#if only someone else with better software/knowledge could--

[dreadark]

Took you long enough.

[thegurlwhoisntthere]

Trollhunters au where everyone in Arcadia who’s grown up there has some kind of inherent magic about them, although some have more than others.

This is kinda inspired by Your Future Hasn’t Been Written Yet by Sakon76 on ao3, in the sense that people generally have a type of magic that they’re drawn to and can become really good at, but some people can learn other types and become a Jack of all trade master wizard type thing.

Some types of magic in the fic are smith magic, techno magic, shadow magic, and winter magic. There’s more but some get into spoiler territory if u haven’t read it and are going to so…

Anyway, in this au any kind of magic you can think of probably exists here and in Arcadia, everyone is capable of at least one of them, with varying levels of power and breadth (amount of magicks they’re capable of), although most of them don’t know it.

For example, Toby is good at troll types of magic, geomancy mostly, with a hint of smith magic. Before he knows about magic he’s drawn to rocks as we can see in the show. He would probably be really talented at geomancy, but struggle to do anything or than lower level smith magic

Claire would be an example of someone more powerful. Even before she ever knows about magic, she’s weirdly aware of her surroundings, almost like she has a six sense. She’s always been able to see better in the dark. When she does learn about magic she picks it up surprisingly fast and the only reason she doesn’t branch out beyond shadow magic right away is because she doesn’t know she can, but she always wants to know more.

Everyone else would fall into similar types:

Jim would be really good at potions (cooking), but have a hard time with literally anything else. This makes be Trollhunter, needing to cleave stones, kinda suck and super stressful.

Mary, would be really good at the software portions of techno magic. She’s also good at weaving and energy, but she’s less powerful with them because she’s not as interested in them. She could probably have a similar breadth to Claire (maybe smaller), but less power because unlike Claire, she’s not interested in much more.

Eli would also be good at Techno magic, both the software and hardware and a few other things, but he’s not that powerful. Most of his abilities come from the fact that he’s genuinely just skilled with tech.

Steve and Darci are harder to figure out, but I think it would hilariously if Steve was really good with plants, but has no idea.

Like, he doesn’t even have to try to get plants to like him, and he has no idea because he’s never thought about it. His parents were not plant people and he’s not friends with plant people, before and after he learns about magic, so he’s just going around with some powerful plant magic and no knowledge about it. They land in Camelot and suddenly plants are sprouting where he walks??? There’s higher magic levels 900 years in the past, which is messing with his uncontrolled magic, but they don’t know that. I just want copious amounts of confusion.

And finally, Darci. I have no idea what kind of magic she would have. Is there such a thing as Dance magic??? Chill vibes? Wind? Who knows? Whatever it is, it’s cool and she’s good at it. Ooo maybe, like Empathy and aura reading? And wind could work with dance? Maybe? Idk, but I think her powers would be more subtle than the others.

These are only, like, the main teenagers in Tales of Arcadia that I’m pretty sure grew up in Arcadia, but this would apply to all the other kids and the adults that grew up here.

Btw, I don’t think I mentioned, the reason it’s only people who grew up in Arcadia is because of the Heartstone. It’s literally huge and radiates magic so powerful it actually affects the humans living above it.

[atalana]

HI SAW YOUR REBLOG ABOUT JAILBREAKING STUFF. I AM INTERESTED SO WHATS POPPING WITH THE JAILBREAKS IF YOU DONT MIND ME ASKING

honestly i am not the worlds foremost expert in jailbreaking, so apologies if i made it sound like i was!

what i was getting at mainly is that yeah when i was in middle school about... 15 years ago? you could find resources for jailbreaking (or similar modifications) pretty much anywhere, i did some myself with very little computer knowledge (comparatively), and the stuff i couldn't do i knew several classmates who could do it for me, and it sucks that not only is that knowledge buried much deeper now if it exists at all, but that tech companies have only doubled down on the making it near impossible to install anything on your devices that they didn't want there

(hell even something like making a backup of the files on a phone/tablet has gotten really tricky if you don't understand exactly how it works)

it's also a really wide topic im not sure where to start, bc im not sure what your background is in this already and what you'd want out of it?

but in terms of base terminology, jailbreaking/rooting is gaining full control over your device, being able to install things the manufacturers didn't intend, and uninstalling things they won't let you uninstall otherwise (as a disclaimer, this always comes with a bit of a risk, bc taking full control means you can make your device unusable if you do it wrong, but a lot of resources are designed to minimise that risk)

i'll leave this question open for others with more knowledge to add onto it if they wish, but stuff i can find with a quick search...

r/jailbreak for apple devices seems to be pretty good, they also have a discord server you could ask questions of if the terminology is going way over your head

magisk seems to be the safest way to root android devices these days, and this article covers it pretty in depth in approachable language for newbies

if you just want to roll back app updates you didn't like, i find uptodown pretty decent (this one i have used myself)

as far as computer stuff goes rather than phones/tablets, i would recommend getting a basic familiarity with html (for internet stuff) and what the command prompt is (for software - apparently it's called terminal on apple but i've only used windows), bc it'll make a lot of guides less scary - you don't have to be able to code changes yourself, but if you can look at someone else's code and go oh okay that's what you're doing there, or oh i recognise those terms/symbols, then you'll have a better sense of what to trust or what you're actually doing to your own computer

and yeah no keep asking questions that's a great way to start! the more background knowledge you acquire the easier it gets to start changing things to what you want them to be

[goosetrainer]

Mari's Last Minute Tera Raid Guide #4 - Delphox

HI I'm back and this time it's not even that last minute!

Ngl this Delphox would probably be 300% easier if you used a flash fire Heatran, but not everyone has access to other games/people who will trust them with legendaries so I'm keeping this post common-pokémon friendly.

The best non-transfer solo here is Armarouge, with Ceruledge coming in a close second. This means that violet players with no access to internet/scarlet playing friends are at a disadvantage, but it's not impossible! You just have less wiggle room and need more tera shards(/sheer luck in tera raids).

That said, ANNOUNCEMENT:

now that scarvio have Home compatibility, I can let people temporarily borrow my own pokémon. I have a steel tera Armarouge you can use to defeat your Delphox, the only thing I ask for is that you keep it just the time strictly necessary for the fight, then return it. Just in case someone else needs it. (Home software on Switch and Home app on mobile necessary - sorry I still won't pay Nintendo for the privilege of using my own internet)

It's common knowledge that axes are super effective against mages :3c hehe

Foreword, since there are effectively 3 builds, let me give you a summary of Delphox's moves so that I don't have to repeat myself. She'll steal your tera charge every x turns starting from turn 4 (this is important for Ceruledge). She has an early, fairly long shield (appears either after you got her life down a bit, or after 2-3 turns); she wipes her own stat changes towards the middle of the shield and then never again; uses Nasty Plot once around the same time (I don't think on the same turn, I've seen it happen 2 turns after her stat wipe); right after her shield is broken, wipes your own stat changes and uses Magic Room, just once. After the Nasty Plot she may act twice in some turns.

She's got a timid nature (268 speed) and high special attack and special defense, offensive moves are only special. Her Will-O-Wisp and Fire Blast are effectively useless because of the following options having Flash Fire (which should be neutralized at the end of the shield but for some reason the AI never made her use her fire moves in that turns, when I went? Meh), Dazzling Gleam is by far her least dangerous move, with Psychic being the more dangerous one, because of the chance of lowering your special defense.

Magic Room renders held items useless for 5 turns, but by the time it happens you should be ready to kill in 3. Just be mindful of the Shell Bell healing not working.

NPC allies don't do much, the best you can hope for are probably the ones that can paralyze her (dudunsparce, umbreon... bellibolt I think?).

Delphox's hidden ability does not work in raids, so treat it as if it didn't exist :3

-----

Armarouge lv.100

Tera Type: Steel (preferred) or Fire (cheaper)

Ability: Flash Fire

Nature: Modest/Mild (Quiet could work too if you don't wanna waste a mint)

Held Item: Shell Bell

IVs: max in HP, sp. atk., sp. def., maybe speed

EVs: 252 sp. atk., 252 sp. def., 4 HP

Moveset:

-Calm Mind (level up)

-Mystical Fire (move reminder)

-Acid Spray (TM)

-Flash Cannon (TM) (only with steel tera type) OR Flamethrower (level up) (only with fire tera type)

Usage:

Two options here because tera shards are hard to find, if you don't already have enough. Steel tera works better both offensively (super effective stab) and defensively (with Flash Fire, terastallized Armarouge resists the fairy and psychic moves, and is immune to the fire ones). Fire type is just easier to find, any Charcadet you meet in the wild will have that. I would have kept that one if I hadn't caught a steel one in the event, some time ago (don't worry I still tried a fire one without saving, just to be sure it's doable). A bit more difficult because you lose some fire power (heh) and the psychic resistance, but it worked. Strategy: Calm Mind x6, some random offensive moves until Delphox nullifies her stat debuffs, then you can use one or two Mystical Fires to make her special attack drop before the Nasty Plot, so she ends up neutral at best (optional for steel tera, recommended for fire tera - because of Psychic, and especially if she already debuffed your sp. def. once or twice), then 3x Acid Spray, then Flamethrower or Flash Cannon. Important: make sure you use the 1-2 Mystical Fires and all 3 Acid Sprays AFTER she nullifies her own stat changes, or you'll have to reapply them. Use Y to check her status if you lost count, she should have at least the 6 red downward arrows on special defense before you break her shield. Also important: on terastallizing. You can terastallize as soon as it's available if your Armarouge is a steel tera, but if it's a fire tera wait until after you're done debuffing her (making it a pure fire type will make it lose its innate psychic resistance, exposing it to more frequent Psychic the move, which will hit harder). ONLY after you're done setting up and terastallizing, break the shield with Flamethrower/Flash Cannon (or Mystical Fire if you're scared), watch her wipe all your Calm Mind boosts :') but don't bother reapplying those since her weakened special defense should still be there. You won't be able to heal now, so focus on spamming your Flamethrower/Flash Cannon until the end. Flash Cannon kills in 1-3 turns depending on randomness, Flamethrower takes a bit more. A fire tera Armarouge may benefit from using Mystical Fire in the first turns just to make sure it doesn't die, but Flamethrower hits harder - just make your calculations based on how your defenses are looking. You COULD go KO once while still having enough time to win, actually it's better for the fire tera (you get your psychic resist back!). Worst case scenario you try again~

TL;DR: Calm Mind x6, random attacks until enemy's stat wipe, then:

-fire tera: 1-2 Mystical Fires for survivability, Acid Spray x3, terastallize, Flamethrower until broken shield, then Flamethrower or Mystical Fire until death. May die once, don't worry, keep attacking.

-steel tera: (Mystical Fire optional) Acid Spray x3, terastallize as soon as you can, then Flash Cannon till the end.

PROS:

-somewhat common pokémon (appears mostly in set locations)

-can use the default tera type

-only one regular ability so you can't get it wrong (unless you caught it in a tera den and got the hidden one)

-innately resists the entire moveset of the opponent and has options to improve own survivability

CONS:

-functionally Scarlet exclusive

-no healing at all during Magic Room :(

(Hard to tell, but the Armarouge on the right is a once-dead fire tera)

-----

Ceruledge lv.100

Tera Type: Steel (this time it's mandatory! I tried with Fire but I kept dying)

Ability: Flash Fire

Nature: Adamant/Lonely (I wanna say Brave too but speed actually helps a bit here. I wouldn't risk it)

Held Item: Shell Bell

IVs: max in HP, atk., sp. def., speed

EVs: 252 atk., 252 sp. def., 4 HP

Moveset:

-Swords Dance (level up)

-Bitter Blade (level up)

-Clear Smog (level up)

-Iron Head (TM)

Usage:

SO. I had to tinker with this one a bit and it lowkey sucks when compared to its redder cousin, did it just out of love for the violet peeps. You deserve good things too Ceruledge has a couple of big drawbacks against this particular opponent: no way to boost its own special defense at all, and no psychic resistance. Bitter Blade's healing kind of offsets these, but the fact that the only move it doesn't resist at the start of the battle is Psychic means that Delphox will keep using THAT, dealing quite some damage AND almost certainly lowering Ceruledge's special defense at least once. For this reason, your number one priority is TERASTALLIZE INTO STEEL ASAP You have no choice but use 3 offensive moves in the first 3 turns. If you wste just one turn you're getting your tera charge stolen and need to use one more turn to recharge while you get mercilessly Psychiced and probably die. At least 2 of the starting moves will probably need to be Bitter Blades, to keep your health up and out of KO zone. Better do that before the shield goes up, as it'll make your recovery worse. When you're safe behind your newly acquired steel-with-fire-immunity type, you can take a breath and set up your attack with 3 Swords Dances - watch your HP, especially if you saw your special defense drop, use a Bitter Blade to heal in between the Swords Dancing if necessary. You don't have stat-lowering moves so the opponents mid-shield wipe doesn't affect you, but keep an eye on it nonetheless because shortly after that she'll use Nasty Plot and that does affect you - if your health is low use Bitter Blade to heal and then Clear Smog, if not do Clear Smog right away. When you're not healing or keeping that fox's special attack at bay, and after you've used your 3 Swords Dance, use Iron Head to break the shield. Once the shield is broken you're: -back at square one with your attack boosts -technically with no Shell Bell. This is where you alternate Swords Dance and Bitter Blade and Iron Head - 2 Swords Dances in total should be enough, Bitter Blade to heal if needed, Iron Head when your attack is at least at 4+ (4 green upwards arrows on the status menu, equivalent to 2 Swords Dances) and not in immediate KO danger. Remember that Iron Head won't heal you at this point. You have the option to use Hang Tough cheers to help with the defenses I guess - but never before you terastallized, don't waste time. Also in my limited experience focusing on Swords Dance is better, more attack means more absorbed HP with Bitter Blade.

TL;DR: 3x offensive moves (Bitter Blade preferred) right away, terastallize ASAP, 3x Swords Dance with Bitter Blade in the middle to keep HP up, Clear Smog ASAP after Delphox's Nasty Plot, Iron Head when safe until shield broken. Then max 2x Sword Dance with Bitter Blades to heal when necessary, again Iron Head(s) when safe. Be aware of the possibility of having to try again if you get your special defense lowered too much.

PROS:

-somewhat common pokémon (appears mostly in set locations)

-only one regular ability so you can't get it wrong (unless you caught it in a tera den and got the hidden one)

-innately resists fairy and fire

-actually has a recovery option during Magic Room

-fast attack boosting

CONS:

-special defense can only go down :(

-no psychic resist until terastallized

-non-default tera type needed

-attack boosts needs to be reapplied

-functionally Violet exclusive

[cervidaedalus]

RE: GSHADE MALWARE DISCOURSE

They locked the channels down, but I managed to grab some screenshots of the conversation shown in the crucially lacking in context Twitter screens. I'll share the screens in a reblog because Tumblr keeps breaking when I add them.

So, we all hate art theft, right? We hate when people use our or others' hard work even in bits and pieces (like AI art training) without any credit to us or the artists? We hate when people say "it's online so NYEH" when an artist asks people to respect their work, right? Okay, good.

Gshade is an "improved" version of the Reshade overlay program that makes it super easy to adjust, make, and switch between presets in the game, as well as simplifies the installation process, and adds a few extra features.

However, there was some Twitter outcry about a week ago due to how updates work in Gshade (which was, admittedly, annoying). Another dev decided to break GShade's EULA regarding assets usage because they didn't like some of Gshades functions like the updates.

In my own, personal opinion, both parties aren't great people. If you read the other person's blog post on all this, it's riddled with cockiness and your garden variety internet kid arrogance and seems to boil down to "I don't like Gshade, it sucks, I can do better." They link an archived Twitter where a popular preset creator politely asks for their presets to not be used for this project, they push back against this creator's request, the creator makes a vague and innacurate legal reference in an attempt to try and convince this dev "hey, I said don't use my stuff". The dev mocks this person in their blog post claiming that they're allowed to use the presets because they're in a GitHub repository.

In order to prevent plagiarism of any of Gshade's assets (INCLUDING the presets themselves), the dev added a "killswitch" essentially that, when any attempts were made to access Gshade, its installer, presets, etc without the dev or preshade creators' knowledge or permission, would cause a force-restart. For anyone who doesn't really use Gshade- I feel the need to add that some presets use original art assets and overlays so it isn't just people playing around with sliders. This is actual art that some artists have politely requested doesn't get re-used elsewhere without permission. And no- this isn't like major game companies like Ubisoft implementing DRM, which in context is about big rich corporations trying to prevent piracy. This is like online game anti-cheat software except instead of bans you get a restart.

You cannot trigger this force-restart with Gshade on normal use, it will ONLY happen when trying to run something that accesses and utilizes Gshade or its assets (again, including people's presets). Likewise, from the sounds of it, the killswitch was already regretted and removed in a patch on Saturday- two days before this whole thing blew up today- and it was changed to a line of code that just closes the program.

There is nothing within Gshade which will harm or remain on your computer. There are no keyloggers, other spyware, covert mining, or anything else that remains on someone's computer with the express purpose of doing harm to it. While you can argue semantics here, imo "Program does bad thing if you go out of your way to use it improperly" isn't "malware" or else World of Warcraft and any other online game with an anti-cheat could also be considered Malware.

If you don't want to use Gshade because of the moral implications of the dev taking such a grandiose measures, that's a personal choice. It's 100% understandable to see this as a breech of trust-

-but please stop spreading word that the app intentionally has Malware intended to affect the common user. This was literally an anti-theft measure taken way overboard. To summarize: -Cocky dev personally dislikes some of Gshade's functions and wants to make their own version of it, but use Gshade assets including presets (some of which contain original art) they don't have permission to use using the same busted "well it's on the internet" logic people use to justify art theft and plagiarism. -Gshade devs try to stop this, other dev self-admittedly "trolls" them for a while and ignores preset artists saying "hey I don't consent to using my stuff". -Gshade dev includes a line of code to force-restart the PC of anyone who tries to access any Gshade assets, specifically to fight back against this user. Regrets it and removes it. -Two days after its removal, word gets out that Gshade has this force-restart command. -Gshade dev admits in the Discord that yes, this command was in there briefly. A single screenshot of this admission makes it to Twitter, and the entire program is branded as Malware.

