#to clarify: this conversation is about a CARD GAME

[tlblitz]

I’m thinking about Cardfight Vanguard again, and boy howdy do I just love it to death

Like? Funny as hell and also unironically how some of this series’s men feel about each other

[beelmons]

Luxury poker nights (18+)

cw: sex-servant kink, voyeurism, reader gets passed around basically, rossi is there but doesn't engage, hotch x morgan x spencer x reader, reader is an implied escort/prostitute, fem!reader

A/N: i won't apologize for being a slut. PT 2 has be released here!

“I’ll draw three— fuck.” Spencer muttered under his breath as he reached for the cards that Rossi was dealing to him. 

Your mouth was tightly wrapped around his cock underneath the poker table, your head bobbing up and down, body bare to your toes as you kneeled on a pad that the guys had given you for that exact purpose. Your tongue running against his shaft was driving him insane, unable to fully focus on the game he was playing. You figured, even if you knew nothing about these men, that this was the only way they could get to beat him.  

“Told you poker nights at Rossi’s were the best, kid.” Morgan said from across the wooden surface as he took a sip off his beer “He’s always got surprises like this ready for us.” 

The muscular man shot a charming smile and a wink towards the eldest, who replied with a chuckle of his own. “I like to have my boys treated nicely. Only the best.” he added.

“She sure is.” Aaron said with warmth in his voice. 

He tilted his head to observe you servicing his subordinate so diligently. Spencer was sitting on his right, Morgan his left, and Dave right in front, so he had full access to the rest of your body while you were focused on Reid. He shuffled a little to have his chair closer to where you were before he reached for your free hand, then leaned enough to be able to place a gentle kiss to the back of it. “Lend me this, will you?” he cooed while he guided it to his already exposed member. 

You let out a hum in agreement, your fingers carefully wrapping around the slippery dick; you had tended to him before moving to Spencer, so he was already fully hard, coated with saliva, and almost ready to burst. Your hand mimicked the movements of your head, stroking up and down in moderate motions. 

“So, what do we think of the new section chief?” Aaron asked. 

“Seems to have a solid career trajectory.” Rossi added. 

“As long as he doesn’t begin to micromanage us, I don’t care if he’s a monkey on a monocycle.” Derek contributed as well. 

Eyes landed on Reid when he lacked an opinion, only to find out he had his lips parted, his hands on the back of your head as he looked at you devouring his cock, and his pants had grown into a messy pattern. Shortly after, his hands pressed you down and he let his seed spill into your mouth. As you had been paid to do so, you swallowed. 

Spencer took a couple of breaths to steady his high, you having moved away from him to have your lips latched onto Hotch’s tip once again. “He seems reliable. But what’s up with the weird interactions with JJ?” his eyes narrowed as he asked. 

“Don’t you worry about that, Reid.” Aaron answered, his hand landing on your head in a similar fashion the young doctor had, making sure you kept your pace as they spoke. 

“Well, are we here to play poker? or to talk shop?” Morgan interrupted the conversation. “All in.” 

“You seem very confident, Morgan.” Spencer teased, eyeing his own cards.

“Oh, does your brain finally work, pretty boy? It sure looked like my girl here had the wires disconnected for a while.” he joked back, referring to the way you had sucked the intelligence out of him. 

“Full house. Jacks over sixes.” Spencer said, opening his cards for them to see. 

Aaron and Dave threw theirs on the table, not even daring to show them. Reid’s eyebrows raised daringly, confident enough that he had an unbeatable hand. Morgan, however, did not yield, and he threw his cards on the surface to show his hand. 

“Poker of Jacks.” he clarified, pointing at the four identical symbols on the square pieces of carton. Spencer let out a small curse and Derek made a happy little dance. “Why don’t you come over here, mama? You wanna be where the winner’s at.” he said, tilting his head to look in your direction. 

Aaron shot him a look at the fact that he was depriving him of your velvet tongue. You had long learned that ‘all in’ included everything, and that also meant you. Hotch was gentle enough to offer a hand and help you up, his cock still dangling from his pants as he stood up. Once both of you were on your feet, he pulled you closer, his hands landing to massage your ass. “Give me a quick kiss before you go.” he said half jokingly, and you obliged. His hands squeezing your skin as your lips passionately moved on his. 

You rounded the boss’s chair so you could be on Morgan’s side, awaiting your instructions, and he gently tugged you by your waist to guide you to his lap. His dick as was already out, simply laying half-hard against his pants. It usually went like that, all of them with their cocks ready to be attended when they wanted, for as long as the night lasted. 

Derek took it into his hand and perked it up, indicating for you to sit on his lap. Before you lowered yourself, though, he aligned his member with your entrance, and you let out a small wince of pleasure at his size. You held onto the table for support, and you were ready to start moving before an arm on your thigh stopped you. 

“No, no, sweetheart, you have done enough. We’re changing roles for now, let me treat you well while you play some poker.” the man huskied behind you. 

Your eyebrows furrowed questioningly, but you heard the chair move, and felt your body pulled slightly back to have you leaning on the table, your forearms resting right by the edge to help you up. Morgan’s hips immediately began to thrust at their own rhythm, rather slow, although at times faster. 

You were panting a little as he fucked you from behind. The cards were dealt, and you got a decent hand. You exchanged two cards, Spencer changed one, Dave two, and Aaron three. All while they barely paid attention to the man fucking you in the middle of the room. 

“All in.” Aaron said, and everyone’s eyebrows raised, they all know what that meant. 

“Well, baby, if you want to cum, you’re gonna have to beat his hand.” Derek pointed out, his hips still moving into you, the apparent apathy of everyone else just adding to your arousal. You looked at your hand, full house, threes over twos, not very high, but still probable enough that you could take the bag, and hopefully continue getting filled by the man behind you. Although, if you were honest, either outcome was okay. Servicing such handsome, and well mannered men was always a pleasure. 

“F-Full house. Threes over t-twos.” you panted out, opening your cards for everyone to see. Dave, almost immediately, folded on the table.  

“Close.” Spencer said “As you probably are, too.” he teased with a mischievous smile as he showed his cards “Full house. Sixes over twos.” 

“Nice try.” Aaron said when Spencer tried to reach for the pool “Straight flush.” he proudly showed his hand. 

“Next round, maybe, pumpkin.” Morgan said before he smacked your ass, hard enough to excite you, not enough to be overly painful. 

He pulled out of you and directed you to Hotch by your hips, immediately taking his seat back without putting away his cock. 

“Why don’t you grab some water and take a break, honey?” Aaron said as soon as you stood next to him “I have the feeling we’ll be here all night.” 

[nwarrior777]

Science Museum Group changed offensive object tittle after getting my letter

here's the story about it:

Wonderful @solariium commissioned me wonderful victorian-era wheelchair user character to draw. Refs were provided, and one of the links was an object in online museum gallery - vintage wheelchair.

solariium, who is wheelchair user theirself, mentioned that tittle of the object is incorrect but it was good picture for the ref. i wondered "what's with the tittle?" looked in the link and saw

ID: screenshot of online museum collection, vintage old wheelchai object page. the tittle of wheelchair says: Invalid chair, Europe, 1850-1890. end ID

welp. incorrect indeed! [i* is outdated offensive term]

so i decided to make a special move

ID: my drawing of a character from anime "mob psycho 100" - Arataka Reigen. He holds a phone next to his ear, his face epression is very confident. It's all anime sparkles lights effects around him and text "REIGEN SPECIAL MOVE". end ID

and USE MY POWER

of writing emails

i don't have problems with writing emails, so i thought why not

and

https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co120657/carved-wooden-wheelchair-europe-1850-1890-invalid-chair

ID: screenshot of online museum collection, vintage old wheelchai object page. the tittle of wheelchair says: Carved wooden wheelchair, Europe, 1850-1890. end ID

it worked!

As human who made bunch of projects, i can say that keeping museum gallery is tone of work.

And tittle change - no, it's not just changing few letters.

Changing tittle of object in museum is similar to changing name of game file. Catalogs changes, maybe they have irl gallery, so new card, they probably have some code objects system related to tittles, and scientists, students, make reference to this object in their researches and articles and etc etc.

So, yeah, it * is * a lot of work. Also, they changed description, it now says that this object was "historically referred to as ‘invalid chair’". And i think it's good, because it is not erasing fact of people used this word, and it's addition to the progress context - we literally see now old term clarified as past, and new one, now, in the tittle.

(and yes, web link. i just saw that i* word still there. yeah, not perfect but still, considering things i said above - big work done)

I used some conversation strategy in case "this is offensive can you fix" will not be enough — started on positive attitude giving compliment on their collection being big and interesting, gave them extra argument on why this should be fixed (more actual search key words on this now are "vintage wheelchair", not "i* chair"). Then we had a little letters chain, where they answered politely too, and in about few days i got detailed answer on this, and yep, changed tittle.

And i think this shows, that if someone did mistake and someone noticed it and giving feedback on it, if both sides are interested in progress and making good changes, no matter how hard it is, sides can make a change, working together and being kind. And i think we should be more brave about making such connections!

Thanks again to @solariium and museum workers!

[invisible-storyteller]

Everybody wants some (Stiles)

(Also on AO3.)

"Dare," Erica grinned after a moment of suspense.

Lydia rolled her eyes, having anticipated Erica's answer ever since the beta had presented her suggestion of a "fun" game to a very tipsy, and very bored group of college students. It had been the fourth pack night in a row after everyone had finally arrived for their summer break and there were only so many movies they could watch, plus it was still better than Scott's suggestion of spin the bottle. 

Speak of the devil.

"Everyone has chosen dare so far," Scott noted with the faintest pout on his lips, clearly disapproving of the humiliating tasks distributed so far.

Erica smacked her lips, giving Scott a taunting smile. "Fine. I changed my mind. Truth."

"Can she do that?" Isaac questioned but Scott only shrugged, not caring about the rules as long as no one else was forced to drink spoiled milk from a bowl like a puppy again.

"Okay, so..." Allison leaned forward, a foreboding shadow casting over her face that Erica met head-on, "If you weren't with Boyd, who would you fuck out of everyone in this room?"

Erica raised a single eyebrow, visibly unimpressed. "Stiles, duh."

It was almost superhuman how quickly Stiles straightened up in an instant, his mind having wandered off to fantasies of a certain socially inept alpha who had excused himself from his own living room as soon as the pack had settled down to play, and now getting jolted back into reality.

"That's boring. Everyone knows you had a crush on Stiles." Malia piped up from where she rested her head in Kira's lap, the kitsune's fingers carding through the locks of her hair absent-mindedly. 

"You say that like you wouldn't fuck him if you had the chance."

"Of course, I would," Malia shrugged like it was no big deal.

Stiles, on the other hand, nearly choked on his tongue.

"That's not a surprise, either, you actually dated him." Lydia pointed out, and Stiles could only snap his eyes back and forth between the two girls, trying to frantically grasp just when he had lost track of the conversation.

"You don't have to sound so condescending," Stiles mumbled out eventually, his eyes finally pausing on Lydia.

"Oh, honey, you can't be this oblivious."

And Stiles totally wasn't imagining the knowing looks on his packmates' faces. 

"About what?" He asked (damn his curiosity), feeling the usual trepidation that came with the whole 'being in a pack with not-so-mythical creatures' schtick.

Erica only snickered as she cuddled into Boyd's side, mischief dancing behind her thick eyelashes and promising no good. "About how everyone wants to breed you in this pack."

Okay, Stiles definitely choked this time (and Scott may have been a bit too enthusiastic with his back slaps) or maybe he fell asleep and was having the weirdest sexy dream without actual sex happening. Although, Lydia's offended yet conceding glance to the side looked pretty real.

"Wha-at?" Stiles wheezed out very eloquently between two consecutive coughs, and got immediately startled by the fact that Mason was the one to answer.

"Everyone in this pack has been attracted to you at one point," Mason clarified as if it was the most common knowledge in the world. Corey's agreeing nod did not help lift the fog in Stiles's mind at all.

"What."

"Say, Lydia, did you ever think of fucking Stiles?" Erica asked, a sadistic grin spreading wider on her firey red lips.

"Of course," Lydia replied, honest and simple, even flicking her hair for extra effect.

"Since when?" Stiles asked, a little outraged. He had spent many years pining after Lydia, so the fact that she hadn't shared this crucial piece of information with him was a bit of a punch into his teenage self's heart. Oh, and there was that tiny detail that Lydia had a boyfriend.

"Remember when we were hiding in the school from a rogue Peter?"

Stiles nodded, eyes squinting in suspicion as he recalled that dreadful night.

"You remember punching Jackson?"

And just like that, Stiles's jaw hit the ground, funny animation movie sound effects and all that. His chest subconsciously puffed out when he heard Jackson scoff indignantly, and continued to stare at Lydia, feeling like he was seeing her in a completely new light. "Wait, you liked that?! That turned you on?"

