#so i'm kinda tied on which ending i 'prefer'- i think both are good though

[hoofpeet]

I'd probably have to read the printed version and web version back to back at some point to note all the differences but... ough

[chubberdy]

Gonna ramble/rant a bit about game dev stuff in this community since I'm thinking about it now.

Obviously there's a lot of things that come down to preference when it comes to kink, doubly so for games. Even beyond the kink itself, there's always a weird balancing act of how "gamey" to make a game. Like yeah for regular games having more engaging gameplay is better but I've seen plenty of people say that having to pay too much attention to a game distracts them from enjoying the kink side of things.

Fair enough I guess, but honestly at some point you just gotta accept a game is a game, you know? Go play a VN or look at the myriad of non-game art that there's waaaay more of if you want that.

Kinda ties into how I feel about debug/cheat modes, at least for the stuff I make. Yeah I know there's a lot of good reasons for the average person to want them (save file broke, checking for missed content after beating the game, for spacethumper specifically testing out custom sprites). I still get that crappy feeling whenever someone asks for one that they just don't care about all the game design I put into the game. Which feels bad because I love game design and coding stuff! It's fun! I spend way more time on it than the art/animations both out of necessity and because I like it!

Like one of the things I think about for weight gain games specifically is how to get that feeling of weight and heft without making things a slog. Don't get me wrong, I go nuts for someone slowly huffing and panting their way across the room at a third their original speed as much as the next guy, but sluggish, unresponsive, tedious movement in a game can be... well sluggish, unresponsive, and tedious. Sometimes being out of control in a game is fun though! You just gotta set it up so the kink and the gameplay go hand in hand. That's probably why I'm so averse to bad ends, though that might just be them not being done well a lot of the time.

Oh also for the sake of all indie game devs out there:

Check for a description

Check for a read me

Check for a FAQ

If you're on a forum or anything like that check the last 5 or so posts

THEN ask the dev your question. And if the question is "when next update" just don't.

[theproloser34]

So at the end of every year, I always find it interesting to see how my music taste has changed throughout the year. Which is why I LOVE Spotify Wrapped day and seeing what my top 5 songs of the year were. And this year, I was actually kinda surprised.

Now, it’s not wrong, I absolutely played these songs a bunch, but I wouldn’t say they were my FAVORITE songs this year. They just came out very early in the year and were able to add up plays before anything else. So that got me thinking, what were my FAVORITE songs this year? Not the ones that I played the most, but what had the most impact, whether it just be an earworm or the meaning of the song. So why not write and list them out! I like analyzing my thoughts too much.

I’ll keep my choices to just one song per artist. It'll be however many songs I wanna add. Details don’t really matter, it’s my list, I add whatever I want. Expect a VERY long posts and a lot of links to songs if you want to check them out. (DO IT. I swear I have good music taste.)

1) First off, I gotta start with DO BETTER by Ab-Soul off of his latest album HERBERT. Ab-Soul has been in my top 5 rappers probably for the past decade and my second favorite of TDE other than Kendrick. HERBERT was his most personal album to date, and nothing shows that better than DO BETTER. A lot of his album is inspired by the events that happened in his life during the pandemic including one of his best friends dying and his own failed suicide attempt and his subsequent trip to rehab. You can easily hear all the pain and survivor's guilt he has, but also the determination to turn around and come out stronger. The instrumentation is both extremely haunting and calming. I always come out of this feeling inspired to deal with my own issues. The line "I gotta do better, I gotta do better, I guided you better. There's nothing they can do that I can't do better. Better yet, there's nothing I can do that I can't do better. Yeah, I'm better," never stops giving me chills.

2) I've been slowly getting into EDM these past couple years. And one big part of my learning of the genre is Skrillex, who came back and surprise dropped TWO albums in TWO days. And both were really good albums that showed multiple different styles of EDM. Whether you prefer more dark and grungy beats like the songs in Quest For Fire, or if you rather have more bright, poppy sounds in Don't Get Too Close, there will be something for you in these two albums. The song that most stood out to me though was a good mix of the two with the opener for Quest For Fire, Leave Me Like This. The standout part of this song is the earworm of a vocal hook, which gives a wonderful strong melodic element to the song. Combined with the synths creates a strong hypnotic pre-drop section for the song. Of course the drop contains the more grungy parts of the song, especially the growly bass the introduces the drop of the song. But my favorite part of this section tis the repeated, pitched up "left, right, left" chant helps keep the rhythmic center in the song as the drums get more complex in the drop. Even if you don't enjoy EDM music, I'd listen to Skrillex's new releases because you get such a different arrangement of sounds and really see his versatility.

3) Anyone who knows me knows that I have been horribly addicted to hyperpop these past three years and it is definitely unhealthy to my ear drums. And 100 gecs has absolutely been in my top 3 hyperpop artists since they came out. So when they announced they were releasing an album this year, it was instantly one of my most anticipated albums of this year. And they absolutely delivered with 10000 Gecs. They continue to create inventive music with the same brashness, humor, and insanity that drew me to them in the first place. And I'd say this album is just slightly less abrasive to new fans than their past album. Nothing anywhere near as crazy as Money Machine, but all of the tracks contain the unique brand of energy and mix of hip-hop, rock, and pop, with and added element of ska on some songs like I Got My Tooth Removed and Frog On The Floor. But my favorite has to go to the opener of this album, Dumbest Girl Alive. Right away with the first 15 seconds, you can tell they're back on their bullshit with the opening guitar riff and gunshot impacts. And as soon as the drums come in, you get their wonderful blown out sound where I can't help but turn up my speakers to the max. But the obvious standout of this track is Laura Les's performance of this track. A super catchy melody, an earworm of a recurring phrase, "I'm the dumbest girl alive," and multiple quotable lines create a great verse. Plus the bouncy bass continuing with it creates such a wonderful short track that makes me just want to keep repeating it over and over again.

4) The more music I listen to, the more I am drawn to the weird, more eclectic styles of music. Especially with hip-hop, with so much getting made, only the really unique stuff sticks out to me now. Luckily that's the exact type of music Danny Brown and JPEGMAFIA make and together they made one of the best hip-hop albums of this year with Scaring The Hoes. And this music will, in fact, scare the hoes.

JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown are already well known in the Abstract Hip-hop genre, each being strongly characterized by their unique self-production and unique delivery respectively. Both of them have their own unique strength and coming together, they create a landscape of sounds and tracks that you will not hear on any other hip-hop album this year. As has become pretty evident, I'm a sucker for intros. And this album is no different because the intro, Lean Beef Patty, is easily my favorite from this album and was also in my top 5 songs played this year. Even though this song is just 2 minutes, it contains my favorite things about both artists. A sped up sample almost drowned out by the rest of the production, a signature of JPEGMAFIA production. Brash, bold lyrics from JPEGMAFIA such as "Fuck y'all niggas, I feel like Papa John," and "Fuck Elon Musk, eight dollars too much," which honestly just became the slogan for the year. Finally Danny Brown's energy and delivery give an exciting final verse to this song. And wonderful way to start one of the best albums of the year.

5) A group that came out of nowhere for me was grouptherapy. grouptherapy. is a music group consisting of Jadagrace, TJOnline, and SWIM. Their new album "i was mature for my age, but i was still a child" popped up randomly in my Spotify and I was surprised by the quality of there sounds, their charisma, and their chemistry. Each artist clearly has their own style that fits well with the other two and they all trade off so well in each of their tracks, which is essential to a good group dynamic.

Their new album has multiple standouts that show all of the groups' talents such as American Psycho and FUNKFEST. But my personal favorite off of this album is "club song :(" where Jadagrace takes the front stage in a mainly acoustic guitar song. Her voice is allowed to take a front seat and it creates a striking and kinda haunting melody. TJOnline joins in the latter half of the song to add some well added harmony to the song. This was the song that I kept coming back to from this project. Check this group out, cause they should have much more buzz than they have now.

6) Every once in a while, you'll be at a concert and you'll see an opening act that completely surprises you. And then afterwards, you slowly see them gaining more and more clout as they slowly grow to superstardom. That happened to me with Jordan Ward. I had the opportunity to see him perform and a JID x Smino concert as the opener and he absolutely impressed with his energy and singing.

I forgot about him until he released the deluxe version of him latest album FORWARD. I remembered his name and decided to listen finally and he has everything to be one of the next RnB stars. Since then, his album is one a bunch of top albums of the year lists and has even had a NPR tiny desk concert.

My favorite of his so far is MUSTARD. The guitar arpeggiating the chords, the slightly pitched up vocals, and live played drums on this track just work in the best way. 6lack also joins and adds a great second verse. Listen to him, he's gonna be up next soon and you'll want to see his rise.

7) Finally, there's the artist of the year for me, Underscores. I've known of them for a while, but only REALLY got into their music this year. I devoured their last two albums and have been playing them on repeat all year until she announced her new album Wallsocket. It was easily my most anticipated album this year and luckily it exceeded all expectations.

Underscores is a very hard artist to describe because she was one of the hyperpop classic artists but has evolved her sound beyond that. There is still some of that overblown hip-hop, dance pop sound around her music, but there is also more of what I'd say is folk rock in there now with this album. Either way, she still manages to produces some of the most unique soundscapes that I've heard this year.

All three of her singles that she released were in completely different areas. The rock focused "Cops and Robbers", the creepy, slow, and uncomfortable "You don't even know who I am", or the dance EDM focused "Locals (Girls like us)" had be so confused about what the sound of the album would be like. All it did was build up the hype and so I HAD to watch the livestream of the album on release day. And that is easily on of my favorite memories of the year, freaking out with the chat as we uncovered how good of an album this is.

While every song on this project is wonderful, the song the immediately attached itself to my brain was "Uncanny long arms". The song structure here is just hypnotizing to me. The quiet opening of the song going into the first chorus and the first "I can touch my toes" belt is forever into my mind. And the vocal stuttering and breakdown afterwards let me know this song was special immediately but it only gets better.

Jane Remover has a standout second verse on this song and her voice sounds angelic and just floats over the guitar. She had an amazing year in her own career and this song is a standout moment. Her turn on the chorus is even better with added instrumentation and the pure emotion you hear in her voice.

But easily the favorite part of this track to me is the outro, which to long underscores fans will be no surprise. The song being stripped down before jumping right into a bombastic, more rock version of "Kinko's field trip" brought me right back to 2021 and I damn near screamed hearing this on the live stream. Easily my favorite music moment and favorite song of this year. Listen to underscores everyone, you won't regret it.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

I don't have anywhere near as much to say about these songs, but I still want to bring them up because they're fun and were big parts of this year for me.

Stasis - leastfavorite!: Discovered her this year and she is another hyperpop artist that I think deserves more recognition. She released her first EP late last year so listen to it!

nothing2say - Jay Kim: Another artist I discovered this year but released an EP last year. Not really hyperpop, more midwest emo vibes with a little bit of brakence vibes with him. But another album that I'm excited to see grow after listening to them this year.

Damage Gets Done - Hozier: I shouldn't have to say this on this website, but Hozier is a pretty good artist. I listened to the new album he dropped this year and this duet was a standout to me and just couldn't get out of my head.

Maybe Man - AJR: As we now know, I'm a sucker for openers, and damn, is AJR good at them. They always make them fit the themes and sounds of the albums so well. "Maybe Man" is no exception. Probably would've made it onto the favorites list is it came out sooner.

