#like not even one of the houses it was clipped into a structure on the land that isnt accessible/doesnt have an inside

[scp2337]

best thing about Fallout 4 is that, thanks to that classic bethesda polish, the cows in game are big and beautiful and dumb just like real cows but also sometimes they accidentally teleport onto a roof and immediately accept that they just live there now

now THATS realistic gaming

[ghostofskywalker]

More Than The Persona

Tyler Owens/Fem!Reader

Words: 2,248

Summary: Tyler Owens is the poster child for storm chasing, his videos often leading to viewers glamourising these drastic weather events. As a first responder, you're no stranger to the death and destruction that tornadoes leave in their wake, so the two of you don't exactly click the first time you meet.

Note: i saw twisters yesterday and i was pleasantly surprised with how much i enjoyed it, since i also love the original 1996 one. as far as why this was written, i’m procrastinating writing zine fics right now and that's the only explanation I can offer lol. i'd love to write more twisters fic in the future though, i did have fun with it

As you stepped out of the ambulance, you could see destruction wherever you turned. Countless houses were razed where they stood, their contents strewn all across the street. Even the structures that had been lucky enough to only get clipped by the tornado were still damaged beyond repair, in some cases with their entire facades ripped off, now laying somewhere smashed on the ground. No matter how many times you had seen scenes like this, the gravity of the situation never got lighter. For almost all of these people, recovering would take months, if not years. 

Crowds were just beginning to collect on the streets as some emerged from storm shelters, but you knew there were some who hadn’t been afforded that luxury. You shared a knowing look with the other members of your team as they began to step over the debris in search of those that might be trapped under rubble. 

By the time more pickup trucks pulled up to the scene, you had set up outside one of the ambulances, hard at work treating the wounds of those who could make it over to you. The crates of water bottles next to you were quickly diminishing, but the line of people in need of medical care never seemed to, which was a sitaution you were unfortunately used to finding yourself in. 

As the newcomers fanned out through the area, you weren’t the only one who stared. Although not a fan yourself of the self-appointed “Tornado Wrangler,” you unfortunately recognized the man who led a small group down the street. Resisting the urge to roll your eyes, you turned your attention back to the person in front of you. There was nothing you could do about the fact that some wannabe celebrities were trying to profit off of the disaster by getting in the public’s good graces, so you would just have to suck it up and hope they eventually get bored enough to leave.

Hours later, you were still in that same spot, and there was still so much to do. Some of the ambulances had left temporarily the scene, taking those whose injuries were more intense off to the closest hospital. Right now, your priority was getting immediate medical aid to those who needed it, even if you could feel your eyes drooping with fatigue. As you gently bandaged up the arm of a young girl, someone tapped on your your shoulder. “Take a break,” and you could hear the sound of your best friend’s voice even if you were looking at him. “I can tell that you need it.” 

You shook your head as the little girl walked off in the direction her mother was standing. “Don’t worry about me Isaac, ‘m fine here.” 

“I don’t believe that,” he responded. “At least get some water and take a few moments to eat something.” 

After a few more passes back and forth, Isaac practically shoved you from your post. With a water bottle in your hand, you wandered around the area, mind racing as you tried to find a way you could help once you had taken a few minutes to yourself. But of course, you were not granted solitude for long. Right as you had raised the bottle to your lips, a voice interrupted your thoughts. “Need anything?” 

Tyler Owens was standing a few paces away, a small box in his hands. The cowboy hat on his head looked pristine, a stark contrast to the way that your work clothes were already too grimy for your taste. “I’m okay,” you said, sending a tight-lipped smile his way and hoping that he would get the message that you weren’t interested in conversing right now. “Thank you.” 

“Are you sure?” he asked, clearly not having picked up on the signs. “You’ve been out here for hours and this is the first time you’ve stopped for any kind of break.” 

Your gaze hardened slightly as you regarded him. “And how would you know?” He was correct of course, but you had no plans to admit that, especially not when he acted as though he knew everything about you. 

“It was just a guess, but I can see that I’m right,” he said, a smile crossing his face that you hated to say that you found attractive. Why did the best looking people have to act as dumb as they did? 

By the grace of the universe, a colleague called you over to them right as you opened your mouth to respond, and Tyler didn’t follow as you headed over to help once more. The whole time, you found yourself thinking about him and his team. What were they even doing here, besides getting in the way of those actually trying to help? 

***

After that time, it felt like you ran into Tyler Owens at least three times a week. He and his team showed up to the sites of destruction with their video cameras out as they surveyed the damage. Multiple times, you had to shoo them away from you as you worked, tirelessly bandaging cuts, scrapes, and other lacerations that people had suffered from the winds of the storm. Despite the fact that your initial conversation with Tyler had lasted less than a minute, he apparently felt that it was enough to bother you again, and to act as though you were much closer than you were. 

This time, you were bandaging up an older woman when you heard his voice interrupt your focus. “Hey medic!” 

Resisting the urge to sigh, you turned to look at him. “What are you doing here?” 

Unfortunately, the smile on his face didn’t shift at your tone. “Helping, of course.” 

“And how exactly is annoying me while I’m just trying to do my job considered helpful?” 

“I’m convincing you to take a break,” he said. “I’ve seen how hard you work, and the way you put others first so many times. Sometimes you need to take care of yourself to take care of others.”

Sighing, you finished gently wrapping gauze around the woman’s leg before speaking. “Nice try, making it seem like you have any concern,” you said. “But I don’t have any interest being on in your  YouTube videos, and I can take care of myself perfectly fine.” 

His smile dropped slightly as he registered your words, the first time it’s happened since you met. Every other time, your words seem to pass right over him, no matter how annoyed you sounded as you spoke, but not this one. He mumbled something you didn’t quite catch before stepping away, and you felt your heart sink slightly in a way you didn’t expect. 

“He’s right you know,” the woman you had just bandaged said as she got up from the chair in front of you. 

“What?” you asked, still trying to wrap your head around the conversation with Tyler.

“You need to take a break at some point. If you’ve been out helping like this after all these recent storms, it’s going to take a toll on you.” 

You nodded, knows that both her and Tyler were right. “I will, I promise.”

“Good,” said. The woman left after giving you another knowing smile, and you flagged down Isaac to take your place for a few minutes. 

It always felt strange, to sit down on the ground and look at the tornado’s destruction. Children’s toys, blankets, and even the skeletal remains of furniture were on the street now, no telling which homes they had once belonged to. You stared out as the wind picked up a photo and pushed it away from you, before it was eventually grabbed by someone. 

As you took a sip of the water bottle in your hands, Tyler appeared from the crowds once more, his hands up in mock surrender as he approached you. “I see you took my advice.”

“I see you’re still dead set on bothering me wherever I go,” you said, but the tone was halfhearted. 

“It’s not my only goal in life, but it’s one I get to work on often,” he said, sitting down next to you. 

“Why?” you asked, finally gathering up the courage to voice the question that had been swirling around your mind since you first met him. “I don’t know you. No offense, of course.” 

A small snort of laughter left his mouth. “I don’t know, I think at this point we could be longtime friends.” You raised your eyebrows at him, and the smile on face grew as he realized that this was once again lighthearted teasing. “I keep bothering you because I can tell you need someone to tell you when to stop.” 

Immediately, you got a little defensive. “No I don’t.” 

“Come on, I think the only time I’ve ever seen you take a break is when someone else said something, and I doubt it’s ever done without some kind of denial.” You looked down at the ground, slightly embarrassed that he had hit the nail on the head. “People all across the community are going to be incredibly grateful for the hours you put in to help them, but it wouldn’t matter as much if you’re neglecting your own care.” 

You stopped, staring once more at the destruction in front of you. “Just because I’m not smiling and laughing for the camera doesn’t mean I’m not taking care of myself.” 

“Going hours without even a sip of water doesn’t exactly back that statement up you know.” 

“Fine,” you admitted. “Maybe you’re right, but it certainly doesn’t help when people like you show up to these scenes to sightsee all the destruction and try to get some clicks out of it.” 

His face changed in an instant, growing more somber than you’ve ever seen before. “Is that all you think we’ve been doing?” 

You nodded slowly, not sure what to expect from his change of attitude. 

“I suppose the way you’ve treated me makes sense now.” 

You stopped. “So you’re not just here for fun?” 

“Half of what we do can usually be considered stupid, I’ll admit that,” he said, looking over at you. “But it’s not all fun and games, I promise. See over there?” He gestured to where a group of people were standing around a table outside his team’s camper van, the reason for their presence obscured by the growing crowd gathering there. “A portion of our our t-shirt sales is put towards disaster kits, and my team over there is handing them out. Free of charge of course.” 

As your eyes focused on the scene, you could see he was right. There was no exchange of money as the team of people handed out boxes of food and bottles of water. You could see a stack of T-shirts sitting to the side, but even those were being handed out to the those that asked whenever requested. 

Immediately, you were overwhelmed with embarrassment at the way you had always perceived him, when all this time he had been doing so much to aid those who just had their lives disrupted. Maybe if you had taken the time to look past the thrill-seeking attitude you could have seen that, but instead you had been so wrapped up in your own life and work. “I’m so sorry for the way I saw you,” you said, turning towards Tyler with a sincere look on your face. “You want to help just as much as I do, and I let my opinion the ‘Tornado Wrangler’ persona get in the way of understanding that.”

He smiled in a way that was more genuine than any of the others you had seen on him. “Thanks,” he said sincerely. “But don’t worry about it, you’re not the first person to make the assumption, and you probably won’t be the last. I willingly drive into tornados for fun, it’s not exactly something you do if you’re not a little bit crazy.” 

You laughed. “Yeah, as a medical professional I really can’t condone that.”

“Most people would probably agree with you.” 

The two of you sat there for a few minutes more, a comfortable silence enveloping the air before you had to get back to work. There was still so much more to be done, and the daylight hours were slipping away. 

But as the two of you got up and you began to walk away, Tyler’s voice stopped you. “Hey.” 

Turning around to face him, a quizzical look overtook your face. “Hmm?” 

“I’ll see you around, alright?” 

You smiled, the cautious fluttering of tiny butterflies taking hold of your stomach. It was only a matter of time before this happened, you supposed, but you tried not to let anything show on your face. “Yeah,” you said, a genuine smile breaking through any attempt you made to remain nonchalant. “See you around.” 

***

That night, as you laid on the couch watching TV, you saw a text pop up on your phone from a number you didn’t recognize. 

It’s Tyler. Before you get mad at me, Isaac gave me your contact info. 

You playfully rolled your eyes, making a mental note to confront your friend later, that perceptive bastard. 

Do you wanna go out for drinks sometime? I don’t wanna have to wait for another tornado to see you. 

Sure, was the response you typed out and sent off, but on the inside, you were a lot more excited. 

Okay, maybe you didn’t have to be that hard on Isaac.

- the end -

i no longer have a taglist! if you're interested in being notified when i post, you can follow my library blog @ghostofskywalker-library and turn on notifications!

[girlwiththoughts13]

