’s nice. Kind of. Not that she would ever admit it.

Plus, despite his cheery attitude he knows when to get serious. It’s strangely refreshing to see to the happy-go-lucky dork be intense and take things seriously from time to time. And she’s not sure why that is yet.

Bumi is strangely the first one to address it. There’s a shift in his behavior around her - a subtle one but one that s/o can recognize. He’s still a jokester but he’s also the one checking in to see how she’s doing, the one who when he sees her working actually sits down to help and then drags her to get a bite from the cafeteria. It’s a strange unexpected shift and s/o is still waiting for the other foot to drop, to figure out what prank he’s up to, but honestly it’s so nice to have someone actually care she doesn’t think about it too much.

Though it is hilarious to see to him pout over the accusation of being up to something. She stifles a laugh at the face he makes.

This weird friendship actually becomes very strong with time. Cadethood become Lieutenant-Hood, Major-Hood, and just keeps going. They make a strange pair, the cheery man and the intense woman, but they’re an interesting duo. It’s amazing to see them work together on missions; having known each other their entire lives they’re almost in perfect sync on rescues and combat missions. And maybe, just maybe, there might be a tiny spark of admiration of each other.

Bumi’s had it for a while. There’s something about a woman who can kick butt and keeps people alive because it’s the right thing to do that hits him right in the heart. He’s just been so sure that she doesn’t see him that way that he’s tried to settle for friendship.

S/o did not ask for this. Definitely did not want to be awake in the middle of the night thing “oh no” as the realization hits her straight on the head.

S/o makes the first move. Bumi has been too much of a jokester for too long for any potential moves he has to actually work (jokingly flirting too long does tend to do that) so it would have to be her taking initiative to actually get the ball rolling. Still, it’s one of his favorite stories to tell, the time “Miss Princess asked me on a completely professional outing that could or couldn’t be a date, don’t make it weird you airhead.”

He acts like a hotshot about it now, but s/o will gladly point out that she’s not the one who had to be pulled back on board after going overboard.

Military power couple. Bumi may be a jokester but he wound up Admiral for a reason, with S/o holding a powerful rank as well. The two work incredibly well together, and their relationship outside of work has only made them that more dangerous in the field.

No where near as dangerous as the time the Fire Lord and the heir apparent to the Fire Lord were told by the second princess that she was dating Bumi, but that’s a story for another time.

Bumi will drop the worst lines on her, with goofiness that would make Bolin cringe, but he’s the one whose face flushes when she takes the lead with word and with action. A single surprise kiss to the cheek will have his head in the clouds for the rest of the evening.

He may be a verbal guy but action and physical contact are his love languages. The first time she placed her head on his shoulder, s/o could feel him go stock still and warm up under the contact. It’s one of the few times she seen him go completely quiet.

Bumi is cheesy, I’m sorry. Over the top gestures like kissing her hand, badly arranged flowers, shouting from the rooftop that his partner is the coolest are going to happen. He has 0 shame as she reminds him he can’t just climb a tower to shout such nonsense, he’s not going to get it.

He is there for her though through thick and thin. Yea he’s got a sense of humor but if he senses that his s/o is genuinely having a bad day he will gladly hold her for as long as she needs and press soft kisses to her forehead. He’s learned there’s a time and place for a joke.

I have more headcanons but this post is long enough as is. To summarize: powercouple mixed with the sunshine/serious trope, rivalry to playful banter, genuine respect and kickassery tropes.

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fluffle-writes · 3 years

Text

Twst OC: Masayuki Jinja

This is my Twisted Wonderland OC, based off of the game 'World of horror' and with some equally gruesome imagery below the cut to match that. Because of that, I'd advise that you avoid looking under the cut if you're uncomfortable discussion/description of eldritch monsters before the character profile. Most of the information I add will be inspired by the game that had been previously mentioned. If you're a fan of horror games, I'd advise that you check out a review!

// CW - apocalyptic/eldritch topic mentions //

[NIGHT RAVEN COLLEGE, TWISTED WONDERLAND, 20XX]

SOMETHING STRANGE IS HAPPENING IN OUR WORLD…

A VISCOUS INK SEEPS THROUGH THE CRACKS IN OUR WORLD. MAGIC IS BECOMING MORE DANGEROUS AND VOLATILE. PEOPLE ARE BECOMING TWISTED AND WARPED INTO DISGUSTING CREATURES AND TERRORISING ALL WHOM THEY COME ACROSS…

THE MAGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS BRINGS COMFORT… BUT ALSO NEW THREATS.

OLD GOD'S, MALICIOUS ELDRITCH BEINGS CAST AWAY FROM OUR WORLD TOWARDS ANOTHER TO SAVE US FROM THEIR MALEVOLENCE, ARE RETURNING DROP BY DROP AS REALITY BEGINS TO MELD AWAY INTO A DARK ABYSS…

A MAGICLESS CHILD SHALL BE DRAWN THROUGH THE MIRROR, ARMED WITH A CROWBAR AND THE WILLPOWER TO FIGHT WHATEVER STANDS IN THEIR WAY, TO INVESTIGATE THE MYSTERIES PLAGUING THE RAVEN'S SCHOOL… AND PERHAPS EVEN INVESTIGATE THE REALMS BEYOND.

THE LID OF THE COFFIN IS THROWN OPEN WITH A CRASH, A WEAPON OF RUSTED METAL HELD IN A STRONG HAND.

---

THE END OF THE WORLD APPROACHES, AND THE FINAL CHANCE OF SURVIVAL HAS FINALLY ARRIVED IN THE DOOMED COLLEGE…

Old God

An ancient entity has cast its shadow across the world of Twisted Wonderland, bringing pain along with it. Was the magicless prefect sent to get rid of this scourge, or do they maybe have something to do with whoever brought it here in the first place..?

Title: The blot // 死のインク

There have been an abnormally large number of overblot occurring throughout Twisted Wonderland as of late, with the rate of witch that blot can be accumulated being found to be worryingly rapid, even in younger magicians with ough much magical power.

Could it have any connection to the viscous black liquid that can be found around the world..?

Old God's Rule: [Ancient spells are easier to find]

---

The viscous liquid seems to seep through the cracks of the world itself. Leaking from budding roses that were doused in magic to change their hue just seconds before. Invading the senses of those foolish enough to bite into a potion-augmented apple only to receive a sticky, bitter mouthful of the inky darkness.

It bubbles up in the water of an oasis brought by a young magical who only wishis to help his people. It pours from cracks and seams of technology built from the foundations that are magical incantations. It mixes with the sand of the lion's roar and coats the thorns of the fae in a liquid sheen.

The old gods have found this world, and this one seems like it may just be here to stay...

Character

Name: Masayuki Jinja

Masayuki - means 'The one who causes trouble'

Jinja - means 'Shinto shrine' with one of the kanji meaning 'god'

This name eludes to the fact that Masayuki has some sort of connection to the old god that plagues Twisted Wonderland. What is this connection? Perhaps even he does not know the true purpose behind his being here...

Occupation: Ramshackle Prefect

Age: 16

Gender: Male

Stats:

Strength - 8

Knowledge - 5

Charisma - 7

Dexterity - 9

Perception - 3

Background: Magicless Outsider

'A person cast out of their world and borne anew into ours. His role is uncertain and motives unclear, however, he's the last chance we've got.'

[He's unaffected by the effects of the blot, and doesn't suffer as much when it comes to the use of magic. However magical attacks are more likely to cause serious injuries.]

Difficulty: Not of this World

Masayuki isn't going to fit in. He'll have to pave his own path if he wants to get through this place alive...

Max stamina - 17

Max reason - 17

---

Starts with 0 funds

---

THREAT level increased

#disney twst #disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #twst #twst oc #world of horror #Eldritch #World of horror AU #Masayuki Jinja #Fluffle OC #my writing

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peach-the-owl · 4 years

Text

Far from Home

??? & Child!Reader

Why’d this idea come to me? I don’t really know, I guess I just kinda like writing obscure things. Did I write it anyways? Yes. Absolutely. Stepping just a little out of my comfort zone for this but I think it’ll be worth it. Does it follow canon? Probably not, but I tried to keep it close.

WARNING: This goes from 0-100 pretty fast (does that count as a warning? Whatever I’ll keep it here anyways)

Caleb has been working on a spell with Essek for a while, they'd explained what it was but you got bored and stopped listening after a bit, you were pretty sure it had something to do with space and time and that’s all you knew. It was almost complete all they had to do now was a quick test run to make sure nothing would go wrong for future uses, they were very focused as magical energy began sparking to life. You were enthralled by what was happening as the energy built up stronger and stronger, too enthralled in fact to notice the looks of concern shared between the two spellcasters. That short moment of concern and hesitance was enough to send the spell haywire, bolts of magic flying every which way, one of them coming towards you and before you could react your struck by it the last thing you hear as you blackout is someone calling your name……

Slowly your eyes crack open again immediately noticing you were outside looking to the sky, strange. You get up and look around finding yourself between some unfamiliar buildings, stepping out onto the street didn’t help either as nothing looked familiar to you. There were only two solutions to this problem for you, either you were somehow sent to Rexxentrum in a area you hadn’t visited before or this was some weird dream, you quickly pinch yourself… nope not a dream. You begin to wander aimlessly in hopes of finding something even remotely familiar to you, as you’re walking you start hearing bells but they weren’t soft, happy musical bells they were big, loud warning bells and you look around confused. A loud crash directs your attention to a tall tower where perched on it was the biggest ancient white dragon you’ve ever seen, far bigger then the one you saw from Mythburrow. With a fierce roar the dragon blasts its icy breath into the tower, chaos ensues as screams of terror rip through the streets, people were rushing in every which direction but through the crowd you see the dragon push off of the tower shattering it as it falls to the streets below. You didn’t know where to go or what to do, it’s not like you weren’t used to tense situations but this felt larger then anything you’ve seen or done before. The crowd of panicking people seemed to mostly come from an area where a giant ancient green dragon now stood unleashing a cloud of poison in its wake as it was attacking something or someone but it was hard to tell for sure as you were being pushed along with the crowd. The constant pushing and shoving of people causes you to stumble to the ground, no one paying you even a glance as they try to get as far away from these dragons as possible. You can feel ever stomp on your hands and kick to your sides as your basically being trampled, you curl in on yourself for extra protection as you carefully crawl your way out of the mass of people. It dawns on you that you might not even be in Wildemount anymore, but there was a time for those questions to be answered later as you hear a loud sort of explosion in the distance. You finally make it out of the crowd a bit battered and bruised but otherwise alright and make your way though the gaps between buildings where less people were still making their way through. Another explosion of fire, this time much closer to you goes off and out of it flies an enormous ancient red dragon, instinctively you duck down and throw your arms over your head for cover as it flew over you, pieces of flaming debris falling to the street in its wake. The dragon then slams into a large structure you could only think to be some sort of palace, hearing glass shattering, then you hear its booming voice tear through the city, feeling the need to cover your ears afraid you might go deaf.

"MOVE ON UMBRASYL! I CLAIM THIS IS MY DOMAIN NOW!" Who the heck was Umbrasyl? You didn’t know and you didn’t care, none of this made any sense, all you really wanted now was go home and be in the safe embrace of anyone from the Mighty Nein. A wave of heat hits you like a wall as flames pass the exit to the side street you'd stopped in leaving your right side singed, but you figured yourself lucky as those who were once running by now lay burnt or piles of ash. You hadn’t realized you were this close to the center of this city but then again you had no sense of direction in this place either, doing everything you could to ignore the sight and smell that lingered through the streets. Screams and shouts of commands could be heard in the distance, you couldn’t make out what was being said but you used it as a guide to find any source of help. Another surge of flames comes barreling down the open streets you ducking out of the way for cover but the building was unstable from the previous hit and it starts collapsing in on itself. You hurry to get out of the way before you get crushed, a large piece of flaming roof comes falling towards you making you wonder if this was how you’d die. Apparently and thankfully that is not the case as you are yanked away mere moments from an untimely demise.

"Are you alright child?" You take a second to catch your breath and look to your mystery saviour, hoping they were someone you knew. Before you was a man with thick dark hair dressed in velvet robes, you unfortunatly didn’t know them but you were still grateful for their help.

"I-I’ll be ok, thank you for saving me." Your voice was still shaky from that scrape with death.

"Oh, don’t thank me just yet. Now tell me, where are your parents?"

"I don't know, I don’t know where I am or what’s going on." Strangely you felt more panicked about all this unfamiliarity then you did the actual danger of this dragon attack.

"It's alright, you’ll be alright. What’s your name child?" The man calmly hushes you and gives you a smile, despite the situation you found it infectious and give your own to him.

"I'm (y/n), what’s your name?"

"You may call me Gilmore, now follow me and stay close." He holds out his hand for you to take and with no other options you take it now relying on a man you hardly knew to guide you through this city. As you carefully made your way around you notice your new friend scanning each area you come across very carefully as if looking for something or someone. "Where are they." His voice sounding just above a whisper.

"Where are who?" Your innocent question pulls Gilmore from some of his thoughts.

"I’m looking for some friends of mine, a bit of a colourful bunch with the tendency to make rash decisions." You weren’t sure if he worded it that way to try and lighten up your current situation or not but it caused you to giggle a little, these people sounded kinda like Mighty Nein to you although at this point you were certain they weren’t the same people. "Oh by the gods they didn’t." A look of horrified realization comes over Gilmore as he looks to the palace. His attention then goes back to you for a moment, his gaze now darting between you and the palace as he contemplates something.

"Is everything ok?" You could feel your panic set in again as Gilmore places a hand on his head a look of uncertainty on his face.