Alright that's it. This post is long enough. Please listen to them! I swear they're good! And I promised not to always talk about music this long! (It's still gonna happen sometimes though. I'm sorry, I can't stop myself.) Also please share your favorite songs! I love seeing people's music tastes and what really connects with them!

[soulsxng]

Bondage, sensory deprivation, and shower sex for Baphomet and Enoch!

@arcxnumvitae | Kink rating! | Accepting!

Bondage

Definitely not | No | Not Really | Its Okay | Kinda | Yes | Fuck yes | There goes my pants |

Bonus: Giving | Receiving | Both

There is a slight lean towards giving, just because he likes the feeling of being able to focus entirely on pleasuring his partner, and being able to watch them squirm as he gets them off again, and again, and again. Double points for both giving and receiving if this is paired with the next thing.

Sensory Deprivation

Definitely not | No | Not Really | Its Okay | Kinda | Yes | Fuck yes | There goes my pants |

Bonus: Giving | Receiving | Both

I...don't think I have to go into this, much. It's solidly in his top 3, and it can be combined with so many other things to make them that much better! He can do all different kinds though, from just sight and/or sound, smell, taste, altering people's sense of feeling, or their sensitivity to things like heat and cold. And he's good at using it all in different amounts when he wants to, to leave his partner squirming, and unable to fully predict what's going to happen next.

Shower Sex

Definitely not | No | Not Really | Its Okay | Kinda | Yes | Fuck yes | There goes my pants |

The logistics of can be a little wonky, sometimes...unless he's using magic; that makes it easier. He likes it, but he prefers bath sex over shower sex any day. I think it's because it generally feels like he can take his time more-- Baet isn't really good at the whole "quickie" thing. At least not with a partner that he's friends or closer with...which is generally the case. He'll want to take enough time to spoil them (and be spoiled in turn, hopefully) properly!

Bondage

Definitely not | No | Not Really | Its Okay | Kinda | Yes | Fuck yes |There goes my pants |

Bonus: Giving | Receiving | Both

Eno is alright with being held down or pinned by his partner, but being actively restrained or tied up? That's actually one way to make him a little uncomfortable...unless he really trusts his partner, anyway. Even then though, it's more of a "I'm doing this because I like seeing my partner get off on it, and I trust them not to do anything that would make me uncomfortable." As for giving, he can get more into that! It's not something he's going to be doing regularly, but it's a nice way to spice things up here and there. He still prefers just pinning his partner down. (Or even better, ordering them to stay put, and seeing how long they can follow through while he's teasing, etc.)

Sensory Deprivation

Definitely not | No | Not Really | Its Okay | Kinda | Yes | Fuck yes |There goes my pants |

Bonus: Giving | Receiving | Both

He definitely likes some sensory deprivation more than others, which is why it's just a "kinda" rating. His sight is hard to truly deprive him of, because while the eyes on his face can be blinded, the eyes that are constantly floating around him (the ones that can't be seen) can't be blinded as easily. But he likes the idea of it, and will generally play along nicely. Sound deprivation isn't as exciting to him.

He's had partners that could dull the sensations that he was able to feel during sex, and they were used for a portion of foreplay or whatever else, and then dropped, so he went from feeling slightly less sensitive to all of a sudden on the verge of overstimulation. He definitely enjoyed that.

Giving is a lot more simple. He likes it!

Shower sex

Definitely not | No | Not Really | Its Okay | Kinda | Yes | Fuck yes |There goes my pants |

He especially likes it if he showers in the morning, it's like a quick little indulgence before he hurries off to take care of his work for the day. He also just likes the feeling of going in with the intent to shower with his partner. Maybe help them wash their hair, giving them sweet little kisses...and both of them end up getting carried away.

[hinamie]

oh my god ok so i know im late I didn't talk about it because it happened during one of my Offline Eras but . but listen ok lisn the new former vandal album sent me THROUgh the FUCKINNG ROOF to be fair i knew it would like i joked about going upstairs to listen to it and cry when it dropped but i didn't think that every fucking song would hit me so hard in the kokoro it made me wail because I too have immense religious guilt ANYWAY im gonna rant incoherently and at length now hope u all missed me

ok first of all gotta shout out the fuckin album title i knew it was gonna be devastating when I saw it . fuckin. divine interference????? music for god's playthings indeed i eat that shit up i was like yoooooo hes also got a bone to pick with jesus go off bestie <333

so former vandal are artists visionaries kings so ofc tracklist is all mythology n religion-inspired (lazarus/goliath/ouroboros etc) and i think its so cool that theyre all in caps until u get to the end and the final song is denial and it's in lowercase and maybe its simple but i was like ART. ARTTTTTT. and it made me go back and look at the tracklist of their previous album and I realized that the whole thing was about vices and unhealthy coping with an overwhelming and forsaken existence but then the final song was Get Right (still my go-to comfort song to this day tbh tbh tbh) and it's like an acknowledgement that ok maybe none of this is the answer and something has to change anyway wrong album oops back 2 divine interference

i made a point of listening to the songs that hadnt been released as singles first so the first song i listened to was Lazarus and tbh probably my fav song on the album maybe tied with parables and maaaaybe even icarian. BUT LAZARUS SLAPS SOS SOSOOSO HARD god the theme of not knowing how to leave something behind even when it's bad for you,,, both criticizing but also mirroring the actual story of lazarus in the lyrics being like "wow kinda fucked up of god for resurrecting u without ur consent" but also acknowledging that he himself is guilty of holding onto the things that kill him.,,, GOD ITS SO FUCKING G GOOD I FDFGSADFGDG

salt also !!! BANGER not quite up there with the likes of lazarus but it gets bonus points because a. i lov the idea of starting to recognize that you're coming into yourself n an identity apart from your vices n traumas and b. for having two of the most RAW lines in the entire album imo which is reaaallly saying something: "now that everything's bright I guess I'm fine/but there's an art in the dark that took years to refine" and "the spark of divine intervention/that I'm still terrified I've left behind" (ALBUM TITLE DROP ALBUM TITLE DROP) god these two just dont miss and i love it but i am far too neurodivergent to contain myself they need to give me a break pls i am v i b r a t i n g

ok gonna move into the Chill(tm) tracks I think with goliath as well as shame/rotten I vibe more with the lyrics than the actual songs because i prefer my angsty alt pop to be Upbeat thank u very much but can i just say. the lyrics of these two songs ESPECIALLY SHAME/ROTTEN LIKE ok first of all i love the tonal shift halfway through that manages not to make them feel like completely different songs it's just jarring enough like there's been an acceptance of sorts,, like omg same i too am like 'god i feel like the scum of the earth might as well own it a bit',, "the fear of god/the need for blame" fuckin bullseye ow,, "I starve to feed the parts of me/far from who i oughta be/tell me are you proud of me yet?" FUCKIN BULLSEYE OWW

I know i just said i prefer my angst upbeat but crocodile tears (very upbeat very rock wuaw) is probably my least favourite track if i had to pick but it does have a lyrical BANGER of an opening verse ("holding the hand that's holding me under" g o d) i think i just don't dig the overall melody too much and find the ending a bit repetitive fr my tastes,, who knows though it took a while and many re-listens for ouroboros to grow on me maybe this'll b a similar story ,, but then again ouroboros had the advantage of echoing mine own mental health and self-destructive behaviours shdgj

ok so i was crying from the beginning right but the songs that made me ugly bawl were growing pains (very similar vibes to get right but in a "i know that i'm healing" way rather than a "i need to heal" way) and denial,, but starting w growing pains,, my god idk What they did with the mic/vocals after the bridge but it felt like the music was being injected directly into my ears secret direct path 2 my bloodstream god I hadnt felt chills like that in such a long time and idk just the whole Mood of the song having been hurting for so long and only now starting to recognize the damage you've done but also appreciate the progress youv made,,, i have so so many emotions but DENIAL (its funny saying it in caps bc its the only track in lowercase getit getit) oh my god ths going straight on the list of Songs That Make Me Think About My Relationship With My Dad but also Songs That Make Me Emo About All The People I've Grown Apart From and i think its so powerful to frame a personal transition away from faith as growing apart from an old friend and missing them despite any hard feelings holy shit though holy shit . the first listen by this point i had already been emotionally devastated by the Whole Album so i was like ok surely ill get a break by the last song lol nope sorry i ended up crying so hard i think i gave myself a headache

I think I must have yelled about the songs that they released as singles when they dropped individually but it's been so long that i forget what i said but honestly parables and icarian are still just as good as when i heard them for the first time (when parables dropped i spilled my tea on my fucking notes bc i was vibing too hard),, I love parables' msg of accepting the lessons ur (traumatic) past taught u and how it shaped u as a person even if u recognize that that person is someone hurt and in need of healing and maybe that has to happen alone! and i know for a fact i've gushed about icarian (still one of the most gojocore songs Ever imho dont fight me on this) but now looking at it in the context of the rest of the album i love that it's first cause it really frames the whole icarus thing of having flown too close to the sun or to god and getting burned and that pain essentially being the catalyst for the entire Journey tht the rest of the album outlines (obsessed w the fact that the next song is jaded like fr having these two songs one after the other is literally "fucked around/found out" gsfhjsh)

but all that being said not to b dramatic but this album destroyed me it rearranged something deep in my soul and i don't know who i was before it but i probably wont ever be the same :) i literally love these two so much im so appreciative of them its so rare to feel so Seen by a piece of media so to have an entire album hit so incredibly close to home for me and slap while doing so????? i feel so lucky . this entire album feels like taking the first step to address years of hurt and self destruction it feels like losing a friend it feels like finding yourself and i just . i love it so much

[smallfry372659]

okay so we know about your Neo 3, mod, but what about your other agents?

(This was the question I wanted to get since I introduced Chevelle lmao thank you!!!)

(So my agents don't follow the same kinda pattern a lotta other people do with theirs!)

(My Captain 3 is named Osprey, Ozzy for short. She's Australian, Aboriginal most likely. Not the brooding type of Captain, but still a massive dweeb. Talks like an anime protag, conductor of the chronic pain train, kinda chipper and more of a mentor to agents like Neo 3 and 4. Likely to kick your beak in if you're being a jerk tho so they're not a pushover. She/they pronouns! About 22/23 still deciding here. Probably Pan, probably Poly, doesnt care about gender. VERY stupid about self care and pushes themself too hard a LOT. Captain of both the NSS but also the squid sisters fanclub. Probably was in a lil fling with each Squid Sister separately at different points. Both ended on good terms!)

(Agent 4 is Polaris, or as Marie calls them "Lari", which makes them f u m e. They also get called Bi-Polar for being an easily ticked off bisexual who can't stick to a gender identity. ADHD/Autism swag is off the charts too. Like this is my lil skrungle who punches people during Turf. Probably has rabies? Ate a raw bird once for 3k G. Has trouble applying themself to anything other than Agent Work, which they love. 20, they/them is their usual pronouns but they'll switch em around with she or he or sometimes it pronouns. Most likely French Canadian if I had to give them a voice. 100% Dated the Fiddler from Bottom Feeders, broke up because she wanted to fight to keep things "fresh".)

