#as usual I don't know most of the people so this is me sharing info and not me endorsing the event

[triangle-dog]

Another free dog training summit:

The event starts March 20 AEST

· Day 1: * Robin Bennett - How to Handle Off-lead Dogs: Two action steps to take, 5 ways to deter approaching dogs and examining canine body language. * Roman Gottfried - Leash Aggression: How to help a dog emotionally recover from an on-lead dog attack taking a holistic approach *Laura DeMaio Roy - Making it Click: Faster behavior through shaping and targeting * Kelly Gorman Dunbar - Puppy Training to Build Confidence & Security

· Day 2: * Kamal Fernandez - The Pros & Cons of Prey Drive * Kristin Rosenbach - Truffle Hunting Around The World * Tabitha Kucera - Happy Vet Visits: How to have a dog-friendly vet visit * Annalisa Berns - Become a Real Life Pet Detective with Search K9s

· Day 3: * Becca Sommerville - How to Settle a Rescue Dog into Their New Home: And set them up for success * Renée Erdman - Adopting Dogs From Abroad: What to expect * Sarah Keller - Targeted Canine Fitness: For Improving Posture & Movement * Laura Reeves - Structure Matters: Form Follows Function * Christina Young - The Fairytale Dog: The Dream Vs The Reality

· Day 4: REACTIVITY & AROUSAL: * Amelia Steele - How Management can Fast-track Reactivity Training * Sarah Stoycos - Practical Tips for Working with a Reactive Dog * Renee Rhoades - 5 Common Reactive Dog Myths * Piper Novick - Working With Arousal: Learn how to handle high arousal with your dog

· Day 5: * Megan Marrs - Translating Dog Body Language for Humans * Taryn Blyth - Emotional Needs First: Supporting your puppy to raise an emotionally well-adjusted adult dog * Judy Moore - Is it Resource Guarding or Rule Setting I See? * Namita DigheShetty - Loose Lead Walking * and your host, Ness Jones - Does My Dog Really Have Separation Anxiety?

[uvtale]

FAQ!

Welcome to the first ever UVTALE FAQ post! here i'll be answering some basic info of the au, there will probably be another one in the future, or maybe not! who knows :)

so, what is it about?

Uvtale is an Undertale au where the the humans casted a spell on the underground that prevents any sort of non-monster magic source of light from reaching the caverns, which makes everything really dark and cold! that, plus the spell was very unstable causing it to corrupt.

when the spell was corrupted due to the powerfull(and forbiden) magic that was used, it created a dark thick fog that spread across the entire mountain. This fog is alive, and acts like a sort of hivemind. their objective is to get everything in the underground to join it and the only way to avoid getting infected by it is being in places that are lighten up!

is there anything that's inmune to the fog?

yes there are things inmune to it!

since the spell is made of human magic, human souls tend to be more resistant to it! humans themselves are not in danger of being affected by the mind control, however if a human soul is corrupted enough (with a lot of LV), the fog might try getting to them through the hate in their soul.

Human souls can also help cure monsters that have been infected by the fog, if exposed to their magic for long enough, the effects will ware off. depending on how much time passed since the monster was being mind controlled, there might be long term effects from it(lower stats, weaker soul, etc)

So, are humans living in the underground?

yes, to some extend! most of their locations are unknown, and the people who do know where they are don't like to share. human souls are valuable for multiple reasons.

humans usually prefer hiding from monsters. not all of them though, there are exceptions such as chara.

The Queen, Toriel, prefers to let them free. too busy with her own mind to take care of their locations. Not that she doesn't has an idea of where they are, but to her is none of her business (it is though)

What about the royal guard? how does it work?(+ loactions info)

the royal guard work mostly as search and rescue teams! of course, while still doing their duties to making sure everyone is safe and secured.

usually monsters get lost in the dark, which gets them exposed to the fog and eventually to get mind controlled. Most of them are located in Snowdin, since they also have a lab/shelter there, its convenient for everyone.

Waterfall is mostly unhabitable, as beautiful as it can be its extremely dark and dangerous, but there are rumors of a hidden village somewhere in it.

Hotland, even without lava, is very lighten up and overpopulated, since its one of the warmest places of the underground(as warm as it can get).

New home faces a similar situation with overpopulation

The dunes are a place that exists, remember this IS an uty au too! it is a very cold and desolate desert but also, it has one of the safest zones in the entire underground (the wild east town) this because of a certain human with a bright powerful soul that happens to live there..

-

and thats pretty much everything I can reply to for now, this post is an edited thread i made for twitter this morning with added extra things and better wording(i was very sleepy when i first made the thread whahah)

any other questions that have not been answered here(character related questions for example) will most likely be answered in lore posts! that I will begin uploading in due time(after Im done with commissions probably)

Thank you for enjoying UVTALE! it really makes me want to keep going with it :,) -Jewel

[oliviaswrldd]

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞 - 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 ✰

Hi guys, it's me again i i didn't knew that i'll share with something here again, but i am so take this info as you want. I hope it helps at least one person :))

I just scrolled through tumblr as i usually do and one post made me realize something. One girl said that she entered void state within 30 minutes. 30 minutes.

Let's skip manifestation, subliminals etc. - everything what we ""use"" to enter the Void State. We all know that all we need is OURSELVES and our own mind, but i won't repeat the same things that you probably heard 19993728 times.

When you are "trying" to enter the void state how long you're doing your method or non-method and then eventually fall asleep or give up and roll over to sleep?

All we need to do is simply Relax, Relax, Relax.

I admit, so many times when i'm "trying" achieve void i'm far away from relax, because i'm thinking when i'll enter? how long it takes yet?maybe i should try tommorow or other shit which turns into overthinking about me being mad how i can't enter the void state... Which results in me finally falling asleep (ik you can enter by waking up there) and the cycle repeating. You get me, right?

Reason why i'm saying about it is because i know there's so much more people thinking and doing like this. Even if my self-concept about void is actually good and i don't get distracted about 3D (of course sc doesn't matter at all when it comes to void!) i still see what i'm doing wrong.

The next time when you'll be "trying" to enter the void state just RELAX. You can let thoughts come and pass - just simply stop give a fuck about what if? when? how?

And don't look at the time. You are laying and doing ur method and thinking oh, i'm trying to enter the void almost 20 minutes, nothing is happening. What i'm doing wrong?

THAT'S THE POINT

Just simply Relax and don't care. Maybe give yourself chance to enter? (i'm talking about me as well) What's the point how long it takes when it comes to finally living your life from wildest dreams and making all your dreams come true!!

Of course ik you don't have to enter the void to have it everything but i'm kinda void state girl hehe

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

I'm seriously considering posting more here because i have actually so much to say (not about void actually, because most of things has already been said) about shifting, my own journey and dr.

And thank y'all for the good reception of my previous post, I'm glad it reached more people

Have a nice day/night 🖤

[velnna]

The more I learn about your comic... The more I fall in love with it. Especially your bugs! Like can you explain more about them? I'm really curious about them (from the full bugs to the hybrids and anything else that comes to mind).

Anyway your art is wonderful and I adore seeing it on my dash. And you can info-dump too. If you want ofc.

Thank you!

The worldbuilding is a work in progress (as it always is, but the first chunk of the comic itself is pretty self-contained so we've been slowly tinkering at the rest of the world and creatures as we go without affecting it much), so we mostly have loose rules and ideas for the bugs as a species. Or anything in between for that matter.

For all intended purposes, bug people are all the same species and can usually cross-breed within mechanical constraints, as well as mix with the elves we threw into the mix. Genetics? Don't know her. We operate on Sims logic here.

A full bug has roughly a human lifespan, with some variation depending on the type of bug it's closer to and some type-specific quirks. The one we've explorer the most, as it pertains to Ashton and the latest batch out of the oven, is the ability that some types might have to undergo metamorphosis, usually at the expense of lifespan. This is Ashton btw

And this is Ashton pre-metamorphosis:

Something like this isn't super common tho! So despite me drawing a bunch of butterfly or moth people they generally don't get to that point and stay looking more like funky lizards with many arms

Bugs can have many arms or legs or eyes, funky colours, exoskeletal bits, antennae, or look pretty close to your average human/elf with hidden bug features. Dahlia for instance is a vaguely spidery bug but can easily hide a bunch of her eyes and secretes venom thru hidden glandes so you could mistake her for an elf

Meanwhile it'd be very hard to mistake someone like this guy for anything other than a horned bug

If u catch my drift.

Some bugs are small! Some are huge. Some are out there committing atrocities

Some dont look like bugs at all

They're generally not as physically strong as the average elf but more resilient in a cockroach kinda way. They can have a chaotic range of circulatory systems and internal organs that sometimes just make them really hard to kill and its also pretty hard to keep track of every variation of the species and their quirks.

That being said in a lot of places they're super common and coexist with elves just fine, mix up and it's also not super uncommon to have half breeds like our man Staeve (the ThUG edition). The closer you get to elf the longer you live and less "non human" traits you have. There's also a bunch of different types of regular ass elf and it all falls under the elf category unless we decide to name them something else down the line.

Then you've got a smaller category of super elves that have been isolated for so long they never blended with anything else, are more attuned to magic and in general have a sort of mythical status amongst everyone else. They also have the longest lifespan at around 250 ish years.

That's sort of the TL;DR for now! Ollie and I have started to put all the info we've got into a single repository and do want to start sharing it (probably as patreon posts for now) because comics are slow and the scope might not encompass that much of what we want to explore of this world. And the chaotic idea machine never stops

Here's a metamorphosis meme for ya

[dreadfutures]

regarding sept 19:

This needs to be clarified because misunderstanding has resulted in some usually very nice people getting incredibly nasty and bullying others.

This past week, many people - press, and content creators - were allowed a hands-on experience of the new Dragon Age game. They played for about 6 hours. The attendees of this event are under an NDA until Sept 19.

After September 19th, the people who played the game are allowed to speak about it in some amount of detail. The press embargo is lifted, so to speak.

No one who attended this event has come out, twirled their mustache, and said they're going to spoil major game stuff without warning.

If you think you're about to tell me that yes, someone did - no she didn't. I know it's too much to hope for but someday you must learn to not hear every tweet and text as if the other person was personally intending to harm you. Few people really are so malicious. If you approach text neutrally you can tell when people are, or not. Really.

They have instead warned that there will be info shared from this event, probably tagged and warned about (hopefully), but the reporting, sharing, reposting, etc., of that info will be - like all things in fandom - a mess dependent on individual fans. If you care about spoilers at all, get your filters and blocks ready for that. For sure!

But again, it only seems like they had 6 hours or so to play. I doubt the people who attended will be malicious or rubbing stuff in our faces. I doubt the people who attended will even be spilling every single deet. Most people who we know & are connected to the fandom that were in attendance have said they themselves avoided main game stuff, because they didn't want to be spoiled either.

So that is the real information, as best we know it, without fear mongering about a flood of spoilers - and do with that what you will!

A lot of people are starting to wholly block all of the new game's tags because they don't want to see anything else until it drops! This is definitely the time to start. Maybe you do need to go dark and hop off the internet to keep your boundaries, or maybe you feel confident in your dashboard, your friends, and your filtered content, that you won't be seeing untagged spoilers being shared. (I'm in the latter category; nothing has appeared on my dash without being filtered, for months.)

Control your space with the tools you have, but cruelty should not be one of them.

A lot of people (on twitter, love DA twitter, where the worst aspects of all your friends' personalities come out 😒) have been incredibly, viciously belligerent to those who attended this event. They have used really terrible language to bully them as individuals and make personal attacks against them. The dog-piling has been amplified by certain people who were not invited to that event, and by the wording of others who are giving "warnings" about spoilers running rampant, floodgates opening, mayday, everyone is going to be rubbing spoilers in your face after Sept 19.