I'll repeat again, neither side was perfect in this, and to add such a harsh command line even if it was targeted at one person in particular was a gross misuse of power. It's perfectly understandable to not want to use Gshade anymore if you don't trust the program, but it's also important to release this overstep wasn't made purely in impulse, and was an attempt to stop someone who was actively trying to disrespect artists and preset designers. I think that's the huge part of all this that's being missed and it's resulting in a lot of people zero'ing in on the Gshade dev and Discord mods as if they're the defacto villains in all this and need to be harassed and ousted from the community.

[singingwordwright]

The “EDI and Geth survive the Destroy Ending” manifesto

The goodies dropped on N7 Day of 2021 told a contradictory story:

On one hand, you had a cinematic video of Liara climbing a dead Reaper, which would indicate that the canon ending for ME3 was the Destroy ending, with at least one other dead Reaper in the background.

On the other hand, you had a poster released in which several figures were approaching a crater that resembled a Geth's head. Since the Geth (and EDI) are supposedly wiped out along with the Reapers in the event of the Destroy ending, these two things shouldn't be able to co-exist.

Then came N7Day 2022, which (when unscrambled) seems to have audio of Liara talking to some Geth. Again, this is in contradiction to the notion of Liara climbing a dead Reaper.

I've spent the last year trying to resolve this contradiction, and I believe there's a solid foundation for believing the Geth and EDI COULD survive the destroy ending, and that Shepard is mislead by the Catalyst when told Geth and EDI would also be destroyed if Shepard chooses that option.

These are my conclusions. (dun-dun.) 

Caveat Emptor: This manifesto is way past the point of relevancy to most fans of the franchise, I’m sure, and it’s quite possible someone has opined on this subject before me. But I’m a latecomer to Mass Effect and if that’s the case, I haven’t seen it. Pardon any lack of originality.

Furthermore, I have nothing more than a layman’s grasp of astro- and nuclear physics, and maybe a smidge better understanding of computer networking. I’ve got perhaps a journeyman’s knowledge of coding, in that I’ve taught myself enough to write a couple libraries to use as dependencies for apps I hoped to develop someday.

Finally, I have not read the Mass Effect books or comics. If these issues are addressed therein, I will have missed it. I probably have also missed a lot of Word of God input from the creators, as I don't follow them religiously. 

Let's proceed....

Watching a playthrough of someone else’s Mass Effect game recently brought back a lot of thoughts I’ve had about the Destroy ending, and the supposed destruction of EDI and the Geth alongside the Reapers. And I call bullshit.

Again, I’m sure that’s not a revelation; as beloved as EDI and Legion are, many, many people have declared that ending bullshit. But I come with receipts! Nearly every point I make from here on out is backed by canonical evidence in game. Sometimes that evidence is dependent upon Shepard leaning toward a particular morality. Beyond that, any supposition or assumption I make is clearly disclaimed as such and has at least a significant portion of the underlying rationale supported by in-game statements or events.

Before I begin, I will clarify that yes, I am aware of the Indoctrination Theory and have watched a number of videos about it, including the originals. While I’m not positive I believe the entire thing, because some of it felt like reaching (which I may be guilty of myself, herein) there are parts of it that make a great deal of sense to me and have no doubt influenced my thinking. As such, there may be some overlap between my theories and theirs.

PART ONE: The interoperability of EDI, the Geth, and the Reapers

Three disparate programming languages

As EDI herself points out when comparing her independent intelligence to the Geth’s networked intelligence, EDI and the Geth are two very different forms of AI. To wit, until after (and if) they survive Priority: Rannoch, the Geth aren’t “true,” fully-evolved AIs. We have multiple sources confirming this, most notably Admiral Shala Raan and Legion leading up to the final battle for Rannoch.

The Geth possess self-awareness, but can only function independently at a limited intellectual capability. Unless multiple Geth are networked together (such as Legion) they are really closer to VIs, except that they still possess rudimentary self-awareness.

EDI, the Geth, and the Reapers were created–by which I mean coded, since, as Legion points out, they exist purely as software–by different races and at different times. While the essence of any programming ultimately comes down to the ones and zeros (i.e. which bits are “on” and which bits are “off”), regardless of the coding language, it’s probable that EDI, the Geth, and the Reapers were all written in vastly different languages. IIRC, the Prothean designs for the Crucible are in base-12 math. Most likely, the math underlying the programming of each of these three different AIs varies one from the other at least that much or more.

For example: Quarians only have three fingers on each hand. So is their elementary level math in base-10 like ours, or base-6, which would account for their total number of fingers and therefore their most primitive tool for counting? And we’ve seen the Leviathan race that created the Catalyst. How did they learn to count in the primitive stage of their evolution? What is their mathematics–and thus, the base language of all their technology–built upon?

It’s possible the language in which EDI’s software was written may have been influenced by technology picked up from other races in the 30 years since First Contact. It’s also possible that the programming languages of those races may have been influenced by the quarians’ programming languages of a few centuries ago. If both of those conditions are true, it would give EDI and the Geth a minuscule chance of “out-of-the-box” interoperability.

It is also possible that the languages in which EDI and the Geth were written were, to some extent, derived from or influenced by the technological advances that came with discovering “Prothean” ruins and acquiring mass effect technology, which of course originated with the Catalyst and the Reapers. That allows for a minute chance that there is some limited interoperability between all three. But like any other language, programming evolves, or at least branches. The languages EDI and the Geth were written in may or may not be backward compatible with Reaper code, but it seems unlikely.

We don’t know when the quarians discovered mass effect technology, but we know it was long enough ago for them to be able to escape via the relays when fleeing Rannoch nearly three centuries prior to Mass Effect. It’s likely the Geth were created using quarian programming languages that are more than a century or two of evolution past the first influence of “Prothean” (i.e. Reaper) technology.

In other words, there isn’t much chance of out-of-the-box interoperability between these three kinds of software.

Remember that embarrassing snafu with one of the early Mars rover projects a couple decades ago, where the project almost entirely failed because someone assumed they were working with the English measurement system rather than metric, or vice versa? Yeah. It’s kinda like that. Precision in these matters is really rather important, and usually a little precision is lost each time one system is converted to another for compatibility.

EDI and Reaper tech

EDI herself, Shepard points out, incorporates “Reaper technology”, as no doubt does EVA’s platform that EDI commandeers. This would suggest that EDI has a greater chance of interoperability with the Reapers than she does with the Geth.

But we’re never told exactly what “Reaper technology” means. Does it mean she was written in Reaper code? Does it mean Reaper hardware was incorporated into her physical design, i.e. her hardware in the medical bay AI core and throughout Normandy? And to what degree? What portion of EDI is Alliance tech from the training facility on Luna in ME1, what portion of it is the other AI on the Citadel in ME1 (the jury is out as to whether that was included in material salvaged from the Citadel), and what portion was based upon Sovereign? 

I find the notion of incorporating actual Reaper hardware into EDI’s design unlikely, as doing so might pose a hazard of indoctrination to the crew of the Normandy SR2. We’re not sure anyone knows how capable of indoctrinating people pieces of a DEAD Reaper can be until the Derelict Reaper mission in ME2, and no doubt The Illusive Man would certainly have considered it, but as far as we’re ever aware, no one on Normandy ends up indoctrinated (with the exception of Shepard under the Indoctrination Theory). Therefore, I’m going to discount the possibility of Reaper hardware being integrated into EDI’s platforms. 

That leaves software. In which case, we have to ask ourselves, how much software would Cerberus be able to derive from the remnants of Sovereign?

Sovereign is a fully functional, independent, and self aware platform. Like Geth ships, it doesn’t need pilots and engineers and operators to keep it functional. We don’t even have proof of it having any caretakers, like the Keepers on the Citadel. Therefore one may surmise that user interface components on Sovereign would be minimal. Indeed, in the derelict Reaper, almost all the interfaces were ones the Cerberus science team installed.

I’d also call it improbable that Sovereign has anything along the lines of an AI core, because a) since Sovereign doesn’t need a crew for maintenance, there’s no incentive to keep the hardware centralized and accessible, and b) such a configuration would create a massive point of vulnerability where a lucky shot could take out most, if not all, of Sovereign’s processing power in one hit.

Conveniently for Cerberus, that probably also means Sovereign’s processing power isn’t contained in an AI core the size of Normandy herself (if not larger) which could prove problematic for secretly hauling it away.

So how is it designed? I can see two possibilities.

The first is that it has multiple, smaller processing nodes throughout its physical platform, similar to the way EDI says many of her processes are distributed throughout Normandy (though she still does have an AI core as well.)

The second is that those components all comprise the ship itself. There’s no reason to believe their hardware bears any resemblance to ours, even futuristic as ours is in Mass Effect.

The Catalyst–and therefore the Reapers–might not possess any notions about needing to build processors and memory storage as separate units and shield them inside an external casing. Without more data to say for sure, it’s every bit as likely that Sovereign’s processing and memory components are part and parcel of the shell and inner architecture of the ship itself, with most or every surface being the Reaper equivalent of a circuit board and/or data storage unit. This could certainly explain how the human proto-Reaper in the Collector base was already so functional when it was merely at an “embryonic” stage of its development.

If the nodes model applies, since we’re discussing a “ship” twice the size of a skyscraper, each of those nodes would still likely be quite massive and not easy to move, much less slip out from under the nose of C-Sec and the Council and the Council races’ in the aftermath of the Battle of the Citadel. 

The “every piece is a functional piece of processing and storage hardware” theory makes portability less of an issue, since any piece, however small, may contain fragments of Reaper code.

But even then, how would Cerberus identify which pieces of salvage are memory or processing units? How would they know what that looks like?

Are we to believe that Cerberus managed to:

Extract enough salvaged pieces to determine which contained code that they could analyze and build from

Engineer a way to interface with those components

Decompile and decipher the code stored in those components

Wrap that code in something closer to our own languages so that 

interoperability is possible, the way a C++ library may need, say, an Objective-C wrapper to be used in Swift.

in less than two years, and STILL have enough time to develop an AI as fully-featured and functional as EDI?

Cerberus, being a human-supremacist organization, might have borrowed from what advanced technology the Alliance had acquired from Prothean ruins and the other races, but it wouldn’t have involved alien scientists with hundreds or thousands more years of experience in working with the advanced technology we only just recently acquired.

The Geth and the Reaper code upgrades

Until ME3, there is no indication that the Geth incorporate Reaper technology in any form. The Heretics chose to worship the Reapers; they were not influenced by Sovereign reprogramming them. “A House Divided” is quite clear on this point: the Heretics came to a conclusion and followed it, full stop.

When the Geth actually DID integrate Reaper code, doing so merely enhanced the Geth’s abilities enough to enable them to function as fully evolved intelligences even when operating independently.

We get a bit of a contradiction at this point: on one hand, the Geth Server mission on Rannoch indicates that with the server cleansed of Reaper code, the Geth stored in the server will be lost. As Shepard says, it’s like wiping out a whole city. Taking the server offline also causes the Geth forces in space to go into a state of dormancy. They stop fighting the quarians and just hang there in space. But it does not seem to “kill” them. Legion asks Shepard if the Geth deserve to die just for defending themselves, suggesting that they’re not going to actually be “dead” until the quarians attack and destroy them.

I’m not entirely sure how to reconcile those two notions. Why did removing the Reaper code destroy the programs on the Geth server, but only knock out the ships and fighters in space? For lack of any better explanation, I consider it to be a plot hole. As such, I feel perfectly free to patch it in whatever way best supports my own preferences and agenda, which is to “save” EDI and the Geth in the Destroy ending.

Therefore, I’m going to hypothesize that removing the Reaper upgrades does not “kill” the Geth that aren’t directly networked in an affected server. The geth operating on mobile platforms can still function without the upgrades, but it will take longer for them to return to functionality because they need to be…rebooted? Perform a factory reset? Whatever.

Once rebooted, however, the Geth would only have the same functionality that they had BEFORE the Reaper upgrades. They would still have self-awareness, but reduced independent intelligence.

✴️TL;DR: Conclusion #1 We may safely conclude that whatever Reaper technology is integrated with EDI, her overall functionality does not depend upon it. Likely, it’s limited to being able to interface with Reaper tech, such as the Reaper IFF. And even that took at least a day or two to integrate. Possibly more, depending on when you played the Derelict Reaper mission and whether you had other other missions besides “A House Divided” to complete before the attack on Normandy triggered.

Furthermore, given textual clues, it seems probable that the Geth could return to some lesser degree of functionality after recovering from the removal of the Reaper upgrades.

PART TWO: How much of what the Catalyst tells Shepard is true?

When questioned about how EDI got the ship and Joker free of Alliance control when the Reapers attacked earth, EDI tells Shepard that she lied while posing as a V.I.. When questioned about this, EDI confirms that she has no programming constraints requiring her to provide accurate data.

If we extrapolate to assume that, similarly, the Catalyst surely has no safeguards against deception in its programming–how else could the Catalyst have done what it did to turn on its creators? How else could the Reapers be able to indoctrinate people into believing something that isn’t true?– everything it tells Shepard becomes suspect.

EDI also tells us that she has self-preservation priorities, and we see her choose to modify them. We can assume that, likewise, the Reapers–or more specifically, the Catalyst–values its own continued existence, and unlike EDI, it has no overriding priorities (such as Joker, whom she states she would risk non-functionality for.) Given that assumption, the Catalyst has motive to do everything in its power to induce Shepard to refuse the Destroy option. 

Including lying to Shepard.

The Reapers–and thus the Catalyst–know Shepard. They know that Shepard (or at least, iterations of Shepard that haven’t let the Geth die) values synthetic life. They know a peacemaker Shepard would consider sacrificing his/her/their own life preferable to sacrificing beings Shepard values. Depending on the choices Shepard has made, the Catalyst might also know that Shepard is anti-genocide.

Therefore, the Catalyst might conclude that if it presents Shepard with three choices–one of which involves being responsible for the genocide of not one, not two, but THREE unique synthetic races (EDI being a race unto herself, as the only one of her kind) and the others which only require Shepard to sacrifice their self, there’s a significant chance that Shepard would choose the latter. This doesn’t even require Shepard to be indoctrinated, merely to be a reasonably non-psychopathic person.

Furthermore, without this motivation, the Control ending makes NO sense for Shepard to choose.

I can sort of see why a non-psychopath Shepard might choose Synthesis, as it’s an option that requires no genocide, at least. But there’s just really no excuse for Shepard ever choosing Control beyond plain old bad storytelling.

From the very beginning of ME3, Shepard believes The Illusive Man to be wrong in his notions about controlling the Reapers. We’re not even given dialogue choices about this, and when we do have choices, even Renegade Shepard only gets to choose HOW to tell TIM “no,” rather than an option to say “sure, sounds like a great plan, sign me up!”

Shepard may have been supportive of Cerberus in ME2, may have told the Virmire Survivor that Cerberus was right, may have turned over the Collector base to Cerberus, but from “Priority: Mars” onward, Shepard is firmly opposed to the idea of controlling the Reapers. They know in their gut that TIM is wrong and destroying the Reapers is the right choice.

But then, after either killing TIM or inducing him to kill himself, Shepard gets a few words from this synthetic that they have no reason to believe, and suddenly it’s just “Whoopsie! I guess TIM was right. How embarrassing, finding that out right after I made him kill himself. Guess I’ll choose Control!”

Furthermore, Shepard knows The Illusive Man was indoctrinated. They can’t trust anything TIM was advocating for, because his will was not his own. Whatever he wanted is almost surely what the Reapers want. Shepard ALSO knows AI are capable of deception, because EDI told them so. So, unless Shepard is, indeed, indoctrinated, absolutely nothing about the Control option can be trusted.

Just as there is a such thing as Plot Armor, I find there is also a such thing as Plot-Convenient Incompetence (ask any Shadowhunters fan if you doubt the existence of this phenomenon), where an otherwise capable capable marksman suddenly can’t hit the broad side of a barn or defend their self from an amateur, or an intelligent character does the dumb thing for no reason other than TPTB say so. Shepard doing a 180 on choosing Control falls within this category. There’s just no valid excuse for it.

Even if Shepard is fully Renegade, the most likely option is that they just don’t care if EDI and the Geth die (assuming they’re still alive by this point) and thus, they have no motive to choose one of the self-sacrificial options. They’ll simply select Destroy.

In fact, the color coding of the options leads us to believe that Destroy IS the Renegade option, and Control is the paragon option (still doesn't make Control a logical solution, however, given everything Shepard has believed up until now.)

I suppose one could make the argument that Shepard wants power, but if Shepard’s existence as they know it is going to end, what good is that power? What would they do with it if they had it, and why were they so opposed to claiming it ten minutes ago when TIM was still yammering madly at them?

Moreover, whether or not they believe the Catalyst about the options they’re presented, a Shepard that has brokered peace between the Geth and Quarians KNOWS the Catalyst is wrong on one major point:

Synthetics and organics do not have to destroy each other. It’s NOT inevitable. Shepard has just finished proving it.

See, there’s this old saying about history and what happens to people who don’t learn from it. It’s entirely possible that the reason synthetics and organics have “inevitably” been destined to destroy each other is because the Reapers have been factory-resetting history every 50,000 years. No cycle has had an opportunity to learn from the mistakes older civilizations who have survived the development of artificial intelligence.

One might argue that Shepard could question if they would be proving the Catalyst’s assertion by selecting Destroy. But they wouldn’t, because regardless of the subsequent fate of EDI and the Geth, Shepard has proven that achieving peace and cooperation between organics and synthetics IS possible. EDI and the Geth, if they are indeed destroyed, will not be destroyed because of an inevitable war between them and organics, but because their destruction was an grievous side effect of eliminating the Reapers, who were bent on annihilating organics.