"Of course," Lydia parrotted with incongruous disinterest, "Still wouldn't have dated you. But I do enjoy a good display of dominance."

This had to be an alternate universe. Or a hyper-realistic dream, Stiles deduced.

"Okay, that makes... wow, three people who thought about getting all up on this," Stiles said in a daze with a half-aborted gesture to his body. Admittedly, the number was impressive (since he had always assumed it to be zero) but, at the same time, it was far from being the entire pack as Erica and Mason had so confidently claimed.

As if reading his mind, Lydia's sweet voice filled the loft once again. 

"Hey, Ally, didn't you consider dating Stiles at one point?" Lydia addressed the other girl out of nowhere, making Stiles turn towards his long-time friend with a look teetering someplace between pure shock and utter horror.

"Yeah?" Allison's uncertain response launched her into a pensive moment, probably rummaging through her memories before frowning in mild amusement. "That was actually your fault I think."

"Wha-" Stiles opened his mouth to say something along the lines of 'what the fuck' but Lydia beat him to it.

"It was before prom," Lydia reminisced with an honest-to-God smile, "You were insufferable and tried to convince me to go with Stiles. I told you that if you think he's such a great catch, maybe you should be the one going with him."

Allison snapped her fingers as if the memory had been at once revealed to her as well. "Oh yeah. I remember thinking that he would be a gentleman in bed."

"Ugh..." Honestly, at this point, Stiles's brain was officially out of order. Dial-up error noise, no signal sign, all that jazz. He seriously didn't think the night could get any more absurd, but then again, this was his life, with the constant motto being 'fuck Stiles's sanity', so what was he expecting, really?

"I would feel so grossed out right now if I didn't have fantasies about Stiles, too," Isaac revealed nonchalantly, and to that, Stiles had to make a face. "What? I just wanted to see if I can shut you up."

"With your mouth," Erica added with a conspiring smirk. Stiles really hated her right now. She was the one responsible for this whole avalanche collapsing onto poor unsuspecting Stiles in the first place. 

"I had the same thought," Boyd added, apparently joining in on the 'let's wreck Stiles's world' plan, "Although I was planning to shut your mouth with something else."

Stiles's mouth decided at that moment that it was just going to assume a permanent open position, gaping like a fish out of water (cause that was exactly how he felt), which didn't help his case, in hindsight.

"Stiles does have an oral fixation," Malia chimed in, everyone else nodding along like that wasn't news at all.

"Seriously, guys? This- okay, Scotty, help me out here," Stiles pleaded, unsure of how to feel about everything that had been spoken so far, but still solid in the faith for his quasi-brother, "You did not have sexual fantasies about me, right? We're best friends. Brothers from another mother."

Stiles really wished Scott wouldn't have pulled the world's most apologetic and guilt-ridden grimace at that.

"Remember when we went to that pool party in eighth grade?"

Stiles didn't like where this was going, but yes, he could sort of remember. That day marked the first time Stiles had drunk alcohol - some cheap booze their classmate's brother had stashed somewhere in his room. It was also the summer Stiles's body had finally gained some definition so he wasn't too shy about forgoing a shirt.

"You asked me to put sunscreen on your back?" Scott continued with hunched shoulders like he could hide from his own words, and Stiles's eyes popped open in realization.

"Dude."

"That's why I had to go to the bathroom," Scott scratched the back of his neck with flaming cheeks, "Twice."

"Twice?" Liam echoed, and Stiles imagined wrapping his hands around that little pup's throat and just squeezing.

"Stiles's swim shorts were very tight when he got out of the pool," Scott answered sheepishly, and much like a volcano, the pack burst into loud cheers. Stiles was seemingly alone in his mortification, mourning the loss of his innocence and feeling oddly betrayed.

"Since we're being honest," Oh God, why was Jackson talking?, "I did have some dreams about Stilinski, and in my defence, I was still in the closet back then and it was a small locker room, okay? I'm not responsible for my thoughts after seeing what he's packing."

"I did think about making out with him when we were on a stakeout," Theo added, a bit too eager to be part of the pack in Stiles's opinion.

This was all too much. Probably a bigger conceptual change than the discovery of the supernatural's existence. Stiles couldn't help it, therefore, in the following silence where everyone awaited his final reaction with baited breaths, he realized there was only one thing left to do: laugh.

"Okay, wow," Stiles breathed out between bouts of laughter, almost doubling over himself as he clutched his sides, "Nice joke, guys. Really. Prank of the year. Picking on the single pringle in the pack. Did you rehearse this?"

There was something unsettling in the look his packmates shared.

Malia looked around then with a neutral expression and exclaimed. Loudly. "Raise your hand if you ever thought about kissing or fucking Stiles."

Everybody's hands, without exception (Stiles checked), shot up high into the air like they were pulled by strings (Mason might have had to nudge Liam in the side but he, too, raised his hand with eyes downcast in shame), and it was the most out-of-left-field reaction at that moment, but Stiles suddenly felt a glimmer of hope that maybe... no. That was and had always been wishful thinking. Even if, apparently, Stiles was the epitome of bonability in his peers' eyes.

Right on cue, a deep rumble came from the bottom of the stairs, startling absolutely no one besides Stiles who was still momentarily lost in adjusting his worldview.

"What is happening?"

It was truly fascinating how reluctant everybody seemed to answer now in the face of that gruff voice. Stiles, for the most part, could only swallow past the sound of his own rabbiting heartbeat.

"Just playing some stupid game," Jackson deflected as his hands, in comical synchrony with all others', dropped to his sides.

"What game?" Derek pried, arms crossing across his chest and making the muscles bulge threateningly, not that Stiles noticed. 

"It's called... 'Who's thought about kissing Stiles'?" Kira replied with a tamer version of the truth, although Stiles had no doubt that Derek had heard the original statement if his 'what brain-dead moron do you take me for' frown was any indication.

Nervous laughter bubbled out of Stiles, and he clapped his hands for lack of a better idea on how to diffuse the situation. The pack was engaging in some creepy version of a stare-down with their alpha, and from Isaac's uncomfortable squirming, it was evident that the others had felt the uncanny chill of Derek's look, too. Even Stiles had the uncomfortable impression of a noose tangling around his neck, awaiting (perhaps) a sentence or an order, and he was eerily reminded of the early days of knowing Derek. Things had been better in recent years so the current tension in the room was all the more puzzling, especially since the pack rarely acted so unassertive around their alpha.

"Well, at least we know one person who hasn't, right?" Stiles joked weakly in the silence, his smile short-lived against the strangely intense leer on Derek's face.

If anything, their alpha's features hardened at the words, his (thankfully still normal) eyes blazing with a heat that Stiles had never seen outside the throes of battle. It was doing some very ill-timed things to Stiles.

Unsurprisingly, Lydia was the first to stand up, the light shake of her head accompanied by a soft "Oh, Stiles" before she made the smart move and left, rousing everyone else into action. Derek kept glaring at the pack until they dribbled out one by one, some sending Stiles encouragement (like Erica with her thumbs up) but ultimately abandoning him in the loft with a displeased alpha to handle. Stiles gaped after his traitorous friends, arms stretched open in disbelief and no clue about anything that had gone down so far. If there was a way to say "???" out loud, Stiles would have done that right then and there.

"Wha- guys?" Stiles asked just as the metal door violently slid shut. It was thunderous in the otherwise empty loft.

He whipped around swiftly and poked his thumb in the direction of the exit because that felt like the next logical thing to do when a murderous-looking werewolf began to move towards him.

"I guess that means pack night's over so I'll just... Umm..."

Stiles could have sworn that he heard a growl before Derek's eyes bled into ominous red, and it was a testament to how fucked up Stiles's self-preservation instincts had become over the years that those weren't the wolfish features that had Stiles's brain melting into syrupy goo. No, that achievement could only be attributed to the sharp fangs poking out from behind Derek's pink lips, and Stiles was like 95% sure that "How would those feel buried in my skin?" was not a normal thought to have in this kind of situation. 

"Has any of them touched you?"

Stiles shook his head - you know, once he had enough blood there to comprehend the question - and his hands came up unwittingly to put some barrier between him and Derek. "Hold on, what? No! It wasn't that kind of game- oh well, some of your pups were certainly touching in ways that I tried really hard to ignore- hey, you should talk to them about that! You know, privacy, I'm sure you heard... about... that..."

Derek's eyebrows gradually sank lower during his rant while Stiles's mouth slightly opened to help regulate his breathing (and why was that so hard all of a sudden?). Something in Derek's look made Stiles itchy to speak, like he had to defend himself for some reason. "It's not like any of them would actually want to fuck me- Hey, what's with the looming, dude?"

Derek's eyes narrowed wordlessly onto Stiles's chest where the human's heart rate spiked from feeling the solid surface of the door hit his back. He hadn't noticed how fast Derek was crowding in on him, and something about that fact made Stiles think of one of those National Geographic documentaries. You know, where the gazelle gets mauled.

"Dude, if you want me to leave, just say so. You don't gotta go all Michael Myers on me-"

"Would you let them?" Derek slurred around his fangs, eyes meandering like he was trying to catalogue all of Stiles's (very straightforward and very communicative) reactions, "Would you let anyone in the pack fuck you?"

Stiles shook his head so fast, he almost felt dizzy afterwards.

Derek's eyes faded back to green then, and he withdrew his body heat that Stiles hadn't even taken note of up until that point. With the proximity confiscated, Stiles felt a tinge of disappointment as well as a buttload (hah) of confusion - the same emotions somehow getting reflected back at him in Derek's eyes before the werewolf sculpted his face into his usual neutral look. 

Stiles had never had a more life-changing lightbulb moment before (previous truth or dare game included), and he felt the urge to facepalm at himself.

"I mean, it depends..." Stiles trailed off, Derek's hostile yet curious eyebrows making a reappearance. "I, um..."

Instead of bothering with words, Stiles licked his bottom lip as a test and delighted when Derek's eyes followed the movement with failing restraint. With a sudden burst of confidence, he pushed away from the door and violated Derek's personal space as much as he could get away with without actual touching. 

"Raise your hand if you have a crush on Derek Hale.

Derek frowned, his eyebrows doing some weird high jumps when Stiles sneaked a hand up into the air and wiggled his fingers for emphasis. This time, when the werewolf's eyes caught his, they were consumed by darkness instead of alpha red but were no less promising. And when Derek grabbed his wrist and yanked him forward, literally tripping Stiles into a kiss, that was something Stiles was for once expecting and welcomed with an eager moan. 

As it turned out, nobody wanted Stiles as much as Derek Hale did.

And out of all the reveals that day, that was the only one that truly mattered to Stiles.

[moron-rights]

So I finished BG3 (Good Tav Playthrough, Astarion Romance) Spoiler End Thoughts And Some Critique

SPOILERS,Great SPOILERS for parts of the romance and playthrough. Mind Ye, my thoughts are incredibly scattered...

This is mostly about *how* the game ended. And let me clarify before you get too far that I LOVED playing this game and the music and combat and companions were perfectly charming

*

*

*

but.... what.... the... ending?

I spent about 94 hours on this playthrough, regular origin, romancing Astarion, skimping largely through act one but completing almost every quest available in act 2 and 3, and save scrubbing where glitches (though minor) took hold. Ultimately, I robbed Raphael and freed Orpheus and destroyed the brain. I adored act one (put 336 hours into EA already) and act two felt like a very seamless and natural extension. Act three felt disjointed but it also seemed like the purpose of the act was to showcase companion quests (which are all vastly different), so I just went with it. Even though the Oathbreaker guy bugged and never showed up to my camp once I started act 3 (Boo).

I finished all the quests and pushed all companions toward a good trajectory. I had romanced Astarion starting in Act 1 and influenced him so much that he autonomously made good decisions (ie, warned his siblings what their fate would be, set the spawns free, wanted to destroy the tadpole and mentioned guiding the spawn to control themselves). Got the grave scene, it was wholesome. Finished the other companion quests, which -except for Wyll's (I saved his father and broke the pact and learned who the Guardian really was)- felt a little bland after the sheer emotional impact, acting, and animation of Astarion's deny ascension finale. Who knew watching a man brutally stab his abuser and then emptily sob while covered in blood could be something so personal?

After I cleaned all my quests up, I went ahead and started "act 3.5" so to speak. Once I went to confront the brain, there were no more major companion-specific cutscenes or unique dialogues or romance interactions, save for Lae'zel and Karlach. I freed Orpheus and convinced him to become a mindflayer. (I am aware of the alternative route where Karlach volunteers to become the mindflayer but I did not have her in my party for that). I was sure there would be at least one more cutscene or lengthy dialogue -- particularly for the romance-- at the very end, so I took out the Netherbrain, completed the game, hit the ending post-battle chat. I was... disappointed.