Whatever you think about the marketing about this game - whatever you think about what EA thinks are spoilers - whatever your personal stance on what you want to know going into the game (or not):

Content creators and press, their job is to talk about the game. In detail. It's their job! Ideally they do it as (is typically done! as many of them have already been doing!) with warnings/tags/whatever when something spoilery might come up.

Harassing them and wishing them harm or calling them terrible things and slandering their character is just an expression of your own frustration, lack of control, whatever - and it's not a good look.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for sharing audio (no visuals) of my roommate having sex with online friends?

CW for Sexual content

I (18x) have a roommate (19f) who tends to have.. a lot of sex. She genuinely thinks I don't know, because every time I've tried to confront her about it or ask her to maybe at least warn me so I could leave the apartment, she denies it and says she's only ever done it when I'm not there. This is obviously a lie.

A few days ago, I frankly got sick of it and decided to record the sound of it from my room. There's no visuals obviously because 1 we have different rooms and 2 it's usually late night/early morning so even if we shared a room it'd be pitch black. It was stupidly loud. Despite the fact that my phone has a bad mic, it was very clearly able to pick up the sound of her getting railed to hell and back. The bed creaking, her moaning like crazy, him dirty talking- everything. They were ridiculously loud and had woken me up because of it, which was why I snapped and decided to record it in the first place. It was around 4-5 am when this happened.

I shared the video with some online friends, people who don't know and most likely will never know my roommate on any sort of level other than what they hear about her through me- I don't even say her name, just refer to her as my roommate. No names are said in the audio, and the bed creaking is so loud that you can't really distinguish their voices from just any other straight couple banging. That is to say, there is such a degree of separation that I didn't see it as too big of a deal to share.

Despite this, one friend of mine said that it was incredibly messed up to share the audio regardless of the fact that they will never be able to use it against her, saying it was an invasion of her privacy and whatnot. Another friend piped up and said it wasn't too big of a deal and named some of the reasoning from above. This hasn't been a friendship-ending argument, but it definitely caused a bit of a strain on the group for the past few days, and I'm conflicted. I've since deleted the video both from the server I posted it in as well as my phone, since I didn't want to take any chances in case it was genuinely a horrible thing to do, but again, I'm really not sure. Am I the asshole?

TL;DR My roommate has really loud sex that wakes me up around 4-5 am and I record the audio of it, sending it to a server full of people who will never know her or be able to use it against her in order to rant. Some friends think that it was a horrible violence of privacy, but others think the degrees of separation were enough to not make it bad. AITA for recording and sending it to the server?

What are these acronyms?

[sant-riley]

Domestic Simon Riley? 👀 -🪴

[With you] [Simon 'Ghost' Riley domestic headcanons]

(Romantic Ghost x Reader)

Summary: Simon is your disconcerning boyfriend, to most people it seems as if he'd be incapable of gentle touches and affection, you know better though.

More info: You're apart of 141, no one knows you two are dating, you are younger than him and are shorter than him in this.

Warnings: usage of the word Girl once but it is more geared towards fem! (This is so fucking self indulgent im sorry) possibly ooc for Ghost (idc tbh) , do these even count as domestic? Idk ive never dated someone, nothing else that I know of but do let me know if there is anything that needs to be tagged!

Ghost is so painfully subtle in public with the way he treats you, he'll never outwardly do anything romantic but his actions and how he looks at you while he does it makes people pause.

In your own quarters or homes though, its different.

He's extremely attentive to you, your wants, your needs, your dislikes, he knows it all, he classifies it as important as missions. Simon didn't have a good father growing up, he didn't get to see what a good husband was supposed to be like, he's learning from the bottom up and he takes it seriously.

You'll never have to ask him to make breakfast, he's always up before you and has it cooked on the table with your drink.

Knows exactly when it's the time you wake up, and if he's able he'll go wake you up personally, brushing your hair out of your face and gently running his fingers through to detangle it from your sleeping.

Despite how cute you are sleeping in just his large hoodie, he won't let you sleep in, y'all got stuff to do.

He'll pick you up and bring you down to the table, pressing a kiss to your temple, if that doesn't wake you up (you usually will look up for a real kiss), he isn't afraid to grab your face in one hand and just, smoosh your face, he knows you hate it but it's gonna wake you up bc you're trying to slap his hand away.

He sits across from you, but reaches out one arm across the table with his palm facing up so you can grab it whenever, he likes it when you play with his hands.

Don't get me started on Simon and washing dishes, he always takes over washing duty and let's you dry ‘em. But every other time, he's gonna let his hands stay wet and will tell you to “think fast” and flick water over you (if you truly hate it, he'll stop though)

you know that saying of peeling oranges? He's the biggest proof that there is somewhere out there that will do it for you without question. Doesn't matter what it is, if you don't prefer driving, he has no complaints about driving you everywhere, if you don't like washing your hair? Just tell him what products and what order you use them in, just sit there and relax.

If you wear makeup and you're too tired to take it off yourself, he'll do it for you and it makes me emotional.

In your shared bathroom, he sets you on top the counter and uses one hand to gently grab your chin, taking the remover and firmly rubbing off your eyeshadow/eyeliner/blush/etc, afterwards he'll murmer a “that's my girl.” (He loves you with or without makeup, but he loves you for you, doesn't matter which you choose to do that day or any day)

He covers the corners of the meeting tables when you bend down to grab at the pen you dropped, it's just second nature for him to protect you from hurting yourself. He's yanked you from the street, picked you up just with one arm to make sure you don't walk into something gross on the street, gotten in front of strangers who try and get in your face for something. His body completely covers your own, and he always has weapons on his person, he isn't afraid to resort to maiming someone for you, you're his number one priority.

Simon loves having you sleep on top of him, he finds the weight a good reminder that you're there, you're not going anywhere if you do, he'll notice right away. If you get up to go to the kitchen, he'll sleepily follow you and just stare at you for an uncomfortable amount of time til you realize he's there. He'll make fun of you too “You should know ‘m right here, what kind of soldier isn't aware-” “Simon, I'm literally in just a bra and boxers right now.”

He demands your attention, this is one he'll do on bass in front of others bc technically he can get a with it. You're next to a recruit he doesn't like? Suddenly there's papers on a recent mission he needs your signature on, or he needs you for special 141 training reasons (he wants you to come with him to the dining hall, he's hungry and he doesn't want to go alone)

Dude stands right up against your back, in every scenario. His chest is probably an inch away from your back. He's playfully called your shadow by Price and the rest of the guys.

He grabs your hips alot, usually just to rest his hands there, occasionally rubbing small circles into the flesh, humming.

Simon will try and subtly leave as well if you leave the room, he gives it 10 minutes before he makes his way out to find wherever you wandered off too 

Price finds it fucking hilarious, he'll look down at his watch and mentally countdown to when Simon makes his escape. Simon can fool most people but not John, the way Ghost will tap his foot and roll his shoulders are tell tale signs that he's had enough of being there.

He'll dance if you want him to, though he simply sways with you in his arms, if you're of a specific culture, he'll try his best to learn it but no promises, while he is fast learner and perfects everything he does, he's a big man, he's not that graceful.

Without thinking if he sees you're cold, he's stripping off his jacket to give it to you, he doesn't ask, he just moves behind you to drape it over your shoulders.

He'll take off his mask with you, and let you trace the scars that litter his face, let you trace his features too, he's fallen asleep to you doing it and he doesn't know how much you cried silently when he did.

Simon practices new jokes on you, to get your opinion of them until he can tell the others, the louder you groan the better the joke is in his eyes.

Soap asks why you don't even react anymore and you just sigh. You are tired.

When he's especially annoyed and done with the day, he just shoves his head into your shoulder, wrapping his arms around you in a death grip while he takes deep breaths, in the least weird possible, your scent and body so close to him helps him destress.

One thing he makes a huge point to do is to clean your guns for you, yes you should do it yourself but ever since y'all have gotten together, he's taken it upon himself.

He's scared, more scared than anything that something will go wrong when you're both not on the same mission, this is just a way he can ensure your gun will fire correctly and efficiently, that you can defend yourself when he isn't there.

Speaking of weapons, he gives you one of his personal knives for you to keep, he'll ask for it back only to sharpen it, everything has to stay in its best shape.

Likes when you drape yourself over him when he's sitting, alas he is just a man so he likes to feel your chest against his back.

Pulls you into his lap if you walk by, he'll let you get up if you truly want to but he'll position you to sit sideways and will rub your legs as he watches whatever is on the TV.

For anyone who has arthritis, Ghost will take the time to rub your ointments into your hands, he knows what weather makes then worse and keeps his own tube of it onhand so he's prepared.

He's always buying you things, he knows that it's not necessary but for him, it sees it as ‘if for some reason I fail at something else, at least I can provide this’ someone hug him he's fighting for his life.

Stocks up on every single essential you can ever need, your comfort food and snacks? Always on base and always at your flat, if you two are walking around the shoppes and he sees you eyeball anything, bet your ass he's going online to order it for you immediately, and when it shows up, he just shrugs. He doesn't see it as a big deal, it's just money. Which is very cute but also a ps5 is NOT cheap sir, you can't just-

[mechaknight-98]

Gathering Episode O: I pitch Zagoth triome to chrome Mox (NSFW) FT Jiheon

Operator’s Notes:… well it happened

I pace my home listening to Ava excitedly tell me about the show she was running for her new company Tricell. It was a K-pop show featuring a bunch of Nugu Idols I adored who were not so Nugu anymore. It was a girl group extravaganza and she wanted my help making the show take shape. The only catch was that it had to be done in Racoon City Illinois. My first thought was no absolutely not as we were nearing the anniversary of its outbreak but Bela being the best convinced me otherwise. So I stupidly took a chance.

“Okay, great so you'll be the co-host with TJ. I'll send you the rest of the info later. Ava said in a tone that let me know something was off.

“Okay, what's the second catch,” I ask.

“Well you be working with Connor and Dexter,” Ava says.

“Okay,” I say as I shrug. Ava is surprised

“I thought you were mad when they left you?” she asked

I shrugged again in the video call.

“Is this it? If so I'll see you next week.” Ava says with a smile

Next week arrives in a flash and before I know it I'm in the lobby of the hotel all of us would be staying at. Despite not being the main logistics person (that was Ava) quite a few of the groups asked me how things were going to turn out. The groups in question and would be featured in the show were

Le Sserafim

Ive

Dreamcatcher

Cignature

Fromis_9

Oh my Girl

Qwer

Lightsum

Kep1er

Loosemble

Tj cautiously watched from behind me figuratively and literally. Especially when his ult bias and K-pop crush Yujin arrived. He attempted to say hi shyly but found himself unable to. He gave a polite wave and went back behind me.

One of the girls from Qwer (Magenta) liked my Zagoth Safari shirt and I chuckled, this led to me asking if she liked magic at the gathering. She nodded and said, “Do you play commander?” I nodded and replied

“Almost exclusively why?” I answered

“Oh great Chowon from Lightsum, and Yewon from Oh My Girl need a Fourth can you play tonight? We usually play with Jeewon but she and the rest of the Cignature girls are getting in late tonight” she asked. I nodded and Magenta smiled before walking off happily with the rest of her group. TJ approached me shaking,

“How did you do that?” he asked baffled

I looked at him confused, “Do what?”

TJ meekly pointed to the walking away idols “Talk to them…like they're normal?” he explains

I tilted my head confused as I answered “Because they are normal people.”

TJ was dumbfounded and I looked at him with a strange sense of paternal instinct kicking in.

“Look Theo it's not a big deal. While these women are talented and very attractive they are also quite dorky and very human. Treat them like they are the girl next door you have a partial crush on. Let your heart flutter but let it be grounded. I promise you they'll appreciate it. Unless you're just a weirdo like me then hide it.

TJ laughed and responded, “Thanks Hiro I needed that” I gave him a thumbs up as he went to his room. I hoped he'd take my advice to heart. Otherwise, this would be a long and painful shoot.

“That was kind of you.” an unfamiliar voice said behind me. I turn around to see Jiheon of Fromis_9 she smiles at me and says.

