#clearly your method was a failure

[healingheartdogs]

If a dog is not able to understand something you are teaching them (whether it's because you're moving too fast, your communication needs works, you aren't breaking what you're teaching down enough, whatever) and you correct them for making a mistake during that learning process they are also not going to understand why they are being corrected. You will only be adding stress to an already stressful situation.

[cepheustarot]

What will attract your future spouse in you?

Attention! This reading is for entertainment purposes only. This tarot reading does not give a 100% guarantee that all the described situations will occur or being ultimate truth. You build your own life and destiny and only you know yourself best.

Paid readings

Pick a pile. Choose one or more pictures. Trust your intuition.

Pile 1: I can say that you are already attractive in yourself, you have a beautiful, charming appearance and your charisma attracts people! You are one of those who knows how to start a conversation, always find a topic for him and you can also maintain a dialogue, any topic, you look like an interested interlocutor and your future spouse will immediately notice this in you, he will be very pleased that you are so attentively and enthusiastically participating in a conversation with him. You are a versatile person in yourself, you may have many hobbies or fields of activity, you are one of those who are open to new things and curiously plunges into all the unknown for you. Also your future spouse will be very attracted by your emotionality, you are clearly one of those who has a lively bright speech, who has a bright facial expression, he is attracted by how you vividly react to any details. As I said, you are quite a versatile person who likes to try something new and he will also like it in you. He respects in you that you do not give up after the first failure but try again, try new approaches, methods, he appreciates your diligence and dedication, the desire to achieve your goal. He also respects your ability to adapt to any situation, in this regard you are a flexible person and you react quickly to changes, you know how to adapt to them. You also adjust the dialogue to the form of communication that is convenient for both of you, this also attracts him very much. He generally sees you as the soul of the company, an open and brave person, and he admires and attracts you very much. You can also sometimes playfully flirt and flirt, but at the same time it looks neat and unobtrusive, which warms up interest in you.

Pile 2: Your future spouse is attracted by your maturity, wisdom, and life experience, and you generally look like a knowledgeable person who has achieved a lot in his life. You are also characterized by emotional maturity, you do not worry about any little things and minor reasons, you are calm enough and can keep this calm even in stressful situations; you are not one of those who succumb to panic and emotions, you are exactly the one who is already thinking through a plan of action, how to cope with a difficult task, with a difficult situation, with problems. He respects such personality traits very much, he sees you as a really adult and responsible person! You are also one of those who does not flatter people and does not exaggerate in words, you openly and honestly say your opinion, what you think about people's actions, what you think about this or that person in general — and your future spouse really appreciates your openness, honesty, straightforwardness. At the same time your honest opinion does not offend people, on the contrary, they just respect what you tell them, respect your words, because they can see in you some kind of mentor. Your future spouse is also attracted to the fact that you are easy-going, easily take on something new, you can make decisions quickly and not regret them, in general, this is your speed and attracts him, maybe because you two have the same pace of life, the pace of action! Also he is attracted by your passion for business, you can literally burn with new ideas, your activities, and such dedication to something he admires.

Pile 3: Your future spouse is attracted by the fact that you are a fairly active person who finds it difficult to sit still, you can always figure out how to dispel boredom, what to do, you are never bored. He likes your sense of humor, your jokes really seem funny and funny to him, he feels on the same page with you, he is very comfortable with you. You may also have the feeling that you have known each other for much longer, since in a short time you could really get very close. He is also attracted to the fact that you know how to find a way out of any situation, you know how to resolve any dispute and problem, you know how to find an approach to each person and in general you are one of those who have a ready-made plan for all occasions. He really appreciates your creativity, your non-standard approach to business, perhaps you also tend to think outside the box, you may have a strongly developed lateral thinking. It's also easy for you to study any topic, you literally absorb information like a sponge and you always have something to tell. It's your frankness that attracts him, he likes that you share any thoughts with them whether it's some of your reflections on philosophical topics or funny stories from childhood, or in general a story about how your day went. You know how to present information in such a way that everyone will listen to you attentively and with interest, you can tell a very fascinating story.

Thank you for reading! I will be glad of any feedback 🖤

[apas-95]

I’m an anarchocommunist that thinks a lot of other anarchists are stupid. For example, I don’t think that most people will just make insulin or do garbage collection/processing out of the kindness of their heart, and I also don’t think if it was genuinely done out of the kindness of their hearts that it’d work great. My idea is that for the “getting people to do the shitty jobs” question, the people that do those jobs should be compensated better in some way. Maybe a larger/nicer house, I’m not sure on the details. But other anarchists will say “all labor is equal”, and while I’d like to agree in the “work is hard” sense, I think things for the obvious common good, like teacher or garbage man or doctor deserve some sort of reward over other jobs. And for the efficiency of the labor, I think *specifically for labor* there needs to be some sort of organization, and we can use what’s worked before. We don’t need to have bathtub insulin if there’s a factory right there, and if there’s no connection from the insulin factory to doctors/pharmacists and truck drivers then it won’t work either. Really, my main problem with Marxism/Leninism or Stalinism or Maoism or any combination of those is that there are specific people with far too much power over others. I’m ok with light power in the way of “man you gotta drive the firetruck to the burning building even though you hate the dude that lives there”, but I’m not ok with the idea of a supreme leader or representatives in a political sense due to as I’ve amounts of power obviously corrupting people.

Really I’m sending this to you to get your criticism of my ideas- I think you’re pretty smart, and even if I disagree with you on some issues, I think I agree with you on others. I also want to say that not all anarchists are… like that.

So, years ago, before I started reading any Marxist theory, this is about where I was at politically. If you think about any of the practicalities, you come up to points where, very clearly, the maxim of 'no authority at all' conflicts with being able to do anything. If you're seriously considering how society could be better organised, if this is something you actually intend on bringing about, then you make some amount of concession to reality - as you did with the firetruck example!

Now, myself, I went on like this for a good while, coming up with methods of truly democratic organisation that wouldn't be susceptible to the types of totalitarianism I'd heard about, ending up very similar to your position. I was interested, however, in how these 'failed experiments' that I'd learned devolved into bureaucracy started out, and I started reading up on the history, and realised, with some discontent, that what I'd developed, once I'd made all the concessions for reality that would be necessary if this system were to be the actual one real human beings lives depended on, was essentially identical to the Soviet system.

From there, I read up on Marxist theory, still basically wary that this had all, at some point, been taken over by an evil dictator, but able to see that the earliest stages, at least, had been exactly what I was imagining, but put into practice. Reading the theory, reading how their experience experimenting with different forms of organisation, and the failures of some types, had led them to discover what did and didn't work, and adjust accordingly, made me suddenly appreciate why certain things were done certain ways. The harsh experiences of civil war had revealed certain dynamics and mechanics in the way society and production worked, which translates into political theories that bore out results I wouldn't have expected (and neither had the communists who had discovered them through practice!).

Eventually, with some chagrin and a significant deal of excitement, I realised that much of what I'd passively absorbed about socialism, many of the common-sense maxims that I'd been taught by capitalist society about the nature of power and so on, were very much artifacts of a decades-long war against these communists and the system they'd built, carried out by exactly the corporations and empires I had thought myself opposed to.

I won't critique any individual point of yours, but I will enjoin you to try out some Marxist theory - Dialectical and Historical Materialism, or Socialism, Utopian and Scientific, or Principles of Communism, or even the Communist Manifesto, and to read between the lines of whatever capitalist source you read on socialism, to notice every [citation needed] and wonder what actually happened such that someone felt the need to make something up.