Where there's a Will

Daemon Targaryen x F!reader

Warnings: Incest/ P in V /infidelity/ Age-gap

Word count: 1k

~~~~~

The Iron Throne. It was coveted by all, from the lowliest knights to the highest born lords. Who sat down on the chair of swords was more than ruler. They were a protector, and to protect you must be strong. The late King Viserys was not strong in any sense of the word. He allowed leeches to squeeze through the cracks in his home and feed off of his blood and weakening reign. Allowed them to rip the Targaryen heritage and culture to install the gods of common men; symbols and emblems that would shame Aegon the Conquerer.

Though for all his treasonous faults there was a level of respect that had to be given to Otto Hightower for seizing every opportunity to propel his house forward. Whoring out his only daughter to the aged King in the interest of ruling behind a figurehead child of his own blood.

It was the perfect scheme, until Viserys named his daughter Rhaenrya as rightful heir of the 7 Kingdoms, a claim he steadfastly upheld even after the birth of male heirs.

How marvelous you'd believed it would be. Rhaenrya would have struck down structures that were In place to clip women's wings. Would have shown mercy when deserved and serve justice when necessary. The small folk would rejoice at her Queenship. She would intimidate the highlords of Westeros and rebellion would not be a known word. In your mind this was the Queen your lovely mother would be.

The Greens usurpation of the throne crumbled that dream. The hope of the great leader extinguished before your eyes. You watched for days as your mother reverted into someone you did not know. Frail and scared. It stirred something within you, that had not been there before. Took root deep within and fed off of your darkest desires. One that gave the promise of eternal glory.

The loss of a child could not be easy for certain. You yourself had not felt the grief you should have. No stirring of sadness or longing in your gut for your little brother. Not like Jace. It scared you as well as excited you. There was no weakness to be found and the prospect of an indestructible mind and heart was eagerly accepted by you. Aemond Targaryen's crime should have been answered swiftly and without mercy, alas all your mother could do was cry, losing herself to anguish. Get up! You wished to say, Focus!

Now was the time to strike show the false King and his court what true dragons were made of, fire and blood.

Control on your own treacherous thoughts were slipping, and left only the question, Could I be Queen of the 7 Kingdoms?

You would be one day anyway, as the firstborn, as the true born daughter of Laenor. What's the difference between then and now?

Your mother would have to die however, and you couldn't do that.

At least not alone.

Daemon was easy to convince, soul and heart already corrupt. You came to him like a dream unruly sliver hair and donned in a sheer iridescent nightgown. Whispers of greatness flowed from your pouty lips right into his ear. Face full of innocence and intention anything but.

You continued to spew your sweet poison as you rode him on the seat by the fire, the flames heating your already blazing skin.

He reached his peak with the thought of him as King with you by his side swollen with his babe. A conquerer in his own right.

Like your grandsire, you enjoyed sculpting the key parts of the realm, the only thing you shared with the frail man. Your most recent replica being the throne room. It's here in the safety of your chambers Daemon finds you fiddling with the chair you shall take soon.

He comes to stand behind you, his hands smoothing up the expanse of your arms pulling your back flush to his chest. Seasoned warrior that he is, his body is hard and unmoving compared to your soft pliant one, a perfect foot solider he will be.

Daemon nuzzles his head into your neck inhaling deeply "I have missed you". His time at Harrenhal left him craving your most willingly body. You're aware he views this situation much differently. Possibly believes that he has manipulated you, lead you down a dark path. A pure swan tainted so irreversibly. Not at all the still waiting dragon that you are. Ready to sink your teeth into his skin and drain him for all he's worth. You know he loves you or as close to love as he can feel. Do you return that sentiment is another issue because, of course not, he's your mother's husband, your step-father and uncle. You're strategic not vindictive.

Only your mother felt the need to be above Daemon and try her hand at triumph without him. He was a fool with a sword but that sword in his particular hand could bring down mountains. You needed him, for now. With your gentle guiding you had him believe your wants and ideas were his own.

You turn your head to meet his eyes. "No more than me" you sigh and lift your chin to claim his lips with your own. His hands tighten around you, trailing all around your body stopping here and there to grope you. Giving a pinch to your breast, a clutch around your neck. He pulls way to place his hand at the middle of your back giving a shove forward, you go easily. He flattens you over the table. He brings his hand from your back down to where the hem of your nightgown ends meets your exposed thigh. he bunches the material to your hips. Letting out a shudder at your lack of clothing underneath.

You hear from behind you the unlacing of his trousers, you keep your eyes trained on the figures ahead. The column, the banners, the throne. So small they could fit in the palm of your hand, but the longer you stare willing it to come to fruition the more the scene is happening before you. Your being enthroned and the highlords and ladies kneel before you, the small folk shout your name from outside the castle walls, you hardly feel the push in of Daemons cock in your own walls. You hear him grunt and groan behind you, rutting inside you wildly like a brute or the animal he is. He doesn't notice your lack of sounds to lost in his own pleasure, Daemons view of your backside hides your lack of lustful expression replaced with one of resolution one of assurance.

Your body is jostled up and down, Daemon's hand finds its way into your hair before trailing down to the back of your neck keeping you there while your eyes never falter from your soon to be rightful place.

The Iron Throne.

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: The one who returns

(A continuation of: Humans are weird: They sing going to war)

Though my comrades laughed I continued the human tradition, and to my relief I was rewarded by what gods of theirs were listening.

On my first drop after I started to sing an anti-air shell punctured straight through my dropship. It tore a hole the size of my torso through the hull, reducing the squad mate who had been sitting their laughing at me into a red mist, and then out through the other side before detonating. The craft rocked and lurched but it held together long enough for us to reach the surface.

In my first battle I was pinned down in the ruins of a structure trading fire with a squad of enemy soldiers on the opposite street. We’d been stuck in that firefight for almost an hour trading fire; neither side daring to race across the dead land between us. I had just ducked back to slap in a fresh clip when a shredder grenade was flung through the window and landed at my feet. I had seen what they could due and knew my time had come as there was no chance for me to escape the room before it detonated. Yet as I kept my voice strong in song a stray blaster bolt struck the ceiling above me loosening a chunk of masonry. The piece came loose and fell directly on to the grenade causing the ground beneath it to crumble and continue falling into the floor below before it detonated leaving me unharmed.

What truly astounded me though is when my squad was assigned to capture a metal recycling facility on the outskirts of the city. Reports had identified the complex as a rallying point for scattered enemy squads looking to regroup so we were sent in to neutralize the threat. We arrived in good order and began investigating the factory when the machinery suddenly came to life. A metallic sheering blade the size of my body swung at me from the gloom and would have nearly chopped my head off had I not noticed the red glow it began to emit as it powered up. My comrades were not as lucky and three of them were cleaved like bloody paper. From above I saw the operator of the machinery at what had once been a foreman control post and let loose a barrage of blaster fire. He fell quickly enough and in the confusion of battle between the enemy forces now flooding onto the facility floor I made my way up to the control post. It took a minute to unravel the nature of the controls but in short order I had redirected our would-be machine adversaries to turn on their former compatriots. The facility was ours within the hour with myself once more remaining the only one untouched from harm.

As my squad began shuffling off to wait for a medvac I found myself drawn to the machinery. The giant blades now stood silent and powered down and I ran a hand against them. Even powered off they were sharper than anything I had ever come across and when on had so easily cut through armor meant to deflect raw energy discharges. I’m not sure if it was from the shellshock of battle or from my recent time spent with the human warriors, but I felt something calling to me from the blade. It took some time to dismantle but by the time the medvac transport arrived I had freed it from its housing and dragged in onboard. If my squad had anything to say about it those that could still speak kept their own council.

Back in orbit I dragged the metallic blade to the human’s section of the ship. I had found myself in their company more and more when time permitted between deployments. Their talk of ancient gods and wards of protection were what interested me at first, but they were but the first steps into the depth of my fascination of their culture. I showed them the giant blade and told them of how it had slain my comrades. Some of them spoke how it reminded them of the blade of Surtr which heralded Ragnarök, while others insisted that it was more akin Skofnung, a king’s blade imbued with the spirts of his most loyal warriors.

The debate went on from friendly disagreements into an open brawl between the opposing factions, but their engineers remained focused on the material itself and asked what I wished to do with it. I had heard many of the legends of the humans by now and knew many of them carried great weapons, so I wished them to fashion me one from this blade as well. They were hesitant at first as the work alone would be immense and they had other duties to attend to, so I offered them whatever material of the giant blade would be theirs to do with as they pleased. With such an offer made their eyes went wide and they barely had time to agree to the terms as they snatched the giant factory tool and carried it off between the still brawling throngs.

Three days passed and I heard nothing from them. My next deployment was on the fourth and just before I was to embark on the transport the engineers came before me. With great glee they presented me with my new weapon.

Now a fraction of its former size, the blade could easily be wielded with one of my hands. I took several swings of it and I could feel the very air itself around it buzzing as it sliced through it. To add to the moment the human engineers directed my attention to a bright red button on the hilt of the weapon. No sooner had I pressed it did the blade coursing with power. A soft orange glow began to emit from the blade as it once more became as powerful as the first time I saw it in the facility. As if to emphasize its keenness they had me hold the blade up then swung one of their own rifles at it like a club. The blade sliced through the body of the rifle and it fell to the floor with a loud clutter.

Impressed by their work I nodded my thanks and joined my comrades on the dropship. It would be the last time anyone on the ship would call me by my name. When I returned I would be known by other names but the one that most stuck was Ne’ya Ruel, which in my people’s tongue translated to “The one who Returns”  

[ravengards-rogue]

[ cage training | astarion ancunin ]

✧ tags : muzzles, bdsm, sub!astarion, gender neutral + dom!reader, reader is strong (offers to carry him), dirty talk, orgasm control, feeding (?), cutting (for blood), anal (m!recieving), service dom reader, petnames (my star for astarion) a lot of alluding to hunger, more erotica than smut but 18+

✧ wc : 4.8k (what if all just kill ourselves)

✧ a/n : i dont even like this guy like this im just mentally ill about submissive men. also this is a very "read whats on the tin and make good choices" sort of fic.. i know this kind of play might be controversial for beloved white boy but they have a very loving dynamic Okay. Alright. its about Love.

ALSO. this is ASTARION FOCUSED. so reader doesn't cum (though astarion makes up for it as implied)

this is a fluke fic i cannot recommend following me for this guy!!!written mostly for a friend. had a lot of fun with this though!!!

✧ synopsis : astarion relearns manners and discipline. he's rewarded for his valiant efforts.

He comes to you wounded. Save from the scar on the curve of his spine, it's not a physical wound.

Astarion approached you like a caged lion, a circus animal - a predator paraded like a house cat who has only just remembered his teeth. That's why your empathy extended to his greed even when it caused him to wear the worst of himself. You don't think Astarion has ever understood the fact that he's hungry. He's always hungry.

He inhabits a body pushed to failure. His hunger cues are almost as ruined as he.

Like an animal in captivity, every choice he might've had to make slipped between his fingers for many years. How to live, how to hunt. Hunger is the hardest to remember, though it leaves the longest impression. It's a condition of a wounded mind. He had long since forgotten a body that knows a need stronger than staying alive.

He always waited for the violent gnawing to set in, the kind that can be ignored until it can't.

And so, his hunger became his ruin, became his new captor. Astarion met you in the midst of that delirium the first time

Once you let a captive predator free, you've damned it. A caged lion cannot become uncaged. Survival instinct has all but degraded to nothing, leaving only a wounded animal in its place.

You must nurse it to health. Care for it as it renavigates the world.

Curb its hunger when it threatens to wreak havoc.

Sanctuary. Regiment. Retraining.

It's easy enough to discern what he needs. All tender with wounds that need to be licked.

The muzzle is fitted. A gesture of glimmering gold adoration among the steely black of whips and chains.

Astarion is beautiful. Tenfold on his knees.

The leather straps pull back slight against his skin, three in total clipped together at the back of his skull. The thickest strap flattens sweet white curls, thinner ones curved around his ears and jaw.

The structured leather cage, reinforced with metal, rests over his nose and mouth. It fits better than you could've hoped. There's a collar around his neck to match it, with a weighted chain in your hand. He's looking up at you with a softened gaze, ruby red and lidded. Needy.

The velvet of the loveseat dips comfortably under your weight as you sit. Astarion stays where he is. He's as pleasant as he's capable of being, hopeful as he scoots in closer to you.

He succeeds in acting cute, naturally talented in the art of being appealing. He scoots himself close to your legs and positions himself to rest his chin on the edge of your knee.

You meet his eyes amused. You let your hand brush along the pointed shell of his ear. Little goosebumps form in the wake of your touch.

"You should know better by now that those sorts of tricks don't work on me, hm?"

He huffs. "Well that's not true. They usually do work on you. Rather well, I would say."

You pause, taken aback, before relenting with a laugh His pout endears you. You let your eyes narrow a bit in knowing.

"Not like this though. You know that very well."

His frown deepens. You really do adore him. He taps his forehead against your leg as you bite back a smile, his muzzle making the touch briefer than he'd prefer.