"I’d hate to put you in harms way child, but I can’t just leave you here either."

"Oh! I’ve been in plenty of dangerous situations before with my friends, I know how to handle myself." You strangely cheerful comment earns you a raised eyebrow and half-amused expression from him.

"What sort of people raised you?"

"Trust me they’re one of a kind, but they mean well." You hear Gilmore give a slight chuckle at this.

"Alright, I’ll have to take your word for it for now but we must still tread carefully." You nod in understanding and follow his lead as you now make your way to the ruins of the palace. Once you’d reached what you assumed were the front doors you cover your nose from the heavy smoky smell that still rose from the expired flames that had raked the area. You could see people coming to the area with gold, treasures, weapons, anything really, some emotionless others fearfully placing them down before heading off again. A faint sound of distress directs your attention back to the interior of the palace hurrying in you see now the gargantuan dragon snarling at a woman and three children around your age. Everything that follows happens so fast you feel as though you’re spectating your own actions as Gilmore directs the dragons attention away from the lady and kids while you, using some tips you had learned from Nott help them sneak away from the danger. None of them seemed to comment on being helped by another kid but you had to guess that things were already stressful enough to have to worry about such small details (get it small, because kids… I’ll see myself out). Heat and flames filled the room and you see Gilmore’s body skid across the ground smoking, a pool of blood quickly forming around him.

"PATHETIC HUMAN WELP." Even when not shouting, the dragons voice felt as though it could shake the foundation of this place. Seeing the dragon now lose interest you quickly spring into action.

"Child come back here, it’s danger to run out there." The lady whisper-yelled to you.

"Someone has to help him." You simply state running over to Gilmore, perhaps you’ve been in one too many situations where you've had to drag someone from the Nein away from trouble because this pulse of adrenaline was the first familiar feeling you’ve had in awhile. When you reached him you began to pull him back towards the entrance, you try to focus on your goal to ignore the blood that was starting to cover you. You see the lady take a breath before rushing to you she places her arms in a way to act as support and continues to carry him to the entrance. With her doing that you dig through your thoughts and remember something Caduceus had taught you, so you start look for anything that could help at least slow the blood flow. Your eyes land on a torn and slightly charred piece of a flag and figure it’s the best choice for now, grabbing it you run back over and place it on the wound Gilmore immediately gives a grunt of pain and winces instinctively grabbing at the wound, at least he seemed to have more focus now.

"Are you alright?" The woman asks.

"Don’t worry about me right now, we need to get to safety." With a shaky arm Gilmore points in a random direction. "There, we'll have shelter if we can make to my shop." The woman nods and starts moving towards where he’d pointed, you and the other kids following behind.

"You were really brave back there stranger." The boy says to you.

"Uhh, thanks. I learned a lot from my friends." You replied.

"That's cool, I’m Gren by the way, Gern Tal'Dorei." Was he trying to impress you? You weren’t sure but if the last name was anything to go off of you now knew where you were. But wait… you’d read a little about the Tal'Dorei family or at least seen mentions of them in stories and they were much older then the people in front of you, did this mean you were somewhere in the past too? "So what’s your name?" Your snapped out of your thoughts.

"Oh! Sorry, my name's (y/n), just (y/n) is fine."

"Hi (y/n), I’m Illiya." The shorter of the two girls introduces herself with a sheepish wave, well maybe short wasn’t the right word since you were the same height as her.

"Hi Illiya."

"And I’m Odessa, it’s a pleasure to meet you (y/n)."

"Pleasure to meet you too." The greetings all felt a little awkward and tense, maybe if things weren’t as bleak as they were you’d all be laughing. The rest of your walk was in an uncomfortable silence as you passed destroyed buildings and hid from potentially dangerous looters. The sky was dark by the time you reached your destination, being a destroyed shop, you all approach cautionsly having seen some men wander away from the ruined buildings. Gilmore, half-supporting his own weight, shuffles over to a broken but still intact bed resting in the farther corner of the broken building.

"Please, help me move this." You all help shove the bed over revealing a trapdoor underneath and with what little strange he had Gilmore lifts the door open. Looking down you could make out about three figures in the dim light, a half-elven woman with thick glasses steps forward.

"Who-who goes there!" She holds out a wand threateningly but lowers it when she takes a better look at everyone. "I’m so sorry, please come on quickly." You all make your way down the ladder being sure to hide and close the trapdoor once you’ve all made it down. "Empress Salda, it is good to see you and your children are alright."

"Barely, but thank you." The woman, who you could now guess was this Salda nods, the half-elf lady then looks at you.

"And who’s this?"

"I found this one alone on the streets, they were actually… quite helpful with our rescue." Gilmore comments through heavy breaths, leaning against a wall still clutching onto his wound.

"Hi, my names (y/n)." You introduce yourself for like the fifth time today.

"I’m Sherri." She replies, putting a hand to her chest.

"Cherry?" You repeat her name, wondering if you’d heard her correctly.

"No no, Sherri." You mouth "oh" and nod to her, she then turns her attention to Gilmore and starts doing what she can to help patch him up while the others try to settle themselves for the rest of the night.

Night falls and while the adrenaline from the days events had worn off leaving you tired you just couldn’t bring yourself to sleep. All you had right now where your thoughts swimming around in your head. We’re you really in the past? If so then that spell really did work. But what now? How were you gonna get home? Did you have to wait for the spells effect to wear? Would the spell wear off? Could you even get home? Were you stuck in the past permenantly? The longer you thought about it the more panic of never being able to return home crept into you. You lost track of how much time had past, paying little attention to the two people Sherri was originally with opening the trapdoor leaving this little underground bunker. Odessa, Illiya and Gren tried to help by playing little made up games, you mindlessly played along not really paying attention anymore. The muffled sounds of yelling and battle could now be heard from above you. Scooting yourself into a corner you let yourself have a good look around the room seeing the other kids huddle close to their mom, who defensively pulls out a dagger and Sherri looking very nervous and concerned next to an unconscious Gilmore. You pull your legs up to meet your chest, as selfish as it may sound all you really wanted was to just leave and go home where things were familiar, where dragons weren’t destroying everything, and where strangers you hardly knew weren’t the only people you had for comfort. You just wanted to go home.

The trap door swings open…

To be continued…?

I feel a little cruel just leaving it there but that’s all I have for this right now, should I do a pt. 2?

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rpgsandbox · 4 years

Link

The Gaia Complex is a cyberpunk RPG set on earth in 2119. Towards the end of the 21st century, the third world war, which became known as the Resource War, pushed mankind to the brink of destruction and brought ruin to the Earth’s atmosphere. Small pockets of humanity survived this horrific conflict, eventually forming the eleven metropolises. These incredible mega-cities have since grown and prospered, largely due to developments in atmospheric processing and significant technological advancements. Now cut off from each other, these heaving urban landscapes must each face their own difficulties and hardships. The Gaia Complex focuses on the largest of these metropolises; New Europe, a single sprawling city that covers much of what we currently know as mainland Europe. New Europe is a world of street violence, corporate espionage, vampiric uprisings and an overzealous A.I., known as Gaia, which functions as the city’s governor and the protector of its citizens.

The Gaia Complex is a dystopian world of urban violence, exploring the age of cybernetic enhancement through a vision of Earth that is somehow ‘changed’. This vision of the future injects both vampires and a strange species of people known as ferals, who are able to enter the minds of animals. This is a game of conspiracy and brutality, where players take on the roles of Mercs; former police officers, hackers and street-savvy dealers who are hired to fight back against the system and ultimately unravel the secrets of The Gaia Complex.

Of course we'd love you to back this campaign and be a part of making The Gaia Complex a reality, but before you do, maybe you want to give it a whirl for yourself? Good news - you can do this right now.

While this campaign and the updates throughout will talk about the game setting and rules, our free (well, 'pay what you want', but please, enter £0 and just grab a copy!) 48-page Quick Start for The Gaia Complex is out right now and will allow you to read and play for yourselves. This PDF contains a huge amount of lore surrounding the game, offering an in-depth insight to the world of The Gaia Complex and what it means to be a Merc in 2119. In addition, the booklet is jammed full of gorgeous artwork and gives you a good idea of what to expect from the full core book.

Go and grab your copy of the Quick Start by clicking this link

The cast of playable characters from the Quick Start

The Gaia Complex core book will be 'at least' 256 pages of full-colour hardback beauty - take a look at the Quick Start for a general idea about how it will look. We say 'at least' as we have a whole host of extra content that we might just squeeze in, either through stretch goals, or because we end up deciding certain things just need to be there.

At the time of launch, the core book writing is roughly 90% complete and layout for final proof-reading has already been completed for some chapters - this is a significant strength for this project, having completed so much of the writing ahead of launch. Artwork at this point is around 40% complete and new art is in the pipeline to be finished (and shown off) during the campaign. The art direction for this book is very important and great care is being taken to ensure the visuals support the writing as closely as possible.

The structure of the book is split over 12 chapters, plus an NPC (non-player character) library at the end. We'll go into more detail about the chapters over the coming weeks via the campaign updates, sharing some key information as we go. Alongside the rules, background and resources for playing the game, the book also includes multiple pieces of short fiction that slowly unfold the real story behind The Gaia Complex. These stories, and the characters they describe, lay the foundation for the world in which the game is set and allow us to explore New Europe in 2119 in much more cinematic detail.

The engine behind The Gaia Complex is called 12.3 and can be taken for a test drive in our Quick Start by clicking HERE.

The basis of the system uses 2d12 (that's two twelve sided dice - but you're all roleplayers, so I'm sure you knew that!) to make the majority of tests on a 'roll under' basis. Whenever a test is required, the GM determines a potential difficulty for the test, ranging from 1 (easy for a child to accomplish) to 11 (impossibly hard). A character will compare the difficulty to their relevant statistic and if the stat is equal to or greater than the difficulty, the test is a success - There is an emphasis in the game on keeping the action flowing and not making tests unless they are really needed.

If the character's stat is less than the difficulty, a test is required: the player rolls 2d12, requiring a result that is equal to or less than their relevant stat. An 11 fails (without cybernetic enhancement) and a 12 is a Critical Failure. To pass, a character requires one or both d12s to succeed depending on whether they are skilled or unskilled - The Gaia Complex does not consider 'ranks' in various skills like the majority of RPGs, instead a character either possesses a skill or does not (though becoming a specialist in certain skills is possible).

During combat, d3s are also used to determine damage - you can use funky d3s like the ones available on this campaign, or simply use common d6. The engine for the game uses d3s to enable a more consistant result when rolling multiple dice together and to remove the chance of whiffing a result of a 1 in situations that should always achieve a minium degree of success (thus 3d3+3 damage represents a weapon with more consistent output than one that does 1d12 damage) .

Of course, the game includes many other rules - some core, some optional - covering a huge array of options, but at its root, the game falls back on 12.3 to keep it rolling (pun intended).

During the course of the campaign we'll dedicate a couple of updates to specific areas of the rules and give you a deep dive into them beyond what you can get your hands on in the Quick Start.

Characters in The Gaia Complex are known as Mercs. At their core, Mercs are citizens of New Europe who have chosen to rebel against the system and take up arms by making themselves available on the freelance market. The seedy clubs and bars of NeoMunich are the most common place to find Mercs and while their work is entirely illegal, there is enough anonymity that it isn't worth the expenditure of resources for Gaia or its police force to worry about shutting down the network.

Most Mercs are hired to run jobs against one of the many corporations in the metropolis. From hacking R&D servers to kidnapping, assassinating or Bio Hacking company execs; there are few limits when it comes to taking a job. Ironically, the primary employers are the corporations themselves, all looking to get a leg up over their rivals, employing Mercs to do the dirty work in order to maintain complete deniability. Of course, it's not just the heaving corporations that are the enemy; outsider vampires that lurk in the subway tunnels and outer fringes of the metropolis, the cybernetic police force controlled by the LE1 A.I. subsystem, or even Gaia itself - the all seeing ruler of the metropolis - everyone is a potential mark if the score looks big enough!

The core rules contains a detailed character creation process, allowing players to play either human or feral (a mysterious group of people who can enter the minds of the metropolis' animals) characters from one of ten varied roles, each with their own unique rules, benefits and style. Characters can choose from:

Operator - Former law enforcement, corporate security and guns-for-hire that pack the hottest weapon tech that the black market has to offer.

Core Hacker - Hackers and coders who live their lives in the digital pathways of The Core.

Bio Hacker - A new wave of hacker, dedicated to hacking the cybernetic brains of their targets and inducing 'forced servitude'.

ParaMed - Former TactaMed paramedics who have realised they can earn more money patching up Mercs by being one of them!

CyberDoc - Back-alley hackjob specialists and cybernetic installers. An often riskier, but cheaper approach, to main stream cybernetics clinics.

MilTech - Weapons techs, tinkerers and specialist drone pilots. MilTechs keep the team's gear working and provide invaluable technical support.

Mech - Drivers, pilots and expert mechanics. Mechs keep the metropolis rolling and give Merc teams much needed access to reliable transportation.

Tech Trader - Black market dealers, handling everything from illegal weapons and stolen cybernetics, to narcotics and false credentials.

Data Dealer - Information traffickers and dealers of stolen secrets. If there is something worth knowing, you can probably buy it... for a price.

Handler - Exclusive to ferals. Handlers have dedicated themselves to honing the feral's ability to step into the mind of an animal. This is the feral in their purest form.

We'll be taking a more in-depth look into each of these roles as the campaign unfolds.