A few companions had one or two sentences to say on the docks. Astarion started to burn in the sun and he panicked and ran away, and then I got a one-line response from Lae'zel that boiled down to "I suppose that's the last of the sun Astarion will ever see." Karlach's engine failed and my Wyll autonomously offered to take her to the Hells with him and she autonomously accepted. And then I got a narrator epi. telling me about how the people reclaimed their city. Then my credits rolled.

I learned through save snooping that If you let Wyll take Karlach to hell with him, it locks you out of the ending romance dialogues.

So, I reloaded to persuade Wyll to let Karlach die so I could get my romanced Astarion dialogue. I told him I'd go with him to the Underdark to help him guide the spawns (seemed natural, I rolled Drow), and he was happy to have Tav by his side. Then hard cut to credits again. No mini cutscene of Tav going off with him, no end cards, no epilogue text. I was stunned, especially because the ending romance dialogue was just them standing and having a back-and-forth conversation, and it was so brief. No animated interactions between the two. Or... anyone. Just a conversation in a room with wooden walls.

I watched all the way through the credits, hoping I'd get closure for the other companions maybe, but there was none of that either. Gale's crown blew up and fell into the ocean (so it feels his personal quest was rendered completely irrelevant no matter which way you swayed him), and who knows what happened to Halsin or Shadowheart under un-romanced circumstances (or Jaheira and Minsc for that matter).

It felt so odd and out of place to have an abrupt ending with limited choice, animation and dialogue when the rest of the game so faithfully respects player choice and commits to animating even the sillier actions. One playthrough easily has the capacity for 90+ hours of content but still manages to push you into about 3 recongisably different endings for a standard Tav (arguably 4 or 5 if Urge). Post the final boss, it 100% feels like cutscenes and dialogues are missing or glitched... which may still be a possibility (only 4% of players have finished the game as of date) but is unlikely. Ending romance dialogues across all companions seem to indicate that it follows after a party, which we do not get to see. All dialogue options for ending romances, at least in Astarion's, mostly led to the same responses with a few variants in wording, which might have been fine except for the lack of companion epilogue elements.

I don't know how to say this other than I'm bummed. I don't need a happy ending, just an ending that feels complete. I enjoyed playing the game so much, the companions were perfectly charming, the world was delightful and I had fun with combat and then the end just sorta... happened. I don't think I'd play through as a customized character again. Maybe once for the Urge, as what you choose to do with yourself seems a bit more concrete. And I have no desire to roll the origins. Replaying as any of the ones I frequently had in my party just seems odd to me. Especially for the ones I took down opposite paths. Selunite Shadowheart and Unascended Astarion are stuck in my head, but they feel like endings that would only come naturally if a Tav were around.

Some people keep saying it feels like it's set up for DLC, and it really-really does, but Swen has repeatedly stated that DLC for this game is incredibly unlikely, due to how DnD rules work when you get to level 20. But now that's all I want. It would've been all the more easy to accept how it is now if I had just some epilogue flavour. Or maybe something like ME3 extended cut DLC. Or just a little more conversation.

tl;dr, game was great until act 3. my choices with the final boss and all dialogue options after the encounter were disappointingly limited. no ending narration or cinematics or epilogue cards to give closure on your companions or romances. I loved everything until then, and wished there was more.

[youreallyshouldtalkmore]

A Boon to Boot

A.N: Same artistReader as in the series Once upon a Time when can be found on my Genshin Impact MasterList.  While you don’t need to read them to understand this, there is background info that’s expanded on in those one shots. 

P.S: I truly love the Sumeru fam! 

_____________________________

It was really just a coincidence that you ran into your fiancé having a boy's night, with Tighnari, Kaveh and Cyno at Puspa Cafe. You secretly wondered how they got Alhaitham to agree to this get together, but upon seeing you, they quickly pulled you to the table. 

“Y/N, can you please talk to this big lug?!” Kaveh started not two seconds after you sat next to Alhaitham. 

You smiled indulgently, “About what?” 

Kaveh looked around before leaning in to whisper urgently,  “I request permission to continue living at our house!” 

You had finally been added to the list of people who knew that Kaveh was living at Alhaitham’s house. 

Which the list tallied to those at the table. 

Alhaitham snorted,“What part of that is your house in the first place? Once Y/N and I are married, you will have to go!” 

Kaveh practically whined, “Y/N please, I am asking for mercy here!” 

You shrugged, “Well, Alhaitham has decided. Like he said, it is his house.” 

Kaveh batted his eyes in a sad attempt at puppy dogs. Alhaitham snorted in disgust, but Kaveh was undeterred, “But you will be his wife. Can’t you help me out?!” 

“How shameless can you be?” Cyno asked. 

Tighnari added with a sigh,“Yes, this has been the topic for most of the time we’ve been here!” 

“We haven’t even gotten a good round of TCG in because of this foolishness!” griped Cyno. 

Alhaitham spoked up, “And I never came here to play a card game to begin with, so I’m leaving!” 

Kaveh was fast loosing track of the conversation as he leaned in your direction with big eyes, “Y/N..!” 

“Look, can I be honest with you? Never mind, I’m gonna be honest with you anyway.” You waved away, “I admit, it’s kinda funny seeing the two of you fight like cats and dogs. I like to pull out some popcorn and just watch this show. I still don’t get why and how you managed to live together when it’s clear you can’t stand each other, but that’s not the issue here.” 

You continued, “In two months, Alhaitham and I will be married, and I’ll be moving into his house. That’s what we agreed on. How ever funny your fights are, there are only so because of moderation.” 

Kaveh wrinkled his nose, “What?” 

“Kaveh, if I had to live with the two of you fighting every single day, it will cease to be funny. Then it’ll become a headache I got to deal with. I try to live a stress-free life, monitoring grown men, ain’t on the agenda!” 

Kaveh slammed a flat palm on the table, “Then I won’t fight anymore!!” 

“HA!!” You purposely leaned in his direction, “HA!! Boy, please…don’t just dry lie!” You turned to Cyno and Tighnari who were snickering, “Did you boys hear this? He said he’ll magically stop fighting. Can you believe it!?” 

Tighnari leaned his head in his hand as he looked on in mirth as Kaveh, “Even you don’t believe that! I give it five minutes!” 

Cyon shook his head, “Why give them that much time? I give in three.” 

“Seconds….” 

Everyone looked at Alhaitham who clarified, “I’d give three seconds not minutes.” 

“You…” Kaveh stopped himself, eyes widening at his own folly. He almost fell into the trap.  

He could feel the judgmental stares from the table, making him clamped his mouth down in order to try not to say anything in this delicate moment. He needed you on his side! 

You stabbed a finger at him, “My point exactly! I’m sorry, but you have two months to make the necessary arrangements!” 

“Would you really toss me out into the streets, cold and hungry?” 

You were fast losing your patience, and it was beginning to show. You breathed loudly through your nose,  “Kaveh, I don’t know what to tell you, okay! I came from another world with nothing. No connections, no job, no money, no place to stay. Within a year, I had a job, a place, friends, connection and money!! Why is a grown man, who has lived here his entire life, finding this a difficult subject?” 

“Because he got in debt.” Alhaitham supplied. 

“Pipe down!!” Kaveh hissed looking around shifty eyed before stating, “Exactly!!” 

Alhaitham rolled his eyes,“That was not said for your benefit! 

“But that is a point! I got into debt! That is not my fault!!” 

By now, your right eye was beginning to twitch. Cyno and Tighnari exchanged glances as Kaveh got into another fight with Alhaitham. 

“YA!!!” 

Some of the other patrons turned their heads before going back to their business. Kaveh stopped talking at Alhaitham, his head whipping towards you.  

“Look, if Alhaitham agrees to let you stay, then I’ll keep my mouth shut….” 

Alhaitham interjected, “Not happening!” 

You continued without missing a beat, “If he doesn’t, you have two months. Two months for your behind to find someplace else. But you know what, I am generous….” 

Kaveh’s eyes lit up with hope. 

“You are kind indeed to be so given these circumstances.” Cyno injected as Tighnari added, “Anything you offer in his condition would be generous.” 

Kaveh pouted, “Condition? Ya’ll make me sound like a rabid dog!” 

You turned back to Kaveh, “I’m moving out of my apartment, but perhaps I can set you up with the manager and maybe you two can hash out a deal. I don’t know. But your broke behind better be trying your hardest to move out. Maybe, just mayyyyybe, if you're still having problems, Alhaitham will be nice enough to let you stay on another week, weeks-ish….” 

Kaveh almost shot out of his seat, “That would be fabulous!!” 

Cyno sighed, “Missing the forest for the trees.” 

Tighnari shook his head. 

You thumped a hand on the table, “That is not an invitation to do nothing, Kaveh!! Even if you earn an extra week-ish, if I find out you’ve been doing nothing, even that will be retracted. I promise you, you will not be here for a whole year or even six months! You better get it together!”

Kaveh clapped his hands together, “I will try my best!! Ha-ha!” 

“You need more than your best!” Tighnari stated.  

Kaveh was hopeless. 

Kaveh glared at him, “Shouldn’t you be rooting for me?” 

“Whatever! You know what’s what. Now, if you excuse me, this one is out!” You began standing up. 

“Don’t want to join us for a game?” Cyno asked as he began to eagerly shuffle his deck. 

Tighnari just gave a silent sigh as he pushed his own deck into place for the start of the game. If they don’t get in at least a round or two of TCG in, he knew that Cyno will be pouting about it for the next couple of days. 

You shook your head, “Nah, I was just passing through. Kinda loud in here.” 

Alhaitham looked up at you, his eyes boring holes. Even Tighnari looked up at you sharply. Cyno looked on curiously, while Kaveh was just happy to have what he thought was a boon as he began looking over his own deck. 

It wasn’t but whatever made him feel better. 

You blinked before smiling at them, “I’m fine! Not that kind of loud. I’m just tired and I wanna go home. Ya’ll enjoy yourselves.” 

Tighnari began to relax at your words. Your eyes were focused and sharp, unlike the times when sounds began to overwhelm you. Either way, you were due to come to Avidya Forest for a break. Collei was beginning to miss you. 

Alhaitham began standing up regardless, “I wasn’t, actually. I’ll go with you.” He shot a glare at Kaveh, “It’ll give a reprieve, at least.” 

Tighnari laughed, “So the answer to your reprieve is to sic him on us?” 

It took a moment but Kaveh finally caught on and snapped, “Hey!!” 

Cyno gave a small smile, “Well, if you both don’t want to. Have a good evening!”

—

Both you and Alhaitham walked in silence as you went back to your house. You were halfway there when Alhaitham finally spoke, “Is it quieter now?” 

You smiled up at him, “Yeah, it’s fine. Don’t worry so much.” 

Alhaitham just looked at you for a long moment before facing forward. 

“I hope I didn’t overstep any boundaries.”

Alhaitham stopped a few seconds after your statement, making you stop as well. You looked up curiously at him, “Explain your meaning.” 

Your eyes cut away from him, “Like you said, it’s your house. If you want to have Kaveh continue to stay, I will keep my mouth shut.” 

“I don’t want him there now.” 

You couldn’t help to giggle at his deadpanned voice. But then you felt something very close to you and looked up to see Alhaitham looking down at you.

When he had your attention he spoke, “Besides, you will be my wife, so naturally my house will become our house. Had you wanted to move elsewhere, we could have done that as well. Having a quiet area to live is important to both of us. If it is unsatisfactory, I’d have you say something.” 

His green-red eyes bore into you as you shook your head, “Your house is in a pretty quiet area with not a lot of foot traffic save for the people that live there. I think it’s an acceptable place.” 

Then to your surprise, he leaned forward, making you instinctively lean back. Your eyes darted around, “Alhaitham, we are still in public.” 

“I’m aware. Look at me.” 

Your eyes snapped to his, “It makes sense to have that freeloader move out. I do not want to start our newlywed life with weighted baggage. Now, if you wanted to keep him around, perhaps I would consider it. It was nice of you to offer the little bit you did. I was not offend. Having you deal with it, meant that I did not have to; quite a great bargain, no?” 

You pushed at his chest, making him stand up straight. You straightened as well, “So you just wanted to do less work on the situation?” 

“I told him multiple times, but he has selective hearing right now. And besides, as my future wife, shouldn’t I depend on you in moments like this?” Here a smirk began forming. 

You swatted at his chest, becoming warm at his words, “You're lucky, I’m nice.” 

Alhaitham caught your hand, holding it in his, “Now, let’s get you home. Maybe you’ll let me stay an extra hour before I gotta deal with my roommate.” 

The two of you continued to walk. 

You smiled mischievously, “You could throw him out now, just saying. Don’t tell him I said that, though. Let him think he has my support. The poor boy is on a lifeline.” 

“I would never sacrifice my future wife in such a manner. But, truthfully, I’ve already thought about that….” 

You just giggled. 