“You're Hiro right?” I nod and she smiles.

“Okay, I have heard stories about you from Dexter, Eunbi, Connor, and Yunjin. They say you're the most ruthless and diabolical deck builder they know.” I squinted

“I don't follow,” I responded.

“I want to learn how to play commander better,” Jiheon said plainly. I studied Jiheon’s expression for a moment trying to see if I was being taken for a ride, and when I only found sincerity I shrugged and said

“Okay, what colors do you play?”

“I like Red and Green, but I keep losing to all of the removal and counterspells.” I looked at Jiheon and said

“Okay let's get you tuned up.”

We went to Jiheon’s hotel room she was sharing with Hayoung. She looked up at me with surprise.

“Oh, unnie this is Hiro he's going to help me with my red green blue deck,” Jiheon explains.

Hayoung looked at me with surprise before saying, “Oh you're the one who bullied the Fimmies and their boyfriends,” she teased.

“Um no it was only one fimmie and her boyfriend and Eunbi and her boyfriend,” I respond Hayoung laughs happily and says

“Like that’s any better

I shrug defiantly back and say,” They team up against me because I play sultai which they all view as evil. Granted I am evil but not because of the colors I play. I'm evil because I lack remorse and a conscience.” they both looked at me and laughed I sighed and walked over to help Jiheon.

Hayoung rolled her eyes “Right,” she said sarcastically and then said “and what are you here doing?”

“Helping Jiheon get better at the game,” I responded flatly which made Hayoung giggle even more.

“Unnie please stop teasing him I need his help,” Jiheon said. Hayoung smirked and had me go on my way.

I followed Jiheon to her backpack and She opened her deck box and showed me, a Magus Lucea Kane deck. In it, I saw a bunch of expensive staples like Mana Crypt Chrome Mox, underworld breach carpet of flowers, and a few other pieces that made my eyes water.

“Is it bad?” Jiheon asked. I turned to her and said, “No but I can help.”

I got out my tablet and got to work finishing the deck based on what she had.

“So what do you want out of this deck?” I ask.

Jiheon looks at me confused. “Win

When we were finished I showed her and she was concerned.

“Why so little creatures?” she asked

“Well because this is more of a combo tempo deck to help you win more. Since you have all the really expensive pieces I'll just buy the rest of these cheap ones and help you.”

Hayoung laughed and said, “You're not evil.” I look at her and she just smiles at me.

“You remind me of my boyfriend Danzo. He's silly but he has a good heart. You have a good heart too.” I sigh and then fill an order at a nearby card shop, from what I am reading it's massive. I placed the order and picked it up for her along with the sleeves. When I finish helping her by explaining the combos and win Lines and what to say when she's in the position to Win. I also gave her a primer on Moxfield. She was elevated. She hugged me and said, “Thanks, Hiro. I hope I can finally beat them.” I smile and say.

“Well you should also talk to Hayoung sounds like she may know a thing or two.” Hayoung scowls at me but then smiles as she pushes me out saying, “Okay Mister Evil it's time for you to leave.”

After I finished helping Jiheon I went to my room to rest when I got a text from an unknown number.

“Come to room 808, and bring your strongest deck -Magenta,” the text said. I worried about it at first but figured who would try to abduct me, especially with all the other talent and random worth people here.

When I arrive I see Magenta, Arin from Oh My Girl and Chowon all setting up. Magenta (who smells like Whiskey) smiles when she sees me

“See I told you we'd get a fourth.” she slurs she guides me to my seat, and says, “Now sit mister. We were just getting ready.

I look around to see commanders. I see Mrs Bumbleflower (Arin), Vazi Keen the negotiator (Chowon), and Cecily haunted mage (Magenta). Their decks concern me but I do as Magenta asked earlier and bring out my best deck “Tasigur The Golden Fang.” I set it down and Magenta’s eyes go wide.

“Oooh where did you get this?” she asks seeing my alter for it.”

“A friend made it, and I have kept it since,” I responded. Magenta smiled and handed it back to me

“I love it. It tells me so much about you,” She slurred.

“Oh, really what does it say about me?” I ask teasingly. Magenta laughs and smiles

“That you value your individuality and growth, and will be rooted in that despite the sacrifices and changes you must make to yourself” I smiled until Arim who was sitting next to me interjected.

“That's what you told me!” she yelled. Magenta shook her head and said

“No, I told you that you are like authority each day you grow and change into your idealized self.” Magenta looks at me then at Arin and says, “The two of you make a good couple actually,” Arin blushes, and Chowon smiles happily. It's endearing.

“Okay, I have a bet. If I win you and Arin have to kiss,” I look at Magenta and then at Arin confused. Arin sighs and then says,

“Unnie please leave him be. He is not close enough to get your teasing.” Arin said firmly with an apologetic look directed towards me.

Magenta smiled and said, “Do you not want him because I'll take him.”

I blinked a few times processing what was being said before asking.

“Um, can we roll to start the game?”

Magenta turned to me and nodded.

We all rolled and I noticed that my starting hand had everything I needed to win. I looked around to see what other people’s turns would look like.

Arin who was first played tapped land and passed. Being next to her meant I was going second. I realized that if she's playing tapped lands then “using your strongest deck meant something different to them.”

I played a command tower and passed. Magenta was placed third and played a Sol ring into fellwar stone all off of an Og dual (tropical island)

On Chowon’s turn, she happily played a fetch land into a shock land then played carpet of flowers. In her second main phase, she played an ignoble hierarch off of the one green mana from the carpet of flowers. I sat there even more confused as on turn two Arin played Chrome Mox (pitching endless detour) and a mana crypt before playing her own Og dual (tundra) before landing a sol ring and her commander. Then she played an archon of emeria.

Unsure of the power level I just played a snapback (pitching a brainstorm) bouncing the archon on her endstep. On my turn, I powered out Tasigur and a rhystic study.

Magenta smiled one her turn as she played another Og dual (underground sea) after fetching it from bloodstained mire. She followed up by playing a Mox amber and her commander (from here on out no one pays for rhystic study) after that she played a mystic remora and passed the turn.

The rest of the game was pretty mishmashed like this as well. People played a flip-flop of expensive optimized decks and pre-con-level cards. It made me realize that I couldn't play as effectively as I usually do because they were not. This led to me watching more and intentionally throwing the game because I didn't want my “new friends” to invite me back.

So I took the loss in the game for the greater prize of playing with them again, despite the weird gameplay loops they created. However, that led to Magenta winning, and while I never agreed to her bet she insisted that Arin and I kiss. I turned to Arin who was blushing profusely I sighed and said “It’s no big…mph.” as I spoke Arin grabbed my face and kissed me. For a split moment, I understood why TJ was so flustered. When she broke the kiss my brain broke as well. Unable to process the insane turn of events I got up and said

“It's been a great night but I gotta get to sleep see you tomorrow.” as I walked out to my room. Chowon began laughing watching me stumble out.

I get back to my room and finally collapse after the long day. The next morning, I stumbled into the hotel’s breakfast lounge, still shaking off the fog of last night’s events. The memory of Arin’s kiss lingered in the back of my mind, making me feel all kinds of awkward. I wasn’t ready to face her, but as fate would have it, she was the first person I saw.

There she was, standing by the buffet table, unbothered, with a breakfast sandwich in hand. Her cheeks were puffed out as she chewed, clearly enjoying her meal. She looked… normal, and relaxed, like nothing strange had happened between us the night before. For a second, I just stood there, watching her, unsure of how to approach her.

Arin noticed me out of the corner of her eye and turned. Her expression shifted slightly—just a flicker of surprise—before she smiled, still mid-bite.

“Morning,” she mumbled through her mouthful of food, giving a small wave.

I chuckled, suddenly feeling a lot more at ease. “Morning. How’s the sandwich?” I asked as if that was the most pressing issue in the world.

She held it up like a prize. “Delicious. You want one?”

I shook my head, grabbing a tea instead. I wasn’t hungry, just… nervous. Last night’s kiss was like a ticking time bomb in my brain, and I wasn’t sure how to address it, or if I should at all. But Arin seemed completely calm, almost like it hadn’t thrown her off balance at all.

I sat down across from her, still feeling the weight of unspoken words between us. She took another bite of her sandwich, glanced up at me, and raised an eyebrow.

“You seem nervous,” she said, a bit of teasing in her voice.

I scratched the back of my head, trying to play it cool. “Well, last night was… unexpected.”

Arin set her sandwich down and met my gaze. “Yeah, about that…” She paused for a moment, thinking. “I didn’t mean to catch you off guard. Magenta can be… a little pushy, and I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

I nodded, feeling a bit of relief. “It’s not that. I just didn’t expect it, you know? But it’s fine.” I took a sip of my tea, then added, “I don’t want things to be weird between us.”

Arin smiled softly. “It doesn’t have to be. Let’s just… take it one step at a time.”

She returned to her sandwich, the tension slowly melting away. It was oddly comforting, sitting there with her, sharing a quiet moment in the middle of what was about to be a busy day. There was no pressure to say more than what needed to be said, and for once, I wasn’t overthinking it.

As she finished her breakfast sandwich, she looked at me again, this time with a playful glint in her eyes. “You sure you don’t want a sandwich? You’re going to need your energy for today.”

I laughed. “Maybe I’ll grab one on the way to set.”

“Good,” she said, standing up. “We’re going to be in for a long day.” I decided to grab a breakfast sandwich as I walked to the buffet Arin walked close to me and asked how I felt about Magenta’s observation.

“Well I don't know you all that well so I can't be sure how accurate it was, but for me, it was pretty much who I am.” Arin smiled

“Yeah, she does that. Also, I got a couple of glimpses of your hand last night when you weren't paying attention. You had some serious power in that deck. Why didn't you play it?”

“Well I'm not used to you all yet so I don't know how y'all describe powerful. I built this deck to beat one of the cameras guys who's been topping tournaments with his Rocco Caberetti Caterer build.”

“Oh, so you're a cedh player?” Arin raised an eyebrow.

“No, I'm competitive and don't like losing,” I respond.

“But you lost yesterday…intentionally.” she challenged and in that moment I felt at ease with her.

“That's different. I lost the game because I didn't want y'all to be like that. Oh, he plays too powerful. Mrs turn one tapped land.” Arin smiled and said.

“Oh Magenta was right me and you will get along just fine.”She leaned in closer to me as we grabbed more food. There was a moment, brief but noticeable, where my heart skipped a beat. Her presence felt… easy. Like I didn’t need to overthink things. Before I could dwell on it, we headed back to our table. As we sat down I heard someone say,

“Oh look it's Hiro. Let's sit next to him.” I look up to see Yujin and Tj walking next to each other. I smile seeing him so clearly elated and Yujin also looks very happy. They sit next to us with their plates of food and I tease TJ.

“What happened?” he smiles and starts his story.

Flashback to Yesterday

TJ had been pacing back and forth for what felt like hours. The advice the narrator had given him was fresh in his mind, but now that the moment had come, all of his confidence was wavering. He took a deep breath, mentally replaying how he was going to ask Yujin out.

Just ask her, he told himself. You’ve got this.

Yujin appeared a few minutes later, looking radiant, as usual. She smiled when she spotted him. “Hey, TJ! What’s up?”

He froze for a second, his mind going blank. Oh no… I forgot everything.

“Uh… h-hi, Yujin,” he stammered, his heart racing. Okay, here goes nothing.

“I was, um, wondering… would you like to… go out with me? Tonight?” He blurted out the words in a rush, barely looking her in the eye.

Yujin tilted her head, a slow smile spreading across her lips. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

TJ could feel his face heating up. “Y-yeah. I mean, yes, I am.”

There was a beat of silence, and he braced himself for rejection, but to his surprise, Yujin chuckled softly. “Well, that’s bold. I like it. Sure, I’ll go on a date with you.”

TJ’s eyes widened. “Wait?”

