#that first bit of dialogue is direct from the game my bad | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kitten4sannie · 1 year

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21 - ᴠᴏʏᴇᴜʀɪꜱᴍ -

ꜱᴀɴ/ᴡᴏᴏʏᴏᴜɴɢ

ʟɪɢʜᴛꜱ ᴄᴀᴍᴇʀᴀ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

pairing: pornstar! wooyoung x pornstar! reader (fem) x older pornstar! san

summary: you star in the tenth installment of “Stepdad Fucks Stepson’s Slutty Girlfriend.”

w.c: 3.3k

warnings: aged up! san, hard dom! san, dom! wooyoung, sub! reader, there’s a whole stepdad/stepson theme that’s alluded to but it’s a porn setting so it’s not actually real, daddy kink, pet names, name calling, voyeurism, oral (receiving), squirting, two spanks, humiliation (m receiving), unprotected sex, cumshot

a/n: dilf pornstar san <3 that's it. that's my entire note <3 also yes this is just me simping over san for an hour straight leave me aloneeee

FFF Masterlist

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On your way to your next shoot, you sat in the backseat of your driver’s car, staring off into space. It wasn’t until you felt your phone vibrate on your lap that you looked down at it, reading the text you received from the intern at the company you worked for. They sent you a link to the script, which you promptly opened. They usually just consisted of a really vague explanation of scenes, along with some basic dialogue. It was relatively easy to remember. Reading the small text on the first page, you realized that you’d be working with someone else besides your friend and coworker Wooyoung. It was Choi San. The Choi San. Not only was he aging like the finest wine available at a Michelin restaurant, he was quite the celebrity in the industry, known mainly for his stamina, his ability to stay hard for a prolonged amount of time, and the thing that initially got him noticed back in the 80s — his ability to pump out endless cumshots. Despite being older, he was still able to keep up with the younger men and even surpass them, able to work for hours with few breaks in between, and always having a lot of enthusiasm. Needless to say, he was a very, very busy man.

“Hey, Woo,” you spoke, turning your head to look at your coworker sitting in the seat beside you, admiring his shiny dark brown hair, watching it bounce slightly as the car drove over a particularly rough road. “Did you know we’re working with Choi San? He’s going to wreck us!”

“He’s going to wreck you. It’s a straight person porn.” Wooyoung looked up from the game he was playing on his phone, blowing a bubble with the strawberry gum he was chewing. “And yeah, they told us before we got in the car back at the studio. Were you not listening?”

“I mean, I heard that we’re playing a couple that gets caught or whatever...” You pursed your glossy lips, idly watching Wooyoung continue to play an RPG game you weren’t familiar with, before gasping, “Oh my god, is San going to play the step dad role? That’s actually everything.”

Wooyoung paused the game, unable to focus on the battle that was taking place on the screen. “Y/N,” he started with an attitude, brushing a bit of perfectly-styled hair out of his line of sight. “Do you even watch his films? He always plays the step dad.”

“Not always.” You sucked your teeth, your lips forming a slight pout. “He’s done a ton of solo stuff. And I also saw one where he played a professor cheating on his wife.”

Wooyoung chuckled softly, reaching over to ruffle your hair, not wanting you to get pouty because you were upset. He’d rather see you be like that when you were begging for cock onset. “You’re right, Y/N. My bad…though in that one the husband was cheating on the wife with his stepdaughter.”

“Oh, yeah…” You looked down at Wooyoung’s hand when he lowered it to hold his phone again, your eyes slowly following a prominent vein that tracked up his forearm and eventually branched off in different directions, feeling a very familiar twinge of heat form inside your core. “Are you more excited about working with me or San?”

He didn’t bother looking up from his game, answering right away, “San.” In turn, you made a tiny hmph sound, unconsciously folding your arms across your chest.

Wooyoung smiled to himself, tapping and swiping his phone screen to wear down the enemy in his game, until he won. After emitting a small ‘yes’, he glanced over at you. “Come on, Y/N. I’m just kidding.”

“You’re not funny,” you mumbled in a pouty voice, suddenly caught off guard when he grabbed your chin and pulled you in closer. “What?”

He ran his thumb over your bottom lip, gazing at you with half-closed eyes, the tip of his tongue swiping near the beauty mark on his lower lip. “You don’t need to ask that every time we film with someone else, you know. The answer’s always you." Seeing your sheepish smile made his heart melt, though he had to be honest this time around. "But I think it might actually be San this time. I mean, just look at him," he sighed, already playing one of the man's latest films on his phone, sighing longingly at the sight of San pounding himself into a guy's ass, while his fingers were buried inside a woman's cunt.

"Wooyoung!" you whined, pushing on his shoulder. You stared at the clip, studying his intense, lust-filled facial expressions, and admiring the way he just kept going and going, not showing any signs of exhaustion. "No, you're right. I'm with you on this."

Wooyoung smirked, gently resting his head on your shoulder. "Thought so."

San was even more attractive in person. His angular face and sharp, chiseled jaw distracted you first, especially his Adam’s apple, watching it bob up and down as he took a few drinks from a glass water bottle that probably cost at least a few hundred dollars. A few drops trickled down his freckled neck, disappearing inside his plain white button-up shirt. The one that was clinging to his broad upper body and becoming a little loose near his slim waist, though his Gucci belt kept it tucked in. He was expensive, and he didn't mind if everyone knew it, too. In fact, he preferred it when eyes were on him.

Wooyoung stood near you, sipping on a Red Bull through a bendy straw. “Y/N, are you just going to stare at him like that, or say hi?”

You put a hand up in front of his face, murmuring, “Shhh, I’m concentrating.” You were, to be fair, but you were also thinking about all the ways San could probably destroy you.

Zoning back in on the man, you focused on his striking dark eyes that gazed intensely through a pair of sleek black glasses, as he was entirely focused on the film crew member that was now speaking to him. Jesus, he was fine. You licked your lips at the sight of the crow’s feet that appeared underneath San’s eyes when he smiled at them. You needed him inside you sooner rather than later.

“Jesus Christ, I can’t watch this anymore,” Wooyoung announced exasperatedly, walking past you and up to San when he was done talking, tucking some hair behind his ear and pushing on the older man’s chest. After a few moments, he motioned to you and beckoned you in their direction.

San greeted you with a warm smile, slowly running his thumb around the lid of his water bottle. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you from Wooyoung, Miss Y/N.”

“Oh, did you now?” you returned, giggling softly, placing a hand on your hip and trying not to smile too hard back. “What’d you hear about me?”

The man’s once friendly eyes darkened in front of you, his tongue rubbing over his bottom lip. “I heard you squirt a lot. I really want to see.” The polite image he portrayed just a second ago disappeared all together. It was so jarring that it made your knees feel a bit weak. “You’ll let me see that, won’t you?”

“Uh-huh,” you nodded almost right away, not even noticing that you were starting to drool when Wooyoung put an arm around you and quickly wiped it away with his thumb, distracting San when he asked, “Is it true that you once came for 2 minutes straight?”

Once someone counted down from five and gave you all the thumbs up, the camera framed the shot, capturing you and Wooyoung sitting on a leather couch in a living room, pretending to watch the TV that was playing a rerun of a past football game. San sat in a recliner with an empty beer in his hand, not able to see the two of you unless he turned his head back.

With his arm around you, Wooyoung began to slowly pull down the thin strap of your tank top. “Baby, I’m so horny,” he complained, glancing down at your tits, idly flicking one of your nipples to make it stiff.

“Your stepdad’s right there…” You feigned embarrassment, pushing his hand away, only for him to position you so that you were sitting against his chest with the two of his hands working on your tits, kneading then in circles and rubbing your nipples with the pads of his thumbs. “Babyyyy, he’s going to hear us…”

Wooyoung pressed his lips to your ear, whispering loud enough so that the boom mic captured his low voice, “He’ll only hear if you’re too loud, you know? Try to keep your voice down.” He slipped one hand into your loose, non-existent athletic shorts, rubbing circles around your clit, his other hand pushing up underneath your tank top to grab at your tit directly, continuing to tweak your nipple. Delighted by your small, breathy moans, he rubbed his fingers rapidly up and down your dripping cunt, teasing your hole more and more, until he couldn’t help but fill you up with them, delighted with how soaked you were. “Fuck, you’re so wet already, babygirl…”

Soon enough, Wooyoung was on his knees with his face in between your legs, three fingers deep in your cunt, and slurping on your clit like it was his life mission. The cameraman positioned himself in front of San, who was watching the both of you over his shoulder and fisting his cock, still able to capture the two of you behind him.

“It’s so good, you’re stretching me out so good,” you panted, going between gazing down at Wooyoung and up at San, making sure not to acknowledge the camera at all. You fucked yourself on Wooyoung’s slender fingers the best you could, sinking further and further down the couch cushion behind you, your shorts hanging off one of your ankles and your top rolled up over your tits, all while you panted and moaned like a bitch in heat.

“Cum, baby, come on, you can do it,” Wooyoung encouraged in a muffled voice, dragging his tongue up and down your pulsing clit, rubbing your g-spot in just the right way to make your hips stutter and your moans to raise in pitch. As soon as your warm arousal began to drip out, he moved his fingers rapidly across your clit instead, shoving his tongue inside you to fuck the cum out of you. “That’s it, that’s it, baby. Good girl. Gooood girl.”

Your coworker’s praise caused you to barrel over the edge, your orgasm so intense you let out a desperate, almost sob-like cry, seeing stars. You painted Wooyoung’s mouth and face with your squirt, some of the tiny clear droplets hanging onto his long lashes.

“You got a slutty little girlfriend there, son.” The older man finally stood up and walked over to the couch, sitting on his knees beside you, his hand still idly stroking his long, veiny length. “But she looks like she wants something more than just your fingers and tongue.”

Wooyoung gave your cunt one nice, long lick, before looking up at San with a curious expression, despite knowing what he’d say. “What’s that?”

“A nice, big cock,” San replied, letting go of his own and letting it slap up into his abdomen, waiting for the cameraman to zoom in before he ran a thick finger up from the bottom of his shaft and along one of his prominent veins, smirking as the camera rose upwards to capture your overly surprised, but enticed face. “You want Daddy’s cock instead of your boyfriend’s, huh?” He slipped his fingers into your hair and brought your face closer to his cockhead, slapping it down onto your tongue a few times when you opened up. “Mm, I’ll take that as a yes. Now, open wide and show me what you’re made of.”

San’s stamina was no joke. It was well over two hours and you already filmed two deepthroat scenes, having to redo it after he pinched your nose for too long and you almost died tragically from choking on his cum, another solo jerk off scene for a separate catalog, and then he had to enter you in various positions, having to go slow, but stay hard, so that the photographer could take pictures for another catalog. Now, he was fucking you into next week for the camera. All the while, Wooyoung was able to cum a couple times, mostly on his own, but you were so gracious enough to lend a hand even when you were getting face-fucked.

Though, Wooyoung didn’t even bother jerking off himself at the point, knowing the camera wasn’t even on him anymore. He sighed to himself, idly running his hand up and down his abdomen, watching San fuck the shit out of you right next to him. He couldn’t be too upset. He already knew that the studio you were filming for was made for men who almost couldn’t even handle seeing him naked on their cum-stained computer screens, their fragile masculinity convincing them it was gay to do so.

Personally, you could hardly think straight, unable to even acknowledge Wooyoung sulking on the couch nearby. It wasn’t your fault, though. San was showing you what it really meant to get dicked-down. The man was like a well-oiled machine, pistoning his cock in and out of you like he was built for it. In fact, his cock was buried so deep inside you, you swore he was going to quite literally rearrange your guts. You wanted to tell the man all of that, but instead you spoke how you usually did during your films, “It’s so good, Daddy. You’re making me feel so full with your big cock in my tiny little pussy.”

“Mm-hmmm,” San nodded his head in agreement, pushed you further down into the couch, his solid body flush against yours. “Daddy’s fucking you good, huh? Much better than your pathetic little boyfriend. You want Daddy’s dick from now on instead?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,” you chanted in an obnoxiously whiny voice, each time he pounded into you, hooking your feet together around his slim waist, locking him in place. When the cameraman zoomed in on your face specifically, you emitted a few small whining sounds, making a small ‘o’ with your swollen lips, gazing at the older man with glossy eyes, your eyebrows drawn.