Furthermore, history will take the lessons of EDI’s willing cooperation with organics and the quarians mistakes and Shepard’s ability to broker peace between the quarians and the Geth forward into the future, and thus the cycle of organics and synthetics destroying each other may be broken.

And if not, well, that’s a problem for future generations to figure out. At least now there will BE future generations.

As for Synthesis, personally, I think it would take an incredible amount of confidence to make that choice for however many TRILLIONS of beings. Given the choice between sacrificing…what? A few million–maybe even a couple billion?...beings (who, unfortunately, are all synthetic) or forcing a metamorphosis no one consented to upon trillions of beings–including those same synthetics–it seems hard to rationalize why Shepard would choose the Synthesis option.

Especially since, again, the Catalyst is advocating for it, and the Catalyst can lie.

Finally, the fact that there are no synthetic races that have carried over from past cycles suggests that the Reapers don’t intend to let the synthetic races of the galaxy survive any more than they do organics. If Shepard choses Control or Synthesis and is wrong, EDI and the Geth will be destroyed anyway.

✴️TL;DR: Conclusion #2

Shepard has no reason to believe anything the Catalyst says, and a great deal of reason to mistrust any options the Catalyst offers them, as those options are likely to be in the Reapers best interest, rather than benefit to the organic (or possibly even synthetic) species of the galaxy. The Catalyst has the ability and motivation to try to discourage Shepard from selecting the Destroy ending, and Shepard has no reason not to know this and be able to draw these conclusions.

PART THREE: What does the Crucible really do, anyway?

Hearkening back to Part One, it’s established by Legion in ME2 that EDI, the Geth, and the Reapers are software. The platforms they operate on offer them mobility and the capacity to fight offensively or simply defend themselves, but their platforms are not what they are.

Therefore, whatever the Crucible does, it’s going to affect them as software, rather than as physical entities.

We’re told the Crucible is a “dark energy device” but given very few specifics.

IDK about y’all, but the word “energy” makes me think of something along the lines of an EMP. However, we’re not warned that it will make ALL software stop functioning, only synthetic beings. Ships, weapons, environment suits, even VIs, we have no indication that all computer-dependent technology is going to be effectively bricked (if we were, we would have to also consider the effect of the Destroy ending upon the vol and quarians, but clearly that isn’t the case.)

Even the Citadel and mass relays, which of any technology in the galaxy are most likely to share significant amounts of code with the Reapers, are merely damaged but capable of being repaired. That is, assuming you took the time to get your war assets high enough for an optimal ending.

Assuming the Catalyst is being honest about anything in this regard, the Crucible is a power source and the Catalyst directs its power toward…something.

(Side note: This calls into question the veracity of the Catalysts’ claims as regards Synthesis. I can see how the Crucible might enable Control–the signal would basically reprogram the Reapers to accept Shepard’s commands rather than the Catalyst’s–but how does energy result in the merging of organic and synthetic beings into a new kind of being? I’m no astrophysicist, but that one requires a significant suspension of disbelief.)

Moving on, however. How then, does the catalyst direct it ONLY toward synthetic beings and not any other kind of technology? Well, it would have to target something EDI and the Geth and the Reapers all have in common: Reaper code.

We may deduce that the “energy” functions more like a signal, or possibly even a virus, because it requires precise targeting. The only way to avoid bricking every bit of technology in the galaxy is for that signal or virus to specifically target Reaper code and Reaper code ONLY.

Additionally, the Citadel is required to create a targeted signal from the energy generated by the Crucible, and the mass relay network is required to boost and disseminate the signal. Which means we have to ask ourselves what does the Citadel and relay network do or possess to make this possible.

The answer: they were built by the Reapers, based on the Reapers own technology. They are able to target Reaper code because they are made using Reaper code. 

As we’ve already established in Part One, the integration of Reaper code in both EDI and the Geth is (or should be, if we’re disregarding inconvenient plot holes and applying logical thought to the matter) minimally invasive and the lack of it should not present an impediment to their functionality, aside from downgrading the Geth.

In the Citadel DLC, we see that EDI still functions even when cut off from the Normandy, where the greater part of her hardware exists. If she can still function even without the vast majority of her processing power, it stands to reason that she can function without the small portion of her code that is compatible with or derived from Reaper tech.

Will she function perfectly? Probably not at first. Much like her momentary glitching out if she rides in the car with Shepard to intercept the Normandy in the Citadel DLC, it’s likely she would be taken offline for a while to repair broken circuits and patch now-incomplete logic, which is likely why Normandy ends up crash landing on the unknown jungle planet.

But we’re told more than once that EDI is the ship, and the ship is EDI. The time when they could have functioned without each other has passed; EDI and the Normandy are now fully integrated. So the fact that Normandy is able to be repaired and takes off again suggests that EDI is also eventually restored to functionality, without whatever Reaper technology she may have initially had integrated into her systems. 

She may, however, lose her mobile platform, since that body is likely to incorporate MORE Reaper tech than her older code. This would explain why there are no slides of her stepping off the Normandy with Joker in any ending except Synthesis, and why she isn’t physically present in the scene at the memorial wall.

[wutlaikalikes]

Kizuna A.I.

It started with a premiere titled Me in a dream (that I actually missed cause I was watching someone else lol). A 52 second video that consist of a message like 'I love you' and 'I'm coming back'.

Then a stream title s h e e e e p started with what looks like a Kizuna Ai video with a grainy filter on top. I discovered this stream a bit late but there were around 110K viewers when I tuned in. There's also a website dedicated to this that feature the same grainy feature as the stream. Though most have pointed out that they are independent from each other. (I've only seen screenshots, haven't actually went to the website). Some describe the effect as defragmentation.

People were talking about restoring data and some are pointing out that most of her videos have become unlisted and her profile picture on YT and X has changed. Her named on X changed to [Kizuna AI with 🐏💤]

The stream continued with words like "Hello", "Please could you stop the noise", and "I want to sleep" flashing every now and then.

I think I only stayed for 5 minutes before tuning out. It was starting to feel like an ARG. I like Kizuna Ai but I can't help but wonder what they are doing. It really don't feel like a comeback but maybe I have become used to how current vtubers operate. I really don't understand what was going on.

I posted these thoughts on Twitter and someone pointed out that the stream have codes to be cracked. I'm not tech savvy nor I'm one to take part in solving ARGs, so I can only wait.

Another point that was raised is that these process could take months. I was looking through Twitter / X and actually came across the account of KizunaAi's producer, Tsumugu. I think they noticed that there were a lot of people and since they are on Japanese timezone and its way past midnight, they finally admitted that 'it will take a few more months'.

image source: https://x.com/Tsumugu20240630/status/1807110547068088600

I don't understand why. If you are going to 'reboot' and compete with current vtubers, why is it going to take months? I get that Kizuna Ai's birthday is today. I get celebrating it but not in this way. It feels like they are building up hype but if it'll take months, that hype will die real quick.

Kasuga Nozomi, Kizuna's original voice actor, have already stepped down as advicer. She stated that she originally was going to retire once Kizuna slept but stayed for a little bit longer since her position as advisor is still needed.

image source: https://x.com/kasuga_nozomi/status/1773591245270741378

If there is going to be a new Kizuna Ai, why not just 'wake her up'? Why would it take months? I can't help but think that Kizuna Ai is going to be Kizuna A.I. and honestly, I don't want that.

I like to look up definition of words to better understand things. I tried to look up what the word 'cognition' means on Google and the first result is an IT company called "Cognition AI".

Cognition itself meant 'the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.'

Cognition in A.I. refers to 'Cognitive AI, also referred to as cognitive artificial intelligence, is software that tries to think and learn by imitating the way human brains work.'

This does not look good...

On 11AM JST, Kizuna Ai's Twitter posted the link of the ongoing stream with the text, "Recognized : 01000001 01001001 01000001 01001001 01000001 01001001" The binary translates to one of Kizuna Ai's song "AIAIAI".

I can imagine there will be more in the coming months. But I think this will be some form of marketing to draw people in to Kizuna Ai's channel and social media.

I don't know where this is going, all I can do is wait. Let's hope I'm wrong about the A.I. thing. They already tried NFTs that nobody wanted and this possibly being A.I. is going to break her more.

[ashanmga2021mi5016]

Reflective Essay

Looking back on how these past two years went, I am unsure if I have failed or achieved the milestones and goals I had at the beginning. But I can be sure I have learned and grown much along the way. More importantly, I have learned there is a long way to go to be a professional. This research and professional practice module motivated me to dive deep into professional or industry-standard work and the industry through proper research. The more I studied the professional career of different artists, my Passion for the animation industry grew tremendously. Still, I also realised how much energy I should put into reviewing my work, abilities, limits and what I can do to improve my work and content, adding more meaning to them.

With my 3D knowledge and growing interest in 3D and CGI animation, I realised I must choose one of the two mediums to practice professionally hereafter. Since the first year mainly focused more on 2D animation, be it storyboarding or animating with the traditional and digital medium, and the second year on 3D animation, I had learned and grown my interest in both areas equally. Still, while acquiring more books and studying them repeatedly, I finally understood my inner Passion and abilities in 2D art. I know how much I like to work in the pre-production stages, where all conceptualising and designing occur. Plus, with my understanding of the industry, the 3D department of most studios is more about giving life to someone else's design ideas and concepts. To me, the creativity of 3D artists is somewhat restricted comparatively in the workplace, though I understand the potential of 3D space. Since most of the pre-production stages of even 3D art are still done with 2D drawings or sketches, I decided to focus more on 2D graphics and industry-standard software like photoshop from the beginning of this year. It allowed me to explore and discover more about 2D drawing techniques and also to get the support of my 3D knowledge to better my 2D designs.

After selecting the medium, I needed to decide on which work profile in the industry I should choose to make my portfolio. Considering the pre-production stages, I decided it was best to begin my career with a character design portfolio due to the short period I could afford to allocate for my portfolio this semester. The character design and modelling module I took last semester also contributed significantly to my understanding of what areas I want to concentrate on further in the future. I discovered that character design requires far more effort and consideration than simply coming up with a character's appearance at random. The entire process of character design was intriguing. Research on anatomy, fashion, or various cultures is necessary for character designers because it will ultimately help the creative process in the long run. Even the most minor, insignificant details in a character's design can sometimes reveal a lot about that character's personality, way of life, attitudes, or backstory. With the idea of " the First impression is the last", I also learn to experiment with the impression my characters make in the audience's mind.

A significant component of my study on the animation industry was looking at various companies or studios that interest me and learning more about them through their social media, official websites, articles, or blog posts. Before I started researching the animation industry, I used to think only about the top animation studio like Pixar, Disney, Gihibi and DreamWork, which animation work I mostly grew up watching. But the research opened many other doors to the industry while completely changing my view and perception of the industry. Regardless of how much I adore Japanese animation, I now see how individuals of various racial or sexual orientations are portrayed in most of these shows and movies as wrong and occasionally even hurtful and offensive. I see a lack of representation of marginalised communities, races and genders. Though I can understand a Japanese studio like Gihibi has a different culture and targeted audience from most western companies, I think they should present a fair and accurate representation of society for them to be more appealing to a vast global audience. While searching for studios in the UK, I came across Passion animation studio and what immediately caught my interest was Passion animation studio's diversity and inclusion policy. The studio is committed to diversity and inclusion across race, gender, age, religion, identity, and experience. The studio's official web page also mentions that they "recognise that their industry has, up until now, not created sufficient pathways for those from underrepresented backgrounds and communities, and they are determined to help change this". As aspiring creators, I believe we have to educate ourselves on the accurate portrayal of minorities in media. However, seeing a company like Passion makes me personally hopeful about what the future may hold for what they are attempting to do. The option of working abroad is something I will keep in mind since I am eager to see other cultures and see new things. Reading about the experiences of the studio's founders and the animators who worked there also gave me more confidence about working far from home.

Still, I also dream of working for a big company like Disney or Pixar and creating an iconic character that will last in people's hearts for generations one day. My current character design style is undoubtedly highly influenced by Disney character design.

The content I want to create in the future has also concerned me a lot throughout this year. Being born and raised in a third-world country currently going through the worst economic crisis in the country's history, I have personally seen and heard the people's agony and pain in their hearts. And I have never understood why there is someone of my age with the same work ethic and who probably would write better essays, has no shelter over their head and is in a continuously increasing struggle to make a living. Therefore, I believe success is an excellent confluence of luck, opportunity, and hard work. Therefore, as someone who has the chance to follow what I like, I want to give hope to those who have not had the opportunity they deserve. Hence, my content should make people hopeful and motivated to see bigger dreams and face life's struggles.

Finally, even though there is still a year until I graduate, I have some idea of how I should work to be more employable after college and my studies. I will need to work on my portfolio and do my work and personal projects out of college that present more of my vision to add to my portfolio. I would also like to develop my portfolio more on the visual development side beside the character designing side or two separate portfolios for the two areas, as I love both regions equally. I also have to work on my timing. Last semester I usually spent more time on conceptualising and designing and not enough on finishing parts. But I understand how crucial the finishing is for your conceptualising and design process to be more productive and meaningful in the end. Therefore, I need to work more on balancing and distributing time to every area equally. Finally, I am aware that with all the technological advancements and growing digital platforms like social media and Netflix, the industry has become ever more competitive but, at the same time, more accessible and ubiquitous. Therefore, I would also like to work on boosting my social media presence and add that aspect to my daily life in the coming years.

To conclude, due to this year's events, I had a lot of free time to sit at home, consider my future, and reflect on and analyse what I have learned in the past two years. I have made progress in both my preparation for entering the animation profession and in achieving my objectives and animation standards. And I have also gained a clear picture of what I want to do with the animation medium, which animations studios share similar or mutual visions that I can work with and what my contents should be. Now, I better understand how animation should holistically impact the world, culture, future, and society to bring positivity and hope. So, I have become more confident that I can hopefully enter the industry and perform with job satisfaction and integrity thanks to the research and professional practice module. I appreciate the whole experience this course has offered and taught me. One thing I have released doing this course was that although there was massive competition in my school, it had always been healthy as everyone's style was unique and mostly worked for them. Hopefully, by doing all the things I have mentioned above, as I like to do upon graduation in the reflection, I will become more employable and get one step closer to the industry. I am fingers crossed and super excited for the future.

[writerpeach]

Jealousy

IZ*ONE Yena x Male Reader

9790 words

categories: smut, oral, rough sex

---

read on AFF

read on AO3

masterlist

“Good morning, everyone. You all know why we’re here today.”

Detective Kwon was seated at the head of the white rectangular table centered in the precinct’s main conference room, folding her arms and commanded attention from the other eyes in the room. It wasn’t often that the lead detective was in such a foul mood, yet given the events that led up to this meeting, it wasn’t surprising. The conference room was filled with nothing but blank expressions.

“Our mission was nothing but a complete failure and we need to find out why. Detective Miyawaki will go over everything we know right now,” Eunbi said, the harshness and frustration in her voice unmistakable.

“Yes, boss.” Sakura's usual sugary-sweet cute smile was replaced with a more serious expression. The petite detective stood out with freshly dyed pink hair, adding to her adorable image.

Sakura cleared her throat and sat up straight, taking a deep breath as she looked around the room at other members of the team.

“Our operation commenced last Friday morning at what was Patriarch Goda’s location based on information given by our informant. Detective Eunbi took point along with Detective Hyewon."

Sakura took a steady breath before continuing.

“Our teams surrounded the mansion on three separate sides while Detective Kwon led the charge. All three teams simultaneously breached and found zero members of the Goda clan inside, while the patriarch was nowhere to be found.”

"Our informant Dojima-san has never been wrong about anything we've gone to them about, so we have no reason to believe this is any different," Eunbi briefly interrupted.

"Please continue."

Sakura nodded politely. “There wasn’t anything useful inside but communication equipment. Several laptops were found by our teams, but no useful information could be taken from them as they were securely wiped with military-grade equipment. They knew what they were doing, and most importantly they knew we were coming.”

“Thank you, Detective Miyawaki. Now the question is how in the hell did they find out this information?” Eunbi asked.

“I believe I can give some insight to that, Detective Kwon.” The new voice came from a blonde woman who you had briefly met in your time helping out with the case. Her role was one of the few members of Eunbi's team that wasn’t a detective, working as the precinct’s head security analyst.

“Please give any information you have, Miss Yena.”

“This morning during a routine weekly check of our network logs I noticed some unusual activity. Upon further investigation, I noticed our network firewall had been breached, coincidentally thirty minutes before the raid on the mansion."

Yena lowered her head apologetically as she continued. “I’ve patched the breach and added tighter security to our systems. I apologize I wasn’t able to catch this beforehand.”

“You don’t have to explain. There were so many things happening, with you making sure our surveillance van was properly running I can’t say I can find you at fault. Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Yes, boss. I’m on it.”

“What did they gain from this breach?” Eunbi asked.

“No sensitive data was stolen or accessed, but our logs show our monitoring systems were rerouted.”

“So they were able to access our comms? That explains how they were able to figure out the details of our plans and getaway.”

“Exactly. I’ve sent in an order for more secure headsets, as well as changed all our frequencies. It’s a mistake we won’t make twice.”

“Thank you, Miss Yena. Is that all?”

“There’s one more thing,” Yena said, placing a small metal device on the table that was roughly the size of a flash drive.

“It wasn’t a software breach but a hardware one. Someone physically installed this into one of our servers, which was how they were able to bypass our systems so easily.”

“Do we know who is responsible?” Eunbi asked.

“No, I’m afraid not, boss. Our security footage was wiped during that time period and replaced with a looped recording. The good news is I’ve checked timestamped footage and everyone in this room was accounted for.

“So you’re saying it was an inside job? That whoever attached this device works for us?” Eunbi said as she inspected the small device.