[violetmarkings]

Glued at the hip

Genre: Smut, pwp

Pairing: Han Jisung x Female Reader x Lee Know

Synopsis: You tie Lee Know and Jisung back to back and drive them insane - except Jisung is a pure blooded sub and loves it while Minho refuses to give in

Length: 5.2k

Warnings: Threesome, polyamory vibes, Dom!reader, sub!Jisung, brat!Lee know,  light bondage (ropes), lots of teasing, edging (m receiving), overstimulation (m receiving), unprotected sex (she's on the pill), oral sex (f and m receiving), semi clothed humping, vaginal intercourse, nipple play (m and f), aftercare (m receiving), a bit of crying during sex (Jisung), soft ending, lots of nicknames like baby boy, angel, tiger etc, praising

One Saturday night, you joined Jisung in his dorm for a few drinks and some innocent card games. The living room was quiet as all of the other members were either out or in their rooms. Probably just about two drinks in, the cards were long forgotten because the two of you were too preoccupied talking about things with fervor. One conversation led to another and you were now discussing sexual preferences, and tipsy Jisung was a lot more honest than usual.

"I must reeeaaallyyy have a problem considering both my best friends are so goddamn domineering." He admitted. You didn't catch on to what he was referring to, so you blinked back at him. "You and Minho hyung." He clarified.

"Do you think Minho is actually a dom?" You further inquired. You were a dom and not afraid to show it, but you could never be sure about a person like Minho. Perhaps he was only hard on the outside.

"I dunno." Jisung replied, reaching out for the third drink. "He's mentioned some things before about wanting to bang the stars out of some pretty girl - and judging from the way he treats me, I would say he is. Although I admit it's weird he always listens to what I say, but perhaps he's just one of those doms who are really respectful of the people around him... And he also pretty much has all my preferences memorized and has things just magically arranged for me and my likings." You hum in response to his words, you have heard of such doms before.

"I'm not that respectful of a dom." You say with a laugh, and it catches Jisung off guard.

"What? What do you mean?"

"I like pushing people to their limits." From the look in his eyes you could tell he was intrigued, his body even moving closer to yours.

"Like, how?"

"All kinds of ways." You try to deflect to keep the mystery, but Jisung's look of disappointment was too cute to deny. "Ropes and cuffs and a shit ton of teasing and denying.. Maybe some overstimulation. I get creative, really."

"That's just too hot!" Jisung replies with a whine. His breath started to accelerate while thinking about it, and he hated it. He was practically melting into the sofa trying not to have a boner.

"You want a piece of me, Ji?" You ask, and he jumped as if burnt. The alcohol was making his face flushed, and there was a sparkle in his eyes you've never seen before. He was looking at you and licking his lips, but couldn't mutter a word. "Do you want Minho broken, too?" You ask on a whim, now fully invested in wanting to know what the man was hiding under his sheets.

"What ..?"

"A threesome, Ji. I could fulfil your submissive fantasies and break Minho in the process, too. If he agrees to it."

Jisung was biting his lip a little too hard at the thought. You were the only one who really knew how many submissive fantasies he had, how he just wished to be suffocated between someone's thighs, used as a fucktoy - he wanted to be someone's good boy. And you would be lying if you said you never thought about it. As a pure blooded dom, Jisung's fantasies were borderline cute to you - but you didn't want to compromise the friendship just for the urge to see him braindead under you.

"I'll ask him." Jisung replied in one breath.

"Perfect." You grinned, getting up from the couch to signal you were leaving. You knew he was hard, but you wanted to make him wait, so you excused yourself saying you had things to take care of and a hangover would be cumbersome. Of course, the moment you were out the door Jisung ran to his room to take care of himself.

On Monday, he was a ball of anxiety. He met with Minho at the company for rehearsals and was trying to gain the courage to pull him aside for a talk, and it was so awkward Minho noticed instantly.

"What's going on with you?" He asked, not sugarcoating it one bit. Blabbering, Jisung tried to form the sentence.

"How would you feel if... Uhm. I invited... No, we invited... Uhh.."

"English, please." Minho joked, and Jisung was feeling too flustered to laugh.

"A threesome with me and my best friend." Minho's eyes blew out of proportion and he blinked at him for what felt like a whole minute.

"Who the hell came up with that idea?"

"She did." Jisung replied in a flash.

"Seriously." Minho muttered. It was more of a statement than a question. He seemed lost in thought for a while. "You both okay with this? Have you fucked before?"

"Each other? Uhh, no... Not that I didn't want to..." Jisung suddenly confessed, surprising Minho once more. "But yeah, we both want to."

"Alright." Lee know stated in a heartbeat. He was so fast to agree that now Jisung was the one speechless.

"But she's domming."

"She's what?" Jisung tried to explain to Minho that his best friend is a dom, and that the whole shtick of this was for him to fulfil his fantasies, and Minho looked at him as if he was crazy for a second. But then the warmth reappeared in his eyes and he nodded along.

If he was to be honest, he thought you domming meant you were both going to be in control of Jisung. But he soon realized he was wrong, when he ended up getting naked with Jisung in your room, per your orders. You were out of the room, fetching something - and the tension was real. Lee know tried to alleviate it, sitting down on the bed next to Jisung as if nothing was happening and their thighs didn't just smack together. They tried to make small talk about the idea of needing condoms, but Jisung reassured Minho you were on the pill before the room fell silent again. Soon you came back and broke the silence.

"Awe, look at you two. Glued at the hip even when naked." They both looked at you and were surprised you were still fully clothed, but hiding something behind your back. "Which gives me an idea." You announced. "Sit on the bed, back to back." You ordered, but they only turned their backs to each other awkwardly on the edge of the bed. "In the middle of the bed, you idiots." Jisung was the first one to move and then Minho followed with a roll of his eyes. They tried to find the middle of the bed so that they both could fit in that position. That's when you pulled out the rope from behind your back and threw it on the bed.

You guided then to properly glue their backs together, and arms as well. The first rope you used to tie together Jisung's left arm to Minho's right. You circled it around, from the bicep all the way to the forearms. They were staring at you like a deer in the headlights. You did the same to the other pair of arms, and then one final rope was tied around both of their torsos, right under their pectorals.

"What in the world did I get myself into." Minho muttered to himself, his voice sounding amused.

They tried wiggling around, but to no avail. They were literally glued back to back. Jisung craned his neck back to lean it on Minho's shoulder, heart pumping right out of his chest. You pulled back and looked at your work with a smile - and noticed Jisung was already hard. You sat down next to him and he looked at you with puppy eyes.

"What a cute dick you have, Ji." You said, touching the head of his dick with your index finger. He let out a loud whine. Lee know was trying to look over his shoulder to see what was going on, but he couldn't tell from that angle.

"What the fuck are you two doing, I can't see." He questioned, and you hummed, still playing with Jisung's dick with only one finger.

"That's exactly the point." You replied with a smirk.

You leaned down to face Jisung's dick and heard him inhale deeply. You gave him a kitten lick and a kiss before pulling away to leave him gasping.

"Sorry Ji, but someone else here isn't hard yet." You said and moved to face Lee know, who was trying to practically glare daggers at you. "Being tied to your best friend naked doesn't do it for you, hmm?" You teased, and his glare only got worse. But you weren't intimidated. You crawled on his lap and cradled his jaw in your hands, thumb tracing his bottom lip. He tried to lean closer to kiss you, but that was not your intention, so you didn't let him.

"What an eager boy." You teased again, and pried his lips apart to insert two fingers into his mouth. His glare went out the window at your actions, as he was only confused. "Suck." You told him, and he was extremely awkward as he tried to oblige. You moved to press your fingers on his tongue as he was sucking you in, and noticed him closing him eyes. Eventually his tongue began to move around your fingers and you even felt his teeth softly graze you - he was gaining courage.

You pulled your fingers away and Minho opened his eyes to look at you again, albeit he looked kind of dizzy. You spread the saliva on your fingers on both his nipples and they hardened. With both hands you massaged his chest and began to play with his nipples, rubbing circles around them and softly pulling at them. You saw him swallow drily and soon his dick hardened against you. With just two fingers you grabbed him and did a few strokes agonizingly slow, but applied pressure to it. He was biting his lip, and you were having the time of your life staring dead into his eyes.

"Please don't leave me hanging.. !" Jisung whined once more, getting more impatient. He couldn't hear anything happening, his mind was racing with questions as to what was going on behind him.

"I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait, baby boy." You informed him, and formed a fist around Minho's dick seemingly out of nowhere. It caught him by surprise and he leaned his neck back on Jisung's shoulder, a grunt finally escaping him. As you began to properly pump him, his breathing became uneven and deep vibrations were leaving his chest. Your hand moved down to his balls, they were tight and heavy in your hand, and Minho was getting annoyed at the thought that he knew you were going to pull away soon.

"Don't you wanna focus on Jisung now? Instead of riling me up to leave me hanging?" He tried to let out between huffs. You were now massaging his tip between your fingers.

"You don't know that." You teased with a laugh. "You don't know what I'm about to do to you." Even though the tease was targeted at Minho, it was Jisung who gave a vocal response.

Hand still on his cock, you finally leaned in to kiss Minho. He accepted your lips with warmth and hunger, but you made sure the kiss was loud. Your lips were smacking together and you moaned - making Jisung trash around impatiently.

"Please, please, come back." Jisung whimpered. He was going insane at hearing you kiss Lee know like that - he was pleading for your touch, anything to keep him going, refresh the memory of you on his body so that waiting wouldn't kill him so badly.

You stopped kissing Minho and reached above his shoulders to caresses Jisung's.

"Don't worry, Ji. You'll be the first one inside my walls." Jisung wanted to cum at the reassurance alone, already imagining your tightness pulling him inside and milking him dry. Lee know looked at you with anger, his eyebrows furrowed and gaze steely. "What's wrong, tiger?" You teased him by using your favorite nickname for him. "Jealous?"

"Fuck you." He retaliated, and you just laughed.

"Not quite yet."

Minho's dick twitched as he watched you lower down, lips dangerously close to his cock. He was getting sick of being teased already - but then you actually got to work. You licked him clean, spreading your saliva all over his member before taking his length inside your mouth. Mind dizzy, he was literally relying on Jisung to keep him up straight. He closed his eyes and panted as you took a little bit more in, your cheeks hollowed and tight. Your mouth was so hot, so welcoming, and your tongue rubbed the underside of his tip like an expert. He couldn't even keep his eyes open to watch you bob your head, because you were doing him so good.

He felt the tightness in his balls get worse and worse and he could basically taste the orgasm coming - except so could you by the frantic twitching, so you pulled away. Leaving him high and dry caused him to growl at you like an animal.

"I fucking knew it." He said angrily, his voice hoarse.

"Knowing doesn't mean you can stop me." You smirked at him, and moved to ruffle his hair in a joking manner.

You were fully intent on making him furious as you switched sides to Jisung. His cock was red and weeping, and he himself looked like he had tears in his eyes. You could swear he's never been that happy to see you.

"Oh, my poor baby waited so long." You cooed at him, caressing his face. He leaned into your touch, and soon you were giving him a soft, sweet kiss. Your hands began to fondle his body too - chest, hips, shoulders, thighs, anything you could put your hands on. He wanted your touch so much, he was ready to cry at feeling such warmth rise butterflies in his stomach. You peppered kisses all over his face, then moved down to his neck, biting his skin and sucking to create markings. Jisung was your boy, you said to yourself. And you wanted proof of it.

After his neck was full of bites and lips swollen and puffy, you pulled away to take off your top. Unclasping your bra and throwing it away, you began to fondle your own breasts in front of Jisung. You could see how he pulled on the bindings, almost taking Lee know's support away, overtaken by an urge to touch you. You played with your nipples and bit your lip, looking him in the eyes - but he noticed how you rubbed your thighs together. This probably wasn't easy on you, either.

"Do you want a taste?" You asked Jisung, roughly grabbing one of your breasts to show it to him. He nodded feverishly. You raised to find the right angle and height to let him do it, and then felt him wrap his lips around your nipple. His tongue came out to play too, rubbing and flicking your nipple. He was once again pulling at the confinements at how badly the wanted to hold your waist in his arms, pull you impossibly closer to him. But he couldn't, so he just made do with what he had, filling your boobs with his drool as he tried so hard to pull more than ragged breathing out of you.

He pouted when you pulled away, but it was soon replaced with a smile when he saw you taking your pants off. Still in your underwear, you straddled him and began to hump his sticky, leaking cock. It was rubbing against you folds, making you let out pleasured sounds as you held on to both of their shoulders, your nails digging into Minho's chest. But no matter how hard he tried, he could only see you moving, but not exactly what you were doing. But the sight of your bare chest did make him feel even more impatient.

You went back to kissing Jisung as you humped him, your teeth digging into his poor, abused lips. He was extremely vocal, even when muffled. Afraid he might blow his load soon, you departed from his lap, and he tried to object with a string of whines and pleas, chest heaving so badly that Minho was having a hard time supporting him.

