#there are two main options: it came from the wild or it came from a private ownership breeder

[wolvebonez]

theres no ethical way to own exotic pets btw 👍👍

[pearwaldorf]

I hate that you can't see a tweet thread anymore if you're not logged into Twitter (as a gesture of disrespect I refuse to call it by its rebranded name). Here is a copypasta of a thread from Dan Olson, a Canadian documentary filmmaker, expanding upon camera quality, the guilt trips Somerton used to goose his Patreon subscriptions, and how the best tools will never make up for lack of dedication or patience. I have added clarifications in [[double brackets]] where I feel it is necessary.

START OF THREAD

Okay, so, back in April I snapped at James in reply to a tweet that was linking to this video (which James has since delisted but not deleted) and I want to talk about the full context of that but I don't want to make a video, put your beatdown memes away. [[The video has since been deleted. I can see the title of the video is "Maybe the end (not an April Fool's Day thing".]]

The first bit of context is that I initially got keyed into James to fact-check his claims about indie filmmaking in Canada. As a filmmaker the entire Telos venture was immediately obvious as a juvenile fantasy dreamed up by someone with no idea how to make a movie.

Just wild claims about their plans that weren't worth debunking because they bordered Not Even Wrong. But in watching one of these pitch videos I noticed that he had a $4000 current-gen camera in the background as a prop, and that seemed both pretentious and weird.

You don't use your best camera as a prop, you use your second best camera as a prop. So being an obsessive weirdo I needed to know, and I watched his BTS stuff until I spotted his main rig, a $6000 camera with about $1000 in accessories.

Now, these in isolation are unremarkable because his Patreon at the time was bringing in ~$8000 per month, his channel was a full on Business business, and so investing in some professional equipment of that level is maybe a bit indulgent but justifiable.

What was weird is that he doesn't shoot multi-cam, doesn't shoot outdoors, doesn't shoot on location, and in a studio the two cameras kinda really step on each others' toes. Basically if you already have one and don't need a B cam there's no reason to get the other.

Again, on its own, this says nothing, it's just indicative of poor financial decisions, maybe impulsive purchasing, Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Biblical sins, but not crimes.

Paired with the constantly inflating fantasy scope of the Telos films it was clearly an expression of a very, very common bad filmmaker habit of "if I just get the right gear then my movie will basically make itself" Buying stuff because it feels like progress.

At the end of February he tweets "I want to start shooting anamorphic" and then three weeks later in March he posts the worst, out of focus, under-exposed "I just got a new lens!" video I've ever seen, showing off his trash-covered bedroom.

Based on what's available for his cameras and the lead time, that's enough time to get a Laowa Nanomorph or Sirui Saturn from B&H but not enough time to get a Great Joy from the UK or a Vazen from China. And with the flaring blah blah blah, $1300 lens.

Again, [gear acquisition syndrome] is not a crime and these lenses are budget options. Bit of a pointless impulse purchase since he only used it for the Showgirls video. But this is what he was doing just a few weeks before that above video came out: effortlessly impulse purchasing lenses.

James has (had?) a habit of regularly, aggressively driving viewers to Patreon by claiming that videos were getting demonetized. While tacky, it is something a lot of queer YouTubers have dealt with, so there's precedent there. But people were noticing he did it a lot.

Mid-March he humble brags about needing to work so hard to make 6 videos in April because he has over-booked sponsorships.

Then March 29th James posts this whole incel screed on Twitter about how sex work should be "subsidized as a mental health service."

[two image descriptions.

1. "For the majority of people sex (and human contact) can be imperative to a healthy state of mind. A kind and talented sex worker can make someone feel wanted for the first time in their life. I know sex workers who have pulled people back from suicide just by being there for them." 2. "Not only should (sex work) be legal, but it should be subsidized as a mental health service."]

He spends several days getting absolutely *roasted* for this, just dragged across the pavement and read for filth, and doubles down in the replies the whole way.

So this is the context immediately surrounding James waking up on Friday, and posts the above video and the below tweet.

[image description: "We just got the lowest Patreon payout we've gotten in well over a year. Like, a "maybe we need to rethink things" kind of amount... NOT an April Fools Day thing btw. But I don't know if we'll be making videos much longer."]

Now, this unfolds in kinda two directions. The first is that I'm convinced he was just lying about this income shock in the first place.

There's a million theoretical edge cases about what maybe happened and if maybe he just misunderstood the data or saw a glitch and panicked, maybe one of those happened, I don't believe it, I think he just lied because he was salty about getting dragged and felt owed a win.

A big tell to me is that he doesn't blame Patreon. He says he doesn't know what happened, but let's be real, Patreon screws up all the time, they're the first people anyone blames if anything confusing happens, just as a reflex action, even if it's completely not their fault.

The only reason to not blame Patreon is if you already know that it's not their fault and that any investigation on their part might reveal embarrassing details.

Instead he indirectly blames his viewers for not watching enough, not sharing enough, and not turning on auto-renew.

So regardless of the unknowable truth, this segues into the second, far more offensive direction of the messaging itself. "I don't know if we'll be making videos much longer." "Maybe the end" He explicitly framed this as an immediate existential threat to his channel.

In the video he is vague about everything, leaves a ton of hazy room for plausible deniability on how long the channel can keep going, but the messaging is "I need more patrons right this minute or my YouTube channel is over."

He repeatedly evokes all the "fun stuff" they had planned that would never see the light of day if this didn't turn around right away.

And his audience received this message loud and clear. Tons of people making far, far, far less than him left very heartfelt messages about digging a little deeper to subscribe or up their pledge or unsubscribe from other channels to move their pledge to his.

1200 new patrons in one day.

Since I simply don't believe the income shock was real in the first place that would put his post-"Maybe the end" Patreon income at around $10,000 per month. US. Add YouTube income, he's spent the last seven months making around $18,000 per month.

I have seen creators scale back their capabilities to the bone purely to keep making videos for the love of just, like, making stuff even as their funding evaporated and they needed to go back to a desk job to cover their bills.

You'd have to be so outstandingly reckless with your finances as a channel that a one month spook leads immediately to "channel over, sorry about all the fun stuff we won't get to do with you, our patrons, specifically because you, our patrons, aren't giving us enough money"

And not a spook where you then spend a couple weeks crunching numbers. Oh no. A shock so violent where less than two hours later you're weeping on camera about the channel being over.

Three weeks later he brought a brand new Sony FX6v for $8000 CAD to add to his pile of cinema cameras despite the fact that he was, but scant moments earlier, in such a precarious position that a single bad month would kill his channel.

He stole your money, and for that I'm profoundly sad and angry. That's why I snapped at him in April. I'm sorry I couldn't give you the full context then, and I'm sorry if that anger upset you.

END OF THREAD

[mokulule]

While I fail to focus after my night shift have a peek at another of my brain worms

Untitled, I am still waiting for that moment of divine inspiration. Ship: Dead on Main (Danny/Jason)  Fandom: DP x DC 

The only sounds in the Batcave were the bats chittering amongst themselves high above. Bruce rubbed his chin absently as he took in the information displayed on the large screens with narrowed eyes. Something wasn’t adding up. Somebody was lying.

No matter how many times he looked over the information, that was his conclusion. It nagged at him that he didn’t know what, if any, information he could use. He hated being so in the dark. 

A silent notification in the corner of his screen alerted him to a call from the Watchtower. He took it and Superman’s face appeared in a smaller rectangle on the center of the screen. Bruce kept outwardly placid but from behind the cowl nobody would see the way his gaze instantly zeroed in on the massive black eye Superman had acquired, and the general strain around his unhurt eye and mouth. He was worn out. 

“Phantom has been apprehended,” Superman said with a long sigh. It had clearly not been an easy fight. 

“I’ll be there,” Batman said and ended the call. Maybe they’d finally get some real answers. 

He stood and walked towards the zeta tube. Another call came in, this time on the comm in his cowl. 

“Hood,” he greeted.

“Hey, old man. I’m at the location. You were right it’s absolutely crawling with the white suits and their weaponry is not like anything I’ve seen before.”

Bruce felt like a hand squeezed his heart. Hood out of anyone knew his weapons, if he didn’t know them they weren’t on the market. He absolutely hated asking any of his kids to walk into an unknown situation. Unfortunately he didn’t have any other options. 

“Be careful, Hood.”

“Aww, is that worry I detect?”

“Just don’t take unnecessary risks,” Bruce cautioned.

“You wouldn’t have asked me if you didn’t think it was necessary, old man. Don’t worry, I’ll get you your intel.”

Bruce grunted. Jason was right. He wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t think it was important. Didn’t mean he had to like it, nor the fact that Red Hood’s criminal reputation made him perfect for breaking into a government building; even if Hood was seen the Justice League kept plausible deniability. 

Everyone knew Red Hood was a wild card. 

“Check in regularly with Oracle.”

He could practically feel the way Jason rolled his eyes at him.

“Not my first rodeo, B.”

With that the connection cut off. Bruce couldn’t help the bad feeling he had about everything. 

He really hated this stage of an investigation. 

Two months ago the US government contacted the Justice League about a problem. Several bases of a government agency named the GIW had been hit by a malicious creature they called Phantom. The attacks had been gaining in severity and frequency and their measures had so far failed to stop it. 

Since then, a member of the Justice League had arrived too late to five such attacks. They’d stood no chance against Phantom, who’d then disappeared, living up to the name.

To their eyes Phantom was outwardly a humanoid, possibly a meta or alien. The GIW called him a ghost from a different dimension.

They had been at a loss of how exactly to contain such a powerful foe, who not only could go toe to toe with their heavy hitters like Superman, but also disappear by means unknown. This time they’d been prepared. They’d had various team configurations ready to go depending on who was available. 

Something that seemed to have paid off, but Bruce did not like that Clark was injured. Because if Clark was injured…

A zeta tube ride later and he met Superman on the Watchtower. Something that hadn’t been apparent on the call was the sling Superman’s left arm was in. Another visible injury added to the swollen eye. 

“Is everyone alright?” He had to ask.

“Nobody’s permanently hurt.” Clark hurried to assure as they started walking towards the interrogation room, but there was a but. Bruce kept his stare steady until Clark tiredly elaborated: “But nobody got out the fight unscathed. John won’t be walking for a while. J’onn is suffering from psychic backlash. Diana has some broken ribs and scrapes and you can see my own wounds. Everyone is tired, it was a long fight.”

Batman’s lips thinned. At least there had been no casualties. 

Almost as if reading his mind. Superman added quietly. 

“We got there while the base was still standing. Phantom made eye contact with me for a moment, before he unleashed this… sonic attack…” His face turned pained, as he looked for words that came halting. “It was a scream, I can’t describe it, it felt- it felt like I was dying. None of us could get close.”

Superman looked away.

“When it was over the base was gone, eradicated, like the others. There was just a large crater. Who knows how many people were still in there.”

Bruce set a hand on his friend’s shoulder. It was never easy to deal with casualties. 

“The one good thing about it was that the scream seemed to drain quite a bit of energy from him.” Clark barked a laugh, short and hysterical. Bruce knew Clark would have rather faced Phantom at full power if it meant more people had lived. 

“And still it was all we could do to subdue him. We barely won.”

They barely won. Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter, and they barely won. The knowledge sat like a heavy ball in Bruce’s chest. 

Now, maybe they could get intel that wasn’t most reluctantly handed over by a government agency, that didn’t even want to reveal what their alphabet soup name was an abbreviation of. “We had to turn off the ‘Ghost Shield’ to get Phantom inside the base, so we at least know it works, even if for some reason it doesn’t protect the GIW bases,” Superman remarked.  

Bruce hnn’ed to show he’d heard. It was one more discrepancy among many.

Batman entered the observation room with Superman at his back. Wonder Woman was there and he quickly took in her unusually disheveled appearance, she looked tired and uncomfortable, shaken (but whole, safe). He nodded in greeting and she gave him a tight smile in return. He turned to the observation window and felt his breath stick in his throat.

Phantom was- 

The glitchy footage they’d managed to get on earlier encounters couldn’t have prepared him. Bruce felt his jaw clench. Phantom looked young. There was still a hint of baby fat stubbornly clinging to his cheeks. He was short and wiry like Tim but maybe a bit younger than Jason, technically an adult, but to Bruce he still looked painfully young. The overall glowing and the slowly seeping green wound at his hairline didn’t take away just how human he looked. 

Bruce looked at Phantom and saw a kid. Worse, supposedly a dead kid, a ghost, if the most basic of their intel was to be believed, which even that he wasn’t entirely sure of.

A weight was heavy on his shoulders. He had to remind himself that he had found evidence of Phantom throughout history and if a ghost was truly what he was, he was most likely a very old, very powerful spirit, for whom age didn’t matter. It would be a mistake to trust the youthful appearance. 

He was chained to the chair both by wide cuffs at his wrists and ankles so he could only move very little. The cuffs were the best they had when it came to meta power suppression cuffs with some added ghost specific sigils courtesy of Zatanna’s research. She would have liked Constantine to look them over too as that sort of thing was more his area of expertise, but he’d been off on one of his extra-dimensional missions since long before this started and they hadn’t been able to contact him. 

The cuffs kept Phantom here in any case and he didn’t look happy about it. His lips were a flat line and the thick black brows were drawn together over narrowed green eyes. His head was held high (stubbornness? Pride?), chin tilted in a way that showed off a bright green-purple line around his throat, which had it been red and on a human would have looked like rope burn-

Bruce looked to Diana and he suddenly understood part of her discomfort.

“He was about to use another sonic attack, I didn’t see any other way.” Her words were quiet, regretful, but she faced his gaze head on. Bruce nodded. She never would have used the lasso like that under normal circumstances. It was incredibly worrying how much it had taken to subdue him. 

For a moment the three of them just stood there in silence, watching Phantom watch the door.

It was finally time for answers. 

Bruce didn’t make any outward sign that he was about to move, but of course Clark caught on even before he’d moved, stepping aside letting Bruce take point. They went into the interrogation room, Diana staying back to observe and be ready with security measures, they didn’t know for sure would even work.

They entered the room and immediately sharp green eyes locked onto him. There was a quick glance towards Superman, but the eyes quickly focused back on Batman. There was a calculating sort of intelligence behind those eyes. 

That was one question immediately answered, but it was one he could have inferred. It was very hard to believe the claim that this “ghost” was non-sentient, when he specifically targeted the bases of a specific government agency and nothing else. Though of course they could have had something that attracted the ghost, but nobody could look at Phantom and think non sentient. 

Now the question was, why?

Bruce sat down in one of the chairs on the other side of the table from Phantom. Clark had a moment’s pause before he joined them. Bruce pulled out a tablet from underneath his cape and laid it carefully out on the table, turning it on. At this point most people in the room with the Batman would have started getting nervous, but evidently not Phantom. He was still just passively defiant, not to mention he hadn’t yet said a word.

“Phantom, is that your preferred manner of address?” Bruce decided to start out neutral. 

There was a glitter of amusement in green eyes and the barest uptick of his lips, but he remained silent. Bruce could do silence. 

The silence stretched between them until Clark broke it.

“Why do you destroy those bases?”

Phantom glanced to Clark and his earnest question, then back to Bruce, barely raising an eyebrow, like as if to say “really, this the best you can do?” Bruce resisted the urge to sigh. Clark was usually a better foil for him at interrogations, but then most people didn’t choose total silence.

Bruce decided to be frank with him.

“We are trying to understand your motivation. That’s all.” He studied Phantom’s face which had settled into a stony glare. “But first I’d just like to know if it’s alright to call you Phantom and what your pronouns are? We have been using he/him based on your appearance but you might have another preference?”

The glare softened a bit and for a moment Bruce actually thought he’d lured a response out of him, but Phantom just looked away. Incidentally drawing attention to the line at his throat. A sudden thought occurred to him.