[machineheraldbabe]

arcane, populism, and why viktor is the odd one out (yet again)

as a piltover-anti, a silco criticizer, and a pacifist, i am very very interested in how arcane presents not just the political undertones of both topside and the undercity, but the characters/dialogue through which they communicate those undertones. allow me to use some political science bro lingo to air out some thoughts.

long, long post incoming.

there are 2 ideological struggles at war throughout s1 (and i can predict that the struggle will carry over into s2): neoliberalism and populism - in their broadest terms since we're talking ofc about a fictional show dealing with surface level political machinations. by neoliberalism, i mean a focus on the social, political, and cultural structures of a polity (piltover, for our purposes) refocused into a strictly economic vacuum. and by populism i mean a unifying belief that the existing political systems of a polity fail to adequately represent their constituents, so the masses choose to rally around a specific gripe or issue, i.e., class discrimination, xenophobia toward immigrants, etc. this, in turn, forms a populist party or movement. an applicable example i can think of would be Nasser's Egypt in the 1950s.

*i know these are weighty topics with very real world implications! i just want to separate the theory to apply to our favorite fictional world.

the political struggle in question is put forward immediately by piltover, who, though presented as a technocratic state, embodies crucial neoliberal ideals emphasized especially by up-and-coming counilor mel medarda, much like how fresh-eyed american economists blew up the economic scene in the 1980s with a revival of capitalist, free market enterprise. take how she seizes the advent of hextech, for example:

she quickly sees hextech's potential yet not from the solely intellectual standpoint that jayce and viktor do - for her, it is profitable, literally and in terms of international relations. her goal is for piltover to prosper, but she has no rose-colored glasses on; prosperity means capital gain, and she's willing to override piltover's political and social systems to achieve her goal. an important caveat is that she draws the line at ambessa medarda's progression into militant authoritarianism, which deserves a whole post of its own!

piltover's populism moment will come later. first, let's unpack silco, who is probably arcane's most blatantly political figure, and a masterclass in the merits and failures of left wing, class-based populism.

silco, having been spurned by the classism and xenophobia that piltover's elite proliferate, and assisted by his rampant shimmer operation, fills the vacuum that vander's pacifism opened up. though silco's methods are unilaterally cruel (argue with the wall), the undercity clearly invested faith in him at some point, especially as vander's credibility as a guiding figure wavered over the years. he was fighting alongside vander for zaun's right to exist as their own independent body. in other words, he was uniting the undercity toward a common cause because the existing political system failed their constituents. to quote councilor shoola: "they may not be our preferred constituents, but they're still our people."

the track record of populism in our real world frequently ends in the ruin that silco himself brought upon the undercity. the kingpin is too dedicated to self-preservation, sees himself as too central to the movement, which prevents both compromise and/or a necessary armed revolt (insert your own politics about self-determination here). see italy's right wing populism party, Lega Nord, as a real-time example of this phenomenon.

but arcane makes an interesting plot decision with jayce, a very unexpected and "unwilling" contributor to piltover's abrupt dip into right wing populism. the showrunners love foils!

in arcane lore, i think it's safe to say that jayce's moniker "the man of progress" is pretty tongue-in-cheek. both he and viktor have a bemused tone about it in the run-up to his speech, and jayce is taken aback by heimerdinger's insistence that he deliver said speech. but the glowing, savior-esque imagery can't be ignored, nor can jayce's quick switch into his councilor role, no matter how reluctantly he makes it.

jayce is confronted by 2 forces that he seeks to combat in his quick tenure as councilor: internal corruption and an ineffective governing body. the latter goal is inspired almost solely by viktor, playing into jayce's naivety as a fresh-faced political figure, but this will be especially important to note later on. the innocence he offers up to mel is quickly erased, transformed instead into an uncomfortable - and inexperienced - militancy:

important in the bridge scene to my analysis is the populist "out group," or the designation populists give to those whom they actively oppose, and this opposition serves as their basis for organization. in this case, it's the undercity (keep this in mind for viktor's role!!).

jayce's combined frustrations at the unrest in the undercity and the council's (namely heimerdinger's) refusal to act, to both save viktor and to deal with the undercity's looming violence, motivates him to act like silco for a short time. unsatisfied with the status quo, he unites a likeminded individual, vi, along with the enforcers, to undercut the political system he feels is unable to represent its constituents or act in an effective manner. however, UNLIKE silco, jayce's realizes the inevitable cost the method of violence has and refrains in the end. he returns to the council and capitulates to some of silco's demands in the name of a peace piltover and zaun always thought impossible.

jinx's complete undoing of this underscores the failures of populism, especially as an extended movement over time. she wasn't accounted for. it's common sentiment at this point that she didn't attack the council for political gain. she was not invested in zaun's independence. she did it out of her and silco's twisted parental bond, and thus undid piltover's brief instance of compromise and compassion.

so...where does viktor fit into all this? and what are his implications for neoliberalism vs. populism in season 2?

viktor is neither wholly within nor wholly outside the populist outgroup - though jayce unintentionally shoves him back there in the pivotal bridge scene. furthermore, viktor also makes use of piltover's technocracy. he seems to have had a "raise yourself up by your bootstraps" history in arcane, contrary to left wing populist insistence that neoliberal ideals make this impossible.

this compounds as a double alienation for viktor, who also is straddled with the complications of his disability. a lot of his story is searching for a fellow in arms, if you ask me, and he had that with jayce until the pendulum swung, hence his return to singed.

if we stop there, viktor represents the failing of these 2 very flawed political ideologies. he fits nowhere and arcane uses him adeptly as a symbol of the failings of binaristic ideologues and systems. but let's speculate some more!

i'm convinced that viktor, due to his ambiguous 3rd party role in the story so far, will be one of the central villains (if not THE villain, if you allow me to be admittedly hopeful/biased) in season 2. consult the innumerable very well written theory/meta posts about the subject for more details, but one piece of evidence i want to focus on is this inherent physical, cultural, and ideological separateness that is innate to his character.

can we see him allying ever again with piltover, knowing that there's a split incoming? even without outside knowledge of league lore, singed's damning prediction ("if you take this path, they will despise you") cannot go unheeded. alternatively, then, can we see viktor allying with the supposed jinx-as-revolutionary side? no. personally, i see him as becoming increasingly unwillingly to compromise his a) immediate survival; and b) his ideals, especially after being endlessly sidelined in his attempts to express them in acts 2 and 3. he's also just a loner, guys.

there's some controversy on this point, but i'm convinced that the finger-printed cultists/followers we saw in the s2 trailer are devoted to viktor. starting with the shimmer addict he touched in the teaser, he is accruing a following all his own. and since noxus is here, touting their authoritarian militancy to replace piltover's outdated liberal ideals, nothing that jinx's revolution OR viktor's following does can be apolitical. to organize and to fight is survival under s2's raised stakes.

there aren't any binary spectrums when it comes to political theory in my opinion, so i am prepared to witness viktor introduce an entirely separate totalitarian narrative into arcane. where it will surely lack in militancy, it will make up for in its domination of the arcane. my biggest speculation is that, as they always do, piltover will fold and compromise at the last minute, perhaps yield to noxus, and invest wholeheartedly in taking down viktor's BBEG cultist regime. and by isolating his narrative repeatedly in s1, the writers planned this out expertly.

even if i'm wrong about viktor as third party, i like to think my observations still stand about the specific and qualifiable political divisions between piltover and zaun. the biggest hole this leaves for me is the question: will arcane ever take a stand? they seem very averse to making a blatant political statement, but i think their pervasive anti-police thread makes it clear that we're not meant to sympathize with piltover yuppies or their seasoned, jaded councilmen. let me know your thoughts!

also, as a jayce fan and a fan of arcane's overall story, none of this is meant as a CRITIQUE of him, mel, or silco. as silco said, "we all have our parts to play." i believe arcane's very greatest strength is their archetypal storytelling, and these distinct character roles are crucial to the success and vibrancy of the story.

if you read all the way to this point - ily <3

[jordynbreeloa777]

“Let go” ENDGAME VOID CHALLENGE. (Part 2, for visual people.)