“Of course. Why not?” She winked. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Later that night, TJ found himself sitting across from Yujin at a cozy café. It wasn’t anything fancy, but the warm lighting and soft music set the perfect mood for a first date. His hands felt clammy as he tried to keep the conversation going, feeling her eyes on him the entire time.

“So… you like coffee?” he asked, immediately regretting how awkward it sounded.

Yujin smiled, sipping her drink. “I do. But you don’t have to be so nervous, TJ.”

He looked down at his cup, fiddling with the sleeve. “Sorry… I just didn’t expect this to happen. You saying yes, I mean.”

Yujin leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. “Well, I like surprises. And you surprised me. I think that’s a good start.”

Her words reassured him, and as the night went on, he slowly started to relax. As he did Yujin liked what she saw. She saw his humor and wit.

“So how did Ava find you?” Yujin asks TJ who responds flustered

“I went to college with her and Hiro.”

“Oh really what were they like?” Yujin asks

“Guarded and more anxious but they seem better now

“Okay, so last question. “Why me”

“Well you've always been a pillar of joy since your debut in Izone, and you've become so great that I'd be a fool not to try”. TJ says. Yujin smiles and says “Congratulations you earned a second date”

Cut to now

Oh “that's super cute I responded. Tj smiles as we finish breakfast.

“Well we better get rolling,” I say to TJ and Yujin they both smile and wave me off as Arin and I go to the set. She rode with her members I drove by myself. I arrived first to see Ava who was all smiles.

“As always you are early,” she says. I nod and she says. “Now go meet with today’s groups. It's QWER, Oh My Girl, Lightsum, dreamcatcher, and Cignature. I figured you’d pair well with these more eclectic and zany girls.” She said happily. I rolled my eyes.

I introduced myself to the numerous girl groups and they were very nice, polite, and in general pleasant to be around I hit it off with Nayoung and Chodan in terms of filming and I think it helped the filming shine. Granted I was trying to play it “cool” to make the girls feel confident and comfortable with me as their host since the next couple of weeks we’d be spending a lot of long filming days together. I think it was fine for the most part except for one girl in particular. As I took a break from filming and found a break room to rest in I noticed something.

The atmosphere in the room was more relaxed this time, but there was still a tension humming in the air. The kind you notice when everyone’s gotten a little too comfortable, but there’s something under the surface, waiting to bubble up. After last night’s game, I knew them a bit better—or at least, I thought I did.

Magenta grinned when I walked in, her eyes playful as always. “So, after sleeping on it, how does it feel to lose to me?” she teased.

I chuckled, shaking my head. “Hey, that was a tactical retreat, not a loss. I’ll take you down next time.”

Chowon, who was sitting beside her, smiled at me warmly. “You did great for your first time playing with us. Though I did notice you holding back.”

I shrugged, trying to keep things light. “Yeah, well, I didn’t want to scare you all off with my ‘cedh’ skills.” I made air quotes, remembering Arin’s jab from the night before. The group laughed, but it was Arin’s silence that caught my attention.

She was sitting on the edge of the couch, quietly observing as the banter flew back and forth. Her gaze wasn’t on Magenta or Chowon—it was on me. And when our eyes met, it was like that unspoken connection from last night flared up again, stronger this time.

No words, just a lingering look. But it said so much more than a simple greeting could.

Magenta’s voice cut through the moment. “Oh please, you were too busy watching Arin to even play your best cards.”

I felt the heat rise to my face, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Arin blush, a slight smirk playing on her lips. “Unnie, stop teasing him,” she said, her voice calm but laced with amusement. “He was just getting used to our pace. We don’t all rush headfirst into a match, you know.”

“Is that what we’re calling it now?” Magenta quipped, raising an eyebrow at both of us.

I laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck. “I was just…feeling it out, you know? Trying to get a sense of how you all play.”

Chowon nodded, chiming in with her usual supportive tone. “You’ll fit right in once you get used to us.” She paused, her eyes flickering between me and Arin, something unspoken hanging in the air. “Especially with Arin keeping an eye on you.”

Arin’s smile was subtle, but there was that same pull between us, like last night—this quiet, simmering tension. We hadn’t talked much beyond the game, but I could feel her presence more than anyone else’s. It was like every move she made, every time she shifted in her seat or tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, my attention was drawn to her without me even realizing it.

At one point, as we all moved toward the small buffet table for food, Arin ended up beside me. She nudged me slightly with her elbow, her voice soft but teasing. “You did lose, though. Tactical retreat or not.”

I shot her a mock-offended look, trying to ignore the way my pulse quickened being this close to her. “Only because I didn’t want to embarrass anyone.”

“Sure,” she said with a playful smirk. “But next time, don’t hold back. I want to see what you’re capable of.”

Her words were innocent enough, but there was something deeper in the way she said it. Something that made my heart race. The rest of the group was chatting, oblivious to the growing tension between us. But in that brief exchange, it felt like we were in our little bubble, where every word carried more weight than it should.

We loaded our plates with food, the space between us feeling smaller with each passing second. As we walked back to the table, Arin’s hand brushed mine, and I swear the spark that shot through me wasn’t just my imagination. I glanced at her, half-expecting her to pull away or laugh it off, but she didn’t. She just gave me a sidelong look, her lips curving into a small, knowing smile.

When we sat back down, the group fell into easy conversation, but I could barely focus. Every time Arin shifted or spoke, my attention snapped to her. It wasn’t obvious to anyone else—at least, I didn’t think it was—but the pull between us was undeniable.

Magenta must’ve noticed something, though, because, at one point, she leaned over and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, “You know, Arin, I think you and he are starting to vibe. Just saying.”

Arin’s face flushed, and she shot Magenta a warning glance. “Unnie, please.”

But Magenta just laughed, winking at me. “What? I’m just calling it as I see it.”

The rest of the conversation continued, but that charged connection between Arin and me stayed. It wasn’t something we were ready to talk about yet, but it was there. And it wasn’t going anywhere.

After filming Magenta invited me to another game. As I was packing I also received an invitation from Jiheon. So I decided to see if I could mix the playgroups. The group had gathered again, ready for another round of Commander before heading to sleep. I entered the room, spotting Arin, Magenta, and Chowon setting up their decks. As I approached, Magenta gave me a sly smile while Chowon waved happily.

“Ready to lose again?” Magenta teased.

Before I could answer, I noticed someone new sitting next to Arin, sorting through a pile of cards. She had a relaxed, confident energy and looked up when I entered the room.

“Oh, you’re the new guy,” she said, standing up and extending her hand with a smile that was both charming and direct. “I’m Jeewon. I heard you threw the game last night. Bold move.”

I shook her hand, raising an eyebrow at her boldness. “I just didn’t want to play too hard on the first night.”

Jeewon grinned. “Smart. Gotta keep ‘em coming back for more, huh?”

She stepped closer, her eyes scanning me for a second before locking with mine. “I like that. I like you.”

Her words came out so casually as if she was talking about her favorite card in the deck. Arin, sitting a few feet away, tensed slightly, but kept her eyes on her cards, though I could feel the shift in her mood. It was subtle but there, like an unspoken pull between us.

I blinked, trying to process Jeewon’s forwardness. “Uh, thanks?”

Jeewon chuckled, amused at my reaction, and sat back down. “I’m upfront, just so you know. I don’t waste time. If I like someone, I say it.”

Magenta laughed, watching the whole exchange. “Jeewon’s always been like that. Gets right to the point.”

I stole a glance at Arin, who was quietly shuffling her deck, her fingers moving a little more deliberately than before. Her lips were pressed together, but she didn’t say anything. The air between us felt charged, like there was something unspoken, simmering beneath the surface, especially after last night’s kiss.

Jeewon’s eyes flicked between us as if noticing the silent tension. “So, what about you?” she asked me, leaning in with a curious grin. “You into anyone in the group yet?”

The question hung in the air, and I could feel both Jeewon’s intense gaze and Arin’s quiet presence beside me. The room seemed to shrink for a moment as I fumbled for an answer.

“I guess I’m still… figuring things out,” I said, trying to keep it vague.

Jeewon shrugged, her grin widening. “Fair enough. I’ll give you some time, but don’t take too long.” She winked, turning her attention back to the deck she was shuffling.

Magenta leaned over with a smirk. “Looks like you’re in for an interesting day.”

“Actually about that…Jiheon invited me to join her group so I figured we could all group up and play.

Jeewon smiles and says, “See I knew I liked this guy. A true bridge builder. You’re probably like Arin and play something like Temur or Bant.” Jeewon said I shook my head.

“Nope Sultai,” I responded and Jeewon’s eyes widened and she narrowed them.

“Ooh a bad boy… that just makes me want you more,”

Magenta and Chowon both save me by saying, “Nope he’s a good boy through and through,”

Jeewon smiles and grabs my arm.

“Well then lead the way.”

As we entered the room, Jiheon’s voice rang out in triumph. “And that’s game! Told you I was taking this one home.” She glanced over her cards before looking up, her eyes locking onto mine. A grin spread across her face as she stood up, brushing past the others at the table.

“There you are,” Jiheon said, making her way over to me. “You know, I couldn’t have done it without your help last time. That little trick you showed me was perfect.”

Before I could even respond, she wrapped an arm around my shoulder, leaning in to press a soft kiss to my cheek. “Thanks for that,” she said with a wink, completely oblivious to the stunned silence that settled over the group behind me.

I caught a glimpse of Arin’s eyes widening, her face flushing, while Jeewon raised an amused eyebrow, clearly entertained by the sudden shift. Magenta exchanged a knowing glance with Chowon, trying to stifle a laugh as Jiheon lingered a little too long, still close to my side.

I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly, trying to gauge the reactions. “Uh… you’re welcome?”

Jiheon flashed another grin, completely unaware of the tension in the air. “Alright, who’s ready for the next game?”

Everyone nods and we shuffle groups. I am paired with Jiheon, Connor, and Yunjin. Before we begin though I ask if I can go to the restroom.

I take care of business and as I’m finishing up the door opens. I scream internally as I know I locked it but panic regardless.

In walks Jiheon. She stops for a moment as do I, while our brains try to process what is going on. Jiheon’s eyes wander down and she looks at my cock. She licks her lips then closes the door behind her and double locks it. She walks over to me and I’m still in the freeze response as she grabs my manhood. It’s warm in her hands she smiles and says, “Oh you’re so hard for me baby.”

She begins stroking me with leisured and languid strokes in between saying the filthiest words with her pretty mouth and smile.

“We don’t have a lot of time baby but I can see your balls are so full. I want all that cum on and inside me.”

Her dazzling smile made it hard to fight my attraction. She keeps stroking me and says, “Can I lick it?”

I moan and she smiles, “I’ll take that as a yes.” She says before licking my tip.. her pink tongue swirled around my bulbous head.

“It looks so angry. Are you neglecting yourself?” She asked. I nod helplessly before she takes me into her mouth fully. I moan again and she bobs on my cock. Getting her warm wet mouth all over my cock. Feeling bold she goes down the full shaft and lets me rest in her throat. She looks up at me and her big brown eyes drive me crazy and I have to resist the urge to grab her cheeks and fuck her face and let her do her thing.

She smiled and wrapped her tongue around my shaft. She slurped and gagged a few times before removing her mouth

“Okay, you’re ready.” She said before taking her shorts down. She slapped her ass and I watched it jiggle before lining up my rod and gliding into her soft wet snatch. She moaned.

“Oh, you’re so big inside,” Jiheon said enraptured. I started thrusting into her and she looked back at me smiling.

“Oh God! Baby this cock is so good.” Jiheon says as I thrust into her. She moaned and I slapped her ass. It jiggled just right and I smiled watching her tasty flesh fold and give way. Her wet pussy squelches around my cock as her slick pools under us. I feel my cock twitch with a familiar sensation.

Jiheon noticed and said, “Oh good are you close?”