“Are you so hurt, that you’re unable to speak?”

Phantom slowly looked back at him. He seemed to actually be contemplating giving some sort of answer.

That’s when his comm clicked on barely audible.

“The GIW has been in contact,” Diana informed him quietly over the comms. Phantom stiffened across from him, his gaze narrowing like a cat - so they could add enhanced hearing to his powers. “They are requesting we hand over Phantom.”

Bruce looked straight at Phantom as he spoke, “They have no jurisdiction in space. I presume you declined?”

“Of course.”

Phantom’s face turned unreadable for a moment. His gaze went from him, to Superman and the opaque glass that hid the observation room. Finally he huffed. 

“Phantom, he/him is fine.” His voice had an echoey quality to it. 

It seemed they were finally going somewhere. 

-

They were not going somewhere. 

Even hours later Phantom kept up his silence. They’d held several breaks. Phantom had been offered food and water but had declined nonverbally. 

They were going in circles, trying the same questions again and again. Prolonged silence didn’t help any either. 

If only J’onn was an option, but he was already suffering from psychic backlash from trying to go into Phantom’s mind during the fight. 

So far the only things Bruce could add to the certain facts were that Phantom was sentient, intelligent and didn’t like the GIW to the point that he would commit mass murder to take them down. 

And Bruce would just really like to know why? Because with the kinds of powers he’d shown off he could have easily killed the members of the Justice League sent to apprehend him. He seemed to have no qualms about killing, yet he’d stayed his hands?

Bruce had hoped that meant Phantom considered them at least somewhat neutral in this conflict. But apparently not neutral enough to talk to. 

Clark had tried and Diana had tried. Nothing helped. 

Bruce was considering his options, when the door opened. 

“B, I need to speak with you.” That was Tim, he looked pale. Something had happened. Bruce got up, Clark following. Bruce decidedly ignored the sudden curiosity from Phantom. They closed the door and walked down the hall. When Bruce felt they were far enough from Phantom he stopped.

“Red Robin, report.”

“We’ve lost contact with Hood.”

Bruce’s heart dropped cold into his stomach. No. It couldn’t be. 

“When?”

“Two hours ago is when he last checked in. He’s since missed several check-ins.” Tim’s hands tightened into fists at his sides. “Could be he’s just not in a position to respond, or they have scramblers in the base.”

It was likely, in fact very likely that was the case with how secretive the GIW were being, but two hours were a long time to miss check-ins. Clark’s hand landed on his shoulder which he only now realized how tense was, but no, now was not the time to relax or calm down. He shrugged Clark’s hand off and stalked back down the hall.

The GIW were mum about any details. There was only one person who could tell them what Jason was facing in that building.

He burst into the interrogation room and slammed his hands on the table. That got Phantom’s attention his eyes widening before narrowing and his lips splitting in a snarl that showed off fangs, but Bruce sneered right back.

“We lost contact with an agent sent to infiltrate a GIW-base, you will tell me what you know about them, or so help me I will make you wish you stayed in that dimension you came from.”

“Batman, please, maybe you should step out-“ Clark began good hand hovering shy of Bruce, but he was interrupted by the bark of laughter coming from Phantom.

And then he laughed and laughed and laughed. 

Bruce punched him. Clark pulled him back. 

Phantom slowly turned his head back to look at them, working his jaw. 

“There we have it after all. Your true colors: attacking a chained up captive.” He wiggled his fingers drawing attention to the wide thick cuffs dwarfing his wrists. His eyes held only cold judgment. “But don’t worry, Batman, your agent has nothing to fear from the GIW unless they are dead.”

Bruce couldn’t help the flinch and he felt Clark do the same. Something in the very air stilled then, making it hard to breathe. 

“You,” Phantom began standing up, right out of the restraints as if they weren’t there, “are going to explain to me what that reaction means…“ He carefully put his hands down on the table and leaned forward in a way that made it very apparent he was holding himself back. He glared holes into Bruce’s skull with blazing green eyes. “Unless you want your agent back in pieces.”

-

Psssst. this is actually the beginning of the fic where this is from (CW: relatively graphic aftermath of vivisection)

So basically Phantom is public enemy number one, or at least top of the US government and GIW's shit list XD Huh, "Wanted: Dead or Alive", might actually be a pretty fun title, what do you guys think?

[respectthepetty]

Pride Petty Watch

Long story short, I owe the BL gods, so I'll be watching TWO series from my Petty List during the month of June. This list includes shows I haven't watched for purely petty reasons, so I'm asking the crowd to pick the two shows I will watch from all the MAME series, some censored Chinese bromances, a few sexual tension-filled Korean bromances, and one wild card.

I'm making my first ever poll, so whichever two series get the highest numbers will be the two I watch. And for all the kind people in the crowd, this is not the time to think about me. Pick your favorite. And for all the people who I annoy on the daily with my wild ass takes that piss you off, pick TharnType. But there is a possibility of a secret thirteenth option that would hurt me much worse . . .

The petty ass reasons are below the poll.

Disclaimer: If you're going to read the petty ass reasons, I need you to understand these are PETTY ASS REASONS, so don't try to hit me with 2,000 words about why me not watching censored bromances is a problem or why me not liking your fave hurts your feelings. Nah. Pick a show!

MAME

Love By Chance

This show came out at the end of 2018, and I watched the first episode, maybe first two, and thought it was boring. Then, in 2019, I saw a GIF of the locker scene, so I recommitted. I made it past the first episode just when the PerthSaint drama started spilling out everywhere, so I chucked the deuces and haven't returned since.

TharnType

For some reason, I couldn't find the first episode when it aired. Then, I found out how the first episode ended. Then, I found out about Type's past. Then, I just kept finding out more awful stuff until eventually the MewGulf shit finally hit the fan, and I was still reeling from the PerthSaint drama (and the emerging ZeeSaint chaos). At this point, I've built this show up so much that I'm afraid to see what it is actually about.

Don't Say No

A story of another GIF of a locker room scene sucking me in! After the first two MAME pairs blew up, I believed her shows were cursed, so I opted out of watching this one even though I thought it would be the one to vibe with me the most. But the biggest reason was because the main characters came from TharnType, so I felt like I would have to watch TharnType to understand this show, which was a big hell nah.

Love in the Air

I watched this through mutuals on my dash, so I feel like I did watch it. It is also the highest rated MAME series, so I had faith in it. However, when I found out about Sky's past, TharnType's ghost popped back up, and I realized this demon of a show is gonna haunt me in every MAME series.

The Wedding Plan

Y'all hated one of the leads so much while it was airing that I now hate him, and I don't think I can let that go, so I'm coming in with pre-hate and TharnType's ghost, but on top of that, some of y'all said it was boring. But what is boring in a MAME series? Consent? Not kidnapping someone? I never got answers, so I'm very conflicted about this show.

Censored Chinese

The Untamed

It's color coded, but FIFTY FUCKING EPISODES! What is this shit? Grey's Anatomy? The fuck! Second, once China pulled Addicted, I was holding grudges for life because it crossed from entertainment censorship into real-world oppression, so I could not bring myself to support media from a country that openly discriminates against the queers when I live in America where our highest court is just one Supreme Court Justice away from making us all live in the damn Mojo Dojo Casa House.

Word of Honor

It's color coded, but THIRTY-SIX FUCKING EPISODES! What is this shit? Supernatural?! The fuck! Second, I don't know the difference between this and The Untamed. Both are color-coded, one of them has a lot of uncles (?), one of them has awful facial hair, and they all have pretty outfits. Every time someone makes a reference about these shows, I just nod the same way I do when people mention Star Wars because none of it makes sense.

Guardian

I spent two years believing Killer and Healer was Guardian. I haven't watched either, but I thought they were the same show. Honestly, if this show wins, I might just watch Killer and Healer because I will forget they are not the same show. Don't they both solve cases? And because it's China, past lives must be involved, no? I'm looking at their MDLs as I write this, and I'm still not convinced they are different.

Stay with Me

It's color coded, but I know how it ends, and word on the street is that IS the ending since a second season seems unlikely. China couldn't just let me be hurt over Addicted, the original. No. Gotta hurt me again with Addicted, the remake. Rude af.

The Spirealm

First off, SEVENTY-EIGHT FUCKING EPISODES! What is this shit? Law & Order: SVU?! The fuck! I know how this ends, and it ain't happy! I don't care how people are trying to spin it, so to sit through SEVENTY-EIGHT DAMN EPISODES just for that ending already has me irate. And don't try telling me Viki combined episodes so it's only thirty-four. That's still a lot. However, everybody who has watched it says it's phenomenal, so is the pain worth it or are these people all lying so they convince themselves it was worth it?

Korean Bromance

Beyond Evil

With most Korean dramas, I feel like I missing something important. Like some part of the story does not click with me and I stay lost for the rest of the show. I suck it up for the queers, but the not-queers-but-it-is-queer shows . . . nah, and especially one about cops . . . (-_-). Also, The Worst of Evil just showed, and it was another reminder that I need these cops to quit their jobs and just screw each other. Embrace "Be Gay. Do Crime"

The Devil Judge

I know enough about Kpop to know GOT7 would not let one of its members kiss a man in this show. I looked at those GIFs of Jeff Satur and Jackson Wang on their show knowing damn well that if Wang got too close to Satur, an entire management team would have ascended from hell and kidnapped both of them, so the promo for this show was so wild because it felt queerbait-adjacent, and I was salty about it.

WILD CARD!

This option will be automatically unlocked IF this stupid little poll gets 216 votes, so I have high hopes this will not happen since I ain't that popular and I hate this wild card which is . . .

SOTUS

This show is my original TharnType. It came out in 2016. I watched it live. I watched the sequel. I remember neither. New was in it? Off was in it?! WHAT?! I have no memory of this show except Krist wiping his mouth, and I have carried that with me for eight damn years. I loved Be My Favorite, so I thought I moved past whatever strange grudge I was holding against this man who doesn't know I exist nor care, but then I saw that trailer for The Ex-Morning, and unlike Elsa, I can't let this shit go, so I'm willing to play Jumanji and go back into the jungle to finish this once and all.

So what it's gonna be, mi gente. Which demons am I facing for Pride and what shows do I get to stay petty about? Help me decide!

[littlest-w01f]

Fire and Ice

Eris x Khione

ERIS MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

Summary: In a hunger for power between the two opposite sides of the seasonal courts, a marriage was arranged between the heir of Autumn and the princess of Winter.

Cw: None

part one - part two

The evening had gone by way too slowly for Khione's liking, she'd danced with the second eldest, then talked in very slow droning conversations with the twins that followed, she was sure she was asleep by the time she was supposed to be in Lucien's arms. Seven brothers, seven brothers she put on a pretty fake smile, acting like she enjoying their not-so-innocent touches, and didn't understand their wild innuendos.

Kallias was laughing at her predicament, "Aren't you looking spectacular?" He noted the tired look in her eyes, a drink in his hand that he kept sipping from.

"Ugh," Khione rolled her eyes, "Atleast Eris wasn't boasting about the misogynistic things he's have me do." Khione shuddered remembering the talk she had with the middle son, the words he had been proud to say.

"That's what you're settling for?" Kallias snorted softly, "I guess he is the better option."

"Well, I should get this over with." Khione swallowed, walking to Lucien Vanserra, the male who stood beside the bar.

Lucien smirked watching her, "There you are." His voice was smooth, with two large shot glasses in his hand.

"It's my special concoction." With a playful wink, Lucien handed Khione one of the shot glasses, the liquid inside shimmering under the dim lights of the bar. He raised his own shot in a toast. "Here's to taking the plunge, darling." He said, his voice filled with mischief.

"Oh, thank the Mother." Khione took the offered glass, her fingers brushing against Lucien's as she did so. She gave him a small smile before bringing the glass to her lips, downing the contents in one swift motion. The burn of the liquor hit her throat, making her cough slightly but she didn't pull away. "You know..." She began, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, "This isn't exactly how I imagined tonight going..."

Feeling a sudden warmth spread through her body, Khione let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head at Lucien. "I think that might be the strongest thing I've ever had," she confessed, placing the empty shot glass on the counter.

"It's something I came up with decades ago," Lucien chuckled, watching Khione rub over her chest as the aftertaste hit, offering her some lime to drown the taste out.

She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with fake amusement, the same look she had given his brothers. She leaned closer, her shoulder brushing against his. "You're full of surprises, aren't you?" Khione teased, her soft features lighting up in the low light of the bar.

Lucien saw the look in Khione's eyes, "Please, my lady." He chuckled softly, "I'm a taken male, I'm not in the running for your hand."

A wave of surprise crossed Khione's face as Lucien revealed himself to be taken. "Oh, my apologies," she stammered, quickly pulling away, feeling a blush creep onto her cheeks. "I didn't realize..."

"No need to apologize," he reassured her, waving off her embarrassment. "In fact, it's quite refreshing. Most females throw themselves at me without a second thought. My father wanted me here since he doesn't consider me taken."

Khione looked surprised, "Really?" She tilted her head, "Why so? Beron seems like the male who wants his sons paired off as soon as possible."

Lucien snorted, "Please... We'll need more alcohol if we're to talk of my father as his... Backwards beliefs..."

"At least you're not as boring as the rest of your brother," Khione smiled softly, "Get me another one."

"It's improper for a lady like you to drink something so strong, you know." Lucien teased, laughing as she flipped him off.

After Khione mingled with Lucien, the party ended, marking her officially engaged to Eris Vanserra, the engagement part would follow a week after the night, and during that time Khione would stay in the Autumn Court.

She had said goodbye to her brother and mother, while her father just gave her a curt nod, getting back in their carriage, setting the way back to Winter Court.

"Well, that's done with, my fiance," She turned to look at Eris, the male leaning against the nearby garden arch, her things had already been handled and sent to the place that would be her room.

Khione smiled, walking to Eris, "Please lead me to my room so that I can get our of this dress." She said sweetly.

Eris chuckled softly as he pushed off from the archway, extending his hand out for hers. "As you wish, my lady." He murmured in response, leading her through the halls of the Autumn Court towards her temporary living quarters.

The castle was grandiose and sprawling, but Eris knew every nook and cranny, having grown up here. It made navigation easy despite the size, and they didn't take long to reach the section of the castle designated for guests.

He led her down a dimly lit hallway until they reached a door. The guard posted in the halls opened it for them, revealing a beautifully furnished bedroom complete with a large bed adorned with plush pillows and thick blankets. A fireplace was set into one wall, currently lit with a gentle fire, and the window looked out over the courtyard below. "This will be your room for the duration of your stay here,"

Khione looked at the place with wide eyes, squinting lightly at the fire, freezing it with a wave of her hand, earning a chuckle from Eris, "I see you'll settle in just fine." he commented.

"I'll have the decrease the temprature, but otherwise this place would do." Khione sighs, looking around the room, her presence itself making the temperature drop.

Eris smiled, still standing by the door, "After we're married, you'll not be staying here, but in with me, father will move us to a bigger room."

Khione nodded, she wasn't really surprised about him saying that, she expected nothing less, "Well then, till the wedding day." She smiled, moving to stand in front of the mirror, she looked over her shoulders to Eris, who was still standing there, waiting for her to ask him something, "Could you..." Khione breathed, frost exhaling, be nice, she thought, the male was already her husband, the wedding would be all for a show, "Could you help me untie the corset?"

"Of course," Eris responded almost instantly, stepping forward and approaching behind her. His hands came up and worked on the strings tying her corset together, pulling them free so that he could undo the laces in the back.