This is a part 2 for the people inboxing me saying they’re more of a visual person so here is a more IN DEPTH version. If you still don’t understand please let me know!

{ This NEW VOID CHALLENGE MADE BY ME , IS TO ENTER THE VOID STATE!⚠️‼️ }

Step 1 : DECISION

How this challenge works is FIRST you have to choose if you are going to enter wide awake, or wake up in!

Step 2: 🌹 Once you have choose, I want you to robotically affirm and get into the state every single day of someone who always enters/wakes up in the void aware with ease. For example I will be choosing to wake up in since I entered successfully that way before aware, but forgot to affirm for my desires!

Step 2: 🌹Robotically affirming, and get into the state. Whenever you get a chance, you don’t have to set a timer of do a counter app. Just let your thoughts run on a loop in your free time! Some affs I recommend (that I use for entering awake is) I always enter the void with ease under 3 seconds. I always enter the void on my command. I always am aware and remember my purpose for the void. (waking up in) I always wake up in the void state aware. It is so easy for me to wake up in the void aware, I do it all the time! Every time I fall asleep I instantly wake up in the void! How to get in the state is so simple, just embody the feeling of the person who knows they always enter the void state successfully on the first try. (Don’t get discouraged if you don’t failure doesn’t exist in your reality so don’t make that an option, it’s not hard AT ALL, unless you assume so)

{ If you are more a visual person, you can imagine yourself with all your desires that you manifested in the void (already done LOA speaking) or imagine you getting into the void and manifesting your desires, or your list, something of that nature whatever you may be manifesting! Or say you are shifting visualize what you want to see when you wake up, or in your DR! }

{As well as if robotically affirming isn’t your thing fullfil yourself in imagination, not saying by forcing yourself with your 5 senses} But know that your someone who has the mental mentality that it’s not difficult at all to enter! }

Pointers: If you are waking up in the void, you can do lullaby method/SATS or just command your subconscious before falling asleep!

Step 3: 🌹Vaunt at least twice a day, in your head or whenever you want. Vaunt to yourself or imagine you telling somebody how you entered the void and manifested your dream life months ago, or vaunt that the void state is soo easy to enter and that you don’t understand why people find it hard, and that its the easiest thing in the world to do ever! Really saturate your mind and it will feel more natural, I promise. The void is not something outside of you, it’s not some magical place where you manifest instantly, remember YOU ARE THE ONE WHO EVEN CREATED THE VOID. YOU MANIFEST YOURSELF NOT, “I RECEIVED THIS FROM THE VOID” NO. YOU MANIFESTED YOURSELF.

Step 4: 🌹 Enter/Wake up in. If you fail you clearly know that it’s all based off your assumptions, especially if you’re trying for the first time. Don’t make failure an option to exist for someone who controls everything. There is no “deadline” of when you need to get into the void, or set time or date, no. You manifest/enter whenever you want because you’re such a master manifestor it’s crazy..like insane!

I will be trying this challenge as well, have fun and Happy Manifesting!💝💝

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

I'm actually not super into vampires which is wht I outsourced this write-up, so shoutouts to my wonderful partner for doing it for me :)

Genre: Post apocalypse fantasy

What is this game?:

Bloodbeam Badlands is a unique rules-lite TTRPG that seeks to tell heroic stories about magical badass sharpshooting vampires and wild desperate adventures in an over the top strange and deadly post apocalyptic wasteland that shines a new light on mythical fantasy by combining magical creatures from folklore and pop culture with the tropes of post-apocalyptic survival.

How's the gameplay?:

The gameplay is loose, basic and imposed checks are rolled during times of drama and conflict to decide outcomes, which means mechanics are usually most relevant in fights. You roll a number of d6 equal to one of your 3 stats (Guts, Guile, and Guise) and compare the lowest die result to one of your 3 sources, which are similar to stats (Blood, Bullets, and Burn), if the result is lower, you succeed.

This simple conflict resolution method is made more engaging with a few inclusions: first of all, your sources are fluctuating, you can lower or “spend” a source to automatically succeed on a roll, the sources can also be lowered as a consequence of failure, and act as a gauge for your survival. If a source goes to 0, you’ll start to face death or mutation. Sources can also be restored by a variety of unique means, such as feeding on blood or bartering for bullets. Each character also has their own unique “Vampiric Bloodline” chosen at character creation that has their own way to spend and regain sources and a set of striking supernatural powers, such as being able to manipulate the demiplane of shadows or being a vessel for phantoms.

Players also further customise their vampires with a unique, personalised gun with a set of magic ammo, like a shotgun with homing shells or a sniper rifle that injects werewolf blood into your enemies. Additionally, while exploring the wasteland, you can pick up items with unique narrative and mechanical tags and usually some sort of magic, some are even strong enough to have their own stats and sources.

What's the setting (If any) like?:

I am so biased, I am going to be honest here, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SETTING and am very excited to talk about it. The Forever Dawn is a vast, twisted post-apocalyptic wasteland with no end in sight, it gets its name from the blinding, burning, behemoth red sun that hangs omnipresently. The day never leaves and the night never comes. If the sun doesn’t burn you alive, the radiation will start to mutate and consume you. The players are vampires whose blood has been diluted and irradiated enough to leave the underground and search for blood on the outside.

The radiation and consequences of supernatural forces being mutated has left everything in The Forever Dawn, from the land to the people to the monsters, bizarre and twisted. Even the most common mortals of The Forever Dawn have strange mutations and unique features. The setting isn’t bound to just a burning desert, the book encourages GMs to set your campaigns in different environments warped by the apocalypse.

The setting does not have many established locations, the wasteland is too mysterious to be catalogued as such, and the lore usually comes in the form of sparse, unexplained plot hooks to give ideas to GMs or writers to build upon. Yet despite being largely vague and interpretive, the book still oozes with style and direction for the worldbuilding and goes in depth about not only what's in the world but about how the world feels.

What's the tone?:

Like I previously stated, the way the tone is communicated in this book is extremely effective, and lots of love was clearly put in. I feel like nearly every single piece of the text helps establish the tone, mechanical things like the stats being divided into snappy metrics of Guts, Guile, and Guise make you feel like you’re creating cunning and cool heroes, the examples of mechanics describe action packed scenes against mutant dinosaurs, and on the topic of mutant dinosaurs, my favourite example of the type of over the top style this game has is "Revolverface," a mutant t. rex with a flaming revolver cannon for a face. Which is just shamelessly cool and over the top enough to perfectly describe what you’re getting into.