(My 8 is Oracle. Former Elite who fell into the Metro after engaging with Captain and Cuttlefish while out on patrol with her partner. She's got quite a checkered past that's actually tied to an oc centric story I'm writing but the short of it is that theyre a clone of an AWFUL scientist from Octo Canyon and she's really trying to distance herself from that. Trans lesbian swag. She/they, cynical and sarcastic but in that big sister kinda way. Highly intelligent, suffers from injuries received during the NILS statue fight and the trials [mostly seizures, migraines, PTSD, and anxiety the poor dear], her and Cap3 are probably an item but won't make it official, shes 24. Enjoys modding weapons and stabs as a warning. Venomous! Pearlina Shipper #1)

(And you all know Chevelle hopefully. If not, they're an orphaned Octoling who got adopted by a Maws [Mamaws]. They didn't wanna be an agent, but felt like Cuttlefish could pay them and then didn't so they were going to back out but then fell into Alterna and the rest is history. Started out super poor and spends time getting money to donate it to other poor kids in Splatsville. REALLY hates Grizzco. Steals eggs back. Sabotaged the copter more than once. Thinks of Deep Cut as bad influence older siblings [gets treated like it too by those 3 like they LOVE Chevy like a sibling]. Very dry-wit, motivated and resourceful. Lil Buddy is basically their adoptive baby brother who eats glue. Ambiguous race for now, though I see them with a bit of a Spanish accent so might be of Latin descent. Can speak Salmonese, Octarian, and Inklish but prefers to be quiet. 18. They/them. Gay gay homosexual gay. Has a crush on Polaris)

[omegasmileyface]

HEY ITS ME although I am obviously super invested in Astro Boy I still want to ask questions out of evil intent. So I wanna know !! What are your favourite versions of Bem and Atlas ?? Which adaptation do you think handled their characters best / most interestingly ?

>:3c

hmm... the only versions of Bem i can think of are the 60s one and the 2001 one (though i do see a bit of em in tima metropolis) and i actually haven't seen the 2001 movie hehe ,, so i don't think i can pass judgement here BUT. 60s bem is perhaps my favorite astro boy character Period, and the 2001 version would have a hard (but not impossible) time beating the original with regards to their weird alien magic, their apathy in response to catastrophe, their grace in self-sacrifice, whatever the FUCK they were doing with gender, and their relationship to atom. ough. i want to find a method to save them at the last minute and then adopt them and let them enjoy human hobbies forever. here have this bem i doodled last night

[ID: a cartoony red pencil doodle of Bem from Astro Boy. Their humanoid part (a robot which looks like a preteen human, with hair shaped like bird wings) is floating casually above their non-humanoid part (a box like a minifridge), wearing a chef's outfit and giving a peace sign. End ID.]

now what would you do if i said 50s atlas. huh ?

[ID: a picture from a black and white manga panel. It shows a robot who looks like a teenage boy. He's not wearing clothes, and the tube of his torso extends down past his pelvis and works as a rocket propeller, giving him the look of a torpedo with limbs. His solid, black "hair" has several tubes jutting up from it. End ID.]

actually in the process of getting that screenshot i reread The Entire Atlas Story. not as silly as i remember! he serves as sort of an introduction to the capability of robots to do evil on purpose. he's capable of evil thought because of the Omega Factor (not to be confused with the Omega Radar, which atom and cobalt use to find each other), which his creator also wants to put in atom, so that they can help him get revenge on colonial/imperialist society (one of tezuka's semi-successful attempts at commenting on systemic racism). its implied that atlas is capable of good, too, he just hasn't been introduced to it. he gets fucking disintegrated btw.

that serves as a very good intro ramp before the Blue Knight Saga and its approaches to good amd evil, and tezuka's preferred order puts it shortly before, likely for that reason. I'm not sure how to feel about the idea that atom isn't capable of evil, and what that might say abt how "advanced" he is- i like to think he's capable of evil, and actively chooses to be good, but whatever. also im just gonna say it this design is ugly as fuck lol

80s was fun. kinda fused atlas and blue knight into the same character? ive never gotten the chance to see the anime episode with small atlas, so i only know his lore from the 80s comics, which i bet is different and siller. he's like atom, except he needed a special 8th power, and his creator decided that would be pissing on things to blow them up? "Like a cicada"? ok . he drank ink once. i love him. hes like jetter mars to me. anyway. as an adult in the anime he did surprisingly well as a long-term antagonist for astro. it's hard to take that damn show stylishly, but i did cry in the finale when atlas declared himself atoms brother. i liked the idea that they were going for, where the two have a lot in common both physically and mentally, and this omega radar ties them to each other unendingly, but atlas will always have a grudge against humans and atom will always love them? that's great. but i feel like they didn't explore it much, and a lot of it was just Come Fight Me I Fucking Dare You (maybe also to mix in Pluto with atlas and bk? saving on voice actors lmao). and i don't even know what was going on with Livian. shrug. congrats to atlas for having a third boob added though!

now 2003. OUGH 2003 did so nicely as an addition of previous atlases. they kind of departed a little bit from previous versions by having him be, for instance, a creation of tenma, but i don't dislike how they used that change. the way they took the "im just like you" thread that they started on with 80s and amped it up by making atlas not only the second robot ever to be made with the same heart/adaptability as atom, but also to be ANOTHER desperate failed father's attempt at fixing his mistakes, resulting in a new person coming out of the ghost of his neglected son?? he's not just atom's foil to the viewer, he's atom's foil to tenma. he leads up perfectly as the step before Pluto (before Shadow) and before Blue Knight in introducing robots capable of evil to society, in introducing robots who don't want to be nice to atom, and in developing tenma's obsession with evolving atom to greater lengths. here's a vengeful robot with the memories of a vengeful son. here's a robot too powerful for atom to fight without, somehow, growing. here's a victim of the growing anti-AI tide. here's someone who's just like you, here to warn you that something bigger is coming.

also he looks cool as hell. shoutout to 03 atlas

[miraculoussly]

This was my original LB/Marinette redesign, I think I like it better than my digital copy..

(Reasoning for design changes under the cut)

Ladybug:

Why did I do this? - When I look at LB's canon design, I feel like it's... kinda boring? Like c'mon, that's basically a swimsuit with polka dots on it! - It is such a crime that LB gets 0 change in her hair, when canonically it could be so. much. more. -In my opinion, a miraculous holder's transformed state should showcase parts of their actual personality. With all the intricate plans LB comes up with, it's hard to believe this is what she ended up with, especially since she's supposed to be a future fashion designer!

What did I want from the redesign? - Different hair, preferably a symmetrical hairstyle mingling with cyan hair dye (Deriving from cosmobug, amongst other forms of LB) - The suit should be a bit more intricate than just polka dots. (More black like in her power-up?) - The suit should be easy to fight in (obviously) and have pockets (because which girl doesn't need them?)

How did I achieve my goals? - Well, the hair had been on my mind a lot before I started, so my choice was set the moment I drew them. I feel like my choice was good for fighting as well since the hair won't be tied loosely, or in a way that it could get in her face. - As I was doing the previous, I realized I couldn't incorporate Mari's iconic hair ribbons. Whatever. Then I wondered if maybe the ribbons actually symbolized a ladybug's antennae. Welp. Now she has those. - A few parts are self-indulgent when it came to designing (especially the repeated Vs). The contour, the black knee-highs, the black fingertips (maybe to help climb?) and the tiny ladybug wings are both personal choices and references to other suits. - The canon design seemed to lack any actual framing to the suit that would make her appear to be safer from any chance of injury, though it makes sense since all parts of the suit are magic and will protect her. Still, owing to Adrien's design as Mister Bug, I added shoulder pads. - Lastly, I wanted to add that sort of flair Scarabella has in her suit. However, it didn't seem very... Marinette? So I switched it out for protruding "pockets" that are attached to her belt.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng:

Why did I do this? - Well, I just did Ladybug, it's only logical... - Marinette is cute, but she can always be cuter! What did I want out of the redesign? - Showing off Marinette's sense of style. She is gonna be a famous fashion designer someday and you better believe it. So what if it isn't trendy in Paris yet? - Making her look reasonably unlike Ladybug without losing her essence.

How did I achieve my goals? - I loosened the pigtails, something I just love seeing in fanart. - More personal stylistic choices (especially the pink/greyscale aesthetic I'm going for). I love drawing poofy sleeves, so that went in. Hm, what about embroidery on her jacket? Perhaps a skort? Or knee-high socks? Cute shoes? Oh alright, maybe I'll add a choker for her bare neck... If you read this far, thank you. Leave a comment or an ask maybe. I'd love to read your opinions.

[uwusillygirl]

Ok feeling v validated at you posting a normal people gif bc it literally hit me when reading for service and devotion the other day (and then subsequently rereading a better taste as part of a "Chrissy's Boss Is A Dick" edit) that this Chrissy and Eddie give me BIG Marianne and Connell vibes with the way Chrissy's subservience could maybe be kinda dangerous (seems like a dramatic word but can't think of a better one) in the hands of someone who exploited it but with Eddie she's able to deal with it in a much more healthy way, and even though it's not something he really wants (although I think Eddie enjoys it considerably more than Connell did) he's happy to explore it for her. When the book first came out I remember having a discussion about whether Marianne and Connell actually make a "good" couple, whether we really want them to be together in the end, and a friend said he felt the relationship was good for Marianne but not for Connell and so ultimately didn't want them to stay together as it was kind of unfair on Connell, even if it was by far the best outcome for Marianne and the negative effect on Marianne from not being with Connell is much greater than the negative effect on Connell from being with her (I don't necessarily agree but I do get his). This series forms a nice little alternative to that in which their relationship genuinely feels like a positive for both Chrissy and Eddie and there's no real need for that debate.

Idk this is rambling and not super exciting but it just felt very nice to see that you are aware of normal people and maybe it was something that might have been playing on your mind subconsciously whilst you were developing this relationship so it wasn't so ridiculous for me to have drawn that parallel myself.

No need to respond, in fact the main thing I came here to say is that I'm really excited to see you on here. I never have anything particularly interesting to say on AO3 except that I love everything you've ever done but I do enjoy reading all the comments and the way the discussions you and others have enrich the characters so much - I'm hoping there will be more of that on here too!

"no need to respond" like i could ever possibly resist an ask as fucking JUICY as this... and i am LITERALLY in the midst of a normal people reread right now like this could not be more perfect.

okay so in terms of first one's free, normal people was absolutely sort of stewing in my brain subconsciously as i wrote it, but only because i'm like always thinking about it lmao. but EVENTUALLY it actually became sort of active when i started reflecting on that one line everyone screams about all the time the "sometimes i think god made you for me" bit and how it's like... is there ever a way for that to be a positive? like how are you not meant to mistreat someone custom made to your preferences? (so in short your parallel guess is like so right! though most everything i reblog on here and intend to reblog i think can be at least tonally tied to my writing lmao)

anyways so i tried to see how that would look like in a slightly less miserable way than normal people and how even if chrissy is like all american dream girl she's also like intense and often unwell enough that it takes effort on the part of eddie to like ... care for her (which connell, i would say, doesn't take with marianne because he's less self assured, so cripplingly afraid of other people's perceptions, and has a sort of irrational fear of catching marianne's "damagedness" like a flu).

it's extremely interesting the way we all sort of have different reads of normal people and who the relationship "works better" for/who would be ultimately happier in it (like it blows my actual mind that someone u know read it as "unfair" on connell more so than marianne like that actually fascinates me).

and it's also interesting that you mention the idea of like a "safe" space to explore inherent subservience, because "safe" means so many different things when it comes to that urge. i always am struck by the way that while they always have that sort of fucked power dynamic that turns her on, marianne's masochism, to me, only ever gets truly fulfilled with connell through their sort of fucked up pattern of him leaving her every once in a while/only wanting her for support and sex. it's like the purest form of masochism to her. and when they're relatively happy and she sort of wants him to handle it through more traditional bdsm routes (which i am so conflicted about the presentation of that in the book, but anyways. and yes eddie def enjoys all that way more lmao.) he sort of blanches and that's like "too much" for him but her groveling for him, claiming she just wants to make him happy, and all that less official but more soul-sucking subservience like really gets him off.

okay WOW so many thoughts, many of them self-indulgent, thank you SO much for reaching out! and thank you for the kind words about my stuff! i'm so happy to be here and chatting with some of u!