The warm air of the room hit her bare skin once it was exposed, the heat coming off of Eris making her shudder, her back turned frost like, almost in defence. Once the laces were loosened, the top of the dress started to fall apart, teasingly low on her breasts, leaving nothing of her upper body to the imagination, the jewellery that had been pinned into place stayed on.

Eris's fingers brushed along the small of her back as he worked the ties, sending tingles of electricity running down her spine each time he touched her. She had never noticed how sensual a task like this was before, especially when performed by a male, rather than how her handmaidens did.

Khione took a deep relaxing breath once the corset wasn't restricting her, making Eris laugh loudly, "I guess that thing was really tight on you, wasn't it?" He laughed again, watching her remove the rest of her dress, until she was only wearing her thin undergarments, the air around them turning even colder.

"You know, if you keep giving off such a cold aura, I might actually freeze in here," Eris said with a smile, shivering playfully, warming his body in the room with his own fire.

"That's the idea." Khione smirked, teasing, before moving to the bed, and lying down.

"Do wait till after the wedding, though, take my title and land with my frozen body, you won't get a thing to your name if I die as your fiance." Eris smiled, enjoying the sight of her in bed more than he let show, "For now I shall leave you to your beauty sleep." He smirked, teasing, "You need it."

Khione rolled her eyes, throwing the pillow under to to the back of his head, "Goodnight to you too!"

Eris caught the cold pillow, warming the pillow with his power and throwing it back at her, moving out when another came for his face. "Night, my icicle,"

{General Taglist - @nox-ceur @lilah-asteria @paleidiot @dee-writes-smut @adalia-jaycee @anarchiii @alwayshave-faith}

{Eris Taglist - @fxckmiup @slut4acotar @secret-third-thing @shadowsingers-mate @fieldofdaisiies}

[bylrlve]

Warning! Potential leaks for season five of Stranger Things!

Alex (aka @dyersfilms on twitter, used to be swiftlynatalia) is the person who successfully leaked most of season 4 due to her knowing a source. She did, however, insist Byler was entirely platonic that season and they fought for most of it and only made up at the end in the pizza van, so…

Here’s her saying she won’t post any byler leaks this time around, which she has said previously.

She got a message saying they’re all fake, and she thinks they all are, so keep that in mind.

Here’s a short one: Will distancing himself from the party bc it’s too hard to be closeted and to be around Mike. If real? Endgame fr.

A ‘leak’ from episode one where shit goes down after the opening scene of Will singing SISOSIG, Will falls, and Mike helps him up,

Here’s an extremely detailed one that casually drops Mileven breakup, Robin-Mike bonding over Vickie and Will, Will trying to avoid Mike ‘confronting him about the painting’, Mike and Jonathan fighting over Will’s safety. Nothing here is debunkable but…. Yeah. God, would it be nice, though.

The two most interesting ones. First, an ask that’s almost entirely plausible except for the mileven part - and that part, specifically, I’m calling bullshit on bc it claims that Hopper is still on the Mike Hate Train. It was made abundantly clear, after their talk and their awkwardly long hug at the end of season 4, that that’s in the past. Besides, it just wouldn’t fit tonally. S3 was the heterosexual-cliché, silly filler season. S5? Nah. Can’t 100% say it’s fake, but even Alex agrees this one isn’t real.

Lastly, an interesting one that’s plausible throughout which claims Mike gets seriously injured and spends some time in hospital. Will stays by his bedside after everyone else leaves and kisses Mike on the forehead. Mike wakes up after he leaves - I think the insinuation is that Mike does a Half-Blood Prince and wakes up knowing that someone he felt safe with was there, but he doesn’t know who it was. If that’s legit? As I said, endgame fr.

I do want to note that both the mileven and Byler asks word the ‘main character getting injured part’ as everyone being ‘shaken up’ so there are a few options: it’s the same person with legit leaks, and Byler isn’t endgame. That, I’d be more willing to accept, cautious as I am, were it not for the Hopper part, which sticks out like a sore thumb. Second option: it’s the same person messing around. Third: it’s two people, one building on the other.

Cannot emphasise enough that these are most likely just bored people having fun, but I figured I’d share them all. The last one is getting passed around the tag sans context, and I wanted to clarify everything else Alex has received. Do not get your hopes up about Byler based solely on these.

Letting my imagination run absolutely wild here for just a moment, however: Maya and Vickie are confirmed to be filming at the hospital set, presumably visiting someone. There’s also a pic of someone with bloody shoes. Imagine if Robin visits Mike in the hospital, witnesses some Platinum-Tier Will Byers Pining™️, and ends up talking to Mike after he wakes up - no mention of how long he stays there.

Lastly, it is fun comparing these to the more doom-and-gloom (re: Mike) leaks Sapphicjopper on twitter got. The awesome @solgmorell has a post explaining those in detail.

Oh, and an interview came out today where Shawn Levy said something insane but, you know, water is wet.

[parachutingkitten]

Dragons Rising Lloyd/Akita Reunion, cuz the show hasn't given it to me yet.

Lloyd and the kids are on their way to the First Realm, but run into an old familiar face along the way. Definitely a little flirty, but can still be read as platonic.

No one could quite pin down what was wrong with the trees around them. They were too straight. Too baren. Too… something. It was as if they had somehow noticed a change about this place which they had no familiarity with. Perhaps it was just the overcast day and the subtle winds which made the wood seem so ominous, or perhaps there was something more sinister going on. Either way, the feeling between the group was palpable- they were lost.

“You sure you know where we’re going?” Sora asked. “This doesn’t really seem like a trail anymore.”

“That’s because it’s a shortcut,” Lloyd assured her, holding up the map. “Or at least… I think it is.”

“I might have preferred the main path if it had less of a creepy forest vibe than this one,” Arin added, looking skeptically up at the trees.

Lloyd closed the map, confident in his direction. “Look, this will save us two whole hours, the only reason it’s typically avoided is because this forest is supposedly cursed.”

“You know, you had the option of not telling us that,” Arin groaned. 

“Trust me, the last thing you want is your teacher keeping things from you,” Lloyd mused. 

“Did you guys hear that?” Sora broke in. 

“Hear what?” Arin asked. 

Lloyd held his hand up, stopping the group. “No, I heard it too.”

The three stood in silence for a moment, listening for the sound to come again. It was hard to discern through the light winds humming through the branches, but it was there: the sound of living movement.

“You two stay close,” Lloyd instructed his students, continuing to scan the treeline. He squinted through the homogeneous rows of bark surrounding them, but still couldn’t see where the noise sourced from. Erring on the side of caution, his hand began to reach back for his sword. However, before he could even make contact with the metal, a flash of white burst towards him, knocking him to his back. The movement was accompanied by a deep growl, and a sharp scream from either side of him. 

Lloyd felt strangely overpowered by the weight which fell on his chest. It came in two pointed placements and pressed in a way which seemed to go through him, taking with it most of his breath. The noise he heard was unequivocally animal, and the vigor which restrained him matched that assessment. As he squinted upwards at his attacker he was able to make out the beast's face. A wolf- but not just any wolf.

"Akita?" He used the last of his air to address the creature.

The growling stopped as the animal retreated, allowing Lloyd to sit up, and more importantly, breath.

The wolf now circled around him, bumping into his arms with a friendly familiarity. 

"Hey, it's good to see you too," Lloyd chuckled. 

"You know this dog?" Sora asked.

"I do!" Lloyd smiled. He looked into the animal's eyes fondly. "She was, um…"

There was a bright flash of light as the form before him began to shift. As the shock from the shine subsided, he made out the image of a woman reaching down to help him up. It was a familiar face, but a changed one. Her wild raven hair was much longer now, tied back into a tight ponytail which exploded behind her, and topped with her familiar animal adornment. Her figure was clothed largely in black, and fit to her body much more closely. On her were obviously several weapons, along with a number of other useful objects attached to her person directly. But her face seemed much the same, her smile just as shyly offered, and the marks which framed it right where he remembered them. "I'm an old friend," she finished. 

Lloyd took her hand as a pair of awed marvelings came from the kids. Her strength easily tugged him upward, their eyes remaining locked as he made his ascent. 

“I didn’t think you were- I mean-” Lloyd paused for a moment to avoid stumbling over himself any further. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

“I can’t say I thought the same.” Akita tightened her grip on his hand before finally letting it go.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lloyd chuckled.

“It means Lloyd Garmadon seems like the type of person to turn up in unexpected places.” Akita smiled. “As you have!” She gestured to the forest around them.

“This is the girl from the Never-Realm!” Arin burst out, finally drawing their attention away from each other.

Lloyd glanced back and forth between him and Akita. “Yes, she is. How did you-?”

“Does this mean she’s the one that-”

“We don’t have to elaborate on that description,” Lloyd stopped him, feeling the blood rush to his cheeks. “Seems like you got it figured out.”

“I’m still lost,” Sora chimed in.

Lloyd let out a heavy sigh. “Sora, Arin, this is Akita, I met her on a mission a while back, she’s originally from the Never-Realm. Akita, this is Arin and Sora, they’re my… students.”

Akita was grinning wildly by this point. “Students, huh?” she turned her attention to the children in question. “What’s this idiot been teaching you?”

“He’s been training us to be ninja!” Arin jumped excitedly.

“He’s been training me to use my elemental power,” Sora added.

“I already taught myself the basics of spinjitzu,” Arin continued. “but it’s awesome having a teacher!”

“Self taught is the best way to learn,” Akita offered Arin a high five, which he eagerly reciprocated. “I like your ears,” Akita turned to Sora, pointing above her head. “You make them yourself?”

Sora reached up toward the accessory, pleasantly surprised. “Thank you, I… yeah.”

“What are you doing out here?” Lloyd asked, his attention still strongly attached to his rediscovered ally. 

“I live here,” She shrugged. “I’m out collecting tree bark.” She tapped a small pouch that hung at her side. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you do with the tree bark?” Arin cut in.

Akita smiled, pulling out her dagger. “You peel it off, very carefully,” She placed her blade along the nearest tree, carefully shaving off a long strip of bark. “You take it home, clean it, dry it.” She tossed the piece to Arin, who caught it easily. “And it makes an excellent tea.”

Arin’s eyes had grown wide, Sora looking at it over his shoulder, her hands reaching for her pocket knife.

Having distracted the kids, Akita again turned to her new-found companion, quieting her voice.

“What are you doing here? No one ever comes through here.”

“We’re headed to the First Realm.” Lloyd answered, matching her tone. “We’ve got a whole dragon problem going on, and we think the realm of Oni and Dragon might have some answers.”

Akita’s face ruffled in confusion. “The First Realm?”

“Yeah,” Lloyd answered, a strain of uncertainty entering his tone.

Akita stared at him a moment in thought. “You’re almost certainly headed the wrong direction.”

“Really?” Lloyd sighed, reaching for his map. 

“I told you we were lost!” Sora called over to them, now struggling with her knife against a nearby tree.

“We can’t be going the wrong direction. We’re right here,” Lloyd pointed on the map. “in the Unsleeping Woods-”

“No, right now we’re in the Forest of the Tamed.” Akita placed a finger a few inches away from Lloyd’s as his gaze froze on the spot. 

“How could we have…”

“You probably mixed up the Forbidden Path with the Forsaken Path.” Akita took the map from his hands, tracing along the two trails. “The Forsaken Path takes you much farther North.”

“That… would do it.” Lloyd sighed.

“I’m sorry, we were on something called the Forsaken Path?” Arin butt in. 

“Technically, I thought I was taking you on the Forbidden Path.” Lloyd corrected him. 

“You do know that’s not better, right?” Arin groaned. 

“Well, it’s far too late an hour for you to start that direction now.” Akita rolled up the map, handing it back to her companion. “But my camp is nearby, and I have plenty of extra space.”

Lloyd’s vision turned to his students, thinking for a moment.

“You are gonna let us hang out with the cool wolf-lady, right?” Sora asserted, bark strip in hand. 

“Wait, does that mean this forest isn’t cursed?” Arin spoke up.

“Well, it's a different forest, but it could still be cursed.” Sora prodded him. 

Lloyd turned back to Akita, his eyes narrow. “You sure we won’t be a bother to anyone?”

Akita smirked. “No one to be a bother to, except me. I’m a scout. I’m camped by myself in an abandoned fishing village. It’ll be nice to have the company,” she assured him.

Lloyd smiled, his mind still a mush at seeing the face in front of him. “You’re sure?”

Akita rolled her eyes, walking past him. “Come one everyone! Camp is just a few minutes west of here!”

…

Akita gingerly closed the door on the common building, a targeted grin on her lips. “So… Kids?”

“It’s a new development.” Lloyd shrugged, shrinking back a bit.

“No, I like it!” she quickly clarified. “The responsibility seems good for you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lloyd chuckled, swinging off his backpack.

“It just means…” Akita thought for a moment. “Adulthood is a good look on you, that’s all.”

“Well, your new job looks good on you too,” Lloyd glanced up at her as he sat the pack on a bench near the door. “You seem like you make a great scout.”

“Well, I certainly did a good job of finding you,” she teased. 

“It seems like a pretty important role. I bet Kataru is really proud!” Lloyd continued.

Akita was quiet for a moment, her demeanor falling. “Yes…”

Lloyd paused, studying her face. “Or not?” He offered. 

Akita’s face hung before facing her companion. “Kataru didn’t make it through the merge.” The air in the room was suddenly filled with a thick stillness. “Most of my people didn’t.”

There was a beat of silence before Lloyd took her arm, guiding them both down to the bench. “Are you alright? I mean, I can’t imagine. Have you been by yourself all this time?”

“I’ve been fine,” Akita waved it off.

Lloyd’s face was stuck puzzled as he processed the new information. “I thought the Never-Realm had a lot of land carry over. The produce is all over the place.”

“Much of the realm did make it through.” Akita agreed. “But the majority of it is uninhabited wilderness… so that’s largely what survived.”

“Akita, I’m so sorry,” Lloyd placed a hand on her knee. “I had no idea.”

“My role as scout is the only reason I made it. If I had been home with my family, I would be gone with them.”

Lloyd felt the pain in her words, and could empathize all too easily. “You know, I lost my whole team in the merge. I thought I would never see them again. And I’ve found some of them since then, but I still remember how hard it was, thinking you’re absolutely alone like that. It can be so difficult just to find a reason to keep going.”

Akita looked back at her friend with pity. “Well, it’s nothing worth complaining about.” She pat his back as she stood, making her way further into the room.

“...what?” Lloyd turned over his shoulder to look back at her, thoroughly confused.

“Everyone lost things in the merge.” She shrugged. “We are not special. All that’s left to do is focus on what we do have.” Akita pulled out her dagger, moving to the water basin towards the back of the room to clean it. “I was lucky enough to make it through the merge, and with me came an abundance of territory I was familiar with and knew how to survive off of.” She glanced up from her work. “And now I’ve even found you. So that’s three things I have to my advantage.”

Lloyd sat on the bench, body twisted around, stunned for a moment. “I guess that’s one way of looking at things.”

“What’s the alternative?” Akita questioned. 

“I don’t know. Feel your feelings a bit?” Lloyd offered. “Didn’t losing so much ever make you feel a little… I don’t know. Lost? Scared? Hopeless?”

There was a breath of silence as Akita pinpoint her words. “Loss is unavoidably painful, and I am not immune to pain.” Akita dried her dagger, it shining in the dim lantern light. “But giving up hope is the coward’s way out. It means you’ve decided you will no longer fight.” She stood up, starting back towards Lloyd. “And I am no coward.”

Lloyd sat with the statement, his eyes still caught on the shine of the dagger as she again approached the bench. 

“You on the other hand,” she pointed the weapon at him with a smirk. “I’m not so sure.”

“Hey!” Lloyd laughed, standing to meet her height. “I’m plenty courageous!”

“Perhapps, but not that I’ve seen.” Akita shrugged, slipping the knife back into its scabbard. 