Kickstarter campaign ends: Wed, October 7 2020 6:59 PM BST

Website: [The Gaia Complex] [facebook] [twitter]

#RPG #kickstarter #The Gaia Complex #Hansor Publishing

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tazmilyxfamily · 4 years

Text

bold = applies

italicize = sort-of applies

MAJOR ARCANA: a long journey. a feeling of raw energy. putting a name to something unknown. an elaborate patchwork. unexpected catastrophes. unexpected blessings. vivid dreams. sudden awakenings. the feeling of shedding your skin. the echoes in holy places. bright lights. deep shadows. feeling the earth move beneath your feet. wandering in museums. the strange clarity of moonlight. thunder and lightning. an unfamiliar road. coming back to the place you started as an entirely different person.

CUPS: being overwhelmed by emotion. finding something to celebrate every day. finding something to mourn every day. connecting with others. the scent of ocean air. making food for your friends when they’re stressed. the remembrance of something lost. sublime confusion. cool colors. a cozy cafe. a bustling bar. calm waters, hidden depths. getting tipsy in the afternoon. summer rain. comfy sweaters. flowing skirts. a house by the sea. deep conversations after midnight.

WANDS: the scent of spices and dark wood. making something just for the sake of creation. dry heat. crackling fire. a bolt of inspiration. refusing to apologize for your passion. stubborn optimism. taking on more than you can handle. hot tea. warm colors. getting up early. staying up late. bright fire, fast burnout. tacky thrift store finds worn with the utmost confidence. the thrill of starting a new project. spring storms. hotel rooms. perpetual restlessness.

PENTACLES: the scent of rich soil after a rain. hard and diligent work. solid ground, strong foundations. the satisfaction of a long-awaited payoff. generosity that comes with a catch. work boots and heavy jeans. silk and jewels. resting on your laurels. seeing your work through to the end. harvest time. fresh bread and rich soup. earth tones. jewel tones. a lush garden. sunlight through the trees. dark chocolate. a home in the farmlands. a sprawling house in the old part of the city.

SWORDS: the scent of fresh air. focusing on the intellectual at the expense of the emotional. freshly fallen snow. burying yourself in action. tending to your own wounds. a foreseeable disaster. crisply tailored suits. starkly elegant dresses. refusing to admit defeat. cold air, clear thoughts. old hurts. fresh starts. overthinking your overthinking. the harsh glow of street lamps. black coffee. a cabin in the mountains. an apartment downtown. the quiet before the dawn.

Tagged by: @recklessinventor :0 Tagging: @thebrawlboys (this has Ness written all over it tbh), @cutlassie @voidisms @roccoroller @syllusion @subtletrouble @ragemuses @spiritmaiden

#▷Lucas ✿ Dash Games.◁

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thenationofnidar · 4 years

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0 PS : The Planar Shift

1599 APS : The end of the last war between Sorashi and Nidar, and the signing of the Welkin Accord

1605 APS : Start of the Illuminated Era

1669 APS : The Superioriate usurps the the Raigents

1670 APS : The establishment of the Sacrarium of Welkin; the Resistance is created

1699 APS : The Awakening of the Statue of Illadel

Before the Planar Shift, before the disappearance of the Creation Gods, there were no mortals as they exist today; creatures and beasts of all shapes and sizes, and a sort of celestial hierarchy consisting of Gods, angels, Devils, and demons, roamed the earth, long before there was anything even remotely resembling a bipedal humanoid. The Creation Gods gifted chosen creatures with similarly godlike abilities, and as the years went on, as creatures evolved, as bipedal lifeforms began to emerge, they turned to worship these beings they saw as all-powerful. At the time of the Planar Shift, when the Creation Gods disappeared without a trace, the “new” gods replaced them as the primary deities of the continuously growing world.

In 1599 APS (After the Planar Shift), the island nations of Sorashi and Nidar signed the Welkin Accord, a treaty of peace between the two countries, thus ending their most-recent war of 5 years. Nidar, deciding the current rule of the King who was wont to start wars with Sorashi was no longer a suitable leader for the shifting tides of the nation, instead chose to implement a democratic commune known as the Raigents-- Representatives of varying origins and from varying towns and cities that were able to be removed should the people who voted them into power see fit. The Raigents held no single capital, and instead moved every five years from city-to-city in order to establish a more balanced sense of government and community.

Following the end of the war, six years later, both nations found themselves in a period of enlightenment, a time where the economy flourished and invention and innovation were celebrated; known as the Illuminated Era, people were encouraged to push themselves and their abilities to the fullest, to go where none had dared before. Widely considered to be the apex of invention was the airship, an ingenious marriage between magic and technology that enabled people to quickly travel between cities, transport cargo, and fly over the wide sea without disturbing the creatures below.

However, not everything was as peaceful as they appeared on the surface; although Nidar had never been more in-tune with its citizens or successful in its governing, a growing group of people who disliked the class and economic equality began to stir-- People who found the superiority they felt over others was not tolerated by the current socio-political climate. Led by a mysterious figure known only as Father Superior, these usurpers calling themselves the Superioriate rose up, managing to storm the then-current Raigent capital of Welkin in 1669 APS. Forcing the Raigents from their position, they installed themselves in seats of power, quickly spreading their new ideology. Where once there were checks and balances, power held as much by the people who voted for their chosen representatives as the representatives themselves, now there was only a monolithic entity, faceless, all-powerful. Numerous wealthy and noble families found themselves at home within the Superioriate’s standings, holding positions of power or simply making a name for themselves and securing their legacies.

The Superioriate stationed themselves on the island city of Welkin, using the city’s docks as a base for their Navy and the nearby peninsula of the mainland as the foundation of their burgeoning religion.

In 1670 APS, the Sacrarium of Welkin had been completed, establishing and finalizing the Superioriate’s new religious wave; the Sacrarium stood as a place of worship for what the Superioriate recognized as the only God, Welkin, while renouncing all other deities of the Pantheonic faith. Believers of the pantheon were denounced as blasphemers and were claimed to deny the truth of the sole God by the Sacrarium of Welkin, which was run by a man known as the Progenitor. This new doctrine of belief dictated that there was only one God, the God Welkin, and where once artwork depicted the deity as a beautiful, multi-colored Couatl, He was now depicted as a human man. The remaining Gods were described to be “lesser” Gods, and their gifts and deeds were attributed to this new form of Welkin.

However, when Pantheonic believers attempted to dispute this, to honor and invoke the names of their chosen deities, they found themselves met with a strange, eerie silence. Where once believers found themselves deeply attuned to their Gods, now they only found an absence, a vacuum of space where their presence once resided. No Planar Shift had occurred, as it had over a millenia ago, when the Creation Gods disappeared into another plane-- Instead, it was as if overnight the Gods simply stopped responding.

The technological advancement that followed the Welkin Accord found itself halted and stifled by the Superioriate, particularly in the town of Lacaust which found itself denied of any governmental support, transforming what was once a hub of creation into a stunted bed of criminal activity and refugees wishing to hide from the ever-watchful eye of the Superioriate. Former Raigents were forced into imprisonment or into hiding, while others found enough comfort, if one could call it that, living on the fringes of their society-- However, there were others who chose to challenge this status quo that was being forced upon them.

By the time of the establishment of the Sacrarium of Welkin, enough frustration with the Superioriate had given birth to a small guerilla resistance; as time went on, the resistance grew into a more unified front, although still consisting primarily of multiple small sects and divisions. It was not led by a single individual, but these smaller groups found kinship with each other in their similar goals of returning Nidar to what life was like in the time of the Raigents. Many members of different walks of life found themselves working together, from varying origins to varying places they called home, from former Raigents to former Superioriates, former military to current criminals-- Those guided by a sense of justice to those guided by a sense of revenge. The Resistance welcomed all, and they continued to grow beneath the skin of the suffocating Superioriate.

Many born after the rise of the Superioriate and the standardization of the worship of Welkin in the many Sacrariums spread across the island know only the world as it is under this rule; although tales of the other Gods have been passed down through the families of those unwilling to bend to the Superioriate’s command, the Gods themselves truly interact little or not at all with those who remain faithful. Some have considered it a slight of the Gods, a punishment for allowing the Superioriate to enact such a monotheistic religion, while others believe this is the result of something far more sinister, a supposed “banishment” of the Gods, which as the believers say, is something that may only be done by another God.

Of the Superioriate’s innumerable deeds, perhaps the ones least talked about are the ones most damaging to the people of Nidar. From hushed whispers about genetic experimentation, the shutdown of the Artificer Warforged Guild and subsequent creation of a government-funded Warforged Corps, reports about the Superioriate Police Force performing raids on suspected Raigent or Resistance sympathizers, the razing of forests and temples in the name of urban development-- To those affected, it is clear that the purported care the Superioriate and Sacrarium holds for the people of Nidar extends only as far as those who either guilelessly or wholeheartedly support them.

#lore: history

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bella-spil · 4 years

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2 Romeos & 1 Juliet- Part 3

Part 3 of the 2 Romeos and 1 Juliet series

Fem reader.

Warnings- a little bit of fluff, I think, attempted kiss, a little bit of cursing, idk if there's anything else.

Word Count: 3.5k

Taglist: @angrythingstarlight @kmuir1 @sea040561 @wednesday-add-em (Lmk if you wanna join! The more the merrier!)

A/N: sorry this took a while! I haven't had enough time lately, and ik this is a lameass excuse, but its true. Idk when the next post will be, but hopefully soon. Enjoy!

Finally, after an hour, you were ready for your date with Loki. You left your hair down, naturally curly and wavy and full of life. Bucky had told you where you would be going for your date, just to piss Loki off, so you put on a Billie Eilish T-shirt and jean shorts. You wore a Billie beanie and white Air Force Ones. Also, you had on a silver choker and a few of your favorite bracelets. Your makeup was simple as well. A small amount of foundation, blush and highlighter, as well as a neon eyeliner you found online and pink lipstick.

As you met Loki in the doorway, you thought he looked nice, compared to what he normally wore. He wasn't in Asgardian leather like normal. Loki was in a pair of black Levi pants and a faded black t-shirt. His favorite color was black, so you didn't mind if he looked like a gothic teenager right now. His hair wasn't as greasy as it always is. He had it down, like yours, and little curls flowed through his hair.

When you met Loki at the doorway, he marveled at the sight of you. Even though you weren't dressed up, you looked just as beautiful, if not more. Loki took in your appearance for quite a while, to the point where you had to clap to get him to refocus again.

"Sorry about that," Loki apologized. "Shall we be on our way, m'lady?"

"Yes sir," you grinned, and you followed him out to the car.

After you left, Bucky was in the room as well. He saw you go with Loki, and a small amount of jealousy boiled inside of him. He wished he would be with you tonight. He wished you were already falling for him. He wished Loki wasn't in love with you and that he could have you all to himself.