"Gods. Of course I know but this, this is torture, darling."

Pleasant and noncommittal, your hand cups his nape. You pet him wherever you can reach, his head before slipping along his shoulder and against your lap. You settle at his back, tracing over raised scars.

A sorrowful hum leaves your lips. Neither of you believe it.

"Torture? Perhaps I've gotten too soft if this is torture."

"Oh you're so awful," He huffs, biting his tongue and choosing to rest against your leg in frustration for a while longer. "Sure, fine - torture is too perfunctory. But it's been terribly difficult! Where is your sympathy."

"What's difficult, Astarion?"

You're being cheeky asking him. After all your rules have been clear and reinforced well for the two tendays that have passed. You've been working hard on reteaching him patience. He used to be so patient, back when you were exploring and unsettled but you've let him take too much and now he'll interrupt you at any moment just to get what he needs.

(Astarion leans on you for guidance. Of course, he has himself - has his freedom that he took with bloodied hands and a broken heart. There’s many choices that he’s able to make for himself, some of them he can’t explain even to you. Whatever they are, they’re his to make and yours to support. 

It’s different though. Not having a choice, and someone making choices for him out of something inscrutable. You don’t bed Astarion until you fulfill the promise of killing his master. More accurately, you don’t lay so much as a hand on him. Only intimate, sparse touches. Only love. Only patience.

You’re disinterested in only having his body. His heart, and his mind, and his very soul - all of it. You want to grasp them so firmly and never let go. The chains and leashing and discipline are testament to what you want most of Astarion - and that’s all of him. You want to enrich him in every conceivable way.  Astarion deserves the granular finery of thoughtful guidance more than anyone. He's brighter when he feels special, after all. 

You’ve broken down the walls between you with a closed fist for this purpose - a not so quiet ask to love him by opening your hand. He’s given you the honor to let you think and act for him so he doesn’t have too. Duty binds you to reteaching him virtue.

It's a privilege to think for him. To wipe his bloodied mouth and care for his appearance prim and his mind sharp. No longer a matted beast but a loved, loved little vampire in the crook of your arms 

You’re not strict to no end. You'd rip the Astral Planes apart in search of what he desires, should he ask it of you, after all. 

Only the best for your immortal love. )

His neediness makes him more misbehaving. He’s been scaring away anyone who looks at you too long for business and otherwise, unable to keep his hand away from between your legs or his head in your lap. 

"Not letting me drink your blood for two tendays is unreasonable enough but on top of that," He's exasperated just explaining the dilemma to you. His muzzle is cool against your pant leg. "On top of that I'm not even allowed any relief. Despite all of your cruelty, you wicked thing. I never took you for such a sadist."

He scoffs. There's poorly masked lust in the last sentence. You stop yourself from smiling.

"Sadist? Really? I don't see it that way. Seeing you act so desperately all this time and keeping my hands neat at my sides... I'm a paragon of patience." You pull on the leash in your hand but don't pull him forward - though you tighten your grip. "It's…good to lead by example."

Excitement flashes over his face in a short burst. It's so brilliant you swear his eyes look white instead of red.

"You cheeky little—" He huffs at you. You smile warmly as he starts to curl in on himself. He already knows how to get himself what he wants. 

He gives up on pretenses. Briefly, just to beg, a monumentally hard thing. "Please. I can't take a minute more of this."

There's a croak to his voice. He has a hard time covering its tracks, even with his propensity for theatrics.

His throat is so thick with want. Something ripping at the seams of him and begging to be released.

"You've done well if it helps, but" You praise. He preens. Instantly. He squirms and wiggles around but doesn't move much more than that. "You act like I don't feed you."

"It is not the same, my love. You're well aware."

You ignore him.

"I even bring you human blood, don't I?" You tease, and his frustration darkens him. "I brought a beautiful and fresh body to drain just yesterday."

"Yes but," His hands turn to tight fists. He isn't sure what he wants to do with himself. You pet him a little more. "It's not the same, damn it. I want yours. Just yours. Just you,"

He adds the last bit quieter than the rest. Your expression is unchanged and cool though your heart might give you away with how hard it pounds.

"Just mine?" You tease. tugging at this leash a little. He makes a face like he's infuriated, a poor mask for embarrassment that endears you even more."Is that flattery?"

You're being a little mean this time. You'll make it up to him. He almost panics before he realizes just that.

"Gods you're insufferable," He complains with no bite. He's hoping for mercy you truly have no desire to give him. "You know that it's not."

"You speak so beautifully it sounds like it. Such sweet little noises you can make."

You let the heel of your boot press along Astarion's crotch. He makes one for you, involuntary - skin pink and sinful.

"See? How pretty."

Astarion is easy to bring to ruin as is. His own snark and disobedience is a poor disguise for that truth. A little tenderness and honesty makes him fall apart. Flirting back with Astarion goads him, though. Fuels his desire to win one over you. If you meet his cheekiness with more cheekiness, he won't relent at all.

Normally that kind of response would make him nip at you. It speaks to his desperation that it doesn't. That instead of making his own snarky remark, he tenses. A deep, shaky little breath. You could tip him over the edge through his clothes at this rate.

You're not so cruel. Not for today, at least.

"Sit up straight."

He does so without protest. You place a hand on his shoulder, the other one tight around the chain of his leash. Carefully, you drag your sharp nails down the front of his chest - leaving light pinkish marks on the pale skin. Over and over and over in light drags. His chest raises under the gesture, your nails scratching soft against his nipples.

"Hng," His voice is feather light. He's trembling at the slightest touch. His spine arches like he's trying to get more friction. "Don't you think you've proven your point?"

You let your palm drag down the smooth plane of his stomach, stopping at his pants. His cock twitches hard against the seam of his pants. You let a finger pull into the waistband, but don't go any farther.

"Not sure," You let the leash drop into your lap. You threaten to pull them down, but don't. Expression blank, you tilt your head to one side. "Have you learned your lesson?"

"My lesson," He repeats sarcastically. You feign innocence as you nod. "Really, darling?"

"I'm not so much of a tyrant," You let go, letting your hand cup the outline of his hard cock. "To torture you without reason, right? So what have we practiced?"

He stares. It must really be getting to him. "Patience."

"Yes. I ask you to be patient. Never kind, but patient. Because I'll give you anything you ask for if you wait. Things are better when you wait for them, right?"

He frowns in annoyance and disbelief. He's exasperated, rightfully - because you are messing with him. Just a little. "Right."

You squeeze his cock tighter. He hisses immediately, grinding into the touch. You blow hot air against his ticklish skin, leaning in to whisper in his ear.

"So, have you learned your lesson?"

Your grip goes tight. Astarion craves the touch so badly. You doubt he's ever gone so long without anything at all - if the desperation he's rutting his hips with is anything to go by. His head drops heavy from his shoulders, his hands on the edge of the couch gripping for his life. Manicured nails digging into the cushion like it will save him. His voice is weary.

"Y-," He shudders but you don't let go. "Yes, I'm very sure I have."

"Oh, you're sure."

You enjoy bullying him. At a certain point, it bares itself out against all your own evading. Astarion knows it well enough, though normally it's through less truly intolerable means. Keeping him inside you soft or scraping orgasms one after another until he's too stupid too talk are favored between you.

Astarion likes being given a hard time, in general though. You're made for each other.

"Pretty little thing aren't you, my love?" You tell him, suddenly warmed. You miss the tadpole sometimes. If you could touch his mind right now, you would. Violate his thoughts with your own wants. You settle for a long stare. "So sweet,"

The anticipation makes his breath hitch. He goes completely limp in your grasp, weak and desperate. The weight of it all cracks and he looks up. His eyes glass over.

He shatters under his own need. "For the love of—please. I c-cant, I need to-"

"Shh." You quell him with a tender pet to his head. "You're looking at me so pitifully. Is it starting to be too much?"

He just nods. Your smile widens.

"You've been very patient for these two tendays, haven't you?" You lay it on thick. This is the part you like. You watch as Astarion goes boneless, the words reaching so deep into him he can do little more than collapse himself into your lap. You release all grips of him and let him hold against you soothingly, cling to your legs. "A very, very good boy for all this time. You're quite capable of it when you need to be, aren't you?"

He doesn't reply, but you can feel him melt into you further. For a minute you think you've broken him until you hear him mutter the softest yes you've ever heard.

(Astarion is not so easy to break, of course. And not so keen on opening up the softened wells of his heart to any stranger.

But he does break for you, and gods haven't you worked hard for that? It's a testament to all you've poured into him. Like you know all the right buttons to split him open tenderly.

And he lets you look. Touch and feel and cover your fingers with blood. He trusts you to stitch him closed.)

"Yes, that's right. You've learned your lesson now, and you're going to be proper and well-behaved because that's what good boys do. And Astarion is a very good boy. My very, very good boy."

He picks his head to look at you properly. He's darling. His face is flush, mouth turned into a soft pout and utterly, utterly desperate. His mouth is bitten, indented holes in soft lips.

"Yes, I'm. Please. I want you to touch me."

You aren't sure what you want to start with. He's being needy and you could almost feel guilty.

You pick up something from your side. A dagger from your days of travel. You unsheath it quickly, and let the blade cut along the tip of your middle finger. The blood comes quickly after, ruby red and thick. 

Astarion goes wide eyed. He’s hungry, so hungry - like he always is. But there’s something defeated in the ways he hesitates that make you relish. You push your finger through the cage of his muzzle and tilt your head. There’s mirth in your eyes.

“Go on,” You say, tease, mock maybe. “Eat.” 

He abandons restraint. All of it. You don’t make him work more for it. You push your finger down close enough for his mouth to lick at your wound and let your hand rest on the cage. He can’t get what he’s craving like this. The bone deep sensation starts to claw at him, a soft whimper tucked in the back of his throat.  

More. He wants more. Of course he wants more. 

“You look drunk.” You say, and there’s sharpness to your words. The ways in which Astarion is erotic have nothing to do with his theatrics. He is appealing when he’s giving up on everything but what he wants, always has been. “Have you missed it that much?” 

“Yes.” He supplements, letting his tongue run over “More.” 

You pull your hand away. “Take your clothes off.” 

You watch Astarion scramble to stand. You bring your dagger with you then reach over to the table beside you. Scented oils roll around in the drawer. You’re careful with the blade as you fish out a bottle of it, taking it in your hands. Astarion stands naked, the heavy chain of his leash brushing against his skin. 

“Kneel and lean on the couch, my love.” 

Astarion is the picture of obedience. He leans on his elbows on the couch seats, with his legs spread apart, leash in a pool next to him as he folds his arms and tucks his face. You stand on your knees behind him, admiring his back in the lowlights. 

Your hands rest on his thighs as you kiss up his spine. Small, short kisses all the way until you’ve reached the back of his neck. Your lips brush his nape, nose nudging against the metal of his muzzle. 

Something overwhelms you. Addicting, euphoric as your clothed body drapes around Astarion, free hand on his waist - moving up his stomach to toy with his nipples. It thrums through you, listening to the ragged anticipation and distraught way he moves. Against you, against everything. Aching for touch. 

You feel it overwhelmingly as you close in on his ear. Astarion huffs, long panting breaths. He needs this.

“Look at how naturally you yield to me now,” You all be coo. Astarion groans. Shuddering, your hand slides around his narrow waist and wraps a fist around his cock. He gasps. “You’ve become so pliable, so needy. But you know my star, I quite like when you’re needy.”

He hiccups and shivers and whines. “You’re the prettiest when you behave like the sweet little thing you can be, like I know you are. When you listen and yield and let me adore you in all the right ways. Such a sweet boy you can be, if only you let yourself.” 

“Darling,” His voice cracks. There’s a helpless quality to it. A little more, that’s all you need. “I — you —” 

You pull back and straighten your voice out, taking off Astarions muzzle after the valiant efforts he’s been making to wear it. It falls onto the couch unceremoniously. 

“I’m saying, well done Astarion. I’ll reward you for all that effort. I’ll slash another scar in my hand for you to drink from and then again in the evening when I’ve recovered,” You lean back on your legs as you make promises on your own words. “I’ll bleed for you until you’ve sated yourself and let you get drunk on it. Then, when you’re malleable, I’ll fuck you. Again and again and again until you’ve all but forgotten yourself. All but forgotten who exactly you behave for.” 

You open the oil and let it drip onto his back, watching mesmerized as it slips against every curve and crevice. When there’s enough to make opening him up easy, you stop and reach for your dagger.

The weapon  slashes over the same wound. You’ve done this tens of times now. You don’t let the scars heal with a potion or some kind of spell. Astarion is far from the comfort of romance, but it is its own promise. Your scar is his.

 The pain is brief, but it’s enough to feel it. You don’t flinch, though. When the blood finally seeps from it, you find yourself over Astarions back once again. 

You let your bleeding palms clamp over his mouth. It’s as close to sacred as you can forge between you. Astarion moans. It is shameless. Pitchy, high with want and utterly broken. He laps at the blood like a dog, his tongue sharp against the familiar wound. You can feel his body twitch beneath you, the muffled sounds of his voice.

There is no performance in that kind of pleasure, but the amount of arousal that spikes Astarion’s whole body never fails to surprise you. 

When he’s feeding from you, you busy your other hand with fucking him open on your fingers. Your dominant hand slips down the smooth curve of his spine, oiled skin soft and cool under your palms. He’s built like a dancer, beautiful curves. He’s a little softer now that he eats well. It looks good on him. 

You let your middle finger brush over his hole, relishing in the soft gasp he lets out as you do. Astarion’s aroused enough to accommodate you as you circle it. The tight ring of muscle is familiar, and welcoming to your touch. You don’t need to teach Astarion to breathe, don’t need to remind him of it. You can feel his whole body push along your hands as if urging you towards him. You’re too delicate about the matter for his time. 