“Not true.” Lloyd shook his head.

“What was the brave part? When I had to save you from wolves, or from the giant ice bird, or when you spilled out your feelings to an animal you thought couldn’t understand you,”

“Okay, okay,” Lloyd waved her off, still chuckling.

“-when your supposed friend very easily captured you, or when you ran away after a girl kissed you?”

“To be fair, she was a very intimidating girl,” Lloyd beamed.

Akita grinned, a bit of blush sneaking onto her cheeks. “Well, I don’t think she was trying to be… at the time anyway.”

Lloyd’s face tensed for a moment, his words hesitating. “I feel like I might need to apologize-”

“No, no!” Akita quickly cut him off. “You don’t need to-”

“Well, everything just ended so abruptly,” Lloyd shrugged. “I feel like maybe we didn’t get any proper closure because I had to leave-”

Akita scrambled for words. “I knew what I was doing, and that it would leave things…” a sigh of defeat left her lips. “It was just one of those silly teenage impulses,” she chuckled. Her frame had softened a drastic amount over the past few exchanges. 

Lloyd sat with the statement for a moment, still unsure of how he felt about it. “Yeah… right,” he landed on matching her nervous chuckle, the room now palpably less fluid.

Akita leaned forward, attempting to ease the newfound tension. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s caused you much more distress than it ever has me.” A smile snuck onto her lips again. “Given your romantic history and all.”

Lloyd’s eyes playfully narrowed. “Low blow.”

“How has it been since then? Anyone else to add to the story?” Akita asked, starting towards one of the food storages. 

Lloyd laughed to himself, loosely following her movements over to the large table at the center of the room. “Yeah actually, it’s… Harumi.”

Akita looked up from her search for a snack. “Again?”

“Yep,” Lloyd nodded, leaning back on the table.

“I thought she died.” Akita returned to her search, thoroughly confused. 

“Well, she did. Or at least I think she did. But she got resurrected through like… dark magic I guess?” 

Akita pulled out an orange from the pack. “So she came back. Was she different?” she asked, beginning to peel her snack. “Like she didn’t want to kill you anymore after the building collapse or..?”

Lloyd’s mouth hung agape, trying to avoid stating the inevitable. “No she… she still wanted to kill me.”

“And you still liked her?” 

“Well, when you put it like that it sounds really bad!” Lloyd began to laugh.

“That is really bad!” Akita stressed, her too beginning to chuckle.

“Come on, I mean first crushes are always the hardest to shake, you know?”

“I do…” Akita’s smile landed quietly on her expression, her eyes darting back down to her orange as she finished peeling. “So, what happened with her?” She crossed the expanse between them to the table and leaned next to him.

“Well, she went to prison. She did a bunch of crazy stuff, so there was no way she was getting out of that.”

Akita offered him an orange wedge, which he promptly took. “Well, that will put a spike in things.”

He hummed in agreement as he finished chewing. “It’s probably for the better though. I do not think that relationship would have worked out.”

“No kidding,” Akita mused, popping another wedge into her own mouth. 

“I mean she had a lot of trauma related to me, and I had a lot of trauma related to her. And now I don’t even know where she is after the merge.”

“Did the prison make it through?”

Lloyd nodded. “It did, but there was also a massive jailbreak during the chaos, so she could be anywhere. It’s possible she didn’t even make it through.”

Akita stared down at the orange cradled in her hands. “Do you… think about her much?”

Lloyd breathed a heavy sigh. “It’s been less as time goes on. But it’s hard not to wonder about her.” His voice had quieted dramatically. “I don’t even know if she ever had feelings for me. But I think there’s part of me that will always care about her, despite everything.” He rolled his eyes. 

Akita held a glance over at him, her mind running with a thousand thoughts. “Maybe you just have a thing for women who try to kill you.”

His expression cracked again into laughter. “No, I don’t think so.”

“I don’t know, I don’t see any other reasonable explanation for your attachment to her.”

Lloyd smirked. “You know, you’re right. I can’t help it. I’m attracted to the danger.”

“No,” Akita shook her head. “I find it much more likely you enjoy feeling intimidated.”

“Is that why you attacked me out in the forest?” he teased. “So maybe your little crush would go somewhere?”

Akita smiled, her gaze returning forward. “You know, I did have a crush on you when you left.” 

“Yeah?” Lloyd prompted her.

“I did.” Akita set the orange down next to her. “And I’ve spent most days after that wondering how on earth,” Lloyd began giggling. “that could ever have happened. I mean someone so annoying, immature, weak,”

“Okay-” Lloyd interjected.

“dorky, cocky, just generally unlikable as you,” Akita continued. “I wrote it off as a complete fluke fairly quickly.”

“Well, that’s great to know.” They both smiled at each other. Akita’s eyes broke first, a weakness entering her voice.

“But, I have to say, being here with you again,” She spoke, her voice almost a whisper. “...I get it.” 

Her eyes remained firmly forward, refusing to perceive whatever reaction might come from her words. 

Lloyd was pensive, a number of emotions beginning to manifest inside him. “You know, I meet a lot of people in a lot of different places doing my job,” he began. “And I always thought it was so unfair that the one person I wanted to see again the most, was the one person I couldn’t get to.”

Akita turned to glance at him again, his eyes ready to meet hers with an admiration that instantly encircled her gaze. A strain built between the two; she could almost swear it was physicalizing in the air around them.

Akita groaned, burying her head in her hands as her nerves caught up with her. “I did it last time- I’m not going to be the one to do it again.”

Lloyd giggled dizzily at her reaction. “You know, girls have only ever kissed me first. I don’t really have experience initiating things.”

Akita tilted her face back to him. “So, you’re saying you would want to kiss me right now?” she challenged. 

Lloyd felt the blood rush further into his cheeks as he struggled for an answer. “I’m not saying that I… I mean you-” 

Akita chuckled, straightening up to face him again, waiting for a response.

Lloyd sighed, his eyes refusing to leave hers as much as he wished he might be able to. “It’s just… silly teenage impulses.”

[nerdieforpedro]

Sard'ika Sessions

Session Three

Din Djarin x plus size female reader

Fanfiction 18+

Sard'ika Sessions Masterlist / Main Masterlist / Din Djarin/The Mandalorian Masterlist

Word Count: approx 4k

Summary: The longing is hitting our session partners pretty hard. Training paid off - somewhat. An unintentional action in haste leads to a moment of tenderness. Our Mandalorian is considering his options for how things can proceed and says what he can do if he's given a set amount of time.

Warnings: Consensual sexual activity, Toy use, longing, angst if you squint, Din working, jealous Din, douche man, anal sex, HANDS, temperature play, unprotected P in V (wrap it up in real life peeps), grinding, beskar use, praise kink, cum worship, cum eating, slight pregnancy kink, Din is a man with a plan

Notes: At a certain point in this chapter, there's a potentially upsetting action that happens. In writing this out both in my notebook and typing it out, I wanted to include it because I think it's important when partners are exploring each other sexually that mishaps may happen. It's pretty important how they navigate it together and move forward while continuing to respect their boundaries.

If you think you might not be okay with exploring that, then I wouldn't recommend reading this chapter.

Special Thanks to Special Space beta buddy: @morallyinept

No package came and neither did a holomessage. It had been three weeks since you’d last seen Din. Since his hands had roamed your skin, since you had tasted him in your throat, he carefully stretched your ass and felt his tongue between your legs. Your thoughts were running wild, not only with the memory of your last session but what you two spoke about after or rather what was unsaid. It was clear that there was something between the two of you, maybe that’s why he really had chosen you for these ‘sessions’ as you’ve grown to call them. Work at the guild had been the same, different bounty hunters passing through, some you knew, others you didn’t and likely wouldn’t see again. 

At home you’d gotten accustomed to the third anal plug within a few days of Din’s last visit so you had to decide between the dildos. One was glass and the other a firm, but pliable material, its name escaped you. It was now your routine to come home and remove your skirt and panties to practice while leaving your shirt and vest on, it made you think of the small back room where Din utilized those solid hands of his to pull orgasms from you. 

There were times you hoped he would show up as he did that day and follow you again, except this time he may use the cock you were able to touch the last time. It made you chuckle that the only parts of this man you’ve touched are his hands and dick. Slowly inserting the spongy dildo after coating it in lube proved easy, but advancing it was where the issue was. You tried the angle and that hurt so you paused on that. 

The next day using the clear glass dildo to glide across your slick folds. It was becoming easier to be wet with just the thought of him, your Mandalorian. Was he really just yours? He could be with others and you’d neve know but the small thought that he might only be with you had a fire churn in your core, assisting the glass appendage at your entrance slip past your folds. It was a stretch, more than two of his fingers, it stung but the cooling sensation of the glass eased it. It did prove difficult to move as your pussy decided it wanted to hold onto it and not let go. Panic set it for a few moments, but when you relaxed, you were able to pull it back out. Falling back on the bed had you staring at the ceiling, curious that if you can’t get these objects to fit inside of you and tolerate them moving, how would you handle his penis? “I may be in trouble for this next session…I’ll have to keep working at it. I hope I can. I don’t want him to be disappointed.” The truth was you didn’t want to be disappointed either, after tasting it, you wondered what it would be like to have the tip of his cock touching your cervix.

The Mandalorian had completed his first task, visiting his son and getting updates from the Jedi training him, Luke Skywalker. Things seemed to be going well. He was able to drop a few things off for Grogu and then start on his bounties. The first one was simple, a bail jumper who once caught went on the slab for transport. The second was the recovery of a family heirloom supposedly. Din didn’t understand how some ridiculous little orb would be so important but that was his client’s wish. He found it, but of course it’s in the belly of some big, angry, stinky, violent creature. 

After having his beskar covered in some sticky orange goo, was able to use his pulse rifle to paralyze the monster since its hide proved too tough, stick his boot on its jaw to keep its mouth open and give three shots of his rifle into it. The orb was slightly cracked, but still whole. He figured that was better than nothing. Once back on the ship, he set to carefully removing his armor and setting it out, not looking forward to cleaning it for once. Usually armor maintenance was relaxing for him but not with this much gunk attached to his beskar. Din stepped into the refresher and let the water roll down his sore body. He wondered if you were washing yourself as well. 

The search and subsequent hunt for the creature had  taken longer than he had thought and he was three days late for his session with you. Now even if he pushed the Razor Crest to its limit, the soonest he would get back would be within the next three days. He decided the best move would be to deliver the orb and the bail jumper to the guild and on the way, he could catch up on sleep and be well rested. This was a good plan, but like many of Din’s plans, it had to change when he arrived at the guild after three weeks.

The Mandolorian strolled into the Guild on Navarro scanning the main area for you. He could usually spot you near one of the reception desks or the small bar that was off to the side, that let bounty hunters congregate and form teams if needed. Usually, they just compared jobs, bragged and tried to out drink each other. The far end of the bar was your usual spot and you were there, though some leather clad man appeared to be in your personal space. It’s not like the two of you had discussed what went on outside of your sessions together and just because he was paying, it didn’t mean you were obligated to share any more than what happened when you agreed to meet. Despite being part of one of the most feared groups across the galaxies, Din was still a man with feelings. This put him at odds with himself because he found when he acted on his feelings, it made his life much more difficult. 

Still, it didn’t stop him from walking up behind the man and clenching his fists when he heard him ask you when your shift ended. You responded that it would depend on how things are at work today and he would likely be on his next job then so not to worry about it. Were you considering meeting this man? Working out logistics with him? Maybe because he was week late, you’d be fine getting credits from another who’d show up on time.  

“She has other plans. None of which are your concern. You may want to pick up a job or two. Your jacket looks like the hide of a blerg.” Din seethed, putting one of his hands on his blaster at his wide and tapping it. The man didn't think that he’d really do anything knowing that they’re in a crowded place, when Din saw that he wasn’t moving, he grabbed his arm and used his other hand to remove a knife from his belt. 

“I’m about to ensure you have other plans as well.” You were shocked and concerned at your joy in the moment. Din had returned, albeit a week late. This leather guy in question had been by in the last few days picking up a few jobs and half-ass doing them. He qualified for his credits but was working himself onto a ‘do not use’ list quickly for sloppy work. He kept trying to hit on you and you’d gently refuse his advances. 

He wasn’t good at his job which was a major turn off. This man was not a highly effective and professional bounty hunter who had a small green adorable boy. Nor did he have hands that you had pictured non-stop for three weeks. He’s just some dude. You asked ‘Mando’ to let him go and shooed the man away, finally left with just Din himself. 

“I take it things took an unexpected turn while off world? You’re late.” You saw Din relax and take the man’s seat next to you. You swiveled on your stool to face him, you weren’t angry, bounty hunting is unpredictable in its nature. You were just glad he came back safe, though what could have delayed him?

“The second task, the actual bounty, was much more difficult than I anticipated. And a lot messier. I wanted to ensure that I was well-rested and thoroughly cleaned for our next session.” His answer was true, he wanted to ensure that he was at his best when he met you next. Din found himself with a sense of heightened expectation as the sessions continued with you. The thrill of exploring your malleable body, molding you, still retaining your kindness toward him despite pushing your boundaries every time.

“I see. The next shift should be here within the next hour. Then I’ll meet you at my home. Until then.” Placing your hand over his gloved one was enough for now, it affirmed that he was back in front of you and that later would be coming as promised. Din squeezed your fingertips and nodded. He spoke with an attendant at the counter and submitted the item for his bounty and left, stealing a glance at you before he did. 

You weren’t sure where exactly he went before came to your house that evening, but you made sure you were wearing another green slip, sitting on the couch. Your eyes were closed, listening out for his heavy footsteps. You didn’t hear them yet and your body was tense, palms pressing into your thighs. It was when you were listening to the rush of blood between your ears that their crunch hit your ears and you stood. Putting on a simple white robe, you tied it and stood before the door, waiting until he knocked. Despite knowing that you’re waiting for him, he knocked and asked if he could come in. Ever polite your Mandalorian was.

Din entered with three black bags this time. He thanked you and walked in, setting one large one on the counter and making his way to your bedroom to place the other two on your bed. He returns to your small living room after removing his gloves and setting them on your nightstand. His hands reach for your face first. It had been three long weeks before he could feel the warmth of your skin and the plushness of your flesh. Before long, your robe was on the floor along with your slip. He hadn’t said a word yet, just soft humming as his hands roamed your body, he wanted to make sure he hadn’t forgotten any stretch marks, hairs, crevices and moles you had. In his frustration he had to re-learn the landscape of your wide hips and breasts, your moans had him press his helmet to your forehead. His hands finally pause on your ass, your moans soften with the slowed touch of his hands. “Sard’ika. I’ll place you on the bed. Which item did you use for your cunt?” His voice was strained, similar to how he was during the first session. No, Din knew it was even worse than that. At that time, he hadn’t known your body or heard the noises it makes as he touched it, the sounds you make as he does. He has that knowledge and has been thinking about it for too long without putting it back into practice. 

He bent down and put his hands behind your knees, lifting you and carrying you to the bed. The first time you had protested, but you knew better now. Din set you on the edge of the bed and went into one of the bags he had brought in, it was a slightly larger glass dildo than the one he had sent to you for practice. Crouching before you, his forearms spread your legs as he peered into your wet slit. “Din, I used both dildos. I-” He did not allow you to finish. His fingers were circling your clit as he waved the glass to and fro on your wet opening, coating it in your own slick. He began to insert it slowly, keeping his visor trained on your face and reaction. He had a third of the dildo in before he stopped, seeing your chest rise and fall quickly but he hadn’t heard any painful screams or groans. Only increasing moans, this gave him reprieve as he did not want to cause you harm and told him that you had indeed been using them. The bounty hunter began moving the dildo slowly in and out of you, the cool glass acting as a balm to the stretch it was giving you. His thumb and pointer finger alternated between pinching your clit and rubbing it as he speed increased. 