“Mm hm,” I confirm. Jiheon smirks and says, “Just dump that big load inside of me.” I groan and she moans as I cum inside of her. I feel her tighten and her slick rushes all over my crotch.

After Jiheon smiles and says “Go outside first then I’ll be right behind a few minutes later. (She grabs my collar and pulls me in for a heated kiss leaving me hard again) we’ll continue this later.”

I smile at her as I pull up my pants and watch my cum drip down her thigh. I watch as she stares me down as I watch her pulls her shorts back up.

“Okay, you’ve gotten your show, now go.” She said and I did.

I walked and got to our table where Yunjin and Connor were waiting. They were bickering over whether or not Percy Jackson was a millennium or Gen Z. As always they were quite loud as well meaning that no one probably heard Jiheon and me go at it earlier. I got my deck set up and waited. As I did I put my head in my arms before taking a light nap. I wake up to Jiheon shaking me.

“Come on sleepy head.” She was saying as she shook me. I smiled and got everything set up for us. She leaned in close and laid her head on my shoulder. When she did that it felt natural, like I had always been in her place. Yunjin notices and yells

“Oh, are we doing two-headed giant?” I look at Jiheon and she bashfully smiles before nodding.

I looked for Arin and when I found her watching us I could see a competitive fire light in her eyes. I chuckled as we started the game.

Jiheon and I both have gemstone pre-game action in the form of gemstone caverns. The two red white players declared they were going first because they had to wait to use

“Oh, dear Connor says. This may be bad.” Jiheon and I both nod.

Jiheon, Arin, TJ, and I clean the house in all the games we play. Which leads to the rest of the players saying,

“Y’all play at the winners' table.”

We shuffle and cut and draw our starting hands. I looked around and I was going first. I draw for a turn and sigh.

“Before we begin does anyone have a way to stop me?” Everyone looks at me surprised then I ask does anyone have a mind break trap? Or any outbreeding counterspell?” The table shakes its head and I reveal my hand.

“Okay so here’s the combo:

1,) Play Mana crypt, Mox, vault, sol ring lotus then delve Zagoth triome and lotus to cast tasigur

2.) Neoform the tasigur to scholar of the lost troves then neoform that into hoarding brood lord

3.) Convoke hoarding brood lord and cast saw in half that was exiled off of brood lord

4.) Cast sacrifice and use the 8 mana to cast peer into the abyss with the second brood lord draw half my deck

5.) Okay so now divergent points

6 .) Play all my other fast mana and follow up with one of my win cons

7.) Cast demonic consultation thassas oracle

7.b.) cast nadu, lightning greeves, and spring heart Nantucket. This will bring me a nondeterministic loop in which I will physically draw the rest of my deck

7.c.) cast displacer kitten and Crabhomination then noxious revival losing two lives. This will start a semi-infinite cast loop that exiles everyone else’s deck and wins me the game.

8.)win the game.”

As I finished my explanation the other tables were all looking at me wild-eyed.

“Hold up you have a turn-one win in your deck?” Siyeon asked bluntly. I nod to Sakura and her complaints about how BS that is. I shrug and say,

“See this is why I throw games, because you all aren’t as competitive as me.”

“You don’t go to tournaments, though.” Dexter challenged.

I laugh and say, “Yet I still beat the breaks off you Mr. I’ve topped 8 tournaments and have an almost 45% conversion rate.” Dexter looks at me stunned and then twists the knife even further, “You beat the same people day in and day out I’m much more exhaustive in my choice of prey. I choose the biggest fattest strongest prey as they make the best meals. And I tear into their weak points and let those kill them rather than me. Then when the defiant spark has left their eyes I go in for the kill. Now please keep in mind this is all metaphorical. ” As I spoke I felt my voice take on a familiar edge which meant I was getting too frustrated. As I look into the eyes of everyone present I see various emotions: fear, excitement agreement, pity (that one infuriates me) disappointment but the main one I feel from all those around me is a collective terror. I begin to feed on that emotional energy floating in the room, but the feelings become muted. I decided to step out. I grab my stuff and take the elevator to my room on the fifth floor. When I exit I see the sponsor. She’s talking to Hunk the famed Umbrella Corps specialist. I crack my knuckles and ignore them as I walk around. I overhear them talking about plans and the lady turns to me.

“Oh, you're Avaline’s little mutt.” She teases. I roll my eyes as she says, “Roll your eyes all you want but when things go down you won’t be smiling or laughing anymore.” In the very pit of my being, I feel it. The desire to destroy to hunt to eradicate, and here she is presenting herself as the fattest juiciest of prey. I turn to her and speak slowly.

“Is that a threat?” I ask

I watch the lady’s mood shift from happy to fearful. Her “ally” also cowers a bit.

“Because I don’t take well to threats.” I could feel my desire for violence surging madly within me terrible visions surged within me as I looked at the both of them. Then they ruined it by backtracking

“No, we aren’t planning anything,” Hunk said.

I could hear his elevated heart rate give him away as a liar. I sighed and said

“Listen cowards whatever convoluted and half-baked scheme you’re coming up with leave me alone as well as my friends or you will both personally find out I’m less of a dog and more of a kaiju.” The lady smiled and her calming heart rate told me she thought she had some leverage

“Well, Mr Ballas. I will tell you that you can’t save everyone so maybe I just may be so inclined as to…”

Knowing where this stupid conversation was going I responded. I stood my full size and then hunched in closer to show them how small they were in comparison “If anyone I care about is hurt here because of your stupid plans, I will make sure He will be a vacation from what I will put you through because you’re right I can’t keep them all safe but you know what I can do that I’m way better at. Revenge. (I switch my tone from menace to calm and happy) now have a nice night and remember to leave my friends alone.”

The terror in the air tasted delicious as they took the elevator down. As they left the emotional high I had crashed and I felt drained. So I opened the door to my room and crashed into the bed.

The door creaks open a little later after I recovered a bit. The dark room I had left myself in was pierced by patches of light. I turned over to see what was facing me. It was Jiheon. She smiled mischievously as she closed the door. “You ready babe?” I could taste her hunger and her lust as she entered. The air permeated everything as I watched her inch closer and closer.

As she did a new piece of clothing would fly off in the dark room until she reached me. She leaned down and all I could see were her soft brown eyes. She smiled before her hands dipped down into my pants. She began to stroke me again. To get me to explode in her hands she began messaging my balls

“Oh fuck honey” I screamed Jiheon smiled,

“Yeah let everyone know how good I'm making you feel.” let everyone hear you scream my name as I make you cum.” her smile was evil as she began to pick up the pace before I couldn't take it anymore I bucked into her hips and my cum flew out to her face hands arms and chest. She smiled and stared t my hard cock still raging

“You animal. I love it Jiheon cooed before straddling me and then lowering herself on top of me. She smiled and said,

“I could get addicted to this; the size and gerth are just right for my tight pussy.” I moan she bounces on my cock.

“Fuck, honey. You're so wet.” I groan out as I slip and slide in and out of her almost soul-snatching pussy.

Jiheon smiles and says, “I know, now cum.” her words put me into a deep trance as I release another load into her as I keep thrusting into her. I can feel her tighten as well and she starts to orgasm making a mess on top of me. With a smug grin she smirked and said “I'll see you later baby,” and with that, she was gone as fast as she came. I lay in my bed confused and still hard. Unsure what to do I just go to sleep and hope tomorrow is less weird.

[verstappentime]

i posted about this before, but let me (as a journalist irl) elaborate what's likely going on with daniel!!

when no one asked dan about his future during press day last week, we all automatically recognized this was probably the result of an embargo (we have quite a few f1 fans in the newsroom). stranger still that christian horner was in the TP conference and didn't speak on it either. we had expected that combo to make a sort of joint announcement.

so what's an embargo/how does it work?

essentially, it's when a source gives you any information ahead of time, but requests you do not publish anything on it until a certain date and time. this can be done for a lot of reasons. embargoes usually request that you refrain from sharing information from a press release or document.

usually embargoes are put in place so essentially you keep to your time table of when the information becomes "public," but news outlets aren't left scrambling because they have already written their story and have it ready to go live as soon as it's acceptable. in the case of f1 this also applies to instagram posts and things like that. that's why you'll often see the posts go live straight away when an announcement is made; everything's pre-confirmed & pre-written, they're just waiting for the green light.

if you violate an embargo in sports journalism, you'll likely have your credentials to, say, get into the press pen revoked. you/your outlet will no longer receive any privileged information. and you'll likely be asked to take it down. not for any legal reason -- you're just burning a bridge and violating trust. so this info COULD be leaked, but under the honor system, it rarely is. (especially bc if you post embargoed info & ruin your org's reputation with the source, you're probably losing your job.)

so what's going on in DR's case?

most likely, all credible sources have either A) been given the information under an embargo, or B) been told the time they can expect an embargoed press release. (i work with law enforcement, so for me this is usually just something like "you can expect the records to be sent out before dinner time friday night but it will be embargoed till 9 a.m. when they're officially public record.")

either way, everyone has probably been warned off asking those questions, but they also likely already know the answer. whatever they received, even if it doesn't reveal all the cards, most likely said daniel would not answer questions prior to the official release time and essentially, don't bother.

what's up with all the rumors?

essentially, when every credible source has their hands tied, there's no one to counter all the randoms. we see it all the time -- people yapping trading theories when we actually know what happened and can't say. unfortunately in f1 some of the randoms have some sort of name recognition -- and for some reason there are like 500 completely not credible news outlets full of untrue shit. so right now, they are the only people 1) free to bang on with theories and 2) who dont either have the info or know when the info is coming available. so that's allowing them to take up all the space.

conclusion: this isn't necessarily good or bad, but explains why we're hearing so many irrelevant people's opinions on this and not hearing anything from VCARB, daniel or his team. it was most likely done to give preferred sources the jump on announcing the news, but also to allow daniel to focus.

i'm assuming the embargo will be lifted monday morning european time, but we may hear a vague denial this weekend as theres probably some building frustration (like daniel saying yeah you'll see me in COTA or whatever).

[erinwantstowrite]

Let me just quickly say, cross-overs can sometimes get REALLY difficult to map out and write in a cohesive way but you have absolutely NAILED IT!! I absolutely ADORE LoF!!! I usually don’t even bother reading fics with the ‘Richard Grayson is Richard Parker’ premise cause I felt like they were super confusing and overcomplicated but this fic?? SUPERB. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. OH MY GOD I ADORE IT. Everyone’s characterizations are so nice and wonderful aaaaaaah!!!! <33333

Ok ok I did actually have a question as well: would you be willing to share what your writing process looks like in terms of a chapter you’ve already posted? I was just wondering since I’m also currently working on my own fic (it’s been a few years but I managed to get fixated on an idea and it grew legs lol) and I’m currently fighting the organization of it haha.

How do you keep track of the plot points and/or foreshadowing you want to get a ‘lightbulb!’ moment for later? Do you have any tips?

Thank you so much! I absolutely adore your writing AND your art is so gorgeous omg it adds so much to the incredible story :DDD I hope you have a good day!!

I have a secret: I actually didn't like "Richard Grayson is Richard Parker' tag for a while for the same reason. Sometimes they felt like they missed the mark or it's just. A thing that's there? I almost didn't include it for LoF, but I'm glad I did because it changed the direction in such a big way.

Another secret: this made me incredibly happy because I have read so many wikis and scoured the internet to make sure that I had enough info on both fandoms so LoF could make sense to anyone who's reading it, whether they know Spider-Man, Batfam, or neither at all. Sometimes I worry a lot before I post that I'll miss a mark and will confuse people.

As for the question: I definitely am willing to share what my writing process looks like!

Be prepared for under the cut, I love to yap. It's in my blood to yap. And that's why it took a minute to get to this ask haha

(Spoilers for Leap of Faith!! Everything mentioned has already been published ((Chapters 1-11))

I had to go and find out which chapter I wanted to use as an example and I think we're gonna go with Chapter 5 for the most part :)

My writing process is, as described by alighterwood:

I think the description fits because while I'm all over the place, I have to be very detail oriented and I store everything in one spot.