But, he also loved how you looked. Everything from your hair to your shoes, you looked like a streetwear model. Your clothes hugged your curves just right, your makeup was flawless and you were in such a good mood. Bucky wanted to hold you close to him and not have to wait for a couple more weeks. But he knew he would make you fall for him, sooner or later. He would impress you even more than Loki. And he knew just how to make you feel at the right time, something the God of Mischief wasn't the best at. He would make you fall for him sooner or later, he knew it. He depended on it.

~~~

As you were in the car you and Loki talked about everything, from what you were expecting at the concert to what food you would be getting. But Loki was the God of Mischief, so he always had a surprise up his sleeve.

"So do you know where the concert is?" you asked, as you saw a sign on the highway. The sign said "New York City" so you had a few ideas for where it might be.

"Madison Square Garden," Loki answered, eyes still on the road.

"Cool! I've always wanted to go there!" you smiled.

"Well, I'm glad I was able to make that happen." Loki grinned.

"Do you know what songs Billie is going to perform?" you asked

"As a matter of fact, I do," Loki said. He handed you a list with all the songs she was going to be performing tonight.

Billie Eilish 2020 tour

Khalid will be performing first and with Billie.

Khalid songs

"Eleven"

"Know your worth"

"Outta my head"

"Talk"

"Young, Dumb and Broke"

Billie songs

"lovely"(with Khalid)

"bad guy"

"bellyache"

"bury a friend"

"COPYCAT"

"everything i wanted"

"hostage"

"idontwannabeyouanymore"

"i love you"

"my future"

"my strange addiction"

"ocean eyes"

"time to die"

"when the party's over"

"wish you were gay"

"xanny"

"youshouldseemeinacrown”

"OMG!!!" you shrieked. "Khalid is performing? Yes!!!"

"Yeah, he’ll be there," he said, clutching his head since your sudden scream had rattled something in his head.

"I thought you didn't like Billie," you said. "And sorry about the shout."

"First of all," Loki began. "I accept your apology. Second, I'll handle 3 hours of her music. This is a date, and I want you to be happy. When you're happy, I'm happy."

"Aww, you're being nice and stuff," you gushed, and he rolled his eyes at you. You chuckle and pull a piece of his hair back behind his ear. Loki was startled at the sudden contact, but he found himself trying to lean into your touch. Your hands felt so good on him, and he wanted more touching than just pulling hair back.

Loki took his right hand off of the steering wheel and placed it on your thigh. He normally did this when you were going out for drives, but since it was a date, you felt a little tense. But you didn't want to be rude and say anything. So you just acted how you normally did when he did this, you placed your left hand on top of his. Loki's heart always melted whenever you did this, but since he was taking you out, he felt his heart go from 0-100 in less than a second.

"What time is the concert?" you asked, breaking the silence.

"The concert starts at 8:00, but I figured we should get there about an hour earlier," Loki responded.

“Why do we have to be there an HOUR early?” you groaned, rolling your head back into the seat, whining like a toddler.

"Because, we have to meet someone," Loki said, waiting for you to catch on. After a few minutes of trying to process Loki’s words, you had an “aha” moment.

“No you didn't,” you realised. You head shot back up from leaning on the seat to facing Loki.

“Surprise,” Loki said.

“Holy shit, you did. THANK YOU SO MUCH!” you practically shouted, leaning into him for a side hug.

“Anything for you," Loki blushed.

“I have two more questions, then I'll let you have your peace and quiet." you said.

"Ugh, two more questions?" Loki teased and you hit him in the arm.

"First, where are we going to eat?” you asked. You guys had been on the road for two hours. Normally it takes an hour to get there, but because of the traffic, it was taking longer than normal. You both assumed it was because of the concert, but there might be other events going on.

“There's this pizza place across the street if you wanna go there," Loki said, eyes still on the road. “Or if you don't want that there's a chinese restaurant next to it."

“Chinese,” you answered almost automatically. You liked pizza better, since it was NY pizza, the best pizza ever. But you knew Loki's favorite food was chinese, so to make his day better, you were polite and let him get his food.

“Thanks, I know you are being polite,” Loki said.

“Hey, I'm trying to be nice,” you chuckled. “Next question, where are you going to park?

Loki froze for a moment. He didn't think of how jam packed the streets would be, so this might be a problem. But, since he was the God of Mischief, he knew how to avoid a problem like the back of his hand.

“Don't worry, I'm just gonna use my magic to shrink the car to the size of a toy car,” Loki answered confidently.

“Like Antman?” you asked, letting your small, nerdy side come through. Loki sighed and rolled his eyes at you. You giggled like a fangirl at your stupid joke and let Loki continue driving.

After another half an hour on the road, Loki stopped in front of Madison Square Garden. You looked at the billboards, sparkling and flashing with different ads and products. The streets were flooded with tourists and people waiting for the upcoming concert. You loved how vibrant the city was and how full of life it seemed.. They didn't call New York City “The city that never sleeps” for nothing.

“Ok, it's 5:30.” Lokin announced.

“Yeah that's pretty obvious,” you sighed.

“Do you want to eat now or-” Loki started but you cut him off.

“We. Are. Eating,” you stated.

“Ok then, lets go.” Loki said, taking your arm.

He led you across the street of busy and honking cars to a Chinese restaurant. The line was long, but since it was NYC, it took 5 minutes to wait and get your food. The people who worked at the place knew how to serve people in lighting speed. You were a little taken aback by how fast they were, but that quickly went away when you had food right in front of you.

You got tons of General Chow's and Sesame chicken, lo mein, a small tub of soup and noodles, and three dumplings. Loki got lo mein, General Chows chicken, rice with duck sauce, one dumpling and vegetables.

As you sat down with Loki on the steps in front of Madison Square, you gagged when you saw the vegetables on his plate. You hated vegetables with your life. Since you lived in the mountains and were a wolf, you practically ate meat all the time. You didn't understand how people could eat a weird looking plant. It baffled you. Loki laughed at your suffering and started eating his vegetables, looking you dead in the eyes, mocking you.

“Loki, I swear to god if you don't fucking stop that,” you said, giving him the death glare.

“First I am a God, sweetie,” he said. “Second, that look your giving me reminds me of how Odin got when Thor flung Mjolnir out the window when we were kids.”

You laughed at his story and continued eating your food. You ate the soup first, since you didn't want it to get cold, and you finished it in less than five minutes. You ate your lo mein and chicken in another five minutes and you shoved your dumplings into your mouth in less than 2 minutes. As you were eating you kept looking at all the flashing lights, busy streets and all the people. It was so vibrant and different than what you were used to, so it was a nice change.

Loki wasn't as fast of an eater as you, so as he was eating, you stole some of his lo mein and chicken since he was taking so long. He gave you a sad yet shocked look, but then he made a piece of chicken appear out of thin air and popped it into his mouth.

“So dramatic,” you rolled your eyes.

Loki gave you a satisfied grin and continued eating. After another 10 minutes, Loki finished eating, to your relief and cheers, and you both walked around Times Square together. You passed the famous Macys store, Penn Station, The Empire State Building and a ton of other national monuments. Before you knew it, it was 6:50, so you and Loki hurried to get back to Madison Square Garden to meet her.

As you entered, it was already full of anxious fans, waiting for the show to begin. Loki showed the people your tickets and they gave you both necklaces with a pass on it that said “Meeting Billie”.

As you made your way to Billie, tons of other fans were in front of you. You didn't care because in the end, you would still meet her anyway. Mostly, the fans were teenage girls, or girls that looked super depressed. But when they met Billie, happiness surged through their bodies and they seemed like completely different people once they left.

When it was your turn, you took a deep breath, and made your way to your favorite artist.

“Hey, whats up?” Billie asked you, and already you felt the butterflies soar in your stomach.

“Hi,” you answered calmly, not wanting to embarrass yourself. “I love all of your music, by the way. I love how they all mean something and how they tell a story in minutes, it's amazing!”

“Thanks, that means a lot,” Billie said, giving you a rare smile. “I love your outfit by the way. Your eyeliner will look sick in the lights.”

“Thanks!” you gushed. Loki gave an eye roll as he stood, watching you and Billie talk. But it didn't slip past Billie.

“Is that your boyfriend?” she asked, just loud enough for him to hear.

“Uhh..” Loki froze. He looked at you, for help, but you just stood there, smirking at him.

“Whatever,” Billie smiled. She leaned closer to your ear to whisper something to you.

“He looks so fucking emo, like a greasy raven,” she whispered, making you laugh. You never knew Billie could pick on someone so easily, so you laughed hard enough to get Loki suspicious, but quiet enough to not be awkward.

“Let's take a photo, I have a feeling that i'm gonna get yelled at if we keep talking,” Billie sighed, not wanting this to end. “Stick you tongue out.”

“Ok,” you agreed. Then the cameraman counted down to one, and you and Billie posed for your photo. As it came out, she signed it for you. Then she saw Loki trying to read what she wrote.

“Don't let Greasy over there read this,” she smirked.

“Got it,” you smiled back. She finished writing and handed it to you quickly so that Loki didn't catch it. You folded it into the pocket of your shorts and waved Billie goodbye.

Then, you and Loki made your way to your seats. They had an extremely good view. You weren't standing, thankfully, but you were sitting close enough so that you could see what was going on. You and Loki waited for less than an hour, and then the lights started to dim. It was about to begin.

Then, you saw someone rising out from underneath the stage, the lights flashed right on them, revealing the person as Khalid. He turned around to face the crowd, receiving a ton of cheers and screams.

“What's up New York?” he asked, and the crowd shouted in response. “Are you ready for tonight?”

The crowd responded in claps and applause again, and Khalid got ready to perform his first song. You recognized the music playing before he started singing.

“Eleven” started playing and everyone cheered at the song. Khalid started singing and everyone in the audience vibed along with him. You were swaying your hands and hips with the beat and Loki tried hardest not to grab them and lean in for a kiss. He was leaning back and forth with the rhythm too, but not as much as you. Then, he started his next song, “Know your worth.” Everyone was much more pumped for this one, since the song itself was a lot more upbeat. Everyone in the crowd was dancing as Khalid kept singing, or trying to sing along with him. Khalid was moving around the stage, high-fiving fans and just walking around to face others. Then, before you knew it, that last song he performed, “Young, Dumb and Broke,” was over, but everyone knew what was coming next.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced, and the stage around him darker to the point where there was only one light shining down on him. “It is my pleasure to introduce..”

Everyone literally couldn't wait anymore and just erupted in cheers and screams.

“The one. The only… BILLIE EILISH!!!” he screamed, just as excited as the crowd. You and Loki cheered as the screen at the back of the stage turned on. Smoke filled the stage and Billie appeared in a bright neon green look, matching her signature hair. The screen showed animation of songs and bright colors.

“Hey New York!!!” Billie shouted into the mic.

Everyone got even louder than before and cheered till they couldn't anymore. You cheered as loud as your throat allowed. Then the music started playing, and Khalid and Billie were about to perform “lovely” one of your favorites songs. Both artists stood next to each other, getting fueled by the fans cheering for them. Billie cleared her throat and began singing, and the audience joined in with her. Then Billie and Khalid performed their harmony, which made you soar to cloud nine. The way their voices melted together was angelic. Then Billie sang her high note and all the fans tried to do it, but it sounded like birds being electrocuted. Khalid started singing his parts, with Billie cheering for him and then joining in on their second harmony. Then, they got up to your favorite part of the song, the part where they do the “oohs” and “eheheeeah”. As they started, everyone got quiet because they wanted to hear them singing. They sang the parts and everyone cheered once they finished. Loki even applauded, but not like a fangirl, just loud enough for you to hear.

After they finished, they took a quick bow, and everyone clapped and screamed like crazy. You thanked god that you had your phone, so you recorded the entire time they sang “lovely”. You knew you would cherish that moment forever. Even calmed down and Khalid exited the stage, leaving the show to the 18 year old.

She talked about different things as she got breaks for water. She performed your favorites, “my future”, “i love you”, “xanny”, “hostage”, “ocean eyes”, “COPYCAT” and a bunch of others that you loved. Loki liked a few of the songs. But not all of them, which you didn't understand since they were all killer.

The rest of the night carried on in a haze. You recorded most of the show, but when she was just talking, you stopped. But Billie kept you entertained, she changed her outfits a couple of times, danced to the songs, interacting with the crowd and just having a good time like she always did. Then she performed “youshouldseemeinacrown”, her final song of the night. You got sad that it was ending, but Loki placed a comforting arm around you, just to remind you that he was there. You hugged him back and then enjoyed the rest of Billie's performance. After she finished, she thanked her fans and New York and then she left the stage, the cheers of the crowd following her.

The next few moments went by very quickly. Loki grabbed your arm, trying to get out of there before you got slowed down by everyone else. His actions worked and you avoided the slow goers. Then you stood in front of Madison Square Garden and Loki got his car, or “toy car” as you called it, and transformed it into a normal sized car. He beckoned you to the car, bowing and opening the door for you, but before you got in, you took one last look at the bright lights and busy streets of New York.

“I'll be back,” you whispered, before getting into the car. Then Loki drove off, trying to avoid traffic, but also trying to get back to the Compound in one piece.

“So, how did you like it Y/N?” Loki asked as you pulled into the driveway of the Compound.

“Everything and more,” you answered, smiling at him.

“I'm glad you enjoyed it. I love seeing you happy,” he said, giving you a look he never gave you before. Something new flashed in his eyes, but you couldn't tell what it was. You could feel a shift in the air, something that got you nervous and you didn't like it at all. You smiled back at him, not wanting to show how uncomfortable you were.

Then Loki did something unexpected. He leaned into you for a kiss. You didn't know what to do, but you knew you weren't going to kiss him. As he was getting closer, you backed away from him.

“Uh Loki, I.. uh” you started, trying to get him to stop. He backed off immediately, realizing he played the wrong cards at that moment. He wanted to smack himself or send himself off to live with Hela, but he couldn't.

“I am so sorry,” he apologized. “I thought that's what people did on the first date.”

“I am more of “a one step at a time” person,” you said, trying to come up with an excuse.

“I understand, it's ok.” Loki said, regretting everything in the last two minutes. “Let me just walk you to your room and we can end it there, ok?”