“Mesh’la despite the wait you continued to prepare for me. We will make good use of your work.” Abruptly he stops moving the dildo but doesn’t remove it. “Roll over and get on all fours Sard’ika” While you move slowly to do so, trying to not to lose the dildo that slips as you turn over, Din carefully removed his boots, thigh and shin guards and the bottom of his flight suit with codpiece. When you’re in position and the dildo is only a fourth of the way in, he carefully pushes it back in. You look back and see that he’s only in armor from the waist up. Is this when it happens? When he’s inside of you with his cock? 

Not quite, you feel his hands spread your ass and jelly coat your small ring of muscle. It appears he’ll start with the back and then maybe your front later. But that didn’t happen either. He inserted the largest size of anal plug, the third one inside, pumping it slowly, but not too deep, just so the small loop would be exposed for later removal. What was removed was the glass dildo, with a loud pop and a ‘dank farrik’ from your lips. Din laughed and massaged your asscheek. “Such language Sard’ika. I suspect you wanted something else based on my state of exposure.” Din used his unoccupied hand to guide the tip of his weeping dick slide against your cunt, it made you flinch - he hadn’t entered you yet. “Such a wonderful view you’ve provided me. Thank you mesh’la.” Both of his hands ran down your back and returned to your hips and slowly he entered you, though you remained stiff. It was a concern for the Mandalorian and he paused. “Sard’ika?”

You thought you’d prepared enough, stretched yourself enough and foolishly imagined that since it would be his flesh instead of glass or the silicone that he’d fit. After all, he’s clearly a man, well from the parts of him you’ve seen. Such arrogance on your part was rewarded with pain. Your head was tucked toward your chest and he was calling you, but if you opened your mouth you’d scream and not like you had been. He shouldn’t hear such a noise from you. It’s only supposed to be pleasurable things and sounds. Your hands have balled into fists and your body is rigid. “Sard’ika?” is all that you heard in increasing volume and what you’d describe as worry as he continued to reach you.

Damn it all Maker, what had he done? He knew that she had been working with the items he had given her, that much was certain. This was not supposed to happen. As far from the goal as possible. Din was frozen. He didn’t want to move in case he caused you more pain, but he also knew that in order for it to stop, he would need to. His concern and guilt was mounting as he watched your body, your softness was lost to him. You were immobile. Inching back, Din removed himself from you, moved to your side and pulled you to face him. He needed you to talk to him. It was the silence that was bothering him most. “Please Sard’ika speak to me.” His calloused hands cupped your cheeks, your eyes took a minute to register that you were looking into his visor. Your delicate fingers landed on his vambraces, exhaling the breath you held.

“I-I’m sorry I couldn’t fit you Din.” Your voice was barely above a whisper, your eyes closed. You have failed him and yourself. You wanted him inside of you, you did. But he was just too much, he’d find someone else who could handle him. You’d only ever see him at the Guild now if you were lucky. “I did try, I’m just-” His thumb ran along your lips as he shook his head. 

“Mesh’la please. Do not blame yourself. I did not prepare you properly. You’ve done so well for me.” His voice was so reassuring. You weren’t sure if you fully believed him, but he then held you against his breastplate, the beskar calmed you. Though you did feel his erection still present. He hadn’t been fully satisfied, reaching down, your hand wrapped around his length and started palming it. A quiet moan escaped his helmet and he lifted your hand away from his hardness. “Are you sure you want to continue this session Sard’ika? Do not feel obligated to do so. I have harmed you, though unintentionally.” Shaking your head, you moved it from his breastplate to his helmet.

“I want to continue Din. You didn’t mean to hurt me. It’s just something I’ll have to work on for next time. Please, I want to make you feel as good as you made me feel earlier.” Your eyes are reflected in his visor, they’re watery but determined. “Tell me what you want Din. How can I satisfy you?” You felt his body tense at the question for a moment before he sat up and grabbed a pillow. “Din?”  He hasn’t answered you yet, picking up a second pillow and appeared to be weighing each pillow against each other. 

“That’s not important Sard’ika. Lift your hips, I’ll need to use both. Your pillows are on the soft side. We’ll need firmer ones from now on. I’ll need to find some.” Turning onto your back and pressing your feet into the mattress to help. The tilt of his helmet indicated that your hips may not be high enough so he slid part of the pillows that he had stacked on top of each other. Hands clamped on both sides of your hips and lifted them with little effort, pushing the pillows where he wanted them with his knees before setting your hips gently down on them. “Is this comfortable for you? Would one pillow be better for you Sard’ika?” 

One hand stayed steady on your hips while the other trailed up your soft belly, fully exposed for him as your breasts shifted up toward your chin. He was humming again, you knew that meant he was pleased. Your position wasn’t uncomfortable, just different with your hips that high, you took a pillow from above your head and moved it under your head. His hand left your stomach and ran down your right leg, lifting it and extending it into the air before bending it at your knee and placing it on his shoulder, above his pauldron. The cool sensation of his beskar made your lips part with a hiss, Din’s erection grazed your thigh, its heat contrasted with his armor. 

“I’m comfortable enough Din. Please try again. Please.” You asked of him, covering his hand with yours to let him know, truly it’s alright. His helmet turned from side to side, his hips moved forward to drag his cock across your slit, the visor pressed against your calf, Din had you so close, yet he knew he was already on thin ice with his creed, given how much of his beskar he had removed already. Despite your pleas, the warrior could not forge ahead in what you asked of him. Not yet. 

Not yet is what he told himself the last time he left your home. But he would attempt something else, something he hadn’t done for quite a while since he had first gone to pleasure houses decades ago and was still new to a woman’s body.

“Sard’ika, I have found that this can be pleasurable for us both.” Din started moving himself back and forth, the wetness of your folds. So painfully slow, your hand squeezed his to let him know it was okay to go faster, you needed more friction. Your Mandalorian complied with quickening slaps of his pelvis to yours, leaning over your body as he moved, your hand left his and reached to take hold of his shoulder to help press your bodies together faster. It felt so different from when you rode his beskar before, his throbbing member leaked pre-cum onto your stomach, smearing it on your lower belly. Din bent your leg further back as he tipped his upper body forward to keep his cock on your folds and between both your bellies.

“Mark me again Din. Coat me.” Making sure to focus your eyes on his visor, your mouth agape as you whimpered. The bounty hunter was attempting to hold on, to keep from spilling over your stomach so soon, but the eye contact had him thrusting against your cunt sloppily, hitting your clit every so often before he launched thick ropes of his seed onto your stomach. The heat from his cum, made your core quiver to coat his cock as he gave a few more pumps and leaned against your right leg to steady himself.

Two of your fingers trailed through his spent on your stomach, rubbing it before you scooped it and brought it to your lips, flicking your tongue through the sticky substance. A deep moan left your chest as Din watched, “Dank farrik, you taste so good.” Could he convince you to follow him to the RazorCrest? Where you could be ready and waiting for him. So he wouldn’t have to wait so long to touch you and see what new levels the two of you could achieve together. No, not yet, he told himself again. His calluses ran up and down the length of your thigh he still held to his chest, not willing to let go. 

“Mesh’la I’ll need two days with you, in your home. I will make you ready for me I promise. No work, just us together learning and feeling.” Finally he set your leg down and placed his hands behind your back pulling you forward to meet his visor, your forehead softly touching his helmet. “Give me that. Give me more of you.” Your arms wrapped around his neck as did your legs on both sides of his muscular thighs. The plumpness he craved encasing him, if it didn’t mean he’d have to separate from you temporarily, he’d remove the rest of his armor save for his helmet. Pads of his fingertips graved your back, massaging it, you cooed and nodded. 

After holding you in his lap and rocking you gently for what seemed to be an hour, but was really closer to ten minutes, Din finally let you go and he sat at the end of the bed. You went to the bathroom and ran some water, to wipe him down but he held up his hand in a refusal. He wanted to keep your scent on him as long as possible. You giggled and patted your stomach to signify the same. For a moment Din wondered what you’d look like pregnant despite that being an impossibility given his current state. He assisted you in cleaning the toys and you walked him to the front door. “I look forward to being trapped by you Din. Until next time.”

The Mandalorian wondered who was really trapping who now.

Previous: Session Two

Next: Session Four

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[itsbenedict]

From the beginning | Previously | Coin standings | 5/18 | 2/7

The two of you flee to the HOLY TOWER, where you find the swarm of butterflies. As Adea asks about what's for sale, Walter points out that neither of them are talking in comprehensible language. Whatever communication is taking place, there's some unconscious layer to it, something obfuscating and translating intentions to make it seem like a conversation happened. He realizes it was happening to him, too. What does this fox-person on the other side think is happening, when they "talk"? Do they understand your predicament at all, or are they just selling wares to some mystery middleman?

Adea ruffles his feathers and calls him a nerd.

The shop's prices are currently:

BIONIC MINTER (40)

HACK IN NIL (22)

OW, PANIC! ICE FISTS! (12)

A COUCH FÉVER (10)

BILATERAL SIZINGS (9)

PRINCE TONY (5)

OLD TROOP SLEEVE (4)

A SNARE WORM (3)

STOPWATCH FARE (2)

BEAT USER (1)

(One serving of BEAT USER restores one point of hunger, and you've got two mouths to feed. You'll need to stock up if you want to last very long! If you need more Coin than you've got available, there's a few options.

There are more than a few anagrams throughout the story that've yet to be solved. A quick sweep reveals thirty-two possible opportunities to earn additional Coin, though ~7-8 of them require information you don't have or are just too unfair to solve. I've gone through and marked unsolved anagrams in red!

Spending time decoding files uncovered by a WIFI ACCESS POINT is an efficient way of getting a lot of Coin at once. Right now, the only one installed is behind the monster, though...

It's not just main story posts that have unsolved anagrams. There's a whole bunch sitting right there in the Coin standings for the reaping!

Speaking of which, there's a few people who've earned Coin but haven't been spending it. If you need a little bit extra, why not decode their name and ask them for help?)

While you lick your wounds and pray for charity from the butterflies, you've got to come up with some sort of plan. But a plan for... what? You're so hungry, it's hard to be sure...

...well, obviously, you share two main objectives:

The mushroom kids these days just aren't cool enough. They're cool, sure, but they could always be RADDER YOUTH FUNGI. You both agree that's the main priority.

It's hard to find something to eat out in the wild west. HOWDY, A FAMINE! That famine came into town, and even though you greeted it politely, you'd like it gone.

Standing in the way of that are a few practical obstacles you'll need to come up with a way to deal with:

Most places only have a single thermostat. Those poor LONE THERMOSTATS need friends! If only you had some way to install more thermostats.

People just keep yapping on and on and on without accomplishing much. This PALAVER THEME needs to stop recurring, so you can get back on task.

You heard some owls earlier, but then YOU UNHEARD OWLS, so you can't remember what they said. Finding some way to re-hear those owls is important.

Lily here isn't wearing enough clothing. You've got to FULLY ROBE LILY- this wardrobe malfunction is downright scandalous! You don't want to be prudes, but it's really distracting.

And, of course, all of those objectives will be easier to achieve if you FIGHT THY RELIC so it's not getting in your face all the time with its archaeological and anthropological significance.

Got any ideas? Let's have a NO FEWER FARMERS segment.

NO FEWER FARMERS

Continued

[wolfish-nightmares]

Days Gone By

Pairings: platonic!Glenn Rhee x reader, platonic!Carl Grimes x reader 

Era: Season 1

Warnings: TWD gore and violence. Bad language. Death.

Category: Fluff, Angst.

Word Count: 3.2k

Summary: After joining the group in the quarry, you grow closer to some of the group members and make enemies out of others. 

Game of Survival Masterlist

The quarry was like a gift from the universe. Spending endless days in the woods made living in the quarry like an expensive spa resort. Having other people to talk and interact with became a grace from your slowly slipping sanity. Never before would you have believed that not having the constant background noise of other people, going about their lives, would have bothered you, but now, you almost craved it.  

Pushing open the flap of your tent, you stepped out into the blinding sun. As much as it hurt your eyes, it did feel good to no longer be under the constant shadow of trees. Being here felt like there wasn’t impending doom lurking around every corner. It allowed you to relax a little. 

But not completely. 

A figure moved into your peripheral, and your body tensed as you grabbed the handle of your knife. You shifted your back to the tent, so you had a view from almost all sides. All that time in the woods had rewired you in a way, you had become untrusting and alert. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Glenn spoke softly as he came more into your field of vision. He moved slowly and spoke like he was trying to soothe a wild animal. “I was just wondering if you were going to get breakfast. I was going to offer to join you.” 

You felt a bit embarrassed now, you had fully overreacted. No geek, a name you picked up from Glenn, had come anywhere near camp since you arrived, and most of the people in camp didn’t seem to have some devious personality lurking beneath their smiles. Except for Ed Peletier or Merle Dixon, you wouldn’t trust those two for anything. 

“Ain’t your fault,” you let go of your knife and relaxed a bit. “Is there still oatmeal left?” 

Glenn smiled, “I saved us two bowls and some of those peaches you brought.” 

What was left of the canned food you had packed was given to the group. The peaches were the hardest thing to let go of, but the younger kids seemed so excited to see them. Reluctantly you let the peaches go to the group, fully thinking you’d never see them again, but of course, Glenn came to the rescue, saving you some.  

“Thanks, Glenn.” 

He smiled at you, “I think we should hurry up and go eat before the kids try to take what’s left of those peaches.” 

You chuckled softly and followed behind him to the main area. Your tent was a little further away from the others, not as far off as the Dixon’s but enough to give you some personal space away from the group. Sitting in the main area wasn’t your favorite thing to do, you had always hated being in large groups before, and now it was even worse. 

Glenn handed you a bowl of lukewarm oatmeal with some peaches on top. You gave him a small smile as thanks and sat down, digging your spoon into the bowl of mush. Oatmeal wasn’t a go-to breakfast option of yours, but now it was all you ever seemed to eat. 

The oatmeal didn’t have very much flavor, it was the generic oats in a can, so there was really nothing to be expected from it. The peaches, however, were like gold. You pushed them around until you had scraped every last bit of oatmeal from the bowl. You smiled to yourself once you had finished, you knew the juicy sweetness of the peaches would wash down the dry-tasting oatmeal. 

Using your spoon, you cut off a piece of the peach and ate it slowly. Never before would you have savored peaches so much but now with a lack of food, flavorful food, these peaches were practically a five-star Michelin dish. 

You scooped up another piece with your spoon, ready to savor it, and suddenly someone harshly shoved your shoulder. The spoon and the bowl both fell from your grip and landed on the dirt in front of the fire pit. You whipped around to face the asshole who ruined your breakfast and weren’t surprised to see Merle standing behind you with a proud smirk. 

“Sorry sweetheart, didn’t see ya there.”

Pushing yourself off the log, you stood up to him, “Like hell you didn’t see me. You wasted my fucking food, Merle.” 

“Looked to me like you was done, nothin’ but some scrappy peaches in there.”

Naturally, most teenagers didn’t have the best tempers, little things could quickly set the average young adult into a fit of emotions. Your temper had become short and your emotions came on strong. With Merle around it felt like he was just poking at the live wires of a bomb and it was only a matter of time before he set it off.  

This was going to be the fateful day that Merle finally sparked the explosion and everyone could tell that he was getting closer and closer to setting you off. There really was no surprise when you suddenly punched Merle in the face. You were preparing to hit him again when Glenn stepped in and pulled you away from him. 

