#getting the other three is already like playing roulette

[the-travelling-witch]

i need to stay strong, i’m not pulling for wrio just because he’s hot… and has handcuffs…

[loveyjelly]

Raw Roulette

CW // MDNI, SMUT, foursome, handjobs, blowjobs, piv, creampie, slight mentions of exhibitionism

(I changed the title because i love alliteration)

"Regretting inviting all of us over for dinner?" Rafayel teased, crawling over to you and trailing kisses from your collarbone to your neck. As much as you want to maintain your composure, you give in and let out a whine.

"Doesn't sound like it to me." Zayne smirked, as he kept your back pressed to his chest, both of you sitting up on your bed.

"Are you enjoying this?" Xavier's hand rested on your thigh, sitting on the edge of the bed and occupying the across Rafayel. He pushed the hem of your dress up to move his hands to your inner thigh.

The overwhelming sensation is starting a fire in your lower abdomen. "This wasn't supposed to happen." You sharply inhale, trying so hard to contain yourself. What would they think of you when they find out that you're enjoying being aroused by three men at the same time?

You didn't think that the night would end up with you being surrounded by barely clothed men vying for your attention, vying for you to make them feel good.

"Do you want us to stop?" Zayne's hot breath tickling your ear is getting you more worked up. Your breath hitched and you involuntarily squeezed your legs together, accidentally trapping Xavier's hands between your thighs. He gently moved one of your legs to separate them.

"Yes or no, Love. We need to hear it from you." Xavier's eyes still shined of innocence even in the dark lighting that matched the soon-to-be carnal atmosphere.

"Don't stop" You mumbled, unable to properly get your words out.

"Speak up, Princess." Rafayel took one of your hands and kissed the back of it.

"Please don't stop."

As if their brains synced together, they resumed with what they were doing except now there was nothing holding them back from having their way with you.

Rafayel started licking and sucking on your neck, marking you as if that was the only way he could make it obvious to the other two that he needs you more than they do.

Xavier's hands roamed across your thighs. He couldn't get enough of how they feel against his palm and how you shiver and gasp whenever his fingers would brush over your panties.

Zayne enjoyed when you arch your back from the pleasure since your ass pressed against his bulge every time you did. "Would you even be able to take all of us at the same time?"

"We can't make her too tired, she's going on a date with me tomorrow." Rafayel smirked as he watched the other two pause.

"Wait you said you were going to help me with a mission tomorrow." The grip Xavier had on your thigh tightened as he looked at you with a slight pout.

"And you promised me that we'd have lunch together at the restaurant near the hospital." Zayne's arm starts to snake around your waist, every inch of your back covering his chest.

"I didn't realize I had those plans all at the same date." Trying to explain yourself was a lot harder with the three of them looking at you, expecting you to either choose between them or come up with a compromise.

"I have an idea," Rafayel said. The grin on his face tells them that it was going to be something so outrageous. "Why don't we play Russian roulette with her pussy?"

"Elaborate" Zayne's interest was piqued. He's been waiting for your shared lunch for a few days now, no way was he going to let anyone else have your time but him.

"We take turns fucking her and the last man she cums on gets to have her precious time tomorrow."

"That sounds good to me, I'm surprised you were the one that came up with that idea." Xavier's soft but nonchalant tone made the comment sound more condescending.

"Are you okay with that?" Zayne looked for your approval. He didn't want to do anything that would make you feel uncomfortable.

"Mhmm" You're already at your limit from the anticipation.

"Use your words, Miss" Rafayel coaxed.

"I'm okay with it" You obeyed, barely getting the words out without whimpering.

"You just don't want us to stop touching you, do you?" Xavier moved his hands to the soaked fabric of your panties. "Mmm already so wet for us, maybe we should let you cool down first."

"Yeah, if we keep going then you might cum as soon as you get one of our cocks inside you." Rafayel rubbed one of your arms as his lips tickled your neck while he spoke.

"I won't" You were just being delusional at this point. Having this many hands touching you and the filthy words being thrown around the room was enough to make you spill out.

"We're gonna hold you to that. Now, how do we pick which one goes first." Zayne's hands traveled from your waist up to your tits, earning a gasp from you.

"The last one that got here, should go first" Rafayel grinned at Xavier.

"For just 20 minutes!" He protested. "But I'm fine with that, I know she'll be a good girl and hold it in for me, won't you?" He gently grabbed your face to make you stare at his eyes as if it was to serve as an unspoken promise.

Xavier swiftly removed your underwear and immediately glided his fingers through your folds. Looking up at you again, he brought his fingers to his mouth and licked off your slick like it was nectar.

"I can't take it anymore, please just let me have it." Your whole body shivered as Zayne started unzipping your dress, Rafayel helping him raise it above your head.

"Let you have what?" Xavier hasn't taken his eyes off you.

"I haven't heard her be this needy ever, I think I might get addicted to how you sound right now." You couldn't handle how Rafayel kept speaking while his lips are just a hair away from your neck.

Zayne remained quiet. He felt conflicted, you look so divine when your eyes are glazed with pure lust and ecstasy but he hated sharing you with the other two. He hated how they made you feel good too. Hearing you beg for Xavier just made him want to fuck you rough and raw in front of them and let them know that if you ever needed a good fuck, he'll be the one you'd call. Just him and no one else.

"Are you sure you want to skip that part?" Xavier asked. He loves eating you out but if you want him inside already then he can't deny you that. To him, your words are gospels that need to be fulfilled. If you want him to fuck you how you want it, then he's more than glad to do that as long as you don't cum.

Rafayel finally peeled himself off your side and reached something from your nightstand drawer. "I knew you'd have it here, maybe you were expecting this to happen." He handed you the bottle of lube and was stuck at your side again. "Go on, if you want him inside then you're going to have to help him out a little bit." 

Xavier was surprised Rafayel was helping you out when it came to him. He always saw him as a self serving diva or maybe he's doing it just for you.

You tug on the waistband of his boxers and pull them down, revealing his cock already so hard for you. "It's all yours, Princess. Come here." He pulled you away from the other men and positioned you on top of him, your hips hovered over his thighs to give you space for what you needed to do.

Xavier heard Zayne click his tongue and Rafayel sighs. He shifted his focus back to you, watching your hands as they shake while pouring the lube onto your hands.

"Relax, it's just me." His hand enveloped your wrist to stop it from shaking so much.

"We're here too" Rafayel grumbled and Zayne let out a soft chuckle at the comment. You turned your head to face him but Xavier used his free hand to cup your cheek and guide your sight back to him.

"He'll have his turn later. But for now, your attention is all mine." He leaned in and brought his lips to yours to give you a quick kiss for encouragement.

You heard Xavier's sharp inhale once his cock was in your palm. 

"Move your hand." He gently instructed, trying to focus on you despite the coldness of the lube and the warmth of your hand mixing.

The rustling of the sheets brought Xavier's attention to Zayne who is now getting closer to you again. "What? I can't let you two have all the fun" He places his hand flat on your shoulder blade, making you flinch from the sudden change in temperature.

"Don't overheat, Angel. You have a whole night to get through." He snuck up behind and planted a light kiss behind your ear.

"Don't leave me out!" Rafayel was right behind you but you can tell by the tone of his voice that he was pouting. "They might make the whole night all about them if we didn't interfere." He rested his head on your shoulder.

"Don't look at us like that, Xavier. We're just here to offer some...support." Something mischievous flashed in Zayne's eye. "No one said the others should stay back while it's someone's turn."

"Fuck" He muttered, the whole time your hand your hand stayed stroking his cock.

The banter between the three of them helped ease the tension that previously built up in your chest.

"Less nervous now, Love?" Zayne noticed that you weren't as shaky as before, stroking your hair and giving you a small smile.

"I can't wait any longer, can I put it inside?" Xavier got harder the more you stroked him. He felt like he couldn't breathe until you said yes to his plea.

You took your hand off his dick and nodded, preparing for what position he'd fuck you in. It was like you were their personalized and shared fuck doll. 

"I'm so sorry, Princess. I'm gonna have to be a little rough." Xavier was so worked up he couldn't even bother to ask anymore but he knew you'd tell him to stop if you weren't fine with it.

He flipped you over on your hands and knees. The view was a little embarrassing if you were going to be honest. The other two looked at you and you couldn't help but feel small.

"Didn't know you had that in you, Xavier" Rafayel mused. "Aw, little miss has watery eyes. Are you that needy for a good fucking?" He reached for your face and caressed your cheeks using his thumb.

"She deserves one." Xavier's tip was teasing your entrance.

"Xavier, please." You squeaked out.

"Oh, I can't wait until she's begging for me." Zayne grabbed one of your hands and placed your palm on top of his erection. "I'll have to settle with this for now."

Xavier slowly pushed his cock inside you, his movements got more urgent and firm but he still observed your reaction to know if he should continue.

A loud moan escapes your lips as he pushes himself in, making you take it up to the base. He started thrusting in a quick steady rhythm that made you grip the sheets. It had completely slipped your mind that your other hand was holding Zayne's dick.

"Easy there, Angel. Come on, you can please one more man, right?" He slowly guided your hand in an up and down rhythm that intentionally matched Xavier's thrust. He closed his eyes and pretended that he was fucking you already.

"Mind if I use this one?" Rafayel hooked his thumb inside your mouth prompting you to open it wider. "I know you'll take it so well." He scooted closer so you don't have to move, placing your free arm on his thighs for support.

"Ah, that's it. Take it at your own pace, Baby." Rafayel put his hand on the back of your head and enjoyed the sight of you swallowing his whole length. "Fucking impressive, you're so good at this." He praised your skills.

"You're clenching around me already." Xavier huffed.

"My turn." Zayne interrupted and put his hand on top of yours, stopping you from jerking him off. "I need to have this pretty little thing now." 

The three rotated positions. Like clockwork, you immediately had your hands on Rafayel's dick, stroking him at the same pace that Zayne had you do. Xavier had you in the same position as Rafayel but this time he's holding your hand.

"Mmm your mouth feels just as good, Princess." Xavier threw his head back from the immense pleasure. He never felt this good using his own hands. Maybe he can call you for help whenever he needs to masturbate.

You can hear Zayne's groans as he drilled your pussy like his life depended on it. "You're getting wetter. Don't tell me you're getting close."

Your moans are muffled by Xavier's cock, making it harder to tell Zayne that you're seconds away from cuming. You feel Zayne slow down. "Does my Angel want to cum?"

You couldn't answer back, you were too preoccupied. "Look at me" His voice was stern but still had a hint of gentleness behind it.

You took Xavier's dick out of your mouth and turned your head to look back at Zayne. He wished he could pause time right now. You looked so brilliant in your current pose. Your eyes are all watery, lips swollen, a mix drool and precum trickling from the side of your mouth, and two other men panting from the pleasure you gave them.

"I'll let you cum right now if you promise that you'll reschedule our lunch to a date that doesn't include other plans. Do I make myself clear, Angel?" His cock stayed buried deep inside you, it made it so hard to focus on what he was saying.

"I promise" You mumbled.

"Louder"

"I promise, Zayne. Please let me cum" You begged.

"Good girl. Now get ready to be fucked the way you deserve to be fucked." He starts thrusting again, his body remembering the tempo it was following earlier.