Starting with the overall process, what I find is most helpful for me, when organizing, is having a notebook rather than doing it all digitally. I've been using a 70 sheet notebook that I had lying around waiting to be used, and as of yesterday, I officially filled the entire thing front to back. It's been an incredible help, for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it's a lot easier to remember something I physically wrote down than it is to remember something I typed. I'm now on to my second notebook for LoF, and I might even have to get a third.

In another ask, startupkat asked me this:

And I shared a little about my outline process there, but I'll try to go into a little more depth here. Emphasis on little because this is so long.

I write a truly insane amount of outlines in this notebook.

This is just what I can show you, but a good chunk of the notebook is just outlines. Over and over and over again. That's because they're always changing/adapting based on so many different factors. Sometimes I get to a chapter I thought I had fully planned out and then realize it just doesn't work anymore. Other times, I get to the chapter and realize I don't want to write that anymore/isn't as interesting as I thought it would be. A few times I got halfway through a POV of a scene I was struggling on and decided to switch POV's, which will change up the outline for a chapter every now and then.

Which is why I don't write incredibly detailed outlines and try to keep it vague until I actually get to that chapter. It's a lot less daunting to rewrite a chapter outline than it is to rewrite the entire outline.

Fic outlines and Chapter outlines look a lot alike.

This is what I said in the other ask, but I didn't elaborate on it all the way.

I make a list just like that, and then I try to put it in chronological order/in an order that makes sense. I keep the Fic outline vague by writing down "Goals" for a chapter rather than scenes. But I also keep notes to myself if I really think something is important. The more important I think a scene needs to be, the more details I write down to make sure my future self recalls what I had in mind when I thought it up.

Really simple example:

Chap 1 Goal: Peter gets to Gotham and meets Babs while running around. Meet Nightwing too? Get shelter.

Chapter 2 Goal: Bats are like "???" about Peter. Batfam dynamic important... Peter stalking Batfam back? Peter meet Batman >:)

When I get to a chapter, that's when I make a far more detailed list of wants/needs/goals. It's the Step 2 from the Step 1. Here are some examples from Chapter 5:

Needed to have:

More POV's from universe 1299 (Peter's home universe)

Tony's POV more specifically, how he's doing/feeling, what he's figured out

What they've figured out on 1299 side vs what's going on in 1300 (Gotham)

Explaining more about Peter's trauma/his past

Dick learning more about Peter, and vise versa

Wanted to have:

Ned being a more central character

Natasha :)

Loki being a little shit

Tony and Cap bickering

Peter talking to Nightwing again

The last name Grayson

Gymnastics!!

(This is the shortened list, because the chapters are so long)

When I looked at this list before writing my outline, I had to figure out how I could incorporate everything. If I needed more 1299 POV's, and I wanted Ned, Natasha, and Loki, there's one scene accounted for. I had to get their side of things and wanted that trio together. I needed a Tony POV, and I wanted Tony and Cap bickering, so those went together, plus I got 1299's POV of Ohnn and his plans explained.

I needed to have Peter explaining more about his trauma, and Dick and Peter to talk/get closer. I wanted a Nightwing POV, to have Peter say his last name, and them doing gymnastics. I knew Peter wouldn't willingly talk about that, so I had him have a nightmare. Not only did it give readers perspective but it made Peter more susceptible to talking to Nightwing because he was more emotionally vulnerable/lonely, and that's how that scene came together.

That's when I would write down the chronological order of these events by writing out "Scene Blocks." (This is what I wrote down but my handwriting was so bad I can't subject y'all to it):

scene 1- Ned talking to Loki. Natasha should be nearby and observing Loki's behavior. They are not on friendly terms. Ned is more worried about Peter than he is as to what Loki could be up to, so Natasha takes on that role.

scene 2- Tony is freaking out about Peter being in an alt dimension. He should attack Ohnn when he's not prepared for it. Beat his ass? Beat his ass. Cap there too.

scene 3- Peter's nightmare. "Ben, where do you go when you die?" "Where do you think?" "With you. Where you went."

scene 4- Nightwing and Peter.

Of course, things come to attention when writing. Like originally, Tony and Cap were arguing in the Tower. But it was a little too much like his and Natasha's argument, and I kept in mind that Tony is smart. Sometimes I forget that the characters are smarter than I am, so I have to account for what they would figure out. So Tony would have picked up the puzzle pieces and come to more conclusions than I originally thought about, and I figured he'd be way more proactive about it than just. Being in the Tower and waiting.

Which means that that scene ended up being as listed above: having a squabble with Cap, learning more about Peter's dynamic with the Avengers in this universe, and seeing how Tony is reacting to it by throwing himself head first into trying to capture Ohnn.

I'll realize I need something else to be mentioned or put in and I'll have to shimmy things around, but that's basically how it goes.

As for other forms of organization:

Keeping a timeline is so important because it tells you a lot about the environment your characters are in. It's also important to remember what a character has on them, what money they've spent, who they've met/who you have mentioned, every alias that is being used, to read your work and write down edits you want to make before you make them, to write down ideas beforehand of situations you can use, and, most importantly: MAKE A MAP!! This has saved me so many times. Sometimes your brain WILL trick you or make it harder on you to envision a scene. Make a map of where your characters are physically!! It will save you too!!

As for foreshadowing and plot points, I'll let you in on yet another secret:

Your subconscious is doing a lot more than you think it is.

Sometimes when I foreshadow something, I didn't even know I was until I got to it. I very often go back to read chapters that came before this to see what I've mentioned and what I haven't, and when I do, I'll see something and go "I have to bring this back" or "I almost forgot about that!"

Other times, I am very aware of what I'm foreshadowing, and that's because I follow a mystery plot formula. You have to keep in mind everyone's intentions, all the time. How are they feeling? What are their motivations? And: what are they doing right now, while this character is doing this?

Like Beck and Ohnn. From the very beginning, I knew I had to make sure that it was obvious Ohnn wasn't working alone. From there, I had to weave through the story and slowly build him up as someone who's working behind the scenes. Even from Ned's first POV, I made sure to mention that this person knows Tony and is tech savvy.

My biggest tip is to make sure you reread your work or at least skip through it, because sometimes you don't even know that you placed something there.

And sometimes, it's very purposeful. :)

I hope this helped! I really tried to keep it short but I am insane and the process is sooooo long. It sounds complicated but it really is simple when you're actually doing it I swear

[vidavalor]

Hello!

This is random but I remembered your posts regarding The Situation with NG’s involvement in Good Omens when one of my followers on Twitter tweeted a screen cap of an old conversation on bluesky where Neil sorta confirms Amazon had pulled back his influence on production from S1 so there’s a lot of truth in what you said

Hope you’re doing great! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Hi there! 💕 Hope you're doing great yourself. I usually offer snacks but this is a large sherry or Talisker topic so *gets the glasses*...

That's interesting info-- thank you for sharing it. Like I was saying in that original post, I don't know any of that for sure but that was definitely the impression I was getting. One of the several reasons I was getting that impression was due to other, equally unprofessional posts like the one you're talking about here that speak to already-existing conflict with Amazon long before this particular Situation became publicly known.

I'm not sure why he'd be trying to fight the studio publicly like that if there's not something happening behind the scenes. It's just unprofessional. I was shocked when I saw posts like that because it's not like he was being a whistleblower to egregious behavior or something-- he was bitching about his boss and the budgets to fans on Tumblr. It feels like he was trying to use the fanbase as a shield to keep himself from being fired, as a way of saying "you can't get rid of me-- I will tell my fans you are the issue and they will believe me and not you and I have a million of them-- just look at my little Tumblr thing. You'll lose money if you don't back me."

You know what kind of guy does shit like that? The same kind that tells young women that no one is going to believe them because he's a famous, award-winning writer and they're nobody.

If you don't mind, I'm going to use your ask here for a moment to add a bit to what I was saying about Good Omens being a through-and-through Pratchett novel because I think it's important to remember that this story has another author here. I've had some people ask me to expound on that a bit. So, for anyone interested, this is what I mean when I say that Good Omens is a Pratchett novel:

As most of you probably know, most of the posts I write about Good Omens have to do with the use of language in the story. The diction in Good Omens is extremely specific. Its quirky word choice, its "gayer than a monkey on nitrous oxide"- type of wordplay? It's funny on the surface level and it's a whole other level of funny when you dig a bit deeper. The cleverness there is familiar to Pratchett readers, as it's part of the distinctive style of his other novels. As a writer who is a bit obsessed with etymology myself, I spotted his love for it right away in his writing. It's in every. single. one. of his books that I have read and I have read quite a few.

The exact same thing is in Good Omens. It's a really specific way of writing where word-related jokes are the vehicle for the humor and etymology-based diction choices are chosen with great precision and inform the piece on every level. Pratchett's signature style of writing came from the fact that he used etymology as a tool to help him convey the messages in his writing. The thematic connections he was making were supported by the complex histories of the key words around which he was forming his stories.

For example, there's a meta one of you asked me to write about the halo in S2 and, when you look at the etymology of the word, as we're going to do in that meta, you'll see that halo comes from discus and discus is the root of discussion, the root of the word desk, and the ancient sport that is like ring toss. It was also the name of a threshing floor for oxen, which ties both to dancing and to the threshold of a door, like the bookshop entry. By the time we get through looking at this one, key word of halo, we're going to have taken this whole trip-- through other discs-- the magic ring trick, record albums, Velvet Underground cds, etc., through what it means to dance to the ox ribs to what it means to have (or not have) a desk to what it means to talk through your frozen peas to what's up with the invitations into the bookshop. Good Omens is not random. Everything is very specifically chosen to work together to serve an overall story that is structured around using the etymology of words to underpin its meaning.

This is just one example and it's the same thing in the novel and S1. Much of the S2 stuff connects back to S1 & the novel. It's a story that loves words and it's a story that is threaded together, thematically, through being told by using very specific words and their histories. Good Omens is written like a Pratchett novel and feels like a Pratchett novel because it centers word history in exactly the same way as Pratchett does in his other novels.

You know where that halo thru-line that connects everything came from?

Discworld. It comes from Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

The same, core themes in his books are being explored, just in a slightly different way, in Good Omens and, often, using the same words in the exploration.

Because that's the thing-- all of these posts I'm writing about wordplay in Good Omens? I could, if I wanted to, also be writing them about any one of Pratchett's other novels, and a lot-- and I mean a lot-- of the specific words being used in a big way in Good Omens actually overlap with Pratchett's other books.

One of you has been waiting patiently for me to write about Mrs. Sandwich and the seamstress-themed language happening in the show and, to do that? We're going to not only talk about her and what she stands for in Good Omens but we're going to talk about the etymology jokes Pratchett was making with The Seamstress Guild in Discworld. Mrs. Sandwich might have been new in S2 but seamstress language is not-- it's baked into Crowley & Aziraphale's speak back in the novel and, as you'll see, there are instances of it in S1 and the novel that only become more apparent once you know to look for them after S2.

When NG said that, back in the day, he and Pratchett decided that Aziraphale should have a halo that was like a ring toss-- no.

Pratchett decided that.

The idea comes from the wordplay that is literally *in the title* of his own book series. Aziraphale's halo is related to why Pratchett's series is the Discworld. It's the same ideas. NG has fuck all to do with it.

Think about how I was just saying that all this love of etymology that is in Good Omens is also throughout Pratchett's books and is the driver of his word choice in all of them.

Now? Ask yourself who came up with Crowley and Aziraphale's secret language. Whose idea was it that it be so punny and etymology-based?

Probably the guy who wrote all of those etymology-based, other books.

Who invented the rules for that language?

Probably the guy who wrote all of those etymology-based other books.

If Pratchett wrote basically nothing but intentionally, lovingly, word-nerdy books... and if Good Omens is, soup-to-nuts, a love letter to etymology to a point that its main characters have a secret language built around it, then Terry Pratchett is who really wrote Good Omens. He's the true author of the book.