Perhaps your reaction could have been considered an overreaction but in your mind, he deserved every bit of it. Ruining someone’s food was the highest offense in your book, and frankly, you were tired of Merle’s attitude.

“What the hell is going on here,” Shane’s demanding voice boomed from across the quarry. 

“Peaches here just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, that’s all.” 

You could tell from the way he spoke, Merle still had that annoying smirk on his face. Fighting against Glenn’s grip, you tried to turn around to face him but Glenn held you tight. How the former pizza boy had such a good grip was beyond you. 

Once Shane came closer you turned to him, “Asshole here knocked my food out of my hand. That’s what’s going on.” 

Everyone in camp knew you and Merle would have an all-out brawl if Shane allowed it. The tension between you and him was thick enough you’d need a chainsaw to cut through it. Since day one, you two had been at each other’s throats, constantly. 

“I didn’t see the little one here, was just an accident.” 

Glenn’s grip loosened a bit and you turned around to look at Merle, “What? Did mommy and daddy not love you enough so you have to go around camp being an asswipe?” 

Your question must have really hit a nerve because Merle’s jaw clenched and he stepped forward, obviously coming to do something to you. 

“Listen here ya little bitch!”

Shane pushed him back and Glenn kept his arm out, stopping you from stepping forward as well. It was like trying to hold back two feral cats who were ready to have it out. 

“You two need to stop it, now!”

By now some of the others in the group had come over to see exactly what the problem was. Daryl had come over as well, placing his hand on Merle’s shoulder before Merle angrily shoved it off. You and Merle continued to stare at each other for a moment before he turned and stalked off into the woods. 

Glenn completely let go of you and you stomped back to your tent. You wanted to go out hunting but you knew since Merle was out there, Shane would never let you go. He probably thought you’d kill him out there, not that you hadn’t considered it, so instead you just decided to sulk in the corner of your tent. You grabbed the book Glenn gave you and figured you could just kill time by reading. 

You weren’t in the tent long before someone came and tapped against the front flap. The new way to knock, brought to you by the apocalypse. You got up and unzipped the tent so whoever knocked could see you. 

“Yes?” 

Lori smiled at you, “Hey, I know you’re probably still upset but I was wondering if you’d be willing to watch Carl later today.” 

You usually sat and entertained Carl and Sophia while the others were cooking, foraging, or just doing laundry, so this was a usual request from Lori. Apparently, most of the adults believed that you’d be a good babysitter for some reason, and you had gotten stuck with that duty. There was nothing wrong with watching them, they were pretty self-entertained and if they did need you to entertain them it was pretty easy too. Most of the time you just had to keep them from wandering off or go with them when they wanted to pick flowers from the woods. In fact, your favorite thing to do was play with Carl and his toys. He was one of the most entertaining people in the camp, in your opinion. 

“Yeah, how much later?” 

“After lunch should be good. I want to go foraging again, see if I can find something.” 

Foraging, sure.

You nodded in response and she thanked you before leaving. For a while, you considered just staying in your tent until Lori needed you to watch Carl but it was too hot and too boring to be cooped up in your tent all day. If you couldn’t go hunting then you figured you should at least do some target practice. 

With your bow and arrows, you left the tent to head over to the tree you usually shot at. It had multiple markings of previous shots and there was an “x” etched into the bark. You ensured that the tree was far from the main camp so nobody could accidentally get hurt. 

For a moment you just stood there, watching the leaves sway from the slight breeze and listening to the songs of distant birds. It reminded you of hunting with your dad, staying still and quiet, just listening and watching the forest. A small smile crept across your face as you remembered what it was like out there. It was always so peaceful with your dad by your side, cracking a joke every once in a while or pointing out a pretty bird. You’d both talk about the next big project your mom wanted to start, claiming it would be a total disaster but you always had faith she’d find a way to pull it off. You would give everything in the world to go back to that. 

The sound of footsteps pulled you from your wishing and you looked over to see Shane walking toward you. You already knew that he was coming over to talk to you about your outburst with Merle. It happened every time, he’d come to find you after the big blow-up and give you some wanna-be lecture on why you should just leave Merle alone. 

“Look Shane, I know the drill, okay? I have an argument with Merle, it gets big and you come over to talk to me about the importance of peace in camp. I get it, I can practically recite it at this point,” you gave him a tired look. “Can you just leave me alone this time?” 

He ran his hand through his hair, “I didn’t come out here to lecture you. I just wanna talk.” 

“‘Bout what?”

“Look, I don’t know what happened to you before you got here-” 

“Stop,” you shook your head. “I’m not having this conversation with you.” 

You walked past him, not caring for what else he had to say. There were a few in the camp who asked what happened to you when this whole thing started but you never answered. Having to put your mother out of her misery was not something you’d want to relive.

“Hang on just a second,” he followed you and grabbed your shoulder, you turned and shoved him back. “Shit!”

“Don’t touch me! I said I’m not gonna talk about it so leave me alone!” 

By now, you were breathing hard and fighting back tears. You hadn’t given yourself time to grieve, and it left you bitter. It was why you never wanted to talk about it, the grief of what happened left you feeling hollow and shattered. It also made you angry, which was why you were so quick to jump to violence now, and how easily everything pissed you off. Even just thinking about it brought every buried emotion clawing to the surface. 

“I’m sorry, I won’t touch you. I just think it would be good for you to talk about it.” 

You stopped and stared at the ground as you tried to blink back the tears that were threatening to spill over. A part of you wanted to confide in him, to tell him what happened, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. You could feel Shane’s presence behind you, waiting for you to say something, but instead, you just shook your head and walked away. 

Speed walking to Dale’s RV, you tried your best not to catch the attention of the others. You leaned your bow against the side of the RV but kept your quiver strapped to your back. The door was always unlocked so you didn’t bother to knock, swinging the door open and climbing inside. You ignored Dale and Andrea sitting at the table and made a beeline to the cabinets. In the very back of the cabinet, there was a small stash of food. 

When you first arrived and began giving your food to the group, Dale offered to keep a few things for you since he could see how badly you didn’t want to let it go. You decided to hide a can of ravioli, cherry pie filling, and a bag of jerky. 

Originally you planned to save it just in case something happened but today you really needed a pick-me-up. Grabbing the can of ravioli, you decided that would be your lunch for today.

“Forks are in the right top drawer,” Dale said, showing no surprise to what you were doing. 

“Thanks.” 

You grabbed a fork and peeled back the lid of the can. The watery insides made you think of your childhood, back when Chef Boyardee was gourmet to you, the mini cans had been your go-to snacks after school. You saw them on the commercial and begged your mom to get them, she caved and they eventually became your comfort after a long day of school.

“Wait, you’re not even going to heat it up,” Andrea gave you a shocked look as you dipped your fork into the can. 

You shook your head as you speared a ravioli and popped it into your mouth, “‘s good straight out tha can.” 

Her face twisted in disgust, “Cold ravioli?”

“A delicacy.” 

Since you didn’t feel comfortable sitting right beside them, you liked your personal space, you went and sat in the driver's seat of the van and kicked your feet up on the dashboard. The seat allowed you to see what some of the others outside were doing. 

“So, other than the Merle incident, what else happened that warranted your little craving for canned ravioli?” 

Craning your neck, you looked back at Dale and chuckled, “What, you don’t think Merle was enough for me to need this? This right here,” you tapped the side of the can with your fork, “is the equivalent of a drink, the alcoholic type. Dealing with Merle, I definitely need a drink after that.” 

That earned a chuckle from both Andrea and Dale.

“You had a look on your face when you came in, something obviously bothered you out there.” 

Sighing, you sat the half-empty can down, “Shane tried to take a dig into my past again.” 

Both of them knew that Shane had tried a couple of times to get you to talk about what happened and they also knew that it was something you hated talking about. You had no idea why Shane seemed to want to know so badly. 

“Oh, that makes sense,” Andrea said, “It’s usually Shane or Merle that gets on your nerves.” 

You turned around and gave Andrea a deadpan look. Before you could say something to her, Shane came inside. 

“Speak of the devil,” you commented under your breath and Shane gave you an odd look before turning to Andrea. 

“We’re putting together a group to make a run. Figured you’d wanna join.” 

Andrea got up and left quickly but Shane stayed for a moment. You raised your eyebrow at him as you continued to eat. 

“Where’d you get that?”

“What?”

“That can of food you’re eating right now.” 

You shrugged as you ate the last piece, “Dunno, just found it. You can have it if you want it.”

You held the now empty can out to him and he gave you an annoyed look before following Andrea outside. Since they were getting a group together, you figured it was time for you to go and watch Carl, so you got up and threw the can away. 

“See ya later, Dale.”

He waved at you as you left. You stopped and grabbed your bow before heading over to the main fire pit. Lori and Carl were already there, finishing their lunch. 

“Oh hi, I’m not going out right now but if you want you can sit with us,” Lori gave you a bright smile. 

“Yeah, that’s fine.” 

You sat on the log across from them and plucked at the string of your bow as you looked around awkwardly. Lori kept giving you small smiles whenever you made eye contact and it made you feel uneasy. You always felt odd when it came to her praise and thanks for looking after Carl. 

“Sorry I told you after lunch, I didn’t know Shane was planning a run,” Lori apologized. 

When Shane put runs together, Lori often stayed around to see who was going. You tried offering to go plenty of times but he always said no and put you on some other duty. That was another reason why he drove you so crazy. 

Looking over at the group you spotted Glenn among them and got up to go give him the usual goodbye when he went on runs. He saw you walking over and smiled. 

“Anything you want this time?” 

That was his usual question, always wanting to know if there was anything you wanted him to pick up for you. He had grabbed plenty of books for you on the last few runs. He even found you a book of word searches. 

You shook your head, “Nah, unless you find any cool bracelets, I’m good.” 

He nodded and you gave him a fist bump. That had become your usual goodbye, rather than actually saying the words. He turned to walk away but you lightly punched his shoulder. 

“Make sure you come back.” 

“I promise.” 

You gave him another smile and made your way back to Lori and Carl. Once you sat down, you looked back over at the group and saw Merle among them. You didn’t notice him come back. He made eye contact with you and he gave you a smirk and a sarcastic salute, something he often did when you caught his eye. You rolled your eyes and flipped him the bird, something you often did back to him. 

As the group went off, you silently hoped that all of them would come back, even that douchebag Merle.

[hananoami]

[ Open Orbit ] Stage 120 Clear VOD

I was previously hard stuck on this stage for quite some time; since 04/21 according to my earliest blog entry about this stage here. What originally started off as a meme attempt run turned into an actual CLEAR!! After a few attempts in the second half that is... (ᵕ—ᴗ—) Before I go in depth about my experience some notable information about this fight-- Stage 120 is the final stage that's currently available in the Deepspace Trials until the next big update in July. Like all x0 stages it requires two teams: Team 01 uses 6-Emerald memories Team 02 uses 6-Violet memories. TBH, I'm still in shock over this clear. I really didn't expect to clear it using the memories and protocores I had equipped. Literally awestruck as I'm writing this, reflecting on everything. Below are my thoughts and reflection about this wild adventure, as well as my final team set up and stat attributes.

BEFORE AND AFTER

Here's my before and after team set up for Open Orbit - Stage 120. I want to note this change was made as a meme/suggestion amongst friends during Xavier's Shimmering Moonlight limited-time banner. It was due to me getting super duper lucky with my pulls, which I will write about soon. Originally I wanted to respect the Protofield Stellactrum and match the colors for the perfect match and additional bonuses. I usually try to match the stellactrum because every bit of stats helps. However, I also want to mention that there have been instances where I opt to go off color and attempt to brute force it. For the record, this would be the most notorious one I have ever brute forced. It's not that I haven't attempted to brute force this stage before. I have. My Violet build with Rafayel was lacking in CRIT and I wasn't entirely satisfied with the protocores I rolled. So I tried to brute force it with my Zayne foreseer build, using his highest leveled memories. Usually that build carries me hard since it has a duo rank i bonus. however I still wasn't able to clear it due to lack of damage. My plan was to farm for more protocores. Specifically look for better delta cores with CRIT rate as its main stat and upgrade the ones with better substats to swap out what I currently had equipped. It's a long grind. Protocore farming is the true gacha in this game, unlike the wish pool where you're guaranteed a memory from pity. You never know what you'll get or if you'll even see what you're looking for. Well, like I mentioned earlier I got really lucky with my pulls for Xavier's banner and came out with his new myth pair at Duo Rank 3. I had cores from my SN build I could have used, but since I didn't need oath recovery anymore (duo rank ii bonus replaces having to equip that stat) I had two options to choose from-- Expedited Energy Boost or Oath Strength. So I tapped some beta cores to see what I could work with. You know, the usual trial and error testing. As luck would have it, as I was gambling my protocore upgrades I somehow managed to roll 2 Expedited Energy Boost cores with similar substats. A friend who was watching me tap away suggested that I try to brute force the fight again, but this time use my new Xavier solars/EEB protocores for the second half and use Zayne for the first half. I'm always down to try new things. So we decided to science it. Xavier's Moonlight myths is my first duo rank 3 pair. I was genuinely curious to see if it would be possible to clear open orbit - stage 120. Narrator voice: Lumiere cleared the fight with flying colors. (even if it did take him several attempts during the second half, hehe) The disrespect though lmao. It just goes to show you that there is no right or wrong way to play the game. Match the colors. Don't match the colors. You should use whatever is available to you and works best for you. Just have fun with it ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

ADDITIONAL SCREENSHOTS

Team A team set-up and stat attributes

Companion: Zayne's Foreseer Weapon: Everlasting Song ♡ Affinity Bonus: 88 When you take a fatal blow, Zayne teleports to you, blocks a hit, and counter attacks. Enemies will be knocked back. [ HP 3400 || DEF 85 || ATK 170 ] Pair Bonus [FS] - Starting Effect: increases team DMG by 8%, and reduces team DMG taken by 8%. When fighting together with Foreseer, your Active Skill DMG is increased by 25%. - Duo Rank 1: boosts Ardent Oath charge by 20%. When you and Foreseer are granted with Wards of Curses, team DMG will be increased by 12%.

5☆ Forever Sealed (sapphire/solar) Lv 80/awakened rank 1 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Promise Everlasting (sapphire/solar) Lv 80/awakened rank 2 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Business Trip (sapphire/lunar) Lv 80 rank 3 using +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Hearts Within Reach (sapphire/lunar) Lv 80 rank 1 using +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Cozy Afternoon (ruby/lunar) Lv 80 rank 3 using +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Medical Rescue (Ruby/lunar) Lv 70 using +9 SSR protocores

Team B team set-up and stat attributes

Companion: Xavier's Lumiere Weapon: Moonchaser ♡ Affinity Bonus: 93 When you take a fatal blow, Xavier teleports to you, blocks a hit, and counter attacks. Enemies will be knocked back. [ HP 3600 || DEF 90 || ATK 180 ] Pair Bonus [MN] - Starting Effect: increases team DMG by 8%, and reduces team DMG taken by 8%. The Enemy [Moonstruck] is extended by 3 seconds. - Duo Rank 1: boosts Ardent Oath charge by 20%. [Moonlight] will attach 1 stack of [Phasing Moon] to the enemy, increasing DMG dealt by 25%. - Duo Rank 2: increases Energy Charge cap by 1. When [Moonlight] is activated, the cooldown time of your Active and Resonance Skill is reduced by 0.5 seconds, and a small amount of energy charge is restored. - Duo Rank 3: increases team DMG by 8%. When your Active Skill or Charged Attack hits a target with [Moonstruck], [Moonlight] will be activated, boosting CRIT DMG by 30%.