But enough praising the writing, to actually describe the tone in my own words, Bloodbeam Badlands is wacky and over the top, balancing the fun of flashy action with the grimness of surviving in a world designed to waste you away.

Session length:

I’d say about 2 hours give or take, unless you're running full episodes in one session, then maybe 4 or so.

Number of Players:

The book lists around 2+ players and a GM, although it's worth considering there’s only 4 bloodlines in the base book

Malleability:

The rules are extremely malleable, the looseness gives opportunity to add and change mechanics as the GM sees fit, and the idea of sources can be changed or taken in a lot of different ways. It was designed with homebrew content in mind and has spawned a lot of cool third party and bonus content. Even if you stick by the source book you’re encouraged as a GM to create unique magic items and NPCs.

Resources:

As far as I’m aware I do not believe there is a sheet made for this game yet, likely a byproduct of early access.

Bloodbeam Badlands B-Side is a collection of new and third party content curated by the developer, licensing and logo information is also included.

Bloodbeams is a game with a great setting and a good game wrapped around it, it's definitely something worth checking out even if the gameplay isn't your thing, because the setting is just that interesting. It's a fun time for all you vampire enjoyers

[yuri-is-online]

And Your Name Is? (Jade, Leona, Riddle)

Synopsis- After successfully resolving whatever was causing NRC to be trapped in an endless time loop of overblotting and disaster, one last reset should give him a chance to experience a normal school year with you. But instead you find yourself trapped in the here and there, appearing as a vague shadow around the school that vanishes as soon as he catches up to you. The kind thing to do would be to allow you to be forgotten in the chance it lets you return to your world.

But this is Twisted Wonderland where the kind thing is seldom done, and he wants you back as much as you want to find him again.

a/n: Look, I don't know who decided to make MICKY MOUSE a sadman deadwife in Disney's attempt at animal crossing but it gave me ideas. This is shamelessly based off that questline, feel free to request other characters. Everyone deserves a chance at angst. This probably won't be the last time I'll write something with this sort of premise meh

notes: angst with the intent of comfort, Jade is a red flag. Otherwise mild.

Jade Leech

It’s a wonder you ever lived here.  Ramshackle is cold, Jade can’t bring himself to say lifeless for fear of speaking a crueler fate into existence, but the word’s on the tip of his tongue nonetheless.   It’s a pity this is where you call “home,” but he can work with this.  He can sweep up the cobwebs, dust every broken surface before popping the timbers back into place, figure out how to repair the upholstery so long as he sees the shimmery light that forms your shape begin to fill in.  He knows if he reaches for you that you will disappear, so he lets you observe as he keeps you in the corner of his eye.  Jade is careful, methodical, even as his hands shake as he launders your sheets and fluffs pillows on a bed he really wants to burn for its audacity to be so uncomfortable.  He vaguely recalls requesting you make one room of this place into a giant terrarium once, a silly request he’s sure he’d make again if he could just speak to you, for no other reason than to hear you laugh.  But, he supposes as he slips himself into your bed reaching out towards the in between as if he can pull you from the here and there with the sheer force of his longing; he is already sort of doing that.  Just like the Sea Witch keeping creatures in glass bottles he’s trying to replicate the perfect environment for you.  

“Jade?”  

“I’m here.”  he murmurs, not daring to open his eyes just yet, instead reaching for where he thinks your face should be.  “Do you hear me?  It’s past your bedtime, prefect.”

“Jade.”

“It’s awfully lonely here.”  He hates the way he sounds.  It’s too raw, too clear with his intent to be the tease he wants it to be.  “Won’t you come to bed?”

“Jade!”  His eyes open, his hand lands on you, the real you, not a shade made up of his memory, he manages to crush the urge to cry and pulls you up into his embrace. Your eyes are unfocused, confused but moving towards his touch as if you were searching for it.  “W-who.. I have to find…”  You move, on instinct towards his heartbeat, as he slowly strokes your arms to soothe your shaking.  “Jade… I’m looking for-”

“You found me.”  Jade is gentle, careful as he searches over you for any sign of distress or injury, sighing in relief when he only finds confusion. It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember specifics.  It doesn’t matter to him if you’ve forgotten your own name, Jade’s known and loved you for three timelines now, he’ll remind you of who you are if that’s what you want.  In the meantime, he slowly encloses you in the safety of his embrace and tries not to smile too wide as you naturally relax into him.  He will build you a beautiful garden in this world, and nothing will ever harm you this badly ever again, he swears it.

Leona Kingscholar

How many times has he been forced to watch you die?  He’s not sure, his memory clearly doesn’t want to cooperate with him out of fear he’ll consider the failures a waste of energy, consider you wasted energy.  Give in to the self-sabotaging part of him that never wanted to love you in the first place and abandon you to your fate, and yet no matter how many times he held your limp form in his arms he never had.  There was something mildly addicting in the realization that you chose him in every lifetime.  Not that stupid lizard or stuck up diva, him the second born, grumpy, lazy lion.

“Leona?”  Your shade has always been able to speak, and Leona’s always been able to hear it.  It’s like you’re trying to retrace your steps through time, starting with your meeting in the botanical gardens up to your stay in his room.  He tries to tell himself you’re like a flea burrowing its way into his skin, irritating in your presence, unwelcome.  He tries to tell himself if you didn’t mean enough to this world to keep a corporeal form that you shouldn’t mean anything to him.  If Twisted Wonderland rejected you then so should he.

“Leona.”  He hates how alone you sound.  He hates how he can see you around the gardens but can’t hear footsteps, see you sitting on the edge of the balcony but not smell you.  He really wants to hate you.

“I have to… promised… Leona…”  

“I’m here you know.”  he mutters, half asleep under the heavy curtain of vines in the botanical gardens.  “You wanna keep your promise?  Then quit runnin away.”  Silence.  Always silence, even in his dreams no matter how hard he tries to will you back into existence.  He wants to stare you down, he really does, but how is he supposed to be anything but shocked when it's really you in front of him, listless and confused.

“Leona?”  You’re confused, that much is clear.  He wonders, smugly as he rises without complaint for once, if his name is the only thing you remember.  The flicker of fear in your eyes is something he can do without, but if you know his name then somewhere inside that empty head of yours should be the same memories that have been plaguing him.

“I hope you’re prepared.”  his tail swishes in excitement, and though you remain confused he delights in how you remain unafraid.  “For just what you signed up for by callin my name.”

Riddle Rosehearts 

Your shadow likes to sit in the Heartslabyul rose garden.  Riddle is thankful for that, his gaze is hard to avoid here.  He can keep an eye on you this way while he tries to find a solution for… whatever this is.  It’s sickening, really, how useless he is without a rulebook or a study guide to follow.  His memories of the past time loops might be blurry but he wonders if you ever felt frustrated with him in any of them.  Someone as beautiful and wonderful as you constantly choosing someone as boring as him, he wants to be proud.  He wants to point out that he is clearly in the right, in some sort of way, he has to be if he was loved in any way by you.  It hurts him all the more to be so useless to you, to find so little concrete about the here and there and be told by every adult he reaches out to that the only thing they know is that no one who goes there ever comes back.

His dormmates like to keep a degree of distance from you.  Riddle knows that they don’t know it’s you, he’s tried to explain to them multiple times and seen as they fight hard against whatever magic is trying to erase you from Twisted Wonderland to remember clearly who you were.  It’s especially hard to watch Ace and Deuce loop through their worry over you and their anger at having forgotten only to get lost in the fog once again.  He had to stop himself from trying, causing your best friends pain wouldn’t bring you back to them, to him.  Riddle’s stubborn, he can take the confused looks of his house when he insists they let him have a private tea party with the strange ghost that’s taken up residence in their maze.