“Baby girl’s so fucked out for Daddy already…” San reached down in between your bodies to rub your clit, the camera now following his movements. The older man pulled his body back slightly, giving the camera a good view of him pounding into you so brutally fast and hard that you’d have no choice but to squirt for him. He knew it’d make a nice money shot.

“Fuck, Daddy, it’s so fucking good!” you yelled, almost growling the last few words out, digging your manicured nails into his broad back and scraping them downwards, making the man groan. This happened sometimes. You got so lost in the pleasure that it made you aggressive. Made you want to cum so badly that if you didn’t get to, you’d throw a fit. “Don’t you fucking stop!”

“I’m not going to stop until I made you squirt, princess.” San ran his tongue across his bottom lip, squeezing and thumbing your throbbing clit, shoving his cock into your aching cunt so viciously that he couldn’t help but let a loud grunting sound each time. “Squirt all over Daddy’s cock. Come on. Fucking do it."

Two rough slaps to your ass and one brutal thrust later, you tossed your head back into the couch, your face contorting like you were in pain, your jaw tensing up as you moaned, “Oh my fucking god.” San pulled out and moved out of the way, holding one of your legs up so that the cameramen could get in there, allowing him to catch a crystal clear view of your dripping hole clenching around nothing until a small amount of liquid began squirting out of you. “Oh my goddddd…”

To make you squirt as much as possible, San hunched over the couch and brought two fingers onto your extremely sensitive clit, rubbing it so quickly, your hips jolted away from his touch, encouraging him to hold you down with one strong hand on your nearest hip.

“Saaaan,” you choked out, tears spilling out of your eyes from how insanely good it felt. Your arousal started to spray out of you instead, covering your cunt and inner thighs, getting onto the leather couch, and of course, even wetting the cameraman himself.

San sighed to himself, admiring such a beautiful sight. “Fucking hell, you’re making such a mess, baby. Look at you.” Without wasting a single second, he got back onto the couch and sat on his knees, using your slick and his dripping pre-cum to lube his cock, jerking off so fast his shoulders were starting to tremble. “Gonna cum all over you, kitten. You want Daddy’s milk, yeah?”

“Yes, Daddy,” you nodded, gazing up at his dimpled smile, the small wrinkles underneath his upturned eyes, the pretty moles that decorated his strained neck. You couldn’t help but reach in between your legs to play with your pulsing cunt, rubbing the wetness around, making sure to spread your legs to give the camera a good view.

“Here it comes, baby,” San grunted huskily, pumping his hand slowly up and down his veiny shaft. “Oh, yeah that’s it…” He leaned his head down to look at your lewd face, forcing a long, thick rope of cum out onto your tits at first, making sure he covered the majority of your face in it, until he began working his way down your body. “Take Daddy’s load, kitten. Take all of it.” He continued to stroke the base of his twitching cock, the milky liquid splattering all over your tits and abdomen, some even landing on your mound and sliding down to your hole.

“Thank you, Daddy,” you purred, swiping your fingers through the vast amount of cum on your sweaty body and popping them into your mouth to suck on them.

“You’re very welcome, baby girl.” He admired the messy painting he made on his pretty canvas, taking in deep breaths to slow down his racing heart.

Once you relaxed and melted into the couch, San grabbed your chin and pressed his lips to your cheek, then made you face Wooyoung who sat up straight and gave you his best pouty face now that the camera was on him. “Tell my pathetic stepson that you’ll come to me when he can’t fuck you right.”

“I’m going to let Daddy fuck me whenever your cock doesn’t satisfy me, baby,” you told your scene partner, reaching over to caress his cheek. “That’s alright with you, yeah?”

Wooyoung nuzzled your hand, nodding his head sadly. Even though he was acting, you still felt a twinge of guilt inside your chest. He was good. The cameraman zoomed out slowly, then lowered it and gave a thumbs up to the other staff in the room, causing them to sigh and split apart in their own directions.

San patted your head and gave you a bright smile, wiping some sweat from his forehead. "Great job, Y/N. You really gave it your all." When you gave him an uncharacteristically shy smile, he leaned in, adding in a low voice, "It was fun watching you squirt. Maybe I can see it again sometime."

"Uh-huh!" you answered a little too quickly, your cheeks burning, making Wooyoung roll his eyes and let out a small chuckle at your reaction.

San turned to Wooyoung, pushing some of his damp raven hair back and fixing his glasses. "Maybe we can get a bit more involved next time. You seem like a brat. Makes me want to put you in your place."

Blushing, Wooyoung couldn't even form a sentence, too caught off guard by the older man's words. You shoved Wooyoung's shoulder a bit, knowing he was just as whipped for San as you were.

San found you both to be quite cute, but preferred to keep it to himself for now. "Mm, anyway, it was nice working with you two! Bye for now." He showed off his charming smile, accompanied by the dimples that he was known for, before walking off to find his clothes.

Once you both got cleaned up and dressed, you stood near Wooyoung who was checking his phone game, leaning on him, periodically looking over at San, watching him pop a few white tablets into his mouth and swallowing them down with water. "So, it's Viagra..."

"Huh?" Wooyoung mumbled, glancing up at you for a second.

"Why he's able to stay hard for so long, you know." You sighed, missing the feeling of being stretched out by him.

"That still doesn't answer why he's able to cum so goddamn much." Wooyoung paused his game, putting an arm around you, joining in on the fuck-me eyes you were giving San. "Ugh, I really wanted him in my ass. It's not fair."

"Why don't we try to get him to join us for that one upcoming shoot?" you suggested, nudging Wooyoung's ribs with your elbow.

"Are you talking about '2 Sluts 1 Cock?' " he asked nonchalantly, turning to look at you, idly licking his lips.

"That's the one," you chimed, your eyelids lowering slightly, gazing at Wooyoung for a while, until the two of you went back to eye-fucking San across the room, letting out long, lovesick sighs.

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FFF: @hwalysm @scuzmunkie @creativechaoticloner @dilucpegg3r @yeosxxx @gemjimin @wonwowzers @sanjoongie @manipulatedstars @k-drizzle

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orqheuss · 11 months

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Anything to make you smile

(Sebastian/GN!Reader FLUFF) leaning a little on the MLM side, but pretty much gender neutral. it's like one line, and i'm probably overthinking it lol

Summary:

Sebastian, remembering you lamenting about not being able to experience going to Hogwarts as a first year, decides to take you on a romantic boat ride so you could enjoy the journey from Hogsmeade like he did as an eleven year old. Too bad he forgot one crucial thing: he was terrified of the Black Lake.

Word count: 4.7k

Tags: fluff, fear of water, mentions of drowning, requited love, insecurities, Sebastian being incredibly soft, probably too many similes regarding stars/space

AN: I remember seeing a bit of dialogue in the game about Sebastian being afraid of the Black Lake because he fell in in his first year, and I had to write some cute fluff with it

“I’ve been thinking—”

“A dreadful idea, truly.”

“I’ve been thinking,” Sebastian said, annoyed at being interrupted by his friend, “that our new friend never got to experience seeing Hogwarts from the boats during first year.”

Ominis looked in his friend’s direction over the top of the Daily Prophet he was currently scanning, pausing in his reading of an intriguing article talking about the winter’s newest fashion trends to reply. “Well, I never really saw it either, you know.”

A scoff came from the brunette across from him, Sebastian leveling him with an unamused stare that his friend may not have been able to see, but he definitely would be able to feel.

“You know what I mean, you blighter.”

The blond chuckled lightly to himself, a sardonic glee in his tone. “Please explain further, then. I am not a mind reader, Sebastian.” He said, fluffing the paper once again before going back to scanning his fingers across the braille.

Sebastian quickly got up from his seat, rounding the long table they were seated at in the Great Hall before sliding into the seat next to the Gaunt boy, taking the paper from his hands and throwing it on the table. The brunette leaned heavily against the other Slytherin, ignoring his stutters in protest at their close proximity as he wrapped his arm around his shoulder and gestured outwards with his free hand, painting a picture with his words.

“Just imagine it, Ominis! It’s halfway through our seventh year, and they have never experienced the beauty of seeing the castle at night over the Black Lake. Not like this, at least.” He looked at his friend, adjusting his hold so he had him by both of the shoulders. “It would be the perfect night, my friend. Snow falling all around us, not one person out because of the cold weather outside. Stars all across the sky for as far as the eye can see above us as we sail in from Hogsmeade station. The water still and quiet around us as we lean close for warmth. Well, I can’t think of anything more romantic, can you?”

Ominis looked at Sebastian with a blank stare, his eyes barely hiding his contempt as he pinched the boy’s green cloak sleeves between his finger and thumb, picking up the hands on his shoulders and dropping them back to the brunette’s sides. His glare was scathing as he scooted purposely farther away from his touch, trying to gain back some semblance of the personal space his friend was hellbent on decreasing.

The blond sighed in exasperation, almost hearing that stupid grin of Sebastian’s stretch across his cheeks. “Yes, I imagine that would be very romantic. Why this though? There are thousands of other things they missed leading up to fifth year.”

Sebastian scoffed again, like the question was completely preposterous. “Surely you remember the feeling of going across the lake? It was magical! Much more magical than anything else in the castle. And, that was when you and I met! You must remember that day fondly.”

Ominis tutted, rolling his eyes at the brunette’s antics and grumbling under his breath. “What I remember is you and Anne almost sending us tumbling into the water from your incessant movement.” He sighed, accepting his fate in this conversation. “How do you plan on getting them to join you, then? Aren’t they quite focused on studying for our NEWTs? Something you should also be focusing on, mister-future-healer?”

Silence spanned between the two friends as Sebastian’s grin only got wider, mischief swimming in his brown eyes as he looked at the Gaunt boy piece together his plan without words. A light-bulb went off in Ominis’ mind, the quiet smugness of his friend the only answer he needed to his questions; he could feel his eyes burning into the side of his face, mapping his expressions like one would map out the seven seas. His eyebrows furrowed downwards, his nose wrinkling and a frown taking over his angular face as he waved his hands in front of him.

“Absolutely not! I am not going to help you sneak out after curfew just so you can woo them with your little plan. You promised you would stop using my prefect privileges for your own personal gain.”

The brunette leaned closer to the blond again, jutting out his bottom lip in an entirely insincere pout as he pleaded his case, his hands clasped in front of him like a beggar.

“Oh please, prefect Ominis! Help me woo the person of my dreams before I die a lonely bachelor in the countryside— only a tiny crop of chickens and cows to keep me company until I die all alone, no one to carry on the Sallow name.”

Ominis looked at him with distaste, vexation screaming in his unforgiving gaze. “Anne is still very much alive, Sebastian, and courting someone right now, lest you forgot. The Sallow bloodline will continue on for the unforeseeable future— much longer than it likely should, I would say.”

A gasp accosted his ears as the freckled boy moved out of his space, crossing his arms indignantly across his chest and glowering as his friend reached down to grab his copy of the Daily Prophet for the third time in their lunch period. “You’re quite rude, you know.”

Ominis hummed, trying to ignore the pestering Sallow and continue reading his article. Sebastian, of course, was not having that as he wrenched the paper from his hands once again, folding it neatly into fourths, before throwing it over his shoulder and nearly into the crackling fireplace just beyond.

The blond groaned, throwing his head back towards the ceiling in exasperation. “Sebastian, for Merlin’s sake, I was reading that—”

The brunette cut him off quickly, his tone nearing a whine. “Please, mate. I really need your help with this one— the professors have been breathing down my neck since I set a niffler loose in the trophy room. I can’t take a piss without Sharp being outside the door!”

The wiry boy leaned his chin against his hand, resting his weight on the table as he, albeit begrudgingly, laughed lightly through his nose. “That one was pretty good, I must say.”