You pulled out your office chair from your desk to sit on, in the middle of the room where both boys could see you. You didn't even need to call out to them, as they both were already burning their eyes onto your body. They looked so beautiful and hot like that, back to back, breathing heavily, both their cocks hard and leaking, their hands clenched into fists and veins protruding on their necks. You smiled sweetly at them, enticing them on as you played with the rubber band of your panties. They were so wet, both on the inside by your arousal and on the outside from Jisung's. You pulled down your legs and spread out for the boys to take in the view. Both of them let their mouths hang open, Jisung licking his lips and Minho muttering something to himself.

You began playing with yourself in front of them. You rubbed your clit just how you liked it, clenching around nothing as you were already plenty aroused - then dipped down to gather some arousal on your fingers. The juices glistened, and you brought your fingers to your lips to suck on them while keeping eye contact with the boys. Then those fingers went right inside you, arching to meet your front walls as you fucked yourself, moans leaving your mouth. They were so agitated you were scared they were going to topple over at this rate.

You didn't really dare touch your clit while fingering because you didn't want to cum just yet, just prepare a meal for one of them. With that in mind, you pulled your fingers out and walked towards them, waving the glistening juices in their faces.

"Which one of you boys wants to eat me out?" You asked, and Jisung's eyes lit up like Christmas lights.

"Me, me, me! Please, Mistress!" You let out a giggle at Jisung calling your Mistress for the first time tonight. You were hoping it was going to happen more. You placed your fingers before Jisung's lips and he opened his mouth by instinct, moaning loudly when he got to taste you. He was pretty much sucking every last drop of flavor off of your fingers - he was such a good boy for you. However, in the meantime you were keeping eye contact with Lee know who turned his head to try to look at you. He was stoic, with no expression and no words. Perhaps it was a little too obvious to him that you were about to place your cunt in his face. And that you did, standing up and pulling away from Jisung.

"Please no, no! Mistress, please." He begged, like his life depended on it. Chuckling, you presented yourself to Lee know, spreading your pussy lips to him before grabbing his head and pulling his face into you. Despite the expressionless look of his, his tongue came out to play as he licked long stripes along your cunt. When his tongue found your clit, he began to rapidly flick it, giving you jolts of pleasure. Due to your high position above their heads, Jisung could actually see you if he leaned his head on Minho's shoulder - you only glanced at him for a few seconds, his eyes teary, as Minho's tongue found its way inside you and his nose rubbed against his clit. You were overtaken by pleasure, and Jisung could only watch as your eyes were closed in bliss and Minho was making ungodly slurping noises eating you out. You almost didn't want to pull away, effectively denying your own orgasm for what you think was the third time that night.

Lowering back down to face him, you chuckled as you saw Lee know's face was covered in your juices. You wiped him a bit with your thumb, but the look in his eyes was different. His eyes were dark, almost black and clouded, and his lips were tightly closed into a line.

"You've got great tongue game." You praised him, giving him a short peck on the lips but his expression didn't change. It was almost scaring you, but you tried to brush it off as you moved to Jisung's side. He once again gave you the watery, puppy eyes.

"I'm sorry, baby." You said, kissing his cheeks softly. Upon grabbing his dick to guide it to your entrance, he almost yelled. "Here's your reward for being such a good boy." When his tip breached your walls he furrowed his brows so hard it looked like he was almost in pain, when in fact he was struggling to not instantly cum at the mere feel of you.

"Thank you, thank you..." He chanted as he bottomed out inside of you, his chest heaving like he ran a marathon. Grabbing onto his shoulders, you began to lift yourself slowly, coming back down just as equally slow, the pace making him let out high pitch cries. Teasing him was driving you insane, with the way his dick rubbed against your walls in the most delicious of ways. He was a complete mess under you, his hair sweaty and sticking to his forehead, his skin glistening. You slid your fingers through his hair, pulling his head to the side for you to suck on his neck a little more while your pace on him was getting dangerously close to normal speed because of your own impatience. However, you were almost stopped by hearing deep whispers coming from Jisung's back.

"Please." Minho muttered, but it was so quiet you almost didn't hear it. "Please, I can't take it anymore." He said, louder this time, his voice a deep rumble. "Please, Mistress." He added and you were dumbfounded. You pondered for a second, Jisung inspecting your face for any clue for what was happening; and when you climbed out of his lap and the air hit his naked dick again, you saw pure heartbreak in his eyes.

"No, no, no, no, no!" He chanted, almost yelled at you, frantically thrashing around as you went to Lee know's side. Minho had a tired, almost defeated look in his eyes when you finally faced him. That's how it looked like to you, but to him it was embarrassment more than anything. His half lidded eyes followed your every movement as you guided his length towards your entrance and took him in without delay, a cocky smile on your face. The grunt that left his throat was pornographic, turning you on beyond belief. You went easy on him for a few up and down movements,  but you were running out of patience. Hands firmly planted on his shoulders, you set the pace faster, fingers digging into him as you let the carnal pleasure put your body on autopilot. You couldn't be asked to care about the burn in your thighs, his dick rubbing your front walls and hitting you so deep. He was doing his best to meet your thrusts too, hips jerking up as much as he could. You got so lost in the act that for a couple of minutes you even forgot Jisung was there, anything else besides Minho's cock and sweaty body leaving your mind. Your nails raked through his hair as your hips began to shake, the promise of an orgasm close around the corner. You kept going, nothing but release on your mind, reaching down to rub your clit as well. You were getting impossibly tight around Minho's cock, and the pleasure was making him almost drool after waiting so long for you to give this to him. A loud moan ripped out of you as you tipped yourself over the edge, your orgasm milking Lee know so hard he followed suit, releasing his hot seed inside you.

The orgasm drove you two so dizzy you needed a while to recover.  Panting and hazy, you moved Minho's sweaty hair away from his eyes and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"You did so well." You praised, and a ghost of a tired smile formed on his lips. You let Lee know out from within your walls, his sperm leaking out. With shaky fingers, you began to unfasten the ropes around the boys. "Wish me good luck." You said to him, and he raised a brow as you motioned for him to move aside and you pulled Han down for his back to hit the mattress. He let out a surprise yelp, especially when you grabbed both his wrists and tied them together sloppily before motioning for him to keep them above his head.

"Is it finally my turn?" He asked, voice so soft and quiet you could sense the hurt in his voice. It was pretty hard to not break down and smother him seeing the cute, teary puppy eyes.

"Yes, baby boy." You said, forcing an evil smirk on your face as you anticipated the plan you had in mind.

You slid Jisung inside you and gave him almost no time to adjust as you began to ride him. Even though you instructed him to keep his hands above his head, they flew towards your hips the moment you began moving. You had to push them back, and to your surprise, Lee know pitched in to help you, by holding Jisung's wrists glued to the mattress. Jisung looked over to Minho in desperation, but got only a smirk. Head rolling back on the pillows, Jisung's body was shaking, his voice hoarse with every noise he made.

"Do you feel good, baby?" You asked, running your hands up and down his body, tracing his chest and sides, even going up towards his flexed arms. He began blabbering, but you could tell he was trying to say yes.

"So good-" was the two words you could decipher out of what he was saying.

He was getting close and you could tell from the way his dick was throbbing inside of you.

"You can let go, angel." You urged him. "Cum for your Mistress." Jisung nodded, eyes closed tight and head craned towards the ceiling. He spilled inside of you and moment later his while body went limp.

You began to count to 3O out loud, confusing both of the boys, and then moved again. Jisung screeched, almost pulling Lee know off balance when he began thrashing around.

"Too much, too much-" Jisung mumbled, tears stinging his eyes as you overstimulated him. His hands were grabbing even though they were tied, legs shaking, voice almost completely gone. Your merciless pace made his oversensitive cock drive Jisung insane, fresh tears spilling out of his eyes - he came the second time in just a couple of minutes. The second orgasm was so intense that he wasn't even able to scream - he came like never before. You motioned to Lee know to let go of the rope, and you untied Jisung to give him proper comfort while he recovers. He was panting and dizzy, eyes still closed.

"You really are evil." Minho whispered, and you chuckled.

"So evil that I even defeated you." You rebutted, making him roll his eyes.

"You would be the first one, I have to admit." You stared at him in disbelief, this accomplishment puffing up your ego even further. Lee know was amused by the proud smile on your face.  There was some unspoken connection happening between you and Lee know as you looked at each after the deed was done. Still, you had to check on Jisung to make sure he was okay, caressing his chest and belly with gentle movements.

"I'm okay." He whispered with a smile.

"Good." You said, smothering him in kisses. "Now if you excuse me boys, I'm all sticky and leaky and I need to consult the bathroom real quick. I'll bring tissues." With a chuckle, you left the two of them alone for your task to clean up.

"She got you good." Jisung teased Minho, in a weak but still cocky voice. Minho glared at him. "I can't believe she made you beg, man."

"If you tell anyone you're dead meat, you know that right?" Minho threatened, trying to intimidate Jisung.

"Who would I even tell?" Jisung replied with a laugh. "You two are my only close friends." Minho's expression softened at hearing that, although of course he was only joking as he knew he was safe with Jisung. "Man, today must be the best day of my life." Jisung let out a sigh of content. There was pure happiness radiating off of his face.

"Why didn't you ever tell me about your submissive fantasies?" Minho asked, but not in an aggressive way, his voice was gentle.

"I guess I was too embarrassed... Although you always played right into them anyways... It's as if you already knew!" Jisung explained excitedly. Lee know had a fond look on his face, moving to caress Jisung's face.

"It's my sixth sense." He joked.

"I'm so lucky to have you guys in my life." Jisung suddenly confessed, an intense wave of emotions rushing over him. "I love you both."

"And we love you too." You replied, coming out of the bathroom with an entire box of wet tissues. You slithered your way in between the boys to help them clean up.

"Absolutely." Lee know added. He didn't want your help, as he grabbed the tissues on his own, but you helped Jisung. Afterwards, you cuddled up on Jisung's chest as Lee know hugged you from behind. "So, same time next week?" Minho asked, getting an excited approval out of Jisung. You laughed and nodded along - there was nothing to complain about.

"Maybe next time we can both dom the hell out of you." Minho said to Jisung, who jokingly whined in response.

"Do you guys really want me dead?"

"Don't worry, Ji." You reassured him. "Minho still has to ask for my permission to act on his own." You teased, turning around to inspect his expression. He rolled his eyes at you and then took you by surprise by kissing you on the lips.

"I'll try my best to obey." He flirted after kissing you, and you almost had the urge to make him repeat it - it was too good to be true.

"I want kisses too!" Jisung whined, breaking you out of the moment you were sharing with Minho. You obliged, turning back around to give him the kisses he wanted.

That evening, all three of you cuddled tightly into a naked mess, Jisung felt the happiest he's ever felt. Despite the sinful words he was speaking, both you and Minho were looking at him like he was the purest angel while he explained how good it all felt and how glad he is he finally got to experience all the things he dreamt about. A bond beyond the description of words now linked the three of you together.

-Admin Starlight ⭐

[smartycvnt]

Roomies

Pairing: Chuck Taylor x Reader Summary: You're stuck in a room with Chuck for a night.

"Alright, you're in room 215 with Chuck," Tony told you as he placed the key card in your hand. You stared at it for a moment in confusion and disbelief. It was ballsy for non-couples to be put in co-ed rooms in the first place, but for Tony to place you with Chuck was stupid. This was supposed to be a calm and quiet weekend. Everyone and their mother knew that you and Chuck would end up at each other's throats within moments of being stuck together. Hopefully this room would have more than one bed because you could not fathom the idea of having to share such a close space with him.

"If you're sure," you said as you walked towards the stairwell. A freak snowstorm had shut everybody into the same hotel for the weekend and left it with no vacancies. The elevators were down to converse energy for the heaters, which were most likely running on generators with the rolling blackouts going through the city. This was an awful situation that you had just been informed was made even worse by your company for however long you were stuck here. Surely someone would be willing to trade with you, but you doubted that you could find someone before the night was over. Everybody was exhausted from having to haul themselves and their shit out of the arena with the blizzard going on.

"You're my roommate for this?" Chuck asked, as if he couldn't believe it either. "I told Tony I wanted Trent."

"Don't act like this is ideal for me. Do I look like I want to spend my weekend with a backwoods hick?" You knew that was a bit mean to say, but you wanted to make sure Chuck wouldn't try and make friends with you. You unlocked the door and placed your things on the bed closer to the window. Chuck shut the door behind him and booked it straight for the shower. He had wrestled a match tonight, which you were sort of jealous of. You hadn't gotten to wrestle in months because you weren't cleared to. You had hoped that whenever Saraya was clear, you would also be so that the two of you could work together again. Working with her had been the highlight of your career at NXT before it had come to an abrupt end.

"Is there a reason that you're staring at me?" Chuck asked you. You quickly turned away from him, not having realized that you had been looking nearly as long as you had been. You were certain that it was only a glance that you had stolen, but apparently you were wrong.