“I’m uncertain if our professors remember what happened, but I can say with certainty some of the material has changed.  It’s a relief that the quality of our education hasn’t regressed.”  He pours you a cup of tea, working off of muscle memory he can’t recall the context for anymore to make it in a way you must have liked.  “I’ve been taking detailed notes on what my freshmen have been learning, when you return-” his voice cracks in panic as your shadow’s outline flickers “when you return…” he tries, softer this time focusing on gently setting down the tea pot “I’ll make sure you aren’t left behind.  Ace and Deuce will keep their memories this time and we’ll all get to hang out together again, you’ll always have- you always have had a place in Heartslabyul, so please, please come back.”  Riddle likes to think of himself as an adult, but he pouts and cries so easily.  He can feel the tears bubbling up and obscuring his vision.  Hiding the view of your shadow’s shape filling in.

“Riddle?”  He hiccups, undignified, unbelieving the sight he’s seeing.  You look so small, so confused but still so concerned for him, pausing to reach for a napkin to wipe his tears despite how unfocused you otherwise seem to be.  You reach for him, shaky but still determined. “Are you Riddle?” you whisper.  “I’ve been searching for him, I promised not to let go of his hand.”  Riddle reaches for your hand with both of his, leaning into you.  “I’m worried he’s lonely.”

“I was.”  He isn’t crying anymore, Riddle likes to think he never will again as he presses a kiss into your palm.  “You can rest now prefect, you’ve made it home.”

[thesiltverses]

character writing tips??

Everything's subjective, but for me:

For character creation (as for plotting, as for worldbuilding), each of us ultimately has to find our own best practice and preferred method through trial and failure. There's a vast spectrum of tips ranging from 'create a bullet-pointed list of their favourite foods, make them a playlist of their favourite songs, make sure you understand every facet of who they are and where they've been before you sit down to write them' and 'discover the character as you write them!' and there's no objective answer. I like to give my characters a starting point, a starting goal, and starting principles, then toss them in the deep end and see how they react and change over time, but that's not for everyone. Try every approach and adjust to taste - does the character start to bore you after ten pages because you've already written them out as a straitjacketed profile and there's nothing left to find out? Or could you do with having a clearly defined arc, or more small personal habits or peccadillos?

2. For continuous character development (particularly if you're writing something serialised and longform like a podcast, particularly if you're writing for an internet audience), try and identify - and then be prepared to constantly out-think - the temptations that lead to calcification or Flanderisation of the character, because the golden fruit often ends up rotting the tree that birthed it.

Beware of your past successes, in other words, because they sway you and they corrupt the character. It's incredibly easy to find yourself straying towards 'oh, it was impactful when X came bursting in to save the day and they haven't really had a moment like that since, how can we recapture that?' or 'people really liked it when Y & Z had a big angsty argument about their feelings, maybe we should be giving them even more angsty arguments about their feelings' or 'the internet loves mean badass women, maybe A should be just incredibly mean and badass in all her interactions so we can get one million likes and be famous.' (I've caught myself doing all of these, and definitely haven't always succeeded in stopping myself.)

But fishing for a specific audience reaction or trying to stage-manage a narrative outcome is how you end up with zombie protagonists - stale archetypes acting out the same formulaic moments over and over in the hope of reliving the old applause, instead of characters that are still authentically capable of change or capable of surprising you.

[roseapov]

Mother's favourite

Riddle Rosehearts x GN!Reader

Tw: stalking, fixation/obsession, neglect, parents (mother) issues, implications of possible murders

Povtober 2023, Day 18 [Masterlist]

'See, Riddle? Their kid is so perfect! Always polite and on time, and never skips their free time studying'

Miss Rosehearts didn't mask her displeasure over her son's past actions, while saying the last part.

If only her son could be as perfect as her friends child was, she sighed exhausted. What wouldn't she give up to have a child like you herself.

Young Riddle hasn't understood much from that time, it was too much for a kid's brain, all these expectations, yet he remembered one thing clearly.

His mother was very pleased with you.

With you, and only with you. Always comparing you both, complaining about him not being like you enough.

His mother must really appreciate you then, right? Why else would she bring you up in almost all of their conversations?

We all know that a parent is a foundation for a children's growth, and a parent who is neglecting their own creation for the sake of someone else's, can make their own kid end up.. In many different ways.

Riddle, who was unfortunate enough to have a parent like that ended up, being obsessed with the object of his mother's pleasure.

If she says you're perfect, then you are perfect. If he can become like you, he will win the approval of his mother. He's sure of it.

He is already observing you all the time he can, but that's nearly not enough! He can never get your mannerism quite right, no matter how hard he tries.

Was his mother right? Is he a failure?

He always makes some mistakes, never being able to mimic you perfectly. That's why further research on you is necessary.

If he won't ever be able to achieve your level, then he would have to resort to some more interesting methods.

If he can't be you, he will be with you. Together. As a pair. Romantically.

And it turns out, Miss Rosehearts is very pleased to hear about this, she's practically glowing. Her son finally did something smart and got together with you! She's delighted.

Her approval sealed your fate, as this starved of praises boy won't let go of you now. You make his mother happy and..

You started to make him happy too? Is this what his mother sees in you? It's so nice and warm..

Yes, he's definitely keeping you by his side. Everyone who would oppose this would lose their head. It's the only thing that's not up for debate.

[igotanidea]

Newcomer : Simon Riley x reader pt 1

Ever since she was a kid she was learnt how to be obedient.

A good girl.

Always listening to her parents, doing whatever they told, listening, being the best student in the school, always with the best grades, sticking with the rules.

Some things changed when she entered the teenagerhood. The "rebel age". Questioning a lot of things, defying her parents, trying to find her own way. It didn;t exactly work well with her parents, who would much rather she was still a kid, that they could control in any way they saw fit. But since she stopped listening to words and taking them for granted, the methods of their behaviour upgraded as well.

Every time she did something her parents believed to be wrong (meaning: done in the way that was diffent from theirs) she was called names, yelled at and condemned to cold treatment until she apologises.

Whenever she tried fighting her way or proving her point or straight-forward call her parents on their bullshit she ended up on the floor, being choked or hit, screaming at the top of her lungs, scratching and wriggling in pain. Sporting the bruises and marks long after cause her father was not a man who took objection well and definitely not the one to pull his punches.

So she moved out.

But pretty much it didn;t change a lot in her mentality.

Yes, she became successfull and made a career.

Yes, she aced in the professional area.

But her personal life was a mess.

And while her "friends" were getting married and having kids she was alone, save for that one guy she was hanging around thinking he cared for her.

But it clearly was not enough.

Every family meeting was met with more and more intrusive questions and moralising that a woman her age should have a husband and a family and a proper life and not spending time solely on her work.

Constant comparision to the kids of her parents' friends was not good for her mental health, since obviously she was a failure in that juxtaposition.

No one ever ask how you doing anymore cause they know nothing good is happening in your life.

Truly there's nothing to say when my colleagues keep talking about their kids with nice family life.

You fucked up your own life. You must have kids at some points.

I am just so tired of admiring other's kids without being able to show off my own grandkids!

You are mental for saying that you don;t want kids!