Sebastian sighed, happily reliving the memory of the tiny, furry thing running around and grabbing at anything shiny with its little paws. “Like a third year in Honeydukes for the first time. But, anyway— please, my dearest friend. I will do anything.” He lowered his head, murmuring like his next words were a secret that no one else could know. “I really like them, Ominis. I truly mean it. I just want this to be perfect.”

Ominis pondered for a moment, the cogs turning in his head loud enough that the brunette could almost hear them, before sighing heavily, his shoulders slumping in resignation. A grin began to break across the freckled Slytherin’s face when the blond turned in his direction, his finger jabbing at the air near him and an exuberantly miffed expression on his face.

“You are doing my potions essays for the next month.”

The brunette silently cheered, quickly accio-ing the discarded Daily Prophet back into his hand before unfolding it and handing it to his friend. “Deal! Oh, I could kiss you right now!”

The blond ducked his head, his cheeks coloring a light pink from the verbal affection as he hid his face in the newspaper, humming lightly as a quick “you’re welcome.” Before the jovial Slytherin could bound away from the table, excitement shedding from him in thick waves, a thought surged to the forefront of Ominis’ mind, causing him to snicker silently to himself.

“Wait, don’t you remember what happened the last time you went near the Black Lake—”

“Oh pshaw, Ominis! That was years ago, I am a changed man!” Sebastian mused, puffing his chest out like a preening peafowl.

The blond shook his head, finally going back to the article he was determined to finish. “Whatever you say, Sallow.”

Sebastian was, decidedly, not a changed man as he looked across the inky darkness of the Black Lake, a shiver moving up his spine that was most definitely not from the chill in the air. As soon as the vast lake breached his vision, his nerves were a jumbled mess under his ribs. Sweat beaded at his brow, the little droplets making their way down his cheek before he can wipe them away and catching in the sage green of his scarf, dying it forest in small, oblong-shaped splotches. As if part of some anxiety induced checklist, his hands then began to shake at his sides, sending tiny tremors up his arms until they reached his stone-still shoulders— taut and harsher than the winter chill coloring the tips of his ears rose. It felt like his heart could fail at any moment, the organ roughly slamming against the expanse of his sternum like a Cornish Pixie in a birdcage, begging to be let out so it could wreak havoc across the entire Highlands.

He’s had this same reaction around the lake since first year; he didn’t know why tonight would be any different.

It was amazing the emotional response a little body of water could create.

Voices crested over the roar in his ears, your sweet cadence floating through the wind like a summer song, mingling with the soft laughter of Ominis, and making his cheeks grow warmer with happiness. Sebastian quickly righted himself against the wall at the sound of you approaching, smoothing down his cable-knit sweater and straightening the collar of his winter jacket as he tried to look as nonchalant as possible; he was terribly hopeful that his nerves were not as obvious as he felt they were.

Your words reached him first, a soft laugh in your tone as you chatted with the young blond. “Ominis, where are you taking me so late at night? What is this big surprise?”

The boy chuckled, unable to be anything but happy in your presence— you were the physical embodiment of sunshine on a cloudless day. “I cannot say any more than I already have, my dear— just that Sebastian asked me to fetch you and bring you to the underground dock, and have you dress warm.”

You huffed, the sound of your steps rounding the corner from the tiny lift and making your way towards the quietly nervous brunette. “If pretty boy gets me another detention, I’m going to wring his little neck.”

A smirk grew across Sebastian’s face. Pretty boy? That was new.

As you turned the final corner meters under the Viaduct Courtyard, you stopped dead in your tracks at the brunette waiting for you there, nearly sending Ominis tumbling to the ground from your sudden pause. You had known Sebastian for some time— seen him out of his school uniform on multiple occasions— but something about him being there waiting for you, casually leaning against the wall and a smirk on his face like a Gladrags model, made your heart skip a beat. His hair was wind tousled in the best way, the curls of it snug around the conch of his ear and brushing against the freckles stretching along his sideburns. The brunette was dressed smartly— neat, you would even say, something that you didn’t see much from him with his proclivity to having a romp around the Hamlet’s whenever he wished. There was not one speck of dirt on him, not one piece of clothing out of place. The forest green Slytherin jumper tucked into his black slacks hugged his body in a delicious way, the soft looking fabric hanging just the right amount to accent his shape and the color making the golden hues in his eyes look like tiny fires. When those eyes met yours, softening under your gaze before sliding away for just a second to acknowledge the boy just behind you, it was like time itself stopped.

“Thank you again, Ominis. I appreciate it.”

You squeezed the blond’s hand once in thanks, feeling him reciprocate the gesture before turning on the balls of his feet and making his way back to his prefect rounds, calling over his shoulder as he left.

“Potions essays, Sebastian. One month!”

Sebastian rolled his eyes at his friend, pushing off from the wall and making his way towards you, holding out his hand for you to take.

“Pretty boy?” He said, smirking at the light pink that took over the tips of your ears.

You playfully shoved his shoulder, laughing as he dramatically winced before taking his hand in yours, noticing its slight tremor but not saying anything on the matter. Perhaps he was as nervous about this outing as you were? You let him lead you towards the waiting boat docked just to the side. “Like you haven’t been called pretty before, Sallow.”

He chuckled under his breath, helping you down into the tiny boat before untying the mooring line and stepping on himself, pushing off from the dock and letting the magical boat take you out over the lake. “Yes, but never by you.”

You smirked, pretending his words didn’t fluster you endlessly as you flirted back. “Well, I suppose I need to say it more often then, don’t I?”

There was something unidentifiable in his eyes when he looked at you, the moon catching on his irises and making the color look like melted cosmos. “Only if I can do the same in return.”

Your heart leapt into your throat at how serious he sounded suddenly, taking in his all encompassing stare and the way the water reflected off his hair like curls of seaweed in the depths below. Clearing your throat around the lump of nerves restricting your airway, you cast your gaze across the lake before you, breathing in the beauty of the cool winter night swimming through the trees of the Forbidden Forest just across the bay.

“So, Sebastian, why did you have Ominis drag me out of bed at this ungodly hour to meet you on a rickety old dock?”

He smiled at you, one of those big ones that took up his entire face and made the butterflies in your stomach slam against your ribs, before throwing his arms out— freckled hands like asteroids against the never-ending night sky.

“Welcome to your first and only Hogwarts boat ride!”

A laugh bubbles out of your chest as his theatrics, your eyes confused but alight with mirth. He sees your puzzlement and continues his speech, hoping to clarify a little more. “When first years arrive at Hogwarts, they’re taken across the Black Lake instead of having to ride in on the carriages— a right of passage, so to speak. Since you joined us so late, I thought you might enjoy participating in something you missed out on.”

Your eyes softened at his words, your chest warming at the care he put into this idea of his. No one had ever done anything so sweet for you before. You had known before this night that you cared for the boy, much deeper than a friendship, but this truly solidified it for you.

You leaned your elbow against your knee, dropping your chin into your palm as you continued to stare at the gorgeous boy. “That is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you, Sebastian.”

He smiled again— softer, gentler, kinder. “You deserve it, darling.”

Your heart soared. Darling.

You both sat in a comfortable silence as the boat dredged on, leaving little ripples through the black waters below that made everything look out of a storybook. The trees around you looked almost human in the winter light, the cool moon casting shadows across their branches until they looked like arms linked together in a forever dance. The calls of jobberknolls sang through your ears with a sweet musicality, swaddling the night in a calming ambiance that warmed you to your very soul. It was like you had sailed into a painting, the brush strokes of the stars above you swirling around in swatches of navy blue and pearlescent ivory. Even still, the glorious beauty of the world around you didn’t hold a candle to the man you were with.

Your eyes drank him in like an alcoholic downed shots of firewhiskey, taking in everything he was offering you that night and even more. You weren’t lying before, he truly was pretty. Sebastian Sallow was always the talk of the girls dorm; it was all you heard when you first arrived. He had filled out some since then, his boyish charm giving way to the dashing man before you. He looked breathtaking in the moonlight, all shadow and mystery until you reached his eyes— like sunsets and midnight's meeting each evening in a burst of oranges and golds; halcyon. Liquid gold, you called them. Never to anyone else, especially Ominis, just to yourself. His eyes were your own personal Felix Felicis. While you couldn’t see it behind you, the lights of the castle caught on the tiny dots of freckles scattered across his cheeks, turning them into the glowing constellations just above your heads— you didn’t need to look to know that the entire sky was right there with you, within arms reach for the first time. Not even the most noteworthy, the most famous astronomers could say the same.

Focusing your eyes again, you caught him gazing at you with what was likely a very similar look to the one you were sporting. He seemed just as enthralled as you were, looking at you like he was but a simple stargazer and you were a fleeting comet, something that only came around once in a lifetime— like he wanted nothing more than to chart your path for the rest of his life, just content in following you until you burnt out in a great ball of flame and stardust. There was something else in his eyes, though, something concerning. His pupils shifted around, one moment looking at you and the next glaring at the forest or at the water below like it affronted him. His fingers were white against the mahogany-toned boat, his knuckles nearing a muted purple from the cold and the strength he was using to keep himself still. You could tell he was trying to hide it, but a brave smirk could only hide so much if it was also wobbly at the corners. Could it be anxiety? Nerves for a first date? You were feeling similar things, if that was the case. The atmosphere was certainly romantic. But, if that wasn’t the reason, what was going on with him?

Your answer came upon docking at Hogsmeade, your little boat jostling against the wooden pier near the train station and sending you rocking about, waves crashing against the helm in its wake. Sebastian looked like he had seen the ghost of his late parents, eyes wide and the whites of his sclera ghastly. The wood under his hands creaked as he grasped at it even tighter, surely burying little splinters into his skin that would certainly persist for days after. That was when it dawned on you: he was scared.

Your concern grew exponentially seeing him like this— you had never seen him this frightened before. Prying one of his hands from the starboard, you gently cradled it in yours, forcing him to look away from the onyx water and meet your gaze. Your eyes were soft and questioning when you spoke, your tone caring and inquisitive. “What’s going through that mind of yours, Sebastian? Why are you so afraid right now?”

He sighed heavily, his shoulders already relaxing minutely at the warmth of your hand in his. He desperately hoped that you wouldn’t notice his anxious energy. “I thought I was hiding it well. Nothing gets past you, I guess.” He took a deep breath, like preparing to confess his sins at the pews of Notre Dame. Your heart constricted with your own nerves. “I’m afraid of the Black Lake. I thought everything would be fine for this trip— thought I’d grown out of it. I see now that I have not.”

Sebastian didn’t think your expression could get any softer as he looked at you through his eyelashes, wholeheartedly embarrassed because of his unprecedented fear. It was just a bloody body of water, for Merlin’s sake! He was supposed to be the best duelist in the school— the bravest Slytherin to walk the halls of Hogwarts since Salazar himself! He had cleared out caverns of inferi, taken down countless camps of Ashwinder’s and poachers, killed hundreds of Goblin’s during Ranrok’s rebellion; but he drew the line at some dark water?

Your soothing voice broke him from his self loathing, setting his heart aflame in his chest. “Why are you afraid of the Black Lake?” His eyes darkened at your question, filling with apprehension— shoulders stiffening to an intense degree like he was considering fleeing rather than answering the question. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but know that I would never judge you for something you were afraid of, even if it was a bit silly.”

He sighed again, his shoulders sagging again and his hand gripping yours with a firmer grip. He began to glide his thumb across your knuckles to self-soothe as he began the story. “I fell in during my first year— decided it would be a good idea to mess around on the docks of the boat house. I knew how to swim by then, but I got snagged by some of the seaweed under the pier. Would have drowned if it wasn’t for the giant squid. Didn’t even know how it happened— one minute I thought I was a goner and the next I was coughing up lungfuls of lake water, watching this gigantic tentacle disappear back into the depths.”

Sebastian shivered as he relived the memory, turning his chin downwards so he didn’t have to look when you inevitably started laughing at his blunder. It was a foolish fear, he told himself. How could he still be afraid after all this time? It wouldn’t surprise him if you decided to leave right then and fly back to the castle on your own.