"You're not gonna go hang out with your buddies?" you asked. Chuck shook his head as he laid back in his bed. "Surprising, you idiots do everything together."

"It's a lot less lonely when you find your people. Didn't you used to travel with Saraya?" Chuck asked you.

"Yeah, and then it was me and Madison when I came back," you said with a small smile. Chuck had never heard you speak so comfortably around him before. The two of you swapped a few stories from traveling with various people. You learned that Chuck took care of his friends a lot more than you had expected, always having seen him as immature and annoying. Although, you had based all of that after the first couple of times the two of you had been around each other. Chuck had obviously done the same thing with you, having expected you to be a bitch all of the time. However, you were actually really fun and a bit of a wild child.

"I don't know if I would have bailed you out that night," Chuck said with a laugh. You had just finished telling him a story about when you and a few girls from Impact had gotten arrested in some small town while playing a game of truth or dare. "I mean, stealing a cop car is a big deal."

"They never found out I did that. Turns out we were in a dry county and we were walking around going between bottles of Jack and Tito's," you clarified. "I've cleaned my act up a bit now. It's hard sometimes, keeping on the straight and narrow when I'm not sure I'm even working towards anything anymore."

"You're younger than me, surely you've got at least another ten years to go. Just pace yourself in the ring, there's no need to be groundbreaking in every match if it means you only get half as many as you should have," Chuck told you. "You're too good to be putting yourself at constant risk."

"Was that a compliment?" you asked as you sat forward. Chuck ducked away bashfully, but you heard him mutter a confirmation. "Well, thank you Chuck. You know, you're not so bad to be around."

"I think that's as close to a compliment as you can do, so thank you," Chuck laughed. The two of you had a bit more of a back and forth going before he got tired and decided to go to bed. You rolled over onto your side and tried not to think about how your heart fluttered when he'd smile and laugh at your stories earlier in the night. Chuck was a nice guy, but there was no way that you could let yourself get feelings for him.

[that-salty-ghost]

As Above, So Below | Chapter 25: For Good Luck | Viktor [Arcane] // Male Reader | Rating: M Throughout

A/N: Forgot to post this on here like a month ago oopsies

Word Count: ~3.1k Summary: Viktor gambles with you in more ways than one and you meet some interesting folks at the tavern Tags: drinking, swearing, gambling, smoking, the usual Last Chpt: Date Night Pt 2 Sinking Ship

// 🎧 Mood Music: Sinners by Barns Courtney 🎧 \\

Check my pinned post for more details/previous chapters/etc.

The main floor of the inn is a tavern, flooded with faces you’ve never seen before that barely pay you any mind despite your still damp attire.

The bar is packed with people and you squeeze behind Viktor while he asks the innkeeper about room availability. You take in your surroundings and notice a pair getting heated over a game of darts, tables of people playing card and dice games, stew and baked bread being served to travelers that looked even more weary than you, and a woman eyeing Viktor fondly off to the side as you hear him say “Is there a chance one might become available?”

Shit. The place must be full up.

You watch as Viktor must’ve felt eyes on him, turning to see the woman smiling at him before he looks back to you. The small lift of his brows serving as a sign that he wasn’t expecting you to be so tightly packed in with him. Still, he smiles softly as he takes you in—seeming comfortable with the closer proximity as he speaks.

“How many cogs do you have?”

“They have rooms?” You ask as you dig in your holster, brandishing a few silver coins from the cutpurse earlier on. You thought you had more, but they must’ve fallen out in the river…along with your pride.

“Room.” He clarifies as he pulls out his own coins and holds his hand out to take yours. “The most expensive one—this whole side of the city has no vacancy. Apparently, there’s some festival going on tomorrow.”

“…So, I don’t get that cheap room after all?”

Viktor grins slyly, holding back a laugh as he shuffles through the combined cogs in his hand. “Disappointing, I know.”

His teasing makes you grin back as you watch him count the amount, his mouth moving silently along as he does. “But for what it’s worth, I do enjoy festivals.” He adds in between his mental math.

“I do too, I don’t get to go very often.” You admit before glancing out the window. Frost glistens at the corners and judging by the haze in the lights it looks like it might start to snow soon. “I bet it’s for the winter season coming up.”

“If you’re not an icicle by morning maybe we can catch it.” He glances up and winks playfully, making you smile ear to ear until he finishes counting with a disgruntled hum.

“We’re ten shy…any ideas?”

The sounds of the tavern call your attention as you scan the room. The buzz of bar talk and laughter rings in your ears as you see a couple tables with coin laid down as they play cards. “Huh. Doesn’t look like these bar games are just for fun.”

Viktor nods steadily as he follows your gaze and your thought process. “Mm…gambling?”

“Looks that way.” You watch as he tilts his head, considering that reality. “See anything you think you would win?”

Dexterous fingers divvy up the cogs in hand while he peers around the tables, pausing at one in particular with both cards and a wooden board riddled with holes. Eyes light up with arched brows as he nods. “Yes, I believe so…what about you?”

If the book club has taught you anything it’s that bar flies can and will kick your ass at cards. Your focus falls back to the dart board, only hesitating when you look at your bruised knuckle—a slight tremble still afflicting your dominant hand. “Maybe…”

Viktor watches your gaze travel from the board to your hand, biting his lip as the gears turn in his head.

You keep focus on the two throwing darts, trying to listen in on what they’re so heated about. The noise of the crowd drowns out most of their conversation, but it sounds like they can’t find one of their friends. When you turn back you find Viktor staring at the small scar on your cheek.

Had he not noticed it yet? Peculiar thought, considering he ran his thumb across it in the boat. Curiosity gets the best of you.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

A quick shake of his head brushes off whatever he was thinking about before he hands over your half of the cogs.

“I’m afraid you can’t afford that right now.”

Eyes wide and mouth agape, you cough out a laugh at his audacity. While he wasn’t completely wrong, his sense of humor easily catches you by surprise. Almost as much as his words of encouragement.

“But something tells me that you have a knack for getting what you want.” Whiskey eyes begin to drink you up and down playfully.

“Thaaat only happens when my luck isn’t dying a slow, agonizing death.” It’s a pitiful thought considering how unfortunately said luck as played out so far tonight.

“Ah, well in that case…” It all happens so quickly that you barely have time to process, let alone react to what’s happening.

As Viktor moves to step past you, he pushes his weight into his cane to turn and place his hand on your shoulder, eyes scanning your reaction while he holds you gently in place. Your heart jumps in your chest, unsure of what he’s doing but choosing to just trust him.

So, you stay still for him.

You catch the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth when he realizes what you’re doing and leans forward until you feel his lips press lightly against your cheek—kissing the faded scar where fletching from your arrow carved into you years ago. Heat rises to where his lips touch your skin and lingers even after he pulls away. With a crooked smile, he finishes his sentence before turning to make his way to the cribbage table.

“For good luck, of course.”

All you can manage is a dumbstruck expression as Viktor walks away—talking up the table to see if he can join the next game. You can distinguish his voice among the others, smooth and charming as always and aren’t surprised in the slightest when they offer him a chair.

You have to bite back the goofy grin trying to creep its way onto your lips as you walk towards the dart board. A new felt confidence rising within as you press now steady fingers to your cheek, whispering to no one.

“Of course…”

Maybe it’s the fact that your clothes were still damp. Maybe it’s because this group was already on edge. Or maybe you just simply aren’t as charismatic as Viktor, but joining the dart game was damn near impossible.

“We’re playing pairs, don’t have room for another.” A short man with dark hair tied up explains as the other eyes your clothes in disdain. At first glance the two men seem pretty ordinary, not wearing anything particularly eye-catching until you see their shoes.

Shiny buckles, polished leather without wear or tear, barely even a scuff on the soles.

Perfect, they’re topsiders.

Which means they’re loaded.

You notice the scorecard on the table next to them and see initials listed ‘DV | JT | JF’, cocking your brow with a grin when they see you catch them up in a lie about how many are in their group.

“If you’re scared of losing you just have to say so.” You tease at their egos, knowing it’ll only make it easier to get in on a game and win some coin as long as your hand behaves.

“Like hell, you look like you just crawled out of a sewer.”

The shorter man chimes in after his friend. “Can you even afford a wager?”

You hold out half the cogs that you have before tucking them back into your holster, grateful that their cocky expressions died down at least a little bit as you answer.

“Yeah. I think I can manage. Can you?”

“Don’t insult us.” The man with his hair in a ponytail holds out his share, the other follows showing his bet as well.

“Good, sounds like we have a game.” You glance at the scorecard again then back up. “So, where’s your third? Are they in?”

“We don’t know where the hell he ran off t—”

“Sorry!” A voice comes up from behind you, slightly out of breath as his steps hurry towards the group. “I found a pawn shop at the night market—couldn’t resist.”

Your attention shifts to the man coming up behind you. He’s a bit taller than you, clean-cut with dark hair and muscles that line his entire frame. The definition of a ‘pretty boy’ with a perfect pearly-white smile to match.

“Cigars. You had one job—pick up some cigars.”

Your ears perk up as you watch the newcomer set a wooden box down on the table, Remy’s seal holding the lid securely until they tear it open. The scent of tobacco mixed with molasses and clove fills the air and you recognize the blend immediately.

“Went with the Slow Burn collection, huh?”

All three sets of eyes are fixed on you, but your focus is on the one who brought the box. It looks like the first time he even realizes you’re there, looking to his friends in confusion then back to you.

“Yeah…the person at the cart said this R&R’s place is the best tobacconist in the undercity.”

“Oh, good to know.” You play with fire and attempt to figure out where the hell you are. “Where’s this ‘R&R’ place at?”

“The merchant said it’s about 4 miles up the ro—sorry, who are you?”

Fuck. That’s…not close, but that’s a problem for tomorrow.

“Oh sorry, I was just asking your friends if you’d be interested in a game?” Your eyes flit to the dart board then back. “Maybe throw some coin down—make it a little interesting?”

He glances at the other two. Ponytail shrugs while the other glares you down until he searches through the box. “Did you get a straight cutter? A light?”

The silence that follows the question has you rummaging in your holster as you anticipate pretty boy’s disappointing answer.

“I—no…I’ve never smoked before! I didn’t even think about—”

You interrupt with a shake of the waterproof matchbox you snagged from the boat; gods rest its soul. All eyes on you again until the one with the long hair speaks up. “Do you have a cutter too?”

“No, but if you give me one of those cigars, I’ll show you how to smoke without one.”

Did you need to take one of their cigars?

No.

But telling yourself that it’ll take the chill out of your bones was helping you feel less guilty about practically stealing a cigar from these poor Pilties. Can’t throw darts if you’re shivering, can you?

Course not.

“Can’t you just bite the tip off?” Between the wording of that sentence and the shorter man’s furrowed brows, it takes all the power in your being not to laugh. Must be the first time any of them have tried cigars.

“Uhh cap, not tip.” You start with a grimace. “And sure, if you want to fuck it up and have a shit smoke.” You shrug nonchalantly. “I’d do that with cheaper cigars though, not those.”

Although the two men you initially met seem put off by your deal, the pretty one is eagerly handing over one of his…well, your cigars to show him what to do.

“You got something that can create a puncture?” You ask before watching the stranger’s face light up, flashing a small gap in his toothy grin.

“Sure do.” He digs through a rucksack before holding out a miniature screwdriver. “Just got it from that pawn shop I was talking about.” As if to redeem himself for forgetting a cutter, the man shoots a glare over to the others before handing it over.

Vibrations trickle into your fingertips as you reach to take the tool from him. You hesitate as the veins that map your hands feel like they’re burning up and glance over to find curious eyes weighing on you. You shake off the sensation and grab the screwdriver to show the class how to puncture the cap…not tip.

It’s going to take a lot of effort and therapy to unhear ‘bite the tip off’.

“I’m assuming Dimitri and Fisher didn’t volunteer to be your partner.” The man asks, his eyes studying your movements and committing them to memory for next time.

Another glance to the scorecard then back to your task at hand has you putting the pieces together.

‘DV and JF—Dimitri and Fisher, that’s their names. Which just leaves JT…’

“That would be an accurate assumption.” You light up your cigar, the ‘J’ guy watching and learning until you pass the screwdriver and matches over to him. “From the looks of that scorecard though that’s not a bad thing.”

He laughs loudly at your insult and starts to puncture and light his own cigar. “Then it looks like we’re partners. I’m Jayce.”

Before he pulls the match away you instinctively reach out to stop him. “Wait ‘til the entire end is lit.” You put two fingers on his wrist to hold it there longer and feel a low, familiar buzz of energy shoot through your fingers, causing you to pull back immediately.

Jayce looks down as you pull your hand back and you speak up quickly. “Sorry, weird static…shock.” You try to explain away. Even if it’s not at all what that felt like. “Uh my name’s—I’m…” You hesitate to use your real name, not trusting strangers from topside with it. “Gray.”

…Can’t get more anonymous than that.