As fucked up as all those comments from her parents were they were making her feel like a walking disaster. No one. A trash. It was like all her mother and father saw in her was an empty womb that seemed to be a disgrace for the family. Apparently, nothing else in her life was worth mentioning in this competition.

And it fucking hurt every time. Like a shot in the heart cause being alone was not something she choose.

But after months and months of hearing all those harsh words, she made a few mistakes....

Long story short, one night with her so-called-boyfiend ended up with her being pregnant.

And said boyfirend laughing in her face, while calling her a whore, profoundly explaining why the bastard was not his problem at all and leaving her alone, disappearing from her life.

Yes, she could have terminated, but it was not something she could live with in the long term.

So she was keeping the baby.

***

"You whore!" her mother yelled at her

"you both wanted grandkids!" Y/N laughed maniaclly in response "there! your dreams just came true, you should be fucking happy!"

"You're an infamy. You have an illegitimate child, no husband, not even boyfirend, no one." her father added cruelly "do not expect any help from us."

"But--" she stuttered. This was not something she saw coming. But the facts stood clear - her own parents were pretty much disowning her, leaving her completely alone to tend to herself and the unborn baby.

"Get out of this house Y/N. I don;t have a daughter from today."

"But mom-"

"You heard what your mother said. Get out. Now."

It was terrible on so many levels. Not only because they kicked her out, but also because they still wanted the girl who would follow their every order, not realising she was a grown up woman.

So obviously she left. Trying to wrap her head around what happened and figure how to deal with everything alone.

And that was when Simon came into her life.

[gorgeouslypink]

pink i have some exciting news, i just entered the void state. i used the dmt frequency but i didn't realize it was the void but that was just during a nap so ik im going to enter tonight but i was thinking abt everything that happen3d and i came to realize something

ok so all the people who take the loa method are always like the void is u affirm that you can enter the void easily or whatever right? but honestly that's pretty hard because you have experience failing with the void and yk that other people are failing so even though you're affirming that the void is easy a little part of you is like "no it isn't" and it's like the logical part of your brain and then when you spiral the RAS obviously focuses on your failures and it ruins any consistency you built up (can u tell I read @junkyutueme post 😝) and set you back. does that mean it's all hopeless? no. what i think worked for me is believing in a method rather than myself. i don't know if im explaining clearly but basically most loa bloggers tell u to affirm you always enter the void easily and stuff like that. Making YOU the primary focus but you are you and you have experience being you so you know that you struggle with the void and then even when you're affirming or trying to enter a state that the void is easy, your past and stuff becomes limiting beliefs holding u back. I know loa bloggers always say that the past isn't real and to revise but that's easier said than done and if people could do that, they'd prob have entered the void already. But if you put your manifesting into a method. Like the dmt track. I saw that anon success story. I read the comments and these people have been using it years ago and it's so good. Then when I decide to manifest that I will enter the void from using it, I have no past experiences with it holding me back so I have no limiting beliefs making my manifestation come true. So what im basically trying to say is instead of affirming I enter the void easily and stuff, just choose a method that you really believe will work that u have tried before and just know that it's going to work for you, entering a state of knowing you're going to enter the void is so much easier this way and obv you'll enter then because you're in a state of knowing you're going to enter yk? This just clicked in my brain because I've been trying to manifest entering the void forever and I finally entered and I wanted a reason why and this is what I think. I hope this helps everyone else.

whoa congratulations and ik you'll enter tonight!! also thanks for sharing beautiful 💗

[whatisreggieshortfor]

No More Bad Dates

Suna x gn!reader

“So, how did it go this time?”

You groaned, not looking at whichever of your friends asked the question as you face planted onto the bleacher in front of you. “Literally- such a douche.”

One of them snickered, based on the following smack and whine you figured it had been Atsumu. Osamu nudged you up, “How bad could it have been? Wasn’t he Kita’s cousin?”

“Yeah, I seriously question that genetic claim after last night.” You groaned again, “There’s no way respectful, organized, perfect captain Kita is related to him. There’s no way.” You didn’t see the way one of your best friend’s deflated the slightest bit as you described Kita.

As if on cue, the captain made his way into the gym, “Oh, Y/N, Keigo wanted me to tell you that he had fun, and he would like you to reach out about when you want to see him again.”

Another groan left you.

Kita barely raised a brow, “Yes, I was afraid it would go that way for you.”

“Then why did you encourage me to go out with him?” You wished you could actually be mad at the captain, but even with your best friends on the team he only started letting you into the gym when you agreed to sign on as manager, because he kept practices closed after too many of Atsumu’s fangirls mistakenly interrupted his practice serves. The two of had gotten a lot closer in the time you worked with him.

Kita shrugged as he blinked at you, “You asked me to give you a reason to say no, and rejected the one I gave you.”

“That reason wasn’t a reason!”

“What went wrong on the date exactly?” Aran asked, ever the logical one.

“What went right?” If you weren’t always like this, they’d be concerned about the amount of groaning you were doing, “He was late, by almost an hour. Was annoyed I had already ordered for myself while I waited for him. Not only did he talk about looking up my socials- where he graded my last five selfies to my face and made fun of every interest I had listed- but he kept bringing up an ex. I don’t know who Seki is, but they sound amazing and I feel like I should’ve gone out with them instead.”

The team wore varying faces of disgust or concern, but Kita just sighed, “I see your point.” The sad reality was also that the captain was blunt whether you liked it or not, “If you would ask out the person you actually want to date, you wouldn’t go on so many bad ones.”

Your three best friends whipped around to look at you again, clearly offended that Kita knew this information about you that they didn’t get. “Thank you for that.” You grumbled, ignoring the twins arguing about reasons you hadn’t told them, too afraid to even glance at Suna to see his reaction. Practice started before you had to face the conversation, but you knew it was only a matter of time.

Suna had been your best friend since first year, something about his nature fit into yours and unless he was at practice the two of you were always together, until Kita had convinced you to sign on as manager in second year. As Kita knew, somewhere along that way you had developed feelings for him, so you tried to shove them away and went on dates to find someone else that could fit in that space.

But it was an ongoing failure. Every date went terribly, every date resulted in failure, every date ended with you calling Suna to complain or distract yourself from how it went wrong- somehow when you called he was never napping even though you knew it was his favorite pastime.

When practice ended, you collected the volleyballs methodically for Kita to wipe down, making sure to ignore the way your best friends were practically vibrating to hound you about the captain’s comment at the start of practice. Well… two of them were. The third, the one you were most afraid to face, seemed to have disappeared. Wheeling the cart over to Kita, he gave you a nod, but grabbed your wrist as you turned away, “Why are you avoiding it?”

“Avoiding what?” You asked, raising an eyebrow as you pretended to play dumb.

But Kita was too observant, “Just ask him out, Y/N. Quit hurting yourself. Quit hurting him.”

“Hurting him?” You scoffed uneasily, “The most this can hurt is his ears when Atsumu starts squealin’ about it.”

The captain sighed, “if you say so. Did you still want to video chat later to study for your exam?”

“Yes, please?” You didn’t mean to answer like you were asking a question, but Kita was never one to change the subject so abruptly.

“They might be busy.” You went stiff at the voice behind you, but Kita just smirked. “Thanks for the heads up, cap.”

“Kita, you didn’t-“

“Someone needed to save you from yourself.” Kita offered sternly, but his eyes softened a bit, as they always did for you, “Besides, do you really think I’d set you up to get hurt?”