Instead, you did the opposite. You shifted closer to the boy, taking his face into your unoccupied hand and tilting it so he was looking into your eyes again. You could see his insecurity in them, the embarrassment and fear swirling around the copper color and settling in the inky black of his pupil. Your smile did not leave your face as you gazed at him, your thumb running across his cheekbone and your heart swelling with love as he leaned into your touch.

“Seems like a perfectly logical fear to me.”

He chuckled, all air and no sound but still filled with so much relief. “If you say so. I still think it's quite stupid, if I’m honest.”

You shook your head, giggling softly as a thought dawned on you. “Why did you take me out on the boat if you were scared? I would’ve been happy doing anything with you.”

He looked away then, gently pulling your hand from his cheek and holding it in his lap with your other one, still entwined with his. A soft blush crept up his neck, making his skin look otherworldly in the moonlight. “I thought you would like it. You mentioned missing out on some things because you started so late, so I wanted to give you one of my favorite experiences from my first year.” His gaze dropped to your hands, admiring how they fit with his like two missing puzzle pieces. “I, um— I thought it would make you smile. I would do anything to make you smile.”

Never had sweeter words been said to you before. Sebastian was not one for words, normally favoring action over linguistics, but you were entirely smitten with his confession. A blush covered your cheeks, your eyes shifting from how long his eyelashes looked in the shadows of that winter night to how soft and plush his bottom lip looked trapped under his teeth as he gnawed on it, teeming with nerves. You shuffled closer to him, nearly standing in your little boat as you leaned into his space, taking back one of your hands and using it to raise his chin so his face was level with yours. His eyes widened at the closeness of you, a barely there gasp breathing against your lips as your eyes jumped from his to his parted mouth again.

It was him in the end who closed the gap, capturing your lips with his in one of the most gentle kisses he had ever experienced. Your mouths moved in tandem— two petal-toned flowers meeting under a gentle breeze for the first time. It felt like you both swallowed fizzing wizzbees whole— like you were floating into the night sky above and all you could do was hold on to the person you were kissing with everything you had as you disappeared together. Your other hand released Sebastian’s, feeling along the fabric of his winter jacket as you reached up and thread your fingers into his hair, shivering when you felt him do the same. He pulled you closer, feeling you swallow his soft groan and release one of your own.

You shifted your weight on your feet, bending fully at the waist and moving to stand in between his parted thighs. The boat rocked underneath you, the waves getting rougher as you both explored each other with a newly found vigor. You began to grow unsteady, your hands falling to the brunette’s shoulders as your vessel pushed and pulled against the tide. Sebastian grabbed you around the waist, trying to keep you steady as everything around you tipped on its axis.

One moment you were dry, snogging the boy you loved, and the next you were underwater.

The coldness of the lake shocked you, pushing you to move your legs faster as you swam towards the surface. You both breached the surface at the same time, heaving lungfuls of air into your body as you shivered against the harsh cold. Moving as fast as you could, the two of you swam towards the shoreline, pulling yourselves out of the water under the weight of your soaked clothes and flopping onto the stones below. Your chests moved up and down at a rapid pace as you struggled more for air, your hair plastered to your face and your body fully vibrating from the chilled air hitting your wet skin.

You looked to Sebastian, expecting him to be panicking because of his past trauma, but instead he was already staring at you, those Liquid Luck eyes glowing in the soft moonlight and filled with more love then you had ever seen before— a smile turning the corners of his lips and a laugh beginning to bubble under his ribs. You smiled back, your own laugh slowly beginning to fill the night air— first a small chuckle, then full guffaws. His hand pawed around on the ground for yours, interlocking your fingers and pulling you closer as you continued to laugh together, his arm moving to cradle you against his chest and keep you both warm until you felt ready to get up and begin your trek back to the castle. His joy was the sweetest music you had ever heard— a symphony of mirth and pure, unadulterated delight.

You would surely be sick for the next week, but at that moment, wrapped in the arms of the boy you would do anything for— the boy that would do anything to make you smile— this little slice of paradise was worth a few sniffles.

AN: sorry i haven't posted as many fics lately, task paralysis has been kicking my ass and i can't make myself finish anything. i have so many wips u have no idea, they just need endings. my brain just starts writing at like 1am and i give up when i get tired/when the sun comes up :/

i'm not super confident in my sebastian characterization, but i think this came out ok! :)

***

like what you read? here's more!

#tina speaks #masterlist #sebastian sallow #hogwarts legacy mc #hogwarts legacy #hl #sebastian sallow x reader #sebastian sallow x mc #sebastian sallow x you #ao3 #ao3 fic #ao3 writer

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sureokyeahwhatever · 8 months

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i finished vampire the masquerade bloodlines after chipping away at it for a couple weeks after work. Those first 2/3rds of the game are a genuine masterpiece, but man, that last third gets really, really weird and racist.

The thing is, is that I actually have very little to say about that first 2/3rds. It's just good. The design is great, it's well balanced, it's open ended, it has great characters. It's wonderful. This part of the game feels like a real, worthy successor to Deux Ex. There's just nothing more to say, I think.

...

And that's why I almost have a hard time believing it's written by the same people as the last bit. The whole game up to that point (up to just before chinatown) is pretty darn smartly written with some relatively cogent social commentary. The quality of the missions also takes a really, really steep dive in that section too (lots of run and gun hallways, lots of extremely buggy areas, shitty boss fights, etc. But that's honestly understandable because balancing the endgame of an ImSim is practically impossible). Idk, it feels like a totally different game. I could almost just forgive all of that though, if it weren't for the ungodly and seemingly genuine racism with regards to the east Asian vampires.

Like. Ok. If we're being VERY charitable and we just flatly forgive all of the misguided-though-not-malintentioned 2000s era attempts at humor-via-stereotype (dialogue options referencing "tentacles" directed at a young japanese woman; old chinese guys who are always loud and drunk; jingoistic WWII-surviving japanese soldier; Chinese businessman speaking in riddles and mentioning the I-Ching; so on and so on) the whole handling of the "chinese vampire" storyline is psychotically racist.

You first hear of these guys -- the Kuei-Jin, which I learn from the wiki is a portmanteau of the Mandarin word for ghost and a the Japanese word for person, which... ok. -- as being basically like animals. They slaughter who ever they see, lots of people in the bourgeois faction see them as a nuisance, the people in the anarchist faction see them as "invaders from the east," which already had me like "Jesus fucking Christ, maybe these anarchist guys aren't cool after all". But anyway, you go to Chinatown to talk to them and -- by my estimation -- they were basically the same as everyone else. They're protective of their territory, they're secretive, they're paranoid of outsiders... I mean, yeah, they're fucking vampires and apparently all the other vampires see them as sub-human, so yeah, I'd be paranoid and secretive around me too.

The thing is, is that you have this anarchist friend who you tell everything to -- Jack -- and I wanted to go tell him "hey, I don't think these guys are so bad. Maybe we misjudged them" or something like that. And there was a dialogue option along the lines of that, but when I said it, his response was something to the effect of "don't let them sweet talk you with their 'spiritual path' bullshit. That stuff ain't for /us/". Which, I heard and again, said "ah! Interesting writing decision! We're learning that Jack ALSO has flaws like everyone else! he's not just some perfectly cool, levelheaded badass -- he has unjustified prejudices just like everyone else!" So I continued the story under the assumption that, yes, while the surface level of the whole "Chinese vampire" thing was being handled in a really immature, racist way, and in-universe all the other factions seemed to see them as exactly that -- racist stereotypes of conniving, backstabbing Chinese mafia goons -- this was all setting up an interesting "let's all learn to put our cultural differences aside and defeat those rich assholes who want to rule LA"-style ending. This would not be the case.

There was a moment towards the end that I THOUGHT confirmed my suspicion. You are told by the leader of the bourgeois faction to convince the anarchist faction to ally with them so they can, together, take down the Kuei-Jin. Around this time you also are intercepted by the leader of the Kuei-Jin who straight up warns you "hey, that bourgeois guy set me up. He's about to set you up too. Be careful. I hope we can be friends in the future." So I get this information and go straight to the anarchist faction with the intention to say "Ok, bourgeois guys are obviously doing a power play. Now's the time to join with the Kuei-Jin and take them out. We'll settle our petty differences later." (Side note, yes, I understand they were recently at war, but war happens in these situations. The best way to prevent another war is actively making peace. Not by just constantly threatening to go BACK to war). But no such option was available. Instead, all the options were different variations on "Let's join with the bourgeois faction and kill those Chinese guys!" What? But I don't want to kill those guys! And I don't really trust either of these other factions either because the anarchists are racists and the bourgeois guys are, well, bourgeois guys.

So eventually the "ending-tron 3000" comes up in the form of a conversation with a taxi driver which, as far as ending-trons go, is pretty cute. If you decide to ally with the Kuei-Jin two things happen: one, everyone hates you because it's completely impossible to convince anyone that they are anything other than parasites, and two, they kill you in a cutscene and you die in the ocean, which, all things considered, is probably the worst possible way this whole story line could have been handled. There was an opportunity here to have an exceptionally interesting moment where you bring people together to fight in solidarity against those who seek to concentrate their power over the city and all it's inhabitants. There could have been an ending where you work together with the Kuei-Jin and the anarchists to get rid of the bourgeois faction, render the "anarchist" faction system redundant, and allow LA vampires to establish their own federated society where people can live where and how they please without the iron fist of some Ivory tower pretty boys telling everyone how to live their lives. You could establish a system of vampire democracy across LA, with all the benefits and negatives that it brings. Would LA then be crushed under the heel of the bourgeois faction coming in from other cities? Or would it be able to stand the test of time and serve as an example for other cities to rise up and do the same? There's some interesting stuff here, both politically and for individual characters as perhaps you have to work extra hard to get Jack and the rest of the anarchists to believe that the Kuei-Jin are, despite superficial differences, just vampires like they are and that they all share common interests.

Instead, the game goes hard in the other direction. It calls you an idiot for trusting those eastern invaders and basically says "you should have listened to everyone else when they were mumbling under their breath about how you can't trust those Kuei-Jin as far as you can throw them". i.e., you were an idiot for not being racist enough. Like, I can understand the general theme of "trust no one", since it permeates through the whole game, but to literally introduce a faction of "conniving foreigners" who everyone hates, and then to have that hate be perfectly justified just feels boring, hateful, and honestly like a waste of a third of what was otherwise a great, great game.

Anyway. The game is good. Great, even! It's really hard to make an ImSim, so even though the last third has some rough (ROUGH) design flaws and bugs, I'm happy to look past that. However, it's really easy to not just put Chinese people in your game and make them evil stereotypes that everyone rightfully hates, so that's harder to look past.

I would say the ideal way to experience the game is to marathon the first chapter up to downtown, play less and less frequently from downtown up until the end of hollywood or so, and gradually lose interest around the time that you're asked to go to Chinatown. I think if you did that, you'd end up remembering the game very fondly.

#vampire the masquerade #vampire the masquerade bloodlines #bloodlines #vtm bloodlines #vtm

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ro-botany · 1 year

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I never ended up finishing Shadows of Valentia (I know, I know, I’m getting to it), so it was... probably about a year or so after the game came out that I heard anything about the extra Grima backstory it introduced. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I didn’t know if the Big Bad Evil Guy in Awakening really needed that much backstory, given that at the time I felt their role in the story was as a force of nature more than an individual.

Now that it’s had time to stew though, and my interest in Awakening has been piqued again by that Risen King Chrom unit in FEH... I’ve been doing some thinking on that whole situation, and I might be changing my mind. It adds some interesting flavour to Grima and to Robin.

I’m a bit fuzzy on the timeline of Archanea’s history, but the important part for right now is, of course, Forneus. The man who created Grima. There’s a lot of Frankenstein DNA in Grima’s origins, enough that I feel like it HAS to be intentional.

We’ve got a scientist consumed by grief over the death of a loved one who starts experimenting with creating life, who manages to make a creature, only to near immediately find terrifying. The scientist eventually tries to kill their creation and dies in the process. Similar too is the stories’ insistence that the creations are inherently bad, were evil from the very start... in direct contradiction to the order of events begging you to sympathize with the creature.