Astarion is warmer inside than he is out. It fascinates you, makes your own stomach churn with want as your middle finger curves slowly. You pump in short motions until the resistance is all but gone. When you’ve made it as far as the knuckle of your middle finger, you start to search. You curl and press yourself against soft insides, search and search for what you’re looking for. 

Astarion lurches forward when you find it. The most pitiful little moan you’ve ever heard squeaks out from his lips, against your hand.

“That’s it, isn’t it? Right there?” 

Astarion makes noncommittal noises as you repeat the process again. Another finger, your ringer - spreading him open. Tight hole giving into your touch, filling him. Your mouth kisses the skin that you can reach. You peck and bite along the curve of his shoulders and all over his back as your ring finger penetrates him. His insides soften as you find your pace. 

You see his hands start to fidget, but you chide him before he can do it. 

“Not yet. You can touch yourself when I tell you too. Not before.” 

 Astarion needs more than this. You’ll give it to him, but patience is the virtue here. 

You don’t know how long that’s going to stick though. The way Astarion is shaking underneath doesn’t give you confidence he’s going to hold out long enough for you to take him apart like you want. You’ll give him something proper later, when he’s not so pent you think the slight brush of skin could make him cum. 

You do, desperately, want to see Astarion cum. But it has to be done the right way, or everything would go to waste in a single moment. You fuck him open on your fingers with a pinpoint pressure and accuracy, gauging his every move with the little gestures of his body. You know perfectly, know every inch of him inside and out like a book you’ve read page to page with the corners turned. The way he sways, lays intimately on the edge of cumming but never quite pushing himself over the finish line, speaks to that.

That, and the way he licks the blood from your palm like it’s the only thing he’s ever wanted in his life. You can feel it, how messy it is - lapping at the split wound. Sharp unruly teeth digging into your skin, the soft breath of his nose tickling your hand as you cup his mouth. He licks so fervently, like it’s mouthwatering enough to die for. 

It doesn’t help the arousal between your legs. It’d be damning for him to know how affected you are by this. By him. 

“My beautiful boy,” Your voice is thick with desire. You can’t help yourself, the low possession laced it in. “Fucking perfect,” 

“My love,” The words muffle against your palm. You move your hand away to let him speak and his face moves instinctually to bury himself back in it. “P-please. Let me touch myself, it aches,” 

You weigh it for a minute, watching his body lurch forward as you fingerfuck him. You make a noise in the back of your throat, dropping your forehead against his spine - adrenaline making sweat drip down the crown of your head. 

“Poor thing. Aches does it? Touch yourself for me, Astarion. I want to see you make a mess.” 

He groans, hands moving immediately to fist his cock. You can hear it, the sound of him fucking his own fist like a wet, welcoming hole - cock wet and dripping with prespend. Astarions whole body starts to fall limp. His face pushed into the seat, little wet sobs spilling from his lips as he swears over and over. 

It doesn’t take any time for his body to give into the feeling of being pleasured from all angles. You feel his face nudge against your hand for blood as his muscles start to go tighter and tighter. 

“Shit,” He huffs, pushing himself back into your hands. “I’m going to cum.” 

You keep your other hand in place, pace steady. 

“Cum for me, baby. That’s it, easy does it.”

It happens so quickly you’re not sure if you should be impressed or if you should laugh affectionately. You can feel it, the way his hips stutter to a stop, his whole body grinding against you and holding tight to whatever he can cling to for purchase. His body weakens under the weight of your own, going completely tight like a bowstring before falling utterly helpless. Astarion moans loud when he cums, thick white ropes of it dressing the upholstery of the couch and falling to the floor. It’s an impressive amount. Save for what lands on the velvet, it pools thick and heavy. There’s so much, it’s like he can’t stop cumming. At least a minute passes before the twitching ceases. 

He lays there, ragged and weightless and limp. You take your hand away from his mouth and slowly ease yourself out of him as he stays and catches his breath. You press soft, warm pecks up his spine. 

You move away from him to give him some space to breathe, sitting back criss-cross on the ground. Astarion has no intention of getting up on his own, though. Before you can make sense of it, he crawls over to you. He must be worn out, given how willingly he’s coming into your arms in pure exhaustion. His cock is spent, soft against his belly and pink. He’s still naked and leashed. 

Still needy, but the lust has subsided if only a little. Astarion seats himself between your open legs. You laugh lightly, letting him rest in your side - face in the crook of your neck in utter exhaustion. 

“Hero of Baldurs Gate this, savior of the city that. I know evil when I see it, darling. Just outright cruel.” 

You break out into a laugh at the change in behavior as he pulls away to look at you. His eyes are remarkably watery. 

“That claim is undermined by that mess you’ve made on the floor there. Did you enjoy yourself?” 

He almost looks embarrassed by it, a pinkish tint turning the tips of his ears bright. 

“You’ve given me two terrible choices. I say yes and you think it’s a clever idea to do it again or I say no and I never experience whatever that was again in my life. A lose-lose situation.” 

“So you did enjoy it,” You say warmly. Astarion scoffs but doesn’t protest. “I’m glad. You’re very attractive when you’re pitiful.” 

“What despicable taste. I’m beautiful irregardless.” 

You let your head bump against his, and Astarion half-heartedly returns the gesture. “That’s true. A sight for sore eyes as they say.” 

“If you’re true to your word then I’ve earned a little more than just one,” Astarion purrs. Before that, he examines your (still bleeding hand) and picks your palm up to kiss. You grin wildy at his tongue lapping over the wound. “And you’re properly pent up, aren’t you? Let's get this cleaned up and let the real fun begin.” 

“Aren’t you insatiable today? As you wish, my prince. We can move upstairs.” 

He bemoans this. “You’ll have to drag my undead body up there if you’re asking me to get on my own two feet.” 

“Or I could carry you like a bride.” 

“A bride? How ostentatious. I’ll allow it.” Astarion says, then adds more quietly. “But we can stay… here a little longer first.” 

You hum against his skin, peppering his face with soft kisses; he doesn't turn you away from the skinship, which you’re pleased by.  “Of course my love,” 

He lays in your arms quietly and the thought reaffirms itself. You’d do anything for him.

✧ a/n : no one is more upset by the length of this than me. trust and believe this. also sorry for the yapping i just... posting this is so foreboding. it feels like that picture of spongebob who puts his hands up so a car doesn't fall on him. i am Afraid.

maybe ill write a part two of him eating box or something. we'll see. anyway thanks for reading </3. please do rb if you enjoyed. so scared to be in the tags for this.

[shinhoebakuhoekitten]

*Repost from my old blog*

You wear a slutty version of their hero costume: Shinso Smut

Mina, Jirou, Momo, Uraraka and yourself ran into the local Halloween store, excitement building in your chest as you looked around at all of the costumes and decor. It was no secret that Halloween was your favorite holiday and you were looking forward to this shop opening for months, especially when all of the girls and yourself decided to do a group costume for your Momos Halloween bash.

It was structured like a house party like you guys would have had in your college days, but instead of it being filled with everyone it was just a small crowd. This allowed you all to just have fun, eat some candy and drink your usual troubles away.

“What are we going to be?” Mina squealed excitedly, looking at the huge store with walls and walls of stuff ranging from scary to the type of slutty that you were basically walking around in pasties and a thong and everything in between.

“What about a gang of American classic horror films?” Jirou questioned as you all passed the section with the Freddie’s, Michael Myers, Chucky and all of the horror classics.

“It’s kind of basic and overdone, right?” You said knowing you would see a whole gang of that costume running around. Be it the original or the slutty girl version.

“I guess.” Jirou sighed, knowing she was yet again going to have to wear something far too girly for her liking.

A section caught your eye making you grin like a mad man as you ran to it, the other girls seeing where you ran to and as soon as they eyes the collection they couldn’t help but laugh.

“No way, guess they all got popular enough to have costumes for.” Momo said with amusement lacing her voice.

Quite a few of your former UA classmates had made it big enough to have a section of the Pro Hero Costumes. You glanced around, seeing an accurate version and slutty version of all of your pro friends including, Deku, Dynamite, Red Riot, ChargeBolt, Shoto, and even Mindjack had one this year, finally breaking the top 15 due to him being a mainly underground hero.

“Okay, but this would be hilarious if we dressed up as the girl version of them.” You said with excitement, quickly grabbing Shinso’s version in your size as you looked to the other girls, hoping they would be on board.

“I’m down!” Mina squealed as she grabbed a Red Riot costume.

“Sure.” Jirou said with a shrug as she grabbed a Charbolt.

Momo and Uraraka agreed as well, Momo grabbing a Shoto version and Uraraka grabbing a Deku.

“Is Bakugo going to have his feelings hurt that no one chose him?” You joked as you all waited in line to be rung out.

The girls giggled, a few saying “probably.”

***Night of the party.***

You stared at yourself in the mirror, fluffing up your hair and twirling as you admired the costume.

It was a pretty basic costume, a lot like Shinso’s actual hero costume. It was a short frilly dress that barely extended past your ass, making you a bit self conscious but you had to get over that. After all, you were the one who pushed this group costume.

The dress was midnight black dusted in a fine purple glitter all over with both sides ordained in a raisin purple color mesh detail that exposed everything, including a tasteful amount of side boob (about the only tasteful thing about this dress) and ran until it met the hem of the frilly skirt. A more daring person may try to wear it without underwear since they would be seen but you instead found a garter set in a purple that matched the mesh detail as best as you could. You hoped it didn’t contrast too much since you did not want it to be obvious that anyone who looked at you would be looking at your panties.

You fixed the actual garter that was just above the top of your panties and clipped them to the lace tips that adorned your purple stockings to make sure that they stayed in place.

After clipping those into place you pushed up the dress around your chest a bit, moving each breast as you made them appear perkier and allowed them to pop as much out of the v neck of the dress as you dared, afraid anymore and they would literally pop out.

You had forgone the matching bra that came with the lingerie set and instead had used tape to help them stay up and you had to admit it looked like you had a push up bra on.

Fluffing the small petticoat that was built into the dress, also midnight black with the ends being that same raisin mesh. You were amazed that the petticoat worked so well since it was just stitched into the front and back to allow the sides to be fully see through with the mesh.

The outfit did not come with anything to resemble his capture weapon, probably because it would have ruined the cleavage aspect of the outfit but it did come with a flimsy mask that was supposed to replicate his voice modular mask, you tucked that into your purse to put on later.

Looking back at the mirror you admired your makeup and made sure you didn’t need to fix it. You had decided on a basic face with a sharp black wing liner and iridescent purple highlighter. The boldest aspect of your makeup look was the black lipstick that you put under a black gloss, finding it fitting.

Your hair was straightened with black and lavender clip in streaks running through it, kind of reminding you of the early 2000s punk teenagers.

As you noticed the time, muttering a “shit” because you knew you were going to get a stern talking to from Momo for being late to the “pre-party” as she liked to call it, you slipped on your black heels and secured them around your ankle before running out the door with your purse in hand.

You got to Momos parents mansion only a few minutes late, which you found to be impressive as you strode up the master staircase leading to the second floor and her massive room.

“You’re late, YN.” Momo scolded as soon as you entered.

“Lost track of time!” You apologized as you sat down on her bed, watching all of the other girls put last minute touches on their costumes.

You couldn’t help but begin to feel nervous as you looked at everyone, not only did they look beyond incredible but they all had a reason, more or less, to be dressed as the pro hero they chose.

Uraraka was engaged to Deku. Momo and Shoto had dated at one point before figuring out they were better as friends. Jirou was dating Denki and while Mina and Kiri weren’t dating, they were constantly fucking so they might as well have been.

You were just friends with Shinso, it was hard to know what he was thinking sometimes. While he was better about socializing then he was your guys first year of UA, he was still stoic and sometimes reserved, especially when the whole group hung out.

“You’re quite YN, you okay?” Jirou asked, bringing you out of your head.

“Oh yeah! Um, and this is stupid since it was my idea but I’m starting to get worried about my costume. Im just hoping that Shinso doesn’t think it’s weird since most of you are dressed up as either a good friend or significant other. Ya know?”

“Or does this have to do with your massive crush on him?” Mina teased as your cheeks flushed.

“That was like a million years ago, I’m over it.” You muttered quickly.

“But to answer your worries, I don’t think he will find it weird or anything. You two are close enough friends for it not to be.” Momo reassured you with a smile as she zipped up her thigh high white boots.

You smiled back at her before standing from the bed. “Alright, let’s get this pre-party started” you yelled, grabbing a glass of wine from the table that was next to the bed that was filled with enough glasses for everyone.

Shinso’s POV:

Shinso entered the party with Denki, quickly finding Deku, Todoroki, Bakugo, Kirishima, and Sero in the corner, red cups already in hand.

Shinso didn’t have much time for a costume this year, throwing together the idea literally this morning. Luckily Eri, a teenager, was great with makeup and could draw a very detailed skeleton face on his face and he just threw that with a tight black long sleeve shirt and ripped black skinny jeans

The party had not quite started but would be soon and he knew they all had to be there for Momo and her girls entrance or else Momo would kill them.

“Any idea what the girls theme is this year for costumes?” Kirishima asked Deku and Denki knowing they had the best chance of squeezing it out of the girls. The girls always wore a group costume and every year it was a big secret until the party.

“Nah, and the girls with boyfriends had to keep it at Momos house so I couldn’t sneak a peak like last year. Guess they learned.” Kaminari said with a grin as he recalled last year.

“Shame.” Kirishima said as he looked to Shinso “I bet Shin is hoping for as sexy as possible from YN.” Kiri grinned at the silent hero, making him groan and blush a little.

“Please, we all want them as sexy as possible. It’s the only time of the year that we can ogle without getting a face full of their quirks.” Bakugo said with a smirk.

He wasn’t wrong, they all knew they had pretty hot friends, which is why so many of them dated each other.