[rhenuvee]

HI! HELLO! Can I get a matchup?

GENSHIN MATCHUP 🏹

I don't personally have a preference, though i would like if it was both male and female. Romantic? Yeah

⚔️ ; APPEARANCE — Imagine as if a sad bunny got turned into a human being, yeah that's quite literally me. I got the chubby rosy cheeks, small nose that has a pinkish tone to it, i also have the bunny teeth (buck teeth) and big round eyes. People often compare me to one and i just kinda accepted it. I have curly jet black hair that's always messy, plus it's also fluffy. I have very dark brown eyes that almost looks like i have no soul, speaking of souls. I give off a mostly soulless look, deadpanning 24/7 or just genuinely look like I'm upset, that's a problem i have! which is resting sad face. I honestly just look like I'm upset or like i just heard the most horrendous news. There's also the look aside from my general resting face which is the one that gets compared to a bunny, other than that i look like your average brazilian enby

⚔️ ; PERSONALITY — My personality is basically just Arataki Itto on crack, I'm very loud and chaotic. I'm also very oblivious and blunt, you'll have to explain something to me at least 10 times again, if i don't understand; i make jokes a lot, and also puns sometimes! In general i just adore making jokes and getting a good laugh. My humor is extremely broken too, I'll laugh at anything ranging from the most chaotic thing (examples: a goddamn picture of an m&m, a horse with high heels, a piece of bread falling, the word balls, flying, literally an image of Sara close up to the camera) honestly anything ranging from just that will make me wheeze like my lungs just exploded, or I'll laugh like a crazed fox. I am seen as pretty chill, I'm a happy-go-lucky person and I honestly socialize with everyone i can, i have a habit of cursing and invent the most absurd sounding curse words my favorite ones are “you blithering feculent shithole” “What in the name of sweet dong tickling horse fuck?!” “bunch of putrid douchesquatting cretins” “you bullshitting shitbagging fuckass” and finally “how can you be such a fucksquatting pain in the waste chute” i also act like a knight despite my use of constant profanity. 'Tis but the truest way of the knight! Any chance i get to act like a knight, I'll take it. I probably pay more attention to animals then humans, if I'm in the presence of an animal and you're talking to me? I'll pay more attention to the animal

⚔️ ; LOVE LANGUAGE — I'm a very tall person being about 198 cm, i think that's about 6'5(?) So normally my love language is headpats, and lifting them up and hugging them tightly, Bear hugs even. When cuddling (not that i ever got the chance) i would like to be the small spoon despite my height.

I also like to receive affection as well.

— 🗡️ anon : take your time!! Hope this isn't too long

I wasn't sure on what you meant at the beginning where you say you would like it if it's both male and female... but I hope this is ok with your preferences. Here you are:

⊱ ━━━━ Matchup! Genshin Impact ━━━━ ⊰

You're matched up with...

Arataki Itto!

I'm not just saying this because you said it, but I mean why wouldn't Itto get along with someone as chaotic as himself? He gets someone who understands him, and is different from how Kuki or his gang would treat him.

Itto and you would have your moments over laughing and simply having a good time. He hopes you enjoy things like the drum-a-long festival.

I think it'd be funny whenever Itto gets out of prison and he just skips runs out and greets you with a smile (does anyone else get adrenaline rushes when they run away from someone while laughing?)

He definitely seems like a bear hug type of person, so that's in line with your love language <3

Overall, it's never a dull day with your one and oni,

⊱ ━━━━━━━━ ⊰

Rhen’s 400 Follower Event: This event is now closed! I am NOT still doing team HCs or matchups! This event ended on Oct 16, you're only seeing this past that date because I am only getting to it now since I got held up by schoolwork.

[cosettepontmercys]

Sorry I never replied last night! If you want to pick an emoji that's cool and nice and sweet of you..but I don't have anything specific in mind. Maybe a pink heart..idk. Anyway I might go to Barbie tonight..the theater closest to me is packed and mostly sold out so I'll have to see if my sister will want to drive to another one. It's also cheap day and I know it was a big movie but I don't usually go to movie theaters. We had the same problem when we wanted to see The Little Mermaid last month so we will see. I'm so bad at watching new movies too. I used to keep a list but I don't think I've watched a movie I loved in a while. Sometimes I watch nothing but shows for a while but other times I watch nothing but movies for a while lol and I'm on shows right now.

Thanks for the tips! We will probably eat before the show or after but it's good to know! I will also probably just get clips of some songs too but there's also some where I wouldn't want that song but the sets kinda cool like Willow or Tolerate It or the tongue or costume change during Midnight Rain lol. I also just like being mostly in the moment. That's why I'm kinda sad I couldn't go to both nights but that's okay. I think the performance im most excited for is Enchanted with Long Live..since I never went to Speak Now tour..and I love the dresses. Next would definitely be ATW 10 since it's my favorite song..and getting to scream Cruel Summer! Also anything from Folklore and Midnights that hasn't been seen live yet.

Haha I actually don't enjoy Tis the Damn Season as much as other people so I think I would prefer seeing No Body No Crime..it's probably fun to see live. Also ya that's why I said I wasn't worried about surprise songs cuz any song is a good one..cuz maybe I haven't seen it performed before if it's an older song or even if it was Rep..then it's probably a song I like anyway. For the few songs I wouldn't want, I meant It's Time to Go or Closure lol. I'm also kinda iffy on Happiness and Tell Me Why. Some girl I follow is apparently going to the same show and loves It's Time to Go though lol. I would be happier with Right Where You Left Me or Renegade though. I'm not really picky with which instruments either..it's not something I think about honestly. But I always think about when before she starts playing..if she doesn't do a speech..how exciting it is to finally recognize the song..even if it's one I don't care for.

you're totally fine, friend! no need to apologize!! i've put you under the 🩷 anon tag on my blog 🤍 the pink heart emoji is a solid choice! i'm still a bit upset that we never got a pastel pink heart but i do like the bright pink heart! it's very barbie-core. did you end up seeing barbie yesterday? my entire twitter/tiktok fyp is just barbie stuff and i want to go back and rewatch it so bad! hoping that you're able to avoid spoilers if you haven't seen it yet!

i really want to see the little mermaid, but never got around to doing it. maybe i'll luck out and it'll be on one of my flights later this year — or i'll just catch it on streaming. what are some of your favorite movies and tv shows? i do "movie nights" with some friends sometimes, and i've been trying to watch more/different things this year! jamie has suggested a few horror movies, which i've really enjoyed too even though i'm very much not a horror girlie. i'm even worse with tv shows, but i'm currently kind of watching the summer i turned pretty season two.

the speak now — and fearless sets were so nostalgic for me! and all too well 10 is so fun! just everything about eras is so fun and so perfect and i hope you have the time of your life!! remember to hydrate and wear good shoes! i really like tis the damn season, but didn't feel like i was missing out — especially since we got the first performance of no body no crime. it was just ... electric. taylor and haim's energy play off each other so well. i loveeee tell me why, i think it's so fun and i really like closure but most of my friends don't haha! i'm so surprised she hasn't played right where you left me yet, but i don't think she'll play renegade unfortunately since it's technically a big red machine song! for my shows, i was actually so surprised she didn't sing anything from folklore or speak now, and i was so confidently telling my friend (manifesting) like "this is going to be foolish one" when she was doing the message in a bottle speech but nope! we got a red vault track — which i love, no complaints! just surprised she didn't do a speak now vault. hope you're having a good wednesday (or thursday, if you're seeing this then)! only a couple more days till your eras show! 🤍 i'll be tuned in on a livestream to see what surprise songs you get! xx

[winterinhimring]

i was kinda asking what you thought about each of them individually? still a good answer though!

Oh! Whoops, sorry about that. Here goes, then -- more of me ranting about what I love about the House of Dumpster Fire! I'm going to use my WOTR versions of them for details, since there's not a whole lot of individual character differentiation for some of them in the Silm.

Maedhros: A lot of my thoughts on him made it into my previous answer, since he's the head of the House and thus at least nominally responsible for most of the things they collectively did (the Lúthien incident excepted). But I do admire him for stepping down from the High Kingship in favour of Fingon. Even if he did it for somewhat Machiavellian political reasons, it still took a spine, and a certain amount of virtue, even. Especially in Tolkien's world, giving up power is a good sign, and I think that supports the general fandom portrayal of him as sympathetic even in his villainy.

Maglor: Can go from soft and caring (looking after twins) to terrifying violence (making orcs very dead) in 0.1 second. Complete and utter drama king who spends five thousand odd years singing sad songs on the beach because of all the murder he did. Once sung up a hurricane by accident in the WOTR 'verse because he was sad, and I fully believe it's in character.

Celegorm: What I love about him in WOTR is exactly what makes him so thoroughly and seemingly irredeemably evil in the Silm: the sheer feral glee with which he hunts his enemies. It's almost the exact same attitude when he's going after Shelob as it is when he's going after the Doriathrim. I find this both fascinating and a little concerning.

Caranthir: This is an Elf who does not care what you think of him, at all, unless you are (a) his brother or (b) a dwarf. Everyone else's opinion can go yeet itself into a volcano for all he cares. The result of this is that Caranthir is tied with Pippin for my favourite character to write, ever, because he will say what comes in to his head when it comes in to his head, and this leads to some absolutely hilariously blunt lines.

Curufin: Hmm...I'm going to say that my favourite thing about him is his absolute hypocrisy in pretending to be "the sensible one" who keeps Celegorm from going off the deep end and doing stupid stuff, and then as soon as he's left unsupervised, going off and doing something that's as least as dumb and reckless as what Celegorm would have done, if not worse.

Amrod & Amras: This is really only applicable to the WOTR versions of them, but in my defence they have approximately no canon characterisation. They're the only ones of the seven whose methods of coping with massive trauma do not fall under Crying, Weeping, Sad Songs, or Stabbing Things. They prefer to cloak their not inconsiderable power under a facade of harmless fun. Not that they don't genuinely find their pranks hilarious, but they are deliberately choosing to be entities of mild and harmless chaos so that everyone overlooks their prowess and history as warriors -- and so they have something else to think about than that themselves. Of course, this makes it all the more terrifying when they do cut loose and everybody realises that just because they're not Maedhros who can practically burn a city down with his feä doesn't mean they're not dangerous as heck.

Sorry for the confusion -- I hope you enjoy this answer v2.0!

[masterhandss]

Hi~

I'm curious about what you think a Hamefura-GBF crossover would look like ^^

OP YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE AWAKENED IN ME WITH THIS QUESTION AJSHGJAHSGD

As a fan of both I've always created different ideas in my mind of what a GBF-Hamefura collab would be like!! I'm not really creative enough to be able to drop some fan-made collab name ideas or a full premise for the collab's plot, just some random tidbits of fun ideas I thought of.