You resigned to follow the tug on your arm, marching with him straight past the waiting twins as they watched with jaws dropped open, until the two of you were finally on the walk home, “Why might I be busy?”

“Why do you keep going out with people you don’t like?”

“Why do you care?”

You weren’t sure how this walk had become just the two of you questioning each other, but as he sighed you felt like you were missing something.

“Y/N.”

“Suna.”

He leveled you with an unimpressed stare, but you grinned back. Love languages changed depending on the people you looked at- and the love language between the two of you was affectionate annoyance.

“Just answer one question for me and I’ll drop it. Swear.”

You raised an eyebrow, he always swore he’d stop his teasing when he got information he wanted, but it usually just got more specific. So what was different this time? Probably his usually bored gaze. His eyes seemed serious. “Ask it.”

“Why are you avoiding confessing?”

You hummed, mostly just to give yourself a moment to come up with an answer. The reasons you told yourself wouldn’t work on him. “Because… because as much as he doesn’t act like it, he deserves more. I could spiel some bullshit- like I’m not his type or im afraid of rejection, but that’s not even close to right. He just deserves more than I could offer him.”

“And what if he wants exactly what you have to offer?” If you didn’t know any better, you’d think Suna was nervous. His face showed no signs, but where his eyes always looked calm instead they looked anxious, like they couldn’t settle.

So you shrugged, “Then I guess I’m waiting for him to show me that.”

Finally a smirk cross his lips, “Good. Now let’s go, we’ve movies and snacks at my place.”

You felt a laugh shoot up your throat, “And what exactly is different from normal there?”

“I’ll let you cuddle me?”

“We both know that just means you’re gonna fall asleep on me.” You argued, sharing a grin as the two of you kept walking, “But I guess I can accept that.”

Masterlist

[lazyveran]

Azutara-Prompt: Azula flirts with Katara during their fight in Ba Sing Se, completely by accident and/or completely oblivious that she she actually did flirt

this was a fun request! thank you!

“Is this all you’ve truly settled for?” The princess’ voice is strange – sharp, mocking, with an inflection that begs its geniality.

Katara grits her teeth. She’s only heard this girl speak twice before – both situations had ended in near failure. It wouldn’t happen again. Whatever she was going to say—

“Think, Water Tribe – what does he offer you?” Fast feet, dancing past her ice shards. “I could give you more – the Fire Nation could give you everything.”

She dared. She dared. “As if I would ever take anything from the likes of you.”

Sharp smiles and fast claws, Katara intercepts a knife of blue fire. Sweat breaks out as flame dissipates into her bending – when had it gotten so humid?

“Come, now.” She pauses, but briefly. They were stood meters away from each other. Katara can hear Aang, clashing with the screams of the Prince. What was— “I could fulfil your every desire.”

What?

Katara blinks. Focus wrenched back to the fire bender. “I don’t—”

It’s too sudden, the way the Princess flits in close, too close, too fast. Katara quickly backpedals. She knows she can’t beat her in hand-to-hand, it would be mad to even try. The cavern is huge, but she can’t leave range of the rivers. A wheel of fire flushes past her head.

It was too hot to even think. Sweat drips from her brow.

“Haven’t you ever thought about it?” The blasted girl continues, close enough now that her voice has quietened. Close enough she can trace the elegant curve of her brow. Katara weaves water in front, breaks off her approach. The Princess smirks. “How divine you would look in red?”

Oh. Oh, there was no way. Katara flings an ice pike the length of her forearm, watches it melt into nothing.

She couldn’t get into her head. She wouldn’t. It shouldn’t work on her—

“Think, Water Tribe. The Avatar pales in comparison. Let me show you.”

She was flirting.

She was flirting.

An ever-so-slightly hysterical feeling rises in her throat. It almost erupts into an ever-so hysterical laugh. To think, the Princess of the Fire Nation was attempting to manipulate her by flirting.

She almost preferred the Prince’s methods of manipulation. At least then she hadn’t been battling a blush.

“I’m never going to be your—” Katara’s voice strangles. Her what, exactly? Did she dare assume? “Trophy wife.” She squeaks, lamely, pathetically, not at all suited for the battle-to-the-death they were locked in.

The Princess suddenly stutters, then slows to a complete halt. A whisper of something in her freakish, golden eyes.

“What?”

There was simply no way. Humiliation burns her throat.

“You— you—!” She flings a sheet of water at the Princess. Fire burns through it, a frazzled girl on the other side. “You dare to propose something like that.”

It could have been comical, really, how the fire bender seems to hiccup.  

“That’s…” She blinks. Then, “Well. Perhaps my words are wasted on Water Tribe stupidity.”

The way she spits the words entirely lacks the ferocity of before. Katara almost drops her defensive stance to gesture, frantic and bemused, at her. What on earth was happening?

“Stupidity?!”

“You clearly aren’t listening to my words.”

Katara wants to scream. “As if I would ever listen to Fire Nation scum.”

The bemused something in the Princess’ eye melts into nothing. Cruel smirk, sharp eyes, blue fire cutting through the rock before her, all return in a blink.

Katara grits her teeth at the renewed assault and pushes the clear, stupid flirting from her mind.  

[thebluestbluewords]

goodness knows

“If you see somebody stealing from a store, what should you do?” Fairy Godmother reads slowly, bouncing the end of her little golden stick along the chalky words written on the board. “It’s alright, just say whatever comes to mind.” 

The silence in the remedial goodness classroom is deafening. 

They’re all going to fail this stupid class. They’re going to fail, and be kicked out of princess school, and then Mal’s mother is going to disembowel them slowly and painfully once they get dumped back on the isle like the awful, terrible villains they are. 

Failure is not an option. 

“Mind your business?” Mal offers. She’s genuinely not sure what answer Fairy Godmother is reaching for with her little golden pointer stick, but anything she can guess has got to be better than nothing at all. They’re clearly not supposed to join in with the theft. Stealing isn’t very in line with the forces of goodness. Maybe they’re supposed to leave extra cash as compensation for the last guy? It would be better for the dude running the store that way. Maybe that’s why Fairy Godmother is asking them such a stupid question. Maybe it’s a test to see how well they can think about the needs of others and not just themselves. 

“Mm,” Fairy Godmother hums, nodding. “That’s a good guess, Mal. Anyone else?” 

Carlos raises his hand, because he’s a fucking nerd. 

Fairy Godmother beams at him. “Yes, dear?” 

“Take advantage of the distraction?” he guesses. “If they’re not paying attention they deserve to be robbed. It’s a moral lesson.” 

“Yeah, take advantage of their fuckup and steal their stuff too.” Jay adds, without raising his hand. 

“You guys, we’re not supposed to steal here!” Evie says. At least her hand is up, even if Fairy Godmother isn’t calling on them anymore. “We’d obviously kill the guy. He shouldn’t have to bear the shame of knowing that he allowed his wares to be stolen.” 

“Yeah, a mercy killing.” Carlos agrees “Better that we do it quick.” 

“No—“ 

“We steal a gun and kill him with that. It’s the quickest method.” 

“No!” Fairy Godmother squawks, “No! You are supposed to call the authorities!” 

Oh, they’ve seen this in the news. They’re supposed to wait for adults to do the violence for them.

“No offense, Fairy Godmother,” Mal says sweetly. “But I think we’d rather just kill them ourselves. We don’t need to wait for the authorities to do it for us.”