“Ahem.” A voice echoed from upstairs, causing everyone to look up as the girls began to descend the stairs.

Shinso’s eyes raked over all of his former UA and now pro hero friends as they walked down the grand staircase in Momos house. Momo was leading the pack, her face eerily neutral just like Shoto.

“Holy shit, their us!” Denki yelled.

Shinso got a kick out of all of them, a smirk on his face as his eyes roamed the entire line up and he finally found you, last in the line up. As soon as he recognized it was him that you were dressed up as his mind went blank, as if his quirk was used on him.

That didn’t stop him from taking you in, from the way your chest heaved with each breath you took and the way the chub of your thigh spilled out of the top of your stockings. Maybe if he played his cards right he would be able to mark up those luscious thighs.

Your POV:

You followed the group as they led the charge to the pro heroes, smirks on all of there faces as they saw you guys.

“Oi, where the fuck is my costume?” Bakugo said.

“Sorry, you must not be popular enough to have one yet.” You countered back with a grin, making the explosive boy ‘tsk’ as he walked into the kitchen to grab a beer.

All of the other girls were being looked at by the person they dressed up as, more touchy touchy then others. You realized you had to face Shinso sooner or later so you moved closer to him, a blush dancing on your face as you did so.

“Well who do we have here?” Shinso asked, a small smile playing on his lips as he looked you up and down slowly, bitting his lower lip as he did so.

You twirled around slowly, not to lift your skirt higher then it already was as Shinso’s breath hitched at the peak of your ass he got from below your purple cheeky panties as you did so.

“Just some underground hero, not sure if you’ve heard of him.” You said with a giggle as you lowered the mask that replicated his voice modular to wear it like a necklace.

“I mean, can’t be a nobody if you wore his costume.” Shinso spoke.

“He is very special.” You flirted back, feeling a bit more bold as the wine you had earlier ran through your body.

Shinso’s eye brows shot up his forehead as another smirk landed on his lips. You just giggled as Mina took you by your hands and dragged you to the middle of the makeshift dance floor as her favorite song came on.

“Look, if you don’t fuck her tonight, I will.” Bakugo said as he rejoined the remaining group, making Shinso sputter on the alcohol he had just chugged. Shinso followed Bakugos eye sight to see Mina grinding on you as you laughed and danced along.

“Don’t you fucking touch her.” Shinso growled lowely.

“Then make a move dumbass before she’s taken.” Bakugo walked away leaving Shinso alone with his thoughts.

Shinso had watched you dance with all of the girls, you looked happier then he could ever remember. After a bit of liquid courage he found himself standing behind you, softly grabbing your hips as he brought you closer to his chest and hips.

The sudden movement startled you, but as soon as you heard Shinso whisper “it’s okay, Kitten, it’s just me.” In your ear you relaxed against him, feeling his strong arms encompass you as he slid his large hands up your hips, making your cunt clench as the intimate feeling.

Shinso remained quite as you allowed your body to mold into him as he kept running his hands up and down your sides, teasing the hem of your dress with the tips of his long fingers and feeling your thighs below it. Your breath hitched as he made his way higher and higher with each pass, slowly teasing you.

“I hope I’m not being to bold by saying you look absolutely ravishing kitten.” Shinso whispered into the crook of your neck as he began to tease the very top of your upper thigh, dangerously close to where you wanted him most.

“Th-thank you.” You groaned out as he took his hands away from below your dress, and placing them again on the top of your hips.

You could feel his smirk against your lips as he whispered “What? Does this pretty girl want my hands somewhere else?”

Your eyes shut as a soft moan slipped through your patted lips. Shinso’s teasing, and deep voice, was going straight to your cunt and you were not sure how much more teasing you could handle, even though you know he had just begun.

“There’s a bedroom right across from the bathroom on the first floor, wanna finish this game there?” You murmured against the side of his face as he peppered your neck with a few quick kisses.

“Lead the way.” Shinso said as you grabbed his hand and led him through the people dancing. You could feel everyone’s eyes on you two as found the hall way that led to the room.

“Fucking finally!” Jirou yelled as Shinso closed the door once he entered.

You didn’t even have a chance to think before you were being pushed against the door, Shinso attacking your neck as his hands found themselves below your dress, pushing it up over your hips instantly as he groped your skin on the way up, desperate to feel every inch of you.

“Fuck kitten, you don’t understand what you have been doing to me tonight. I was ready to take you on that dance floor if you didn’t lead me here.” Shinso moaned into your neck before leaving his first mark of the night, leaving black and white face paint in his wake.

One of yours hands ran through his indigo hair, scratching at the base of his skull as the other hand dug into his shoulder, feeling the years of muscles that hero work and training had given him.

Shinso spun you around and walked you to the bed, kissing you deeply as his hands found your ass, grabbing both of your cheeks as he squeezed, a sound of pleasure ripping from both of your throats.

As you felt the edge of the bed on the back of your knees, Shinso gently pushed you down until you were sitting on the bed. You looked up at him, your eyes shinning with excitement as he looked into your doe eyes, making him groan while he fell to his knees.

“I need to taste you. May I?” He pleaded, his amethyst eyes darker then they usually do as he played with the snap at the end of your garter and top of your thigh highs.

You nodded your head in agreement but made no effort to open your thighs. Shinso noticed your hesitancy and cupped your cheeks into his hands.

“Hey, we can stop whenever you want to, just because we do one thing doesn’t mean we have to have sex. Hell, I’ve waited years just for this, I can wait for as long as you need.” He whispered.

You felt your chest swell with emotions as you smiled as him, allowing him to part your legs. Shinso quickly darted underneath your dress, mouthing at your panties as he moaned from the small amount of juices that had collected on them.

“You taste amazing.” He huskily said as he pulled your thighs apart even more, quickly pulling your dress until it bunched at your hips. He moved your panties to the side as he stuck two fingers into you, opening you up as he stared at your pretty pink pussy.

He blew a bit into you, making you shiver from desire before he dove in and ate you out like a starved man.

A surprised moan ripped itself from your lungs as your hands went to his hair, tugging on the soft locks.

Shinso lapped at your clit, making you tighten around his head as he continue his assault on you.

He removed his mouth, quickly using his hands to rip the panties apart to give him better access “sorry Darling, I’ll buy you a new pair” he said quickly before sucking on your clit and scissoring two fingers into you.

Your back hit the mattress as you arched your back from the unexpected extra pleasure. Your orgasm was fast approaching, the band in your tummy feeling like it was going to snap at any second. As you neared your high, Shinso stopped all movements.

You whined as you looked down at him, he smirked as he wiped his mouth, completely wiping away any remaining makeup that was on or near his lips.

“I want your first orgasm with me to be on my cock.” Shinso explained as quickly unbuttoned his skinny jeans, shucking them off with his tight black boxerbrief. After that he took his shirt off at the back of his neck and tossed it away from you two.

You couldn’t help but stare at his cock, it wasn’t much above average in height but the girth looked to be as big as your wrist, making you panic a bit at his size.

“Like what you see.” Shinso said with a cocky smirk as he went back down on his knees, kissing up your right leg from the calf up, once he reached your cunt he kissed it quickly before doing the same treatment up your left leg.

You tried to move your thighs, causing any kind of friction which made Shinso laugh darkly.

“Don’t worry, pretty girl, you’ll get your orgasm. Just need to make sure your ready for me.”

You two backed onto the bed, your head almost hitting the headboard as he sucked a mark into the base of your throat, two fingers circling your clit to make sure you were wet enough as he moved your dress as high up as it would go.

“Would it be crazy if you kept the costume on? Call it narcissistic but it’s really hot to see you in my hero costume.” Shinso whispered in your ear as you sucked in a breath as a pang of pleasure shot through you.

“Yes” You moaned out, not able to say much else.

Shinso grinned as he got on his knees, grabbing you just below your knees and pulling you closer to him as he began to line his cock with your cunt.

“Are you sure?” Shinso whispered, needing your permission again before proceeding.

“I swear to god Shinso, if you don’t fuck me I’ll telling our friend group you have a micropenis.” You grunted out, feeling so incredibly horny.

Shinso sheathed himself into you without a second though, making you moan out in ecstasy.

“Now kitten, we both know that’s not true.” Shinso whispered in your ear before he pulled your legs above his shoulders and started a brutal pace.

He gave you no time to adjust but you didn’t need it with how wet you were. He made you mewl as he hit the right spot, and noticing he did so he continued his assault on that spot making you feel your orgasm rise quickly.

“Fuck, Hitoshi.” You yelled as your head tilted back.

“Yeah, you like that? My slutty kitty.” Shinso moaned out as he felt you start to clench around him.

Shinso leaned a bit into you, making your legs go up further as he began an even more brutal pace making you moan out loud as your orgasm washed over you.

Shinso wasn’t far behind you, pulling out as he came all over your exposed chest.

You were shocked when he did that but couldn’t help but find it hot. Shinso realized that you also liked it and he groaned “Yeah, does my kitten like when I mark her as mine.” He asked with a cocked eyebrow.

You hid your face as you flushed all over but nodded your head.

Shinso smirked as he left the bed to grab a towel from the bathroom that was attached, cleaning you up first

After you two were cleaned and Shinso had put back on his clothes he reached for you and pulled you onto his chest, kissing your forehead.

You weren’t sure what the next step of your guys relationship would be, or hell if anything would even change but you were glad you had decided to do the group costume.

[koemiii]

AYATO’S PRETTY KOUHAI!!

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

SUMMARY;;Celestia knows why the popular, well-loved Kamisato senpai seems to be attatched to you, a non-student council ordinary student.

NOTES;;Some senpai!Ayato because why not😋😋 fem!reader, slight corruption kink, slight(? darcyphilla, bimbo!reader , perv!ayato maybe?, idk what to add im lazy

Senpai!Ayato who's always flashing a smile to whoever's talking to him. He's the most nicest senpai you've ever met!! Not like those older boys in his grade calling you some nicknames only your mommy and daddy calls you. Thinking back at the first day you met him, about him saving you from one of those embarrassing situations. You smile fondly at that.

Senpai!Ayato who arrived into your classroom afterschool just when the boys in his grade were about to harass you. He scolds and fended them off, angrily. Telling them to shoo away as this was inappropriate. They shouldn't touch what's not theirs.

Senpai!Ayato who then turned back to look at your shaking, teary-eyed figure. He kneeled down making his view met yours. He sees fear in your pretty hues. A sick part of him feels...aroused. After seeing your senpai come and save you, you no longer keep the sobs up.

Senpai!Ayato who lets you hug him. Comforting you while whispering reassuring words to you. Muttering 'thank you's to him as he gently pat your head, letting you feel so comfortable around him. To be unknownst to you, a tent in his pants forming. Your breasts pressing against his chest is a big turn on.

Senpai!Ayato who suddenly pops out of nowhere as the school dismissal bell rings. He's helping you with your Maths every Fridays at his place, walking you to his Inazuma structured house. He's lucky that you didn't caught him red-handed everytime when wind blows, the winds lifting up your skirt just enough to let him see your cute little panties and your bare ass. As you turn your head to him and saw his smiling state, asking him what's wrong. He just shakes it off, telling you it's nothing.

Senpai!Ayato who's one of your closest friends, you think as he's currently busy at the kitchen preparing snacks that Thoma made beforehand. It's Friday today and he volunteered to teach you Maths after seeing your failed test and knew he's gona help you with that. He once got a full mark on Maths test! He's sure he can help you. Sitting back beside you, starting to teach you your maths. He's just so perfect in your eyes, a straight As student, rich, good-looking, nice, and even the chairman of the student council. No wonder everyone looks up to him.

Senpai!Ayato who 'carelessly' dropped the pen he's holding. It's rolling towards your side and you are to pick up the pen! Getting out of your seat and bending down. He's getting another glimpse of what's under your skirt. He's drooling at the sight of your clothed pussy, fantasizing about how you feel if you were around him everynight and just now.

Senpai!Ayato whose fantasies' no longer merely a fantasy. Sitting you on his lap, his slender fingers pushing you more onto his crotch area, letting your ass gently brush through his erected cock, as he continues to teach you maths like nothing has happened.

Senpai!Ayato who claims that he deserves a reward from you for his teaching. Look, your grades are jumping rapidly after the tutoring lessons he gave you!! See, doesn't he deserve a reward from you after you scored an A minus from the hardest chapter test? Taking a 5-minute break from maths, his hands sliding under your uniform top, playing with the hem of your laced bra.

Senpai!Ayato who chuckles at your innocent replies, you don't have money to pay him as his reward for the tutoring lessons he gave you, oh no!! What should you do?! Doe eyes looking up at his more bigger figure, not knowing what to do. Senpai who suggests another form of paying him back, his hands unclasping the clip of your bra. You still don't have a clue on whats he's doing seemingly.

Senpai!Ayato who's quick to think of an excuse when you tell him what your mommy and daddy told you before. Not letting strangers touch your clothed body parts! But senpai's doing it now...what should you do? But you trust senpai so, so much! He replies in a slow and gentle tone, as if he didn't want to scare you. He tells you that your mommy and daddy only told you not to let strangers touch you and now you think he's a stranger? His tone lower from a few octaves, hinting you that he's kind of disappointed unintentionally in your brain, and silly little you actaully believes it with no other concerns!!

Senpai!Ayato who finally got his hands on your bare skin, exploring every inch of it, stripping you bare all for him to devour and left no places untouched. From your boobs to your pussy, he has all touched it. You asked him what he was doing and the replies you get are always ''what he deserved''. It feels really weird! Like a mix of pain and pleasure, you tell him. He just smirks at the remark, continuing to suck at your nipple and playing with the another one. It feels so good tho...?

Senpai!Ayato who can't wait anymore, thick shaft entering your virgin hole. You gasped immediately. You don't know what's 'make love' nor 'sex', you tell him. He's surprised and asked you if you have ever touched or had been touched...there. Answering him ,'no', he feels more aroused, hips immediately slamming into your hole. You almost led out a scream with this immense amount of pleasure you never felt 'till now. Moans and whimpers filling the room, as he hits the sweet spot inside of you over and over again. Fat tears rolling down your flushed cheeks, feeling lost in pleasure all of a second. It feels so good, just as he fantasized.