// warning: very minor spoilers for the novels/fortune lover 2

For how Katarina and the gang gets into the world of Granblue Fantasy, I think it would be really cool if it combines something like the Shadowverse collab where they are just thrown into the world without much explanation (maybe playing it out like another Book of Desires-type thing where Katarina stumbles upon a magic tool that sends them all there) and the Love Live Muse collab where it's kinda just a dream. Not that I want Katarina to dream the entire thing, I just find it really funny how in the Manga Bonus SS, Katarina immediately figures out that she's in a dream and just plays along, which would make her nonchalance about being thrown into another world funny and make sense (for her at least). Maybe in the end it could be revealed to be a dream all along, like the Love Live and most recent Deresute collab.

For the plot itself, I'm not really good at coming up up anything new, all I can think of is making something similar to existing collabs and events qwq. It would really funny if the primal beast behind everything is one who is gluttonous, and Katarina beats them in a competition of iron stomachs (like the Priconne collab and Eating Bonanza Summer event). Or have the event story end with Katarina confronting and talking down a humanoid primal beast and charming him into surrender post-battle, something similar to how she won over Raphael (imagine how funny it would be for Keith to smack his head and sigh, as Katarina continues to charm more people, and a primal beast at that XDD).

Maybe even something like the Code Geass collab where at the same time Katarina and the gang end up in the Sky Realm, the crew is on a quest to find a criminal who is stirring trouble in an island, and that criminal had a striking resemblance to Katarina (or an FL2!Katarina). Like that other Katarina is just an illusion created by a primal beast in order to hide his identity, not really basing the image on anyone specific but just creating someone based on the perfect image of a scheming villainess lmao (and being surprised after finding out that the very girl does exist). Cue confusion from the crew and the harem, while Katarina feels both pride and fear over being called the spitting image of a villainess hgfjhsdgf.

You can even make the plot something like the GBF SideM collab + Hamefura Pirates, where the situation they are in is actually from a Fortune Lover x GBF collab (that Katarina dreams Acchan playing/was mentioned to her once in passing) that somehow (???) has ties to Katarina's fate in FL2.

And please, I would love a quick scene of everyone dining with the crew, and everyone comments on Katarina and Lyria's black hole of a stomach XDD

It would kinda be cool if Katarina had a moment where she uses Phalanx, since VOD showed us that there are shield-type spells in hamefura (canonicity is debatable though) but I guess since Nico already did that in the Love Live collab that'd be copying/too similar haha).

For the event rewards, Katarina would join your party after Chapter2 of course :DD By then she would have met the crew. The other playable characters depends on who you ask to be honest. I don't want to sound mean or anything to the fans of the girls, but when I first encountered the question, my mind immediately went the NinSwitch otome game and how all the boys are the capturable characters. Since HameFura clearly favors the Katarina + the boys in the marketing, I thought realistically that if there was a collab, the playable characters would be them. That would be 5 playable characters though, which might be a lot so I guess a good alternative is a Playable Katarina, Geordo, Keith and maybe Maria too. Combining the three girls into a single unit wouldn't be likely, I think it's more realistic to assume they would be the event summon instead (or at least have a cameo in Katarina's victory animation)

(LOOK I EVEN MADE SOME QUICK EDITS/MOCKUPS, DO YOU SEE HOW EXCITED I AM ABOUT THIS QUESTION HGJHSDGF)

Katarina would be a Dark SSR (sorry if that's considered as a spoilers to anyone qwq) whose attacks also inflict a partial earth damage. She would be an attack-type character with a sabre and axe specialty (axe because hoe haha). I just can't imagine her being an Earth Character unless Keith isn't playable, because then I guess she could just inflict partial dark damage via casted debuffs in order to reference FL2. She's probably mostly has attack skills that either gives buffs or increases her charge bar. Katarina would get a 5 star uncap in the next event rerun :P

Geordo would be a Fire SSR with a sabre specialty. He's be an attack-type character who specializes in Attack/Support. Spoilers to the light novels kinda, but I imagine Geordo to have a special third skill that gives him lots of buffs but either debuffs him & kills him eventually (like Dark Jeanne) or sacrifices his HP (like Fire Yuisis) as a reference to Volume 8, where he's a bit unhinged when he's angry and will use his fire magic lethally to anyone who harms his friends.

Keith would be an Earth SSR with a sabre and staff specialty. He would be Special character, acting as a Support/Debuffer. I imagine that he could have his own personal buff called "Earth Dolls" that get consumed each turn, and having a lot would increase the damage of his charge attack. I know the picture says katana instead of staff, I'm just too lazy to edit it again :'))

Alan would be a Water SSR with a sabre and gun specialty (why gun? he uses a gun in the hamefura fantasy au so :DD). He'd be a balanced-type character who is an Attacker/Defender. I imagine he'd be like SSR Romeo, who is good for defense but is preferably used to deal some damage (or at least that's how I use him lmao).

Nicol would be a Wind SSR with a sabre and bow specialty (bow because wind element :DD). He would be a defense-type character who specializes in Defense/Support. Either lands some good debuffs (Def Down, Debuff Success Boosted, Blind, Gravity and CHARM OF COURSE) or has Substitute Ally. Most likely the prior. I know that sounds like he should be a special-type character instead so I'm suggesting he should have a skill with Shield and Immune in a single package.

I imagine the girls to be an event summon together (in my hypothetical scenario where the boys are the playable characters) where they give random buffs (like 3-6 buffs depending on the lvl and uncap). I imagine that they would have a special Call Effect with Katarina, giving her more buffs or a special buff meant just for her :DD

In the event that Maria is a playable character, she would be a Light SSR who has a staff specialty. She would be a Heal-type character who specializes in Support. Her skills could have stuff like a heal that activates for a few turns, light def-down and a def-up to name a few.

The event SSR weapon would be a "Doom Flag" of course! It blends perfectly with the dozen other flag-looking spear weapons in the game XDD

My ideas for the SR weapon would either the "Doom Avoidance Strategy Book" which would be a Dark Melee weapon, or a smaller "Bad End Doom Flag" which would be a Fire Dagger (haha get it, because Geordo Bad End :)).

Hahaha that's all I can really think of when it comes to a collab. If you want me to talk about a Hamefura RPG AU, but with GBF classes/races then I can make a whole other post for that sjkfhdsk i've always wanted to draw/imagine the hamefura characters wearing job classes & magic from GBF!

Imagine Mary wearing the Dancer/Masquerade class outfit, Maria in the Doctor class, Alan in the Elysian class, Nicol in the Cavalier/Robin Hood class, Geordo in the Glorybringer class, Keith in the Relic Buster class (as a reference for him being a black knight in the manga bonus ss), Sophia in the Warlock/Asparas class, and Katarina in the Chrysaor/Lumberjack class!!

If anyone would like to add with more collab ideas, I would love to hear it!!!!

Anyways, thank you for the ask :DD

[nexyra]

What is your take on rwby chara's mbti types? I think

Weiss - xSTJ, thought that she was ESTJ at first but ISTJ makes a lot of sense too.

Winter - ESTJ

Pyrrha - ESFJ

Emerald - ISFJ (I've seen some ppl type her as INFJ but I don't see how she is a Ni dom?)

Whitley - ENTJ? I'm honestly not sure abt that..

Adam - fucked up xNFJ, probably INFJ (seen him typed as xNTJ but his delusional thinking process imo screams unhealthy Ti and I think his manipulation of Blake and the WF is more Fe than Te

Qrow - was thinking ISTP but with the more recent volumes I'm really not sure..

Penny - ENFP

Ozpin - Uuuuuh INTP maybe?? But I've seen some people type him as INFJ. INFJ 5w6 would make sense as to why he might appear as an INTP but idk..

Bartholomew- ENTP

Jaune - no fucking idea honestly

Ironwood - ENTJ

Sun - Seen ppl type him as ENFP but I don't see any Ne at all..,,ESFP?

Yang - ESxP, maybe ESTP

Cinder - INTJ

Mercury - ISTP

Oscar - ISFJ

Ren - ISTx?

Hello anon ! I see my love for typology hasn't gone unnoticed 😂 Thank you so much for the ask !

I prefer enneagram over MBTI because I find it easier to type; so fair warning that I'm not an authority on MBTI-typing. But I do have have an ongoing RWBY typing that includes MBTI sooo... here goes !

(I'm putting my ennea typings along with it, but not explaining them on this post)

➸ RWBYJNPR

Ruby • xNFP 6w7 9w1 2w3?

I just can't decide between the two fors Ruby because... it kind of goes both way ??? Like Ruby definitely feels as INFP for the first half of the series; she's got a clear Fi > Ne preference... But then when she develops her Tert in V6 it's just... Te ? And she really doesn't show much Si actually she fits more the Si inf vibe in the form of forgetting about bad memories and her mom until people dig it up and she's like "nooo !" ?? So it looks like Te > Si but also Fi > Ne; conclusion idfk

Weiss • ISTJ 1w2 6w5 3w4 sp/so

Clear Fi tert rearing its head along with the 1 so I'm going with ISTJ; I also never really saw any Ne. Her type isn't too disagreed upon so tell me if you want a lenghtier explanation.

Blake • ISFP 6w5 9w8 4w3 (in some order)

Wooh this might get the anger of some (i have experience with the INFJ typers) but Blake goddamn REEKS of Fi. Less so recently but for the first seasons oh my god. She straights up catch you by the shirt and tells you "I'm doing the right thing"; and said right thing is so heavily dependant on her own subjectives values, which is why Blake can't reconcile with the current White Fang; because she doesn't have a strong Je vision of "what objectively works in the end", she only sees actions in terms of immediate right and wrong, and this b&w dichotomy stems from herself. What the WF is doing is wrong and the circumstances don't matter for judging the morality of their actions (of course I'm not talking about murder here bc that's pretty wrong ALL THE TIME but for example the stealing occuring in V1 bc of the WF is a better example)

Yang • ESXP 7w8 8w7 2w3

I'm sorry about that but I can't help you on that aspect anon, I still can't make up my mind about whether Yang has Fi or Ti. I have seen arguments for both, and i'm not the best at picking up on Ti so it's hard for me to tell.

Jaune • ESFJ 6w7 3w2 9w1

No strong opinions on his MBTI, it's kinda just based on vibes

Nora • ENFP 6w7 9w8 3w2

Textbook ENFP, not much to say here x))

Pyrrha • XXFJ 2w1 1w2 6?

In my list Pyrrha is currently written down as ISFJ but that's mostly based on the general consensus and me wanting to get rid of the XX. I don't actually have any convincing arguments to decide on Ni or Si, so I could go either way if someone else makes their case well. I feel like she's Fe aux more than dom, but even about that I could change my mind. Pyrrha didn't have that much screentime in the end :((

Ren • ISTJ? 9w1 5w4 4w5

Ironically I'm not sure about his type, kind of like you. I've mentionned I'm not very good at picking up on Ti right ? And Ren was a background character before V4 really. I had him written down as ISTP for a while but I've seen some convincing arguments for ISTJ so I might lean toward that actually but who knows. The thing I'm very confident about is his 5 fix = )

➸ Faunus bonus

Sun • ESFP 7w6 2w3 9w1 so/sx

I don't see any Ne at all either so I don't understand the ENFP typings...?? Maybe the 7 stereotypes ? Imo Sun is just a very good boy; certified ESFP 7 himbo; triple positive sunshine !