The raw energy running through your hands was baffling. You hadn’t felt this much power since you had a crystal set in your bow years ago. Despite the amount of time that had passed, you recognized the sensation like it was yesterday…but why now?

You glance over to find Viktor hard at work on the cribbage board—making small talk and fitting in well with his table. His peck on your cheek still stirred up warmth in your stomach…could that trigger this sort of reaction from you?

It seemed unlikely…but at the same time you’ve never really felt this way about anyone before.

“Alright, what’re we playing?” Dimitri interrupts your thoughts and Jayce is quick to answer.

“How about ‘Gotcha’?” He turns to check in with you. “You ever played?”

“Yeah—first to 301. Try and match your opponent’s score on the way up to put them back at zero.” You smirk when Dimitri and Fisher lay their coins on the table, adding your own with a quick glance to your new partner. “Let’s take your friends’ money.”

Jayce proved to be a lot of things tonight. A terrible smoker who needed to spit every few minutes from not being used to the sensation. A decent man who never once asked why you smelled like a kraken’s ass (if they even have one?) And a formidable dart player that made you wonder if he was an archer like you too.

The two of you had the best game you could account for. You weren’t sure why your abilities had popped up and stuck around for as long as they had, but you were able to keep your hand steady and zero in on each and every shot, making quick work of getting your share of coins for the night.

“You up for another one?” Jayce seems to be having fun with you. As much as you enjoyed his company, trusting topsiders was not on your agenda tonight.

“I try not to feed my gambling habits when I’m ahead.” You lie with a small chuckle. “But thanks for playing, it was a good game.”

“Really good. We make a decent team.” He holds his hand out for you to shake before finishing his thought. “Maybe our paths will cross again.”

You can’t help but smile at his wholesome grin, offering your hand out as well. “Maybe.” When you make contact, it feels like the air got knocked out of you, immediately causing your muscles to tense and the hair to stand up on the back of your neck.

You look down and narrow your eyes at his hand, trying to find the source of what keeps sending surges through you. “What the fuck is happen—” You cut your sentence off when you see he’s wearing a bracelet, a small blue crystal set into the leather.

A near twin to the one that was faceted in your bow.

And an explanation for what’s causing your magic to go haywire tonight.

You instinctively flip his hand over to get a better look, feeling him resist only slightly as you flick your gaze back up to him. “Where did you get this?”

He pulls his hand away and eyes you up and down defensively. “Why do you care?”

Fisher and Dimitri look completely lost at this entire exchange. You study Jayce’s expression further, unsure if he understands what he has attached to his wrist.

“My sister collects rocks—her birthday was yesterday and she would love it.” You shrug with a grin and pull out all of the cogs in your holster. “I’ll play you for it.”

The two men go wide-eyed at your wager, then back to Jayce. Half of your bet was a bluff. If he was as clueless as the others, he would take the wager in a heartbeat.

But if he did know what it was…

“No. I think I’m done for the night.”

Then that’s exactly what he would say.

As if Syd herself manifested in your mind, you push the topic and call out his inconsistencies.

“But you just said you were in for another?”

“Yeah, but you’re right. Better to stop while I’m ahead.”

“Why the sudden change of heart?”

“I—just. I—"

“Jayce, take the bet.” Fisher looks appalled at his friend’s resistance to playing for the absurd number of coins you’re offering. “It’s a rock man, they’re all over the place. I’ll get you another one.”

You see your partner subtly shake his head, a silent ‘No, you won’t’ that you could respect completely. You’re not sure why he has a crystal, he doesn’t seem to be a mage—if he is he has to be a worse one than you. But he recognizes the value of it at least.

You nod, reluctantly giving up the game to respect his wishes.

“I understand.” You hold eye contact with him, your words holding more meaning than one.

“I don’t.” Fisher all but barks back as you take your leave. You turn your head as you walk away with your winnings, enjoying the energy coursing through your veins while it lasts.

“Get a cutter with that prize money, Jayce.” You joke before walking away, a slight grin pulling at your lips when you hear his answer.

“Get some clean clothes, Gray.”

----------

A/N: Fun fact, Fisher is based on a real person/stranger I met while I was playing darts one night. I'll never know what his last name was but his first was Juan, hence his initials being JF :) Low key though he had hella reader energy, I got hustled pretty good that night.

As always thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Ghost

[naavispider]

Chapter 29 - ft. a rewrite of this scene, requested by anonymous

cw: disordered thoughts around eating tw: blades and potential thoughts of self harm, though this is not explicitly stated

The SeaDragon hummed quietly as they steadily navigated south. Quaritch had ordered the ship to target a different set of islands further inland, based on Ian Garvin’s advice and the lack of success from the previous two village raids. Perhaps Metkayina clans would be more forthcoming than Ta’unui. 

The top deck was quiet - the Sec-Ops teams had long since returned to the boat and retreated inside to their living quarters. The only thing this ship was missing was an avatar station. As it was, Quaritch and his team had to make do with sleeping under the stars once more. 

The floodlight had switched off by now. Quaritch checked his watch. 23:46. He sighed. This would be a long night. They had the light and warmth from the fire keeping them warm, and they’d slept much rougher than this in the forest, so it wasn’t that that worried Quaritch. 

The recoms all amused themselves on tablets or by playing cards. They'd even cracked open some cold ones, even though the effect wasn’t as strong on their recombinant bodies as it had been when they were human. 

No, the team was fine.

The issue was Spider. 

Right now, the boy was curled up a few feet away, having passed out almost as soon as he’d sat down. Quaritch could tell in their last conversation that Spider was starting to flag. 

Quaritch had never, ever meant for that idiot marine to stun Spider on the beach. He thought he’d dealt with the situation effectively, but in that moment blind rage had completely overcome him, filling him up from his feet right the way to the top of his head. He wouldn’t be able to get the image of Spider convulsing on the floor out of his mind for a long time. 

Jesus, that was the last thing the kid needed. He had taken it like a champ, of course he had, but Quaritch knew Spider hid a lot. 

He had to be on him constantly. The kid would have fallen asleep without eating anything since breakfast. He had also fallen asleep with his oxygen running low - Quaritch heard the warning beep and switched out the canister before the noise could wake Spider. It frustrated and softened him in equal measure. 

Spider had been stroppy with him that evening - but that was to be expected. The kid was running on about two hours of real sleep, and had had a tough day. 

The problem was that Quaritch needed Spider to keep having tough days if they were going to be successful in hunting Sully. 

He hated it, but it was true. 

He watched the sleeping child, listening to the soft hiss of his mask as his breathing filled the moments of quiet. It was a reassuring sound. He felt sorry for the kid. How had it come to this? That he had to use his own son in the worst ways possible?

Whenever Quaritch had these thoughts, he reminded himself that all this was ultimately for Spider. The kid may be fond of Sully now, but the ex-marine had never taken proper care of him. Besides, once Sully was dead, Quaritch and Spider could move on with their lives and build a future, possibly together. He hoped it would be that easy. 

Wainfleet and Mansk roared with laughter at something Savine said, and Spider stirred in his sleep. He almost yelled at them to keep the noise down, but refrained himself. 

The squad had been great, getting on board with Spider and helping out where they could - especially Lyle. 

Quaritch fingered his queue as he stared now at his team, fondness warming his cold heartstrings. 

“Get in on this, boss!” Wainfleet called over, smiling at the state of the game before them. 

“Deal me in,” Quaritch took him up, sliding into the circle. 

“Savine’s winning so far,” Mansk explained. 

“Cheat?” Quaritch clarified. “I’m not surprised. That girl can lie and say she’s an ostrich, and I’d believe her.”

“Thanks boss! It’s a natural talent,” she grinned back at him. 

Quaritch appraised his hand - pretty crap. 

He smiled as though he had a decent array of cards.

Fike went next. “Two fours,” he said, placing two cards face down in the middle of the circle.

The turn passed to Wainfleet. “A five.”

Quaritch started ballsy, because why not? “Two sevens,” he announced smugly, discarding the cards into the pile.

“Yeah right ,” Savine mocked. 

“You calling bull?”

Savine smirked knowingly, “No, I think I’ll save it for when the deck’s larger.”

“Anyone else?” Quaritch asked, daring them to call him out on his lie.

Wainfleet stared at him, calculating. Quaritch met the man’s glistening eyes. He raised his eyebrows mockingly. 

Lyle shook his head in defeat. 

Quaritch smirked. 

“Well no one needs to suspect this is a jack - you bastards know I have one,” Savine continued. 

“Hmm,” Mansk replied, widening his eyes in obvious disbelief. 

“Go on! Call it!” she jeered. 

“Nah, I’m good,” Mansk said as he considered his next move. He pulled out one of his last remaining cards. “Queen.” 

The circle accepted this, and the round returned to Fike. 

It felt good to get lost for a while in the game, knowing that Spider was safe and nearby, content in his sleep. Eventually, the inevitable happened and Savine discarded her final card. It was Wainfleet who called Bull, but sure enough, the card was a king. 

“Suckers!” she cheered, throwing her hands in the air. 

“Alright babe, no one likes a show off,” Mansk pulled her in to kiss her neck.

At that moment, Quaritch caught Wainfleet’s eye. They both grinned in annoyance at the display of public affection. 

“I’d tell you losers to get a room, but I know that’s not possible right now,” Wainfleet remarked. 

Savine shoved a finger up at him and Mansk retreated from the nook above her shoulder. 

“Another round?” Fike suggested. 

They agreed, and Mansk redealt the cards. 

It was past 1am when Quaritch noticed that Spider had woken. The boy was lying watching them. When he noticed Quaritch looking, he turned over so his back was to the squad. 

“Give me a sec,” Quaritch mumbled to the recoms, shifting out of the circle and approaching Spider’s back. “You alright champ? You have another bad dream?”

“No,” came the mumbled response. Quaritch could smell the lie.

“It’s late. You want to go inside?” The boy seemed chill enough to go to bed without supervision now. 

Spider shook his head, surprising Quaritch. 

“You’re comfortable here?” he asked, incredulity seeping through. 

Spider just nodded, still facing away from Quaritch. 

He looked so small. So vulnerable. 

Quaritch hesitated for a moment, before extending his arm to hold Spider’s. The boy didn’t react. Quaritch wanted to do more - to pull him in, to hold him close - but he didn’t. He just squeezed Spider’s arm gently before returning to the squad. 

************

Dawn came too soon for everybody’s liking, especially Spider’s. Although thankful to escape the feeling of utter darkness that the night had brought, he couldn’t deny that waking up and facing a new day filled with fresh horrors seemed worse even than the anxiety of his nightmares. The sounds of activity around him were what brought Spider into unwilling consciousness. Shouts and sounds of machinery from early morning duty floated up from the well deck below, and Spider rolled over, opening his eyes. Savine and Mansk were still asleep, lying close by on the deck, and Fike was sprawled on the floor halfway towards the edge of the ship. Spider hoped that one good wave would be enough to roll him overboard. By the soft light breaking over the horizon, Spider guessed that it was still too early for breakfast.

Wainfleet was sat up against a wall, watching something on his tablet. 

Quaritch was nowhere to be seen. 

“What time is it?” yawned Spider. 

Wainfleet glanced at his watch. “06:49. Breakfast is open but we’ll wait till everyone’s ready.”

Spider wanted to ask what the plan for the day was, but found he was too afraid to know the answer. Yeah , he’d made a deal with himself yesterday - he wouldn’t dwell on anything bad. Past or present - it only led to him feeling sorry for himself. Today was a new day; it might not be as horrific as he would imagine.

“What are you doing?” Spider asked instead. 

“Watching cartoons.”

“No, really.”

Wainfleet glanced up at Spider. “Watching cartoons… really.”

What? Spider’s face spread into an uncontrollable grin. Lyle Wainfleet? Lord Egghead himself? Watching cartoons ? Those were two things that Spider would never have put in the same sentence. “You’re taking the piss!”

Wainfleet didn’t find Spider’s incredulity amusing. He sighed exasperatedly, and gestured for Spider to come and see for himself. 

Spider slid over, and leaned in to see that - Eywa - Wainfleet was telling the truth. On the screen was what looked like an old, grainy movie from Earth. Spider had seen his share of old Earth films, but his selection had been limited to the ones that the science guys had downloaded before leaving their planet. His favourite was called Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , which Norm had told him was ‘iconic’. Spider had to admit that Ferris was an extremely cool guy, despite the movie being almost 200 years old. The customs and culture had impressed on Spider how different life on Earth really had been. It had made him realise that he may be small and pink, but he wasn’t human.

The images on Wainfleet’s screen looked completely unfamiliar, though they were clearly made for children. A big grey cat was chasing after a small brown mouse, and their legs were spinning far too fast, turning into a blur. 

“What is it?” Spider asked, amazed and disdained at the same time. 

“The cat’s called Tom. The running joke is that he can never catch Jerry, the mouse.” 