"Letting yourself lose just for her, how noble." Rafayel just had to poke fun at Zayne. Too bad he almost couldn't get the words out since he was panting like a dog that just played fetch for an hour.

"My Princess cuming on someone else's cock? I should've just forfeited earlier." Xavier tried to give you a cute pout but failed. Your mouth felt too good to joke around at the moment.

Zayne's cock was repeatedly hitting your sweet spot. You can feel your orgasm building up, coming in waves in your lower abdomen.

"Just let it all out, Angel. I'm close too." He kept the beat of his thrust the same to help you get to your peak.

"Zayne!" You exclaimed as you arch your back from the satisfaction, sending shivers all over your body. Your limbs twitched and you had Xavier and Rafayel help you hold yourself up. He continued going in and out until you felt him grip your hips tight, his warm cum covering every existing inch of your walls.

"Did that feel too good, Baby?" Rafayel grabbed your face and lifted it up to meet his gaze. You nodded. "I can tell, you couldn't even focus on us anymore."

"It's okay, Princess. But now we'll have to be a little selfish." Xavier kissed your shoulder and pinned you down on your back, your head barely on the mattress.

"You ready?" He positioned himself on top of you, slapping his dick against your pussy.

"Ready" You whispered.

He slid his cock inside, pushing out Zayne's cum. "Feels good to be back."

"Don't forget about me" Rafayel's fingers grazed your throat. He gets out of the bed and stands near the top of your head.

Xavier figured out what Rafayel wanted to do. He grabbed your waist and pushed you out of the bed by a few inches.

"Perfect." Rafayel wrapped his hand on your throat and slowly let your mouth and tongue do their thing. He had to get you used to that position first.

Zayne laid down and reached for your hand. "You did so well, Angel." Taking the back of your hand and tenderly kissing it.

Meanwhile, Xavier was barely hanging on by a thread. The sweet sound your moans make alone could've made him cum but fucking you was an option so he took it.

The original game plan has been derailed but none of the boys could complain. The sound of your gasps, whimpers, and moans echoing off the walls were like music to their ears.

You didn't have to move as Rafayel moved his hips and used your throat as a pussy. "No matter what you do you always feel so good." He pushed his cock down the back of your throat and held it there for a few seconds just to hear you gag and gargle spit.

"Oh, does that turn you on more? I felt you clench." Xavier thrusted faster, ready to give you another orgasm.

Zayne loved this lewd side of you. It was like you were their personal fuck toy just for this night. He can't deny that he had fun fucking you in front of other people. You really do bring sides of him he didn't think he had.

You couldn't tell Xavier that you were about to cum. The next best way was to put your hand on his forearm and squeeze it.

"I'm about to cum too, Princess." He said, it's like he read your mind.

"Fuck, me too." Rafayel moaned. "Squeeze his arm if you want all of us to cum with you, Baby."

You squeeze Xavier's hand until your nails dig into his skin.

"She says yes." Xavier and Rafayel shared a smirk.

In just a few seconds, you let go and experience another round of ecstasy. Your senses were almost non-existent after being pounded and choked by multiple cocks.

Xavier and Rafayel let out several loud moans as they slow down their thrust after reaching their peak. Both of them slowly pull out and immediately reach out to you to make sure you're okay.

The content look in your eyes and smile was a good enough answer to their question.

Rafayel scooped you into his arms and placed you in the middle of your bed. "Take all the time you need to rest, okay? You did such an amazing job." He reassured you, giving you a soft kiss on the forehead.

Despite the guys being breathless and tired too, they still went out of their way to make sure you were well taken care of after. They'll also have to figure out how they'll fit into your schedule next week since the game didn't go as planned.

The thoughtful gestures, sweet words of affirmation, and future plans will have to wait because their favorite girl just fell asleep.

(Alexa, play Love Talk by WayV on loop)

(Technicallyyyy Rafayel won)

@queenashen

buy me coffee

[kazumist]

THROUGH THICK AND THIN .ᐟ

✩ — in which soshiro had forgotten the lengths of your love for him.

✩ — request: hi, can i pls request an argument with hoshina and how u resolve everything 🥹🥹🥹

✩ — includes: hoshina soshiro x gn!reader. hurt/comfort, angst if u squint. cw: arguments, implications of soshiro being injured but thats just it, soshiro is kinda mean Uhm, ooc!hoshina this is another experimental fic help me. wc: 1440. reblogs and feedback are much appreciated !!

if there was one thing sharper than the blades hoshina soshiro wielded, it would be the words that escaped his lips.

hoshina knows how to sugarcoat his words. he considers himself a good talker—negiotiator, if you would. however, when it comes to more sensitive topics, that’s when it all starts to crumble down. 

he never expected for him to catch feelings, especially with the line of work he takes. it’s too risky. dangerous. worrying. but he fell as deep as the ocean could get for you. you accepted it. him and his line of work. him as a whole.

yet soshiro seems to forget that sometimes.

getting out of a mission unscathed was impossible. he would always have at least one injury planted on him. it was a repetitive game of russian roulette where either his injuries would be severe or light. and unfortunately for him, today was sadly the former. 

a knock was heard at the door of the hospital room he’s staying in. a mission had recently just finished—about three days had passed, and soshiro was unconscious for the first two due to how he overexerted himself. “come in,” he says. and to his surprise, he saw you opening the door.

soshiro hasn’t told you about him being hospitalized yet—so how?

“captain ashiro told me.” oh. so that’s how. well, he was aware that you had also built a friendship with his commander. and that was completely fine with him. it was awkward when you walked over to the bed, pulling out the chair for you to sit on. you refused to make eye contact with him while soshiro just stared at you.

neither of you has an idea of what to say.

“i wish you told me as soon as you woke up. i was worried sick when i heard the news about the kaiju attack and all.” you said, keeping your gaze focused on your fingers as they played with each other. he flinches slightly as guilt starts to bubble up inside of him. it was already five in the afternoon and he’s been awake since ten in the morning. he wishes that he told you as soon as he woke up as well.

however, there’s one thing that has started to creep onto soshiro lately—fear. insecurity, perhaps. he gets haunted by the thought that you would definitely be happier in someone else’s arms and that you would be more happy being bathed in someone else’s affection. being with a man like hoshina soshiro was dangerous, as if it were a gamble to play.

because you never know if you’ll still wake up to him being alive the next day. and believe it or not: hoshina was scared—terrified of that possibility. he doesn’t want you to be sad, he crumbles at the thought of you crying in the first place. so he made it a task for him to push you away. to be distant.

to be someone you would hate.

that’s the only way he could keep you safe.

“sorry. i didn’t want to disturb you.” bullshit.

“why…” you trailed off. soshiro noticed that you werent playing with your fingers anymore and that you were now clenching your fists. “why would you think that? soshiro, your health matters to me.” his heart also clenched when he heard the slight crack in your voice. “why would it matter to you? i could die any day.”

“are you being serious right now?” he hates it. he hates the way that the first time he saw your eyes today, they were filled with such negative emotions. anger. hurt. confusion. “do i look like i’m kidding?”

“soshiro, why are you acting like this? did i do something wrong? i know we haven’t seen each other a lot because we’ve been both busy.” no, you didn’t. this is my fault, but this is also for the best. is what he wanted to say—but he just swallows up his words. “it’s nothing.”

“no, it’s not just ‘nothing.’ tell me what’s wrong, please? so we can fix it. it pains me when we’re like this.” it pains him too—it pains him so fucking bad. but hoshina soshiro is stubborn. so he will find himself accomplishing his task, whether it pains him or not.

because all he wants is the best for you, even if he wouldn’t be able to provide that.

— — — — — — — — 

he doesn’t know how things got so heated between the two of you. and he’s sure that you both might disturb the other patients who are confined in the room next to his.

“why won’t you just tell me what’s wrong? i feel like an idiot, soshiro! what am i?! some fucking mind reader on what goes on inside your head?!”

“like i told you, it’s nothing for you to worry about! what can’t you understand with that?!”

“what can’t you understand with me saying it’s not just nothing?!”

“and what can’t you understand with me implying that you shouldn’t care anymore?! dp i have to spell it out for you?”

you weren’t sitting down anymore, and hoshina doesn’t dare to speak anymore. fighting with you was the worst. and this time, he fucked up real bad. “i… it’s getting late. i should get going.” you say, and soshiro could feel a part of him shattering when he heard you hold back a sob.

the next time soshiro saw you, he was on his day off (a day off he didn’t really want to take but captain ashiro forced him otherwise since the doctors told him he shouldn’t be making his body engage in strenuous activities just yet). and the first thing he did? he visited you. he knew you get off work early on fridays, making you free for the rest of the weekend earlier.

he knocks on your door, although hesitantly. he’s nervous as he waits for you to open the door.

and he’s grateful that you still opened the door for him in spite of your last conversation with each other. you didn’t say anything as you opened the door further, inviting him in. the awkwardness gave hoshina a rush of deja vu about the awkwardness in the hospital room.

“i’m sorry.” although these two words don’t just cut it so easily, he thinks.

“do you really mean it? what you said in the hospital?”

his breath hitched as he found the right words to say. if hoshina was going to be honest, he hasn’t thought much about what to do at this point. surely, he had achieved his goal that night, right? “yeah.”

“liar.”

he turns to you immediately, and you were already looking at him to begin with. “you’re lying, and i could tell that because you’re nibbling on your lip. you always do that when you lie. just tell me the truth, soshiro, please.”

why should he? would you accept his reason? would you accept the insecurities that haunt his every waking thought? would you accept him even though he said such mean things to you the last time you saw each other?

would you still love him despite it all?

you would. you always would. 

and so he explains from the very start—when and where these thoughts started in the first place. and you listen to him intently, absorbing every single detail he says. once he was done, you took a deep breath. 

“god, you’re so stupid. did you know that?” soshiro lets out a weak chuckle at that, avoiding your gaze. you cup his face with your hands, making him face you. “look at me,” he refuses. “soshiro, look at me.” he then complies, slowly trailing his eyes across your features before resting them on your gaze.

“you don’t get to decide what’s best for me when it comes to this type of thing, okay? i love who i want to love. you don’t get to decide that i’d be happier with someone else. because i love you. i love you more than you could ever imagine, more than you could ever feel. remember that. engrave that inside your mind so you can never forget. you are the one i am helplessly in love with, soshiro.”

i love you. i love you. i love you. it repeats inside his mind. you are the one i am helplessly in love with. it echoes. soshiro feels stupid for attempting to become someone you hated in the first place. there was no way he could ever bear the possibility of you actually hating him.

how could he forget? you had already accepted him as a whole. through thick and thin, you will stand by his side.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Drabble Roulette: Helmut Zemo + Mob AU

Hey hey! This weekend (July 6 -7) I’m going to be playing drabble roulette! I’ve curated a list of characters, tropes, AUs, and kinks and I’m spinning the wheel! Hopefully I can do this once a month as a little writing exercise.

Character: Helmut Zemo

Warnings: this drabble includes illegal activity and drunkeness. Please mind these warnings and take care.

Explicit, 18+. Please reblog and leave some feedback.

A giggle bubbles up from your throat. You don’t know why it’s so funny. Maybe it’s the absurdity. Maybe you’re just tired of being the other one. Or you’re drunk. Very drunk. 