Ilia • Ti-Fe axis ?

Again, not enough screentime for me to make an educated guess. My only certainty is : not high Fi. It's the source of their conflicts. Blake confidence in absolute right & wrong, tracing lines in the sand between acceptable & unacceptable. Whereas Ilia can only shake her head and say "Because it works", or cry out "I don't know what else to do !"

Adam • 3w4 8w7 6w5

I honestly don't really have much of an opinion about Adam's MBTI, i'm sorry anon ;; I don't know enough about how he thinks

➸ Oz-related things and his circle

Ozpin • INFJ 5w4 2w1 1w9

I would personally call him an INFJ. I... never really got INTP vibes from him ? I don't see the Fe inf work out with his interactions : he's always rather at ease, he knows how to navigate around people... His focus inherently lies on doing what's best for the "group", the people, humanity. Fx functions are both concerned with ethics, in different ways, and I think Oz reflects that well. He IS concerned with the moral weight of his actions, but it's a more adaptable and unpersonnal concern than Fi people. He regards Ironwood's soul machines as something wrong, but can still agree to use it if the situations demand it for example. So... if the INFJ + 5 makes sense to you, well that's what I'm typing him personally. I also feel like Ni fits him more than Ne. Ozpin has a very linear way of planning, he does use his fair share of symbolism in every day conversation... Even when taking decisions, he... kind of cares about the meaning of things a lot ? It's hard to explain but like; the way he highlights the difference between an army and a guardian, and the emotionnal response it brings. I don't know it feels like there's some Ni vibes in there x)

Oscar • ISFJ 9w8 6w7 3w2

Oscar's type honestly isn't the one I would have the easiest time explaining in lenght but yea. It's mostly vibes; also just like Ozpin he doesn't seem to have a particularly Fi reasonning. And he feels more grounded, I don't really remember any Ni so... yay ?

Ironwood • ENFJ 6w5 1w2 3w4 (pre-Vol8); ENTJ (post-Vol8)

Might be weird if you think he was a dictator from the start, but I kind of entertained the idea of Ironwood being Fe dom ? From his very first interaction it was very clear that he was a Je dom to me; he's all about objective results; he doesn't give off the "internal framework" or "personnal values" vibe AT ALL; so it was more a matter of picking Te or Fe. He LOOKS super Te don't get me wrong; but he also has an enneagram tritype that is very common amongst XXTJs (and TJs stereotypes thus derive from it). And just like Oz, his focus at all time seemed to be the greater good and doing what's best for the people still. So I was like... Eh, a "harsh" ENFJ I think that's interesting ? Plus Fe ethics actually derive from their environment, kinda like "everyone agrees that Y is wrong", and if you consider that James is from Atlas... Well his way of thinking and ethics align pretty well with the military.

His character took a turn for the worse in V8 (whether too quick or not depends on who you ask) and past that point he's a clear ENTJ; but I feel like it was more debatable before that. Idk though I might be overthinking this in the hope of making more interesting combinations xD

Qrow • ISTP 4w3 6w7? 1w9? sp/sx

I don't really see anything else than ISTP for Qrow... But he's not a character I would want to find Ti arguments for either.

Raven • ENTJ Cp6w5 8w9 3w4

Most villains get called ENTJ at the first occasions tbh zlqfznhqzkf but I think it fits Raven for the most part actually...

➸ Atlas

Winter • ESTJ 1w9 3w4 6w5

The whole Schnee family has the same enneagram tritype in different order/different wings, it's ridiculous I think she has a higher Te than Weiss, and Fi inf fits her more. She struggles more to reconcile with her emotions and the idea of a personal right/wrong than her little sis.

Penny • ENFP 4w3 6w7 9w1 sx/so

Perfect example of a healthy 4, she's a great friend a cutie pie. ... Sorry we were talking about MBTI x) Well again, textbook ENFP. Not much to debate here.

Whitley • 3w4 1w9 6w5?

Not enough material for me to guess a MBTI type correctly either, sorry... I could see some kind of xNTJ yea but it's really just vibes and not enough concrete.

➸ Antagonists and Extras

Cinder • 8w7 3w4 6w5

Never cared to guess her MBTI type. I hereby type her as insufferable qkfqskfq. More seriously, I don't really know sorry Anon :/

Emerald • 2w3 ?w? ?w?

I never got Fe vibes from her tbh, I just think she's a 2. And Fe as a function is very infused with 2 stereotypes. So yea. Like, she isn't even that worried about the morality of her actions or anything more than the other villains. She just cares more about her personal relationships and being loved, so she automatically looks much nicer, especially with 2 mechanisms of trying to make herself useful and needed. Also because she's surrounded by 8-ish people xD

Mercury • 8w9 7w8 ?w?

ISTP doesn't sound too farfeteched, but I never MBTI-typed him either, sorry.

+

Bartholomew Oobleck • xSxJ 5w4

The only vibe he gave me is Si somewhere because of all his talks about learning from the past and everything repeats itself and it's a mine of informations at Mountain Glen... That's really the only time I tried to put down anything for him, and it was Si + 5. He could be some kind of xNTP nerd too for sure, but that's more vibe and I couldn't make an actual argument for it.

[tundrainafrica]

Hi, after reading about 'why you think Levi and Hange are perfect together', and seeing your reasons quite similar to mine..I just want to ask if you have any opinions on Zutara?

I'm just very curious in what you have to say. It's okay if you don't want to answer.

Thank you for the ask anon! I’d be happy to give you my opinion on Zutara, so happy that you’re gonna be dealing with another long rant with probably a lot of rambling in between. Anyway, Lezzgo.

As always: 

Disclaimer: I do not want to start shipping wars. I specifically avoided the words like should or best because I recognize that shipping is generally based on preferences. I respect everyone’s preferences on what they want out of a ship or even a relationship and through this, I just hope to express my own preferences and maybe even gush with people who agree.

So, to give you some background on my love for ATLA, I first watched it in middle school when I came out and yes, I was a basic bitch. So basic, that I would always pair the hottest guy with the first person I saw him have potential sexual tension with, hence came Zutara and in 2013 when AOT came out Rivetra.

I grew up. Things changed but ATLA remains a masterpiece and through the years I have watched it countless times especially when I encounter people who have never watched it because YO, That show is literally one of the best examples of good writing and world building and more importantly, how to write a good ending (which so many people manage to fuck up? I’m looking at u D&D =_=). For anyone who hasn’t watched ATLA please give it a try.

As I grew up, my two favorite pairings became Sokka x Suki and Sokka x Toph. Canon was fine but I would have wanted to see the other ship sail too :/. But yeah, this is about Zutara so will answer that. 

If I ranked my current pairings: Sokka x Suki and Sokka x Toph are tied for first and second and I would put Zutara at third because that pairing still holds a special place in my heart. 

Would I have wanted Zutara to be canon over Kataang? 

Yes. I would. I still would have wholeheartedly picked Zutara over Kataang for so many reasons. (I have not watched the show in a while so a lot of my shit might be inaccurate but feel free to correct me.)

Okay, so first things first, two of the best written characters in the show for me were definitely Zuko and Katara from a character development sense. My favorite character is Toph and Sokka as second but I found Zuko and Katara to be incredibly profound characters with very blatant yet very well written developments which all culminated into one scene: THE ONE IN THE FUCKING CAVERN. 

Their particular hate (or is it tension, can’t think of the right word) for each other was strong but the thing is, the emotion was already there. It’s much harder to build emotional investment (even love) from nothing than to build emotion from what already existed. Katara so easily channelled that hate into actual care because she was so emotionally invested in Zuko as a person already having spent the whole first season being chased by a crazed him. Like yo, from shitting on him in the cavern to suddenly thinking, hey this guy who tried to kill us the past season changed, let me use my very rare magic water on him to help heal his scar. It sounds weird writing it out but personally, I thought that development in the cavern was more well written than the whole Kataang plotline IMO. 

And yeah, they only show you how fucking magical that water is by bringing a dead Aang to life with it at the end of the season. AND SHE WAS PLANNING ON USING IT FOR ZUKO TO HEAL HIS SCAR. Like wow, that’s some emotional investment. 

Okay, I know this can pretty much be justified by Katara being motherly and just an emotional being so let’s not get into that, let’s just get into the potential of this dam ship. Because, as an ATLA fan, personally, the shipping potential of Zuko and Katara was outstanding and I really felt blue balled to see Katara and Aang kiss at the end of it. 

Like literally Kataang was just too easy and the kiss kinda came out of nowhere?

The Katara and Aang romantic plotline was so easy, literally the first time we see any possible attraction between the two was ten episodes in when Aang blushed about the necklace he gave her. Here’s the thing I didn’t really like though, I found Kataang shoddily developed. The plotline between Aang and Katara seemed so one sided. All the way until season 3 with the ember island players episode, I was caught on to believe that the romance between Aang and Katara was one sided then they just bam, kiss at the end of the show

Zutara would have offered more development for both characters.

And anyway, what I really mourn aside from the shoddily developed plotline of Kataang is the lost potential of that damn ship. Zuko brought out an edgy side of Katara. I mean can we appreciate the part in the Southern Raiders episode were Zuko was the only who made the effort to understand what was bothering Katara? 

The scenes between Zuko and Katara had more emotion on them? Literally, Katara had Zuko-exclusive interactions. She said things she’d only say to Zuko. Zuko really brought out a part of her than no other character has?

Like sure people say shit like, Katara cried when Aang died. But I had interpreted a lot of those as motherly. And the creators literally slapped us with a similar Zutara scene at the end of the show? Like Zuko wasn’t dead but Katara was still crying her fucking eyes out.

Also, Katara’s interactions with Aang were not so different from how she interacted with everyone else. They were all motherly. They were all caring. You could have literally slapped another character in most of those scenes and it would have still made fucking sense.

Her actions with Zuko felt more like they were only for Zuko and that’s why I liked it so much. They had so much shit they could have gotten sorted out and it could have culminated into such a good relationship compared to what we got in canon?

Yeah, but after spending months ranting about how Levihan a best friends to lovers relationship became the pinnacle of perfection for me, some people might be wondering why the hell I love the enemy to lovers Zutara. 

Zutara was not unrealistic. It was not toxic. Zuko and Katara are both genuinely good people just working for the betterment of their loved ones and of the world. They had strong feelings they had to get sorted out between them and they had both proven to be characters willing to learn, change and grow which would have made the slow burn potential realistic.

Although Levi and Hange developed from best friends, I am sure before they became best friends they were definitely enemies. If not enemies, they fought and bantered enough with each other at least to see that there were a lot of feelings to be sorted out between them which is one of the reasons I love Levihan so much in the first place. Like people only gain so much patience for love ones if they spend a good amount of time sorting out feelings right? And I really think that the tension needs to exist for a good foundation.

The differences between Zuko and Katara’s characters and the feelings that would have had to be sorted out between them would have been such a good foundation to a good relationship and damn, the ending blue balled me so much. Just writing this brings back the strong feeling of disappointment from ten years ago and I had to go into shipping Sokka and Suki instead. 