Senpai!Ayato who continues to rut into you, seemingly lost in in how good he felt in you, just as he thought. After he hears you saying your lower region feels so hot, just like something's that make you grumpy is building inside of you, but it won't go out of your body. He tells you that this is called an orgasm, which can make a person feel so good and he's about to do it to you. Continuing to slam into you, all he can thinks is how good you felt around him, as if your pussy was made for him.

Senpai!Ayato who knows that you're almost there, your tight cunt spasming uncontrollably, moans getting louder and louder, followed by the earthshaking orgasm. Whimpering sweetly, as you hear him saying ''Good girl, cum and moan f'me,'' he groaned, feeling as if he's almost there too. You came together, before Ayato senpai noticing your passed out figure. You have never done something so intense before, maybe that's why you are sleeping just after a round. Caressing your body with his hands, he just love you so much, so pretty, so innocently cute for him to corrupt.

Senpai!Ayato who then carries you back to his room, cleans you up and then wraps you around in his arms, seeing your pretty face, content and dozed off, smirking to himself. His plan of corrupting you has finally done. Placing a kiss on your cheek, realizing that he loves you so so much.

[azzrael99]

Sorry to bother you, how can I draw realistic paintings about frev?😢

Thanks for the question!! (I love answering he he)

I'm sorry for being late in answering. I wanted to make it as detailed as possible (how I usually do it step by step), and hope it can be useful and helpful as a tutorial, it doesn't mean it's the best method, you can always do what suits you better.

First of all, I take as reference a lot of images of the historical character that I am going to draw. In the case of Robespierre, there is a lot of documentation and images of how he looked like. Even Deseine's bust help me a lot.

(Thanks @silver-whistle and @monimarat for this photographies❤️)

Thanks @perfectlysweatypanda ❤️

*I always try to make the character as realistic as possible

Second, I look at the features which are similar in every image I have consulted.  There are always patterns which are repeated. Even, if the artists of that time painted him in different ways (it often happens with DTIYS currently)

For example, the most noticeable features would be:

-the shape of the nose

-The shape of the jaw, square and angular

-the shape and position of the eyes (a little almond-shaped *with a feline look)

-the lips in almost all images are thin and straight

-broad and clear forehead with some wrinkles

-Square head (fun fact: typical for Earth zodiac signs)

-rounded eyebrows…

Then I look at the written descriptions of the people of that time and their contemporaries. I try to make sure they are reliable sources.

The ones, which are repeated the most, are not always the most accurate (be careful with it, look closely the images you have previously searched for to get it)

Then I usually make the baselines of the bone structure that it usually has:

I determine the position of the eyes, mouth and nose of the face with the basic lines:

Second, searching the clothes and suits of that time:

As explained above, look at a lot of images and references about how the clothes were.

Written references about how our character used to wear. Maxime’s shake: dark suits (black) earthy colours or basic (Supreme Being celebration was an exception). It seems they like stripes on suits.

🤩Tip! You can look at the suits on frev films.

They have usually got a lot of information out it and you can watch different angles to draw it better.

Some examples:

La révolution française Robert Enrico

Un peuple et son roi Pierre Schoeller

Danton 1983

You can also draw accessories (I’ve just realised I forgot to draw the pocket watch 😱⏱️)

Before I search for a pose that I like and it could fit with the character (or I do it on Clip, with the 3D movement dolls)

Important!!! (^.^)

Look at the side of the historical character. In the case of Robespierre measures 1.6 meters.

As a plus, if you want to draw a background, look at different set ups of that time, such as Duplay's house, or even on video games like Assassins Unity. They help me a lot.

I think you can draw realistic frev characters images with these steps.😉

I want to watch them.💖💖💖💖🎨🎨🎨

I hope it helps you and if you have any questions I would be pleased to answer.🤩

I like when people ask me.😁

[eilwen]

Visiting the Dragon's Nest District

Most cities and towns in No Man's Land have been similar in appearance, with a ship or a portion of a ship watching over its people. However, in Ryutsu, where many things happen, the ship is not the only structure that dominates the landscape.

I wanted to do a dive into the city, what inspired it (and speculate on some of the visuals) and what we can potentially understand about No Man's Land.

Some spoilers for Vol. 4 and 5. Also, this is long.

Even without the baos and wonton-fonts on signage, Ryutsu visually does not match with other cities in No Man's Land. It’s not just the citadel which can be seen from afar, but it’s also the crammed housing and confusing architecture. The tone of Vol. 4 shifts and leans towards neo-noir. As this arc's villains move into the city, Hoppered says: "This place is truly the bottom of the dark. [...] We'll walk into a place where the light does not enter." These lines may not be literal but it certainly brings ideas of seedy places. They move through pitch black and eventually…

The big showdown happens at the city's main feature: the Dragon’s Nest District - an area that brings up memories of the old Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. No Man's Land is a sparsely populated planet, yet for whatever reason, people have sardined themselves into this city and into this district.

Kowloon Walled City had been called ‘City of Darkness’ and it was possible to move through the city without ever seeing daylight. It carries a bit of romantised nostalgia because of its weird part in Hong Kong colonial history, its uncontrolled and chaotic construction, and its lawlessness (though apparently the ungoverned city was tight-knit and communal). The city became a source of inspiration for a lot of media, but not many films were shot in the city itself. Those that I had seen tended to use the city as a 'cool film location' so apart from the examples below, there aren't many I know to recommend (happy to take suggestions for films I may have missed).

Clip from Bloodsport (Arnold, 1988)

"No joke, man. It's a random piece of No Man's Land in the middle of a tourist paradise. It goes way back to the old lease agreement between Great Britain and China. Once you step out of the sunlight into the narrow corridors, it's time to protect your nuts, guys."

Clip from Crime Story (Wong, 1993). This is the climax of the film, which featured actual explosions from Kowloon's demolition, according to its wiki page.

Off the top of my head, good fiction film substitutes (unrelated and unlike Trigun/Trimax) which more illustrate what life might have been like in these places, may be films like Wong Kar Wai's Fallen Angels (1995) and Chungking Express (1994) - though these films take place at the Chungking Mansions, Kowloon Walled City's more modern cousin. I thought of Wong's films because he treated the mansions as a character more than as a location. His films showed examples of immense density, globalisation, and a bit of that noir crime stuff within small and unusually intimate spaces. They also reflected Hong Kong's complicated anxiety as the city was approaching its handover from British to Chinese rule.

Panel from Vol. 4 Ch. 7; Screencap from Chungking Express (Wong, 1994).

To talk more about Hong Kong cinema itself would be much longer than a tumblr post but if Nightow is connected with Rodriguez's films via Desperado (1995), Rodriguez and his collaborative friend Tarantino are connected with Hong Kong films from those like John Woo and Ringo Lam. One example: Mexican standoffs are tropes used in various films, but we see them frequently enough in Tarantino's films and in Hong Kong action cinema that it becomes noteworthy.

Panel from Vol. 5 Ch. 3

Panel from Vol. 5 Ch. 5

Kowloon Walled City which was demolished in 1993, was visually ‘resurrected’ as Ryutsu's Dragon's Nest. Kowloon Walled City was not a city that just looked interesting. It was an agreement between China and Great Britain that was then kind of weirdly botched, thus leaving it pretty much ungoverned. Trimax Vol. 4 was released in 2000, three years after Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China. We don’t get Ryutsu’s history and with the multiple panels of silhouetted buildings against the night sky and hanging laundry in balconies, Ryutsu’s citadel falls into the 'cool manga location' category. Also, I should be clear: these chapters in Trimax are not an analysis or an allegory of Hong Kong's colonial history.

Panel from Vol. 4 Ch. 4; Photo of Kowloon Walled City's alleyway from wiki article.

At the same time, many eyes, including those outside of Great Britain and China, were on the news when the handover occurred. The point is not if Nightow was considering that historic moment or if he happened to be watching Hong Kong films when he was working on these chapters. Instead, I wonder if readers, when they picked up these volumes from the bookshelves, had thought about Hong Kong, Hong Kong’s movies, and Hong Kong’s past and uncertain future, as they were skimming through the pages. But you know… this is 2023 me thinking about 23 years ago. All of this is daydreaming.

I bring up Hong Kong's history and cinema because I wanted to see what I can envision and interpret about Ryutsu and thus about No Man's Land. If Hong Kong via cinema brings imaginations of transnationalism then Ryutsu via Vol. 4 and 5 could do the same for No Man's Land.

There is no literal ocean to divide cities and there are no named countries. There is a broad ‘Federal Government’, so I assume that means the government concerns itself with all settlements in the entire planet. If Ryutsu itself is No Man’s Land’s ‘Hong Kong’ (which opens another discussion of the use and/or misuse of Hong Kong in media - some other time), then despite No Man’s Land being an incredible dystopia, the elimination of borders is, very plainly, very interesting. I am leaning to this being a good thing, considering that one major problem in No Man’s Land tends to be ‘Humans vs. X’ (plants, worms, the planet’s environment etc.). Also, No Man’s Land is already very sparse. No spoilers for later volumes but I am curious about the planet’s future if the population demographic changes.

Panel from Vol. 4 Ch. 4. Western and Eastern hats in the same panel.

There are also thoughts about its class struggles. Vash says in Vol. 4 Ch. 4: "There are too many people here. I don't like it. The lower and upper class all cramped together." ... which really made me think about the conditions the upper class were living in. Kowloon Walled City was known to be unhygienic, dark and cramped and the wealthy did not live there, so how rough was it to live in Ryutsu when a rich person might still need to live in the citadel? I didn't interpret Vash's statement to mean 'citadel plus those outside of it' when the high stakes in these volumes were because of the high density and maze-like streets.

Panels from Vol. 4 Ch. 6; Ch. 7; Ch. 7.

The above panels remind me of establishing shots in gritty crime thrillers than the sci-fi western I had been reading up to this point.

Featured is the Juukei Building - a building that looks pulled from the 20th century. It is tall, drawn sometimes in narrow panels to emphasize its height and to show how small the characters are in the claustrophobic space as they navigate towards it. As characters move through the structure once inside, it becomes more difficult to tell where in the building they are or if they are somewhere adjacent. Combining historical and futuristic designs in Trigun/Trimax isn't new, but it's not often you see 20th century structures. Maybe wealthier residents lived in buildings like this, though the interiors of Juukei look like abandoned offices.

Panel from Vol. 5 Ch. 3.

Or maybe this was meant to be a mixed-use building? But it seems the entire building is abandoned anyway.... So I'm not sure where the upper class is supposed to live or how I should imagine the upper class to be.

Panel from Vol 5. Ch 6.

... After the end of the battle, once morning comes, we no longer see the citadel. The landscapes return to those reminiscent of American Southwestern deserts. Like we dipped into darkness then we returned to the light.

Anyone who knows about Kowloon Walled City would instantly recognise it in Trimax. The imitative Ryutsu Citadel could be read as a cool manga location where a massive shootout plus some serious revelations occur, but I personally am always interested in what else a location can do. It matters if you set a film in New York City versus a nameless location and how you visually convey that city because it can tell us about its people and helps us understand its characters. So to me, I thought it would be fun to look at certain locations in Trimax (with all of Nightow's free-form inconsistencies and confusions) and imagine or interpret what they can tell us about No Man's Land and by extension, the people in No Man's Land.

Other fun facts include: "[...] Japan, in particular, developed a keen interest towards Kowloon. Its demolition in 1993 was broadcast on national television."

[thatbigbisexual29]

Play with us, Papa Rei! (Buddy Daddies)

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM ALL OF US TO YOU! WE WISH IT WAS OUR BIRTHDAY TO WE CAN PARTY TOO HEY! Ayooooo happy birthday to my dearest and bestest friend on this site, @giggly-squiggily !!!!!!!! Gonna be honest, I had this one saved and unfinished in my drafts and thought "She would love this!" so HERE WE ARE!!!!! Like I said in a message before, I'm super glad to have you as a friend! I truly appreciate you and your friendship, you've even inspired me to post some of my own fics! (Which was not as scary as I thought it would be XD Sorry this is a bit late, but I hope you enjoy it! This one is for you :3 And again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

The days when Miri was home from school were probably the most eventful days Rei’s ever experienced in his life. She was such a wild bundle of energy that he could barely keep up sometimes. Thank god Kazuki was there to help out. Even though he barely acknowledged it or said anything, he genuinely loved and appreciated the help the older man gave. And now was no different. She asked, no, demanded that the two build her a massive pillow fort to her liking. And since they couldn’t say no to her cute face, they got to work. Soon enough, all the couch cushions, pillows, and blankets in the house had been used to make a, quite honestly, impressive pillow fort in their living room. And Miri was so overjoyed.

“Thank you Papa Rei! Thank you Papa Kazuki!” she squealed, diving into the opening. Kazuki momentarily panicked as she jumped in with no caution for the structure of the fort! But, he soon relaxed as he saw their girl laughing happily.

“Papas! You need to come in here!” she claimed, grabbing Kazuki by the wrist and pulling him in, giggling loudly at his grunt of surprise. He chuckled and cuddled close to her, making her laugh even more.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Lady Miri! I was afraid I would go cold and hungry this night, but you have saved me! How can I ever repay you??” The blonde man played up, relishing in his daughter’s squeals. Rei lifted up the blanket entrance and watched them, the slightest smile on his lips. He was proud of this. It wasn’t a shabby job, at least not to him, and Rei knew he was going to be invited in by both Miri and Kazuki. As comfy as the inside looked, it would probably heat up real quick. Not to mention he was wearing a long sleeved shirt. So he dropped the blanket curtain and attempted to make his leave.