You glance over at Shantal. She’s making eyes at the guy who brought her a lime twist cocktail. He’s into her too. And Traci grinds on the dance floor with a buff guy you know spends more time in the gym than doing actual work. And you, well, you get the cream of the crop, don’t you? 

As the man approaches, you try to ignore him. Try not to see him. Maybe he’ll get the hint. You’re really not interested. 

He doesn’t. He sits beside you on the long bench behind the table and sets the second martini in front of you. You repress a cringe. You hate to be rude but you can’t help another giggle. 

He looks older up close. You could tell before he’s beyond your age range. Do you have one of those? Not like you have a vast field for selection. Next to the young studs your friends have reeled in, his seniority is even more stark. 

“You look lonely,” he slithers. 

You put on your best smile. It’s hard. You’re mortified. 

“Um, thanks, that’s nice but...” you look away and wet your lips, laughing again. “I’m sorry I’m not looking--” 

“Mm, you could’ve fooled me the way you keep peeking over at your friend. You are rather green.” 

You wince at the insult. You’re not jealous but you do wish you could find them as east as Shantal. You shrug. 

“I appreciate the gesture but I think I might be a bit... young for you,” you suggest. 

It’s his turn to laugh and he does. Heartily. He stirs the cocktail with the toothpick, three olives skewered upon it. He raises his chin and inhales through his nose, looking around the flashing club. Why is he even there? It can’t be much fun hanging out with coeds at that age. 

He looks at you smugly, “do you have any idea who you’re laughing at?” 

His expression turns dire and your stomach drops. Something in his dark eyes strangles you. You shake your head and look at the stemmed glass. 

“Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met,” you utter. 

“We’re meeting. Now.” 

“Right,” you hesitate. This is awkward. You don’t know what he wants you to say. “I am the designated driver so--” 

“Don’t lie to me,” he sneers. “I’ve watched you keep pace with these sluts you call friends. You’re slurring right now and I can smell the vodka on your breath,” he leans in, “I’d rather taste it.” 

“Excuse me?” You sputter. 

“You’ve got a pretty mouth,” his eyes flick down to your lips, “go on, have a sip.” 

“You’re gross.” 

“I bought you a drink so don’t be so impolite,” he retorts. “I’m sorry, did you have a line up?” 

He peers around again, even more smug than before. That hurts.  

“You know, you catch more bees with honey--” 

“I already own you,” he insists, “you’re in my club, you have my liquor in your stomach, and you are sat at my table. So, show some manners and drink what I give you.” 

You shake your head. This man is confounding. Is he flirting or demeaning you? 

“I recommend you weigh this very carefully. I don’t just own this snake’s pit. The landlord you pay for their basement, I know him. He pays me his dues. And the college campus, yes, well, several professors have a taste for gambling, and I suppose you would need to deal with the banks...” 

“You’re lying--” 

“Perhaps, would you like to find out the hard way or the easy way,” he reaches over and taps the glass before you, “I do find gin does go down rather smoothly.” 

[anndramarama]

I feel like the scene in this is gifset by @guzhuangheaven is where Lin Chen officially, consciously crossed over.

To what mindset, I'm not quite sure, but he has avoided that last bit of conscious introspection for a long time, but now the threat to Changsu is not something that Changsu with all his powers can defend against in the moment, and the threat isn't Changsu's deteriorating health, which Lin Chen is at turns empowered to battle directly and helpless to change at all.

Lin Chen knows that the battle against the poison was lost a long time ago, as part of a past he can't change, and the fact of that moves like a leviathan in Lin Chen's psyche, making him more unhinged and eccentric every year.

So if he has a chance to pick up a sword and defend Changsu in a direct and visceral way, he's going to take that chance, all appearances of neutrality be damned.

(He would take any chance to do it, too; he would feed himself dangerous drugs or transform into a mythical creature, or spin the roulette wheel of time to save the person he loves.)

Think about the way he delivered his diagnosis and treatment plan to Nie Feng and Xia Dong (and Changsu and Mu Nihaung). He was flippant and direct and rude, a bit too much like an actor on a stage, because there was no way he could be even a little bit himself, or behave in a way that was closer to normal (think about how Yan daifu might have summarized their options for contrast).

He couldn't be somber because Changsu depends on him to be anything but (the one time when he did start to show his true feelings MCS literally broke down and cried).

He couldn't show too much compassion because Changsu reads that as pity, and Lin Chen knows that MCS carries that heavy burden every time he interacts with Mu Nihaung.

He can't be too enthusiastic about Nie Feng's rather excellent prognosis because Changsu chose the other path, the one that had the treatment that was worse than death and would make his life miserable and comparatively short, and dwelling on that forsaken possibility can only lead to despair.

So with his choices so limited Lin Chen plays up his eccentricities, his supposed medical objectivity and curiosity, and no one can see the man behind the curtain. He might as well be a disembodied voice during that diagnosis dialogue, because Lin Chen is present but largely unseen by everyone except MCS, who can only metaphorically look at his shadow during moments like this -- and MCS can only look at it sidelong, in denial, and in strict control of himself.

Which is a good thing, because sometimes Lin Chen is internally screaming and enraged, and already furious with a grief that burns too bright for the few human eyes that are tuned in enough to see him clearly.

Lin Chen had long ago stopped speaking to Changsu in absolutes. Changsu is going to die. Soon, tomorrow, a month from now, two months, three? No one knows. Lin Chen doesn't know, he can only make predictions and wait.

He would rather not make predictions. He would rather not be asked, thank you. Leave Lin Chen alone. Let him brew medicines and banter with MCS and drink, and wait for the sun to come up on one more day where his friend is alive to drink the medicine, tease him, and see another sunrise.

Now back to the same remarkable gifset I referenced above. OP captioned it "Lin Chen and Fei Liu worrying about Mei Changsu: a full time occupation. Look at Fei Liu," and I owe OP big time because, yes, let's look at Fei Liu, and let's talk about Fei Liu and Lin Chen.

We see and we're told that they don't get along. Lin Chen is a bit of a dick to Fei Liu even though he seems fond of him too: he teases Fei Liu, tries to play with him mostly unsuccessfully, and seems to use him as a distraction to help play up his (Lin Chen's) eccentric behavior. I think there was also a comment about Fei Liu wanting to avoid Lin Chen because Lin Chen makes him (Fei Liu) drink medicine, but I'm not super clear on that.

We see that they "don't get along," and if anything this amuses MCS. Fei Liu comes to MCS for help, asks to be saved, and MCS helps Fei Liu. Because MCS can do that, it doesn't require physical strength, only that he plays the role of the "good dad" according to the established dynamic in their family of three.

So we're told that Lin Chen and Fei Liu don't get along for all the reasons above, but we also see that they're a really good team when it's necessary. There's the scene where they're chasing Qin Banruo, for instance. Later, Fei Liu sits across from Lin Chen while he makes Changsu's medicine and talks about their upcoming tour of jianghu, and they both agree that it doesn't matter where they are as long as the three of them are together. (Yeah.)

That's quite a contrast to the scene in the gifset, where Lin Chen is anxious, and possibly feeling helpless, and definitely contemplating violence.

And where's Fei Liu in that scene? He's shut down, head on the wall, inert.

This is the same position he's in when MCS is ill sometimes, or he's upset about something. Because we are supposed to understand that while Fei Liu can't quite articulate what he's feeling, and is mentally still a VERY young child, he does react immediately to situations and has an intuitive understanding about what's going on around him, particularly with regard to MCS.

So, how does Fei Liu feel about Lin Chen, and more specifically why does he seem to dread his presence in previous scenes, to the point that he captures and is going to kill the pigeon sent to summon Lin Chen?

My guess is that Fei Liu sees right through Lin Chen. He knows what Lin Chen is feeling under all the bluster and weirdness, and he knows that the dark feeling coming from his other parent affects MCS too.

However we read their relationship, Lin Chen and Changsu are very, very close; they live with each other off and on and love each other deeply; they understand each other better than almost everyone else around them; they rescued a child and parent that child together. Their little trio is intimately connected by time, experience, trauma, and pain.

Lin Chen and Changsu both playact that all is well but they can't fool Fei Liu, especially when they are together.

So it makes sense that Fei Liu would want to keep them apart as MCS gets sicker and that dark feeling grows, because it's scary. They're Fei Liu's world and that world is breaking down continually, weirdly, unpredictably.

He wants them to stay in their corners, thank you, because he's afraid of how it feels when they're together.

But back to that gifset:

At the start of this post I theorized that Lin Chen crossed over from even paying lip service to neutrality, but where else did he cross over? From ongoing anger to something like acceptance of MCS's inevitable death, in a way that would allow him to prioritize Fei Liu in the moment?

Or did he move on from anger to full-on Denial?

Because after that scene Fei Liu is pretty much at ease in Lin Chen's presence, and part of the reason for this (long, sorry) post was to try to understand why.

If he's moved on to Acceptance, good for Lin Chen. He might have a chance at good mental health in the near-ish future (think five years post-canon, and that might be a generous estimate).

But if he crossed over into Denial and it's strong enough to fool Fei Liu? I think Lin Chen's long term future might be a lot darker than one would expect from the always-sunny, temperamental, eccentric jianghu doctor.

[thirteenashmctrash]

okay so i have gained a new species of spore for my collective brainrot and i have found the perfect selling pitch to drag everyone i care about down with me. if you know the show this is hilarious. if you haven't watched it pay attention:

the show's called leverage. you know how there's those crime serials that aren't good at all but we've all watched a little too much of at least one of them even though they are blatant copaganda which is morally terrible? take your favorite one of those, but remover the copaganda. all the characters are criminals but their only victim is capitalism. every cop in the show is stupid at best and blatantly corrupt to a disgusting level most of the time. there is just as much genuine and intelligent social commentary as this premise demands.

i sense i already have you hooked. i can make this better. stick with me for a minute on this: the character dynamic is a muppet movie but also the Scooby gang

stick with me here!

You have Parker, who fit into the Scooby gang as Scooby and would be played by Gonzo. her crime thing is that she is a cat burglar and she is very good at it. her skill with it is borderline slapstick (hence Scooby) and she is very autistic coded and misunderstood (hence Gonzo)

You've got Eliot, who is the Shaggy and is played by Sam Eagle. He is the brute force of the team and he wants you to think he is all serious and grimdark. but he loves making the employees and victims of their capitalist targets aware of unions and he is a big himbo. i say he is shaggy because he plays Parker's straight man, he has the second most cartoonlike abilities, and he has a passion for cooking

Hardison is Velma as played by Kermit. he is a geeky hacker with a passion for orange soda and he is the heart of the team. he gets overlooked as leader even though he is the driving force of everything they do. like Velma. he also has that trademark Kermit brand of slapstick and deadpanned humor in balance.

Sophie is Daphne as played by miss piggy. she is basically the world's best grifter, she usually the front man interacting with the target the most. she has that crazy streak and the self defense capacity that miss piggy and Daphne (when she's done right) both have. she also has the confidence and style.