Thanks for the question though anon, it was fun to consider this <3

[sushigirlali]

If You Don't Love Me, Lie To My Face - Part I (Reylo Fanfic)

Part I | Part II | Part III | Epilogue 

Summary: Grifter!Rey helps U.S. Senator Leia Organa's son, Ben Solo, out of a jam when a couple of muggers invade her turf. Afterward, she debates robbing the rich American herself, but can she protect her heart while stealing his?

Pairing: Rey + Ben Solo | Finn + Poe Dameron

Rating: E

Continuity: Modern AU

A/N: For the first time ever, I’ve actually written most of the story before I started posting! I think it will be way less stressful since I don’t have to “keep up” with updates. New chapters will be posted each Friday. Enjoy!

Master list –> AO3 | ff.net | Tumblr

——————

If You Don't Love Me, Lie To My Face - Part I

By: sushigirlali

——————

Kennington, London

——————

There are moments in life that make you question everything that came before. A look from a stranger, an incident at your job, a terrible movie... things Rey Niima was usually able to push past without pause, but tonight, she was finding it extremely difficult to ignore the feeling that her life was about to change forever.

"Hey, give us your wallet!" A pair of brawlers had cornered a man at the mouth of a nearby alley, drawing Rey's attention as soon as she stepped out the back door of her favorite pub, The Black Prince.

"Excuse me?" the would-be victim responded indignantly. His voice was deep with an American lilt, his stature intimidating.

Did these fools really think they could steal from a man like that? But then, not all criminals were as intelligent as her.

"You heard me! I want your wallet!"

Rey hung back from the potentially violent situation unfolding before her, sizing up the assailants. Their outfits were all black, including the ski masks covering their faces, but she couldn't see any identifying marks or gang affiliations. "Must be lone wolves," she thought.

There was something familiar about the tall one doing the talking, but she couldn't place them. It probably didn't matter, though, because the redwood with the nice accent looked like he could take the both of them with one hand tied behind his broad back.

Still, for some reason, she was finding it hard to walk the other way. Definitely not because the man was the most striking person she had ever seen. No, it had to be due to the fact that these bums were causing a ruckus on her turf. At least, that's what she kept telling herself, frozen to the spot as she was.

"Listen, I just got done volunteering at a shelter all day and just want to get home. Please allow me to leave unmolested."

"Volunteering at a shelter?" she muttered under her breath. "Well, fuck. But it's not your business, don't get involved." Rey was turning around to go back inside the pub when the sound of a gun cocking drew her up short.

"Don't make me repeat myself again, pretty boy."

"Whoa, hey, there's no need for that!"

"Then empty your pockets! Now!"

"No," he said crossly. "Put that thing away before somebody gets hurt."

"Dammit," Rey groaned, retrieving the silver baton clipped to her belt. Sometimes, she really hated having a conscience; in her line of work, it was a real liability.

"Hey, get your hands off me!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," she growled, resolutely stalking toward the turbulent scene. "Oi! You lot!"

The big guy and his sidekick paused to look in her direction. "What?" the leader said in a surprisingly feminine voice.

"Not a guy," Rey mused. "Based on your absolutely abominable bullying technique, I don't think you're getting that guy's wallet any time this century, so why don't you just leave him alone and move along."

"Excuse me?" the woman said threateningly.

"I'm sorry, did I stutter?"

"You move along, little mouse, this doesn't concern you!" the shorter guy spat.

"You do know who's neighborhood this is, don't you?" Rey said tauntingly.

"Yeah?" the first one said dismissively. "So what."

"So, knock it off! We don't need the fuzz coming down here because some hooligans are roughing up a foreigner."

"Hooligans?! And who the fuck are you?"

"Me?" Rey sneered, flicking the baton out to the side so that it extended into a long poll. "I'm no one."

"Phas," the skinny guy said nervously, obviously recognizing her at last, "we should go."

Rey had never been so proud of her reputation as a grifter who was just as likely to steal an expensive piece of art from the peerage in an elaborate heist as kick a thug's ass in the street.

"But the boss—"

"He'll understand."

"But—"

"Phas!"

"Fine. But don't think this is over!" the woman yelled before running off with her companion.

"Well," the American said slowly, "that was an experience I never wish to repeat again." He smiled at her. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

"You're welcome," Rey replied gruffly, still riding high on adrenaline. "Do you always walk around by yourself at night in a city not your own?"

"Do you always save unsuspecting passersby from thieves?" he retorted.

Her phone went off, but she didn't answer it. Up close, the man was even more attractive than she had initially thought. "Suit looks expensive, too… and is that a Breitling?" Perhaps it was her lucky night after all. "Only if they're handsome," she said smoothly.

"Oh, uh…" he flushed at her compliment.

"Hmm… not the reaction I expected." It was kind of refreshing, though. "Sorry, I—ugh, one sec," she said as her cell went off again. "My brother," she explained, checking the caller ID. "I have to take this or he'll just keep phoning until I pick up."

The man shrugged, "No problem, I'll just wait over here." He stepped up onto the curb and walked a few paces away.

Rey nodded and lifted the phone to her ear. "What?" she said shortly.

"Who's the stiff?" Finn asked without preamble.

"Nobody."

"Right," he huffed. "Are you working him?"

"Undecided, stop pushing."

"Whatever you say, Rey. Just be careful."

"I will. Where are you anyway?" she said, humored by his tough older sibling act.

"Hanging outside the pub, just around the corner. Why? You need me?" Finn teased.

"No, I'll catch you later. Don't wait up." She ended the conversation before he could respond and stuffed the phone into her back pocket. "Sorry about that, uh…?"

"Ben," the stranger supplied, moving closer again. "Ben Solo."

"I'm Rey," she said, holding out a hand.

Ben's lips quirked and he gave her a firm handshake, his huge hand dwarfing hers. Rey felt a shiver run up her spine at the brief contact, but she shook it off.

"So, what's that for?" he indicated the weapon still in her hand. "Joining the circus?"

"No," she grinned, "it's a bo staff. I use it for self defense."

"And the defense of others," he said warmly.

"On occasion." She folded the bo staff back into a baton before reattaching it to her belt.

"Can I get you a drink?" he nodded toward the pub. "To say thank you?"

"I was actually on my way home before I… bumped into you."

"I could… walk you home? If you want." He didn't sound desperate, but it was a near thing.

"I'm not from around here," she said evasively. She couldn't really bring him back to her base of operations, which was only a few blocks down the street, but she didn't want to stop talking to him either. "What a dilemma."

"No? Where are you from then?"

"Nowhere."

"Okay… Well, I promise I'm not a pervert or a serial killer or anything," he said earnestly, "so you can come back to my hotel with me if you want. It's late and I'd hate for anything to happen to you."

She crossed her arms. "Because I'm a woman?"

"Hey, I'm 6'3" and double your weight and I almost got jumped like ten minutes ago," he reminded her. "It can happen to anyone."

"Fair enough," she allowed, lowering her defenses. "Still…"

"I can call my security detail if you want verification that I'm not a psycho," he offered. "I'd just like the opportunity to get to know the woman who saved my hide."

Rey's interest sharpened. "That's sweet, but uh… security detail?"

"Yeah," he said nonchalantly. "My mother is a U.S. Senator. I'm in town on her behalf. She was supposed to come herself, but her re-election campaign is heating up and she couldn't spare the time."

"You disapprove," she said perceptively.

Ben's dark brows shot up. "Yeah, actually. You a mind reader, Rey from nowhere?"

"Something like that," she smirked. "I prefer the term grifter."

"Grifter?" he said curiously. "What does that mean, exactly?"

"Oh, you know," Rey winked for effect, assuming the privileged American was about to run in the opposite direction, "I swindle rich people out of their valuables by preying on their weaknesses. Basically, I'm a professional bad guy."

Ben looked hopelessly confused by her explanation. "But you just helped me."

"Well, sometimes I like to help out the little guy." Rey looked him over. "Little big guys too."

"Like Robin Hood?" he said, disarming her with a crooked smile.

"What? I wouldn't say I'm—I'm a hero or anything," she stuttered.

"Well, you're my hero," he said smoothly, holding out a hand. "That's my driver pulling up over there, in the black Jag. Join me? Please?"

"I… okay," she agreed, placing her hand in his, "but just for a little while." This time, she couldn't ignore the shiver.

——————

Alarm bells should be going off in her head, but Rey felt perfectly comfortable with her new companion. It was odd, considering her trust issues, but Ben didn't seem to be only interested in her looks. And she knew she looked good tonight, her dark leather leggings were basically painted on and her lacy bra was visible through a mostly sheer black tank top. Add on her subtle smoky makeup and half-up hair style that emphasized her cheek bones and...

"Rey?"

She loved the way he said her name, almost like a caress. "Yes?"

"Are you hungry? I haven't had dinner yet."

"Oh, sure," she said, never one to give up a free meal. Though she did kinda wish something else was on the menu… "What is wrong with you? You just met the man! Note to self: masturbate more."

"Chinese okay?"

Her mouth watered. "Perfect."

"What do you like?"

"Besides you?" she said without thinking. "Uh, I mean—anything, really. Noodles, if they have them."

Ben let her comment pass, but he was beaming. "I like noodles too. Maybe some kind of chicken? Orange?"

"Excellent," she seconded.

"You're easy," he said, but then caught himself, looking horrified. "I mean to order food for, not—"

"It's okay," she laughed, patting his thigh. "I know what you meant."

"Sorry, I haven't done this in a long time," he said sheepishly, catching her hand before she could remove it.

"This?"

"Gone on a date."

"Oh." Was this a date? Rey couldn't remember the last time she had been on one. Pretty much anytime she'd been alone with a man not her brother in the past ten years it was because she intended to rob them.

"Not that this has to be a date," he said quickly, releasing her hand. "Sorry, I keep saying stupid things."

Dammit, but he was cute. "You don't have to keep apologizing," she replied lightly. "Let's just have dinner and talk and see where that takes us." Maybe the night would lead to some fun extracurricular activities, maybe not, but at least she'd be able to case his place. Based on what she knew so far, the guy definitely came from old money. "Just keep reminding yourself that he's potentially a mark, not a boyfriend, Rey."

"Sure," he smiled, looking relieved. "Hey, Poe?" he said to the driver. "Can you pick up some food after dropping us at the hotel? We're starving."

——————

Ben fumbled a little opening the door, but quickly recovered and ushered Rey inside with a gallant sweep of his arm. The hotel was nice, but not extravagant, something she found odd for the son of a U.S. Senator. Then again, he had apparently been helping out at a shelter all day, so maybe he really was as down to earth as he seemed.

"The bathroom is through there if you need it," he pointed toward the bedroom.

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Okay, I'm just going to grab a quick shower. Poe should be back within the hour, so make yourself at home."

"Can I join you?" she was tempted to say. "Sure, I'll just watch the telly."

Ben nodded and left the room. A few seconds later, Rey heard the water start. Flipping on the TV, she left it on the cartoon channel before having a look around.

There weren't any expensive electronics or pieces of art in plain sight, so Rey could only assume that anything valuable would be in his room. "Oh, well, nothing gained, nothing lost. Better update Finn, though."

Yanking her cell out, Rey sent a quick text to her brother with Ben's name, the hotel's address, and a couple sentences about the modest state of his living room. He answered her almost immediately, sounding concerned.

Finn: Are you sure about this bloke? If you're not there to rob him, I assume that means you're interested in something else?