[gaymaramada]

HCs: Puss dealing with anxiety post-TLW

Since his chase with Death himself, anxiety becomes a new constant for Puss — lingering throughout the day — and it bugs him to no end. And since his anxiety stems from his fear of dying, it’s easy for him to subconsciously latch onto the smallest of things.

Sometimes he’ll just feel the tightness in his chest and the adrenaline beginning to run through his veins, but he’ll have no idea why. There’s no danger, nothing to stress over, why does he feel like this???

He gets extremely frustrated over this, which only serves to rile him up more, and by the end the day he’ll feel so drained despite not having done much at all save for some basic travel. He can’t help but feel like a failure, the words of his past lives in the Dark Forest echoing in his mind.

It takes a bit for him to open up to Perrito and (eventually) Kitty about it, his pride still holding him back. When he does, Perrito actually confesses that he still gets scared, too — that there’s still a small part of him that, as irrational as it may be, fears that Kitty and Puss will try to abandon him, too.

“It kinda feels like a hole in your heart, y’know?” He says, “But the thing is, rather than making it bigger by letting it fester and get all yucky inside you, you could instead focus on filling the rest of your heart with good things. The hole won’t go away, but the more you grow around it, the smaller it will seem, and the easier it will be to bear.”

And if Puss shed a few tears that day in the corner the ship’s cabin with Perrito in his arms — well, that’s no one’s business but his.

Puss will still get panic attacks, but they happen less and less often as time goes on to the point that they’re mostly a rarity. When he does have them, however, they hit hard. Much like the ones he has in TLW, every logical thought in his head is drowned out by the instinctive, primal urge to run, to get away, only he can’t because he’s shaking too hard and his knees are buckling beneath him and he can’t breathe.

Perrito is never late to catch his attacks, as he’s practically glued to Puss’ hip anyways; when he sees him spiraling, deep pressure therapy is his go-to, as it seems to be the most effective. Sometimes, if Puss is at a point where he can’t speak clearly and the space around them is safe/private enough, he’ll actually lie himself down on the floor and vaguely gesture to his chest so Perrito can go over and lie on top of him.

Kitty also does what she can to help; while not as naturally skilled as Perrito, she does manage to help Puss through other methods. Sometimes she’ll talk him through it, focusing on his senses to help ground him. Other times, she’ll try to distract him, rambling on about crazy past heists or idiots who tried to pull one over on her. Somehow, even if he’s still shaking, she always seems to be able to get him to crack a smile and maybe even get a laugh out of him.

It’s still hard for the cat to come to terms with this new devil on his shoulder, the pale scar on his forehead a forever reminder of its presence, but as long as he’s got his new family team with him, he’s sure he’ll be just fine.

[teine-mallaichte]

Day 4 @augusnippets - Alt prompt : Whipping

Sargeant Monroe punishes 84 after a perceived failure.

CW: Physical punishment, whipping.

Asset 84 masterlist

A sharp sound sliced through the stillness of the chamber, followed by the searing sting of the leather as it struck 84’s exposed back. The force of the blow caused 84 to gasp, their muscles tensing involuntarily against the restraints. A line of fiery pain spread across their skin, a burning sensation that was both shocking and relentless.

"Count!" Sergeant Monroe demanded, his voice a cold command.

"Five," the asset choked out, their voice barely audible.

Monroe’s voice cut through the air with a harsh edge. “Louder! I want to hear you.”

“Five!” 84 shouted, the word a strained gasp as they braced for the next strike.

The leather cracked against 84’s back again, the sting more intense with each lash. They clenched their teeth, trying to suppress the cry that threatened to escape. Their body arched involuntarily, but the restraints held them in place, their skin stretched tight over the painful marks left by the whip.

“Six!” 84 forced the word out, their voice cracking slightly.

84’s breath hitched, and a shudder ran through their body. The burning lines on their back seemed to blend into a single, continuous wave of pain. They focused on the counting, using it as a focal point to distract from the agony. Each number was an anchor, a way to keep their mind from unraveling.

“Seven,” they rasped, their vision clouding slightly.

The sergeant paused, his breathing steady as he watched 84's reaction. He took a moment to survey the welts forming on 84’s back, his eyes narrowing slightly as he assessed the effectiveness of his methods.

“Remember, 84,” Monroe said, his voice cold and unfeeling, “Failure is unacceptable. Corrections are necessary. Each strike is a lesson in endurance and obedience.”

84’s teeth ground together, the effort to remain silent immense. They forced their focus back to the task of counting, their mind fighting against the haze of pain that threatened to consume them.

“Count!” Monroe barked again, the demand as sharp as the whip’s bite.

“Eight,” 84 managed to croak out. Their skin felt as though it was on fire, the burning sensation radiating outward from the points of impact.

"What is your designation?" Monroe yelled.

The leather met 84’s back with a searing crack, the sting melding into the already existing pain. They flinched but managed to choke out the count through clenched teeth. “Nine!”

The sergeant stepped closer, his eyes narrowed, “What is your designation?” he barked again.

84’s heart pounded violently in their chest, each beat resonating with the rhythm of their agony. They struggled to grasp their thoughts, their focus wavering between the pain and Monroe’s relentless questioning.

“I… I am…” 84’s voice was barely a whisper, strained and faltering under the pressure of their agony. Each word was a struggle, the pain making it hard to think clearly. They took a shuddering breath, attempting to steady their voice as the sharp sting of each lash continued to throb through their body. Their mind swirled, each beat of their heart resonating painfully in their chest.

“84,” they gasped, the name almost lost amidst their ragged breaths. “I am 84… I am a weapon… I will endure.”

“Very good,” Monroe’s voice was devoid of warmth, merely a detached acknowledgment of 84’s compliance. He took a step back, giving 84 a brief respite before the next blow. “Count!”

“Ten."

The next lash felt as though it was seared into 84’s very soul. The whip’s leather cut through the air with a crack that seemed to echo in the chamber long after it struck. The sensation was a white-hot line of fire that radiated from the point of impact across 84’s back. They gasped, their breath coming in ragged, shallow bursts, their body straining against the restraints.

“Count!” Monroe’s voice sliced through the haze of pain, unrelenting and demanding.

“Eleven,” 84 managed to croak, their throat tight, the effort to speak a trial in itself as the whip’s aftershocks continued to radiate through their body.

Monroe paused, running a gloved hand lightly over the welts, causing 84 to hiss with barely suppressed pain.

"Remember, 84," Monroe said, his tone steady and emotionless, "every lash is a lesson in control. Endurance is everything."

84's body trembled, their breath coming in ragged gasps. The searing pain from each strike seemed to merge into a continuous, pulsating burn that made it difficult for them to concentrate.

"You want to please the Colonel, don't you?" Monroe continued.

“Yes,” 84 gasped, their voice faltering, Colonel Carters green eyes flashed through his mind, “I… want to please… the Colonel.”

Sergeant Monroe stepped back, his movements deliberate and methodical, assessing the marks left by the whip.

“Then prove it,” he said, “Show me how well you can endure.”

He cracked the whip again, the leather lashing across 84’s back, the sharp sting reverberating through their entire body. The force of the blow made 84’s muscles tense involuntarily, a pained gasp escaping their lips.

“Count!” Monroe’s voice was sharp and demanding.

“Thirteen!” 84 shouted, their voice raw and strained. The sound echoed through the chamber, mingling with the sharp crack of the whip.