Nate is Fred and he is the human character. Fred has "let's split up gang" and Nate has "then we have to steal *fill in the blank with something comedically unfit to finish the sentence*" Fred and Nate are both flat characters with the main trait "i think I'm the leader but my smart friend does all the work" and the main interest of "trapping and screwing over capitalists" he mainly gets to call himself the leader because he's the idea guy and he has an apartment. his role in the muppet analogy is the peak of my pitch if you're still here. because while this is definitely not the Christmas Carol, Nate is the human character because he is Ebenezer Scrooge if instead of being a capitalist, Scrooge was an alcoholic and instead of character growth he was just steadily losing his mind. his moral compass and general intelligence are on a roulette wheel that is spun at random intervals lasting from seconds to the occasional few hours. also he and Sophie have divorced parents of grown children syndrome and the other three are said children. in vibes, of course, they aren't actually related.

if anyone stayed with me through all of that you should seriously watch it. even if i sound like i pulled this all out of my ass. it's so good.

it's an actively anticapitalist, copaganda free crime show where you get to see fun characters beat up every thing bad in society and fuck it all over. it balances fun comedy and wild characters with serious topics and moments in a way that is very natural and genuine. it also has one of my favorite autistic coded characters, a positive and healthy relationship that develops in a way that feels natural to the characters (as well as a rockier one if you're into drama) and it is in the midst of what looks to be an actually well handled revival series with the original cast. i haven't caught up yet but I'm so excited for it. the original had 5 seasons and the revival is waiting to be renewed for season 3.

please go watch leverage. it's so good and it deserves more fans. also i want more fic and that next season

[phoenixspencer]

Hello! I love your gifs! How do you make yours so clear and high quality/What's your process? <3

Hi!! Thank you so much!! I've never really had to explain out my process to anyone and I don't know how much detail you need, but I'll try my best and try to be as thorough as possible just in case!!

For my D:BH gifs, the process starts out with recording my own game play. I have a gaming computer that already had the GeForce Experience app downloaded, so I use that to record my game play. It records at 1920 × 1080p, 60 frames per second, so the files can get... rather large 😅 The video of my playthrough of the Russian Roulette chapter (~11 minutes long) was just under 4 GB. So its not light...

From there, I figure out what in particular I want to gif (for the timestamp roulette series, I let a random number generator figure out whereabouts I'm looking). Once I know that, I open up VLC and use it to isolate that particular shot + a little more on either end.

After I have the shot(s) I want to gif isolated, I open up Photoshop. I use "File" > "Import" > "Video Frames to Layers" and choose the video I want. You can do this straight from the video of your playthough, but I find that the shorter the video is, the easier it is to work with in this step. I trim my video more, to about a click or two outside of the specific shot I want. Like so:

From there I delete any extraneous frames from the "timeline" section that comes up.

Then is cropping: my go-to crop uses the "W x H x Resolution" option - I put 540 px in the first box, 300 px in the second and leave the third blank.

After that, I have an action in Photoshop that does the next steps for me (to make things quicker), but what it does is sets the frame rate (which will have to be done again after saving the gif because Photoshop hates everyone apparently), converts all the layers into a single object, and sharpens the gif. I've only been gif-ing for about a year and a half, and before that I had exactly zero experience with Photoshop at all, so all the numbers from these steps are still the same as the numbers I pulled from the tutorial I used when trying to figure everything out. For those, you can look at this absolutely AMAZING tutorial, by hayaosmiyazaki, specifically steps 7. gif speed and 8. sharpening.

From there, I start adjusting the colors. From what I've noticed, I seem to do a good bit less color adjustment than some, or maybe even most, other gif makers. It's honestly all about personal preference, so play around with it and find what you like! I personally like to stick as close as possible to the original colors, while still brightening the image up enough to make it clearer and more legible. So, for a majority of my gifs, I only apply an "Exposure" layer, a "Brightness/Contrast" layer, and a "Hue/Saturation" layer (from the "Layer" > "New Adjustment Layer" menu.) The numbers here change dependent upon the lighting in the shot.

For example, here's a before and after of this shot I just did so I could type this out and make sure I got every step 😅 For this one, I did Exposure +1.0 (no change to Offset or Gamma Correction), Brightness +20, Contrast +10, and Saturation +5 (no change to Hue or Lightness).

Once I'm satisfied with my coloring, I go to "File" > "Export" > "Save for Web (Legacy)". I watch the gif there to make sure it looks how I want, maybe go back and do a few tweaks to the coloring if I'm not quite happy, check the file size and then save it!

Tumblr's maximum file size is 10MB so if your gif is over that, you won't be able to use it on tumblr - in order to fix that, you may have to delete a few more frames. Or you can crop it to so there's less pixels in the "Save for Web" pop-up by changing the numbers in the "Image Size" section

And now, once I have my gif named and saved. I go back to "File" > "Open" and open up that gif. From there, I go to the little three lines icon in the top right corner of my "Timeline" section, click "Select All Frames" and then click the three dots on one of the frames and change the frame delay. For my DBH gifs, I do 0.02 seconds cause it looks best to me. Depending on how many frames per second your recording software does/what you personally like speed wise, this may be different for you. This is also different for gifs from live action or other media (for those, I prefer 0.05 seconds - it looks the most realistic to me.)

Then, I just save again, overriding the file from before I changed the speed, and voila! That's my process!

I hope this helps; if you have any more questions, my ask box is always open!! And again, thank you so so much 🥰 I'm so glad you like my gifs!!

[restlessmaknae]

love roulette | keeho

It's a casual uni party, and you meet three very different guys that night: Keeho, the chatty bartender; Jiung, the cute vocalist of the band that's playing that night; Taeyang, the guy who's there for the gig just like you.

Who ends up walking you home depends on your choice.

🎲 This is the ending with KEEHO.

🎲 To read the general setting, go back to the start.

♦️ Pairing: female!reader/you x bartender!keeho

♦️ Genre: fluff, romance, uni au

♦️ Warning: mentions of alcohol

♦️ Word count: 2.9k

♦️ Dedicated to: @dat-town❤️

♦️ P1Harmony taglist: @tranquilpetrichor, @laaylaazyy, @americanokisses, @kuleo26, @hyu-won, @bamboongi, @syrxiee2, @wccycc, @littlestartonightsposts, @sunooslover, @chang-ryul, @dat-town

🎲 READ FURTHER FOR KEEHO'S ENDING

The rest of the gig was fun just like the first part, and thankfully, no more mishaps came your way. Taeyang enjoyed himself beside you, but he did leave after the performance was over because he admitted that he was there because of the band playing. To that, Gaeul couldn’t help but fangirl a little. However, he let the boy go - albeit with a pout - when he insisted that he didn’t want to bother anyone anymore.

“He was no bother. What was he thinking?” Your friend huffed a bit, but he was grateful nevertheless that the boy had helped you out earlier.

“He was practically a stranger. It’s not like you can set me up with every stranger.”

“I would if I could, you know,” Gaeul smacked you in your side, and sent you a wink. Of course you knew, she was that type of person. You had met her when she was already with Intak, so since her love life was already taken care of, it seemed that she wanted to meddle with others’ non-existent love life instead.

You just sent her a knowing look, but there was a smile forming on your lips. Maybe it was the pleasant times you spent together or how you cried over stressful times together, and how she was always there for you when you needed it - and not just as a roommate but as a friend too -, and she didn’t push you aside even if she was in a relationship, but you were really glad to have her in your life. That’s why you wouldn’t be able to hold a grudge against her or get mad even if she was oh so obviously setting you up with guys when you gave in to hang out with her at such places.

“Uh, how about that blue cocktail now? Intak said they would come soon, but we still have some time,” she suggested as her previous words about getting herself that cool-looking cocktail came to mind. You nodded, giving in to her suggestion, and went to the bar with your arms linked together, so that you wouldn’t lose each other in the crowd.

There were currently two bartenders working, and coincidentally, you ended up in front of Keeho again. When looking up from the counter and meeting your eyes, realisation hit him, and he gave you a big, commercial-like smile.

“Can’t get enough of my Winter Wonderland cocktail?” He wiggled his eyebrows teasingly, and you felt a tug on your arm. Gaeul caught onto the fact that you had met before, it seemed, not that you should have been surprised.

“Actually, it would be for my friend this time. She said it looked cool, so she would like to give it a try,” you explained to the bartender who seemed to take notice of the girl beside you only then. His smile didn’t falter though. If anything, it just became wider.

“Oh, so you even promoted my drink. I feel fluttered,” he exclaimed theatrically as he put a hand over his heart. Gaeul started giggling beside you right immediately.

“Too bad I’m already taken. I feel like we could get along well,” she blurted out joyfully as the bartender got cracking on the drink. Your eyes widened comically as you glanced in the girl’s direction, but she was her usual casual self, and Keeho didn’t seem to mind her comment either.

“We can still be friends, you know,” the boy shrugged his shoulders equally casually, and your assumption of him getting along well with everyone seemed to be true as they kept conversing. The chit-chat just flew naturally, and somewhere along the way, Gaeul even mentioned that even if she was with someone, you weren’t taken, and you just hit her arm playfully while Keeho let out a carefree laughter seeing your friendly banter.

“Note taken,” he concluded with a semi-childish smile, and you had a feeling that he didn’t take it seriously, but still… The fact that he didn’t say he was taken made you question whether he was just more private about his relationship status than your friend was, or he was actually single.

Anyways, you couldn’t keep up the conversation for too long because Keeho was working, so you stepped aside, leaning towards the counter while waiting for the boys to show up. You couldn’t help but glance in the bartender’s direction though, and once, you even caught his eyes, so you immediately turned away. You were sure your face flushed.

A couple more minutes went by, and Intak showed up with Jiung by his side. Hyunsuk had given Doyum a ride back home because they lived in the same neighbourhood, so that left you with only the other two coming back. As expected, Intak was more preoccupied with his girlfriend than with his bandmate who took that as a sign to leave. You would have liked to leave too, only leaving the lovebirds behind, but the two kept bickering, and Gaeul insisted that she wouldn’t leave until she finished her cocktail.

In the end, Intak drank probably half of it because he was also intrigued by the colour, and instead of putting the glass back on the counter like anyone else would, the girl waited until Keeho was free and passed it back onto the chatty bartender while you were having a few words with the bassist.

Gaeul came back smiling, and you gave her a puzzled look. She looked like she had been up to something, and her boyfriend caught onto that, too, asking about the reason behind her mischievous smile while throwing an arm around her shoulder.

“I’ve asked your favourite bartender when he is leaving, and I’ve also asked him to walk you back to the dorms,” she admitted giddily, and your jaw literally dropped. What was she thinking? Asking a practically stranger to walk you home? “Before you would protest, he said yes, and I also warned him that if he does anything inappropriate, I know where he works, so I could easily find and take care of him.”

“That’s my girl,” Intak hollered, pretty impressed, and raised his hand for a high-five. The girl joined in, and now you had two widely smiling faces staring at you, not just one.

“You know, you’re pretty crazy.”

“I know you love me. Thank me later when you get together,” she winked at you playfully, and even though you had a nervous knot in your stomach, you were actually not that terrified of Keeho walking you home. Sure, he might have been a stranger, but you had a feeling that he was one of those people who could befriend everyone or at least found a few topics to talk about with anyone, so at least your walk back to the dorms wouldn’t be that boring. Though you were pretty hungry too…

So you asked Gaeul when the bartender would be leaving because you were already pretty hungry, and she said 10 minutes top, so you decided to wait it out while Intak and Gaeul were in their own world, talking about the 7-month anniversary date that they would go on after this. They were a cute couple, a pretty fun on top of that, but you always felt like you were third-wheeling beside them no matter how inclusive they were.