“Sure reindeer games,” you said, trying to clear the moment from your mind. Loki and you got out of the car, and he led you back to your room. He bade goodnight to you and left to go back to his room.

Loki left your room in a hurry, still embarrassed from the little stunt he pulled earlier. He thought before that you would kiss him back, like how it was in the movies. Even though it didn't go according to plan, his feelings for you stayed the same. He knew he liked you very much, and would do anything to win you over. He thought he might love you, but that might be a little quick. He was waiting for your date with Bucky, to see if anything changed. He hoped not because something might happen then.

When he left you closed the door and headed to the bathroom. You processed everything that happened tonight while taking a shower. Everything happened so quickly that you took an even longer shower than normal to make sure everything that happened happened. So far, your feelings for Loki haven't changed. You never liked him how he liked you. You only saw him as a friend.

And same with Barnes. But something inside you saw Bucky in a different light, not a close friend, but something more. You brushed it off, like it never happened. But you knew if this happened again, it would be for a reason. You have never saw him like that. But time would tell as your date with the Winter Soldier drew nearer.

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the-uptake · 5 years

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The Uptake, The world was beginning to fluoresce into wounds. 0|0|1|-, Prologue. It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

It only stopped raining an hour ago. A handful of select CERCLIS staff, many of whom had half-stripped out of their neon yellow hazmat suits, lined up behind their leadership, awaiting further instruction in the intersection of a Level 0 street halted by media equipment, portable construction lights, and vehicles. One of the employees had not removed his suit, with unusual violet straps taping together every major seam, and more noticeably the hood he kept drawn was missing a visor shield altogether. He fidgeted in place. Galen had been requested to accompany Bensington today, but the one-eyed metahuman hadn’t expected his day off to go anything like this. There would be a billion Web eyes on him and he loathed the very idea of it.

Somehow, when the boom mic and reporter approached Bensington, and not him, it only unnerved him further. The heavyset Indian woman had removed her hood, and she checked the integrity of her snood-bun, while a makeup artist scrutinized the lavender eyeshadow which streaked uniformly from her orbits out to her temples. The camera lead gave her the green light, and they began.

“We’re speaking today with Yvpraksya Bensington, the regional executive for the Northeast and New England branches of the EPA.”

“Thank you, Alex. As many of you have come to know in the past few months,” Bensington announced, shoulders square but calm, “Tri-City’s foundations are slurrying. Seventy years or more of illicit disposal of industrial chemicals has resulted in the pollutants supersaturating the soil of Level 0. Investigations punctuate that the dumping evidence runs rampant throughout all levels which fall below city limits.”

“Miss Bensington, you said the foundations are slurrying. Does that mean you believe that Tri-City will get shorter?”

"The EPA has already launched remediation efforts to prevent it. We want to keep Level 24′s Mile High Club mile-high, don’t we?” She paused to smile at her own whimsy. “Since April, we’ve surveyed the extent of the damages wrought by improper disposal of these poisonous, highly reactive chemicals, in particular Wolfrin--ironically, the organochlorine responsible for much of fusion cities’ capacity for upward sprawl. Construction companies are estimated to be at fault for a majority of the chemical presence in the soil. We’re doing what we can to slow the chemical reactions with other wastes present in the Stalkers’ Quarter’s stalking yards.”

“The stalking yards are the city’s largest concentration of landfill plots. What does the sustained presence of the EPA in Levels 0 to 3 mean for the city?”

“Not to worry. E-cycling will not halt during this crisis. There is no threat to human life, so long as appropriate caution is taken. Our remediation efforts for this Super Fund will not impact city life, though it is strongly advised that citizens not sight-see the disaster and respect quarantine lines. The Agency can and will defend the quarantine by force. These chemicals are highly dangerous, and we can’t have trespassers distracting our cleanup efforts.”

“What is the EPA doing to, well, remediate?”

“We are isolating the contaminated soil, as well as separating solid from semi-solid and liquid wastes. Several sites have required the excavation of buried drums of waste. We’re neutralizing a majority of the waste on site. Cleanup requires extensive equipment and labor. In addition to the dozens of engineers and environmental technicians we have at our employ, we also have a specialist on site.”

“Miss Bensington, is that the specialist there, behind you?”

When the crowd of reporters clamored, Galen flinched to stand straighter, but he couldn’t help but turn his face from the camera lens. Bensington glowered at the reporter for putting so much focus on someone besides herself unrehearsed, and they pulled back to her. She cleared her throat and crossed her arms.

“--We have the finest on hand for this monumental undertaking. Our methods may prove a bit unorthodox, but the potential for catastrophe demands it. You can put your trust in the EPA to control and backpedal any damages irresponsible dumping may have done to this illustrious city. And I promise this city: I’ll get to the bottom of this myself, and locate as many perpetrators as I can. Good day.”

Bensington shooed the media cameras with an angry fat lip, and she pulled Galen along with her by the arm.

“Forgive them,” she started, walking briskly enough that he struggled to match her gait. “They’re scrabbling for any mote of interest. You stood out because you’re comfortable in your suiting.”

“S’the only clothes that really work anymore, Miz Benz. Y’know that--”

They stepped into an alleyway, so the leaden-pale ghoul could bestill himself.

“I apologize that you had to spend your day off this week doing something so... uncomfortable. I know you’ve never been too sociable. I appreciate you attending with me. I wanted my best represented.”

His immediate compulsion was to deflect the compliment, but he caught himself and replied with a self-conscious smile which she mirrored with a genuine one.

“I know there’s more going on with you than simple stage fright. I’ve had the impression that you’ve adjusted pretty well to your position with us. We’ve outfitted you with clothing tailored to your unique physiology, scheduled you according to your limitations, and arranged housing for you on Level 8. Be honest with me, Galen. Do we need to further adjust your accommodations? Just say the word and it’s yours.”

“I... i, i, it’s not just the things y’done for me. Y’already do so much.” He gnashed his teeth a spell, not making eye contact. “Y’said e-cyclin’s gonna continue unhindered. The EPA hasn’t shut down more than three yards at once, t’my knowledge. An’ you’n me both knows just how dangerous Wolfrin is. But... what I, I--” He flinched and flared his nostrils at himself, “tryin’ t’say is... the stulkers not been evacuated yet.”

Warmth filled her face while she formed a response.

“The Stalkers’ Quarter is one of Tri-City’s largest landfills. CTMHW prevents any fusion city from outsourcing disposal to nearby cities. And Tri-City accepts wastes from adjacent non-fusion cities. We can’t halt waste procedures in the entire metropolitan area just because this one landfill sector’s soil is leaching.”

Galen could feel a flush cross his face, and he backpedaled to a previous topic.

“...Forget me mentionin’ it. Th, there is the one thing y’could do for me, since y’mention it. Y’got me set up with a serial an’ a cred account an’ all that... but besides buyin’ my own groceries, dunno how ta be a Leveler. Used t’read a ton before all this happened. Told that ta the Fultonites an’ they brought me a reader. Y’can pro’lly guess ‘bout how long that lasted. Used t’read physical copies, back before all this. Lotta the books, I, I fished outta the yards myself. Sides that, Pretty much lived in the school library back when I, I-- was still goin’. Hopin’ maybe... maybe you’d get me a library card? For Central? Always wanted t’be able t’borrow somethin’ from Central.”

“You need enrichment. Entertainment. Of course. And you’re worried your habituations would risk any technology that came into your possession. Paper products aren’t among your nutritive sources, nor have I really noticed you crave it... If you’re confident you’ll be comfortable with a physical copy, then consider it done. I’ll call my contact at Central and have it arranged this afternoon.”

He hadn’t expected her to agree so readily, and his jaw slacked.

“Thanks, Miz Benz. Y’got no idea how much it means t’me.”

“Is there anything else? You’re doing so well with the Golbrook site. I’d love to honor your hard work with a little token of gratitude.”

His eye widened, and in one stunned motion he pushed his hood back to run his gloved hand over his slicked undercut.

“...Really, the library card’s huge. But if y’willin’ to negotiate the rules... Maybe ya’d lemme keep another... say, five pounds a copper? Been distractin’ myself in my apartment with lots a art. Gettin’ pretty good at it, to be fair.”

Bensington chuckled, relishing the notion he had begun purposing his sweat toward learning how to sculpt with it.

“You’re currently allotted a hundred pounds, correct? One-oh-five doesn’t seem unreasonable. That’s fine. I’ll notify the CERCLIS supervisor you’re working with this week.”

“Really, gosh, you’re the best. If a body’d told me workin’ for the city’d be anything as gracious as this, would’a been with it from the start!”

“I’m a rare employer, and you’re an even rarer employee. You wouldn’t find a better job arrangement than you have with the EPA.”

“--With you. I’ve. I. I got trouble talkin’ with the sup’s y’got me under. Nothin’ ‘gainst ‘em but... you. You listen. Really listen. Y’get it. Get me.”

She glanced to her reader, then returned it to her pocket.

“Well, right now, if that’s all we needed to discuss, what I’ve got is an appointment I have to be getting to. If you think of anything else, don’t hesitate to communicate with me, all right? You’ll be transferring to your next site by next week. I’ll speak with you again when I liaison for you.”

“Hope it goes smooth,” he thanked sheepishly.

“As do I, your week.” She patted him on the shoulder, and started back to the media circus. “Enjoy the library. I’ll ping you when your account’s live.”

He waved her off, smiling strangely to himself, then excused himself as well. He passed the cred-chip embedded in the wrist of his left glove over the payment node when he loaded into the public lift back up to Level 3, and got more comfortable in the back corner of the car by rolling his coat down to his waist, affixing it with a reflective belt-and-brace harness he produced from an inner pocket. Beneath his gear, he wore a taut high-collar black compression top. He kept on his long black waxed leather work gloves. With a snuffle of the air, he snorted in nuisance that he could smell the product in his hair.

The EPA dress code regulation hadn’t required that he cut his hair, but they had insisted that he style the long part such that the undercut didn’t hang in his face.

As he switched off from the lift to a bus, he resolved to buy a tube of hair gel just to satisfy the desire to suck it out of his locks. He softened at the idea of deviating from his typical shopping list, and busied his mind enumerating all ilk of his comfort foods. By the time he let off at Level 8, he was whistling to himself.

“Miz Benz was right. Should treat myself. Gonna get the good weight oil today.”

#biopunk #cyberpunk #dystopia #toxic waste #hazmat #the uptake #galen miner #yvpraksya bensington #the world was beginning to fluoresce into wounds #oh oh one blank #001-#001

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secret-rendezvous1d · 6 years

Text

D E C E M B E R 3 R D

REQUEST what about pornstar harry making a festive christmas special w y/n?

So.

Here we have it.

The first smutty Blogmas story for you all to read!

You all know, by know, that smut is far from my strongest forte on here. I lack something that I can’t put my finger on and I can never be as good as some of the smut writers on here; I aspire to but I never think I can reach that level of talent.

I’m not sure where this came from, and there’s a jumble of other pieces that I’ve written in here - that have been adapted to fit the storyline, of course! - but I’m pretty proud of this and only hope that you guys like it as much as I do. It’s an impressive piece, for 5k+, for someone who doesn’t usually do smut so your feedback will mean the most to me on this Blogmas prompt.

Feedback is welcomed, as always - please let me know what you think of my pieces, send me any constructive criticism you think would help out, any ways to make my writing better, anything. It really helps me and keeps me motivated to write and we get to work as a team to make things better, for me to write and for you to read.

Enjoy. xx

D e c e m b e r 4 t h , 2 0 1 8

“Look at you, eh?”

His lips quirked into a sheepish grin as he bashfully looked down at his loafers and let his shoulder-bag drop to the floor beside his feet. A bang echoing around the room as the leather hit the floorboards and whatever was tucked beneath the buckled flap must have been heavy, she guessed. The address that they had been sent, by their agents just a few days prior to the date, hadn’t exactly lead them both to a room that was located at the bottom of the complex; probably something to do with eagle-eyed viewers zooming in with camera phones through the window because it had happened before, in shoots that she, thankfully, hadn’t been involved in and it was something they wished to keep from happening. He looked beautifully festive for the fourth of December, dressed in a hideous Christmas jumper (with fuzzy Santa beards ironed into the wool and bobble hats knitted into the material in a consecutive manner) and a pair of grey, tweed trousers, with a Christmas pudding beanie tucked over his unruly locks. Which, in her opinion, had topped the whole outfit off.

Him as her boyfriend and her as his girlfriend?

Even though they’d known each other for less than a few months? Not really considering themselves as best buddies, who hung out all the time and arrived on each others door steps like they lived there too, but were far from being the acquaintances that they once were.

Had she thought about couple-y things including him?

Cooking together and welcoming their families into her home because his university dorm was far too small to hold everyone inside? Was he a good cook or was he the type of man who chose microwave meals over cooking from fresh? Dancing to the jingling melody of Christmas songs, singing together in the car as they drove down streets lined with homes decorated with an array of Christmas lights and fake Santa’s, and kissing under the mistletoe that he secretly carried around in his pocket? Having sex, without a camera crew to record their every move, in front of an open fire and drinking warm eggnog and hot chocolates whilst feasting on marshmallows and watching Elf?

Would he take her back to Manchester so she could meet the woman who he spoke so fondly of? Would he agree to meet her family or would he feel out of place? She didn’t think he would because he seemed up for anything that life threw at him but... would he chicken out if she suggested that? Travelling to Hyde Park on the tube, dressed in multiple layers that kept the cold out, so they could visit Winter Wonderland and surround themselves with people who loved the festive holidays? Helping him decorate his university room and getting the grand tour of where he studied when he wasn’t showing off his wonders to the camera?

Of course she had... she had done for some time know... and she loved it.

“What?” His eyes widened as he took note of the amused look that knitted her features together, “I haven’t gone overboard with the whole festive look, have I? There’s this ugly-jumper day at my university today and this was the ugliest one I had in my cupboards. Saved me having to go out and buy one from the shops,” he snorted and hid his hands underneath the sleeves that hung low and practically already covered his ring-clad fingers, “I wondered why people were giving me strange looks in the-”