A young Grima, barely a baby, smiled at their creator; and their creator thought that terrifying. They were only a few months old when their own father tried to kill them and they were forced to defend themself. They were sealed in a labyrinth for centuries, in total isolation save for the risen dead. When they finally lay eyes on another living human—Alm and Celica and allies, bearing weapons no less—of course they attack. The only contact they’ve had with living humans thus far is their dad who tried to kill them. Alm and Celica destroy Grima’s physical body, and... presumably, they find a way out after that, since the seal on the door is gone now.

(I know Forneus writes about the young Grima supposedly planting “violent thoughts” in his head. But that feels a bit like bullshit to me, honestly. One of Awakening’s themes is that you are not defined by your bloodline. Why would we backtrack on that and say this baby came out of the test tube already advocating for genocide? Hell, why are we trusting Forneus’ opinions on that to begin with? He’s a deeply unethical mad scientist who regularly murdered people for his experiments, I’m pretty sure he was having and acting on violent thoughts long before Grima grew a consciousness.)

Despite that fantastically rocky start to life, m!Grima’s 5* level 40 dialogue in Heroes suggests that Grima might have even tried to get along with humans for a time. I mean, just look at this.

[Humans] have no qualms asking for divine assistance when it meets their fickle needs... But how quick they are to shun their benefactors once they get what they desire. They become arrogant and make the same mistakes repeatedly, incapable of learning the folly of their ways. They claim their actions are for the good of others, but that's merely a show of self-indulgence. Humans are selfish.

That sounds like they’ve had time to observe humans. After they got out of the labyrinth they must’ve spent time just... around people. Either they witnessed what happened to other dragons-regarded-as-gods, or they themselves tried out being a god for a while (seems likely, given Plegia), and felt like their early experiences with humans were only getting proved on the large scale over and over again.

And if all of Forneus, Alm, Celica, and the allies of the latter two decided at a glance that Grima was evil and needed to be destroyed, how many more times did people try to destroy Grima after that? How many people took advantage of their powers, only to “shun their benefactor” later? What does that do to a person’s worldview and their view of themselves when they’re already predisposed to fear and hatred due to their early experiences?

Grima’s insistence that one’s destiny is rigid and immutable, their self image as an incarnation of despair—it all makes a lot more sense with this context. Grima is Frankenstein’s monster writ large, born of a man’s grief, named an abomination from birth, given the powers of a god and a thousand years of reasons to wield them for destruction. “The ugliness of mankind has turned me repulsive. It's the world that wants me to be evil.”

Whatever else you think of them, there’s a tragedy in a monster that is only so because they were never given the chance to be anything else.

#fire emblem #grima #meta #grima brainrot hours continues #constructing character analysis out of blurry memories wiki pages and duct tape #i started an awakening playthrough recently and am excited to go through it with this context in mind and squint at grima more #see how the forneus stuff meshes with their characterization in awakening #we love an accidental sympathetic villain

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wilchur · 7 months

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Daydreaming bg3 scenarios is my full time job at this point and I've had this phenomenal idea on my walk the other day. It's not really a headcanon since it has little basis in canon and directly contradicts some game events and plays with the lore like it's play-doh so more of a AU/fanfic idea, but...

It always struck me as inaccurate for Durge to be referred to as a "Bhaalspawn" since they're literally a PART of Bhaal made into a separate person in an act of (very confusing) divine creation and it really downplays just how powerful and dangerous they are. Especially since I fully subscribe to the idea that Durge is NOT a mortal, but that's simply not in the game due to just how OP it would be to play an unkillable Dame Aylin-esque character and the definition of a Bhaalspawn is "mortal offspring of the dead god Bhaal". So what the hell are they?

The Slayer. Or at least they're a direct vessel for it, more like.

No, really. Hear me out. Have you noticed how Gortash refers to Orin as "The Slayer" in that bit of dialogue when she puts a dagger to Ketheric throat? Except she's not? Not yet at least because the dialogue does not change depending on if you're still the one who has Bhaal's favour or not and she doesn't get it until you piss of Dad enough for him to go "fine have it your way, ungrateful brat". Plus I don't think The Slayer has been used as a shorthand for "Chosen of Bhaal" anywhere else sooo... Does he assume it's a feature of the position since he knew Durge had command over the form before their disappearance?

That's what birthed the first worm in my brain leading to this unhinged infestation, but it's not all -- there's THE URGE itself.

The game fucks it up SO bad on the whole front because it's reluctant to take choice away from the player, which is maybe understandable, but absolutely WRECKS the narrative that it's something to be afraid of. There's what? Alfira and the squirrel? Those are the only unavoidable consequences of having these supposedly violent and divine compulsions baked into every cell of your damn body. Saving your partner from a gruesome death by your hand needs a dice roll of 15, for fuck's sake! It was harder to convince a bunch of goblins to not turn me into an arrow pin cushion. Durge themself has been scared shitless of it their entire life and you're telling me the thing mostly boils down to dialogue choices? That just won't do for me, sorry. In the game The Urge's source is also never really explained beyond "of course you have unstoppable violent compulsions, you're 100% Bhaal's flesh and blood" which is fucking BORING and doesn't make sense to me because as far as I know Bhaal loves murder because that's his domain as a god, he was not a compulsive killer as a mortal so why would it be something that's passed down? No, The Urge is a fucking Slayer thing!

"It also had the ability to incite attraction in others, and remove any negative feelings they felt, or compel an urge to slay in any intentionally malevolent being, whenever it chose."

To be fair this is from a 2e sourcebook, but COME ON. Didn't it strike anyone else as weird that young Durge is mentioned to have slain an entire PALADIN ORDER before making their way to the temple if you're playing as an oathbreaker? Like, HOW? Slayer form bay-be, that's how.

(Can you tell by now I'm not normal about the idea? Yeah.)

All living creatures learn the best from their own mistakes and I think that letting The Slayer take over would be Bhaal's version of letting your incessant kid touch the clothes iron because they just refuse to leave it alone. Bad parenting, but it's Bhaal we're talking about lmao. "Oh you don't want to kill? No biggie, fuck around and see what happens then. I'll wait." is way fucking scarier to me than him just forcing Durge's hand with the butler basically being like "Heads up, master. Your father is pretty mad and your Urge is hungry so you might commit a murder tonight!" right beforehand.

Just the mental image of Durge thinking "I've done it! I've saved Isobel!" and then having the starved Slayer rip itself out of them like it does out of Orin when Bhaal forces her to transform... You see my vision right? RIGHT? And then the beast gets slain because what else is there to do and since Durge is immortal they just come back to themself instead of becoming goo (which is a game mechanic already since their sis is not so lucky, rip). The drama and angst potential is INFINITE. The sheer raw power of THAT being the "Bhaalspawn" reveal because if Isobel is alive that means Jaheira must be there like "what the FUCK are you exactly??" and no one can pretend that Durge is just Bhaalspawn+ like they do in the game. Do they kill anyone? People are bound to be at least heavily injured, especially since they've JUST fought Ketheric's bossfight and are not rested and at full potential.

GOD, I am rotating this thing in my head so fast the friction is bound to make my brain melt.

#will i actually do anything with this?#write a fic perhaps?#no <3 #bg3 #durge spoilers #bg3 spoilers #the dark urge

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amerricanartwork · 3 months

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Y’know, I have a funny story with the ship between Innocence and Pebbles.

@eggobuggo , my sister, was playing The Sims and made the iterators in her own humanised forms, including her version of Innocence and Wind, along with Moon, Pebbles, NSH and Suns, all with their own personalities and stuff. She set up a generic apartment, put the gang in, and just had fun making them do silly shenanigans together, while I sit and watched her play.

In particular, we headcanon NSH, Pebbles and Innocence as Gen 3s, the newer modes, and so she made them into teenagers, which, with a DLC, have a whole new host of features that are not in the base game. This includes getting crushes (which weirdly enough, young adults and adults cannot get).

But anyway, one day, later into the game (the gang basically all were in the high end of the friendship scale with each other), the notif board popped up that Innocence had gotten a crush on Pebbles. Unfortunately for her, NSH and Pebs were already being all flirty with each other (Ragequit is where it’s at for us), making Pebble basically keep her in the friendzone. Ngl, my heart went out to her :,) Especially so, because they were all sharing a room. (space was tight)

After that, I began thinking about it in context of it in-universe, and ngl, I came to quite liking it as a ship, especially since I see Innocence to be less… asshole-ish (?), I guess, than what the general fandom makes her out to be (I mean it’s understandable, we only see her to leak the pic of Pebbles condition and that’s it.). To me and Eggo, she’s much nicer unless you really piss her off, which then, her more cynical and gossipy side of her comes out. She was actually more of on the friends side with Pebble before the shit went down.

At the time, I thought “dang, it’s a shame I won’t be seeing anything of it since she’s so obscure.”. This was a couple months before I began seeing art of them on the main tag.

Soooo… I guess I’m somewhat of an og Milkshake (as is the fandom name) shipper???

Just, seeing you and others make art about them is almost surreal in a way, since the only reason I really considered them as a ship was cuz of a random event in a life sim game lol.

Also @eggobuggo, I hope you don’t mind me sharing the story. :)

Wow, that seems like quite the story! And I do agree, after witnessing something like that in a totally different game it must be pretty surreal to see the ship gaining popularity in the actual RW fandom now too! It's nice to get another seal of approval from an original Milkshake shipper!

For me, it's also a bit strange because it's something I've considered for a really long time as a lingering "oh, wouldn't it be cool if I could make this work?" idea. The obscurity and lack of content for UI to draw inspiration from, both canon and fanon, definitely added to these feelings and the difficulty of imagining a working portrayal of the ship, hence I've only recently felt confident enough about the relationship and UI as a character to act on it. So after Pura coined the ship name and made a lot more art of it, then other artists started expressing approval and even drawing it themselves, it almost feels like I'm watching the ship enter the mainstream (Tumblr) fandom consciousness in real time, which is honestly pretty cool, especially since it feels like I had a hand in it with that initial ask! And even if I wasn't the very first to consider it, I'll definitely continue supporting this ship!

For some other thoughts though, I totally agree on Innocence not being mean in reality, though for me she's not mean or gossipy at all and more so has a kind-of opposite major flaw that tends to cause bad things unintentionally. As much as I can understand interpreting the character as a genuinely mean person, I thought it'd be interesting to imagine that her leaking the rot simply caused others to perceive her as mean, not that she's that way in reality. After all, I don't think we ever see direct dialogue from Innocence in canon, and the only evidence I can find of her being mean is Wind's speculation on her motivations. I also took inspiration from @shkika's Innocence, but I just wanted to see if I could take those ideas further to create my own unique interpretation.

Also, it's actually pretty coincidental you're telling me this too, because in regards to what I've come up for my Milkshake portrayal, Innocence having an unrequited crush on Pebbles for a really long time is actually really important for both plot and character arc reasons! I've been developing my own take on the classic worm-off-the-string iterator AU idea with @hail-strom for like the past week or so and the ship as of now plays a decent role in that, but the unrequited crush acts as subtle, yet major context for Innocence's actions throughout, which in turn slowly influence Pebbles especially as he starts to reciprocate those feelings (much to his alarm)!

Anyway, thanks for sharing that with me, and thanks for giving me a chance to ramble about this ship more! I'm honestly so happy to see it growing, and all support counts!

#inbox #rain world #rw shipping #rw milkshake #rw trinkets #unparalleled innocence #rw ui

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valittlecorner · 9 months

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Hello, today we're complaining about Bushiroad's tactics and clear exploitation of the Sapphic community in their rhythm games💘 cause I'm feeling like a hater rn.

For starters, I've always noticed WLW representation is usually non-existent or placed on a side character with 3 seconds of screentime. It's pretty hard to even find appropriate WLW content that isn't sexualized to appeal the male gaze. And when you do find it, it's probably either cancelled midway (the owl house) or it makes you wait 6 years to see a proper display of affection (adventure time). Now this complaint came to me since it's reflected in a lot of female centric rhythm games, especially Bushiroad rhythm games.