Hence, you were actually relieved when Keeho showed up, and after Intak vibe checked him, your friend and her boyfriend sent you two on your way. You were just about to tell Keeho that you were hungry when he suggested grabbing something to eat.

“I was just about to say that.”

“I’m actually a mindreader, but don’t tell anyone,” Keeho put his index finger on his lips as if he wanted to shush you, and you nodded fervently as if you took his warning seriously. After that though, both of you burst into laughter, and the good mood carried on until you made your way to a nearby American-style diner where you got yourself a strawberry milkshake and some pancakes followed by Keeho’s example who said that they were the best pancakes in Seoul.

“Besides that, pancakes for dinner is a criminally underrated concept. Who said that it’s a breakfast food? I think I need to talk with them,” he blabbered mindlessly, making big hand gestures in the meantime. You couldn’t help but laugh at his exclamation, he just had that dramatic vibe around him, it was difficult to take him seriously.

As you two were having your dinner, the conversation didn't stop. Keeho was the type of person who could bring up any topic that came to his mind in between two bites, so it felt like one of those quiz shows where there were rapid rounds of questions you needed to answer. Not that the boy didn't give you enough time to answer, it was just that you jumped from one topic to another pretty quickly. Once you talked about your uni major, then you jumped onto your favourite songs, then favourite colour, then opinion on pineapple on pizza and so on. You got to know that he was working at the bar because he liked music, he liked getting to know people (though not drunk ones, he admitted with a semi-jokester smile), and because he was trying to make money for a European trip. He didn't yet know what he wanted to do as a profession, but he hoped that this trip could make him realise what his strength was, and how he could use that for a job.

"I think the fact that you get along so well with strangers is a pretty big strength in itself. You might think you aren't doing anything special, but I know that I wouldn't be able to do the same," you confessed straightforwardly, not ashamed that you were on the other end of the spectrum when it came to extroversion-introversion.

“What? I think we’ve overcome the strangers phase, haven’t we?” Keeho gaped dramatically, but continued on with a lighthearted laughter carrying his words. “For real though, I am usually outgoing, but there are people who can’t take my extraness and my extra sass, might I say, so sometimes it doesn’t really work out with them. I might be a bit oblivious, but I can sense when it’s reeeeally awkward with someone, so I just don’t force it then. I don’t feel like I have to force this conversation with you though,” he came to a halt and looked at you, expectantly. As the lights shone on him in that moment, you actually realised that his hair wasn’t totally black, it had deep blue strikes in it, too. It was pretty cool, and fit him and his outfit so well. Huh, how come you had not noticed it before?

“I hope I’m sensing it right,” he added hopefully, bringing you back to reality from your quite long stare at the boy’s hair and style. You tried to act coolly, hoping that he didn’t actually think that you were checking him out, more like zoning out (with him in the view).

“Yeah, absolutely. I was just curious. You seem like you can get along well with everyone.”

“Ah thanks,” he snickered and acted as if he flipped his hair. “That’s just my charm, I guess,” he added proudly before taking a few sips from his milkshake. You just shook your head; when he acted like this, he reminded you a bit of Gaeul, and how she was so eccentric sometimes, but maybe you found his behaviour charming because of the similarity to your friend.

A few seconds passed by without you two saying a word, just munching on your pancakes delightfully, but then, Keeho broke the silence.

"I know there are a lot of people-centric jobs out there, it's just that I haven't found the one yet. Though I don't mind my current job either. If nothing else comes, I'll be happy to continue doing it," he mentioned with a light, yet determined smile. You could tell that he was being honest, and you deemed that it was a great forte when people enjoyed what they were doing even while they were searching for something else. You remembered when you had that summer job as a shop assistant to raise money to go on a few day trip in the countryside with your high school friends, and while you were glad to have made money, you hadn't particularly enjoyed it.

"I mean, you're still young. You have time to figure it out."

"You say it like you're so old," he mentioned playfully, and you couldn't help but agree with him. You let out a giggle before explaining that you didn't even know that what you were studying for would end up being something you like as a real job, so you tried to reassure yourself with this in mind.

"I mean, what's there to worry about? What is meant to be will eventually happen," he pointed out with a casual shrug before taking another bite from his pancake. You nodded to his words because you also felt this way, and what better way to prove it than to look at yourself now with the chatty bartender from before.

The rest of the conversation went as smoothly as possible, filled with jokes and laughter and everything in between. Even though you were very different from Keeho in terms of your personalities, you didn't feel uneasy while being with him. If anything, it felt like you were perfectly at ease beside him because he made you feel good - in general and about yourself as well. You felt weightless as if you were in the clouds, and time passed by in a haze.

You only realised how late it was when you started yawning, and despite Keeho's joke about him boring you, he was the one who suggested going now. So you did, and even though you told him that he didn't have to feel compelled to walk you back to the dorms as per Gaeul's instructions, he insisted.

"I'm a gentleman. I absolutely must walk you home or else your friend will haunt me in my dreams," he faked being scared as he put his hands on his chest, but let out a laugh at the same time as you did.

You didn't protest though, so the walk to the dorms was equally as fun as the conversations with him before. You did get a few weird glances though when the boy suddenly broke into an Ariana Grande concert, but your face was red only because of laughing, not because of the embarrassment.

"You know, walking you back to the dorms was pretty fun when I didn't even know the route," Keeho admitted cheerily as you halted in front of the dorm building. His eyes were twinkling, shining oh so brightly and enthusiastically like a child’s. He did act like a big kid sometimes, but you found that really precious; that the world out there didn’t take this side away from him.

"But you did follow my lead well."

"I sure did, ma'am. You can also tell Gaeul about that," he continued being the prankster he was, but his facial expression soon turned more natural as he got out of his role. The creases on his forehead smoothened, the end of his lips curled upwards and instead of a cheeky smile, there was an almost melancholic smile on his face. A momentary silence struck you as you gazed at each other, looking for the right words to say. He had really pretty eyes, you noticed, and not just because of the life and joy in them, but because of their deep, dark yet gentle colour. You could probably stare at them for a while.

"I should probably head inside," you broke the silence, braving yourself to be the one to speak up first when you felt like it would have been inappropriate to stare at him any longer. He nodded, not taking your words to heart.

"Well, you know where to find me if you need some company. I usually have the same shift as today," he shared, not forcing you to stay in contact but giving you the opportunity to see him nevertheless.

"I will. Thanks for everything," you were about to bid your goodbye with a wave of your hand and a wide smile when your phone beeped with a message. You fished your phone out of your pocket and looked down at it, then at the bartender in front of you. He was already looking at you, his boyish smile on full display.

"Did Gaeul give you my number?"

"She did, but I wasn't sure whether she gave me a fake one or not, so I wanted to try it out before you leave," he confessed as he scratched the back of his neck. He seemed giddy and cheeky, almost child-like with that smile on his lips and his eyes twinkling, and your heart felt warm at the sight.

Now that he checked that the given phone number was real, he let you go your way, but he stood there in front of the building until you got out of his sight, and he stopped waving excitedly only when you stepped into the building. You shook your head in disbelief, but you also found yourself smiling.

If somebody had told you that you would end up walking back to the dorms with a boy like him, you wouldn't have believed them. That night, however, was full of surprises, and getting to know Keeho was the best of all.

🎲 CONGRATS! THIS IS THE END OF THE GAME

🎲 WANNA CHECK OUT ANOTHER ENDING?

🍀JIUNG

🍀THEO

A/N: Thank you so much for reading my story! I hope you’ve enjoyed it! ❤️

At first, I was pretty scared to get cracking on this series because I've never written anything like this before, but I think each ending has its own charm, so I'm happy that I could finish it. *-* I'm always fascinated by the idea of chance encounters and many different possibilities leading to a certain ending, so that's what I wanted to show here, too.

Let me know what you think! Did you like the idea behind the series?

On another note, if you’re interested in other fics of mine or other P1Harmony stories, consider signing up for my taglist here.

Hope you have a lovely day/night! ❤️

[dreamsicle262]

ok y'know what fuck it. here's my take on the skk tomfoolery that's been happening in the current chapter of bsd. it's a little out there but please bear with me here.

first of all, let's talk about the gun chuuya used and the location. he and dazai are in a very secure high end prison for ability users. this means that no one has weapons except for the staff within the complex, which chuuya had slaughtered beforehand and most likely taken the gun from. the gun he has should logically be one that is powerful and pretty much military grade, meaning that if it shot, it'd be to kill.

now let's talk about the distance between him and dazai. he had the gun pressed against his head, as you may know. at that range, if dazai really was shot with an actual bullet, the entire top part of his head would've been blown off, and even if it wasn't, a bullet directly to the head is usually a death sentence anyways, and yet he survived that and three other shots.

so that brings us to the question of what was in the gun's chamber if it wasn't a bullet. this is where this post gets a little hard to explain but i'll try my best. chuuya can control the gravity of anything he touches so hypothetically, if he were to draw his own blood and condense the gravity of it to form a 'bullet,' he could put it into the gun's chamber and then know that after he shot one bullet to make this murder look legit, he could safely shoot dazai in the head with the blood bullet and it probably wouldn't even hurt too much, plus it's blood, so it really does look like he did something there. it's like russian roulette but with which bullets are real and which is fake. i mean, we already have hawthorne with blood bullets so this isn't unlike asagiri to do.

plus, dazai's nullification works on any part of a person's body. if this applies to even their blood, then by faking killing his partner with a false bullet, chuuya has still successfully came into contact with dazai via more indirect means but it would still nullify the vampirism. so yeah, soukoku had another moment where they instantly understood what they needed to do together in order to get out of their mess.

even if this does end up being not correct on some level, i still feel the need to say this: well played asagiri, well played.

[bakageta]

Sliding in under the wire, here's my final fic for the AU roulette! This one is a Vampire AU. I went with emotional vampirisim, because there's already enough threats of cannibalism in canon. I have vague ideas about how things happen differently in this AU and I might end up writing more for it later. @kitausuret, I wrote about ya boi again!

Their patrol was wrapping up when Venom caught the scent of the most deliciously complex and tangled depression. It was the kind of deep darkness that ate people up. The kind of thing they tried to save people from, at least for a little while. It made their mouth water.

Whoever gave off that intangible aroma was just below them, at street level, huddled in a bus shelter. Eddie thought it was odd. The bus had pulled away from that stop a minute ago at most, surely the person hadn’t just missed it? The flavor profile they detected was all wrong for that. More bitter and resentful than angry and frustrated. 

Venom slipped to the ground in a nearby alleyway, and Eddie Brock approached the bus shelter. By the time he reached cover he was damp from the misting drizzle that hadn’t affected him at all as Venom.

“Hell. Did I just miss the bus?” Eddie asked as he shook himself off as much as he could without getting the other person wet. As best he could, Eddie put on the persona of an inoffensive every guy who just happened to be more than 6 feet tall and built like a brick shithouse.