“It’s a high possibility, boss. We’re looking into it as much as we can.”

“The moment you find any information let me know as soon as possible.”

“Of course, boss.”

“Now, if there’s nothing else to discuss I believe that will conclude this debriefing. Our priority is still capturing Patriarch Goda, but now we also have to deal who was inside our systems and why. If you find any pertain information please let me or Detective Hyewon know immediately. Dismissed.”

Detective Kwon couldn’t help hide her frustration as things winded down, not that anybody would have blamed her. The room cleared out as you were left alone with Eunbi who grabbed your arm just as you were about to make your own exit.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Eunbi playfully said, caressing your shoulder and batted her eyelashes.

“Seeing as I officially work for you now, I should get back to work. Boss.”

Eunbi had brought you on as a consultant with an extremely lucrative salary that you couldn’t turn down. She knew your experience on the other side of the law would come in handy during investigations and interrogating suspects, knowing how they acted, how they worked, and how they thought. It didn’t hurt that the job offer came with a nice comfy office and the chance to be around a group of beautiful women every day.

“Boss? Look at you all formal now,” Eunbi said as her fingers played with the collar of your dark-colored dress shirt, flashing you bedroom eyes that signaled danger like prey caught in a predator's trap.

“Now that everyone is gone...mommy could really use some stress relief,” Eunbi said, her lips curling into a smirk.

“That doesn’t sound very professional, Detective.”

“Well, It’s not very professional when you rail Detective Miyawaki in our break room either is it?” Eunbi said, her tone clearly unamused as she folded her arms.

You didn't have a chance to defend yourself the door to the conference room abruptly swung open and walked in one of the leggy rookie detectives, Kim Minju. The look on her face expressed she wasn’t here to deliver anything but bad news as you both sensed the dread in the air.

“Sorry to interrupt, boss. There’s been another body found,” Minju said, trying to keep her expression muted.

“Goddammit. Where was it found?” Eunbi asked, her body tensing up as she gritted her teeth.

“It was pulled out of the river about an hour ago. It hasn’t been identified yet but forensics stated it was a male in his early fifties.”  

“Most likely another hit, this has to stop. We need to figure out a way to catch these assholes who keep endangering our citizens.”

Eunbi rubbed her temple in small circles as she contemplated what her next step was. “Thank you, Minju.”

Minju bowed and exited without another word, leaving you alone with Detective Kwon once again.

“I have to get down there right away and check things out. Guess we’ll have to take a raincheck on that stress relief,” Eunbi said, her lips fading into a frown as she flashed a look of disappointment.

“Call me if you need anything.”

                                                       ✦✦

You didn’t have much direction without Detective Eunbi at the precinct. Part of your new job entailed staying behind the one-way mirror during investigations, giving valuable advice with your knowledge of the other side to prove assistance.

There wasn’t any of that in the early morning for you to assist to, only left with a stack of dossiers from criminals given by Detective Kwon you may or may not have had previous contact with. You found yourself restless and decided on a little stroll around the precinct to stretch your legs.

It wasn’t that easy navigating your way through the precinct halls as you tried to remember where things were, using familiar posters and bulletin boards on the brick walls of the precinct.

The layout still confused you regardless of how many times you had been in this building as you exchanged pleasantries with the different officers and detectives you had met before, giving polite greetings to those you hadn’t yet.

Leaving your office you realized how little energy you had at that moment. The clock hadn’t yet made it to noon as you made a beeline to the break room in need of an energy boost, remembering the coffee there was better than it had any right to be and put any coffee chain’s overpriced roast to shame.

The quiet door to the break room creaked open as you weren’t the only one with the same idea to sneak in a little caffeine break. You found the security analyst from the morning meeting occupying the room.

“You’re in luck, I just brewed a fresh pot,” the pretty blonde said as she grabbed one of several mugs from an above cabinet. She carefully poured fresh coffee into her mug, opening three packets of sugar and poured them all at once, stirring it several times as she took a seat.

“It’s Yena, right?” you asked as you poured yourself some hot piping coffee into your own mug, watching the satisfying steam coming out. You didn’t bother adding anything, needing the strong and bitter taste to wake you up as you took a seat next to her.

“That would be me,” Yena cutely said as she slurped on her coffee, using both hands to drink it as she clearly enjoyed the taste of it as it hit her taste buds. This was your first official introduction to each other you realized, and there wasn’t a better time to get to know her.

It wasn’t unusual for the room to not be occupied given that the detectives were constantly too busy to breathe on most days, much less spend time to enjoy a meal.

“And you’re Detective Kwon’s new hire, right?” Yena asked, the color in her eyes visible as she leaned in, letting the aroma of the fresh coffee take over.

“Yes, that’s right. I’ve been working unofficially with her on the Goda clan case for weeks. I’ve been spending so much time around here she wanted me to be getting paid for it. Plus, it’s an easy way to keep me safe.”

“Because you used to be one of them, right?” Yena asked. Word went around quickly that Detective Kwon had hired a former yakuza, which made the district uneasy but Eunbi was fully trustworthy and quickly quelled any concerns.

“Something like that,” you responded, not quite wanting to fully respond to such a heavy question to someone you hadn’t had a prior conversation before today.

“Did you ever kill anyone?”

The abruptness of her question almost caused you to spit out your coffee.

“No, I was just a low-level grunt. Not that I was capable of it anyways,” you replied, still surprised at her question.

“You wouldn’t be here working for us if you had, and you’re right. You’re not capable of it at all, you’re too cute.”

You didn’t know how to react to that, taking a long sip of coffee. When your mug hit the table, Yena abruptly grabbed your hands, carefully inspecting them with care.

“Ah, you still have all your fingers,” Yena said, as your expression became even more puzzled.

“...Why wouldn’t I?”

“Don’t you get a finger cut off if you mess up?” Yena said with the cutest amount of laughter.

You stifled a laugh before you felt like responding to such an absurd question.

“You have to commit a serious offense for that to happen. Disobey your patriarch’s orders, kill someone you weren’t supposed to, that sort of thing. Only saw it happen to one other member.”

“Or leave the organization without warning and leak information to the police,” Yena said, putting a hand over her mouth to cover up her laughter this time.

“If they get to me they’ll cut off more than just a finger.”

“Don’t worry, Detective Kwon will make sure all your limbs stay just where they belong,” Yena said teasingly, running a finger around the rim of her mug.

“Are you and Detective Kwon...” Yena said, giving a moment of hesitation before forming the rest of her sentence.

“Are we what?”

“Are you together? You seem so close, I see the way she looks at you whenever she talks to you,” Yena said, and if you didn’t know any better she seemed at least a little jealous.

“No, nothing like that,” you said, sipping on your coffee carefully, amused at the way the conversation had changed.

“Detective Kwon and I had a very interesting first meeting, and we’ve been working together ever since, so we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well working on this case. We’ve established a very tight relationship.”

“I’m sure that’s not that only thing that’s tight,” Yena snickered. You ignored her cute little one-liner as you kept your attention on well, her. She was a real striking beauty - light blonde hair, pretty dark brown eyes, a cute nose, and the fullest red lips you had seen, definitely her best feature. There was some regret sinking in for taking this long to talk to her.

“Yena...are you jealous?” you fired back. If she could ask ridiculous out of nowhere questions then so could you. She wasn’t expecting it if the expression on her face was anything to go on.

“Jealous? What could I possibly be jealous of?” Yena asked nonchalantly, running a hand through strands of golden hair while her cheeks became reddened. If Eunbi had taught you anything it was how to read people, and Yena had a bad poker face.

“I’m too busy working twelve-hour days to be jealous,” Yena said, quick to defend herself. She broke eye contact as her hands fiddled with her coffee mug, shyly staring off in the distance. l

“I should probably get back to work. There’s a stack of dossiers Eunbi left me that I should look over,” you said.

“So soon? We haven’t been here for that long,” Yena said, looking up at the time. “That reminds me, I need to drop this report in her office. Care to come with me?”

“Sure,” you said. You didn’t really see a reason not to accompany her and weren’t actually that eager to go back to going through stacks of criminal profiles that you felt was a little more than busywork.

                                                       ✦✦

“It’s locked,” Yena said as she jiggled the doorknob to Eunbi’s office. You’re not sure what she expected given the detective had been away all morning. Yena tried again for some reason, as if she were expecting it to magically open the second time as she looked around and tried to figure out what to do.

“You can just drop it off later when she’s back from the investigation can’t you?”

“I could, but what if I forget to give it to her? It’s so easy for me to get caught up in my work that I should leave this for her, it’s important that she gets it.”

“Ah!” Yena said as she scurried away, finding who she needed just out of view. It didn’t take long for her to return, bringing one of the janitors back with her.”

“Here it is. If you could unlock it for me it would be very appreciated. Detective Kwon needed this report on her desk by the afternoon, but you see she’s away on investigation, and I have something to attend to so I won’t be here. You understand, right?”

“No need to explain, Miss Choi, I’ll get you in,” the janitor said as he looked through a giant ring of keys, trying to find the right one and unlocked the office door.

“Just make sure you lock it back up when you’re done. You have a good day.”

“Thanks, you too!” Yena said as she stepped inside and you followed her in, waiting for her to drop off the report.

“I always forget how big her office is,” Yena said as you followed her inside. Detective Kwon had moved to a bigger office, one that was deserving of after her promotion. Yena looked around the office, carefully scanning the various awards and achievements that lined the walls, once again unable to control the jealousy inside her.

“Detective Kwon...you’re so lucky,” Yena muttered under her breath with a faded smile, setting a dark-colored folder on top of her neatly organized desk, making sure not to knock anything over.

“This place is big enough to move in,” Yena said. She took one last look around the spacious office, picking up Eunbi’s signature piglet plush off her desk and gave it a squeeze before putting it back where it belonged.

“Well, we should get out of here before we get too comfortable then,” you said and moved towards the door, ready to move on and get back to whatever work you could manage to do. Your exit was soon blocked by Yena, carrying a mischievous smile on her beautiful face as she stood in the doorway.

“What if I wanted to get a little too comfortable?” she said, closing the door with one hand as it shut behind her, the thud of the door slamming echoing against the high office walls.

“I’m sure you have plenty of work as well, Ye-”

She was quick to silence you by closing the distance and pressing a fingertip against your lips, stopping any additional objections.

“Work can wait. I’ve done what Detective Kwon has asked of me and gave a full detailed report of our breach which is on her desk waiting for her when she comes back.”

“I have dossiers I need to look through to see if I-”

You didn’t finish your sentence for the second time in a row as Yena’s deep brown eyes stared into your own, and you felt her small hands playfully pushing you back as you fell onto the couch. Yena wasn’t far behind and straddled your lap, the weight of her small body comforting as her legs around your waist.

“That can wait, too.”

“Yena, we can’t-

“Have you had sex with her in here?” she said, insisting on not letting you finish an entire sentence.

“What?”

“Have you had sex with Eunbi in this office?”

“Of course not. She’s a professional and this office is for work use only.”

That was the answer Yena was looking for if the change in her expression was anything to go by.

“Let’s change that, then,” she said as she wrapped her hands around the nape of your neck, staring even deeper into your eyes.

“Unless you don’t want to, that’s fine. You can go back to your office all alone and look at a bunch of old guys who you may or may not have seen in your past life.”

“That sounds like a terrible alternative to what’s happening right now.”

“I think so too."

Without another word you felt the warmth of her full lips smacking against your own, taking you by surprise. Instinctively you snaked your hands around her slender waist, giving in to temptation with ease. Her lips were soft as silk and tasted like your favorite candy as her tongue eagerly entered your mouth played with your counterpart.

Yena showed her aggressive side as she grabbed the back of your head, wanting you to taste her deeper as her tongue danced around in your mouth as you explored her body with your hands and wanted to rip the tight black top she had that only served as a nuisance.

“Not bad,” Yena said as the kiss was broken, lightly gasping for air as she cupped your face and stared intently into your eyes. You wanted more of her, more of her addicting taste, but she had other ideas as you let her take charge.

“I’ll show you something even better.”

Yena didn’t give you a moment to respond as she dismounted your lap and dropped to her knees, eyeing your crotch as her lips curled into a devilish smirk, ruffling a hand through her hair.

“Let’s see what Detective Kwon has been keeping to herself,” she said with a lustful look on her features as she worked your pants and unzipped them, running her small delicate hands all over your clothed cock as it hardened at her touch.

“Looks like someone’s ready,” Yena giggled, biting her lip as she gave your crotch a firm squeeze and traced the outline of your bulge with her fingers. Giving your thighs a few strokes she spread your legs wide and pulled your cock out of your boxers, wrapping her fingers around it and gave a few pumps to bring you to full hardness.

“This must be one of the reasons Eunbi likes you so much,” she said as she admired your hard shaft, the feel of her warm hand on your cock sending heavenly pleasure up your body.

Yena kept the friction slow and pleasurable, lazily stroking your shaft as she pulled your boxers down to grant full access to your cock. Licking her lips she gave a long swipe of her wet tongue from base to tip. swirling around your swollen cockhead and flicking against your leaking slit as you moaned.

She explored your throbbing shaft with her wet tongue, gathering up precum on it as she needed more and wanted to move on to the main event. Yena had deep desire and lust in her seductive eyes and hunger that could only be satiated by one thing.

Yena licked everywhere she could, tasting every inch of your cock and needing you inside her hungry mouth without delay. She ran her tongue over her lips a second time and planted a tender kiss on the tip of your cock. Making sure her hair was out of her eyes, her lips parted with your shaft and took you into her wet warm mouth, causing a deep moan to escape your mouth almost involuntarily, sending electricity throughout your spine.

You felt intense pleasure as Yena’s soft plump lips wrapped around your cock, a feeling like nothing else that set your senses on fire as she slowly sucked on your swollen tip, her tongue playfully licking the underside of your shaft.

“Yena...fuck,” you moaned, tilting your head and relaxing back into the couch. Yena’s lips felt so warm and soft, the wetness of her mouth overwhelming you as she sucked you off, tending to your pleasure at her pace and keeping constant eye contact that aroused you even more.

“Do you like that?” Yena asked, spitting on your cock repeatedly and stroking it furiously, wanting your shaft nice and wet for her as her tongue wandered around and coated every surface in warm plentiful saliva.

“I do, it feels amazing,” you said, the intense pleasure causing your breath to hitch. The pleasure was intoxicating as Yena returned to working your shaft, using her delicious plump lips and tongue in tandem as she bobbed her head up and down and watched the satisfaction in your eyes that she was giving.

You let out a loud deep breath as Yena continued her oral assault, sliding her luscious lips up and down your cock with ease as she let out messy slurping noises as she enjoyed what she was doing to you. In no time at all she upped her pace, no longer content as her movements grew wild, sucking your cock sloppily in a way that matched only the way Eunbi performed oral on you.

Yena knew what she was doing as she fondled your balls with one hand, caressing your thigh with the other to bring as much pleasure as she could and amplified the intensity, leaving a trail of drool as your shaft glistened in the light.

“God, that feels so fucking good,” you moaned, running a hand through golden strands of hair before grabbing the back of her head, guiding the movements of her amazing blowjob and trying to find any outlet for the harsh spikes of pleasure taking over.

You could barely remember where you were, much less that you were in Eunbi’s office and one of her team members was pleasuring your cock.

Yena’s lips went deep, hitting the end of your shaft as she slobbered on your cock, covering every inch in her warm saliva. The endless pleasure was becoming too much as you watched the gorgeous blonde swallowing down your cock with ease.

“Fuck...if you keep doing that you’re gonna make me cum.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Yena said seductively as she rubbed your shaft all over her puckered lips.

“Cum in my mouth.”

You weren’t going to say no to that.

Yena wanted to show you what she could really do as she held onto your thighs and bobbed her head hastily, becoming a blur of blonde hair as she eagerly anticipated your release.

The point of no return rapidly approached. You couldn’t help moaning loudly at how Yena’s mouth felt, so warm, and wet, her lips so incredibly soft that it was impossible to last any longer. The look in her eyes pleaded for your climax and you weren’t going to disappoint her.

“Yena, I’m gonna fucking cum, oh f-fuck-”

Your climax struck like a lightning bolt as you felt it from your head to your curling toes. With both hands on the back of her head, you pushed Yena’s pretty face all the way down to your base, your shaft throbbing wildly as you unloaded several spurts of hot cum into her warm mouth and down her tight throat, grunting loudly with each shot.

Nothing existed at that moment as you groaned and groaned as your sharp orgasm took over your body, continuing to empty your balls into her mouth. You were both so focused on your pleasure, the way your cock was being drained dry that neither of you noticed the sound of the doorknob being turned as the door swung open.

“Could have sworn I locked this door before I left...”

Detective Kwon.

You both froze in panic at the situation, releasing the tight grip on Yena’s head as you had been caught quite literally with your pants down. Your depleted shaft plopped out of Yena’s warm mouth as she had gathered your thick and plentiful load into her mouth and you were both forced to turn your attention to Eunbi as you both gasped for air.

“Well, well, well. This isn’t what I was expecting to see during my lunch break,” Eunbi said, shutting the door behind her and standing with her hands on her hips.

“Dwrtrecrtrv-” Yena tried speaking with her mouth full of thick hot semen gathered on her tongue.

“Seems like your mouth is a little full at the moment. I hope you were planning on swallowing that.”

Yena immediately obeyed as if it were a direct order, tilting her head back as she took two big gulps and sent your load down into her stomach, licking her lips clean. She opened her mouth, letting you and not Eunbi see that nothing was left, all gone.

"Delicious."

“Damn right it is, good job. Now, care to explain why you’re on your knees sucking my new hire’s cock in the middle of my office? Not that I blame you, but how did you even get in here?”

“I had those reports you requested from this morning’s meeting, and I made sure not to forget to drop them off. There was a janitor nearby so I asked him to let me in.”