Rey: Yes? Maybe? I don't know. We just met, but…

Finn: At least text me later, okay? So I don't have to worry

Rey: I will. Love you 3

Finn: Love you too, peanut

Finn: ...check the room safe if you get a chance. Those types of hotels always have them and you never know what might be inside ;)

Rolling her eyes, but knowing he was right, Rey listened for a moment. It sounded like Ben was still in the shower, so she took the opportunity to pop into the bedroom and search his closet. A standard issue hotel safe was at the back, surrounded by some very nice black suits.

It wouldn't have been hard to crack the safe if she had her gear, but her heart wouldn't have been in it even if she did. She didn't want to rob Ben Solo, which was a first. Still, she did appreciate a challenge...

"Did you need something?"

Rey whipped around to see her host in nothing but a low slung white towel. "No, I—uh…"

"Would you like something to change into?" he inquired kindly.

Unable to respond with his magnificent chest and long thighs on display, Rey just shook her head in the negative. His brow creased and she felt like a kid who had been caught snooping for Christmas presents. "Shit, shit, shit, I've totally blown it!" Backtracking to the living room, she wasn't surprised when he followed. "What should I do? Oh, god, I don't want him to think…"

"Rey, what you said earlier… about being a… what did you call it? A grifter? Are you—mmph!" he started, unable to complete his thought as Rey impulsively reached up to kiss him.

But instead of pushing her away and demanding an answer, Ben threaded his fingers through her hair and dragged her closer. Taking his response as permission, Rey wrapped her arms around his waist, gripping his bare back as the kiss went on and on.

Somehow, they ended up next to the couch. Rey pushed Ben into a sitting position and climbed onto his lap, rubbing her clothed core against the tent in his towel. "Rey," he whispered, lips trailing down to her neck, "Rey, I want you."

"Yes," she responded as he reached for her waistband. Coming up on her knees, she growled when he yanked her leggings and underwear down her hips with one forceful tug. Things were getting out of control, going too far too fast, but she didn't care; she wanted him too. "Help me," she demanded, legs trapped by the constricting garments.

"I've got you," he huffed, reaching behind her to unzip her black combat boots and pull her pants the rest of the way off.

Meanwhile, Rey tore her top and bralette over her head before going to work on the towel barely covering his lap. "Wow!" she blew out a breath, zeroing in on his ardent erection when it was uncovered. He was big, maybe bigger than anyone she'd ever been with. Would he fit?

"Fuck," Ben sighed, sitting back to stare at her body, "you're beautiful, Rey."

Feeling weirdly shy about the sincerity in his sinful voice, Rey kissed him again in lieu of a response, reaching between them to spread herself for entry.

"Wait," he said, gasping for air, "what about protection?"

"Implant," she mumbled, rubbing her slit against the tip of his penis. "I'm clean, are you?"

"Yeah, I haven't—oh, god—uh, done it in a while."

"Good." She felt strangely possessive of him, this man she had just met. It pleased her that he didn't sleep around. "Fuck me, then. Raw."

Ben slammed his mouth down on hers again, positioning his dick with one hand and gripping her left buttock with the other. But he didn't ram himself home, instead he teased her hole, sliding only a fraction of the way in before retreating. He did it over and over, mimicking the action with his tongue until she was incoherent with desire, squirming, imploring him to fill her…

And then he was, and she found that he fit very well inside her indeed. His thick cock seemed to be made for her, hitting all the right spots and ones she hadn't even known existed until now. "Ben!" she cried, furiously pumping her hips in time with his thrusts. "This is—you're—"

"I feel it too!" he returned, palming her breast and teasing her erect nipple. "From the first moment I saw you, I—"

She licked his mouth, begging for entrance, not wanting to hear his sweet words even as they made her heart soar. He opened for her, but was obviously frustrated that she had cut off his declaration. Before she knew it, the hand squeezing her ass drew back and lightly smacked against her butt-cheek.

"Oh!" Rey jolted at the slight sting, but it wasn't in pain. On the contrary, she requested, "Again! Ben, do that again, please! I'm—"

Knock, knock.

"Oh, shit, Poe's at the—"

"Don't you fucking dare, Ben Solo," she growled, bouncing up and down on him with renewed vigor. But the driver started knocking harder, likely because of the guttural sounds erupting from Ben's throat. "Come on, man, can't you tell we're busy?!"

"But—shit!" Ben hauled her against him, no longer playing, just looking for relief before his friend broke the door down.

Rey found his soft grunts and swears endearing, so she took pity on him and increased her pace even further. "Come for me, Ben," she instructed, grinding down on him with all her might. "Come now and then we can eat. Or you can eat me, whichever you prefer."

The dirty talk seemed to work, because in the next minute, Ben was biting down on her shoulder, shaking with the force of his orgasm. Not far behind, Rey led his hand to her swollen nub, needing just a hair more stimulation to tip over the edge. Almost instantly, his trembling touch sent her into climax. Still vaguely aware of what's-his-name banging on the hotel room door, she pressed her mouth to Ben's pectoral to muffle her cries and came for what felt like ages…

"That—was—amazing," Ben panted, hugging her so tightly she thought she might pop. "The—best—I've—ever—had!"

"Me—too," she couldn't help but admit.

Loosening his hold, Ben cupped her cheeks and kissed her softly. "Thank you."

"Ah—you're welcome," she said, smiling like an idiot. Before she could lean in again, Poe resumed making his presence known.

"Ben? Are you okay? Answer me! Did that woman kill you? Your mother will be so pissed if you're dead." He hit the door again. "Either answer me in the next ten seconds or I'm going to get security!"

"I'm fine, great, alive, whatever!" Ben called back loudly. "And annoyed," he said to Rey. "Go into the bedroom for a minute while I get rid of him."

"Okay," she agreed, gingerly getting up. They both groaned when he slipped out of her, which Rey found gratifying. "Can I use the shower now?"

"Sure, there are towels under the sink. My sleep shirts are in the top drawer of the dresser," he offered.

"He wants me to spend the night?" she mused, feeling giddy and terrified all at once. "Alright," she said aloud, picking up her clothes and disappearing into the bedroom she'd been casing earlier, "call out if you need backup."

"Will do," he chuckled, "will do."

——————

Ten minutes later, Rey emerged from the bathroom feeling fresh and back in control. Picking a long sleeve shirt out of Ben's dresser at random, she pulled it over her naked body before toweling off her wet hair. The black cotton was as soft as it was big, but Rey didn't mind; it smelled like Ben.

Catching her reflection in the floor length mirror by the closet, she was amused to see that the garment fell to her knees like a sack, giving her already slender body exactly zero shape. "Oh, well, it's not like I plan on wearing it lon—"

A disturbance in the living room suddenly diverted her reverie. Sneaking to the door, she carefully cracked it and peaked out.

"You can't just keep her here!" Poe nearly shouted at Ben.

"Keep your fucking voice down," he snarled back. "You're not my boss or my mother and you can't tell me what to do. I'm a grown ass man!"

"Maybe so, but you're acting like a teenager! You can't just sleep with some chick you picked up off the side of the road when Leia is counting on you to—"

"I told you," Ben said through gritted teeth, "she saved my ass and I wanted to get to know her. I didn't hire her for the fucking night!"

"Could have fooled me," Poe scoffed. "For all you know, she could have been in on the attack and—"

"Get out!" Ben ordered, clearly at his wit's end. "I'll call you when you're needed again, if you are."

"Are you firing me?!"

"Not yet," Ben said grimly, marching to the door and flinging it open. "Just go before I forget that you're my best friend and say something I regret."

"Fine," Poe said, storming out of the apartment. "Let me know when you come to your senses!"

Ben slammed the door shut, then turned around and leaned on it. Scurrying back into the bathroom before he caught her eavesdropping, she started combing her hair, attempting to look natural in case he came in after her. When he didn't, she tried not to feel disappointed.

Leaving her damp hair hanging loose around her shoulders, Rey found him sitting at the dining table in his towel with several brown paper bags in front of him. He looked lost in thought and she hoped he hadn't taken Poe's opinion about her motives to heart. "Wotcher, Ben?" she asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?" he said, looking up at her. "Sorry, I was just...uh…" The arrested look on his face made her toes curl. "Wow, you look amazing."

"This old thing?" she joked, sidling up next to him. "I borrowed it from a mate."

"He has good taste," he said, opening his arms.

"I certainly think so," she said coyly, moving to sit sideways on his lap. Rey curled one arm around his neck and placed the other one on his chest. "Are you still hungry?"

"For food?" he choked, holding her so that she wouldn't slide off.

"Food," she nodded, leaning her forehead against his, "and other things."

One of Ben's large hands inserted itself between her thighs. "These kinds of things?" he murmured. "I think we can—fuck!" he bit his lip as he discovered that she wasn't wearing anything underneath his shirt.

"We can certainly fuck," she teased, "but—oh!" Rey gasped as he stood with her in his strong arms. "Ben? What are you…?"

Before she could get the words out, he'd pushed their dinner out of the way and laid her down on the table. Placing the backs of her knees in the crook of each arm, Ben pulled her forward until her butt was on the edge of the table and her pussy was level with his mouth.

"Having dinner," he said in the most ridiculously sexy tone of voice she'd ever heard, flipping his nightshirt up so that she was bare from the waist down.

"Oh, god!" she whimpered as he lowered his head. "Ben, you don't really have to—ah!" Gripping the back of his head as he started to lick her folds, Rey shuddered every time his long nose bumped against her clit.

"Enjoying yourself?" he said a little arrogantly. "Is this why you came home with me? Cause you wanted me to make you feel good?"

Considering how very well he was treating her, and the uncertainty on his face, she decided to play along. "Yes, Ben, I wanted you the second I saw you!"

He smiled slightly, then resumed tasting her. "So, does that mean you want to come?"

"That would be lovely," she sighed, enjoying the pressure of his wide mouth.

His mouth quirked at that. "Never heard sex described that way before."

"Then you're doing it with the wrong people."

"Oh?" his gaze turned hot. "And how many people have you been doing it with?"

"Not many," she said hurriedly, "and not in a long time."

"Good girl," he said silkily. "So, if I were to put my fingers inside you, would your cunt feel… full?"

"Yes!" she panted, so wet she was dripping onto the table now.

"Let's see then."

Arching her back as he slid two fingers inside her body, Rey realized that she had never really known sexual satisfaction until tonight. She was twenty-five and still basically knew nothing about sex and relationships. "Huh."

Ben stopped moving, lifting his dark head to look at her. "Rey? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she said dreamily. "I guess I've just never felt this way before."

He held her eyes for an extended moment, amber striking against hazel. "Yeah, me too." And then he was fingering her again, sucking and teasing her slick opening until she was crying out his name in ecstasy.

Afterward, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind them. Needless to say, they skipped dinner that night.

——————

Rey grunted as she felt Ben leave the bed the next morning. He had been her heater since the sheets and pillows were strewn about the room. "Come back," she said hoarsely, throat worn from use. "I'm cold."

"Just a moment," he laughed, opening the bedroom door to fetch something from the living room. "Your cell has been going off for an hour straight."

"My cell?" she yawned. Then, "Oh, no." She sat bolt upright. "Wait! Don't—"

"Rey?" Ben called in disbelief. "Who the fuck is Finn?"

——————

A/N: I love Kingsman and always think about Rey being a punk with a heart of gold like Eggsy. I didn't include the spy angle, but I was able to visit The Black Prince, where scenes were filled for the movie, a couple years ago and have fond memories. Anyway, reviews are appreciated! <3