"Yeah." The person was bulky, strawberry blonde, and resigned to conversation. He was also, Eddie noted belatedly, sitting in a wheelchair and not on the shelter's bench. The man would probably be more wary, he assumed, which would make it harder to lull him.

"You miss it too?"

The man snorted. "The wheelchair lift was busted."

"That’s awful." Eddie sat in the middle of the three seat bench and draped his arms across the back rest. His left hand was as close to the other man as he could get while not looking like anything more than a big guy taking up space. Hopefully his other would be able to reach.

"It's life." The man shrugged. 

"Doesn't mean it's okay." Eddie gestured widely with his far hand. “But it’s not really something guys like us can solve on our own.” For a moment, Eddie thought about mentioning the work he did at the F.E.A.S.T. center before thinking better of it. It would definitely come across as patronizing. “I’m Eddie.”

“Flash,” the man said, and his challenging stare made Eddie realize that Flash was probably his name.

“Flash,” Eddie confirmed. Some of the tightness at the corners of Flash’s eyes relaxed. “Do you mind if I practice a monologue? I’m working on my delivery for a community play.”

“Sure, better than awkward silence or small talk.” Flash shrugged. 

"True." Eddie slid into the monologue, one he was actually working on, and built slowly in dramatics. Less than a minute in, Flash was being lulled. It seemed he had assumed wrongly. Eddie hadn't even needed to draw on the harmonics of Venom’s voice to get him into the distracted state of mind that would let them feed on his emotions without Flash noticing what, exactly, they were doing. 

His other reached out from Eddie’s hand and bridged the gap between them. The moment dark alien flesh touched Flash, his emotions opened to them  completely. His depression was a wide bowl of thick, cold soup before them. It was refreshingly tangy and sour, different than their usual fare of criminal terror, innocent discomfort, and the sincere gratitude of those Eddie helped. They swallowed saliva, as Eddie’s body reacted physically to the psychic meal in front of them. 

Wildly, Eddie thought that if more people were like Flash then he wouldn't need his other to sate the hunger their symbiosis had burdened him with. The symbiote prickled complex guilt-apology-resentment-fear at him and he apologized to it as it started lapping up Flash’s depression. Chunks of the man's anger, hate, and bitterness caught on their currently metaphorical teeth like the meat and vegetables of a stew. 

Tangy fear ran down their throat. Flash had somehow woken up. 

"Stuh– stop!"

They did. Eddie went so far as to move to the furthest corner of the bench to his symbiote’s disgruntlement. That had never happened to Eddie in the time he’d been with his other. Flash wasn’t quite backed into the corner opposite him, but his hands were poised over the wheels of his chair ready to charge past Eddie. 

"What the hell was that?"

Eddie also wanted to know. Flash should have been out for as long as they needed him to be while they ate his depression. 

Good match. The symbiote communicated with rare words. Compatible. Want. Like. Love?

Darling? Eddie prompted. Emotions ebbed into his mind: they were his other's from when it first tasted him. It felt the same way now. Apparently the symbiote who'd turned him into an emotional vampire had a type. 

It squirmed but made no denials. 

"–you okay?" Flash had rolled closer to them for some unknown reason. "I just wanna know what you did, I feel… not better. But less like shit."

"I– we–" Eddie raised his left hand still covered in the symbiote's writhing feeding tentacles. It took the opportunity to wave at Flash with several. "We were eating your depression. It's not permanent. It'll be back, but it's easier to do something about it when you're not drowning."

"Can it be permanent?" Flash had looked away from them, up the street where neon lights blinked in the wet night. There were a few shops. A few bars, too.

"Not." Eddie swallowed roughly "Not if you want to keep feeling other things."

"That sucks."

"Yeah." 

The next bus was still at least five minutes out, but it wasn't like Eddie and his other needed to wait for it. He turned to leave, symbiote resisting his motion like cold molasses in his muscles, when Flash called out, “You aren’t waiting for the bus?”

“No.” Then, with a nudge from the symbiote, Eddie rolled his eyes and his shoulders and Venom stepped into the rain. “We have other ways of getting home.”

Flash’s eyes widened, almost like he recognized them. Surprise and curiosity radiated from him. It wasn’t the reaction Eddie had expected. The symbiote, however, was smug and pleased at being proven right.

“If you’re not waiting for the bus then what about the play? Is that real?”

“It is.” They confirmed.

“When is it?” Flash rolled to the edge of the bus shelter. “I need to get out of the house more anyway.”

“Next Saturday, at the F.E.A.S.T. Center gymnasium. The doors open at six pm, if we remember correctly.”

“I’ll see you there, then,” Flash said with a grin. “We will look forward to it.” Venom said as they slung up and away, Flash’s grin mirrored on their own face.

[fancyshooting]

i know it's been a month since i sent that ask, but imo gets painfully more obvious (almost hysterical) the farther into the game. she does it when there's anything significant, usually to show knowledge of something others dont know about

- when she encounters Ocelot, she's holding one of the guns used to play russian roulette with Sokolov, to which he reacts by pointing fingers (the torture cutscene, he's seen doing it again, and the Boss doesn't stop him, meaning they planned it out again)

- when she encounters Snake in disguise, and again after walking away from him being tortured (Ocelot just so happens to be outside, watching/waiting)

- during the torture scene (probably the most obvious part, most likely because it's all planned out), you see her raise one at:

1. first sight at Ocelot (they have a plan and clearly working together)

2. when Tatyana walks in (still raised)

3. "I planted it on him to keep track of his movements" (subsequently, Ocelot takes note of the suspicious evidence)

4. "If they knew where he was going to be, they wouldn't have gotten themselves slaughtered" (that was their purpose)

5. after she shoots Snake in the leg (she notes Tatyana after use, as she hadn't yet changed expression from her crying)

- before the fight with Volgin:

1. "Boss, take this someplace safe" (with Ocelot in the end)

2. "The C3's been stolen. He must be planning some sort of sabotage" (the C3 had been planted everywhere already)

3. when Tatyana leaves (plans on using her again after)

- during the Boss' speech, you see her raise one at:

1. "I didn't raise you and shape you into the man you are today just so we could face each other in battle" (the fight)

2. "The Philosophers must be reunited" (explains the history of the Philosophers, credits show the formation of the Patriots as well as Ocelot's message)

we do take for granted how much we already know about the game, but these facts are not obvious at first and just sound like gibberish. and i do believe it's a bit of a reach but it is an interesting detail that seems to correlate with something.

for Ocelot, while it happens more often, the meaning is more nuanced. there are two types of pointing fingers: he waves only the index when he's being sarcastic/pointing out the obvious, and he waves three fingers at something he already knows something certain about, and usually signifies something will happen or a success.

as you'll know when you read this, I'm the worst for late replies so don't worry about that. I'm glad you came back ^_^

when I eventually watched these cutscenes, I had your message handy for reference like a little companion guide. covert communication and body language: vol 1 by the most esteemed a. nonymous

chapter 1: 🤨

the boss' eyebrow raise is something I did NOT notice (too distracted by ocelot going ⬭_0) until you pointed it out. it's such a subtle movement but if you watch for it, you see that she does it a looooot. at first glance it seems unremarkable, just an individual quirk, but it is interesting that she does it at the points you've mentioned...

you might think you're overanalysing but some animator chose to show that movement at the same time as those specific lines. we know how much kojima loves his details, so it very well could be the result of deliberate direction. there's a massive amount of work in these games, so what seems like a stretch actually be intentional (if not then whatever it's still fun). there's strong evidence suggesting ocelot and the boss were working closely together and the pattern you've pointed out fits nicely with that idea since she gives that signal around him more than once

during their mission, circumstances change frequently so it would be useful to have a discreet way to communicate in an urgent/delicate situation. raising one eyebrow is so simple and natural it could easily go unnoticed, especially by volgin who's not very perceptive

chapter 2: 👉👉

I agree that it's a lot more difficult to ascribe meaning to ocelot's gestures because he's constantly gesticulating when he talks. if you play mgs3d you are at severe risk of him jabbing you in the face with every flourish. sometimes he'll switch rapidly from one gesture to another, or his fingers won't be flexed, or he'll use his open palm, or he'll use both hands instead of one. there's too much variation in his gestures to give each of them a specific meaning. his double handed gesture, the one kojima calls the "guts pose," is performed five times: (unless I missed any, excluding the hidden r1 moments) before he kills all those kgb guys, before he fights snake, after he threatens tatyana with the crossbow, before he goes to FIND THOSE BOMBS and during the WIG fight. I was thinking it could it be sort of a "good luck" gesture...?

kgb: "good luck escaping me. you've belittled me and I'm outnumbered but you won't survive this"

battle: "good luck beating me without cqc. I am the most formidable gunfighter spetsnaz has ever seen. with this crevice between I will surely win"

tatyana: "tch. good luck keeping that flimsy act up when you continue to make basic mistakes that give you away. your non-regulation boots are scuffed, you smell funny and you're never here. bitch"

c3: "good luck against the supercharged 6'7 sadist who wants you dead haha... I'm on your side btw"

WIG: "good luck besting me now that I know your style and have learned enough cqc to put up a fight"

luck is something that he has on his mind throughout the game so it would mean he's being quite smug and sardonic in almost every instance... like good luck - you'll need it. it could possibly also be his way of marking someone out for defeat/death. this is more likely because kojima has said that when ocelot does the gesture to snake at groznyj grad, it's to say "do it," as in "kill volgin," which would apply to the other instances too

the "guts pose" is meant to be a taunt/display of bravado - gutsy and self-assured. in the WIG, ocelot is learning as he goes. he makes the gesture for the last time then immediately mimics snake's cqc stance. he finally stops posturing and makes a serious effort to learn from snake. he reigns in his ego and adopts the stance he initially mocked. his reaction to a fighting stance he didn't recognise and hadn't been taught was immediate derision, showing just how rigid his thoughts/behaviour were before snake's guidance. his unit fake laughed for nothing!!

ty for the ask!! I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts :) here is a rare photograph from 1964 taken seconds before disaster:

[cheerstotheelites-if]

I asked the other blog because I thought it might be too tangential, heh. So here I am, back where I began.

And you've tried "sir" and "mx" so far; I'll give you one more guess. Ah, but that's a trifle compared to MAGIC RAMBLINGS.

(Consider this an open invitation to ramble about all the magic. I want to hear about all of it. I came for the necromancy but I certainly am not turning down anything else.)

Here I am playing Gender Roulette. 🤡

I think I've talked about my version of Necromancy before a few months back, but not in full proper detail. I just gave y'all the sparknotes version of it.

Since Necromancy is being asked, Imma just ramble about Necromancy. You can ask me more about the other magics from the poll in separate asks, since I don't wanna clog this one.

Okay so, Necromancy. It's originally a Blessed Magic from the Death Goddess Blair onto a family in Bellhollow and to a few more from the South Eastern countries of Gaia. It's now become a Learnt Magic in recent centuries, with all the grimoires and codexes about it that were written by said families that are easily accessible in The Chancery.

There are three subtypes of Necromancy: Summoning, Exorcism, and Prophecy. A magus of this magic can have two or all three if they're able to handle its toll.