5☆ Midnight Whispers (amber/solar) Lv 80/awakened rank 3 using +9 SSR protocores

5☆ Midnight Rainfall (amber/solar) Lv 80/awakened rank 3 using +9 SSR protocores

5☆ Unique Aftertaste (ruby/lunar) Lv70 rank 1 using +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Tender Night (amber/lunar) Lv70 rank 1 using +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Romantic Afternoon (emerald/lunar) Lv70 rank 1 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Fluffy Trap (emerald/lunar) Lv70 rank 1 using +9 protocores

[theresattrpgforthat]

I saw your recent recommendations for psychic vigilantes games, but do you have recommendations for anything with a more inception or psychonauts feel (aka exploring/influencing dreamspaces or representations of a person's mind)?

THEME: Exploring Dreamscapes

Hello friend! When I first saw this ask, I thought I might have one or two games off the top of my head, but there’s actually many more game options than I thought already stored away in my folders! Without further ado…

Praedormitium, by Joie Martin.

Named for the transition of wakefulness to sleep, Praedormitium is a tabletop roleplaying game inspired by the experience of lucid dreaming. Players portray Hypnopomps, characters with the innate ability to manipulate the Realms of Dream as they travel through it on strange and wonderful adventures.

Praedormitium uses a deck of tarot cards as the basis of its resolution system, cooperative play, and the unlimited power of players' imaginations to build a cohesive narrative experience. Anything is possible in dreams, and the game can be as wild or whimsical, as dark or surreal as the players choose to make it.

This game has some really intriguing lore that creates some backstory as to why your characters are Hypnopomps, and what that means in the game. It’s not extensive though, so there are plenty of gaps and spaces for your play group to fill in. Your main role is to keep the balance of dreams: nightmares and phantasma all have a role to play. The game uses tarot cards, and incorporates tarot card suits into the lore, so if you like games that tie the mechanics to the setting, you might be interested in Praedormitium.

Lucid Sea of Dreams, by The Games Gardener.

A roleplaying game about Lucid Dreamers and their adventures, tribulations, and mysteries in the Waking World and the Sea of Dreams. Inspired by dreams,  nightmares, and Jewish folklore  (and much much more). Has been described as 'inside-out meets pan's labyrinth’.

Lucid Sea of Dreams makes lucidity something that your character can lose. Your character has Lucidity points, which kind of doubles as Hit Points - lose all of your Lucidity points, and you wake up. In the waking world, losing Lucidity points could lead to becoming unconscious, or even death. This means that there’s much higher stakes in this kind of game - in fact, it’s tagged as horror, so be prepared to enter dangerous scenarios and meet difficult foes. The dice resolution system uses d10 dice pools, which I personally find very satisfying! This game was Kickstarted back in 2022, so I’m not sure if it’s in its final stage, or if there’s more to come.

Nyx, by Doctor Glasgow.

When the Day of the Comet came, much of what was sank into the world below. Into the murky ebon twilight of a most ancient realm, Nyx. Since the very first sparks of light danced behind the eyelids of our ancestors, this realm began to swirl with Dreams. And yet, in sleep, there too, are Nightmares…

Nyx is a role-playing game, set in a darkened realm of sleep and dreams. It is an interpretive game, wherein the strange setting is only just barely glimpsed, like a dream half-remembered when one wakes from slumber. It is up to the players and the Dream Master (DM), to interpret the vague setting details as they see fit, and form a vision of Nyx wholly their own.

Nyx combines dice and cards in an average play session, with plenty of set-up questions to encourage a collaborative world-building and a point-buy system that fuels character creation. Your character is pretty customizable, allowing you to increase specific stats, improve character skills, or focus on special abilities and spells. There’s also different character forms, which I really like - as dream-entities, race or species don’t really make sense. It’s totally possible that your character has been different things over different iterations. The art in this book is lovely and does a really good job of conveying the magical and surreal theme. The full game is only $5, but if you want to see what you’re getting into first, you can always get the Free Beta version at the bottom of the shop page.

18XX Dreams, by Deep Light Games.

THE DREAM REALM WELCOMES YOU: This land has always been here, visited by some, forgotten by many. Something changed. An increasing number of people have been waking with fantastical ideas and feelings. Now, dreams are becoming more solid: books, paintings, scores… 

The barrier is thinner. Some are trapped here, some search for what they can’t reach elsewhere, some just roam, exploring and helping others. What meaning is hidden in your dreams?

18XX Dreams is only 4 pages long, which is pretty standard for 24XX games. This game relies on a handful of polyhedral dice, a small inventory, and special abilities that align with your character archetype - a minimalist set-up that focuses on creativity to overcome obstacles, with elements of OSR play. There’s a page of d12 roll tables for the GM to roll on when they want to introduce something new to the dream, and the game even comes with rules on how to create a DreamCrawl, a simple map that helps the players navigate different parts of a dream-scape.

Dreampunk, by Xavid.

At night, you dream. Your dreams are not idle imaginings, but visits to a persistent world of wonders and dangers both personal and alien. Will you find power there? Will you find freedom? Or will you slowly slip into Entanglement, and be trapped there forever? Play to find out!

Your character is a Dreamer, someone from a waking world who is drawn to the Dream when they sleep. As a Dreamer, you have powerful abilities to shape the world around you. To do so, you must play a card and incorporate into your action an element of your choice from the card.

To play Dreampunk, you’ll need to either buy the Dreampunk Deck of Cards, or a deck of cards with similarly surreal art. Dixit cards, for example, would be an excellent tool for this game. The game uses a series of Moves, but rather than rolling dice, like you would in PbtA games, you play cards from your hand. The game designer cites Belonging outside Belonging and Jenna Moran’s work as inspiration, so I’d expect this game to be well suited for players who are willing to work in the grey areas of interpretation, and who are looking to embrace themes and motifs rather than damage and gear lists in their style of play.

Onira’s Slumber, by FantasticJean.

Welcome to Oniria - a place where Dreams and Nightmares come to life and make the city their own. In this game you play as a member of the Quixotic Society and are tasked with investigating and containing the Reveries when they start becoming too messy. 

This is a game that is compatible with TROIKA, which, while originally is meant to be a kind of multi-verse science fantasy, easy translates to a surreal dream-scape. You don’t need Troika to play though - the rules are included to make this a standalone game. Onira is meant to be a place that can be explored, and the game comes with a number of place descriptions, special events that might affect the characters, and an introductory adventure for a first-time group.

If you want more dream-related supplements for Troika, I’d recommend Oneironauts and Oneironauts 2, by Thriftomancer.

[mayhem-neverending]

The Big Bad Wolf

Part II

Word count: 2,018

Warnings: none

Notes: I'm literally like 6 parts further in my head and cannot wait to share it all.

You sluggishly opened your eyes to your alarm Monday morning. You stared blurrily up at the ceiling, willing your eyes to stay open for a few minutes before your mind woke up with you. When it did, the anxiety that you had compartmentalized and tucked away for the week all came flooding back. 

You groaned aloud, wondering again why you chose to do this. You flung an arm over your eyes and huffed. As if summoned by your woes, your son appeared in your bedroom doorway. Tiredly, you smiled at his wild bed head and sleepy eyes. 

“Good morning, Sweetie,” you cooed.

You finally sat up, and he toddled over to you. He held his hands up and you picked him up so he could sit in your lap. He let out a little yawn and pressed the side of his face to your chest. You attempted to flatten his hair, but he pushed your hand away. 

You pressed a kiss to the top of his head and stood up, placing him on your hip in the process. You went over to your dresser and opened your shirt drawer. Lord Sixth had told you to, ‘wear what you normally wear,’ when you asked about uniforms. You stared at your options, and wondered what would be appropriate. 

Your son wiggled down to the ground and decided he woud help you in your search by pulling out whatever he could get his hands on and throwing it to the floor. You pinched the bridge of your nose. 

“No more baby, look,” you picked one of the shirts at random and replaced your nightclothes with it. “All done, can you help me pick up this mess?” 

You pointed to the clothes. He nodded, and you helped him shove them back in the drawer. You threw on a pair of pants before he could continue 'helping' you. “Alright, let’s go make breakfast,”

An hour later, you had dropped him off at daycare and were headed to meet Kakashi in front of the Hokage’s tower. You rounded a corner onto the main street, and were surprised to find him already standing there waiting for you. You broke into a light jog and waved when he noticed you. 

He held out a peace sign and smiled at you lazily when you stopped in front of him. “Yo,”

“Morning, sir,” 

“Shall we?” He gestured vaguely.

He didn’t wait for your answer and started walking. You fell in step beside him, and the two of you walked silently for a good ten minutes before you reached a spot at the edge of the forest that he seemed to like. You scanned the tree line, and it took a moment to recognize the entrance of the trail he had been looking for. 

It was overgrown with lack of use, though that didn’t surprise you. Your anxiety flared in your chest when he stepped up to it, gesturing for you to follow him. He waited patiently while you found the courage to pick up your suddenly heavy feet and place them one in front of the other. 

“It widens after the first few feet. I let it stay overgrown so people are less likely to stumble upon it,” 

You nodded absently. He said nothing else as he started in, kindly holding branches out of the way so they wouldn’t smack you in the face. “It will be difficult to keep covered when I’m using the path every day,”

He turned and smiled at you. “It’s a good thing I have a friend who can take care of that,” 

The path unexpectedly opened up to about three feet across. You silently appreciated the change, and took in your surroundings as Kakashi guided you. Morning sunlight filtered down through the thick branches and leaves and birds twittered from their nests. The forest was noisy with life, and you smiled a bit to yourself. You had imagined some sort of silent, foreboding walk under downcast skies on the walk over.

A few minutes later, you and Kakashi stepped into a clearing. A cottage sat in the center, white with dark brown accents, and a stone chimney and a stone pathway leading to the front door. There were flower beds in front, but most was dying off with the change of season. You were taken aback by how charming it was. You would have never guessed a genocidal maniac lived here. 

Unconsciously, you started stepping forward, but ended up smacking an invisible barrier face first. Electricity zapped through you, causing you to jolt and stumble backwards into Kakashi. 

“Ow!”

He was doing a poor job at stifling a loud laugh and helped you regain your footing with one hand over his masked mouth. 

"Here, let me," 

He stepped forward and placed his hand against the barrier. The warding symbols appeared around where he touched. He pulled away and made several hand signs in quick succession, touched it with his fingertip, and seemingly traced a few words along it.

"Now, infuse your palm with chakra and place it on the barrier,"

You followed his instructions, and this time, touching it didn't electrocute you. Your chakra seeped into the barrier as it hummed benignly against your hand. It swirled out like ink on water along the wall, and you watched its beautiful dance in wonder. 

Your chakra continued to flow out in beautiful waves until the connection muted, and you reluctantly pulled your hand away. Kakashi nodded to you when you finally turned your attention back to him.

“Ready?” 

He didn’t wait for a response. He started forward with long strides, and you had to hurry forward. A thought crossed your mind while you nearly jogged to stay on his heels: Perhaps he thought you would be less likely to back out if you didn’t have the time to think about it?

He would be correct. 

He knocked three times against the thick wooden door. He waited only to the count of four before opening it himself. He held it open for you to step through, and you made a mental note that it had been left unlocked. 

You were hesitant to step over the threshold. Kakashi sent you a smile that you were sure was meant to be comforting, but it only served to amplify your nervousness. He motioned for you to follow and stepped back a little further. You inhaled deeply through your nose, and took a hesitant step. 

Kakashi pulled the door closed the moment both of your feet were inside. He strode to the other side of the room and to the left, where a small kitchen resided. The floor plan was open; the room noticeably bare. 

You were slow to follow; taking in your surroundings as much as you could. There was a sofa with a side table in the middle of the main area, and to the right was a fireplace with a sizable, empty mantle, with a half-filled bookcase next to it. On the far wall, across from the front door, was a shabby rectangular table with two chairs under a window. 

The wooden floors creaked off and on while you made your way around. Between the kitchen and front door there was a dark hallway with a few closed doors, the aura of which made you scurry forward to the kitchen. 

Kakashi watched you bemusedly from the corner of his eye, although his whole body tensed in apprehension for his friend to come out of his room. He fully turned to you when you said his name in a low tone. 

“Are you expecting me to seal these floors and decorate the place too?” Your tone was teasing, but he could see the same apprehension he felt in your eyes. 

There was an unmistakable sound of a door opening from the hallway, and you about jumped out of your skin. You nearly leapt behind Kakashi, placing yourself at his side and a step back, closer to the kitchen counter. 

Your heart pounded in your chest as you listened to heavy footsteps slowly approach. It seemed like an eternity for the man of the hour to finally round the corner. And when he was finally in full view, you were shocked.

He was… gaunt. He had a sickly pallor, sunken cheeks, overgrown black hair matted to hell, and deep, dark circles under his eyes. There were circular scars maring one side of his face, which you had heard about in the stories, but looking at him now, you wouldn’t have guessed for a moment that he helped bring the shinobi world to its knees.

He was frozen in his spot, mouth slack and wide eyes drinking you in. The intensity of his eyes on you made you shiver involuntarily. You both just stared at each other. You felt a mix of sinking disappointment and relief. You had imagined a malicious man straight out of a story - the same one the shinobi who had survived the battlefield described, with horns and flaming red eyes, but this man was.. just that, a man. And it was no wonder Kakashi had hired help.

Kakashi cleared his throat, startling you both from your trances. The man’s eyes darted to him, then back to you, then again to Kakashi. A range of emotions flashed across his face.

“Obito, this is Y/n L/n.” He gestured to you. “Y/n, this is Obito Uchiha,” 

“Why-” Obito’s voice rasped with disuse. 

“She’s here to help take care of you and the house,”

Obito crossed his arms in front of his chest and scoffed. “I don’t need help,”

“Yes, you do,”

“No, I don’t,”

“Yes,”

“No,”

“Yes,”

“No,”

You looked between the two exsperatedly. Your mouth opened before you could stop yourself. “Considering your state, I have to disagree,”

He stiffened immediately at your voice, and chose not to look at you. A hand came up to the back of his neck, a grimace twisting his face at the feeling of ratty hair. 

He seemed almost surprised for a moment, as if he hadn’t been aware of himself for a while and had no idea that he was so disheveled. You actually considered it highly likely. 

You peered at him, and he shrunk back from your gaze. His face was the epitome of discomfort, his eyes begging Kakashi for help. 

Kakashi minutely shook his head. The three of you stood in a tense silence, your eyes downcast. When you couldn’t stand it anymore, you looked to Kakashi. 

He had the sense to look apologetic. He wracked his brain for something to say, and stopped on one of the reasons you were here in the first place. 

“So, how about breakfast?”

You nodded slowly, and followed him to the cabinets where he began pointing out where everything was. When he was finished, you grabbed a carton of eggs and got to work. 

Obito hadn’t moved from his spot, instead opting to observe. He found it strange when Kakashi placed a hand on your shoulder, but reminded himself that this was not the same standoff-ish boy he had known in his youth. He had deprived his own self of knowing how he interacted with those close to him. 

Kakashi turned to Obito, who wore a disgruntled expression. He walked close to him, and lowered his voice. “I’m sorry I had to spring this on you,”

He grunted. 

“I can’t bear to see you waste away like this,” His eyes were somber, and Obito’s shoulders fell defeatedly. 

“She’s a good person, you’ll come around to it,”

He glanced away and then back at him. He reluctantly nodded, to which Kakashi smiled softly. 

 “You should probably shower, though. You’re not impressing any ladies like that,” He nudged Obito’s arm with his elbow. 

Obito opened and closed his mouth like a fish before deciding on, “Bakashi!”

Kakashi chuckled and watched as Obito disappeared through the bathroom door. He turned his attention to you, and cleared his throat. 