There are even interviews that show they had much different takes on how the process for the book happened. Pratchett, in one of the ones I read, said he wrote more than 2/3rds of the books straight up on his own and that he'd have phone calls with NG before NG wrote his bits of it and something politely vague to the effective of 'editing over' when writing the next chapter. In the same paragraph where he said he wrote more than 2/3rds of the book, he also said with all that discussion happening "who can say" who really wrote what-- yeah, exactly. It sounded a bit like NG needed the phone call to be told what to write on his end and then Pratchett edited it/rewrote bits of it before he wrote the next bit.

It comes off sounding like this book was like a partnered school project where Pratchett was the diligent one who did all the work himself so it would get done and be actually good and then assigned a bit of it to NG to do that he then had to go and fix so they'd get a decent grade. I wasn't there so I don't know but that's a bit like what the Pratchett interviews about it sound like to me and I'm much more inclined to believe Pratchett's view on their process than I am NG's take.

All I know is that Good Omens was successful when it was first published and any even moderately successful book makes publishing houses jump up and say "MORE NOW" and if you were those publishing houses? And you had a popular project with two writers? And one of the writers became tragically ill? You know what you'd do?

You'd eventually ask the other writer to finish the series.

It is known that a trilogy was planned from the start, which makes sense because most books are planned that way. You actually have to rough outline the entire story arc and then divide it amongst the books first. The story already existed in full when Pratchett began to get sick. Never-- in over two decades-- did anyone ever go to NG and ask him to both honor Pratchett and make them some cash by writing the rest of the trilogy?

Not even with how popular this book is?

That seems pretty suspicious to me.

Like a 'they know NG didn't really write it' kind of suspicious.

When both the publishing houses and the tv studios seem to be doing handstands to minimize his involvement with it, I'm thinking it's not too wild to infer there that it's because he never really wrote much, if any of it, in the first place.

More to the point? They know he's incapable of emulating it.

Because he's no Terry Pratchett.

[nerd-on-duty]

Tatort Saarbrücken (Spatort) English subtitles - 2024 edition (episodes 1-5)

For all international fans who want to watch Tatort Saabrücken (of annual tumblr trending fame) but don't speak German, fear not:

Send me a DM and I can send you a link for English subs :)

(Please do not send asks as I can't post them publicly and I've had the unfortunate experience of privately posted ones eating links or disappearing into the tumblr void, never to be seen again...)

For return customers: as of today (04 Feb 2024) the newest episode (#5 - Der Fluch des Geldes (FdG)) is now live! The Drive link is still the same and the ReadMe has been updated as well, so check that out for links and guides as always.

And as always: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL FAN PROJECT THAT I DO AS A HOBBY - PLEASE DO NOT POST THE LINK OR THE FILES PUBLICLY!

More info under the cut

You can pass them along to other people privately (though please also ask them not to post them and to let anyone else they'd like to share them with know as well!), but I really don't want any beef with the channel (which is publicly funded and can afford far fancier lawyers than me, who is none-funded and can afford no lawyers) because these are not official in any capacity nor do I want to leave anyone with the impression that these could be official. They're a simple homemade attempt at letting non-German-speaking fans participate in the epic highs and lows of Spatort because there currently are no official English subtitles. Any mistakes are entirely my own, I don't own any of the copyrights to Tatort or any of their characters or plots, yadda yadda.

That being said, if you notice any typos, translation errors, missing or out of date links or anything else, please do let me know so I can update the files accordingly!

As I've gotten a few messages this year apologizing for being late: if anyone sees this in the future - yes, this is still up to date. You can shoot me a message at any time of the year and I will get back to you as soon as I can (usually within 24-48 h). If you still haven't heard from me after a week (especially if there's still new posts coming in on the blog) feel free to poke me again - I promise I'm not ignoring you, I most likely just haven't seen the notification.

If you want to filter spoilers for the new episode in the meantime, block #spatort spoilers to avoid seeing them on this blog (I generally use this tag for posts related to new episodes in between the official release and uploading the subtitles)

[olderthannetfic]

To all the people in the notes of the abortion ask pulling out the obvious... yeah, it's really obvious given what kinks both mpreg and omegaverse are drawing on that most of those stories won't end in abortion. Anon isn't complaining about that. They're complaining about WHY characters don't get or sometimes even consider abortion in those stories. You can have your character consider and then choose not to get an abortion without suggesting that abortion is a terrible, horrible, no-good tragic choice that only ever appeals to either people in desperate circumstances or who are evil harlots. It's the negative framing around abortion that is the issue, not the fact that it doesn't happen - which both doesn't fit the kink and also just tends to be a less satisfying ending to a lot of those stories? Since it cuts off the drama around unintended pregnancy early on, and usually before a lot of the real problems with it kick in.

I'm not as into it as anon but I've read my fair share of mpreg. I usually expect going in that unless it's explicitly outlined in tags, the character is not going to get an abortion. But I know what anon means, there are certain stories that just give me the heebie-jeebies where it feels like the writer WANTS you to believe that it's just the worst possibility so isn't it wonderful that our character didn't go that route. Or of course my heroic good guy wouldn't even THINK about doing something like that!

(Another tell anon didn't mention that someone is influenced by anti-abortion propaganda is when they have a lot of ridiculously inaccurate medical info similar to the myths the anti-choice movement puts forward, like if you have a normal human where the fetus already looks distinctly humanoid at like 5 weeks, or the person is able to tell they're pregnant super duper early, or something like that. Like when the worldbuilding doesn't suggest there's any reason it might be different from normal human pregnancy. I've seen this show up not even in standard mpreg where cis dude gets miraculously pregnant somehow, but stuff where it's a trans male character - there's no reason his body should be able to detect pregnancy any earlier than any other AFAB body!)

It might be worth it for people to read some of the media criticism of how mainstream U.S. media used to come up with all sorts of contrivances to never have a sympathetic female character get an abortion ever, and how that contributed to abortion stigma. You can see with a lot of the famous examples of this (the Juno "fingernails" bullshit is the one I always remember) what it looks like when you have otherwise progressive media unintentionally reinforcing anti-abortion narratives.

I have a friend who is really into mpreg who has "negative or shaming framings of abortion" as a DNW for exchanges because of how common that sort of thing is. (She's trying to figure out the best wording, but so far it's worked at deterring that stuff.)

--

[l-in-the-light]

Thanks for your answer 😊🙏 Another question that came to my mind when I read your post about Law liking boys: what do you think about the LawxRobin scenes where he tells her about his "D" (and that he trusts her) and the one after wano victory where they go to underground together?

You're welcome! Also a warning, this is another post replying to multiple asks at once :D

Law x Robin, huh. Sure, let's elaborate on it, but just so you know, my view on them differs greatly from how fandom tends to see their Wano interactions. I spent a lot of time analyzing it in my head (way more than any sane person would) so my initial reaction of "awww so cute he trusts Robin" kinda faded to almost nothing now haha. Just like I stated in that post, I think it was mostly about business. He wanted to know what the D. stands for so he approached the person who was the most likely to know some more information. Sadly, he didn't really gain any new knowledge. As much as I love that scene because it feels like Law is trusting Robin there, I think we shouldn't overestimate it in general. He basically offered a trade (I tell you my hidden name, you tell me something back in exchange - favour for a favour! It's his usual MO with strangers) and I doubt he would do that without any good reason for it. That scene has a different vibe from the one in which he shares about Corazon to Luffy, he's actually opening up and he doesn't expect anything back for it (you can argue he does that so Luffy understands fighting Doflamingo is personal for Law and to leave it up to him, but it's still just for that - so that Luffy understands. It's not a trade). With Robin he seems rather guarded when comparing the two scenes together.

I have my suspicions about their talk there. Law is using veeeery vague words when he claims he shares the info "because he trusts Robin". What he actually says is just this: "omae dakara hanashita" which means literally "I told you because it's you" and you can interpret it any way you like, Robin took it a sign of trust and thanked him, but it's so vague it can also mean something like "I tell this ONLY to you" and that smells of a hidden reason to me. But of course it fits Law's withdrawn personality to not say the words like "trust" straightforwardly, right? But in his scene with Luffy he is kinda openly emotional in contrast - he literally tells him Corazon was the person he loved who gave him his life and that he is deeply indebted to him. Law didn't use many words, but all those words carried emotional weight, unlike the vague phrase he used with Robin. But anyway it wouldn't make sense to say my conspiracy theory here without explaining loose links from Water 7. Also I'm like 50-50 on that and I really think fandom wouldn't want to get spoiled this way in case I'm right.

Their randezvous in the secret chamber doesn't strike me as romantic honestly (I know people love it just because Robin and Law are alone together and oh just few inches from each other, and interpret what Robin says as teasing, but I need more than that for romantic vibes, sorry :D). It basically starts with Robin accusing Law of being a hyena (at least that's how he subjectively felt about that! and she didn't deny) and he gets back at her for it when he shambled only himself to that window (he even keeps his sour face on when she's complaining it's unfair, he doesn't even want to tell her it's a payback haha). Yes, he's that petty. Don't you like it in him? I certainly do, he's so hilarious.

Anyway, the whole scene is just them sharing business together, and it's slightly hinted that Law was kinda eavesdropping on them before he actually joined in, that's why Robin's reaction might have been that strong and a bit hostile. Robin prides herself in being sensitive to people around and their intentions, picking up on the slightest hints other people don't (like she said in Water 7, it's her survival's instinct), but she couldn't sense Law so ofc that would rub her the wrong way. Anime especially did a great job at showing it, with Law appearing out of nowhere exactly when Robin is gonna go down the hidden stairs. A timing a bit too perfect, eh? I wouldn't call Law a hyena (he had perfectly rational reason to be there!), but he sure was so damn sneaky and smooth about it.

Anyway, I guess my point is: those two are very guarded people, both dislike to show a moment of weakness because they know it can result in deadly situation. And they're also both very business-oriented. If there was any scene between Robin and Law that showed them as closer to each other, it would be all the way back in Dressrosa.

Just look at the mutual respect they show each other here! Law isn't acting freaked out by Robin's powers (because why would he, right? His powers are also quite peculiar. But I bet that earned him extra sympathy points here. How many times Robin heard it as a child that she's a monster just because she has devil fruit's powers) but also immediately worries about Robin and Usopp's safety instead of his own. Then he sits down to talk with Robin, just so they're more or less on eye-level, that's really considerate of him, especially in such a tense/crisis situation. And at the end of their talk Robin tosses him a "good luck" (in Japanese apparently it's a different phrase, one you say before a battle), and Law says "same to you" which is the closest he ever gets to say something even slightly akin to a greeting in the whole series. Soon afterwards Robin notices the ground shaking and worries for Law, because she knows it's a sign that he's in a tough fight. This is a huge step for Robin to worry about someone she actually suspected of betraying Luffy in Punk Hazard. She was always guarded whenever Law so much as appeared on screen.

This is also a great scene between them. Robin can't understand Law's dedication to Luffy, she clearly thought Law is indeed seeing their cooperation as only business-style alliance, they share a common goal, Law shouldn't feel like he owes anything to Luffy, and so she tries to appeal to Law's sense of reason here. She does it because she's concerned about him, she reacts really strongly to see him defeated (he definitely has her respect for his strength and skills to manage crisis!), and even more concerned when she notices his severed arm. She tries to make him think straight so he takes care of himself firstmost, but it's not for herself that she's saying it: it's for Luffy. I think Robin realized in Punk Hazard already that Luffy is really attached to Law, so of couse she wouldn't want to see Luffy sad if Law loses his life here, especially not after Luffy entrusted Law to her. She must be really taken aback with Law's final answer. I wonder what she might be thinking about Luffy's importance to Law now, because I would say she kinda caught a wind or at least a hint that Law cares more deeply than it seems at first glance.