Summoning

The subset that Necromancy is mostly known for

No, you're not gonna "do bones, motherfucker". You summon either spirits or fiends (demons, mostly) that you made a Pact Bind with

Magi under this subset are usually "cursed" for having so many fiends attached to their soul, though powerful depending on what kind of fiend

Spirits are everywhere, so it is easier to summon them

Can talk to and interact with said spirits once receiving Second Senses

Can evoke madness and dread onto a person by sending a Haunt towards them

Spirits and fiend don't always listen to the command of their summoner. Spirits continue to have a will of their own even when summoned, and fiend see their "summoner" as an equal due to both parties consenting to the Pact Bind.

You can bring back a dead someone to life, by doing this very complicated ritual, but why would you?

Exorcism

We already know what this is

Usually goes hand in hand with Summoner subset, incase their summoned spirit or fiend starts feeling a bit rebellious

Banish any unwanted spirit or entity from a certain area, object, or person with ease in almost an instant

Exorcists with Second Senses can interact with said spirits, though that also means that the spirit can harm them in return

When I mean "entity" I mean every single creature that isn't of Gaia (Angels, Demons, Fae etc,.)

Can work well with Runesmith magic, since this magic also involves some protection charms against spirits

Can you exorcise yourself from a Haunt casted by a different Necromancer? Yeah, you can

Can you banish the soul of a recently revived person back to Purgatory? Yes.

Prophecy

Oracle of Delphi, but it's just the future death of a random person or loved one

It's a dreadful gift, since there isn't anything that can be done about it

The person of this magic slowly grows blind overtime with each prophecy received

Get a badass spooky title of "Seer of Death" and the like

You only go to them if you want to know how much time you have left

Usually the disciples or holy people of the Death Goddess

Common Stuff between them

Visitant's Vision - OG eye color turn to gray eyes upon receiving and practicing; can only see spirits and hidden entities that aren't bound to you. They can see you, just not interact.

Second Senses - Five Senses Deluxe; only those who are Blessed receive this; can fully interact (see, hear, touch etc.,) with spirits and hidden entities, and that means they can do the same to you for better or worse

Gain one or all of these things from witnessing death and dealing with spirits and fiend's for too long: madness, paranoia, panic disorders, PTSD/C-PTSD, phobias towards: crowds, loud noises, people staring, the dark, and aversity to touch. This usually leads to the magus living in isolation far away from a city, or in the care of family.

Whether you like it or not, the Death Goddess is your patron now.

[drtanner]

It's cold and shitty outside so instead of walking the dog and making both of us miserable, I'm going to tell you about the blessed roulette experience I had the other day. ( b ._.)b

After being a bard for long enough to get it to level 90 and never having tried anything else, I decided I wanted to make the most of the EXP the MSQ was giving me and start working on a new job. I'd been tempted to try tanking for a while but as some of you will know if you've been here a while, I'm terrified of doing anything that I can't guarantee I'll instantly be good at, so I'd been putting it off. However, since the MSQ requires level 60 for all of its quests in Stormblood, I didn't have any jobs levelled enough to qualify with the exception of Gunbreaker and Sage, which both started at 60, and I wasn't nearly ready, mentally or emotionally, to try being a healer, so Gunbreaker was the obvious choice. It took me a few hours to understand what the fuck I was doing and what my new abilities were, but after putting it off for a day I finally decided I was going to chance some roulettes and get some proper grinding done.

So I get into these roulettes near-instantly, which is a nice change of pace from playing DPS and waiting for ten or fifteen minutes for each one, and I greet the party in the chat window as we're loading into the dungeon to say HEY JUST SO YOU KNOW IT'S MY FIRST DAY AS A TANK SO PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME, I'M DOING MY BEST :') so that nobody gets their expectations up or gets mad when I don't do big pulls or whatever. This generally goes pretty well! My first roulette dungeon results in one (1) wipe because a boss mechanic caught us out but I perform decently well otherwise and everyone is very nice to me. I do my 50+ dungeon, my levelling and my trial before getting into a main scenario roulette, which is Praetorium because of course it is, so I do my little HEY HEY HEY I'M A BABY TANK IT'S MY FIRST DAY PLEASE BE NICE TO ME bit and everyone is lovely, and I gather quickly from the banter that these three people are in their own party together.

This is fine because Prae has loads of long, unskippable cutscenes that you can just talk through. If I have a good party and they like to talk, I enjoy Prae a lot just because of that! So we bond a little bit and partway through I tell these people that I'm grateful for them being so kind and patient and that I'd give them all my commendation if I could, and they get bantering again trying to decide who should get the commendation until one of them goes I HAVE AN IDEA.

YOU SHOULD GIVE YOUR COMMENDATION TO WHOEVER IS CUTEST.

At this point I actually look at their names in the chat window and realise they're all girls, so I go ALRIGHT THEN BUT I HAVE TO TELL YOU, I'M SUPER FUCKING GAY.

(In fairness, they should have worked this out already given that my character looks like this:

... but there's a lot of youngsters in this game and one can't expect everybody to recognise Stelak for what he is, so I told them. You know, just to be sure.)

So I explained to these girls that this would be a measure of purely aesthetic cuteness, platonic cuteness, if you will, and one of them was like THAT'S COOL, I'M ACE SO I CAN GET BEHIND PLATONIC CUTENESS LOL and I went OH SICK ANOTHER ACE FRIEND FOR MY COLLECTION OF ACE FRIENDS. I'M COLLECTING YOU. and she went LOL THAT'S COOL ERIKA COLLECTS TRANS FRIENDS and I said WELL I GUESS SHE BETTER COLLECT ME TOO THEN LMAO. And there was a moment of silence before someone went:

WAIT, ARE WE ALL TRANS????

And I went OH WHAT???? SAME HAT????? and they all went SAME HAT!!! and I went SAME HAT!!!!! and we all had a little moment until one of them actually did notice Stelak's outfit in a cutscene and they all started telling each other to look at him, lmao. So we roasted the shit out of Nero and Gaius in the chat and had a blast and after we were finished they lined up and I made my pick of Cutest Girl to give my commendation and they all gave me theirs, and then we parted ways, probably never to see each other again. :')

Anyway I'm going to remember that until I die, I think.

[m39]

Doom WADs’ Roulette (2009): Plutonia 2

I lived… but at what cost?

G10: Plutonia 2

Main author(s): Various

Release date: December 31st, 2008

Version(s) played: ???

Required port compatibility: Vanilla

Levels: 33 (standard roster + bonus MAP33)

Hey, guys! Remember Plutonia!? Not enough Hoovies and skeletons in your life?! Well, you just hit a jackpot, because there is an answer for your problems ==> Plutonia 2.

cheering children

18+ only. No refunds.

But seriously, folks. We are going to end 2009 and the 2000s overall (at least when it comes to Cacowards winners) with the unofficial sequel to the Plutonia Experiment. That actually requires the original Plutonia WAD to properly play (I forgot to mention that).

From what I’ve gathered, the project started around 2000/2001; led by Sam Woodman, who we already met in many other WADs like Nimrod and Hell Revealed II. It was canceled around 2004, then uncanceled in 2007 to finally be released at the very end of 2008.

After the events of the first Plutonia, the UAC has been dismantled and (more or less) remade into UAAF, with Doomguy marked as one of the main founders. Later, he was forced to resign from his position (he didn't mind), and even after proposing a legitimate plan to cool down the tension between UAAF and the colonies they supervise, he gets slandered even more by his haters with some science study bullshit claiming that using health items will turn you into the inmate of R/Batmanarkham. Then the same idiots start fighting each other instead of focusing on the demons that came back (what a surprise; although, they sometimes fight with them).

I’m starting to thing that only Doomguy (and other individuals) is the only one in his timeline that has triple digits IQ.

Oh, well. Let’s get into the WAD.

For a vanilla WAD, and despite focusing on its predecessor’s shenanigans, Plutonia 2 looks great most of the time. The best-looking maps I can think of are Black Ice and Plutopia. The former because it changes the scenery from the typical brown and green shit trying to resemble a tropical jungle to some icy background, and the latter for being full of funny details and fleshy stuff, courtesy of Thomas van der Velden.

Musically is also great. This is some of the earlier works of Stewboy and Jimmy Paddock (two out of three main composers), and their tracks even then felt like fire, especially Jimmy’s (take one good listen at Astral Dreadnought and Slime Dweller and see what I mean). There is also stuff made by Jamie Robertson; these ones are also good. I think I saw people mostly talking about End is Nigh, and while I consider this track to be good, I believe there are better ones in this WAD.

Not all of the tracks are new, though, but at least the stocks are from Doom I.

Most of the time, Plutonia the Second wasn’t that convoluted to play through. Sure, there are maps that might as well be described as mangled to the arse (usually from Adolf Vojta from what I can remember), wasting your time even when you somewhat know where to go next, but I think around half of these maps aren’t confusing as shit.

While many maps tend to be more or less a fresh idea, there are maps that reference the ones from the original experiment, ranging from one location to the entire map. Although, many times, it also comes with cons that plagued the original maps. Take a look at Ticket to Eternity for instance – it’s like the same mess of a demonic city as Odyssey of Noises except feeling more like a mangled mosh pit than before.

There is some cool stuff that happens in this WAD from time to time. The best one I think is in Cosmodrome, with a spaceship getting ready to take off.

Cybernation and Go 4 It are basically Cyberden and Go 2 It on steroids; with Eternal making you fight two siege cows instead of one after pressing the main switch on the former map, while the latter map is made out of DWANGO1 and E1M1 instead of the original Entryway (plus the music track feels like a mix between Nobody Told Me About ID and one of the tracks from RotT (I can’t remember the name of it)). It even ends on a really dope-looking logo… that defaults down into another icon of shit.

Speaking of icon of shit, the Gatewatcher is what you can expect from another, below-average MAP30 with a boss. For a supposed elder brother of both icon of sin and gate keeper, he’s basically more annoying shit we saw already… At least he looks great.

If you take one look at the WAD’s name, you already know what to expect from it. Prepare to have your balls ripped off by an armada of spooky skeletons and then turned into Swiss cheese by hoovies.

Now, to be perfectly honest, despite at least 13 maps feeling like a speedrunner’s delight of masochistic tendencies (courtesy of Adolf Vojta, partial or complete), I felt numb to the WAD’s difficulty for around the first half of it. I believe there are WADs (like Scythe 2 and Deus Vult II for instance) released before Plutonia 2 that would make this WAD pale in comparison to what those had to offer.

Also, going back to Gusta of Czechia, something in me makes me feel like he was a weak link to this WAD. I don’t want to slander him, nor his work for this project, but usually, when I played the map not made by him, solo or with someone, the enjoyment of playing the maps went up twice at least (not to mention even bigger respect for maps who end up hard with a small number of enemies). In the case of Gusta’s maps, I felt like, while good-looking, they mostly relied on throwing random shit at you from every direction, with next to no cover that wasn’t the previous area. That, and almost all of the maps starting with you surrounded by enemies… Fair fun for everyone… sigh

There were a few bugs that I saw, but those were mostly visual stuff, like holes to the void, or awkwardly placed items.

And, uh… that’s basically all I have to say for this WAD. I can honestly recommend Plutonia 2 to people who enjoyed the original Plutonia WAD, and/or are into really hard WADs. Other than that, you can freely skip it.