“Papa Rei, wait!” Miri cried, poking her head from the fort. Rei sighed. Busted. “You need to play with Papa Kazuki and me in the fort! Pleeeeeeeeease???”

“Yeah, pleeeeeeeeease Papa Rei?~” Kazuki also poked his head from the blanket, smirking and egging the former assassin on. With a quiet groan, Rei obeyed their orders and crawled into the space with cheers from the two invitees.

“So! What are we gonna do now, Miri?” Kazuki asked, a big grin on his face. With a starry-eyed look, she ran out the fort yelling behind her, “Let me get my things!” Rei glared at Kazuki, mentally cursing him out for the fate the younger man just exposed them to. The little girl rushed back with an armful of bright hair clips that immediately made the men cringe.

“Let me do your hair Papas!” she asked loudly. And it was less of an ask and phrased more like ‘I’m going to do your hair whether you like it or not.’ Kazuki, of course, didn’t mind. Rei was against this idea entirely. But, like always, he couldn’t say no. Kazuki was first and mixed in with sitting still for Miri to finish his hair, he also had to keep Rei from escaping constantly. After Miri was done making Kazuki a “pretty lady” (Rei chuckled at that), it was Rei’s turn to have all the attention on him. Miri held up a bunch of sparkly bows that she could put in Rei’s hair. The man sat still for several moments as he took in the sight of the bows… then he raced for the exit.

“Wh- REI GET BACK HERE!!!” Kazuki exclaimed, grabbing the former assassin around the waist and falling to the floor with him. “If I have to put silly bows in my hair, then you do too!”

“Never!” Rei shouted as he reached for the door, so close to the outside! Then, Rei felt a poke to his armpit that made him shoot his arm down with a squeak. He turned to look at Miri, who poured angrily yet adorably at the man.

“Papa Rei!” she fussed. “You promised you would play with us! Good daddies don’t make bad promises!”

Kazuki grinned immediately while Rei furrowed his brows with guilt. She was right. He had promised. But then again, that was when he had gotten home from a long day and was half asleep. It technically didn’t count! But he couldn’t let her down… it’s decided then. He will play with his family! … That doesn’t mean he won’t be hard to get though!

“If you tell Papa Kazuki to let me go…” he looked at Miri with a mischievous half-grin. “I’ll tell you where he hides his chocolate pudding!”

Miri gasped excitedly while Kazuki made sounds of betrayal.

“Rei!!! You can’t just do that to me! And Miri! Don’t even think of switching sides! We’re putting bows in his hair whether he likes it or not!” Kazuki declared as he now wrapped his arms around Rei’s chest to keep him in place.

“But Papa Kazukiiiii! I want chocolate pudding!” Miri whined. Rei struggled in Kazuki’s grip, he was stronger than he remembered, as he kept his grin. The pair knew she would start helping Rei as soon as she could. To get her back on track, Kazuki reached out one hand and quickly scribbled his fingers against her belly. Miri squealed with laughter and backed away, holding her tummy as she giggled.

“This is no time for chocolate pudding, Miri! We have to-” Kazuki paused. An idea formed in his head. Rei acted as if he’d read Kazuki’s mind because they made eye contact and the former assassin shook his head feverishly.

“Kazuki, no!” Rei said in a hushed panic. Kazuki only grinned evilly.

“Kazuki yes!! Miri, help tickle Papa Rei!” Kazuki quickly sat on Rei’s thighs as he forced his arms above his head. Huh, he was faster than Rei remembered too.

“Will I get-?” Miri began before Kazuki shouted, “YES you’ll get chocolate pudding!”

“Weeeeee!” Miri squealed as she ran over. Kazuki already started on scratching over Rei’s ribs, giggling at how Rei immediately squeaked at the touch. The former assassin pursed his lips together and puffed out his cheeks in an effort to keep the laughter in. Miri, who began repeatedly poking his side, laughed at his funny face.

“Hahaha! Papa Rei’s making a pooping face!” Miri exclaimed. Kazuki immediately started laughing at her declaration, as he found it hysterically accurate. And with the combination of Miri’s joke, their combined laughter, and the hands tickling over his ribs and sides, tipped the scales a lot quicker than anyone anticipated. Rei started giggling and quietly laughing with his family.

“Aha!” Kazuki barked as he caught these adorable sounds. “Hear that, Miri? He’s laughing! We’re one step closer to getting him to surrender!”

Miri squealed happily and began to use both her hands to poke Rei’s sides, all the while she chanted the words ‘chocolate pudding’ over and over again. Rei shook his head back and forth with glee, smiling wide and freely as Kazuki turned his hand into a claw and vibrated them in between his ribs.

“Khehehehehehe! Ahahahahahahahaaaa! Sttthhahahahahahahap! Get off mehehehehehehe! M-Mirihihihihihi, quihihihihihihit it! Kahahazukihihi, knock it ohohohohoff!” Rei wheezed with laughter as he addressed the man above him and the girl beside him. He rocked his torso back and forth as the two continued to tickle the former assassin silly.

“Papa Kazuki! Let’s get his tummy!” Miri said. Kazuki gasped with delight as Rei groaned in despair.

“That’s a great idea Miri!” Kazuki said as he shoved Rei’s shirt up to his neck. Rei continued to shake his head no, but his smile didn’t leave his face at all. “Alright, Miri! Should we do raspberries or nibbles?”

Rei’s eyes shot wide open at the question and he tried to sit up and pull his hands away. Miri placed her finger to her chin and pondered, humming in thought. Rei tried hard to yank his wrists from Kazuki’s hand, but that bastard just kept him still using his other hand! Rei growled at him and Kazuki stuck out his tongue.

“Raspberries!” was Miri’s decision.

“Raspberries it is then! You ready, Rei?~” Kazuki cooed at his partner, wiggling his eyebrows at the younger man. Rei attempted to scowl at the blonde, but his wavering smile would not leave his features. Then he jerked and barked out a laugh as Miri blew a raspberry on the former assassin’s side. Miri giggled hysterically at his reaction.

“That’s not funny Miri!” Rei fussed, blushing like no one’s business. Kazuki and Miri began laughing again.

“Of course it is, Rei!” Kazuki exclaimed. He was next to dip his head down to Rei’s smooth belly and blow a torturous raspberry.

“GAHAHAHAHAHA! Ohohokay- ohokay. Thahat’s enough. That’s enoHOHAHAHAHAHAF! NOHOHOHOHOHOHOOO! Ehehehehehehehehehe! C-C’mohohon! Youhu guys!” Rei tried to argue, but he was interrupted by the two taking turns and blowing raspberries until his wheezy laughter turned silent.

After one final raspberry from Kazuki, the blonde man let go of the former assassin and scooped Miri in his lap so they could give him a break. The younger man immediately curled up after being let go and panted, still giggly after the whole ordeal. Miri covered her mouth and giggled with him while Kazuki took in the sights and sounds fondly.

“So,” he started, “you gonna actually play with us now?”

Rei peeked his eye open and looked at the two, noticing how big Miri’s eyes were, hopeful that he’d say yes. Rei just chuckled and pat her head.

“Yeah, I’ll play.”

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!” Miri squealed at the top of her lungs. She wiggled out of Kazuki’s grip and jumped onto Rei’s arm, flopping over him and laughing while he grunted. The older man growled in a playful manner and caught the little girl in his arms.

“I’m gonna eat you!” he exclaimed as he nuzzled his face into her ear, lightly nibbling it and making the girl squeal and laugh like no tomorrow. Kazuki  leaned his head on his knee and watched on lovingly, thinking that his life couldn’t get better than this. In truth, it could, especially when he saw their reactions to pulling out three cups of chocolate pudding.

Happy Birthday, Rei, he thought.

[lover-of-mine]

When Buddie goes Canon all I ask for is a Buddie begins episode. How would you imagine it? For me the final shot of the last epsiode would be a angsty emotional kiss.

Then we pick up with them in the kitchen where they hash everything out. I want all the clips they have filmed but never used in there to tell a narrative. Maybe they move room to room. And when they bring up stuff like the bachelor party, we get the karaoke scene, you know? Explaining what it was like for both of them to see the other almost die. Talking about insecurities if they mess this up for Chris. What if Chris objects.

But I really want narrative dialogue between them pointing out everything we have ever guessed. Maybe the tit for tat of something like, I asked Marisol out because I brought you on a poker date then you said Natalia saw you. Please even bring up "you want to go for the title". Just a whole episode of them reflecting on how their story was started. Then ending with a, so are we going to try this?

Also maybe it's left in limbo for a few episodes where we don't know what the answer was and we scream in pillows examining everything about them till we get Hen and Karen catching them on a date.

I want a buddie begins episode so bad I can't even tell you how much I want it, but I would kinda chang the structure around a little bit, when I think about it, I kinda think about the scene in Teen Wolf where we find out Lydia has had feeling for Stiles since their kiss in s3 and grey's anatomy and the episode where Jackson and April get a divorce, I kinda want different perspectives to be added to established scenes while also getting adjacent stuff, not necessarily being that on the nose as to have them say oh I did this because you did that, but having Eddie confirm he felt like Buck had rejected him at cemetery in a more subtle way. Like, I wanna know about Eddie's conversation with his lawyer, I wanna see the scene of Eddie losing his composure Ryan allegedly filmed for 611 and we never saw, I wanna see them reflecting on the shit that happened to them, I mean, I really want them talking, just look the fics I write, but like, my theory so far is that it would work the best if they kissed in the heat of the moment and were forced to deal with the consequences later, so you have an episode ending with them kissing, their relationship forever changed, and then they're at Eddie's house talking, and I like the idea of them moving around a lot, so going through rooms while they kinda forcing each other to say stuff while showing other things to us. I honestly think about a buddie begins episode more than I should tbh. I don't love the idea of them getting caught tho, I wanna see them make the decision of sharing they are together, but that's personal preference. It would be fun if we got left on limbo after the conversation for an episode and we are all putting every interaction under a microscope trying to figure it out. I also see a buddie begins episode happening kinda like 606 is for henren, but we have something charged happening the episode before, maybe even a kiss, but we are in limbo, they are being #weird, and then something goes wrong, they get trapped on a call, one of them gets hurt, car crash, let's face it, it's buddie, they are not getting a peaceful get together, and they are forced to face stuff while trying to save themselves and we get those flashes intertwined with the situation in the present. It could be fun. I really want a buddie begins episode lol

[blackjackkent]

"Foolish," Rakha mutters. "I remember nothing before the nautiloid's darkness. And I have known many dark things since. This horror is no different."

"Yes," Lae'zel agrees, low and curt, her voice resonant in the swirling shadows. "Fear serves us no purpose, and we shall cut it down along with our enemies."

"The curse of this place is built on the fear that consumes those who face it," Minthara says gravely. "We shall not give it the satisfaction."

"Well. All right," Wyll says dryly. "If no one else will say it, I will - that house is terrifying."

It's one of the more complete structures they've found in this corner of the shadowlands, which appears to have long since been ransacked by some terrible battle. It's also utterly saturated by the shadow curse; it seems to have soaked through the wood, drifting like smoke through the windows, bleeding along the ground.

In spite of her assertions to the contrary, it makes Rakha shudder to look at it. The magic here hurts, and drawing closer to this building, it hurts even more than usual, like hailstones rather than pinpricks along her skin and behind her eyes.

"It's not a mausoleum," she says curtly. "It is not what we are looking for."

"Chk," Lae'zel mutters. "We will not turn in fear from an empty building. There may be supplies of use inside."

Rakha hisses out a heavy breath between her teeth and shifts uneasily. "Let us search it quickly, then, and be gone from here."

She takes three steps forward, just inside the building's rotten doorframe--

"BOO!"

The child surges out of the darkness and Rakha lets out a startled screech. A burst of fire, quickly clipped off, erupts around her in all directions, narrowly missing the boy. He seem at all bothered by the reaction he's engendered at all; he just laughs.

"I scared you!" he crows. "I saw it! Nobody beats me at hide and seek." He bounces on the balls of his feet eagerly, looking at the trio of furious women (and one deeply concerned man) staring down at him. "Will you play with me?"

Rakha stares blankly at the boy. Her heart is thumping, blood pulsing behind her eyes so fiercely that she can barely see. KILL, says the beast. KILL BEFORE IT KILLS YOU.

She remembers Arabella with the snake's fangs inches from her throat. She remembers Mirkon running from the harpies. She remembers Mol, confident and calm in the Last Light courtyard - "I'd pretty much trust her with my life." This is a child. This is not an enemy.

Is it?

"Who are you?" she rasps out unsteadily, her fists clenched with the effort not to lash out.

"I'm Oliver!" the boy says brightly. "I'm seven. Will you play with me?'

Rakha's pulse settles into something a little more manageable, though her eyes are still dilated with barely restrained violence. Is it one of the tiefling children, somehow still alive? It would explain his presence here, but not the gleeful smile on his face. None of the surviving tieflings have smiled.

And the curse swirls around him as it does around the house, seeping through the crevices in his clothing and the pores of his skin, and she can see a subtle wince of pain under the smile.

"I don't have time for this..." she mutters.

Because she has work to do; she must find Balthazar. But also because she does not know how to play. No one has ever asked her before. What would he do if she said yes?

His eyes narrow, now, at her words. "Make time," he says sulkily. "I want to play. Or else."

A threat. She squints at him warily. No, this is no tiefling child, in spite of his appearance. That threat has weight behind it. Something clicks in the back of her mind - what Halsin said about the curse. The spirit of the land - he described it as a boy.

"In a moment," she says slowly. "Maybe. Have you seen another little boy? His name is Thaniel."

Something dark and angry flashes into the boy's face and he takes a step back. "I don't know anyone called that," he snaps. "Don't ask me again."

Then his gaze clears again and he grins. "Now play with me!"

Rakha hesitates. Her eyes flick to Wyll uncertainly. Before she can say anything, he steps forward past her and crouches down to the boy's height. "You want to play?" he says gently. "Fine."(*)

The boy's whole attitude brightens excitedly. "All right!" he says eagerly. "I'll hide, and you seek!"

Rakha tilts her head slowly to one side, parsing this. Perhaps he recognizes her confusion, because his grin widens. "Find me, and you win!" he explains.

Rakha makes a low, frustrated noise in the back of her throat. This is a waste of time; it will not help them find Balthazar. And yet... perhaps the boy is connected to the curse, to Halsin's plan for ending it. She can't just leave...

She breathes out heavily. "All right. Let's begin."

He pokes a finger towards her dramatically. "Get ready! And no cheating!"

Then he vanishes.

-----

"You know this game?" Rakha asks slowly.

"Sure - children play it all the time. One hides, the other finds them." Wyll looks at Minthara and Lae'zel, both of whom are stone-faced. "Back me up here."