You glanced over your shoulder, but continued your task. “I’ll be taking my leave. Report back to me how it goes either tonight or before you head here tomorrow morning,”

You gave him a small smile. “Will do, have a good day,”

“You too,”

Part III

[kanerallels]

Today for @monthly-challenge's Spring Fling we have day 13: Earth! I wrote another Wingfeather Saga fan fic-- hope you guys like it! It's kind of a follow up to the one I wrote a couple days back, I'll link that here! (I'd also like to put these up on AO3 but I so do not have the motivation and energy for it right now. Perhaps later!)

(TW for mentions of death)

From the earth we come, and to the earth we are returned…

Esben stared straight forward as the priest continued speaking. He knew Artham was standing at his side, but his brother had his arm around their mother as she wept. And in this moment, Esben felt terribly, terribly alone.

His father, Jru Wingfeather, was dead. And he was High King of the Shining Isle.

It hadn’t been expected. Not really. His father had been older, yes, but healthy and hale. Mere days earlier he’d been joking around with the two of them, eyes sparkling with joy.

And then, two days ago, he passed in his sleep, a smile on his face. The doctor guessed that his heart had given out, which Esben still didn’t fully understand. How could one’s heart give out if it was so full of so many things? And his father had loved his family, and Anniera, with all his heart.

Nevertheless, he was gone now. Which meant Esben was the High King, and that was a little terrifying in a way that Esben preferred not to contemplate more than he had to.

Sure, he’d been training his whole life for this. But he was nineteen years old, and felt horribly unprepared and unready, and his heart still ached whenever he thought about taking up the crown his father had worn not even a full week ago.

They were going to have to have a coronation. Esben almost groaned out loud at the thought. He couldn’t imagine pretending to be kingly and majestic in front of a crowd right now. If he tried, he’d probably start to laugh. Or cry, and neither option was particularly appealing.

Artham’s nudge in the ribs startled him out of his thoughts. For a wild moment, he worried he’d voiced his thoughts out loud and his brother was going to scold him. But there was no reprimand in Artham’s gaze as he tilted his head silently at the priest, who’d finished speaking and was watching him expectantly.

Oh, right. He’d almost forgotten his own part in the ceremony. Stepping forward, Esben forced himself to look at it— the grave, the coffin that held his father. The mound of fresh earth next to it loomed darkly as Esben approached.

Reaching out, he took a handful of the earth and dropped it on top of the coffin. “May the Maker receive you with all joy, even as we mourn you here,” he recited, loud enough that the crowd could hear. Hesitating, he stared down at the coffin and added, only loud enough for him to hear, “I’ll try to make you proud, Papa. I’ll be a good king.” I hope.

He stepped back, and everything was suddenly moving faster than he could process. Before Esben knew it, the gaping hole was filled in, leaving a dark patch to mark the grave. Artham stepped forward with a tiny sapling, the roots encased in a ball of dirt. Together, as was the tradition, the two brothers dug a hole in the mound of dirt covering the grave and planted the sapling. As Artham shored it up with dirt, Esben stared at the small tree. Out of death, new life. Somehow, that thought didn’t bring him much comfort yet.

They got to their feet together, Artham’s hand on his shoulder lending Esben a little comfort. In turn, he put his arm around his mother’s shoulder when they moved to stand next to her. She pressed her hand against his, and Esben could see her blinking back tears.

And then the funeral was over, and they were heading into the main hall of Castle Rysen, where food had been set out and they could visit with the guests who came to express their condolences and support. 

Esben had expected to hate this part. But as guests stopped by, their words lent him strength. They spoke about his father, telling stories— of the king and the man, stories that were funny and stories that made both brothers and their mother cry. It was a bittersweet way to spend the day, mourning the High King, but celebrating him, too.

“It’s how Jru would have wanted it,” their mother said quietly. “He would have loved this, so many friends together here.” She gazed across the room, at the groups of people talking. 

“Sorrow, yet joy,” Artham said. “Loss, yet healing.”

Nala laughed softly. “Exactly.”

It was enough to bring a smile to Esben’s face, but only briefly. As another guest approached his mother, he murmured an excuse and slipped away. He needed a minute to himself, just one.

There was a small door in the right hand wall of the hall that led out to a balcony set in the side of the hill. A set of stairs led down to the green below, but Esben didn’t take them now. He just leaned against the railing and took a long, deep breath. Finally, he had a moment to himself, to think.

The sun was shining, which seemed a little wrong. Most funerals he’d read about had rain. When his aunt died, it was raining. But the sun was shining, the light glimmering on the sea. The breeze streamed through the nearby trees, the hush of leaves reaching his ears even from a distance.

It would have been a nice day for sailing, and Esben almost snorted at the thought. At the fact that he could think about those things when… when he was the High King now.

Every time he thought about it, the idea seemed to weigh a little heavier on his shoulders, and he closed his eyes. Oh, Maker. How am I supposed to do this on my own?

He wasn’t quite sure how long he’d been there when he heard the door behind him open, then close, and soft footsteps sounded. Artham? It didn’t really sound like him, which meant it was probably a guest. Esben straightened up, turning to face— Nia Helmer?

His eyes widened as she said, “I’m sorry to disturb you. I thought you’d probably want some time on your own, but Artham— well, he disagreed. I can leave, if you—”

“No,” Esben said immediately. “Stay. Please?”

The small smile she gave him sent a flash of warmth through him, and she came to stand next to him, hands resting on the railing as she stared out at the view.

Esben, however, wasn’t watching the view anymore. He was watching her— dressed in dark, somber clothing, her dark hair braided and twisted back, not a strand loose.

Artham had been right to send her. Anyone else, he would have been impatient or short with, but Nia… he didn’t think he could bring himself to snap at her. They’d been writing back and forth for three years now, with the odd meeting in person when he came to the Green Hollows with his family. 

Every time Esben got a letter, he read it again and again, tucking it into his shirt and carrying it close to his heart. He had one with him even now, although he probably shouldn’t admit that. Nor should he admit that just seeing her again seemed to lift some of the weight from his shoulders, to bring him peace he desperately needed.

He looked at her again, at the way she was gazing at the trees and the ocean before them, the sunlight highlighting her skin. Then again, maybe he should tell her. 

But not now. Not when he’d just lost his father. A twinge of guilt went through Esben. He shouldn’t even be thinking about this right now.

“I’d guess you’re tired of being asked how you are,” Nia said, breaking through his thoughts.

Letting out a low chuckle, Esben admitted, “I’ve gotten a lot of it, yes.”

“I thought so. So then… what do you need?”

Esben glanced at her, surprised, as she continued, “I can leave you be, or we can talk, or I can just keep you company, or I can get Artham out here. And if you need a hug, I’m here.”

A laugh slipped out, despite himself. “You are… incredible.”

“I’m just doing what anyone would do,” Nia said, turning slightly pink.

“No. You’re incredible. Trust me.”

She smiled. “Well, then, are you going to help me in my incredibleness and tell me what you need?”

“Yes, ma’am. I…” Esben hesitated, then said, “I’d take a hug.”

Without hesitating, before he could think better of his words, Nia pulled him gently into a hug. She was warm and smelled like something sweet, and Esben could feel the strain of the day melting away.

“How am I supposed to do this?” he whispered into her hair.

“Take it one day at a time,” she said quietly. “And remember you’re not alone, Esben. You have people who love you, who will support you. Artham, and your mother, and—”

“And you?” he asked, pulling back a little, his heart stuttering a little as he looked at her. It was something else he shouldn’t have said, maybe. But with Nia in his arms, it felt a little like he could topple the world if he needed to.

She smiled at him like the sun rising over the Shining Isle. “And me,” she told him. “Though… I cannot stay long. I’m sorry.”

“I know,” Esben said, taking her hands. “Just hearing your voice for now is enough. I’ll be here at home for a while after the funeral, but… could I come see you, sometime soon? And your family?”

“Please do,” Nia said, and he knew that she understood exactly what he was thinking.Sorrow, he thought, and yet joy. Finally, he thought he understood it.

[adventures-on-foster-island]

Service and Suport Pokémon

The class takes place in a plush room within the main building, full of bean bag chairs and large cushions for sitting. Ellisa stands at the front of the room with an Umbreon on one side of her and an Espeon on the other.

"Hello students! I'd like you all to meet two Pokémon who are very special to me; Pan the Espeon and Nyx the Umbreon. They joined me over ten years ago, when I was 16 and moving away from home to attend school. Up until then, I had a close support network and attended online classes. When I moved all the way to Kanto, my anxiety and ADHD came to light in a way they never had before. I struggled to make it to classes, turn in school work, and even leave the dorm at all for a while. Eventually, my counselor suggested that I look into getting support Pokémon, and they changed my life.

You see, most people only think of service Pokémon as mobility aids, seeing eyes, and those that can detect things like allergies, blood sugar, blood pressure, and seizures. On the contrary, there are near endless possibilities of ways support Pokémon can help their trainers. Take the move Helping Hand for example; in battle it is used to increase attack power, but outside of battle it can do so much more. Nyx uses it on me to regulate my focus, or more-so my executive function, while Pan uses it to lower my heart rate when I'm on the verge of a panic attack. I've heard of people with chronic pain and fatigue using the move to manage their symptoms as well. Most moves have uses outside of battle, and if trained correctly, can help with some kind of condition. Folks with insomnia or other sleep disorders may benefit from moves such as yawn, hypnosis, and sleep powder, in addition to dream eater for nightmares. People who suffer from chronic pain have a wide variety of options, from poison type moves that dull nerves to fighting and psychic type moves that can trigger pressure points. Future sight is a popular move for those with OCD and anxiety, and Pokémon with the ability telepathy are great for the deaf, hard of hearing, and those who are nonverbal or have times when they go nonverbal."

Ellisa hands out a few items to be passed around; wristbands, harnesses, vests, and lanyards in various colors, all reading 'SERVICE POKÉMON' and/or 'WORKING, DO NOT PET'

"Service and support Pokémon are trained to perform specific tasks to help their trainer. They are working, and should not be interrupted or distracted from their job. Most will have some kind of vest or other accessory to alert others that they are working. These Pokémon are not battle trained, and just because someone has a Pokémon on them does not mean that they are a trainer who is prepared to battle. Service Pokémon must be registered through the PokéCenter system, and business are legally required to allow them inside. There are only two questions the trainer must answer if asked by staff; 'Is this Pokémon required because of disability?' and 'what work or task has the Pokémon been trained to perform?'. It is illegal to ask the trainer about their disability, require any special documentation, or ask for the Pokémon to demonstrate their task.

If you think a service or support Pokémon could help you live life to its fullest, reach out to your doctor. There is a process for finding the right Pokémon for your specific needs that can take up to a year to finalize. It is important to get your service Pokémon from a reputable breeder with a history of successfully trained adoptions rather than catching one wild."

[chososhoeso2]

One piece theory + spoilers:

Okay so I saw this TikTok earlier. Shout out to @jinbejay for making this:

Whether the op meant it as a joke or a genuine theory, it really got me thinking. This theory doesn't sound too bad, so I wanted to research it a bit. Now I did type up a whole long thing with a lot of little bits of research I did.. and then I found a CBR article that basically said all the same things. If you'd rather just read the article, here's the link: https://www.cbr.com/one-piece-who-is-dragons-father-theory/

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Everything below this point is stuff that I found on my own before I came across the article:

So there are three possible ways I think this theory could go:

There are a few things that we know with certainty:

1. Garp fucking loves taking in strays

2. The identity of Luffy's mom (*cough* Crocodile *cough*) hasn't been revealed yet

3. Garp and Rocks fought each other in the God Valley incident

4. Garp has good relationships with criminals (i.e., Dadan, Roger)

Right now, Dragon is 55 years old. The God Valley incident happened 38 years ago. So at the time of the incident, Dragon would have been 17. Rocks supposedly died during that incident which, supposing Rocks is Dragon's father, could have left Dragon as an orphan. Now 17 isn't young in the one piece world, by any means. Both Ace and Luffy set out to become pirates at the age of 17 and Luffy was only 17 when the strawhats took down Enies Lobby and two Warlords (plus impel down and marineford), so 17 really is not all that young here. We also don't know if Dragon was even at God Valley, but let's say he was (it's a theory and what's a theory without some good speculation). My main three possible routes for this theory are:

1. Garp took in Dragon at God Valley after Rocks was defeated. Dragon meets Garp's daughter and they get busy (and potentially married)

2. Garp arrested Dragon at God Valley. While imprisoned, Dragon met Garp's daughter and maybe she helped him escape? Or maybe since he wasn't a revolutionary yet, he wasn't imprisoned for long, but he still got to know Garp's daughter during that time.

3. Dragon escaped - or was never actually at - God Valley and just somehow managed to meet Garp's daughter someday.

There could obviously be other things like maybe Garp's daughter was also a criminal and her and Dragon were imprisoned together. Idk. But here's some support for option 1:

I want to note that Dadan is also 55 years old, like Dragon. Which is weird to me, bc I expected her to be closer in age to Garp. But Garp trusted her with his grandkids and blackmailed her into compliance. She was a wanted criminal, a mountain bandit. You know who else would be wanted? The son of the most notorious pirate of the age. Garp has had multiple different relationships with various different criminals, including Dadan and Roger. So it wouldn't be totally wild for him to have another criminal relation.

We know that Shanks was found as a baby by Roger and Rayleigh at God Valley, so why couldn't another random kid end up getting adopted during that incident? Also, we have seen on a couple occasions where kids are taken in by the marines. Namely Corazon and X Drake. Granted those two worked in pirate crews as undercover Marines, but still. Let's say that that was going to happen with Dragon, as well. Garp decided to take him under his wing with the grand hopes that he would become a military genius - like his wishes for Ace and Luffy. And maybe, regardless of his daughter, he even had Dragon's last name changed from Rocks to Monkey, so that he wouldn't suffer from government or pirate persecution - like how Ace ended up with the last name of Portgas instead of Gol.

However, just like with Luffy and Ace, Dragon didn't want to become a Marine. He already knew about what the government was really like. We know that Rocks was very much so against the government - whether for strictly selfish reasons (ya know, wanting to rule the world) or for the purpose of freedom, I can't say for sure. Even the main purpose for the God Valley incident was to mess up some celestial dragons and nobles. He also was interested in finding out the government's secrets. Here are some excerpts from the wiki:

Now, if Rocks were to have a 17 year old son at that time, I'm sure he would have taught the son all about the truths of the world/world government that he had been uncovering. All of that knowledge could easily lead someone to want to become a revolutionary. I mean the world government and the celestial dragons and the slavery and the hush hush of it all... It's real fucked up. However, you could probably learn even more about it if you were to get taken in by a military hero. After all, the best weapon is knowledge.

Now, there are 16 years between the God Valley incident and the Buster Call on Ohara. That's a long time where we don't know what Dragon was up to. We know that at least a few years before he met up with Vegapunk on Ohara, he was working with the freedom fighters - of which Dragon had invited Vegapunk to join but was rejected due to lack of funding. The only other thing we know for sure from that time is that Dragon saw the execution of Roger just 2 years before the buster call (at age 31 btw). That's a decent amount of missing time.

As for options 2 and 3, we don't really have information for or against either of them. That I can think of, at least.

---------------------------------------------------

Also, if you don't see how Dragon and Rocks could be related, they just look so much alike. Luffy definitely looks like Garp but Dragon doesn't, which would support the Dragon marrying Garp's daughter theory. You can't tell me that Dragon and Rocks don't look similar. They have similar long black hair, the same exact hairline, similar forehead lines, and a strong nose.

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If you've already heard of this theory, then that's pretty cool. I only just found out about it but I'm all in. I'm curious if anybody agrees or disagrees with the 3 potential routes that I mentioned. Also I apologize if there are a lot of typos or if things seem jumbled or out of place, I'm really tired and wanted to post this before I fell asleep lol