And we are almost done with 2009, not to mention 2000s of Doom WADs. The only things left are Revenant Awards, and a couple of other WADs not mentioned in Cacowards, nor other award stuff from Doomworld.

See you next time.

[thesinglesjukebox]

AMAARAE - "CO-STAR"

Rachel Saywitz welcomes us to Co-Star Blurber dot net: it’s dot com!

[7.07]

Rachel Saywitz: "Co-Star" is for bad bitches, for cunty bitches, for lovely bitches, for me, I'm the bitch that will always be right out of Amaarae's periphery of paramours, because according to her, "Aries bitches bad / But damn, I'll pass please." It's hard to think you're a bad bitch on bad days, but "Co-Star" makes it easy -- the music sounds like it's a clear spring on a heavenly day, and Amaarae sounds like a goddess: she flutters, and teases, and sighs, and god, if I don't want to live in her delicate gasps and sharp tongue; she sings the chorus like she's distributing hot flashes on your skin. This is pop at its peak -- irreverent and sexy, perfect for dancing, fucking, for jumping alone in your room, for bobbing your head on the subway to get out all the nervous energy that comes after hanging out with a crush, for crying silently on the same subway after a bad day because you need to be reminded that you're a bad bitch. And I think the beauty of "Co-Star" is related to the latter, in its total acceptance of every sun and moon and star that you are -- no matter how much Amaarae teases, her motives are clear: she'll still have every part of you. [10]

William John: Maybe astrology is corny; maybe cramming a reference to each astrological sign into a three minute pop song as though it's an assignment for a creative writing class is cornier; maybe I'm ultimately far too entranced by the harp flutters and the pummelling, breathless chorus to care about corniness. [9]

Brad Shoup: Like "New Rules," but if it was only a hit on Twitter. [6]

Katherine St Asaph: This many astrological yuks and not a single Uranus joke. [3]

Hannah Jocelyn: "Mambo No. 5" with astrological signs instead of girls. Add two points for the Nina Sky reference, and one more for that kick drum, which lends the barrage of puns some actual weight and urgency. [7]

Michael Hong: Have you ever used Co-Star? The app is in no way just about horoscopes and prediction, but for the non-religious, it's a tool for connection. Astrological sign, like MBTI, isn't so much about understanding, but the invitation to understand -- "what's your sign?" is a shallow conversation starter in the same vein of "what school did you graduate from?" or "do you prefer cats or dogs?" When Amaraae runs through the signs here, it's like a roulette for her next interest -- the characteristics are unimportant, it's the connection that she's chasing after. "Co-Star" is passionate and heated the way any relationship built on astrological compatibility is. It's short and sounds like she's constantly chasing after immediate pleasure. Covered in sweat under the beat, the only thing left to say is, "I'm a Virgo, what's your sign?" [8]

Nortey Dowuona: Learning Cadenza was involved in this was excellent. He's produced "3210" by Jeshi, "Vibes" by Allan Kingdom, "Wet Vagina" by Doja Cat and "Where Did I Go" by Jorja Smith, which put her on the map -- at least for me. amaarae needed no such assist, she was already a star once she enlisted him, alongside KYU Steed and KZ the Producer to complete this song. All the above songs have loping, pulsing drum programming that feels hand played and slow despite the bpm, and Co-Star breaks from that to be a faster more driven song, slipping through 3 drum patterns -- afrobeat, tropical house and of course, amapiano log drums. (there's also an elongated bass line which is actually a trademark of his work.) And in a nice twist, the song is allowed to slowly close its curtains with the drums still twirling, the silky synth line settling onto the ground, closing with a stop -- but not a final one. [10]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: This year, when it was finally my turn to select the book for my queer book club, I picked Larry Mitchell's "The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions," a fantastical fable about faggots, faggatinas, dykelets, faeries, women, and others making their way through the treacherous world of men. "Co-Star," with all of its cosmic revelations, seems like it'd naturally be the soundtrack for that fictional universe: abundant with its astrology, bumping with its beat, and generous with its humor. [7]

Micha Cavaseno: Post-afrobeats gone neuro-funk that loves to dissolve into the ether in a delightful fizz, but somehow manages to keep a weird bottom to it that feels constantly disintegrating yet still too rigid at the same time. It's a hallucinatory tantalization for 3 or 4 different ideas to land, and nothing is ever coming close. A great little trick, but unsure if it's the best thing to do for a song. [5]

Ian Mathers: Look, this is absolutely a bop but it is very funny to be going "baby, just tell me" right after you've just run through all of the signs and why they are mostly horrendous. There is just no way that is going to end well! [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: This is so damn frothy that I can't help but enjoy it -- it's not my favorite song off of Fountain Baby but I can't help but admire the way that she stacks her astrological puns, stringing them together like fighting game combos. Weirdly, though, I like the bits of "Co-star" where Amaarae gets away from her conceit better -- by the end, when she comes up for air, you almost want her to plunge back in again. [7]

Taylor Alatorre: I don't care for astrology, which is why I love this. I love that its conceit-based songwriting invites me to not take the subject matter too seriously, even as Amaarae herself clearly knows it well enough to write about it with such ease and finesse. By keeping things light and brisk and "air"-y at all times, she frees me from the burden of having to particularly care about the difference between a sun and a moon sign, allowing me to experience the lyrics as simply a fun little game of word association. The utter commitment to the bit, coupled with the level of confidence that it both requires and exposes, wears down any pre-existing resistance to being taken in by a gimmick, instead making me feel I've been granted entrance to a club I shouldn't be in. This is just nerdcore hip hop for women, and it pwns. [8]

Will Adams: Amaarae, on Libras: "Them Libra bitches horrible." Beyoncé, on Libras: "Fun like a Libra, he stays on my mind." I am being completely objective and unbiased in saying that I do not care too much for this "Co-Star" song! [5]

Dorian Sinclair: I experience some brief disappointment every time I hear "Co-Star" start up, because I am a sucker for interesting harp music and that conceit gets dropped almost immediately. I can't stay mad though, because I'm too busy being charmed by how hard Amaarae commits to her lyrical conceit. Basically every line in this song relates back to the core "astrology" theme, and that kind of adherence to message is something I can't help but respect, even if the song were not a bop (but it's a bop). Is that Sagittarius of me? I have no goddamn clue. But Amaarae would know! [7]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: It's weird to have watched Davido spend the past decade constantly finding ways to stretch his brand of Afrobeats, and to now find his music extremely traditional (tone: neutral) alongside the continued ascendance of Amaarae, Cruel Santino, and Odunsi (The Engine). The problem, though, is that alté's hit rate has never been so high: the songs are largely intriguing in their fashionable Afrofusion, but they rarely have the hooks to anchor the ideas. "Co-Star" showcases this well, as it walks a terribly thin line between featherlight and vaporous nothing. Amaarae's voice is too wispy for the synth to be pogoing so carefree; we already have harps and hi-hats -- why not something deeper to round out the song? Still, her delivery is just prickly and playful enough to transcend pure vibes. There's also something profound about hearing her sing about rising water levels as the synth pads embody that exact scenario. She comes out the other end of it with the same beatific tone, like she's dancing in the rain. That she longs for an air is perfect. After all, a water can help one trust their heart, right? [6]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[ringlorn]

012

set the scene | 012, the roulette table in a casino.

"What, you don't think I can help you?" Nezha arches his brows, face leaning in aggressively towards Eiden who puts up his hands in a placating way.

"Whoa, whoa, I didn't say that. But roulette's a game of luck, isn't it?"

"So you think my luck's bad?"

"I'm saying you can't control it!" A pause. "Or can you?"

"If I could, would I choose to be stuck at the same table as you?"

"Oof, so mean..."

"Stupid questions get stupid answers," the lotus prince retorted, then pointed at a spot on the table. "Put your chip there."

"Sure, I guess..." Not exactly on a winning streak himself, Eiden does as he's told. The wheel spins and—surprise, surprise, they lose.

Nezha's not fazed however, and points to a new spot on the table. "Try this next. How much did you bet last time?"

"200 Dust."

"Double it."

"What?!" Eiden chafes. "But we just lost!"

"I know math. Just do it."

"I'm starting to doubt you do..." But Eiden did it anyways and the wheel goes again. This time they win enough to recoup their losses, yet before he can celebrate Nezha's already shoving the chip in his hand and pointing at a different spot on the table. "Hey wait, what—"

"Odds are looking good, I'm feeling this one next."

"Why don't you play yourself if you're so confident?"

"Shut up and bet," Nezha snaps back.

—

Hours later when they've left the casino, Eiden's Dust account brimming with winnings, the human finds himself chasing after the pink-haired god heading towards the Golden boardwalk.

"Hey!" he catches up (or maybe the other guy just slows down), clapping him on the shoulder with a big gasp of air. "Thanks for that. You know your stuff, don't you?"

Nezha shrugs Eiden off none-so-gently and keeps walking without looking back. "Learned my share. It's easy enough."

"I thought you said you couldn't control luck."

"That was you."

Eiden takes long enough to recall their conversation before shrugging and catching up. "Oh, right. But you could be a professional if you wanted. The way you played cards—"

"Human games are child's play," Nezha snorts back. "I'm not gonna waste time hanging around a crowd of brats all day."

Eiden tactfully neglects to remind him he did just that for the past four hours.

"So where're you going now?"

"Home."

"Aww, already? Don't you want any drinks? I'll pay."

"With the Dust I won for you?" Nezha sounded duly unimpressed.

"Hey, you could've bet some yourself! I even asked you why not!"

Nezha stops again, nearly sending Eiden crashing into him. He's staring at the sky, hands in his pockets and an angry scowl on his face.

"I bet on the same thing twice ages ago, and both times it backfired in my face," he muttered under his breath. "I'm not gonna be the idiot who fails three times in a row."

He gives it time for the statement to sink in, but before he can keep walking—

"Yeah, I get it," Eiden's arm hooks around his own before the human starts dragging him away from the beach and towards the lights. "So you wanna get reeeaaally sloshed, right? I know just the place!"

"What the hell?! Leggo—" Nezha's already peeling him off, but somehow Eiden gets one hand in his sleeve and another under his shirt, tangling them together even more than before. "Dammit, I warned you!"

He suddenly takes off into the skies, Wind-Fire Wheels roaring like a shooting star in reverse while a panicked Eiden clings to him tighter than an octopus. "Heyheyhey—I can't fly!"

"Where's your house?"

"What?!"

"I said, where the hell do you live?!"

Eiden squeezes his eyes shut and clings harder. "How do I know from up here?!"

"The address, idiot! Tell me the Ward!"

"Stop flying so high first!!"

—

Sometime later, Nezha knocks on the second-storey window of the Itadori Residence until another guy with pink hair opens it with a squawk. Ignoring his questions, he pries Eiden off with both arms before kicking him into the room, the unfortunate man, and the couch behind them both.

He's tearing off into the night scant seconds later, leaving poor Wang Yi to poke his head out from between the couch and the lump of a man on top of him.

"T-the hell, Eiden? Did you get rejected by a date?" he complains.

"Euughhh Wang Yi...I think I'm going to be sick..."

"What the—don't you dare. I'll knock you out first." And from his pockets Wang Yi pulls out a suspicious looking...spray bottle?

Not for the first time that night, Eiden wondered why the two pink dudes he knew in this city were both so violent.