“Spoken like a true security expert. That explains the first part, but not why I found you with a mouth full of cock.”

“Well, we were having coffee together, and he’s cute. Do I need a better reason?”

Eunbi sighed. “Try and keep it in your pants, both of you. Now get dressed and get out.”

Yena headed out first as you got dressed quickly, not wanting to make things even more awkward. She gave a polite bow to Detective Kwon while hastily making her exit. You headed towards the door to make your own exit when Eunbi placed a hand on your shoulder, leaning into your ear to whisper something.

“If you’re going to fuck her later, make sure you don’t pull out. I bet she’s tight.”

Just the thought Eunbi put into your mind sent blood to your loins again. You gathered your senses and smiled at Eunbi.

“I’ll go look over those files now. See you later, detective.”

                                                       ✦✦

It was hard to concentrate on the rest of the day to say the least. You went in and out of Detective Kwon’s office, giving your input and knowledge throughout the day and thankfully not once did she mention the incident from earlier in the morning, focusing on giving what limited details she decided to give from her crime scene investigation from earlier.

Long into the afternoon you roamed the halls, heading back towards your office to go over more files Detective Kwon had assigned.

“Come with me.”

You barely heard the three words until you were dragged into a nearby supply closet. Not even bothering to switch the light on, you felt your back being pushed against shelves, small hands pressed against both sides of your face. You felt warmth against your mouth, lips that were unforgettable and unmistakable soft lips of the security analyst, Yena. You could barely see the outline of her pretty face, the darkness of the room dimly showing her blonde hair.

“I think we should find another office.”

“I’d rather we didn’t get caught again.”

“Well then, my place or yours?”

She didn’t give you a moment to respond as she pulled you into another kiss, time more aggressively, adding more tongue and biting on your lower lip. You felt powerless to resist, not that you wanted to.

“My place,” Yena said, deciding for you. “I want you somewhere Eunbi hasn’t been.”

“You really are jealous, aren’t you?”

Yena huffed. “I told you, I’m not,” she responded, giving your crotch a firm squeeze through your pants.

"It's not like she has the most amazing figure, perfect huge tits, and thighs that could crush a watermelon. Not to mention how beautiful she is, but no, I'm not jealous."

"Not even a little?"

“No, shut up, let’s get out of here.”

                                                       ✦✦

Out of the few women you had slept with from Eunbi’s team, including the detective herself, they all gave you a chance to explore their place, even so much as offering a drink before the magic happened.

Not Yena.

There wasn’t any offering of so much as a glass of water, barely did you even have a chance to kick off your shoes as you entered Yena’s apartment before being whisked away dragged straight into the bedroom.

This Yena was different from the security analyst back at the precinct, the cute girl who loved to make jokes and covered her mouth every time she laughed. This version of Yena was a little less shy, a lot more confident, and certainly a lot more aggressive.

That’s not to say you didn’t love this new side of Yena. Every move she made caught you unprepared, and before you knew it you were flat your back was flat on her black silk sheets, as you engaged in another hot and heavy makeout session.

“I want you, Yena,” you said as you tenderly kissed her sensitive neck, wrapping your arms around her slim waist again as your hands roamed all over each other’s body desperately as you found her irresistible.

“And I want you to fuck me,” she said, quick to divest your shirt off your body as she admired your bare chest.

This Yena knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask for it.

“Fuck me like you’ve fucked Eunbi,” Yena said. She had the same lustful stare from earlier, this time more intense and hungry.

“Eunbi is usually the one in control,” you said, matching her gaze and trying to keep up her intensity.

“Then I guess it’s your turn. Must be your lucky day.”

“Considering I got a blowjob from the hottest blonde before noon today, I’d agree with you,” you said, briefly letting Yena react before you grabbed her body and pulled her onto the bed, switching places with her. She smirked.

“Fuck me,” Yena repeated, the look in her eyes growing with intensity even more. It wouldn’t be that hard for you to give in to her demands as you dove into her neck again, sucking away at the tender skin until you were stopped.

“D-don’t leave a mark, Eunbi will kill us.”

“Then let her kill us.“

Yena took a second to think. “I’d rather have your lips somewhere else.“

Without hesitation, she grabbed the hem of her black top, lifting it up and over her head and tossing it away in the distance. Your eyes feasted on her full round breasts covered in a lacy black bra that demanded to be free.

Yena always dressed rather conservatively at work, wearing buttoned-up shirts or blouses that covered up her chest without any real hint as to what she was working with. It was a nice surprise to see how busty she was.  

“What do you think? They’re nowhere near as big as Eunbi’s,” she said, somehow disappointed even after showing off such a delicious set of supple tits.

“I think they’re perfect.”

You didn’t waste any time, allowing your hands to take over as they caressed over any exposed skin you could find as you felt her tight, toned midriff, kissing her collarbone on both sides and falling into a trance at the sight of her nearly exposed breasts.

Yena had as little patience as you did, reaching behind her back with one hand as she unhooked the clasp of her bra, hastily wanting to be rid of the piece of fabric. She watched your reaction as she removed the straps off her shoulders, stripping off the garment and disposing of it to leave her full breasts exposed for your eyes only.

You grew breathless at the sight of her exposed juicy tits, mouth salivating at the sight of perfectly pale and round mounds of flesh that nothing else no longer mattered to you.

Yena lifted her arms over her head, giving you the perfect view of her now topless body and exposed pale skin as her breasts bounced. You couldn’t resist any longer as you cupped her sizable tits, squeezing the soft flesh that fit perfectly into your hands that earned the cutest of moans from her as you kneaded them gently.

“Taste them. Taste me,” Yena said, her voice full of need as you kept your hands full, never wanting to stop playing with her large tits that felt so pillowy soft to the touch.

“Do you like my tits?” she asked, clearly already knowing the answer. You couldn’t get enough of them, both your hands and eyes were drawn to them like a moth to a flame, massaging the warm flesh as you ran a thumb over both nipples, causing them to harden against your touch and eliciting cute gasps.

“I fucking love them,” you said, immediately diving in and latching your lips around one of her stiff nipples, sucking gently on it as your other hand fondled the one not in your mouth. Yena whined cutely, her body jerking at the pleasure as your lips and tongue stayed attached to her stiffened nipple that you never wanted to leave.

Yena’s beautiful eyes closed shut for a moment as you switched breasts, your lips attacking each and every part of her voluptuous chest as you slurped on her nipples until they were drenched in saliva and swollen, suckling with purpose and desire.

She was falling apart by the second as you messily sucked her tits, and you felt the need to give her even more. You wanted her to melt into a puddle as you gradually traveled a hand down her pants, into her underwear and slipped a finger into her tight pussy.

Yena gasped and her hips bucked as your finger explored her hole, your digit being coated liberally with the slick juices that had formed. She squirmed and writhed underneath you wildly as you fucked her hole slowly, earning several muted moans as you couldn’t help but continue kissing her as she moaned into your mouth

“You’re so wet, Yena,” you said, slowly pumping into her cunt back and forth, feeling the tightness of her walls gripping your finger harshly, the wet womanly juices abundant on your fingers as you played with her wet folds two knuckles deep.

“I’m wet because of you.”

Those words brought a smile to your lips, finding motivation to move deeper as the only sounds escaping from Yena’s lips was a series of gasps and moans as you brought a second finger inside, pumping into her as deep to the very hilt as wanton desire flooded her body.  

“F-fuck, I need you inside me. Not just your fingers, I need you to fuck me. Now.”

You couldn’t quite tell if she was begging or demanding, either way you weren’t going to let her request go unanswered. You gave a few more pumps before withdrawing your wet messy fingers out of her hole before making a show of licking them clean.

“You’re delicious, Yena.”

She gave a shy smile in response, and you were quick to work the zipper of her pants, forcibly yanking down both her pants alongside her underwear. Yena was left completely naked and all her beautiful curves on display for you and nothing could make you take your eyes off her.

Yena’s nude body was impeccable, a beautiful work of art from head to toe - perfect breasts, tight tummy, plentiful thighs, and the prettiest pussy, clean-shaven and dripping wet, delicious pink flesh ready to be devoured.

Yena instinctively spread her legs for you, and while you were nothing but eager to give her a taste you frowned as you felt your face being pushed away and denied of such a succulent treat.

“I can’t wait any longer, just fuck me.”

While you lamented the loss of having her thighs around your head, you couldn’t argue with her as you quickly stripped to match her state of undress, sending clothes flying off of your body in a blur.

You were equally eager to get started as you knelt and positioned yourself between Yena’s spread legs, admiring her pink flesh dripping with arousal as you took your cock and lined it up with her entrance. It took everything in your power to not immediately shove your needy cock deep inside Yena, wanting to savor the experience of initial penetration.

Her pretty pink pussy was more than ready for your cock as you rubbed your shaft between her slippery lips, feeling the heat from between her pussy inviting you in. Yena couldn’t take much more of your teasing, unable to control herself as she snatched your shaft out of your hand and slipped the tip of your cock inside her dripping heat, parting her warm flesh as you entered her pussy for the first time.

“Oh f-fuck…” she moaned as she let go of the tight grip she had on of your cock, letting you do the rest as you pushed in deeper to allow your tip to disappear inside her wanton body.

“A little impatient aren’t we?” you teased, gingerly moving your swollen cockhead in and out of Yena’s tight pussy as the intense warmth and wetness surrounded your rigid shaft.

“Y-yes. Don’t make me beg.”

“But that sounds like so much fun,” you said as a wry smile washed over your face.

“Just shut up and fuck me,” Yena bluntly said, as if she had flipped a switch from begging to demanding. When a woman asked you to fuck her, you wouldn't dare disappoint.

You moved slowly inside Yena with a gentle but steady pace, using your hips as you gave smooth, gentle strokes, watching the slick pink lips of her tight pussy being stretched out with the first few inches of your shaft.

“More. I can take it, give me all of you,” Yena said as she let out a series of whiny moans, tossing blonde hair back and placing her hands flat on the mattress.

Yena looked up with an insatiable desire as she bit her lip, and you followed her instructions as inch by inch you slid in deeper into her cunt, keeping your eyes focused on her, only finding deep pleasure in her eyes.

Keeping the movements smooth as possible you worked every inch inside, letting her tight pussy swallow up your shaft until you had bottomed her out, sharing gasps and moans of being completely inside her.

“That’s it, just like that. Fuck, you’re so big,” Yena blurted out as she gritted her teeth, letting herself adjust to your length and gasping at the hard flesh buried inside her cunt.

“So fucking tight,” you said, unable to think straight at the sensations of you being buried to hilt inside the incredibly sexy blonde you were lucky enough to now be inside. Yena’s eyes signaled for you to keep going and you did so without hesitation, sliding every inch that had been covered in her wet juices again and again.

Yena grew relaxed as the time went on, every thrust as pleasurable as could be as you fucked, finding the perfect rhythm. You impaling her with every inch with deep strokes and you felt overwhelmed by the tight grip of her drenched wet lips.

“Does that feel good?” you asked, watching Yena carefully. It took her a moment to process your words, pleasure running its course throughout her body.

“It feels amazing. Fuck me harder.”

You were happy to fulfill her request, having your fill of build-up. Grabbing onto Yena’s slender waist, you used more power in your hips as you granted harder thrusts, driving yourself deep with every movement and upping your pace gradually.

It was a wonderful sight to see. Yena’s gorgeous naked body was rocked by your deep thrusts, causing her beautiful breasts to bounce deliciously with every pop of your hips as her pretty mouth stayed open, releasing a mass of satisfied moans. She grew progressively wetter the longer you fucked her, every inch of your hard shaft covered in her essence as kept yourself buried balls deep at the end of every thrust.

“Come on, I said to fuck me harder,” Yena said with a fire in her eyes, unsatisfied

with your current pace. You had been holding back, not wanting to hurt her and also savoring the feeling of every entrance and exit into her wet cunt.

The chains had been unshackled and you were going to give in to both of your desires, fueled by the lust and hunger in her eyes. Without the need for build-up you immediately intensified your thrusts, slamming your hips against her tight body and fucking Yena with deep strokes into her body that gave spikes of pleasure.

Your rhythm grew harsher as you pistoned into her pussy, the bed creaking and rocking against the bedroom wall. In no time at all the room filled with the lustful sounds of pleasure and smacking of hot flesh against hot flesh as your naked bodies became misted with sweat. You leaned forward and captured Yena’s full bouncing breasts with your fingertips, squeezing the soft flesh as her pretty moans grew louder and whinier.

“There you go. Pound that tight little pussy,”

With your hands full of Yena’s plentiful tits you let out your own series of lustful noises, growls and grunts that sounded more animalist by second as you kept slamming your cock into Yena, finding the perfect angle as the walls of her dripping warm hole became more of a tight fit by the second.

“Fuck, that’s so good, don’t fucking stop!”

You kept the intensity up as sweat dripped down your forehead, exerting all the energy and power you had in your hips. You didn’t care if the bed underneath you was going to give out and collapse, all that mattered was the sharp pleasure you were feeding the both of you.

“Oh my god, I’m going to cum!” Yena desperately cried out, the pulsating walls of her heat confirming her words as they squeezed your cock and released repeatedly as you continued pushing her over the edge.

Running your hands all her bare skin you felt all you could of Yena’s pale bare skin, gliding your palms over her soft flushed skin. Yena reached for your hands as you interlocked your fingers with her, feeling her small hands squeezing yours as you repeatedly drove yourself inside her and helped Yena chase her impending climax.

“I’m cumming!”

You didn’t dare stop moving your rapidly pistoning shaft as Yena came hard all over your cock, her breathing audibly speeding up as her toes curled, and her hips bucked with a mind of their own. Her orgasm was so loud and so violent as the entire bed frame shook, her slim fingers squeezing the life out of your own and pounded her straight through every second of her orgasm.

It took several moments for Yena to recover from her orgasm, coming back to life as her breath slowly came back to its usual state. With your hands still linked when Yena you gradually slowed down your hips until you were barely moving inside her, leaning as far as you could and lifted her arms over her head.

“You’re really good at this,” Yena said, every syllable gasping for air as she softly kissed your lips as she looked into with glazed over eyes.

“Good at what?”

“At making me cum. I can still feel it,” Yena said weakly, a shy smile overtaking her features. She leaned into to give you one more kiss as her eyes continued to stay half-lidded as she recovered from her euphoric bliss.

“It’s your turn now. You must be close, right?” Yena asked, catching her breath, her delicious chest heaving hypnotically.

“I’ve got a little left,” you said, looking into Yena’s eyes once more as she gave off a proud smile.

“Keep fucking me then. Take me however you want.”

You didn’t exchange any more words as you slowly withdrew your cock from inside Yena, your cock stained with her messy juices that glistened in her bedroom lights. You immediately knew how you wanted her as you grabbed her hips and turned her body over, letting you see her cute backside for the first time.

Yena quickly received your message and got into position on hands and knees, raising her tight ass and shaking it as she brought a hand between her creamy thighs and played with her splayed pink lips, looking back erotically.

“Shove that nice cock back inside me.”

There was no time to waste in a moment like this, but you allowed yourself just a second to admire Yena’s bent over body in the best position, face down into the mattress and her delicious ass raised up in preparation for what was next.

Yena wasn’t left empty for very long as you returned your cock back inside her, finding it impossible to tease her as you slid back inside with one smooth stroke. She was even wetter after her orgasm, and in this position she felt much tighter, the snugness of her walls almost too much to bear as you picked up speed and fucked her from behind.

“Oh fuuuck…”

Just like before you didn’t bother with any build-up, immediately re-establishing your pace and ramming your cock slick with her juices at a swift pace, earning sinful gasps and moans from the moaning blonde.

The view in front of you was perfect. Yena’s bent over body, the perfect arch of her back, pristine pale skin from head complete with beautiful pink lips that your cock was spearing repeatedly, it was all surreal to experience.

The air felt light as you felt the tightness of warm flesh wrapped around your shaft, you wondered how you lucked into sleeping with a fourth different member of Eunbi’s team, each woman a unique sexual experience in their own individual way.

Yena’s wide hips were the perfect resting spot for your hands as you thrusted harshly into her, giving deep firm strokes that hit her most pleasurable spot as you found her favorite angle. Her cheeks jiggled with every rock of your hips as you smacked up against her tight body, constant wetness and warmth suffocating your shaft.

“Just like that, you’re so fucking deep, oh god…”

It wasn’t enough just to take her in this position, you desperately needed more. With one hand on her hip, you grabbed the front of her shoulder with the other and pulled her back until her body was upright with yours, her sweaty back pressed up against your chest. The newly found position added for even deeper penetration and a heightened sense of intimacy, with the additive incentive of Yena able to moan closer to your ears.

“I’m starting to think you like my pussy,” Yena said.

“I love it. Your pussy feels so fucking good, I want to be inside you all night.”

“Do you like it more than Eunbi?” Yena said. “You don’t have to answer.”

You were thankful she didn’t need an answer for such an impossible question, one that you would be able to answer in a million years. Your thoughts resumed back to the dripping hot flesh wrapped around your cock that you were pounding into, desperate to take as much pleasure from her body as possible.

“That’s it, just like that! Fuck me as hard as you can!”

Yena’s lustful words and sensual moans were music to your ears. Part of you worried that you were being too rough, but when the screams and moans that were a constant stream from Yena’s lips you knew otherwise.

You did everything you could to keep Yena in this position, holding onto her body with one hand to ensure her body stayed upright. Your other hand had reached around to her plentiful chest, grabbing the breast closest to you as best as you could and squeezing the soft mound harshly all while you were ramming into her tight cunt at full speed.

“Oh f-uck! Fuck me just like this, fuck me until you cum in me!”

You hadn’t heard a better set of encouraging words all week. The room grew hotter by the second, each thrust into Yena’s warmth sending shockwaves of pleasure. Your hips worked overtime, smacking harshly against her sweaty body as the beautiful echo of flesh slapping echoed in the room.