First, Bang Dream. Pretty sure the Bandori fandom still remembers Bushi HINTING at every character from it being Sapphic, but were too afraid to confirm or say it clearly. And you know why is that??? Well, most of their income comes from thirsty males who wouldn't want to see their anime 'waifu' not appealing to them or being 'unavailable", that's how the market works bestie!!! So their solution is having extremely vague depictions of WLW while still making sure it's appealing to the male gaze. The main point that messes with WLW rep is misogyny, and how men are constantly trying to twist women into being their own little trophy that appeals ONLY TO THEM and completely ruining how people view Lesbians. To me, Bushi's rhythm games are a prime example of that.

Now let's talk about D4dj. D4 struggles with the same thing as Bandori, but arguably manages it worse. Since D4's characters are mostly adults, their cards are very suggestive, often showing their characters in questionable situations with one another, this is an example of wanting to appeal to the male gaze via the sexualization of Lesbians. And in the game's dialogue they show characters clearly blushing or being flustered around one another and overly exploit what I call "Sapphic bait". Sapphic Bait is showing you two female characters with CLEAR INTEREST IN ONE ANOTHER but never making it canon and just using it for clout. A clear example of this is TsubAoi (Tsubaki is clearly in love with Aoi and they play around with the concept a lot, but it's just that. It's never taken seriously enough, it's just a bait). The main problem with D4 is how they don't commit to the bit unless we're talking HayaCoco, their first Canon couple. They're the only ones who brought back hope of Bushi eventually stopping the Sapphic Bait, though I still think that's impossible to be honest. I really have no idea how their reveal went over in JP, but those two are a step in the right direction. However, there's still a long way to go when it comes to these topics AND ESPECIALLY coming from Bushi.

I know many other franchises do this, but I'm Bandori centred so that's about it. Conclusion of this rant being: Give proper Lesbian representation instead of just baiting your Sapphic audience into thinking they're finally being heard. It's tiring!!!

Edit: I made A HUGE mistake with the D4 card section of this post. I did not mean "sexualized / suggestive" cards, I was referring more to those Sapphic bait cards D4 has. Those with two characters involved in more romantic situations that Bushi usually plays as bait and is never mentioned again yknow!! My bad I wrote this when I was mad and didn't research properly oh my god

#I will not be silenced!!!!!#apparently bushi also owns love live but idk about them so that's that #if you do have income on them don't be afraid to share it!!!#bushiroad #bandori #bang dream #d4dj groovy mix #d4dj #sapphic #wlw #lesbian #the flag colors being on the lesbian tag is so cute lmao #valittleopinions

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hemeruni · 5 months

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Restless

Summary: An overworked fox finds comfort in someone she would’ve never expected… AT NIGHT!!!

Parings: Hemeruni (Hem/Uni)

A/N: So it’s been a bit, huh? Seriously I haven’t been doing so hot as of late, so I decided to finally sit down and get this piece of fiction sent out for… god knows who. When you want something, it’s best that you do it yourself.

Before Reading: This is my first time really WRITING something like this, so I hope the characters don’t seem TOO out of character, Uni is probably written off… and Hemera doesn’t really have that much dialogue… but I hope you enjoy it!!

Hemera is commonly known by her peers as 'busy.' It’s rare to ever see her doing anything in her off time besides her usual routine of garden work. This behavior stretches all the way into the late hours of early morning, as she works away at splicing new hybrids. It’s what makes her happy at the end of the day, so it’s wrong to assume that this behavior is a bad thing.

Tonight isn’t any different however, as she continues to use her few somewhat peaceful hours to work on her passion. That nightly silence would grind to a halt, as the sound of a few knocks ring at her door. The fennec is confused, but she brushes it off as a simple mind trick. After another minute the knocks would continue, only then she would hear a familiar voice from the opposite side-

"Hey, bro! I was wondering if you were still up for some local Co-Op!"

Their pattern of speech, the usage of the word 'bro', it could only be one person… Uni.

"I know that late hour exp grinding isn’t your cup of tea, bro. But we haven’t had a good bro-on-bro conversation in a good while!"

The fox would walk closer to the door, hesitant to let the dogcorn in. She’s right, they really haven’t hung out as 'friends' for a good while now, but the suddenness of it all worries her. Her mind drifts off, knowing that whatever actions she chooses next may lead to some kind of bad omen. But, with a heavy sigh, she unlocks the door, choosing to be a good friend rather than worrying about their safety.

Hem opens the door, greeting the dogcorn on the other side.

"…Surely what you want is important, but the timing of this interaction could’ve been… better, to say the least."

"Well, bro, I didn’t think you’d be afk long enough for a dialogue exchange if I asked during the morning. So… is that a yes on the side quest?"

Now that Hemera had a clear visual of Uni, it seemed that her somewhat composed structure has mysteriously disappeared. It was awkward, and it seems like both of them knew this. Instead of mustering up a response, Hem would simply nod her head, as she would usher the puppycorn into her room.

————————————

Awkward silence flooded into the room as the two sat down. It seemed like the planned 'side quest' wasn’t properly thought out by the Dogcorn, which only made her even more nervous. It wasn’t like her to do something of this caliber, but the real reason she was here was eating away at her. She begins to speak, preparing for what potentially could come next.

"So uh, bro, I don’t know how to explain this without some sort of strategy guide, but I’ve been… uh… fuck, bro-"

The dogcorns gamer lingo was bleeding more and more into her speech patterns as she spoke, but what Hemera really took note of was her horn… it had changed.

"Well, bro, recently I’ve been seeing you as… more than a bro, bro. You’ve made some challenging levels a whole lot easier bro, like some sort of Game Genie. So, bro… I was wondering if… you wanna squad up sometime… as something more?"

What felt like an awkward silence slowly became a comforting feeling, as the fox quickly pulled the dogcorn into a hug, a sign that the feelings were mutual between the two. It was a rare sight, but for what felt like a long while… The fox had something to smile about.

The hug felt like a lifetime had passed between the two. What made the night even special for the dogcorn however was the direct aftermath-

Hemera had fallen asleep in her arms.

(A/N: Yeah! Of course it was kinda short, and yes this wasn’t the original concept for the story, but I finally had enough motivation to at least push THIS out! Once again, sorry if this isn’t the greatest, but I do hope you find some enjoyment out of it!!!)

#my art #fanfic #long post #sparklecare #hemeruni #hemera philly #uni cornelius #reblogs are greatly appreciated with this!!!

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miyakuli · 4 months

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Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum

Mirror, Mirror on the wall

Pocket Mirror is a horrific game in which we follow a young girl with amnesia who is lost in a gloomy, absurd world and tries to escape through a series of puzzles. While the aesthetics and atmosphere of the universe won me over completely, I have more reservations about the writing and the emotions it seeks to convey.

❤ Let's start with the game's biggest strength: the atmosphere is insane (literally). The pixel art is highly detailed, the lighting effects are magnificent, the scenery can go from cute and neat to chaotic and sinister, and the light animations are dynamic and often bloodcurdling effective. I also loved the contrast between the horrific aspect of the scenes and the cute chara-design of the characters, a bit like Puella Magica for those in the know. There are also quite a few visual ideas that play on this contrast of tone to make you feel extremely uncomfortable, without resorting to easy jump scares or excess hemoglobin. ❤ The sound atmosphere is not to be outdone either. The music is memorable, adding a touch of mystery and disquiet to the exploration of the rooms. But the game also relies on scary sound elements (footsteps, evil laughter etc…) as well as moments of oppressive silence, which worked extremely well on me x) ❤ The gameplay is fairly varied overall, with exploration, puzzles, chases (I hated every second of it), mini-games, etc. I never felt redundant during my game.

+/- The game's puzzles take two forms: on the one hand, there's the rpg aspect, with objects to find to interact with elements of the setting; on the other, there are text-based riddles in the style of Sphynx. The difficulty can alternate between easy and a little more intermediate, which provides a bit of a challenge, but I found some of the titles very confusing and their solutions sometimes convoluted. +/- The story is captivating from the start. We face all these horrific events without understanding anything, totally perplexed like our MC who has lost her memory. But this confusion lasts right up to the end, in fact, because the scenario remains far too ambiguous, and even though the game hints at some answers here and there, it ends with a feeling of incompleteness. I did understand the underlying plot, but the way the game skims over the truth left me rather indifferent in the end. +/- The characters are excellent in their creepiness, but we don't get attached to them at all. And yet the game seems to want us to feel something, given certain scenes where the heroine sincerely tries to create a bond with them....but it just doesn't work. First of all, the main girl is just too bland and interacts with everyone in the same way (all sweet and naive) which, in my opinion, doesn't create any real chemistry with the other girls. But on top of that, these ones have very short "arcs" where we're more often dealing with their demonic character than their more human side, and as a result, I find myself rather indifferent to their fate. +/- There's a good amount of replayability given the various endings, but there's no quick skip for the dialogue and some of the cut scenes…and some of the endings are hard to reach without reading a guide, which is a shame.

✖ The game has a lot of game-overs, which isn't a bad thing in itself, but some of them occur after actions based on chance (for example, you take the wrong direction in a corridor and you die, or you make the wrong choice in a dialogue that didn't indicate any fatal fate). It wouldn't have bothered me so much if the save points weren't so far away from these events, as it often means having to take again a long path or even a cut scene that you can't always get past. It got very tiresome at times. ✖ I've got nothing against dubbing in onomatopoeia, but the little laughs and giggles from the damsels are far too frequent and almost annoying. ✖ I find the object interface a bit messy and not quickly accessible.

I was totally drawn into the world of this game, and it succeeds perfectly in its aim of making its audience both nervous and enchanted by this hellish wonderland. But it left me on the side of the road when it came to its story and its characters, who were a little too elusive for my taste.

youtube

➡ My Steam page

#pocket mirror #pocket mirror goldenertraum #I didn't play every endings for the moment - will keep this for later #personal #Lola plays games #Youtube

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bamboopanda27 · 4 months

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I might be in the minority here, but I gotta say, it's kind of disappointing to see so many negative reactions towards Silent Hill 2 Remake. I get that Konami doesn't exactly have the best track record with how they've handled the series in recent years. I understand that people have reservations about Bloober Team's involvement and why that is. I know that the original Silent Hill 2 is a very beloved game. And of course, people are entitled to their own opinions.

However, I feel like I see way too much of people just absolutely hating on something online these days, rather than waiting for it to come out and giving it a fair chance. I've lost track of all the times people have completely rallied against a game, show, movie, etc. based off just a few scenes or bits of dialogue. It takes more than that to truly experience and judge media for yourself.

In the case of Silent Hill 2 Remake, I've also already seen numerous rants about things like James having too much expression in certain scenes and being able to block/guard against attacks. I saw that first point floating around online after the teaser trailer released and that was literally the only information to go on. Now, people are complaining about how the combat looks. I feel like people are forgetting or neglecting that Silent Hill has never really had smooth combat. It's always been clunky and awkward to some extent. In my opinion, combat has consistently been the worst part of each Silent Hill game I've played. Story, characters, and atmosphere have been the much stronger parts for me. If anything, it looks like the combat in SH2R will still be an improvement from the original. Just from the brief clips shown in the gameplay trailer, it already appears to be much smoother and more modernized without being too action oriented.

Another thing that bothers me is the trailer even discloses the game is still in development. This isn't a finished product yet, and it's very possible the combat will be more polished once it's done. It could also have been changed quite a bit by then. I think people need to actually wait for the finished game to come out, then experience it for themselves. Like I said before, there's too much of bashing things without ever giving them a fair chance and instead assuming that they'll be terrible, awful, trash, and a myriad of other negative descriptors from the very beginning.

Maybe the game will turn out to be bad and I'll end up feeling disappointed by it. For now though, I'd rather give it the benefit of the doubt and believe it has the potential to be good. I'd rather wait to play the game myself and form my overall opinion on it then.