"A child hiding in a secret nook in the Underdark runs a great risk of being eaten by those things that lurk in the darkness," Minthara says gravely.

Lae'zel shrugs. "Stealth is a skill taught to all yanki in a creche," she says. "But such games are frivolous. To be caught in a trial of stealth is to be caught in failure."

Wyll sighs. "Well. We played it in the Gate, anyway," he says ruefully. "Come on. Let's find the boy. Perhaps if we win a few games, we can convince him to come talk to Halsin."

----

(*) Rakha's line in-game, obviously. But it makes more sense for Wyll to take the lead here. And I wanted Rakha to experience hide and seek. XD

[tyrantisterror]

Since HB/HH have been criticized for making hell basically just a red-tinted LA with slightly more violence and crime, I want to ask if you have any advice for making a fantastical setting unique and set it apart from Earth.

In my story the protagonists, a bunch of human kids will have to go to the Realm of Faerie/Fairyland for a mission, and I want to showcase it as a place similar yet in some respects significantly different from Earth. Fairyland is the homeland of the fair folk as well as other mythological beings and fantastical flora and fauna, but I want to hear your advice on how to make it even more different from Earth, if thats possible.

For the record, I have not watched Helluva Boss or the other one outside of that one clip of Beelzebub, and do not intend to after being asked politely not to by one of its fans.

So, when it comes to building a fantastical setting/world building in general, the approach that works for me is to think about what would naturally result from the the fantastical elements you plan to have in it. Like, in my wizard books, there's a character who's a dragon, and a smart-enough-to-talk sort of a dragon at that, and at one point the human characters enter the cave he calls home. So I thought to myself, "How would a sapient, intelligent creature modify its home if it had the big, giant body of a fire-breathing dragon?" Scaly skin means he can keep lots of the rough edges of the stone walls as is, since his armor protects him from it. He hoards things as dragons do, but he's smart, so he could probably dig out some crude shelves to place his treasure on to give it a better display. He doesn't need a kitchen because dragons can cook food with their fire breath, but he would need a larder. He wouldn't need furniture since reptiles are pretty much comfortable resting/sleeping on any surface and weird pose they decide to stop in, but since reptiles in real life actually like the sensation of resting their scaly bodies on soft surfaces like fur, he'd probably keep some animal hides around as rugs for comfort. Oh, and going with the fire theme, why not have him burn incense? It's not something most people would think of as a dragon activity, but it makes sense given their proclivity for lighting things on fire - if humans do controlled burns of nice-smelling herbs, why wouldn't a creature with a built in flame thrower?

That's a lot of stuff just from riffing off of the idea of "what does a dragon's house look like," but it results in a lot of little important details about the environment this fantastical creature lives in, and it's all spun off from that creature's core concept.

I had a high school creative writing teacher who stressed that the most important question you can ask while creating a narrative is always some variation of "what if?" If we have a dragon, what has to also exist in the world to support it? If we have a dragon, what does it eat and how does it eat it? If we have a dragon, where does it live, and how does it make that home to live in, and how is that home structured, and what does it keep in it? If we have a dragon, does it speak, and if it's smart enough to speak, how does it spend its leisure time, and what does it do with the capacity for abstract thought? On and on and on the questions go until suddenly you've got a good portion of your world fleshed out into something interesting and unique.

[veebs-hates-video-games]

Let's see if I can sort out what to say about Fire Emblem Engage yet, which might end up with a bit of commentary on other games in the series, which I guess is appropriate since it's basically an anniversary game. The short version is that I feel like a lot of the hate for it from The Gamers is extremely exaggerated, and even though it's not perfect it's probably my favorite Fire Emblem game at this point.

Like most people old enough to have been around at the time my main introduction to Fire Emblem was through SSBM, although in my case I didn't really care about the characters in that so much. Specifically it was the inclusion of Together We Ride in the soundtrack that got my attention. I still have an mp3 somewhere that I recorded from the game by hooking up the line out of my GameCube to the line in on my laptop.

I didn't actually play the GBA games because I never had a GBA of my own, so I started with Path of Radiance instead and have played a decent number of the games since then at least part way through. Still need to get around to Shadows of Valentia one of these days, but it'll probably be my next FE/3DS game when I do.

Up until now I'd say Awakening was my favorite of them. It was pretty satisfying mechanically without being overly complex like Fates (which was great if you really like planning everything out and min-maxing stuff, but it's all a bit much the first time through playing casually), it had a bunch of fun characters and supports, the music is frequently excellent, and the story is completely ridiculous in a fun way.

In a lot of ways Engage felt very similar to Awakening to me, which was great for me. I don't think I could convincingly argue that any other game in the series is anywhere near as fun for me in terms of gameplay. It's incredibly flexible in terms of what you can do with your units and what kinds of team compositions will work, especially on lower difficulties, but it manages to achieve that flexibility without being overly complex in an intimidating way, and a lot of the map design is excellent too.

It does a great job of encouraging you to try different things out by the way the maps are structured and enemies are placed and various different gimmicks on them and is full of moments early on that demonstrate the value of different units and abilities without directly telling you what to do. There's a lot of stuff set up in ways that don't just hand you a victory and have multiple ways to approach them, usually more than one of which makes you feel very clever for pulling something fancy off.

And the Emblem abilities that are restricted in use by being situational and on long cooldowns let them give you some truly ridiculous stuff that would be broken in any other game but feels perfect here, and it lets you do some absolutely bonkers stuff once-ish per map as a result. A lot of it gets balanced out by giving bosses multiple health bars though, which solves so many design problems and stops you from just warping a single unit there to burst them down instantly. That and sometimes having multiple bosses on the same map really forces you to use the ridiculous emblem abilities and take advantage of your whole team you've deployed a lot more often.

I know there are some people who don't love it aesthetically, and that's fine, but just on a technical level it's easily one of the best-looking games on the Switch. Seeing clips of Three Houses again after playing Engage for a while is rough. It feels like looking at a PS2 game running in an emulator, and Engage feels easily at least two full console generations ahead in terms of the tech it uses and the results they get out of it. Plus I actually love the art style too, with all the bright colors and overdesigned characters and stuff, and the combat animations are probably the best the series has ever had.

And I suppose the big thing that the most people complain about is the writing and story. You know what? They're fine. As far as I'm concerned the series has never had top tier writing (sometimes it's pretty decent like the Tellius games or Three Houses, but even those have some issues), and if that's really what I'm in the mood for I have plenty of other options for that. Just from stuff I've played this year there's been Future Redeemed, 13 Sentinels, The House in Fata Morgana, and probably some others I'm not immediately thinking of.

It's not like a story or its characters have to be super deep to be fun or interesting or serve their purpose in a piece of media either, and for me Engage managed to do that for me in the same way Awakening did. I genuinely enjoyed spending several dozen hours with a lot of the characters, and the story's a bit silly sometimes but did what it needed to to bring a bunch of random characters together and through an adventure together.

And something unprecedented for me for a Fire Emblem game (and pretty uncommon for games in general) is that I immediately wanted to play it again right after finishing. Usually I want to see more of the supports and any optional stuff I might've missed (e.g. optional recruits and stuff), but that's not enough of a motivation to play through the whole game again, especially not right away. This time though in addition to that the game mechanics are so satisfying that I wanted more of that too, especially with all the units I never really used and all the new silly build ideas I started coming up with toward the end of the game as I understood how everything worked better. I've been holding back from actually doing it yet because there's so much other stuff I'm trying to get through or finish up, but there's a pretty good chance I'll start over again at some point in the next few months, maybe after SoV and/or going back and finishing my replay of PoR I started earlier this year before getting distracted by this game.

Engage is almost definitely my favorite Fire Emblem game at this point and easily in my top five games I've played this year, probably in the top three. I think it's probably number one for gameplay, with 13 Sentinels for story and Future Redeemed for all aspects combined overall, and Unpacking is an honorable mention for general vibes.

[acceleracers-baby]

Small Acceleracers Rant!Wylde Brothers Edition!

I’ll structure this a little more later but I just need to get this outta my head. I feel like we need to talk about the injuries (physical and psychological) that all the drivers have sustained through the span of this 5 movie series. Let’s start with the Wylde brothers.

For example, and I know it’s explained in World Race via a throw away line when Vert gets thrown off the track and he ends up being completely fine, BUT during the same movie the Wylde brothers get their shit pushed in so hard I’m astounded they survived. Specifically, when Markie gets the most extreme case of whiplash I have ever seen when the track blows up and he saves himself last second with his car’s grappling hook. His head whips forward super hard, definitely hitting his steering wheel, and then when the car finally catches, it slams his head back against the head rest, knocking him out for long enough that Kurt has enough time to not only reach his little brother, but argue & fight with the clip drones.

This isn’t the only time something like that happens to Mark either!! Literally in the next movie (Ignition) Mark has to use the same move when he flys off the side of a cliff during the race between Tork & Nolo in the beginning of the movie, only this time he’s not wearing a helmet!

Kurt also suffers multiple crazy injuries in World Race! I will cite when he pulls a titanic and flys into a huge ass block of ice while trying to show off against Vert in the last few miles of the Ice Track. That wasn’t even his worst crash though! After what was probably only a few hours later, he sends his car flying into Gelorum’s little jet car thing, effectively saving Vert, but it also sends both him and Gelorum FLYING HUNDREDS??? THOUSANDS?? Of feet to their deaths?? Jk they both survive- but the way that was animated was WILD. On top of that, the fact that Kurt was able to just walk that shit off always leaves me cackling. Not to mention, Kadeem round house kicking him and then yeeting his ass off the track, leaving him to fall/slide down the pyramid into the sand.

What I’m getting at here is both the Wylde brother HAVE to have some sort of problems with their heads. Whether that be memory issues from repeated blunt force head trauma, or even frequent migraines/light sensitivity/possible seizures. Couple that with the psychological trauma both brothers have endured? Yikes! These poor guys.

Like I said, I’d like to take a more in depth & organized look at this stuff with all the racers, but this is the one that’s just been plaguing me the most for the past few days.

——— Thanks for Reading! ———

[bumblebeeappletree]

Jude constructs a hot compost bay layered with the perfect ingredients to feed a productive patch.

On a sloping block in the Blue Mountains, Jude has many projects on the go. To keep the garden cranking, Jude’s been learning a lot about compost. “This stuff is gold,” says Jude, “it adds nutrients, water and is the life of the soil.” Here’s how to construct a hot compost bay to feed a productive patch.

The Built Structure:

Jude’s two-bay compost system can house about two cubic metres and was constructed with the help of a mate. They’ve used recycled pallets which are heat treated to make sure the compost is safe to put on edible produce. It has gates at the front, low enough for a wheelbarrow, and is clad with corrugated iron. Jude says the corrugated iron “makes a really good backing when you're digging into the compost, and they also heat it up.” It’s a good idea to install a chicken-wire tube in the centre of the bay for airflow.

Compost is broken down organic matter and is full of nutrients that plants thrive on. Organic matter is anything that was once alive, like plants, animals, and even manures. This material can be broken down slowly by worms in a cool compost system, but in a hot compost system, it’s broken down by millions of micro-organisms and fungi. A big mass of material paired with a lot of microbial action generates a lot of heat. Jude says, “hot compost is a great way to get a lot of compost in a very short amount of time.”

Hot compost needs to be built it all in one go, at least one cubic metre in size. Jude says smaller composts “won't generate the heat required to breakdown the organic matter.” The ideal temperature for hot compost is 60°C, anything higher is way too hot to support the microbes. Regular turning for airflow will help manage the temperature. Jude’s got the perfect ingredients for a healthy hot compost habitat to provide these critters food, air and moisture.

Green & Brown Materials:

Good compost has “a mix of greens and browns,” says Jude. Brown layers are carbon-rich material such as cardboard, sticks, newspaper and straw. These offer energy to the microbes, absorb moisture and improve airflow. Green layers are not always green in colour. Greens are nitrogen-rich materials such as grass clippings, coffee grounds and food scraps. Jude says, “as a general rule of thumb, you want at least twice as much of the carbon-rich material as the nitrogen-rich green stuff.”

Layer #1: Brown:

Cover the base with a carbon layer of sticks and twigs. The rough textures allow excess water to drain, will bulk out the base and help oxygen get into the pile. Jude says, “when I'm adding a layer of carbon, I'm watering it in. I'm aiming for a pile that's moist but not soaking wet.” A layer of wet newspaper on top of the twigs will help create this environment.

Layer #2: Green:

Repurpose your old kitchen scraps and leafy garden waste. Jude says, “avoid meat, bread and dairy” to keep rodents away, and make sure you’re “not adding any weeds with seeds, bulbs or runners.” Break big sections up with a spade to help it breakdown faster. Jude says, “adding diverse nutrients like comfrey will help fire up microbial life.”

Layer #3: Brown:

A thick layer of straw mulch will act as a blanket for all that heating mass underneath. In two weeks, this pile can be lifted and moved into the second bay and turned every few weeks. Check the pile regularly to see if it needs more water or aeration.

You’ll know it's ready when it begins to look like yummy crumbly chocolate cake. Like the one Jude’s brother Charlie was inspired to make - what a team!