It was your turn to be greedy as you gave everything you had, desperately craving your release the same way Yena had taken hers already. Your bodies intertwined as you ravaged Yena’s tight body, using all your leftover energy to give in to your animalistic desires.

“I”m so fucking close,” you growled, keeping up the merciless pace, each thrust being buried to the hilt inside Yena’s tight pussy, aching for your release. The loud smack against her ass, the wetness of her tight pussy, it was all far too much to handle.

“I want you to cum, I need you to cum inside me, please. Cum inside me like you have inside Eunbi, please, please cum inside my tight little pussy,” Yena begged, once again her switch being turned on as she turned in a cute whimpering mess.

There wasn’t a chance of doing anything else.

You didn’t want it all to end. The creak of Yena’s bed that you swore was liable to break at any second, the deep guttural moans that escaped her lips, and the wet squelch of her dripping tight cunt as you endlessly pounded into her, a sound that intoxicated you as it entered your ears, you wanted it all to last for eternity.

Just a few more thrusts was all you had left, at the peak of your final one you slammed hard and buried yourself deep into her dripping cunt and exploded, throbbing violently and filling her walls with thick hot cum. Yena tilted her head to meet yours and interrupted your moans with her warm lips as you filled her tight cavern to the brim with hot cum, muffled moans desperate to escape each other’s tired mouths as you emptied every drop into her hot tight body.

The look of satisfaction in Yena’s eyes was unforgettable as her pussy milked you dry, aching for more as you shared one final kiss, struggling to remember where you were. You crashed together on top of the tortured mattress, sweaty bodies stacked together as you rested inside her warmth, spent and depleted of stamina as you kissed the shoulders, neck, and upper back of the woman who you just had the most exhausting and satisfying sex with.

“That...was...amazing…” Yena said, syllables difficult to form as much as the depleted air in her lungs. Once you came back to your senses, you gradually withdrew your cock from her freshly fucked pussy, watching as your thick milky load stained her pink splayed lips and thighs, introducing itself to her expensive bed sheets.

When it was all said and done you found yourself underneath Yena’s tired and sweaty body, trying to fix the messy strands of her disheveled hair as the idea of moving a muscle felt impossible.

“You okay?” you asked, hoping you weren’t too rough on the young girl, finding stringing a sentence together in your post orgasm haze a foreign concept.

“I’ve never been better.”

                                                       ✦✦

Detective Kwon twirled her pen repeatedly as she looked over the multi-page report on her desk from security analyst Choi Yena. Several things had happened over the course of the past six hours that Eunbi involuntarily skipped lunch, only able to fit in a few granola bars and a bottle of water. While some of the terminology stated wasn’t familiar to her, she got the gist of and signed off on the necessary security upgrades, routine password changes, and additional security staff employed around the more vulnerable areas of the precinct.

Eunbi grew endlessly frustrated at the situation, finding the case at an impasse. She had investigated dozens of suspects and witnesses over the course of several weeks, all that energy put into a failed raid was causing her to lose faith in her job as head detective.

Taking a deep sigh Eunbi rested her head on her desk, trying to momentarily forget about the troubles of her job. Not even getting a few seconds of respite her phone rang, the vibration nearly causing it to fall off her no longer organized desk. She hesitated at first to answer, not only since it wasn’t usual for her to get calls after hours but also from a private number, ultimately choosing to answer at the last second.

“Detective Kwon speaking.”

“Detective...this phone call has been a long time coming.”

“Who is this? How did you get this number?”

“That’s not important. It seems your entire case has fallen apart at the seams hasn’t it? That’s rather unfortunate.”

“Listen here, whoever the hell you are I will find you and l-”

“Relax, detective. I’m not here to cause any more trouble than you already have. I’d like to offer you a deal.”

“I’m sorry but I’m not interested-”

“You’re trying to catch Patriarch Goda, isn't that correct, Detective? It seems like you’ve run low on luck lately.”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss any information pertaining to any of our ongoing cases. It’s all strictly confidential.”

“That’s too bad, then. I guess you won’t be interested in any information I have on the patriarch’s whereabouts.”

“I’m listening.”

“I can tell you everything you need to know. His hideouts, his clan members, I can even give you detailed information on his weapon supply. All I need is one thing in return.”

“And what exactly would that be?”

“You have two of my men in custody. Takabe-san and Kasuga-san. They haven’t been formally charged with any crimes if my research is correct.”

“I’ve already told you I can’t discuss confidential information, especially over the phone.”

“Then let’s speak hypothetically. If there were any men arrested under those names, were they to be released I have information to use at your will regarding Patriarch Goda.”

“How do I know this information is accurate?”

“I’ll send one of Goda’s hideouts free of charge as a gesture of goodwill. When both of my men have been released I’ll give you everything you need about him, what you do with that information is up to you, detective.”

“Why would you give up this information in trade? Are these men that important to you?”

“Loyalty is important, and these men have been loyal to me since day one. I find the patriarch’s methods detestable and I’ve seen too much unnecessary bloodshed under his command. I wish to take over his clan and become the new patriarch.”

“That sounds very ambitious. I’m not exactly convinced about this.”

“What choice do you have, detective? You don’t exactly have many options at this point I gather?”

“Fine. Your men haven’t done anything to be charged with anyways.”

“Good choice, detective. I’ll give you twenty-four hours to release my men, bring them to the pier by the northern highway at midnight. Come alone.“

Eunbi didn’t have a chance to respond when the caller on the other end hung up, Whoever it was was right, she didn’t have many options at this point.

                                                        ✦✦

“This is clearly a setup, Detective Kwon. It all sounds too good to be true,” said Sakura, the worry in her eyes visible as the sun was bright.

“I’d have to agree, it sounds like the perfect opportunity for a trap.”

“I appreciate the concern, but I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself. If they try anything I can distract them with these,” Eunbi said, grabbing two handfuls of her large breasts as she flashed a cheeky smile.

“We’ll have a small backup team nearby as a precaution.”

“If you really think that’s necessary, but make sure you stay far away. I don’t want them to get spooked.”

“Of course, detective.”

“This is our second chance. Let’s not waste it.”

[jujyfru1t]

Fandom Snowflake Challenge #5:Talk About an Idea

(Crossposted from Dreamwidth)

sorry for sporadic @'ing... @snowflakechallenge

I couldn't just talk about one idea asffhgjhjhjh Oof. For starters there is A LOT of fanart I'd like to draw, but I have no drawing skills and keep forgetting to... figure out how to learn? idk, I've worked in words for so long my brain just short-circuits when even thinking about how to art. Perspective? Shading? How do i even get there, never mind past stick figures??? I have, however, kept a lil word doc of very detailed descriptions of fanart I'd like to draw, once I had that brilliant idea several years ago. :D (none of it's smutty yet hkhjkhjkhk let me do basic stuff first) In the same vein-- so many GMV/AMV ideas, so little time. but mainly, knowledge of where to get clips as, um, safely as possible. I have basic editing software that is just fine so that's good and this lil thingie called realdownloader, from realplayer, that i'm praying will still work now that I've invoked its name, to grab youtube game cinematics from. uh... wanna see my dumb AMVs? I have a Youtube.... (2 dumb Furubas that got slammed I have on my google drive~) okay okay okay but here's a few concrete ideas. I'd really like to do a shipweek for KyoxTohruxYuki, and by ship I mean platonic and romantic options bc I still think it's a sailboat. this one's mainly an energy problem, bc when I think of coming up with prompts and getting the word out on multiple platforms and maybe getting someone to do graphics i just wanna crawl under my desk afdfghgfhfghfhf and this and the next one are still waiting in the wings.... fun fact I'm an inveterate one-shot writer (though I did mange a multichap request fic whuuuuut). I want to write multichapters? I just... rarely get plotbunnies that are plotty enough, or I feel I can make plotty enough. would love to figure out how to get better at it-- anyway. 2 multichaps I want to write enentually but again, time and energy. Both Fruits Basket, both Yukyoru.

The first one is based off a manga called Kanako's Life As An Assassin-- unnecessary note here, but in looking for info to write this post I thought i only reblogged it to tumblr and could never find it again, then remembered I linked to the original post in my YTK plotbunny file BECAUSE i'M A FRICKING GENIUS, THANK GOD. ANYWAY!!! Yes, so, Tohru's a novice assassin ala this comic, Yuki's her bodyguard, and she starts to fall for Kyo, her latest target. ....that is literally all i have so far. gotta think up backstories and everything else, and not make Yukyo's past/secret connection handwavy, and they all end up together because DUH (oh flipping NO now i want a Red Notice AU!!! *screeches*) The other potential multichap I have as a magical girl AU. More Madoka than Sailor Moon but idk maybe both idfk. the main plotbunny i have is Tohru rescuing magical boys Yun and Kyon. also, a showdown with Akito wwho still gets redeemed. but. idk if the Yukyoru will be established or developing or anything else about the plot. yet, somehow, I have a playlist that's also a WIP-- beginning and end, and some disparate scenes. so... allll of this is stuff I want to Eventually Do. I think I can, i just... dunno when. or how complicated any of them might be. and oh shoot uh thanks for reading my blatherings! if you do!! I appreciate it very much!!!

[anika-ann]

Warm Up My Heart

(...So It Never Gets Cold Again)

Type: One-shot to a series (part 1 & part 2),  Avenger!reader AU.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader              Word count: 2500

Summary: Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy. Boy wants to propose soon… boy slips. You know the drill. In which Tony builds a training super-bot, Steve gets a boo-boo and the rest is history.

Warnings: mild injury and violence, swearing, cheesy af fluff

A/N: There weren’t al that many of you reading this series, but since it’s a rewrite/editing stuff for me (something I have time for), I’m bringing it back! I’ve been neglecting it long enough... 

Series masterlists (aka previous parts) linked above

────── ·❆· ──────  

“Captain America’s been brought to his knees. They found his weak spot and he went down all too easily for the world’s first superhero; literally crumbled on the ground, unable to get back up-“

Steve groaned, miserable and extremely annoyed at the same time, and you chuckled, which earned you a wounded look from the supersoldier.

You retreated from his right foot to muffle the sound escaping your mouth with you palm. You couldn’t help it; as much as you felt sorry for Steve, troubled by the fact he was in pain, you knew it wasn’t serious and Tony’s dramatic commentary was just too hilarious.

“Tony, just leave him be. And stop making me laugh,” you pleaded, suddenly back to seriousness. This was no fun; you did need to concentrate. “I might as well freeze his foot off if you keep distracting me.”

It was the truth; you had spent the past minutes trying to cool down Steve’s ankle, which had been sprained. All three of you were now in one of the training rooms of the compound, you and Steve sitting on a bench, while Tony hovered above you. Steve’s leg was resting over your knees, so you could reduce the swelling before it could fully develop.

The injury was totally Tony’s fault.

Being the generous friend and maniac he was, he had invented a special kind of a training super-bot – which had earned him both sharp glares and amused looks. It wasn’t half bad; it actually was a fair competition for Steve, which was saying something. It probably had something to do with the fact Tony had seen Steve in action more than a few times, learning his fighting style; programming his knowledge into the software of the bot meant one less advantage for Steve. Plus, Tony had used some special enforced material-

-which was exactly the problem. It was enforced; too much. And not enough.

When Steve kicked with his full strength, his foot had just… pretty much stuck in the robot’s torso. He had been lucky it hadn’t torn his flesh off and he had ended up only like this – with sprained ankle and few deep scratches which had already stopped bleeding. Incredibly lucky even considering that his instinct had been to get his foot out immediately, so he could go on with the fight; he hadn’t been exactly gentle and patient with freeing himself. Honestly, you were surprised his limbs were still attached.

Now he couldn’t even put his full weight on his injured leg. At least the robot had helped him hobble to the bench, because between your built and Tony’s willingness to talk being way bigger than his willingness to help with Steve’s weight (muscles were heavy), Steve would be still on the ground. Well, limping uselessly on one foot anyway.

“And get me an elastic bandage. Hush! Go make yourself useful!” you ordered, directing Tony towards the door, motioning with your hand in an ‘off you go’ gesture.

“Cap, your girl is bossy and has no respect for elders,” the billionaire complained, but turned on his heels and headed to get a first aid kit. The bot stood by the end of the bench dutifully, not moving an inch.

“I beg to differ, she treats me just fine,” Steve called out after Tony, winking at you as you brought your hands back.

You focused on tuning your powers to the right temperature, hovering only few inches from his skin. You sighed when the door clicked behind Tony and went back to work.

“You okay?” you whispered, glancing up just for a moment before returning your full attention to his injury.

“I’ve had plenty of worse.”

“That’s neither an answer or comforting, you know.”

“I’m much better now,” he admitted softly and you could hear the tender smile in his voice.

It warmed your heart and filled your chest with pride. You knew he meant it as a compliment; and he was not complimenting your powers, not the tool you had been given, but he was praising you for being so skilful with it.

You managed a tiny smile. “I’m glad.”

Your mind raced as you thought of how you could make it even better. You were no doctor; you barely knew the RICE rule, of which you only had two things covered by now; Elevation and Ice. The third was on its way (hopefully, but one never knew with Tony) and the fourth was… probably out of question, because make Steve Rogers rest was way beyond anyone’s ability. You closed your eyes, focusing on the things you actually could control.

Steve apparently understood your need to concentrate, or had nothing to say, because he didn’t utter a word. But the silence was comfortable, kind even.  You tried to convince yourself his eyes were roaming around the training room; in reality, you were ninety-nine percent sure he was watching you work and despite all the time spent together, all his efforts to chase your insecurities away and proving countless time that he trusted you… you felt a bit nervous.

Too small under his intense gaze, you could tell that hot blood rushed into your cheeks. It was ridiculous. And it probably made Steve’s lips curl up in a grin, because he had mentioned more than once that he found your embarrassment endearing and entirely adorable. He could always tell.

“Marry me,” he pleaded softly and the shock of those two words spoken threw you off so hard your concentration levelled to zero in an instant.

The temperature you had been treating his ankle with so carefully dropped low beyond the desired one as if you flipped a switch.

You felt the burst of energy from your hands more than you heard his pained hiss and you quickly snapped your eyes open, withdrawing your hands in one swift movement.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” you blurted out, staring at his foot with horror, masochistically examining the damage you had done – a frostbite no doubt, because of course you had done some serious damage-

-well… actually you hadn’t, because apparently your reflexes had improved greatly with time, but the skin had definitely less healthy colour than before and-

“Oh Steve, I am so, so sorry, I swear I didn’t meant to-“

“It’s… it’s okay,” he stuttered, sounding more embarrassed than hurting.

You were relieved; then again, when had Steve Rogers ever admitted he was in pain?

You couldn’t find yourself to look up to his face nevertheless, too horrified and scared. What have you done?

Also… what the hell had he just said? You had imagined it, right? He hadn’t… hadn’t…?

“It wasn’t your fault. That’s completely on me. You said Tony not to distract you and… I shouldn’t have— I shouldn’t have said that.“

You looked up at him, biting your lip, suddenly convinced that he actually had proposed. Just like that. You didn’t give yourself time to let it sink in or to… indulge the feeling. Because he just apologized for saying it. You would bet all your money that he did regret it now, for multiple reasons.

It kinda stung that he had confessed to it out loud, though.

Okay, fuck it, it hurt like hell, because even when you had never talked about it, it burned down your very soul that he… that he would ever regret asking.

He groaned, covering his red face with his palms.

“I---you’re… injured. Probably confused by the product of Tony’s brilliant ideas. It’s okay, let’s just… forget that, okay? We all say strange things when we’re in pain, things we regret-“

You hated that your voice trembled at the last word and Steve’s hands immediately went down, his blue eyes piercing right through yours. He seemed more horrified than you now.

“I’m sorry. That came out completely wrong. All of it. Oh god…. I do regret it, alright? I’m sorry, Snowflake. I really shouldn’t have said that. Not… not like this,” he added gently and your heart positively stopped as his gaze found you, a new twinkle in his irises.

No, there was nothing new in it. You had seen it before, occasionally. In moments that only belonged to you two, when you were alone or it felt like you were alone, the world around disappearing. When you would catch his gaze across the room while laughing with someone else. When you let your powers draw flowers on the windows of the compound, creating winter decorations that were not exactly allowed in the military space.

Admiration. Tenderness. Dedication. Love.

Your lips parted in surprise as he kept observing you, the emotions changing on your face, flashing with realization. Wait. That was… what? Your breath hitched.

Steve gave you a very nervous smile as he lifted his leg from your lap, setting it back on the ground.

“What are you-“ you snapped from your strange trance immediately, wanting to stop him from whatever he was about to do, because you weren’t finished and goddammit, he needed to keep his leg elevated-

-and not to lower himself from the bench on one knee.

Right in front of you.

As if he was proposing.

Like, really proposing.

You watched him with disbelief when he planted himself into the infamous position, injured ankle in an awkward position, and you would swear that he could hear your heartbeat echoing within the walls of the gym. You sure as hell did, your blood pounding in your ears and your head positively spinning.

You simply couldn’t believe your eyes. You were sure your pupils were wide enough to reduce your irises to nothing.

Steve swallowed loudly, looking up at your face from under his eyelashes, his eyes hopeful and wide as well. At this point, you couldn’t breathe, your ribcage way too small for your swelling heart.

This was happening.

Oh shit, this was happening. Steve was… Steve was-

“Snowflake,” he whispered, his voice heavy with emotions and something that you would swear was a hint of fear, “you are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. Whenever I’m with you, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and despite your powers, your presence-- you are warm like sunshine. I love you. I love you with my whole heart and… please, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”

You stared at him, his eyes shining with hope, his Adam’s apple bobbing as you weren’t able to utter a single word and left him waiting for your answer.

You felt like an idiot for leaving him in anticipation and with doubts--- because you loved him. God, you loved this man so much and couldn’t even speak despite being sure with what you wanted to say more than anything.