“No way, Harry. You look incredible. So amazing,” YN grinned widely and tightened the silk belt around her waist, stopping the flaps from opening as she stood from the plush queen-sized mattress she had occupied whilst on her own. Leaving her phone behind, with a screen that still showed a Twitter account that she seemed deep in scrolling through, she welcomed him to the set - the empty set that was still anticipating the arrival of their agents, camera-people and the set officiants that kept the area in order and free of passersby who may have stumbled upon the wrong room - with stretched out arms to envelope him in a hug and. His lips connecting with her cheek in a soft greeting and she was pleased her face soon hid in the hollow of his neck so she could hide the blush on her cheeks. “You smell like cinnamon, too.”

“My mum sent me this aftershave that she saw in a shop back in Cheshire. Wrote me a letter, because she’s so old-fashioned and texts are too new-school for her, and she said that she thought of me when she smelt it because I’ve always loved the smell of cinnamon,” he chuckled lightly and squeezed her body to his chest. The silk kimono, that barely covered the skin of her upper thighs and, due to the white colour of it, was see-through under the right right, was smooth underneath his fingertips and he couldn’t seem to stop himself from rubbing her back. “You smell lovely, too.”

“I never said you smelt lovely,” she teased and mentally scolded herself because, as he strained away from her, his body heat had left her abruptly and she felt a chill in the air that she was sure hadn’t been there when she arrived. A playful frown pinching his features as he looked down at her. “I’m joking with you, H. You smell absolutely gorgeous.”

His laugh was like music to her ears and a smile was all she could give him.

Regrettably, he unlatched his arms from around her, because she was soft and cuddly, warm and inviting and, if he could have things his way, he would have held her until the day was over, and took a tiny step away from her. A step that left a gap that allowed him to take a twirl to take in the room.

“They’re not going to make me dress like Santa Claus or anything for this project, are they?”

“We can boycott if they make us dress in anything that looks remotely ridiculous. I’m not making myself look silly,” she gave him a wink and backed away from him. The backs of her legs coming into contact with the bed was the touch she needed in order to fall back onto the plush mattress. “I’m not dressing like an elf or a reindeer or whatever else they come up with. And, I can’t stress this one enough; and I am not fucking a Santa Claus. I draw the line at role-play.”

“I think you’d look pretty fit as an elf. A reindeer, not so much, but an elf,” he smiled smugly and lifted his hand up from his side, the tip of his thumb and the tip of his finger connecting and pinching and he pressed a kiss to where his fingers joined - a gesture that was something he’d picked up from an Italian restaurant, in Italy, on a family holiday that wasn’t that long ago - “you’d definitely look fit. I’d still fuck you.”

“To be honest, I’d probably still fuck you if you dressed like Santa. Big belly and all,” she teased, cackling towards the ceiling before turning her head to look at him, “I’m glad it’s you I’m doing this with. The best Christmas present this hellish job can ever give me.”

“If we could get things started, that would be great.”

A middle-aged man, with a bald-head and a soul-patch underneath his bottom lip, had spoken. Neither YN nor Harry had met him before this project, even though YN had heard of him through many other connections that came with the job. Catching the attention of everyone that was loitering in the room and passing the time with idle discussion amongst themselves, informally telling people who knew who they were, who didn’t need to be in the room whilst filming commenced, that they needed to leave the room. From across the space, and settled at a table on the other side of the bed, Harry snapped his head in YN’s direction with an excited grin forming his lips, soon disappearing, seconds later, behind the wrist of the make-up artist who was spreading powdered foundation across his cheeks. Not that he needed any makeup because he was flawless and there wasn’t a single mark, acne scar or blemish upon his olive skin.

“Let’s get things rolling now, please,” he waved his hands in the air as a bundle of people pushed through the space of the door. Looking over his shoulder, he made sure those he had asked to be part of his skeleton-crew were in the correct positions and ready to go; that the cameras were in the right place, that the lighting was set on the correct mood and had the correct tones in check and that the microphones and boom-mics were held high enough and out of shot but still close enough to capture the moans and mewls that Harry and YN would fill the room with. Nodding to himself, pleasingly, before turning on his heels. “The general basis that we have is to start with YN giving Harry a blowjob that will then roll into Harry eating YN out and then we finish off with full penetration. But feel free to go with whatever you think fits the moment; you both know how this works by now.”

The floorboards creaked underneath Harry’s weight as he carried a fold-up chair to the corridor outside the room, and YN smiled at how sweet and gentlemanly he was to those people who never really gave him a second of their day, dressed in his red boxer briefs. The waistband digging into the soft love-handles that spilled over the black elastic but perfectly showed off just how satisfyingly huge he was. Her lipgloss feeling sticky against her lips as she swiped a finger over her lips on the brisk walk to the bathroom. A chill in the air , from the small, open window, that brought a layer of goosebumps to her skin.

“Harry?”

The same man from before called out, startling him in his tracks as he let the seat rest against the cream wall. His attention fully on the soul-patch that was hard to tear his eyes from.

“Now, please, mate.”

“Yeah, of course. I was just...” his sentence drew quiet as his bare feet padded across the carpet, settling down on the edge of the bed and clasping his hands upon his thighs, “you want me here or...?”

“There is perfect. YN’s going to walk from the bathroom to start the scene. See you sitting there and then things escalate,” a hand wavered in the direction of the bathroom door and YN peeked her from behind the doorframe, waving at him with a cheek-aching smile, “starting in one minute.”

Despite his arrival into pornography, just a few months prior, Harry still hadn’t had much sexual experience to form a personality off of. Just enough experience to know what he needed to do in order to please another person and what he could expect, in terms of pleasure, from someone else. Every girl that he had ever been with - a number that he could count on one hand - hadn’t seen him as a desirable sexual partner and, apparently, had not been sucking him off in the way it should be properly done because the way that YN worked her tongue up and down his shaft, how her lips enveloped him with such an inviting warmth and how she gave his cock all the attention it deserved had left him a trembling, whimpering, squirming mess upon the bed as she dug her nails into the inside of his thighs, not even bothering to wipe the drool that clung to her cheeks and dampened the carpet between her knees and coated her breasts in thick rivulets. With YN in his life, the girls before him seemed like practice runs; their moans and begs being the pushes he needed to be a better person when it came to pleasing somebody else.

He loved seeing YN on her knees.

As she pulled down his underwear and let the loose material fall to his ankles in a heap of red cotton, her eyes looked hungry and once his cock sprung free from its restraint and slapped up against his stomach, she ogled it like a steak dinner and couldn’t dare take her eyes away from it. His tip raspberry pink and his slit twitched at the cool air, a dribble of pre-cum slipping down the side of his shaft and disappearing into the jungle of thick, unruly, dark hair that covered the base. His hand wrapping around himself, tapping her cheek with the rigid head, and his thumb swiped the clear and sticky arousal that bubbled to its escape.

One of her tiny hands sat upon his naked hip, thumb tickling over the tip of a leave belonging to the fern tattooed upon his body, whilst her other snuck around his thigh, denting the pillowy skin of his bum with tiny fingernail indents that tingled his skin. Her doe eyes looking up at him with an appetite and puckered lips were parted plenty enough for him slip a thumb between. Which she welcomed and instantaneously tasted the salty coating that covered the pad of his calloused thumb, using her tongue to lick his digit, a hum of delight vibrated his hand as she swallowed and slowly dragged her lips to his nail, pulling off with a pop.

“Have you been a bad girl this year, hm? Will I find you on Santa’s naughty list or his nice list?” Harry wondered, holding her jaw and forcing her lips to pout as she tried her hardest to grin at him, her eyelashes fluttering on her cheeks with each slow blink that she gave him, her nose scrunching as his thumb dug into the hollow of her cheek, “reckon you’ve been a nightmare, baby. An absolute nightmare. Reckless, naughty, the baddest of all bad girls, hm?”

She shook her head from left to right, only for his wrist to tense, holding her neck still.

“Deserve a proper fuck, don’t you, baby? That’s what bad girls deserve when they’ve been bad. To be properly fucked and punished until they can barely walk,” he told her, a smirk finding its way on his lips that looked menacing and dangerous, sending tingles down her spine and a jerk of electricity towards her clit, the bundle of nerves feeling warm between her thighs and no doubt leaving a damp stain upon the crotch of her knickers, “and I think sucking my cock would help you in moving naughty to nice.”

Her nimble fingers took hold of his cock and she couldn’t help but apply a little pressure to his aching and throbbing hard-on, gripping at his shaft as she kept a close eye on his face, looking for any signs that he was uncomfortable or too close to the end and needed her to back off before he spunked too early on - she had that effect on him and she ruddy well knew it. Her wrist slowly beginning to jerk him off, working him slowly and painfully close to his orgasm, her thumb brushing over his slit as he winced, bucking his hips into her fist. She scooted closer on her knees and applied kisses to the lower space of his belly, tracing his intricately-detailed tattoos with her lips, before she dragged her mouth down and around his belly-button, pressing a kiss to the patch of skin that seemed to tickle him and ignoring the thick course hair that tickled beneath her nose. Peppering the softest of kisses to his shaft and bumping over the pulsing veins and feeling just how warm his skin was, tasting remnants of dried pre-cum when itran down his length in rivulets and slowly - teasingly slowly - puffing cool air onto his wet skin.

Her tongue slipped out from between her lips and moistened her pink flesh, the colour of her mouth matching the colour of his mushroom tip, both glistening beneath the light that streaked through the window. A wince hissing through the gaps of his clenched teeth and she reciprocated by wrapping her lips around him, Her tongue flicking over the slit, craving more of his thick girth to stretch her throat, fingers toying with his balls and rolling them in her hand.

His hand never seemed to feel as good as her hand did and his jerks never did the trick nor did they seem to satisfy him enough and every squeeze and every spurt of ejaculate, that he released in thick strings of white cream, never seemed to send a spark of electricity down his veins like she could do. Her mouth felt immense as it dragged up and down shaft, her hands feeling amazing as one jerked off what she couldn’t fit in her mouth and one fondled his bollocks to bring him close to the edge, and her eyes... god, her eyes looked so perfect as they watered. Drool slicking her chin as she gagged and whined.

“Such a good girl, baby. So good for me,” he cooed raspily, fingers shaking as they stroked through her hair, his hand cupping the back of her head, “you drive me crazy.”

His toes hurt from being curled into the carpet, his thighs shook from how tense they were and his bottom lip almost drew blood as he chewed and nibbled on the flesh and cried out with euphoria - he never seemed to get used to being able to voice his pleasure because sharing a university hall with other people, with flats that had paper thin walls and allowed everyone and anyone to hear him, took away that advantage. His nostrils flared as he huffed and puffed a hoard of deep breaths, his chest rising and falling, as he gained all self control to not fall back on the bed.

“M’gon’a cum if you keep going like that,” he grunted, running his hand through his hair and tugging on his fringe, eyes squeezing shut as she pulled off of him with a slurping ‘pop’, “wan’a cum after I fucked you good and proper. Need to feel you around me.”

Their bodies seemingly in a rush to clamber upon the bed and pursue the one thing they were most eager for. Harry’s cock swinging with movement as he rested his body weight on one knee, resting on the edge of the bed, allowing space for YN to launch herself on the mattress, leading to a twist of two bodies that were panting and heaving with busy lungs. She watched him with hungry eyes as he grasped his cock in a loose fist and jerked himself once, twice, three times before it begun to swell bigger, giving himself a thick and veiny look before lining up to her slit. Tapping her folds once before slamming forward with a quick snap of his hips, filling her up in one swift thrust, fingers digging into the pillowy flesh that bloomed over the elastic of her lace knickers (that were decorated with delicate candy-cane sweets and a striped ribbon that held a tiny, golden bell upon the knot below her navel) which, if they jingled once more and caught against the pubic hair that sprouted from his crotch region, he would tear off with on swipe of a fist. Tucking himself inside of her and instantly rocking forward on his knees as his broad hips spread her legs apart, her ankles hooking in a rather limp fashion around his middle as she completely enveloped him. His groans sounded so deep and raspy, and in the moment would always put his voice second on her list of favourite sounds, scratching inside his chest as a way for her to hear just how pleased her was to be back in a cunt that he enjoyed so much. That he preferred to sink his cock into. That he was still a little starstruck over and couldn’t believe he had become, not only the industry’s favourite, but her favourite to star alongside on multiple projects.

It was an unexpected motion from him. Completely unexpected. She had been anticipating something a little softer, like a tap to her clit with the head of his cock, or something much sweeter from the man who had admitted, himself, that he couldn’t ever hurt a fly. The same man who was terrified to hurt her, terrified to break a limit and terrified to push between her legs because he didn’t know her. He didn’t know whether she had limits, whether she liked certain things, whether she was into specific kinks that he could put into play... they were simply just ‘fuck-colleagues’, if he had to give it a title; he wasn’t sure if they were buddies or not... they hadn’t really hung out outside of projects, they never really spoke and they used each other’s numbers as a means of contact for an upcoming session they had been asked to attend. Never to talk about favourite foods or what they were up to in a moment or whether they wanted to hang out at a local pub to mingle.

He stopped moving once he was fully situated inside her, his mouth gaped wide and his two front teeth breaking free from behind his pink lips, his chest heaving in short, sporadic and shallow breaths, tongue tensing before licking across the skin of his bottom lip, catching the top of the hump of his chin, as his eyes scrunched shut.

A sound, classed between a gasp and a strangled moan and a choked off bleat, bubbled up her throat and escaped from her parted lips and her nails dug into the expanse of his muscular back. Fingernails leaving tiny crescent-shaped indents amongst the freckles and moles and the faint scratches, causing his skin to feel bumpy and jagged, that he had gotten from somewhere (most likely received by someone whom she didn’t dare bring herself to think about). “God, Harry!”