Honestly every single one of their interactions in Dressrosa is much more meaningful than anything they shared in Wano, where both of them are just honestly clamming up again. I mean, there is no battle going on anymore (they had conversations in Wano before the plan was set into motion and after the battle has ended), and fighting together tends to bring people momentarily closer. But we shouldn't forget that in daily circumenstances Robin will still keep her guard up and so will Law, because trust in an ally in a battle is different than being emotionally open to a friend. They're both smart and they're not gonna pretend that just because Luffy calls Law his friend, that for Robin alliance means friendship as well. This also stays in line with what I believe is quite realistic when two very traumatized people having issues to open up actually meet and interact. Law might know about Ohara from the newspapers desciribing Enies Lobby incident, but I doubt Robin knows about Flevance or would know to connect Law to it in any way (fics often make her almost clairvoyant how she figures him out, but nah, that's just wishful thinking). That shared traumatic experience could bring them closer, but I think for now it's mostly one-sided, because Robin has no way to know.

Damn, I had a lot to say about all of that, haha. I hope you had fun reading about their interactions from a different angle!

Personally, I think Law x Luffy dynamics work better overall.

Law x Robin:

two very traumatized people

both don't open up and keep their guards around strangers

none can cheer the other because they both have pretty gloom personalities

they like cute things

share same or similar sense of humour (though Robin's more morbid)

both very serious

both good listeners and observant

both independant

both like to tease/stress Usopp (they could form a "tormenting Usopp fanclub", they tease him out of affection ofc)

both like their peace and quiet but also to watch other people cause chaos from afar (unless someone provokes Law)

both cling to cheerful people, both remember their mentor's smile

Etc. I think they would be great best buddies in the longer run and understand each other on a special level.

Law x Luffy:

both like to cheer up people (Luffy's the ultimate person to cheer anyone up. And it brings this side of Law to the light of the day too)

both are reckless little shits liking to cause chaos and beat people up for hurting people dear to them, both don't know when to give up

friendship is a serious matter and so is trust for both of them

one constantly smiles outwardly, the other inwardly

they both know the pain of losing their most important person

one is a younger sibling, the other the older sibling personality type

they understand each other without words

take each other seriously (and almost no one takes Luffy seriously)

both are stubborn mules with competetive side

overdedicated to protect others and not care enough about their own wellbeing in the process

remind each other of people they once loved the most and which they lost

In the longer run those two will cover up for the other's weakness and could literally turn the world upside down together while laughing/smirking.

Summing it up, Robin and Law are similar souls, going side by side. Luffy and Law instead have each other's backs, complementing each other. I feel like it's really a matter of preference and I sway towards Luffy x Law, their interactions are just so fun. But I do enjoy Law x Robin, just more as a friendship. Tbh both work as friendships the best and I tend to prefer them this way. I just think the friendship Law and Luffy have going on is something extraordinary on a whole different level. They're behaving with each other in ways they don't really share with others.

I think it would. But it doesn't have to be his biological family for him to be happy, you know. Whether his partner is a woman or a man, whether his own kid or more like picked up and adopted, it would make him happy just the same. He has already his adopted family in his Hearts Pirates and Wolf. He definitely is already part of Strawhats adopted family as well. And who knows to how many other "found families" he can belong from now on! He deserves a family, he actually deserves more than one that he can call his own.

There is lately one scenario I'm especially fond of actually. If Law becomes a Strawhat officially and Bonney will be also adopted in the crew as a sort of "next generation", he would totally act like a father/older sibling towards her. Sure, he would still act annoyed, worry all the time, but deep down he would love every second of it. He could finally be a brother to a kid that reminds him of Lammy. Life denied him that before so it would mean so much for his healing progress if he could reclaim it. I think as a father he would still act a lot like an older sibling actually. The same way Cora-san is also hard to classify, was he an older sibling, a father figure, a younger sibling, a bit of each combined? Anyway, I'm sure Law would try to live up to his caretaker and return the favour to someone else.

No matter how it would happen, yes, having his family, found or biological, would make him happy. I truly believe it's that one thing in his life he truly wants. Of course, once he has one, he would be worrying and afraid of losing them. Perhaps in that case Strawhats would be his best choice; they're very strong people capable of taking care of themselves, so he could perhaps learn to believe in them, that they wouldn't kill themselves off the moment he takes his eyes off of them. He would still worry a lot and protect them, but at least maybe he wouldn't self-explode in the process. He probably still will.

Indeed it has been asked before :) but no worries, I will link you to the answer so you can read all upon that: https://www.tumblr.com/l-in-the-light/760279386040795136 Enjoy! Sadly I don't have any new thoughts regarding that, otherwise I would add some now :3 Maybe just one: it doesn't matter if it's friendship, romantic relationship, the progress would be similar in this case, or at least I believe that.

[finniestoncrane]

General!Harley x GN!Reader, word count: 1k commission: yippee!! thank you @unlucky-words for the treat of getting to write for harley again!! reader and harley have reuinted finally after meeting in college. now there's no criminal activity in the way of them hitting it off finally 🩷 request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: fluff and flirting!!

Sometimes, the best place to come to feel alone was a busy bar on the weekends. Where you could get a drink, people watch, and feel assured that no one was going to interrupt the loner in the corner from whatever it was they were thinking over silently.

Not that night though. That night was not a solitary affair.

"Shut the fuck up!"

The shrill voice rang out over the top of the crowd, parting them like waves as the small but powerful source of the noise began to barrel towards you.

"This is like, kismet or somethin'!"

Before you could quite get your bearings, you were no long quietly sipping your drink at the table in the corner. Instead, you were being accosted, an immediately recognisable figure approaching your table, one you knew wasn't going to leave in a hurry, and not without a lot of talking first. And you weren't the least bit bothered by that. If it had been anyone else, you would have been. But not her, never her.

"Harley! Wow!"

You wanted to ask how she'd been, but you knew. It was impossible not to know. She was at the centre of most of the news in Gotham, even now, long after her highly publicised and very volatile break up with the Joker. Asking her what she had been up to or how she was feeling these days were both minefield subjects. And she seemed to know this herself as she began laughing and waved off your expression, surprise, shock and confusion all weighing heavily on your features.

"Yeah, yeah, I know! What's a gal like me doing in a reputable establishment such as this one? I could ask the same about you, y'know."

She elbowed your side, pushing you over so she could ease her way into the long bench seating beside you. Once she was close enough, she immediately pressed her body into yours, holding you in a hug so tight that her arms around you felt like a cage, her sweet smelling hair in your face.

"So! How have you been?"

Trying to avoid too much of anything that might sound like bragging, considering you were talking to someone who had gone through the worst and had been incarcerated several times since you had last been in touch with her, you filled Harley in on what you'd been doing since your time together at Gotham University.

She listened intently, so enthusiastic, asking questions, prying a little. You knew to expect that though. You knew Harley well, having gone through your doctoral programmes together. You'd seen her at her best and her worst, and everything in between.

"You don't gotta ask me how I've been doing, I'm sure that's everybody's news by now. But I can tell you the juicy stuff none of them know."

She winked, nudging you with her elbow again, an exaggerated smile as she tapped her nose. Instead of divulging any information that might have you on a list somewhere, she instead shared all of the good news from the past few months. Her time with the Birds of Prey seemed to really be good for her, and the excitement as she spoke about this new chapter of her life was palpable. You were happy for her, smiling along as she enthusiastically detailed her new apartment and what kind of stuff she was hoping to do with her new friends.

It felt like no time had passed between you both at all. Everything felt so easy with her, and it always had. There was no difficulty in talking to her, partly because she could have kept a conversation going in an empty room, but also because she made you so comfortable that the usual nerves and social anxiety that could plague a conversation just dissipated.

"I gotta be honest with you, though... I've missed ya."

"You have? You've been so busy though, I didn't think you'd have time to miss anyone, let alone me."

"Are you kidding!?"

She slapped your arm, a playful gesture, but with her surprising strength behind it, it kind of stung a little. Sensing that she might have been a bit too rough, she placed her palm against you, stroking your arm softly as she smiled. The gentle expression seemed so different to how she had been the rest of the night. It was genuine, vulnerable almost. A glimpse into her true self. The one you had spent long nights with in the library, crying and laughing together.

"Y'know, I always knew you'd be the one who did it right. I think that's why I missed you so much. You kept me on the straight and narrow, and then I took a big left turn into complete chaos."

You laughed as she did, although a sudden pang of guilt crossed over your mind. What if you had been able to pull her back? Would she be different? You didn't have time to dwell on that nasty little 'what if', however, as Harley was grabbing your hand and looking into your eyes with a strange sincerity.

"Not your fault or mine. Shit happens, huh? But... if it didn't seem too much like I was piggybacking on your good vibes... maybe we could, like, start fresh or somethin'?"

It took you a moment to reply. You were too busy thinking about how much fun you had with Harley, and how much you potentially could have now that you had been reunited with her.

"It can't be that hard to decide... you worried I might make you put on some clown makeup and rob a bank?"

You weren't. But who knew? If Harley asked, maybe you would.

"I'd like that Harley. The... start over thing! Not the circus themed heist."

She leaned in and placed a soft kiss to your cheek, standing up from the table and leaving you with a card, her number hastily scribbled onto it.

"Good. It's a date then, sweetie!"

[feyarcher]

Okay, I know the English internet spends a lot of time staring and ongoing political disasters in the US and the UK and oh what disasters they are, but CANADA 🇨🇦 WE GOTTA FOCUS FOR A MINUTE.

Ontario has municipal elections THIS MONDAY OCTOBER 24th! And you need to show up and vote!

Just like all our regular provincial and federal elections, it is okay if you aren't sure if you are on the voters rolls or if you info got updated after you moved or whatever - YOU CAN DEFINITELY VOTE AS LONG AS YOU ARE A CANADIAN LIVING IN THAT SPOT. You just bring proof of your address to the polling place and you'll be fine, I promise. I've done it. It takes like 2 minutes to sign the paper declaring you do indeed live there.

Now you may be asking "but do these elections really matter?" And the answer is YES THEY MATTER SO MUCH. There are racists and xenophobes and transphones and sexist and antisemitic and antivax people running all over the place and the one thing we know by now is that bigots get organized to get to the polls so we have to also organize to counter them by voting!

There are probably 3 things you need to look up who to vote for in your area: mayor, councillor, and school board trustee. All three matter! Please don't only focus on mayor, if the terfs get onto the school boards, they'll do serious damage.

So what can you do?

- First, search "[your town] election" and you'll get the link to the official election page on your city website. It'll tell you the poll hours for THIS MONDAY OCTOBER 24th and you'll be able to find your polling place and a sample ballot showing all the people running for all the roles (mayor, councillor, school board) in your district.

- Check out the candidates! If you want to narrow it down, for major things like mayor you can see which 3 or 4 people have a realistic shot of getting more than 10% of the vote based on polls and then look at the platforms for just those people. For more niche things like school board, you probably need to look at every candidate but less will be running. Please check the CBC article I linked above to narrow down the obvious terfs.

- Make a plan of when you are going to vote! Know what time is best for you to go and how you will get there.

- Get your friends and family to plan to vote too! Help them out by sharing your research and let them know who you are voting for for each part. Sometimes the idea of doing the research into candidates is too daunting, but if you share your plan with them, you can get more people to the polls.

- IF YOU AREN'T IN ONTARIO: Reach out to your friends and family here and ask what their plan to vote is. Help them out with the above if you can.

So much stuff gets decided at the municipal level, but they are expecting record low turnout and low turnout is dangerous for shitty people getting into positions that matter. We are already stuck with a clown at the province level. We need to make sure people who will work against him get elected at your local level.

It's one day, probably 45 minutes of your time including travel both ways and any line at busy times. Honestly, voting usually takes me 7 minutes at most at the polls even whe I was a student and voting in weird ways. They make it so easy if you just show up.

MASK UP AND GET TO THE POLLS ONTARIO!