So you blinked away the solitude tears that gathered in your eyes, because you were a regular sap, and nodded. His face lighted up like Christmas tree – no matter how cliché it sounded, it was the first analogy that came to your mind and it was very true.

Hesitant smile appeared on his lips as he stared at you with same disbelief that must have shown on you own face. “Yeah?”

You chuckled, covering your mouth with your palm before you could let out some very embarrassing sound. You nodded furiously, again and again.

“Yeah,” you breathed out finally and Steve shamelessly grabbed you and pulled you down at him. He fell on his ass, so you both basically crushed into the bench, but you couldn’t help but laugh like a madwoman as he was trying to balance the both of you, you being nestled in his lap all of sudden.

He wrapped his arm around you, pulling you flush against his own body, immediately freeing your hair from the messy bun you wore – just so he could nuzzle his face in it. You could feel his smile against your cheek and then he placed a quick kiss there, then lower, then on your jaw, and then finally found your lips. He kissed you, letting you taste the delight on his tongue, his breath whispering of gratitude, pleading you to say it again.

“Yes,” you repeated simply and earned another kiss, this time longer, passionate and tender, breath-taking and making you feel like flying.

The butterflies in your stomach flipped their wings like crazy – kissing Steve was always an amazing feeling, but this time… you were kissing Steve, your fiancée. He just proposed, he wanted to marry you and you were about to marry him. Excitement tingled in your fingertips, restless and wonderful and your body melted into his, wishing to just merge into one.

You only realized his body was not exactly okay when he retreated an inch, allowing you both to catch your breath and your brain to reboot. Seeing his twinkling eyes, you swallowed the question about his well-being, simply not having the heart to ruin the unexpected, peculiar and pretty magical moment. He rested his forehead against yours, his eyelids falling shut.

“That... that is not how I was planning on doing this,” he whispered, sounding a bit embarrassed, and the corners of your lips twitched, rising even higher. You hadn’t realized you had automatically started smiling the moment your lips had been freed, but apparently you had.

“Are you saying there was a plan, oh my Star-Spangled Man?” you replied with voice as soft as his, teasing him lightly.

“Uhm… I mean… I was working on it, at least. It involved having the ring actually on me instead of having it lying in our room and all that.”

The ring. The ring that was in your room at the moment. He clearly wasn’t just throwing the words around. He… he actually had been planning a proposal. You heart fluttered at the confession.

“But then Steve Rogers’ impulsiveness got in a way and… here we are,” he revealed sheepishly and you didn’t think you could be more moved.

It wasn’t just him thinking about it – it was him losing it in a moment so ordinary like this as if he couldn’t wait anymore.

“Good. Wouldn’t want it any other way.”

His expression turned curious and a bit confused. “Good?”

“Yeah. It’s Steve Rogers I want to marry after all.”

The most gorgeous smile appeared on his lips and you couldn’t resist – you kissed him again. A silent promise of kissing him every day for the rest of your lives.

────── ·❆· ──────  

Tony Stark was standing behind the transparent door to the gym, facing away from the two of you, but peeking over his shoulder; an equivalent of subtlety. A grin that was not even a little silly played on his lips and he was not tearing up at all.

Who was he kidding, he was really glad he had added the AV system to his super- bot. Because the record of what definitely looked like a bit strange proposal was something he would miss greatly.

He smirked at the kit in his hand, opened the door for a slit, quietly slipped his hand in – completely unnoticed by the oblivious lovebirds – and left the supplies there.

When he closed the door again soundlessly and made his way out of the area, he couldn’t but mutter under his breath.

“About damn time, Rogers.  About damn time.”

────── ·❆· ──────

Next series (Five Times Steve Felt Betrayed and the One Time He Felt like He Was Betraying You)

S.R.masterlist

────── ·❆· ──────  

So, I had my thoughts on some more storyline (sort of) and got to the point where I felt sorry for not coming up with a concrete plan of how a proposal implied in the next story went. I couldn’t resist and had to come up with some, because reasons.

Apparently, I’m a sucker for pain the concept of proposal going way differently than planned...

Thank you for reading... I hope your week started off well!

[azy-arty]

Hello! I really want to be an animator but I'm not really good at it since I started to it just recently, and since you're an animation student I have a few questions I wanted to ask:

First is, how do you improve your skills as a growing animator? I know the answer is lots of practice, but what do you exactly practice? How many hours do I at least have to practice to actually improve at it? And What do you suggest practicing for beginners?

Second is, what do I have to include in my portfolio to be allowed in an animation school that is decent and can get me in good places?

And the last is, what do I need to know about animating to be actually allowed in anywhere? Some say programming skill, some say video editing skills and I'm not really sure what to do. :(

If you can answer, I'd be grateful. If you can't, that is also okay! Regardless, I hope you're having a nice day and hope you're being safe! Love you!

First of, I’m very sorry for taking so long to answer, I hope my answer will help you somehow ! More under the cut-

Based on my little experience, everyone is progressing at a different rhythm, no matter if they all have the same amount of hours, of work, etc. This applies to every job, tho, then I could only recommend you to find a rhythm that you like, which won’t make you overwork yourself and still will let you see your progress. Either way, you may end up loosing your interest in animation, which would be a shame after all your efforts, truly.

Practice is obviously the way, but you’ve got to practice well ! And as a self-taught animator, I can tell that it’s difficult to figure it out alone. I didn’t know what to do, neither how to do it, I wanted to learn and try, but without the knowledge, it was just the more frustrating. My advice for that : read, watch, listen to animation courses, in my case it was Richard Williams’ book and conferences called “The Animator’s Survival Kit”. This man was a very good teacher and once I could understand the basics, all I needed to do was trying. And then, comes the next step : Feedbacks.

If practice is important, getting feedbacks from your work is just as important, truly. For that, put your ego aside and listen to people’s reaction, opinion, criticism. Their feedbacks, not only from animators, but also from people outside of the field, they will help you improve your work a hundred times better. After seeing your animation so many times, you may not see this little thing or that one that could bother at the end, then the solution is to ask someone else to help.

In a production, an animator will always have to show their work in progress to their supervisor, to know if they’re going to the right direction, it’s extremely important to be able to share your work and put the “Huh, yes, I mean, it’s like this because.. Yes, I was planning to do a.. I’m not sure about..” aside and just show the work and listen to their opinion. Your work will be reviewed countless of times in the future, only to make it better, then truly, getting feedbacks is important. You’ll learn from them and only improve !

As for the portfolio part, I invite you to read THIS ANSWER I’ve written back then. Again, it’s only based on my little experience.

Regarding the skills to have on the side, well, I haven’t used programming a single time and that’s a good thing, i despice it ! Tho, right, editing is a nice skill to have, as you’ll have to compose your animation, add sounds and maybe some visual effects. It’s more about the softwares I’d say, like knowing Adobe After Effects. But it depends of the school, at least this is how it goes in France, i won’t talk about the rest of the World as I have no idea.

I hope all of this will be useful to you and I wish you to get into a good animation school !

[fuzziemutt]

Do You Understand?

Chapter 1/9 - Link to MasterList in reblog

Summary: Connor knows he isn’t the most.. knowledgeable... about emotions but that didn’t mean he didn’t understand them ever. If they weren’t going to take him seriously then he wasn’t even going to try interacting with them anymore. What could possibly go wrong?

Tw: I’m placing all possible tws here that could apply to the story. Possible ableism (this is not explicit but what Connor goes through can be similar to it), dissociation, very emotionally harmful coping mechanisms. Self worth problems. Trauma responses that go unnoticed. Please let me know if I need to add any more.

This started as a vent fic that extended outward into comfort, it gets worse before it gets better.

Notes: This is my first multi chaptered fic, I’ve never done this before. I did write the whole story in entirety prior and scheduled the other chapters to slowly release. The original vent was honestly quite different than what ended up being written, and I don’t know how it turned into this huge thing.

Also: There are no ships in this, this is all platonic. The only relationship status is that Hank is Connor’s dad even if they don’t quite acknowledge it.

Also also: This is Connor Pov. We mainly focusing on his thought processes throughout and they aren’t particularly healthy. (Connor also has ADHD)

---

Connor knew he had trouble expressing and understanding his emotions. It wasn't a secret. He'd often find people looking at him with confusion, and sometimes wariness, with his lack of response to many things. He was a prototype. Sure he had one of the most advanced social relations software to date, but Cyberlife cut corners with the amount of articulation his face could produce, his current model wasn't meant to live long and to be disposable after all.

It doesn't help that he also just didn't know how to express what he was feeling in the limited ways he could. He "lived" most of his trial runs and current time in severe denial out of fear of deactivation so he'd rather ignore them than process them. It wasn't healthy but it was safe. Familiar.

That didn't mean he couldn't feel. He felt lots of things like guilt, hatred, fear, the occasional spark of joy. Too many things sometimes, in fact, that led him to having a nasty habit of adamantly ignoring it all, manually storing it away for later to keep his composer and stay in fully functioning order. Sure this led to people often ignoring his own desires and doing things that severely hurt him with no mention from him. But he was fine. He chose this after all. 

However, even with all the quarantining and ignoring, he couldn't help the anger that bubbled under his skin and in his throat right now. 

"Hank, I understand that you're angry but-" 

"You think you understand? You don't understand a shit, Connor! How could you?! I get you're your own person and everything now, but I never see you express anything beyond mild displeasure!" Hank yelled back. Connor was glad they were at Hank's house at least to provide some sense of privacy but saying he felt unhappiness at being yelled at was an understatement. 

Connor went to open his mouth in defense but Hank cut him off, "Of course you don't understand! How could you ever understand any emotions! You keep acting like a-" he suddenly went quiet, but Connor knew. 

"Like a what, Lieutenant?" He asked, making sure to keep his LED a yellow slow turn, but he couldn't help how sharp his voice came out, how his eyes hardened to a fine point. 

They stared at each other for several tense seconds before Hank seemed to deflate a bit and looked ashamed. 

"Like a machine," he spat out, still tense and upset but his fury gone. 

Connor simply nodded, quarantining what he could to not lash out and stood up silently. 

"I will be taking Sumo out for a walk to allow for us to take a breather before we both do something we regret. I will return," he said, shoulders tense and voice strict. His movements felt stiff as he tried to hold himself back from continuing this fight, grabbing the leash and patting his side to call over the old dog. 

"You can't just run away-" Hank tried, stepping closer as if to grab Connor's arm to stop him. But Connor's ice cold glare, almost threatening posture and clenched fists seemed to stop him. They kept forgetting that Connor wasn't just meant for integration but also intimidation, he once was a deviant (killer) hunter after all, and he can be intimidating when he so pleased. Hank seemed to suddenly remember the rumors of Gavin getting his ass handed to him by Connor in under a minute flat by how he backed away uncertain.

Connor left and came back a bit over half an hour later. Hank would apologize and Connor would accept it, even if that anger still simmered deep inside, and they'd go back to joking and discussing work matters like nothing happened. Friends sometimes fight after all. It was fine.

Despite how much Connor hated those accusations of him being incapable of understanding, they. Kept. Happening. 

Not just with Hank but others as well. The people who he thought were his friends, the Jericrew, even Nines the RK900, kept pulling the same shit. Connor knew they all experienced deviancy differently than him, Nines also had the gift of a face with full articulation that he couldn't help but envy, but it irked him every time. 

"Let's switch topics for Connor..."

"Oh I should have talked about this with someone else..."

"It was rude of me to assume you understand-" 

"Oh.. Sorry I know you don't understand-"

"You know he doesn't understand-"

"He won't understand-"

"He can't understand-" 

Each time he heard that word, understand, Connor felt that broiling anger rise just a bit more. Each time they never even asked how he felt before the assumption, he felt his trust disintegrate bit by bit. He was a master of masking his emotions to get the emotional responses he wanted, but even he had a limit when anytime he saw his friends he felt nothing but hateful bitterness below his false pleasantries. He even stopped willfully hanging out with all of them, even Hank, as it grew harder to fight down the urge to scream and yell and make them understand. 

It all came to a head during a meeting with the Jericho leaders, Nines tagged along as well as he said how much he missed seeing him outside of work. They were discussing how to handle the androids that still had severely negative responses to humans after all this time since the revolution. He was in the middle of talking about a solution of creating areas in New Jericho that would absolutely not allow humans and could run independently when North rounded on him.

"I'm sorry," in a very much not sorry tone, "but how am I supposed to take your option any bit seriously when you don't understand any of these androids' struggles mister 'my best friend is a human'."

"North-" Markus warned. The others even tensed up staring at Connor.

"No seriously. He could never understand their struggles," North plowed forward with no hesitation. 

Connor felt something snap inside of him. He felt his LED burn bright red, his back straighten, fists clenched, and his features shift into that bitter anger that he tried his best to keep under wraps. He could see how everyone grew more than just tense but wary even; he even saw a flash of fear in North's eyes. 

They insisted he was nothing more than a machine who didn't understand. That he'll forever be Cyberlife's pet (killer) deviant hunter. So he'll show them the hunter that was conditioned, threatened, who thrived on his own anger and fear through every grueling training session. The side that he kept pushed down as much as he could. 

He couldn't help the bitter laugh that came out of him, "understand... You know what? I'm starting to think I fucking hate that word." 

He knew he was scaring them with how North backed away quickly and the others started coming forward as if to protect her from him. His anger worsened at that but a small part of him felt a bit of twisted satisfaction at how they're finally treating him seriously. He could even imagine Amanda whispering praises for being the threat they wanted from the back of his CPU. 

"Has it never occurred to you that I might have problems with humans as well?" His hands expressed where his face couldn't, trying to contain the energy thrumming in his body, "has it never occurred to you what I might have gone through hm? 

“Oh wait. You never asked. You only accused. Have you ever thought about how my serial number has a 54 at the end of it? Did it ever occur to you that I have to exist with the memory of 53 deactivations constantly and the fear that I might be the 54th for merely breathing wrong? Who do you think did that? Who do you think reminded me day in and out that I was nothing but an expendable machine made to kill, to never ask questions because it meant deactivation or my internals torn out while I was awake. Humans. Humans did that but no, just because I trusted Hank not to do the same, I don't understand?" 

He knew he was slowly growing erratic and unstable with how aggressively his hands moved and the way everyone backed away from him. The way he loomed over them with his presence didn't help their nerves he was sure. Or how he slowly stalked towards them as if a predator was cornering its prey. But he couldn't help it, the thrumming pulse in his core needed to come out and by hell was it coming out now. 

"Not only that, but I apparently don't understand emotions too! I may be a deviant but emotions? They're off the table!" He couldn't help the second bitter laugh, a tinge hysterical, "no no. None of you took the time to ask me how I was handling these emotions and instead just assumed I didn't feel them! Because I'm ‘just a machine’. This guilt, fear, and self hatred I feel every waking moment? Lies because I'm just a machine. Even this anger I'm expressing right now? These are lies too aren't they? The nightmares I get of my countless deactivations and the numerous deaths that stain my hands? All just my programs malfunctioning because I'm just. A. Machine." 

"We didn't... Connor we didn't know-" Nines started, his sadness and fear clear as day on his face like how they wanted Connor's to be. The others were solemnly nodding along too as if this would appease him. 

"Because you never. Asked. Because none of you ever truly fucking cared!" Connor roared in response, slamming a fist down on the metal table next to him. All their eyes snapped and starred at the large dent he knew he left behind but he didn't care. He let himself breathe heavily, taking a second to find himself and his self restraint again. 

And just like that, he locked up those pesky emotions like everyone expected him to. He knew the people before him didn't actually desire him to show any negative emotions just like them, they proved it just now with how they're looking at him. He took one final deep breath, fixed his tie and let his face slip back into its emotionless mask except the cold, closed off glare didn't leave. He even felt that that was going to be a permanent feature now after today and couldn't help the internal chuckle at the irony how he finally was showing the emotions they desperately wanted him to show.

No one said anything as he moved towards the door. There was still tension in the air, fear, anger and confusion swirled in various manners of their eyes. Nines seemed split on treating him like a threat and reaching out to him, maybe even to pity him. Markus also looked like he wanted to say something, but he just looked away in the end. North had fearful eyes but a look that seemed to say 'I was right we couldn't trust him'. Josh held Simon behind him, and he looked almost sad if his distrust didn't say otherwise. Simon refused to take his eyes off the clear fist shaped dent in the table, still as a statue. Connor vaguely wondered if they'd replace that table because of him just like how they so easily replaced him with Nines when given the chance.

No one made a move to stop him from leaving. He couldn't tell if it was out of fear of him showing those (killer) hunter colors again by snapping an arm or if they're realizing just how badly they fucked up. He couldn't tell which choice he wanted more either. He hoped it was the latter.

"You're all hypocrites. To me, you're all no better than them," was the last thing he hissed out before slamming the door closed behind him. He heard the way the frame and wall around the door shook and cracked from the force but again, he didn't care. He wasn't going to play nice anymore if this was how they felt like treating him. He was programmed to be amiable, calm but he was also programmed to be obedient and he knew how that went. A bit of anxiety existed of how much damage he did and how easily he almost lost control back there, but he just ignored it again as he rushed down the hall to leave. 

No one followed him.

[wouldduskwood]

Jake's POV Descendants of Despair Part 51

She sat back in her chair, untangling her hand briefly from mine as she used both hands to keep her hood up. “Fuck,” she cursed quietly. “The man without a face has more technical skill than I ever thought.” Rubbing her temples, she took a few steadying breaths. I watched all of this silently, wondering where her thought processes had led her. I should have been paying more attention to what was being said rather than trying to wind the overgrown ape up.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Dan questioned. She sat upright once more and took my hand back in her own. I readily accepted it and marveled how her very touch had become second nature to me. She had let me past her defenses, and she had torn through mine even easier. I needed her. Her action did not escape Dan’s attention. “Urgh,” he groaned, looking away. My hand briefly increased in pressure in hers then returned to a relaxed state as she continued to hold it. He could scoff all he liked. The only person that could ever end our relationship would be her, if she ever wanted out I'd give her that.