“Fucking... christ. Fucked you plenty of times but you’re still so bloody tight ‘round me,” Harry whimpered, eyes rolling back into his skull as he released heavy puffs of breath that smelt deliciously of mint and blew her fringe from her eyes. Puckered lips looking exaggerated once he noticed her deeply-coloured eyes were disappearing behind loose tendrils falling from the messiest ponytail he’d ever seen her hair in. His hips pushing deeper - deep enough to nudge against all spots inside her and get the last inch of his prick inside. “How’s that happen, huh? Why d’yeh feel so tight?”

“You don’t fuck me enough,” she whispered - and she hated how she spoke with so much truth. She wished he was her co-star for all of her projects because he was a one of a kind bloke. The way he treated her was the way she had wished all of her co-stars would treat her; a kiss on the cheek upon arrival, a grin on his lips because he was genuinely excited to be with her, a compliment about how lovely she looked, asking her if she was okay, making sure she felt comfortable (regardless on how uncomfortable he may have been feeling) and talking to her like she wasn’t just the parking garage for his cock. “You need to fuck me more. Fuck me harder. Fuck me deeper, Harry.”

Her nails dug into the sweaty muscles of his back, leaving moon-shaped indents in his skin, as she pawed around eagerly for something to grip onto, both of her knees quaking either side of his body as he worked at a pace that had her edging closer and closer, each passing second, to her orgasm. The biggest she’d ever had out of all the people she had starred alongside, the biggest she could ever dream of having from a co-star (particularly a newcomer who wasn’t so used to be handled so boldly by a partner) and the biggest she had ever wanted, ever, in all of her career. Someone to stretch her properly, to the point where she could almost feel a burning tear at base of her cunt, and still feel satisfied by it.

“God, please…” she gulped and her voice was soft, broken in some places, and she wanted to plead with him for them to work together - but she knew it wasn’t just them in the room, they weren’t just having sex to pleasure themselves and they weren’t having sex of their free-will. It was a job and there were people out there who were waiting on something that wasn’t so emotionally fueled. He was making her feel good but was she making him feel good? “Harry, fucking hell.”

“Nice and slow, baby. Slow it down,” Harry cooed, hovering over her some more with the tiniest of grunts and mewls rolling off of his plush and swollen lips. Lips she just wanted to kiss whenever she wanted and a set of lips that she wanted nothing more than to feel touching every inch of her body whenever they were alone. She clenched around him, like she was holding onto dear life, and he felt it. Keeping him warm and snug, hugging his thick shaft like she was born to protect it. “You’re so good, baby. So good.”

She smiled and promptly wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging on his hair was he dipped low and pushed his face into the crook of her neck, right between her prominent collarbone and the warmth of the thick of her neck, arms disappearing underneath her body as he rolled them over. Feet planted on the bed and his knees bent as she stayed closer to front. Her bare chest flushed against his tattooed chest, a heavy moan erupting from within her as he bit down on her skin and started to suck like his depended on it. Feeling her fingers tense between his locks, pulling harder and harder and forcing him to suckle harder and harder, completely falling in love with the way she allowed him to bruise her. To mark her like she was his very own possession - and it hadn’t dawned on him then but it had done a few weeks later, when he saw a video of her with a guy who looked too young to be in porn, with a hickey so bold that it was impossible to cover with makeup, that he marked her. Not some strange bloke, not some cocky bastard who thought she was the fittest fuck, not some guy who hadn’t earned his place in her life... but him.

She buried her face into his neck, soon after, and it only felt right to him, as she clenched around him and kept a hold so devilishly dangerous around him, to allow her the chance to take a bite of skin between her teeth and chew and nibble until it was freakishly purple, taking a fistful of his sweat-drenched hair and pulling his head so it lulled to the left. Her lips moulding against his jawline before she flicked her tongue of her earlobe.

“Fuck me harder, Harry,” she whispered lowly, full of need and the desire to have him pound deeply into her, “so much harder, baby. I need it. I need you.”

And he happily obliged, suddenly snapping his hips up. The tops of his fuzzy thighs colliding with the flesh of her bum, the flesh jiggling under the momentum of his bollocks, as he forced every single inch of himself back inside of her with one quick slam. A drawn out whine echoing around the room from her open mouth as she reached between their bodies and nudged her fingers against her tingling clit, eyes rolling back in euphoria as he wrapped his arms around her middle and he’d her close.

“Christ!” She cried out, “yes, Harry! Keep going.”

She whined at the sensation that was building between her thighs, her stomach clenching visibly and her arms flexing as she held onto him with one arm and continued working her clit with her free hand, her entire body far from relaxed as she let out one last shaky breath, lungs rattling with the effort of the air she’d been holding in, releasing her orgasm around him as his thrusts fell into a jagged rhythm. His cock nudging deep into the pit of her stomach, pressing deliciously into the spot inside of her that forced her legs to straddle him a little tighter than they already had been, as he felt himself twitch and plead for release.

“Fucking hell, you’re so good. Feel so warm and snug around me, don’t you, baby? So good at taking all of me in like the good girl that you are,” he crooned with a voice that was raw and desperate for hydration, his hips slowly retracting away from her and pulling his cock out, one tiny centimetre by one tiny centimetre, little by little, enticing a gasp from her mouth as she rolled off of his body and stretched out beside him. She knew what was coming and she always found his endings to be the best endings; always helped when leaving the viewers wanting more. He jumped to his knees and spread them at a shoulders width apart, the sheets rustling under his skin and the mattress creaking under his body weight, fingers wrapping around his slick cock, that was covered in a slimy coating of her arousal, and jerking himself off to finish his orgasm. His eyes darting between her wet cunt and her startled eyes. “Look at me, baby. Let me see those pretty eyes watch me when I cum.”

And, if there was one thing that YN had grown to realise, over the short few months of knowing him, it’s that when Harry cums, he cums hard.

In all of her pornographic career, she’d had her fair share of unique spunkers. She had this one guy who came short and quick when he orgasmed, like she was errand upon his list of many other dutiful errands, and tasted more saltier than she preferred; she had one guy who sprayed like a fountain and had rather watery orgasms, which she hadn’t ever seen before, that dribbled down her face in quick trickles; she had another who spurted aimlessly and hadn’t any control over any specific place on her body... but she wasn’t lying when she spoke about how much he fucked like the proper bloke she had always wanted to be fucked by; and she had one guy, who she never asked back to film scenes with her, because he had been into cumming deep in her throat, and she wasn’t comfortable with him around.

But Harry... Harry was something else entirely.

When he wore a rubber, because they liked to skip that part sometimes, he managed to fill it nice and full with his release, and to the point where it leaked thick dribbles onto his fingers when he tied a knot at the opening. When he spunked after YN gave him a blowjob or wanked him off in whatever position a producer had them start off in, he liked to take control when he was close so that he could swipe the tip of his cock across her cheek and paint her skin with his creamy substance, only so he could lick it from her flushed cheekbone and give her taste when she kissed him. When they fucked so deeply and so passionately, he liked to cum on her stomach and watch it glisten under the natural lighting that entered the room, smiling at how delicious she looked when she was covered in his release, before turning into the perfect gentleman and wiping her clean when the cameras were no longer rolling. And when he took part in projects based on solo masturbation (which she was an absolute sucker for), when he didn’t have her to jerk him off as he sat back and watched her tits bounce, he managed to keep his twitching cock under control with a tight fist that still allowed him the pleasure of an unruined orgasm, leaking down his hand and onto a towel folded up to capture any spills.

She felt droplets not only land upon her pubic bone, ut also upon stomach and there was no doubt that some had landed in her belly-button, that some had missed her body completely and dispersed in the air, that some had flicked up and she had missed it land upon her chin or upon her cheek, that some caught in the material of her knickers and that some had definitely disappeared into his fist, for use as lube to smoothly jerk himself off. Painting her so messily and pushing the tip between her folds of skin before pulling away and hunching over her. Puffs of breath fanning over her lower stomach, and just the tops of her thighs, as he looked at the spunk that pooled between her thighs.

She shivered at the feeling of his tongue swiping up her folds. His wet flesh lapping up stripes against her wet flesh and the contact, the slurping and the moans were the only sounds that could be heard amongst the quiet room. Amplified because of the microphone but sounding so soft to their ears, like they were in a bubble and it was just the two of them as they revelled in the toe-tingling aftermath. Her fingers gripped at the sheets beneath her as her toes curled up, whimpers escaping her lips because his nose was in perfect place against her twitching clit. Lips soon attaching themselves as he worked on eating her like a feast. Lapping up every ounce of spunk that dribbled from between her walls, every slick puddle of her arousal that hid in her folds, every drop of a saliva and cum mixed concoction that left a distinguished taste on his tongue that he wanted more and more of.

He pulled away and looked up at her as she stared back at him with a smile on her face and a light behind her eyes that made her look pure, and her gentle cries of pleasure bounced off the walls as she slowly uncurled her toes. His cheeks and lips, and the underside of his nose, glistened under the natural light that filtered into the room and his tongue he’d the taste of both orgasms that he was desperate to show off to her.

“Tastes really nice. Always love how good you taste, baby,” he grinned cheekily, pushing up on his knees and leaning forward, hovering above her as he pressed a deep kiss to her lips. Open-mouthed and incredibly passionate and barely jerking away when her tongue found the inside, devouring every inch of his mouth as she, too, let the taste of their mixed releases linger on her tongue. “Lovely, right?”

“Delicious.”

#blogmas 2018 #harry styles imagines #harry styles blurbs #harry styles smut #harry styles concepts #harry styles writing #harry styles prompts #harry styles preferences #one direction imagines #one direction preferences #one direction prompts #one direction writing

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theabominableblogger · 6 years

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My Reaction to “Gotham” S5E2

In Which Harvey Continues to be the Best Goddamn Thing in This Show

I was a lucky son of a duck and managed to get this reaction while the episode was airing live on FOX last night. For episodes 3-12, I will be waiting for Hulu to receive them because of an upcoming spring semester at college. So for episodes 3-12, I will be in the dark until Friday or Saturday (so no spoilers from y’all).

Also, on TV, there are so many GOD. DAMN. COMMERCIALS.

AN: I managed to record my reactions to this episode and hopefully I can transcribe what I said into this post.

*Recaps shows the chopper* OK, so who freakin’ shot down the chopper?

Oh, Tabitha...

*We see a whole bunch of injuries on Will’s back* What the...

“They call themselves the Soothsayers.” The Sooth- what?

“They’re digging some sort of tunnel.” *gasps and reels back* It’s Jeremiah! ‘Cause he has a tunnel! Oh my God!

What’s the tunnel for?

OK, never mind then, I don’t think Jeremiah’s in charge of the Soothsayers

“The second you [Jim] step outside that door, someone’s gonna take a shot at you, and if it’s not you that’s getting hit, it’s the schmoe standing next to you.” *laughs*

*Jim hangs up on the radio* Who’s on the other end?

“Four shells each. Half a mag each.” Wow.

“Will says the Soothsayers are here, which means we have to pass through Sirens territory.” Ooh.

“She’s [Barbara] gonna be thrilled to see you [Jim] after what happened with Tabitha.” Ooooff...

Wait, so is the Dark Zone like around Gotham? At the docks or...

What?

So this is Robinson Park, OK... so this is where Ivy is.

Oh, these sets look nice. Getting some serious Arkham Knight flashbacks.

Swore I just saw someone move in the background...

*Bruce catches a guy trying to sneak up on him* Yeah.

“They came for help too!” What district are they from? Why are they British?

*jams along with opening theme*

*silently headbangs to heavy metal cover of "Ring of Fire” by Social Distortion playing in Barbara’s club*

*Everyone stops dancing when Jim arrives* Oooohhhh... ooohh hoo hoo hoooo...

“It’s a police matter.” “You know, they should really write that on your tombstone.” *laughs*

“Drive right into this nightmare you’ve created.” Actually it’s Jeremiah... kay...

“HAVE AT HIM! RIP HIM TO SHREDS!” Ooof.

*Panning shot of an absolute dark Gotham* Oh my God.

*laughs* There’s just this one random burst fire hydrant!

So is this whole episode gonna be them [Jim and Harvey] fighting their way out of the Dark Zone?

*jaw drops when someone shoots an arrow at Harvey*

“It’s a freaking arrow, Jim! IT’S A FREAKING ARROW!” *scoffs in shock*

Whooooo I remember her [the Day of the Dead lady] from the trailers!

Yeah, that’s the same... freaking tunnel

“The smoke... you [Gabriel] should take it.” No.

“It’ll give you energy-” Oh my God, is that Viper? Is that Viper from S1?

“-see the future.” What?

Or does Jeremiah shanghai this whole tunnel later this season?

“Once this tunnel is complete, we will have exclusive access to the mainlands.” Oh my God, they are going to the mainland!

God, that guy [Sykes] just spit everywhere!

Sykes? Isn’t that the bad guy from Oliver and Company?

“In Penguin’s grace, we will remain.” Ohh, that’s a good line.

“What are the cattle prods for?” “Fun.” *scoffs in hilarity*

“If he [Sykes] moves, kill him.” Oh ho! Jim’s not messin’ around!

Yeah, that’s that same tunnel that Jeremiah [and Ecco] are in in some of those pictures.

AN: Take a shot every time I mention the damn tunnel.

So is Gabriel Will’s older brother?

“Why would anyone be a cop in a world like this?” “Well, the Halloween shop was all out of gas masks so it was either this or Sexy Nurse.” *reels back in chair from laughter*

“Let take ‘im, boys.” CHEESE IT, BOYS!

*Sykes and his men try to take the kids* Oh no.

*Jim comes to the rescue* Yay.

*One of the car tires get shot* Ooohhh...

*Commercials start* OK... OK... so... what?

Wait, so is Jeremiah gonna leave for the mainland? Like “Syke, I’m gonna get out of here!”

Noo... because his mission is Bruce so I don’t think he even wants to leave Gotham. It’s the whole “I don’t wanna kill you! What would I do without you?” mantra going on.

Whaaaaaatt...

What is she [Ivy] wearing?

“You have to believe me.” “Forgive me if I find it hard to do so.” COLD.

“It wasn’t me. It was the park.” *in unison with Bruce* The park?

“The plants are my protection.” ...OK.

“Maybe we can help each other.” Bruce...

TELL HER IT’S SELINA!

“There’s a seed. It’s growing under the oaks. It’s said to have magical qualities. When digested, it goes to the damaged tissue and bone.” A seed?