All this to say I'm frustrated by how quickly and easily people completely dismiss things without giving them a proper chance first. And specifically, it's frustrating to see how much of that type of sentiment has been directed towards Silent Hill 2 Remake, a game that's still in development and doesn't even have a release date yet. At this point, it honestly feels like some people are nitpicking every bit of information or footage that comes out and finding everything "wrong" with it that they possibly can.

#silent hill 2 remake #silent hill 2 #video games #horror #survival horror #remake #sh2 remake #rant #sorry but the online discourse (at least the vast majority of it) around sh2 remake is so annoying

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araneitela · 2 months

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Deception and manipulation. And quite frankly, why I disagree with fanon's vehement inclusion of both for Kafka's character. I've been sitting on this for quite a while now, and I one day want to write a much longer meta on it, but I wanted to "briefly" touch on it for the ones following me, so that you know what to expect, and well, what not to expect.

Nothing within canon inherently thus far to me, has shown Kafka to be dishonest, and it's actually one of the things that further drew me to her character as I continued into HSR, the fact that she isn't. But, I've been re-watching all of her scenes yet again today to see if I can budge myself on this, but I'm still firmly rooted in my belief that Kafka is not deceptive as people make her out to be, and if anything, I feel even stronger about this today than I did yesterday, despite actively trying to find things that would prove the opposite. All I can see, honestly, is that she actively tells the truth when on screen. This entire belief that she's anything akin to deceptive, manipulative, or dishonest is genuinely just an audience's perception that stems from the general, go-to assumption that someone who has been brandished a 'villain' bears every bad trait in existence. And the audience comes to hold that perception because it's what numerous characters on our screen seem to think (one of the earliest examples of this would be Himeko and March 7th, but primarily the latter). She has a bounty of 10.899 billion credits on her head, yes, so far that's the highest that we've seen, but we also know that the Stellaron Hunters have been closely involved with a lot of chaos that's occurred throughout the cosmos (and the other hunters do not possess the ability that she does). But we need to not interlace bad traits where they, in my opinion, don't belong.

Let me elaborate a little bit on my stance here so I don't go haywire in my tags. Also, please note that this touches on her character/dialogue and what we see within the story, her "games" such as the Jepella Rebellion touch on a different element of her character: boredom. That's for another day. Anyway, yes, I will also touch on her spirit whisper, because I know that's also a huge contender into this 'deception' theory.

The first scene that holds proper and deeper nuance that we're witness to, is when she speaks to the Trailblazer in the very beginning after awakening them. We see 'Listen:' at the very beginning, which we know is something she uses to signify the effects of her spirit whisper. Now if one were to simply take her spirit whisper, at its essence, as manipulative and that's that without taking intent and practice into account, then there's nothing I can say, but I will assume that's not the case here. Not anywhere in the lines that follow (and here are the choices), does Kafka insinuate any specific action for the Trailblazer to take, if anything, she insists on the existence of their own choice and will to 'reach the end of their story'. 'Listen' in this entire sequence is a call to attention, in the way that a person can wave their hand in front of your eyes or snap their fingers near you. The Trailblazer in this context is confused, they've just woken up and are unsure where they are, what's happening and perhaps, even who they are exactly. So the call to attention makes total and utter sense. Her spirit whisper isn't merely hypnosis, if you look at its capabilities, it can be used in various ways. Now outside of her SW, you hear the softer and more authentic tone of her voice (for those unaware of what I mean: here) when she speaks to them, and you actively see a change of expression depending on your answer to her that, quite frankly, is too genuine to me alongside the change of voice to take them in any other way than at direct face value. And lastly, she answers every question posed to her by the TB within the time constraints that they are under. Does she answer them elaborately? Not exactly, but there is quite literally, no need for it. She's not being dishonest, she's not being deceptive, she's actually being quite caring, if one dare use the word (and I do).

Second, the Astral Express visit. For starters, not once does she actively use her SW here in any capacity. She reacts to what Himeko says to her, and even entertains the 'accusations' and even gives away a bit of information that by all accounts is true, the Astral Express and Stellaron Hunters both pursue, in their own ways, the most dangerous objects of the universe. They are in some capacity, two sides of the same coin. From thereon out, she doesn't dwindle or waste any time (hers or theirs), she gets to the point of the Xianzhou Luofu, she says where it is, explains what happened, and what she knows will happen if the crew doesn't go there. She also discloses that she wants to retrieve Blade. Does she disclose the entire 'idea' of how they will end up clearing the Stellaron Hunters' reputation? No, but she has no idea on the reliability of any of them, and two (Himeko, and March 7th) seem 'hostile' towards her, and one (Welt) is hesitant at best; there is absolutely zero grounds for her to entrust them with the steps of their plan. Aside from that, the entire plan that we see unfold after that quite literally never endangers any of them, if anything, it only makes them look good, and guess who the Stellaron Hunters would owe a favor to after all of this? The Astral Express. Who would the Xianzhou owe a favor to? The Astral damned Express. The ones going on a limb here, despite having a 'script', is Kafka and the Stellaron Hunters as a whole. Point me at the genuine dishonesty or manipulation in this, and if you want to add a scoop to it, any ill-intent.

And then we get to the actual Luofu. Honestly, I need someone to tell me where she lies. Even before she ever gets captured, and they're chasing after her; right at the beginning, she literally says why the chase continues, and why she's not stopping yet: 'What a hassle, this place is too far for the diviner. See you up ahead.' Take her at face value, it's what she wants from you. Granted, she can profit if you don't (but at this point, I would beg to differ), but she's not trying to get you to believe any lie, if she was, she'd be telling one.

"Best future? Best for who? As if you'd consider anyone but yourself." — March 7th "If I said 'best for the universe', would you believe me? Best for me, naturally." — Kafka

And as much as one might want to try and rub my nose in "it" at this point, I'd like to ask what anyone is trying to rub my nose into. Again, is she not being pretty forthcoming? She's not saying more than she needs to, but that's not being deceptive. If someone doesn't ask for more information, then why should you give them... more information than necessary?

"I have no interest in the words of wanted criminals - especially those skilled in the art of manipulation." — Fu Xuan.

/shakes the bars of my cage. Yes, she uses spirit whisper, we know that she does. But again, this is an audience's perception of a 'villain' at its definition, rather than a judgement call made for one in specific. I understand Fu Xuan, of course, I do, but I'm not taking an 'in-game' stance, I'm sitting in the audience's seat and dissecting what I see.

I just, where is she dishonest? She proceeds to talk to the Trailblazer at length, and goes as far as to admit that the Stellaron Hunters are not entirely innocent. Not once is it claimed that the SH are void of any blame, she takes it, here and during the Jepella Rebellion trailer (even if, yes, it is a mock trial and she's hypnotizing them, yes, I know, "the proof is in the pudding THERE, Sae!", I'm arguing nuance, not a case of 'Kafka is always honest). Guys, she comes clean entirely. I'm starting to go feral, I know, but I just don't understand. I don't get it. /semi-tugs at hair. We're almost at the end of her scenes, and I still don't see it.

I don't understand. I don't understand. And then in 1.2, Waterscale Gorge, she stops them all from fighting, has them stand down. And when Dan Heng asks her what she did, she answers it well enough. And guess who doesn't question it upon his arrival, witnessing it? The 'hotshot General' in question: Jing Yuan.

I understand 'interpretations', but I fail to see how the massive overwhelming part (if not bordering the entirety) of fanon has such a severe attachment to this concept of Kafka being inherently deceptive, or have her whole existence shrouded therein. I don't see where this is the case. We can even look at her trailer, a Dramatic Irony, and look when she speaks at the end to the last guard in question. Some could argue that she lies to him when she offers the flip of the coin, but she doesn't. She never once actually offers him a chance to live, she never once insinuates that if he guesses correctly, that he could live, that is an assumption that the audience makes, rather than it being a choice that she actively presents. 'As for the ending, want to take a guess?' One might try to argue deception with me here, but I'd like to simply fire back: where is her deception? It only exists if you hear something that she never says, that is not something that she puts in your head; that's a choice that you make. A choice, a choice, a choice. The entire thing that she preaches about since the dawn of time when we awoke as the Trailblazer. Where is she lying? It's easy to call someone else out on something that you, yourself, create in your mind. Now do I think an argument can be made, there? Sure, for I absolutely don't make the case for her to be exceptionally and thoroughly 'transparent', but it's all about nuance. It's about, quite honestly, looking at the imagery of a spider. Where is that little quote I came across a while back— ah yes, here:

“The spider's web: She finds an innocuous corner in which to spin her web. The longer the web takes, the more fabulous its construction. She has no need to chase. She sits quietly, her patience a consummate force; she waits for her prey to come to her on their own, and then she ensnares them, injects them with venom, rendering them unable to escape. Spiders – so needed and yet so misunderstood.” — Donna Lynn Hope

An innocuous corner that can be avoided, she doesn't scheme and try to lure you into a web that would mean your destruction; more often than not, you could see it rather well ahead of you, and the intrigue is that you would walk into it almost willingly. It's alluring, it's tempting to those of curious nature that seek to unravel and explain, it's intricate, it's beautiful, why wouldn't you want to draw yourself into it? But the spider at the center is not the one that coaxes you, even if she's the creator of that ever intricate web. And yet, when you get wrapped up into it, she is all encompassing, and most don't come out alive as we see. And your fate is cruel, just like— well, fate is cruel. But is she, like Kafka, manipulative? Or is she, while you may so strongly want to believe the opposite, much more honest than you wish she was? And is that why she is cruel? Is that not the cruelest?

#[ meta. ] the mara's tether is firmly in her grasp. she will not pull upon it before the designated time; nor shall she relinquish it.#[ i'm tired. i'm so tired. hi hello. i'm so mentally tired that i can't even tag ramble. ]#[ just-- have this. /have this/. i lay it on the table. ]#[ it's incoherent; it's a mess. but it's just. /sighs. ]#[ i blame aven. he told me to do it. entirely his fault. i take zero responsibility for any of this. ]

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as-i-watch · 9 months

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Episode 5 veredict:

5/5 Straw Hats 👒👒👒👒👒

Nothing is 100% perfect, but using decimals is for cowards bitches

The good:

Baratie is the best set so far hands down

God i love Taz's Sanji. He had three lines of dialogue but his was the first straw hat that inmediately felt like the charecter

Also Zeff, i have nothing negative to say, perfect Zeff, perfect with Sanji. Perfect duo.

Garp. I fucking love this Garp so much. Him and Luffy just screaming at eachother and throwing canon balls at eachother from their ships was so funny. I want to see where they go with it but introducing Garp this early was a really big move for the LA and i think so far it payed off.

MIHAWK. Not even necessary to point out how perfect the costume is but Steven Ward got the tone of the charecter perfectly fucking right!!

Sure they deleted Don Krieg but i actually didnt mind it in the end? There was no actual 'bad guy' but i liked it. I thought all episodes now would follow the syrup village format of stablishing the villain in the first ep, ending with a cliffhanger and the next ep had the full third act kinda battle. But the plot needed to slow down, they needed to give more time for the crew to bond and Baratie first half is the perfect moment to do that, and also an opportunity for the rest of the crew to get to know eachother without Luffy as a conduit (he was busy being a busboy). So yeah, i dont mind they didnt even introduced Krieg this ep as the villain of the arc, bc we got Zoro and Nami playing drinking games, Luffy and Sanji talking about dreams in a quiet moment at the kitched, and drunk Usopp busting some moves.