“The thing is, I may have misjudged just how capable that jackass is…” she groaned. “I knew he must have had some ability, but I think he was tracking all of our calls for a while. How else did he know that you were leaving the hospital and that Phil had called you?” she looked at me for clarification. As if I would ever let anyone that close to her. I had missed Alan and since then I had increased my protection over her tenfold. When she had willingly given me her phone to add extra protection and tracking, I had doubled down on the quality of my protection. I also performed regular checks on all of our software. “Can he track my phone without your knowledge?” she asked warily. “Doubtful,” I murmured. “The type of hacking to get into someone's calls would leave far more traces than a simple encryption to prevent me from seeing that they’d sent a message, like Alan had used. If Nym0s didn’t pick up on it, and I didn’t during my regular checks, then I doubt he has gotten through it.” She nodded thankfully, which seemed to infuriate Dan once again and made me immensely happy. I could practically see steam pouring from his ears.

“Wait, so you are just okay with him monitoring everything you do?” Dan snarled. To my satisfaction, she shrugged. I was suddenly thankful for my mask as I was grinning like a moron at her offhanded attitude towards Dan. “I have nothing to hide from him and I trust him. That’s more than I can say about literally anyone else.” Trust. Such a precious thing. She didn't know it, but I had given her the same control over my phone as I had over hers. I trusted her completely as well and didn't want to hide anything from her. Especially now, now that I wanted control of our future to be split down the middle. “What the fuck has he done to you?” Dan hissed, glaring wildly at her. “You seemed so in control of things before, now it’s like you don’t want to make a move without checking with him that it’s okay first. He’s controlling you.” This immediately had my back up. If it wasn't for her grabbing my hand as tightly as she could to prevent me from reacting, I'd have been over that table and laying into him. How dare he glare at her. How dare he cause her any discomfort. “You’re wrong,” she stated coldly. “I can look after myself. Jake’s presence in my life has made it worthwhile. Jake’s presence in my life has given me something to fight for, to live for. You want to know if I can take care of myself. Fuck Dan, I’ve taken care of myself for so long that I have no idea what it would be like to not do it. Jake makes things easier, but there is no way in hell that I have lost any of the edge that I had before. The fact that you can’t see that is making me wonder if it is even worthwhile pursuing this plan or if Jake and I should just disappear and work it out ourselves.” As she spoke, I fought to control my anger at Dan. I barely registered her words but what I did pick up on was her love, her need for me...and her ability to take care of herself. She was right, of course. I had no doubt that better men had tried and failed to get to her. 'Dan didn't stand a chance', I thought gleefully to myself.

As she finished her statement, she let my hand go and pushed her seat back, causing the metal legs to scrape against the concrete floor in an excruciating sound akin to nails scraping down a blackboard. this broke me out of my momentary rage paralysis. As she stood, I followed suit without question. I would show him who was in control. She led the way to the door with me trailing behind her. She had complete control in this situation. If she wanted to leave, then we would leave and find another way. Whatever she needed I would be more than happy to support her in.

“Wait,” Dan sighed. “Maybe I misjudged you.” she paused but didn’t turn back. I stood behind her , silently, waiting for her to make a move. To my surprise, she waited silently for Dan to continue speaking. This must have been incredibly hard since she hated silence when it was loaded with so much tension. She never failed to impress me. “Look, what were you planning to do?” Dan asked, his voice softening. She made her way back to the seat she had left, turned it around and sat on it backwards. I watched her warily, understanding her action was a way to give her ease of escape. I sat myself back beside her but kept myself free enough that I could move in an instant if I needed to as well.

“I want to go in and see Phil, but without Jake. He is still wanted by some powerful people. I need someone to come with me to help in case the man without a face is there. The thing is, Dan, it may not be safe. I can escape relatively easily, but you wouldn’t likely be able to follow. Your presence and the fact Jake will be hidden somewhere may be enough for the man without a face to not make a move, as he won’t know what we are up to...but I can’t promise you’ll be okay. I’d have preferred to have Thomas there as well to confuse things further but it doesn’t look like that will happen.”

“That pussy wouldn’t be able to cope with it,” Dan snickered. He wasn't any better than the pussy he claimed Thomas to be. There's no way he would be able to handle the type of shit we faced every day. “Look, he’s a good guy but not cut out for this type of game. So, you’d be under my care…” Dan grinned, looking at me as I was hunched in my seat, trying to avoid confrontation with the gigantic ass. These words pissed me off and I was about to react when she sprang from her chair and pushed Dan from his. Her elegance and speed were astounding. She had the chair out from under him before he had even realised what was happening, using his own body weight as the leverage she needed to move him. He was taken by surprise, but she allowed him to stand then took his knee out from under him with a quick kick. Stunning! “You may have the muscle,” she sneered. “But I can protect myself. If you pull that shit again, I won’t hesitate to lay you on your ass and leave you there.” I watched this in complete amazement. She was so fiercely loyal and protective of us. I knew her anger wasn't just at Dan's presumed weakness but at his dig that I wouldn't be there for her. I wanted to calm her, take away some of her pain. My arms wrapped around her waist trying to comfort her as her body shook with rage. As I held her, I felt smug.

“Okay, okay, I get it…” Dan muttered as he pulled himself back on the chair. “If I wasn’t still recovering from the car accident, I’d have had you.” He sneered defiantly. “When would that have happened? When I pushed you off your chair, or when I had you back on the floor within a second after you had stood once again?” she snarled. “Don’t push me, Dan. I can do this with or without you. I would appreciate your support, but Jake and I can figure out an alternative strategy without it if we have to.”

Dan sighed. “Yeah, okay I get it. You’ve got as much edge as you always had,” he admitted grudgingly. “Maybe you’re the one wearing the pants in the relationship,” he snickered, casting a glance in my direction as I held my arms around her waist like a prize. This time I wanted to step in. To let the jackass know exactly how I felt about her. “It took you that long to figure it out huh? She has had me completely since she first started questioning me, despite me trying to fight it.” This response shut Dan up and seemed to calm her down further.

“Okay, so have we gotten over this point scoring?” she snarled, this time I knew her anger was superficial and a manipulative ploy to get him to work for her. “Yeah, okay, don’t pick on the hackerman. I get it,” Dan replied. “Jake?” she questioned as I snuggled closer against her. “Yeah, don’t wind the beefcake up, I get it,” I replied with a touch of humour in my voice. I had won. “Truce?” she asked. “Truce,” both Dan and I replied, eyeing each other with an element of loathing and distrust as we did so. He had passed the first test, despite pissing me off. He seemed to really have MC's best intentions at heart. He was a complete misguided fool about everything else though. I'd have to watch him, but I knew MC would be too.

Part 52

[hoidn]

when i started making gifs what was subjectively twenty years ago but in reality only two, my overarching question was: how? how do i even begin? i searched through what felt like hundreds of tutorials that only explained bits and pieces of the process and eventually, between a combination of tumblr posts and youtube videos, i cobbled together a working method of How To Do It. that was Very Exciting, but it wasn’t particularly satisfying because i didn’t know why i was doing the things in the instructions i was following. a lot of it didn’t really make sense to me in the wider scheme and, most importantly, i didn’t know how to improve. it took me quite a long time and a lot of experimentation before i got to the point where i felt like i had a solid understanding of all the pieces. during that time i found what i think are easier and/or better ways of achieving particular results than i’d learned in the tutorials, which makes me wonder why anyone would want to teach people the most convoluted/difficult way of doing something in the first place, when simpler/easier methods are available.

that led me to thinking about making my own tutorial(s) - basically creating the guide i wanted but couldn’t find when i started, something that goes through the whole process and explains not just what to do but why you’re doing it (where applicable; some things are pretty self-evident). like any skill, it’s not hard to make gifs once you know how, but for me, at least, there was a very steep initial learning curve in a conceptual sense. i don’t think i can be unique in that respect and if there’s somebody who’s as adrift as i was out there, i’d like to help them to make the things they want to see in the world.

also, the truth is that most people who make/write tutorials are bad at it. this isn’t a judgement on graphics makers. people at every level of every area of knowledge i’ve ever come across are bad at documenting procedures. they assume knowledge that the audience may not have, they skip entire steps because they’re so used to doing something that they don’t really think about it anymore, and their instructions are often unclear or needlessly complex (sometimes because they don’t entirely understand why they’re doing what they’re doing, either). so apart from being quite unhelpful to someone who’s trying to learn, poorly written tutorials are very dissatisfying to me, a person who enjoys explaining things to other people and has been paid to do so in a variety of professional environments and is quite good at it. i want to make these things better and it pains me when i cannot do that.

so, would anyone actually be interested in any sort of tutorial i could make? 

bear in mind my technical specs are mac OSX-specific and photoshop, so not all of my learnings may be applicable. to the best of my knowledge, photoshop works the same way across any operating system; however, i don’t know how far its specific commands can be extrapolated for other graphics editing software. i’d certainly be willing to give it a try if you are, though.

there are a lot of people who can show you how to do very cool, very beautiful things to your gifs. alas, i’m not one of those people (i am envious of those people!), but i can certainly help you make your images look more aesthetically pleasing than they’d be if left to their own devices. i can take you through the whole process from video file to uploading your finished gif to tumblr, or i can talk about one particular aspect, e.g. basic techniques to make your gifs brighter. (i can also teach you tricks like how to combine multiple gifs into one image to fool tumblr into displaying more than 10.) (i think my record is 18 gifs in one set?)

really, i just know how overwhelmed and completely stupid i felt when i first started out. (heck, i still feel that way sometimes when i can’t figure out how to do what i want to do.) and maybe it actually isn’t that hard for anyone else; maybe it really is just me. but if it’s not, then i’d like to help make it less hard for someone else, if i can. because, like i said, i’m a weirdo who enjoys explaining things. so. yeah.

okay, i’m shutting up now.

[snesdudes]

28 dates with Unit Bravo

Day 1: CHOCOLATE

Pairing: Nate x f!Detective (Berenice Bailey)

Warnings: None, this is pure fluff. I don't think there's even any swear words (which for me is weird). Also Berry is a nerd and Nate loves it because he's a nerd too.

Words: ~1.7k

A/N: So!!! I've decided to join this. I should post a one shot with each of the prompts everyday this month for Mason x Alice or Nate x Berry. Let's see if I can keep up 😉

☾ 一一一一一一一一一 ☽

Not an inch of the coffee table was visible under the blanket of books spread over it, open in pages that needed revision before she had traveled to the next one. Her notebook was full of scribbles and notes in different colors, highlighted bits in a bright yellow if it was something really important, unfinished information in green, false legends in blue and so on…

And sitting on the floor, her petite body folded almost impossibly, with her head resting against a behavioral guide of some mythological creature, was his girlfriend.

Nate was observing her with a soft smile on his lips, the sight both heartwarming and slightly amusing. She was snoring softly and the pages in front of her lips trembled slightly with every breath she exhaled. Her nose wrinkled every once in a while in a way she also did when she was awake - a habit he found utterly adorable - and the corners of her mouth curled upwards… the dream was pleasant, at least.

But that posture can not be good for her back and knees, Nate mused to himself, a mug of chocolate on each of his hands as he stood a few feet away from the table.

He had been patrolling and the best gift he could receive when he went back to the warehouse was the news that Berenice was in the library researching on her own. He had to refrain himself from going running to her and instead thought of bringing her some of her favorite beverage - hot chocolate with marshmallows.

Only to find her sleeping deeply over his books.

He left the mugs on the floor for a moment before gently removing a raven strand of hair from her freckled face, placing it behind her ear tenderly.

If Berenice could see how he was looking at her - she could barely be able to believe someone could hold such warmth in only a gaze. He whispered her name in the silent library, as if it was a secret which had to stay among the books for no one else to discover.

But she jolted awake with a jump and an exclamation.

"Wolpertinger!" She yelped, bright blue and brown eyes blinking unfocused, a mark on her cheek where she had been resting it against a book. Nate stifled a laugh at her alarmed expression as her eyes fell on him, cheeks quickly warming.

"Oh? Is that my new pet name?"

She groaned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, proceeding then to stretch her arms as far as they could go up and behind her head, and Nate watched attentively every motion, dark eyes drinking in the sight of her slightly disheveled.

"Don't tell me I drooled over the books." She spoke, voice thick with sleep sending a delicious thrill through him, as she scanned the pages of the books she had used as a pillow. "Thank God." She muttered to herself, checking there was no harm done, and turned her face to Nate, more awake now. A wide smile instantly lit up her face at the handsome features she had come to adore. "Hi."

"Hello." Nate answered, and the pair of them let the moment linger for some seconds, eyes locked and smiles firmly planted in their lips. Their relationship was still so new, so exciting, and still so little moments had been shared, this felt like a blessing. Nate was the first to snap from the trance. "I brought you something."

She perked up, curiosity all over her features as he presented her the mug of hot chocolate. The rich smell of it instantly invaded her nostrils and she all but moaned, hands enveloping the warm ceramic.

"Thank you so much. You read my mind."

"Let's move to the couch, shall we?" Nate offered her a hand and she took it, the familiar spark lighting up her nerves at his touch making her smile widen.

They settled on the couch side to side, his arm falling over her back to surround her almost absentmindedly, bringing her closer. She sighed with satisfaction and stared at her drink.

"So many marshmallows. You're my knight in shining armor." She took the first sip as Nate grinned at her, happily watching the joy this simple gesture had brought to her features.

"Anytime, beautiful." He replied, squeezing her the slightest bit.

Berenice got comfortable, throwing her legs over his lap to turn her torso towards him more easily, the look on her eyes silently asking if it was okay, the pressure of his lips against her forehead a better answer she could have ever hope for.

"What were you researching? Are there wolpertingers in the Wayhaven forest now?" He asked with a hint of amusement on his smile. She snorted softly before taking a big gulp of chocolate.

"I was investigating how many myths repeat themselves in different countries and cultures and the differences between them." He could see in her face that innate thirst for knowledge she had, something he found incredibly attractive. "I want to create a database with all of them so we can go through it faster when we need it. A software with a collection of all the names and characteristics that had been assigned to the same creature over the years. Maybe also link them to the historic period they were first discovered? And a list of the myths that are not true? Hmm." She reached out for her notebook and a pen and started writing quickly her new ideas, leaving it on the table and looking back at Nate, who was staring at her with something akin awe in his face. She started talking faster. "I know you don't like technology, so it'll be really easy to navigate and completely encrypted so it can only be accessed from a computer in particular. I have one to spare at home and I thought, maybe, I could install it here? I would only need a corner, I know the library is your favorite place and I don't want to spoil it for you but… I'm rambling, aren't I?" She let out a breath sheepishly, hurrying herself to drink some of her chocolate, hands slightly shaky due to excitement and anxiety.

His big hands engulfed her smaller ones around her mug, the heat of it warming them both.

"You're brilliant, do you know that?" He asked softly, watching how her entire demeanor relaxed at his words. "I want to share everything I have with you. And that includes this place."

She took the last sip of the chocolate and left the mug on the floor, turning to him with a small frown. "I just don't want you to feel forced to it. I thought it would be nice to do the research together, maybe? I would do all the data dump in the software, but I need to recollect the data before I do that."

"Like a side project? Only the two of us?"

His earnest smile gained him a matching one from her. "Yeah! It will be a lot of work, but I could learn so much. And you, too, if you wanted I could teach you about the software as I create it!"

Technology was still incredibly frustrating for the vampire, but for her, he would sure as hell try. The excitement in her features so intoxicating he would have agreed to practically anything she had asked.

"I would love to."

"Really?" The question was slightly breathless.

"Really."

She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, knocking him backwards in surprise, his back against the couch and his girlfriend practically on his lap.

"I can come here after work every day, and on the weekends we can use the mornings and then have the afternoons free." She spoke, her breath hitting his neck and making his heartbeat quicken. She pulled back slightly until they were nose to nose.

"And what would we use the afternoons for, I wonder?" His voice had dropped an octave and she swallowed, eyes falling to his lips before going back to those gentle ones of him.

"I'm open to ideas." She retorted, licking her lips and making his focus snap to her mouth. He moved softly forwards, giving her time to stop him. When she leaned in as well, he lost no time in capturing her lips with his.

Berenice groaned almost instantly, one hand taking the nape of his neck, the other tracing his jawline with a featherlight touch. His fingers grasped her hips firmly, digging into her flesh hard enough to let her know how much he wanted her, not enough to hurt her.

"Nate…" she sighed against his mouth, and he traced her bottom lip with his tongue, a growl forming deep inside his chest at the sweetness of her lips.

"Gods, Berry…" he pulled her even closer, chests pressing against each other, breaths quickening. "You taste like chocolate."

She giggled against his lips, the sound more enticing than a siren's song. He couldn't help but smile, their lips still touching.

"I'm gonna request for more chocolate kisses if we're going to spend so much time together." She pecked his lips one more time before pulling back, licking her lips with her neck and ears flushed red.

"I'll give you everything you want, Berry." Their eyes met and she could see the honesty there.

"What a dangerous thing to say."

"And still so true."

She got up from the couch and stood between his spread legs, his hands coming to rest at the sides of her knees. He looked up at her, for a change, her 5 foot 2 towering over him for a moment. Her soft hands took his face, thumbs brushing his cheekbones before she leaned down, his hands unconsciously traveling upward to the back of her thighs.

"Then, Nate…" her breath hit his mouth, her lips brushed his so softly it could have been his imagination. He could only see the uneven colors of her eyes, drowning in them, his breathing hitching. "Help me put the books back."

And she was gone, only the smell of chocolate and her apricot shampoo surrounding him. He let out a huff and she giggled, it was nice to be the one doing the teasing for a change.

"What a mean girlfriend I have." He shot her a grin, getting up and helping her collect the books.

"Let's put these in their place and I'll show you how good I can be."

He watched her march towards the shelves with a raised eyebrow.

He had never moved so fast.