Wwwhhhhaaaattt?

Ed? Hello? How are you? Where are you? Are you in the library again? Why are sleeping with your glasses on?

What is going on?

That [library] looks like Oswald’s old house [the van Dahl mansion]

Oh my God, are we gonna see Ed peeing?

EEUUGGHHH we don’t need to be seeing this...

Oh my God, there’s someone in the frickin’ [bathtub]...

“There’s nothing there.” *laughs*

Waaaaiit... what’s going on?

[Ed] You’re gonna attack him [the Street Demon] with a toilet plunger! *cackles*

“Did I uh...” *chuckles*

“We’re gonna have to do all this again? Guess so...” *scoffs*

What is that place?

“It’s not safe out there.” No dip, Jim.

“Maybe there’s still good people left in Gotham.” Mmmmmm....

Yeah, you’re [Jim and Harvey] gonna leave three kids there [in the lobby]. All alone. In a strange building. Great.

Harvey, you’re a blessing.

Yeah, you’re gonna leave the three kids there. Right. Great idea. Great idea.

These sets are fabulous.

“Hello?” Blaaggghh! Jump scare!

“GCPD.” Take a shot!

Was that a crow [in the background]?

There’s just a bunch of random folded clothes everywhere.

*Harvey finds the dinner table full of body parts* Oh my God...

Are those teeth?

*Harvey finds a plate of bloody fingers* :0

Oh my God, freaking- they’re freaking cannibals?!?

*gasps when Mother attacks Harvey*

*has to leap out of seat to cool off when commercials start*

Oh wow, I love Sweeney Todd.

*ends up coughing up a lung*

So far, again, this feels like a foundational episode. It’s just like “OK, we gotta work on this, we gotta make sure this is safe,” and yeah.

I wonder if the Jaime Murray character is gonna show up at the end of the episode or something.

AN: You may think that... but no.

I also wanna know what kind of crack these writers were on for this final season. Tze Chun had the good shit; I dunno about the others.

*gasps in disgust when Ed hits the Street Demon in the mouth with a wrench.”

“[Ed] You wanted to know where the Street Demons base was.” Why?

“Aaand you wanted to make sure the boss would be there.” Why?

“OK, how did I [Ed] seem? Was I... confident? Flamboyant? Charisma for days?” *giggles*

“Or was I conserved, kinda repressed, a little nerdy?” *laughs*

Soo... did Hugo combine the two personalities? ‘Cause the pushing up the glasses is a new thing.

*gasps when Ivy kills the men who were holding her.”

“[Bruce] You are so utterly naive.” Oh my God.

“[Selina] She is paralyzed and has lost the will to live.” “Good.” What?!?

“That bitch destroyed the last of the Lazarus Water.” ExCUSe me?!?

“Let her suffer.” Noooo...

You can tell that Peyton List [Ivy] is just wearing a whole bunch of face powder on.

“I am feeding the earth these wretched creatures. It consumes them.” She has lost her freakin’ mind.

*Ivy starts caressing Bruce’s neck* Do not prick his neck.

“Those men you killed were right. You are a witch. A murderous, callous witch.” WHOOOOOOO- oh my God...

Hoo!

“What’s your name?” “I- I can’t remember.” What?

“She found me?” “Who?” “The ghost!” The ghost?

“She makes me call her.. Mother.” *reels back and puts hands in the air* It is Mother and Orphan!

Wait, is that the kid?

*The kid stays behind* It is the kid! That’s Orphan!

Oh my God...

“The lights will make you dizzy. And then you’ll go to sleep.” Oh this is cool..

“Jim, I don’t feel so good.” Wow, I love Infinity War.

Actually no, I hated it. I was sick the first time I saw it.

*gasps when Mother sneaks up behind Jim*

They really do need to put a flashing lights warning on this.

*gasps when Mother fights off Jim and Harvey*

*Harvey tries to leave* There’s an open window! You broke a window! Go through the window!

*looking through the Gotham tag on Tumblr during commercials* Wow, someone wrote some fanfiction quick.

Oh wow, I love Ghost Adventures!

*gasps when Ed and the Street Demon find the Street Demon leader wiped out.”

[Penguin Was HERE] Really?!?

*imitates the guitar riff going off*

*Ivy leads Bruce to the seed* Oh my gosh, that’s so pretty

*Ivy gives Bruce the seed* I ain’t eatin’ that...

“One thing’s for certain... the seed will alter her [Selina] forever.” Great.

“Some say, the darker angels of our mind-” Great.

Also, yay for natural lighting finally in this show. I love it when they use natural lighting in the show. It looks so nice.

“What’s the matter, Bruce? Don’t know if you can trust me?” I don’t trust you.

“I don’t.” “Good. then you’re finally becoming a man.” Ivy, you’re like his age. shut up.

*Ivy sits in one of the low sitting trees* OK, so if the tree branches just grab her and just sink down into the ground, this will be the greatest thing.

“Detective Gordon, your hand’s bleeding.” Uhhh...

*Sykes and his men arrive* Oh my God... monster truck!

“Wait just a minute! Please...” Whoaaa... who are you?

I don’t know who that is. She [the Day of the Dead looking lady] looks cool though.

*commercials start* Who is this? Who are you?

Five bucks: Barbara comes in and saves the day even though she still hates Jim. She hates everybody. She comes in like “I’m just here for the kids, not you.”

Oh noo...

“Did you [Bruce] find the witch?” “It was Ivy.” Great! Alfred’s like “Oh bloody brilliant!”

“What choice do I have?” Bruuuce...

“I want to help Selina as much as you do but Ivy’s a maniacal, cold-hearted killer.” You met her like twice, Alfred!

But true, she is.

“So if Ivy wants to kill me, she can have at it.” Oh my God...

Who wrote this episode? I’m gonna have words.

*Bruce gives Selina the seed* Yeah, you’re gonna shove that down your throat. Great.

Is she gonna chew it?

*Selina starts chewing the seed like a gummie vitamin* OK then...

It’s the Spiderman bite except in fruit form.

*freezes when Selina starts seizing*

“God, what have I [Bruce] done?” *extremely sad face*

“I’ll tell you what! I’ll [Sykes] take his head! And you can have the rest of him!” *scoffs in shock*

*gasps when Jim shoots the Day of the Dead lady*

Is that a monster truck?!?

My sister: Is that a tank?!?

That’s a monster truck!

*both immediately at loss of words when Barbara hops down*

Wow, I love Hot Wheels!

*jaw drops when Jim uses his last bullet to kill Sykes and defend Barbara*

Wow... that just... came out of nowhere!

“Wow. Wasted your last bullet for me. Must be love.” No it is not. Barbara, how dare you say that?

*Barbara tells Jim she wants to kill Penguin.” Great. Great plan.

Wait, you’re gonna invite Barbara to the Green Zone? Yeah, great plan, Jim. Great plan!

*Jim and Co. arrive at the Green Zone* Whoa!

He [Lucius] looks fab!

Wait a minute, is this [the Green Zone] that apartment complex that got blown up in the trailer?!? Are you freaking kidding me?

They’re gonna freaking blow this place up later in the season. God dang it. Who did it and why? Who does it and why?

We stan one future police commissioner.

“See you around, killer. We have some unfinished business, you and I.” Nooo you don’t. Cool off!

Oh crap, is she [Selina] gonna be gone in the morning?!?

Oh my God, Bruce hasn’t slept in like 48 hours?!? Great.

*gasps* She’s [Selina] not there! Did she go out the window?

Did she pull a “Dark Knight Rises” and back flip out the window?

“Bruce...” Oh no.

She [Selina] looks like Michelle Pfeiffer.

“[Selina] How do you feel?” “Different.” Why are her eyes closed? Open yo eyes!

“I’m better. Even better than before in fact.” Mmmmm no!

*Bruce hugs Selina* Yay hug! We like hugs! We like some hugs! Yay!

Oh my God, she’s gonna go on a murdering spree and kill some people, isn’t she?

*Selina’s eyes* WHAAATT the frick?!? Wha-

WhaAAAAttt?!?

*gasps when Ecco pops up in the promo for next episode*

*ejects out of chair to cool off*

AN: Ecco, your man better treat you right or I’m gonna fight him AND the writers.

We’re getting WhaAAAtt??? WHaaaAAT??

Oh my God...

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stoweboyd · 6 years

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Moving from 'Normal' Organizations to 'Revolutionary' Organizations

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. | Steven Hawking

Hawking sets context for what I have been calling a 'movement' since 2005 or so, the movement to drive a transition from 'normal' industrial-era organizations that are role-centered, closed, slow-and-tight, hierarchical, and backwards-focused to 'revolutionary' post-industrial-era organizations that are human-centered, open, fast-and-loose, heterarchical, and forwards-focused. Like other movements, this work revolution is defined by the dynamics of opposing forces. On one side, we have those who explicitly or implicitly uphold the principles and cultural foundations of 'normalcy', and who actively or passive-aggressively oppose those, on the other side, who advocate revolutionary change in work culture, practices, and values.

I've picked the terms 'normal' and 'revolutionary' with intention. Specifically, I have borrowed them from Thomas Kuhn's central arguments in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, a work that laid out the analogous dynamics in scientific revolutions.

Kuhn argued that there is a cyclic form to science, where the work of a generation of scientist in any given field establishes a paradigm around which research and discourse are centered, like Newtonian physics. It started with various incoherent notions of motion (the pre-paradigm phase), but the central premises of gravity, and Newton's laws of motion led to the development of a second phase, where 'normal' science began, and the dominant paradigm structured the science for a considerable period of time, establishing consensus on terminology, methods, and the sorts of experiments that might lead to increased insights1.

Over time, normal science may lead to anomalies in findings -- unexpected results from experiments, questions that can't be answered -- and these can lead to questioning the old paradigm as its weaknesses are apparent. This can lead to crisis, and that can spark a paradigm shift, like quantum physics as an alternative to Newton's.

The crisis and the shift are not necessarily smooth, and there is often active disagreement and contention between the advocates of the previous, 'normal' paradigm, and the revolutionaries pushing for the new paradigm. This can lead to breaks in the scientific discipline, with huge controversies and great antagonism, since the reputations and livelihoods of the scientists are at stake.

At some point, the crisis ends, usually as a result of the establishment of a new paradigm, which eventually becomes 'normal' mainstream science, with new methods, terminology, and established approaches for experimentation.

We are at a time of such a crisis, although it's not in the traditional realm of science, per se. The crisis is in the world of business, and it is really predicated on scientific revolutions in several areas that impinge on business, namely cognitive science, behavioral economics, social psychology, and related fields. (And in the background behind the soft incursion of these revelatory social science findings, we can feel the looming hard technologies of the fourth industrial revolution.)

In the past few decades enormous advances have been made in our understanding of how people perceive the world and their relationships to others, how we reason (or don't), how people 'make decisions', how productive teams 'work', and how cultural norms impact our behavior. However, very little of this science has reached the C-suite. Consider, as only one example, the persistent problems related to diversity and the foundational issues of cognitive bias. However, few in leadership are educated in these issues, and no coherent new paradigm of organizational theory and practice has yet fully emerged.

At present, we are left with the strange dichotomy of entrepreneurial capitalism -- with capital growth and shareholder value as the highest aims -- and the independent considerations of making the world a better place, making the workplace more equitable, just, and less precarious, and attempting to construct the world of work so that people can achieve greater autonomy, meaning, and purpose in their lives, and not just a paycheck. These cross forces define a growing area of tension in the discourse about the future of work, the transformation of the 21st century business, and how to balance the desires of the many sorts of people holding stakes in these companies.

At the same time, we see growing interest in the principle that a revolution is business operations is needed to confront and overcome a long list of 'anomalies' in business and the economic sphere. The combination of increased economic pressures in a sped-up, global marketplace and the desire for greater stability and purpose for everyone at work leads to some broad trends that could stand as a proxy for the 'revolution' in organizational theory and practice:

Human-centered not role-centered. We lose a great deal when we limit people to only thinking about or acting on a limited set of activities in business. A machine press operator can have a brilliant insight that saves the copy millions, and a field sales lead can come back from a meeting with a customer suggestion for a breakthrough new product. But not if they are punished for stepping outside the painted lines on the floor. People can be larger than their job descriptions, if we let them.

Open not closed models of thinking and operations. This means a 'yes, and' mindset, where we consider alternatives rather than rejecting them because they are novel. This means activity rooting out systemic anti-creative and anti-curiosity patterns in business dogma. It means embracing Von Foester's Empirical Imperative: Always act to increase the set of possibilities.

Fast-and-loose not slow-and-tight operations. Agile, flexible, and adaptive methods of organizing, cooperating, and leading are needed. A less bureaucratic management style would increase innovation, and lead to building business operations around experiments rather than only well-established processes.

Heterarchical not hierarchical operations. The bronze age rule of kings, supposedly selected by the gods and legitimized by their personal charisma has led to terrible results, with narcissistic sociopaths all too often calling the shots. The occasional Steve Jobs or Yves Chouinard does not disprove the problems inherent to top-down-only organizations, especially in a time of great change and uncertainty. Organizational structure is another means to the ends that companies are created to effect, and serves as a powerful barrier to change when treated as sacred and inviolable.

Forward-focused, not tradition-bound. We need to adopt a new paradigm for business, one that explicitly breaks with a great deal of what passes for conventional wisdom, organized around new science, new forms of social connection, and leveraging the possibilities in the points made above. And science is not standing still, so we must incorporate new understanding into our work and the operations of business.

This is predicated upon stating -- explicitly -- that a revolution is necessary, and that a long list of practices and principles will need to be identified as problematic and rooted out. This is exactly what I founded Work Futures to do, as a research and educational institute, and in 2019 I intend to push hard to advance that agenda.

This revolution has started, but the we are in the early days of what will eventually -- decades from now, perhaps -- be a wholesale recasting of business. But the world of work cannot be changed independently of the larger world. It is one part of a larger set of changes that envelope and animate it.

The larger societal and economic trends touched on in the post this is extracted from (see An End To Predictions, A Call For Revolution) -- Polarization and Populism, Capitalism and Gigantism, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution -- are imparting enormous stress on the human sphere. And, as a result, it is very hard to predict what will happen in 2019. However, I believe that by 2023 a great deal of the revolution -- this transition from the 'normal' to a 'revolutionary' form of business -- will have become more clear, as the new paradigm becomes more well-defined, and as the larger world shifts to internalize new approaches to the tectonic forces at work, at all scales.

Paraphrased from Wikipedia. ↩︎

Originally this essay formed the final section of An End To Predictions, A Call For Revolution, but now republished independently, as well.

#revolutionary business #the new way of business #a working future #the future of work #economics #thomas kuhn #normal business #the structure of scientific revolutions #the history of science

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