Oh god Mihawk's and Zoro's fight. It was almost exactly like in the anime, and i usualy hate frame by frame replications in adaptations of this kind, but that fight was iconic and perfect, they knew they didnt have to mess with that. But not only that, it was perfectly executed. It managed to capture the same emotion as the anime (something that other key moments so far fail to get it right spcially in backstories and flashbacks)

Again, kudos to Mackenyu for all the sword fight, holy shit they are becoming my fav things in the show

Ehh could'e been better:

There were only two moments in this ep that made me go :/

Luffy's argument to get Zeff to accept the IOU. Luffy never cared about status and what being King of the Pirates would mean, he dont care about having hand or the benefits the title would bring him. Pulling that card felt very strange, the most natural thing for Luffy was to just stare at Zeff dead in the eye and just say he's broke af

Nami not leaving. Stealing the ship and leaving them at Baratie was huge deal and what prompted they way into Arlong Park. But more of a plot point it was huge for Nami's charecter, bc she was still trying to convice herself that she hadnt become friends with those idiots, bc she still hated all pirates, bc she still tried to present a cold 'i dont need no one' kinda facade. But LA Nami had already admited not only that she was friends with the boys but also that she was part of the crew. Thats ok but now the issue is that her stealing Merry makes little sense, and even leaving at all makes little sense. Dont get me wrong, i love this Nami and i like the direction they gave the charecter, but i think maybe they neglected a bit her own personal growth and inner conficts, which is what sets te base for everything that happens to her at Arlong Park later on

#you didnt ask for it and yet here it is: my opinion #opla #one piece LA

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mcl-alloveragain · 2 years

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ARMIN'S AL EP.2 — QUICK GUIDE

---

YELEEN: I'd surely have to make out with you right now.

A. Mmm... Sorry, I'm talking too much, aren't I?

B. Don't tempt me! (+5)

C. I'm having a hard time knowing if you're serious or not?

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ARMIN: What... What do you say, Candy?

A. Okay. (0)

B. I'm not sure I want it... (0)

C. What proves to me that this time it will be different? That you're sincere? (0)

(both B i C makes him begging us on knees. while choosing C, we make him beg, when B, it's his idea. all up to you. option A is the most boring one)

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ARMIN: And you find that in my quest to win you back, it's not a great first move.

A. Exactly! You see, when you put your mind to it! (+5)

B. That's it. Things are off to bad start, in any case... (-5)

C. (I smiled at him, indulgently) (0)

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Now you can find Agatha!! She's in the library! Her gift is a brand new laptop, it's pretty cute tbh :)

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ARMIN: I have a big 4G package, I was able to work from here...

A. That makes me really happy, thanks. (0)

B. Don't overdo it either... (-5)

C. Be careful not to set the bar too high... (+5)

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ARMIN: I'm not all soft, I'll have you know! Go ahead, you can check!

A. What a "charming" remark, for a first date. (-5)

B. Go ahead, show me (+5)

C. For someone who doesn't even want to set foot outside, that's a very daring proposition.

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ARMIN: Little flings, girls I have met at school, or online...

A. But you didn't take any to Disneyland, did you? (+5)

B. Wait, when you say "a few", is it a few three or four, or a few ten or twenty?

C. Didn't you try with Anais, after all? (-5)

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ARMIN: You must have been chased after non stop, like a golden snitch.

A. Not really, a bit like you, in the end... (0)

B. Actually, no one... (0, but nice dialogue)

C. Yeah, I had quite a few boyfriends, in the end. (-5)

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ARMIN: Is it okay with you if I order Vietnamese? Do you still like Bun Bo Nam Bo?

A. I never liked that! You must be confusing me with someone else... (-5)

B. You're impossible. Did you make a list of everything I eat?! (+5)

C. Don't even ask me, I have no idea what you're going to order for yourself. (?)

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ARMIN: [...]Or relaxing in front of a good film.

A. Let's watch a movie, but I get to choose what we watch! (Possible illustration on the couch)

B. Come on, let's play LoL. (Possible illustration while gaming)

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VERSION WITH MOVIE:

ARMIN: And you? Who would you choose?

A. Iron Man. Already, to be a billionaire. (?)

B. Wanda! She's super classy. (+5)

C. Black Widow, of course! One of the pioneers. (0)

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A. (I don't want to skip steps.)

B. (Just a little kiss...) (ILLUSTRATION)

C. (More, I want more.)

VERSION WITH GAMES

ARMIN: (talks something about the fact that dubmi was fed in LoL, i don't have the direct ss sorry 😭)

A. See, I'm not that bad (0)

B. They're too good! (0)

C. Maybe you're not as good as you think (+5!)

---------

ARMIN: If I were you, I wouldn't take that... There you go. Ouch, what a blow.

A. Fff.... Help me, I'm failing. (ILLUSTRATION)

B. Stop commenting on everything like that, you're not helping me!

C. I can do it! I just need to focus!

#my candy love #mcl armin #mcl #mcl alternate life #mcl alternate life armin #my candy love armin #alternate life armin #armin #armin mcl #my candy love alternate life

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kanghera · 1 year

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Some completed manhwas that I have read *may contain spoilers*

***I’ll keep editing this post***

My gently raised beast

Length: 93 chapters + 13 side stories Art: good, one of the best ones Genre: supernatural characters (beast), fantasy, European themed (duke, emperor, princess etc) Recommendation: swoon worthy, good plot and backstory would recommend Notes: initially it can get a little disinteresting as for 30 something chapters the ML and the FL are just young children however the build up is worth it

The tainted half

Length: 40 chapters Art: absolutely beautiful Genre: ancient Korean or Chinese themed, concubines, kings, some supernatural phenomenons, fantasy, contains sexual themes Recommendation: definitely recommend, very unique plot different from typical historical manhwas, also it’s short and easy to follow Notes: the ML and the antagonist are twin brothers hence they essentially have the same facial features however the hair, plot, direction and dialogue makes them distinct. The ML is also extremely swoon worthy and one the best long haired ones in a while (don’t worry even though they’re twins the antagonist is nothing in comparison)

The double agent

Length: 73 chapters + 3 side stories Art: definitely pretty, we love platinum hair MLs Genre: modern historical manhwa, detectives, spies etc. European themed, tragic themes, contains sexual themes Recommendation: if you enjoy plots with tragedy some action and vague romance, would recommend Notes: can be disturbing initially, but the conclusion from the MLs pov is beautiful, does contain toxic themes but we love little bit of that, it’s kinda like trust the process but not quite

Beware the villainess

Length: 92 chapters + 36 side stories Art: extremely beautiful, the outfits are amazing and the ML is the best long blue haired in all of manhwas Genre: European themed, transmigration, fantasy, supernatural (wolves?) Recommendation: would recommend for the romance since it’s expressed little but it’s swoon worthy. May become lengthy after a stretch however there is a strong plot that is followed Notes: one of the reasons I didn’t drop this manhwa was bc it was already completes including the side stories. The only thing motivating me to continue was to see more romance between the ML and FL and also the ML is stunning and down bad. Also there are very few mahwas about wolves or animal transformations so I kept reading this one. I really wanted some more skin ship but felt like it was too little and expressed too and late.

Love advice from the great Duke of hell

Length: 131 chapters + epilogue + afterwords Art: wasn’t impressed at first but honestly it’s pretty neat for being sketch like and adds to the humour and aesthetic Genre: the true definition of supernatural meets romance meets comedy. And this shit is funny. Like funny funny. I’ve had to suppress my laughter funny. The plot is unpredictable af. Recommendation: Highly recommended for all readers. It’s just simply peak in its game. I believe all readers that like action, supernatural (devil, duke, occult etc.) romance and humour will enjoy this Notes: the only manhwa that I wish I had been following along as the chapters were released usually I like to binge the whole manhwa but this one was honestly a ride with all the cliffhangers strategically put to make to continue scrolling. Also one of the best ending I’ve read extremely unpredictable. One of my most highly recommended manhwas even to new readers. The laughs are amazing.

Him & him & him

Length: prologue + 16 chapters + 6 side stories Art: it’s good the MLs are cute Genre: it’s smut, heavily sexual themes, sex partners, threesomes etc. the FL leads a typical office life, reverse harem Recommendation: if you want some smut with a vague plot, or if you prefer short smut stories Notes: I wanted a better ending, although it remains harem. The smut had a potential to be way more kinky (since I’ve read many more creative ones). Two of the MLs are twins and the other one is their uncle which may sound weird but with the hot art and smut it’s not.

Mythical errand

Length: prologue + 83 chapters Art: I love it. It’s pretty distinct and unique, the blushes are too cute, and the MLs blushes are 😩 Genre: historical (Korean era), mythical, college students, mythical beings, modern setting, comedic elements and romance Recommendation: It’s really funny and entertaining, for a person new to webtoons and mythical creatures it’s a fun experience. But if you’re looking for harem ending then I have to reveal that it’s not one. Notes: the first season was amazing I had been obsessed, however it went downhill from then onwards. It’s alright to pick a ML from the two however the ending for the second ML was not satisfactory and it felt rushed and forced. Also the moments with the ML were not enough. In fact I had been thinking of way more creative continuations as I had been waiting for daily pass. My dear cold blooded king

Length: chapter 0 + 161 chapters + afterword Art: stunning, the MLs are hot Genre: historical, some action, romance obviously, certain mature themes Recommendation: yes, one of the og emperor trope manhwas. There’s a ML and a second ML and fortunately she ends up with whom I wanted her to. Nota damsel in distress FL Notes: it’s been too long since I read this, one of the first manhwas I ever read. Was already concluded when I read it so was fun binging though the less interesting chapters quickly

Rewriting the villainess

Length: 62 chapters + afterword

Art: pretty, the characters are too cute, the only green(?) haired FL manhwa that I know as of now

Genre: Korean school setting, also a little medieval, body switching typa isekai I’m not sure, the FL like switches with a character of the manhwa she wrote, so it’s supernatural, romance and fantasy

Recommendation: I do recommend reading if you enjoy an average looking FL

Notes: A little different from the plot lines of other villainess manhwas but not too crazy, it’s short, although I didn’t expect how long the manhwa would actually run for as I had been following it (catched up again after skipping a few weeks). I wish they explored the other lead and his attachment to Liza.

Lullaby

Length: 48 chapters + afterword

Art: pretty, the FL could have been prettier, her hair seemed almost grey in certain panels, the FL is extremely hot, his facial features are like the typical back haired FL in manhwas (which is one reason why I began reading this) and that panel of him in the traditional Korean clothes is hawt hot (the second reason)

Genre: fantasy, demons, supernatural, ceo, employee, office, romance

Recommendation: for binge reading some fantasy, could get a little stretchy or rushed at times

Notes: you could totally just binge read the chapters where the ML and FL interact or just scroll to the outfits that I was talking about earlier.

Romantic flow

Length: 50 chapters

Art: good, very professional, the ML is really fucking hot

Genre: romance, office romance, misunderstandings, ceo, lawyer, contains sexual references

Recommendation: short, easy to follow, recommended if you want some plot with hot ML, or if you like dark straight haired FLs

Notes: I personally only read this for the kissing panels and sexual panels and otherwise just skimmed through the rest

There must be happy endings

Length: 109 chapters + 3 side stories

Art: very beautiful, almost too pretty

Genre: time rewind, married, ceo, company stuff, angst, domestic abuse(only referred)

Recommendation: classic for a time rewind manhwa or if you like pretty art or you if want to read about married leads

Notes: initially began reading this having no idea that it’s a time rewind, I just thought the that the characters were too pretty to be ignored. I especially loved the concept of the möbius strip.

Dahae’s Dream

Length: 34 chapters + authors note

Art: Stunning, the FL could be prettier, but all the MLs are stunning

Genre: (don’t worry there’s one endgame if you’re not into harem), there isn’t an actual reverse harem, she does not sleep with multiple men at once, but she does sleep with them consequently. Its obviously smut, it’s obvious but I didn’t see the genital visuals closely, you know, like the other manhwas. Is a little supernatural. Office romance, there’s also a cafe trope, director trope and celebrity trope.

Recommendation: definitely, it’s super hot and sexy and it’s short, but I feel like the story could have more, like it’s not over yet, we didn’t get enough of the endgame.

Notes: I wish the drawings were more explicit, bc the characters are hot af and it would be better if they had a more defined ending. And of course it’s too short. Like I just binged this in half a day and to immediately write down its review. Other manhwas that ill review in the future are the ones that I read like almost 2 years ago.

#webtoon #manhwa #my gently raised beast #the tainted half #the double agent #beware the villainess #swoon #swoon worthy #love advice from the great duke of hell #him & him & him #mythical errand #my dear cold blooded king #rewriting the villainess #lullaby #romantic flow #there must be happy endings #Dahae’s dream #Dahae’s imagination

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