Spider looked at Wainfleet to check the man wasn’t suffering from a concussion, or perhaps a stroke. 

“Don’t look so disgusted kid, this shit was gold back on Earth.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Spider replied. 

“Don’t take Wainfleet’s word for anything,” Quaritch announced. The man had returned from wherever he’d been and was rummaging through his pack a few feet away.

“Dickwad,” Wainfleet muttered, not gracing Quaritch with a look. 

Spider huffed a smile and continued watching the tablet over Wainfleet’s shoulder. 

“Rise and shine blue team!” Quaritch boomed over the rest of the recoms. “Let’s get some grub and go over the plan for the next few days.”

Ten minutes later found the squad sat awkwardly on the floor in the corner of the cafeteria, the tables being too small for any of them to sit on. The facilities aboard the SeaDragon were modest compared to Bridgehead, and definitely not designed for avatars. 

Spider sat by himself at a table nearby, within earshot still, but wanting the illusion of a few minutes of space. He stared down at his bowl of porridge. His stomach growled painfully. He knew he should eat. He wanted to eat. But his appetite had disappeared when the rest of his freedom had. He took a deep breath, summoning the will. Picking up the spoon, he forced a mouthful in. It was bland and tasteless as he tried to swallow. Dutifully, he continued until half the meal was gone. He was pretty impressed with himself, until a voice - the voice - ejected some unwelcome words of advice. 

“Get that down you, Spider.”

Spider grit his teeth and squeezed the spoon on the table. Fuck him . “I don’t want it, tastes of piss,” he declared suddenly, pushing the bowl away from him. His determination to eat evaporated completely. 

Quaritch tried to persuade Spider into something else, but Spider wasn’t having any of it. 

Just fuck off , he wanted to say. “Will you leave it?” he growled. His boldness surprised even himself for a moment. Quaritch had just really, really riled him up. 

Quaritch looked affronted. “No I will not leave it,” he replied in equal hardness. “You will eat enough or I will make you.”

Spider stood up, fists clenched in fury, anger seeping into the air around him. Crossing to the exit without saying a word, he stormed through the sliding gates and flung his mask on before finding his way out of the airlock and back on to the top deck. 

He just needed to get away. Breathe the cool air again. The thought suddenly made him check his oxygen - alarmed, he realised he hadn’t checked it for 24 hours. He should surely be dead by now. The flashing figure on the exopack said 87%. 

That didn’t make any sense. 

He tried to work through it as he made his way to the area further towards the front of the ship, flinging his legs over the side as he flopped down.

The gentle wind cooled his skin, and fine sea spray misted his ankles from the waves below. 

He definitely wouldn’t have been on 87% last night. Besides, the warning beeps would have woken him up. So how…? 

And then it clicked. 

Quaritch must have swapped his O2 canister out while he slept. It was the only thing that made sense. Spider bowed his head, resting his chin on his chest. The cold metal railing rested against his forehead. 

Quaritch had just threatened him. But he had also saved his life without Spider even realising it. 

He could not keep up. This was too much for anyone. He had always been proud of the way that he could keep up with the Omatikaya; his stamina and strength far outshined the rest of the humans on Pandora before the RDA returned. Jake had called him a ‘tough kid’, and Spider had worn it like a badge. 

He loved it. 

But this… for the first time in his life, he wondered whether he could live up to that label. 

Something shiny caught his eye, glistening just next to where he was sitting. Frowning, he picked it up and turned it over in his hands. It was small and metallic - it looked like a tiny component of some machine or weaponry. Strange, for it to just be discarded up here. It was sharp, sharp enough to cut. 

Spider stared at it for a long moment. 

“Hey!” came a furious voice from behind him, making him jump and grab hold of the railings. 

“ The Hell do you think you’re doing? ”

Spider had never heard Quaritch shout unless in battle, but there was a first time for everything. 

“Sorry I stormed off okay…” but Quaritch didn’t let him finish, instead seizing Spider’s hand and prizing the metal blade from his grip. 

Why was Quaritch so angry? This reaction seemed way too dramatic just because he left breakfast without asking first. 

“ What is this? ” Quaritch demanded, crouching low to better look Spider in the eyes as he held up the blade.

The intensity of the man’s glare scared Spider. “I… dunno…” he said, at a loss for how Quaritch wanted him to respond.

Quaritch held his gaze for a long time, eyes scanning over Spider’s face like an X-ray. 

“Let go of me!” Spider yanked his arm back - rubbing it where Quaritch had gripped so hard. 

“Spider… you weren’t…” Quaritch was clearly struggling hard to find the words. “You weren’t…”

“No jackass, I wasn’t.” Spider replied harshly. 

Quaritch’s eyes continued searching Spider’s for the truth. Spider held his frown in place, unyielding. 

Eventually, Quaritch seemed to accept this, and threw the blade overboard, hard.

To Spider’s annoyance, he got down next to him, swinging his own legs over the side too. 

“Look kid, I know you’ve not had it easy.” Spider rolled his eyes.

“Don’t do that!” Quaritch snapped. “Just… listen, okay? Proper. None of this sarcastic crap anymore, do you copy?” 

Spider frowned, unsure where this was going. 

“I know it’s been difficult for you. I know that I’m not always what you need. I have to be… harsh, sometimes. I’m your Colonel, I gotta look out for my squad, to keep everybody safe. That’s my job. And to do that, sometimes things come out more… indelicately than they maybe should. I’ve told you before that my main mission is first and foremost to keep you safe.”

“I thought your main mission was to kill Jake Sully?” Spider interrupted as rudely as he could. 

“That is the RDA’s mission, which I am duty bound to see through to the end. Do I believe in it wholeheartedly? Yes. That’s a fact. But my mission is to keep you alive. And I would just really appreciate some help with that every now and again , do you hear me?” Spider didn’t answer.

“That means no more solemn staring-at-blades bullcrap. Checking your damn oxygen once in a while. And for Christ’s sake, making sure you eat properly.”

That last one touched a nerve. 

A lump found its way to the back of Spider’s throat. Angry tears threatened to well up behind his mask, but he wouldn’t allow them to form. He’d be damned if he did. The times where he would allow Quaritch to hold him as he cried were long gone. All that was shattered now. Spider might not have much left after everything that had been taken from him, but he did have the fragmented pieces of his self-worth. 

He may long for Quaritch to reach out and hug him, and tell him everything will be okay. He may long to accept food packets and join in cards with him. He may long to be told that he was doing great, and believe it. 

But he couldn’t have any of those things. Those things were for people far more fortunate than him. People with a normal family and a normal life. People who had others looking out for them out of pure love. Since Spider didn’t qualify for any of these criteria, he couldn’t allow himself for one second to believe that he deserved any of the comfort that Quaritch was trying to offer him. 

He was alone, completely, and if it meant staying loyal to Jake, to Kiri, to the Na’vi - to Pandora - then he always would be. 

And that was fine.

[tarotbiscuits]

First of all thank you for the game

Initals-Riya 💙🦋

Capricorn ♑️

Assumption about you that may be you are in witch craft or you like candels 🙂

Thanks and love u ❤️

You're welcome!! We single girlies gotta celebrate Valentine's day somehow💅💅. I'm not into witchcraft, but i love candles!!

Is there anyone crushing on you this Valentine's day? + If yes, who are they?

knight of wands horizontal clarified by page of cups rx, three of cups and the fool; two of pentacles clarified by ten of cups, ten of pentacles rx, king of wands; seven of cups horizontal clarified by five of swords; death rx clarified by seven of swords and four of pentacles rx

Yes!! You have got 2 secret admirers. One of them is someone from the past, most likely an ex, while the other one is someone who is currently in your life (or you've atleast met them once).

The ex seems to have a hard time moving on. This Valentine's day, they are reminded of your absence and how much it hurts not to have you in their lives anymore. It seems that they either cheated on you before or they were generally not a very honest person. The cards are telling me they might have lied about their finances. Rn they don't know if they should start dating around or come back to you. Either your relationship or your last conversation ended up on a bad note.

The other person seems to be someone from your friend group or someone you met recently at a club while hanging out with your friends. I feel like they've tried flirting with you before, but not in a direct manner. They're on the fence when it comes to pursuing you. They want to take a risk and confess their feelings to you, but at the same time they're also scared of ruining the friendship between you two.

[littlebigmouse]

Everyone is out here theorising that Jacob Hopkins will kidnap or attack the witches or join forces with not-so-dead-Belos. And don't get me wrong, I fully agree, dude is an antagonist and he kinda sucks, but can you imagine - Hunter, having seen the statue of the Wittebane's wants to find out more about them and thus visits the Gravesfield Historical Society. The witch kids haven't been in Gravesfield for long enough for the incident with Jacob to have come up yet, so he has no reason to avoid the building and/or the curator in question. Also, as long as he wears a hat, he does look human, so- Jacob Hopkins, recently humiliated but otherwise neither charged nor harmed, finds a scrungly looking teenager at the front desk. Jacob assumes the guy is here to ask for more game cards - they're out of stock - and is ready to send him on his way, but instead the boy shyly asks about the founders of the town. Jacob is startled, but pleasantly surprised, and a short conversation later, where Jacob has only shared some basics, the teenager is still there! and eager to learn! Slowly but surely, Jacob starts giving him a tour of their exhibits, shares all the tidbits and anecdotes. The teenager flinches when Jacob mentions witch-hunts and stares at the town crest for a solid thirty seconds with an expression so heartbroken Jacob doesn't even say anything about the clear drift in attention. The teenager remains polite and reserved, asking clarifying questions, but always in strange or round-about ways. Jacob does his best to answer any and all enquiries with his usual enthusiasm, and it must be working because well, the kid's still here, isn't he? "Why do you want to know all this, anyway? School project?", Jacob asks, an hour into the tour. The teenager doesn't meet his eyes, hasn't for a good while of the tour, really. "Something like that. I just... recently moved here. Wanted to figure out some of the... town history I guess. I don't know much about, uhh, local history? Yeah, so. Sorry, if I, uh, was wasting your time." And well, Jacob can't have that, encouraging the local youth to learn about their anchestors IS his job, after all, even if it's not his most important calling. And also, Jacob can't be sure, of course, the teen is being dodgy at best, but he thinks he can spot a fellow lonely nerd. The move must have been hard, judging by the eye-bags, and the scars speak for themselves. Bullying, probably. Either way, Jacob has found a kindred soul, and if he can make the life of one teen a little less miserable, and instill some respect for history? He doesn't even have to think about the offer, when they are done with their tour, almost closing time, and the teen is eyeing a shelf of books in a corner of the building. "Feel free to come back tomorrow, if you want to learn more, or learn about history in general, or just... need a quiet space to hangout. Not that many people come by here these days, anyways." And the kid - Hunter, he introduced himself - nods and almost smiles. "Thank you, I appreciate the offer, I think I will." Anyway and that's how Hunter became a flat-earther for week before Luz and Co nipped that in the bud hard.

[mable-stitchpunk]

Going Home in a Box: Chapter 59 - Teaser

Natalie waited a few days before going ahead with reporting her findings about the elusive white rabbit. Just long enough that the security footage would’ve been written over and impossible to retrieve. Nobody would be able to double-check and risk catching something they weren’t supposed to. Bafflingly, they didn’t even do that to check for what happened to Chica. They just told her to and took her word for it. Likely because nobody seemed surprised or concerned for Chica.

That alone said plenty about Fazbear Entertainment’s concern for their safety and wellbeing. She could only hope they took the paying customers into higher account.

So, Natalie marched herself into the office to see Wight. Alas, he was out. After considering whether it was worth waiting or it could be taken to one of his underlings, she found herself sitting across the desk of a very pointy woman. One not too far from Wight’s age with a permanently furrowed brow which intruded upon what could’ve otherwise been pretty features. She kept her gaze down for most of the beginning of the conversation, filling out a form unrelated to Natalie’s query.

“So, you need to file a security report. I’m assuming on Chica’s recent accident,” the woman offered. Natalie didn’t even know her name. She never introduced herself and there was no name plaque.

“I already did. This is about something else. There’s been someone trespassing into the Pizzaplex at night, a woman wearing a white rabbit costume,” Natalie answered.

The woman gave her a dryly questioning look. She seemed neither convinced nor concerned.

“I know it sounds crazy, but I saw her with my own eyes. Twice, in fact,” Natalie explained.

“You saw a woman in a rabbit costume. Do you mean like a playboy bunny costume?”

“What? No! Just a bunny costume. All white with red eyes.”

“So, an Easter rabbit. You saw an Easter rabbit running around the Pizzaplex,” she clarified doubtfully. It was clear now that she didn’t believe her and was being obvious about.

“Yes.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“I can tell you don’t believe me-.”

“Ma’am, if I can be honest with you, I don’t know what game you’re playing,” the woman answered. “This is a very important time of the year for our business. You couldn’t have chosen a worse time to start making outlandish accusations, which makes me very suspicious to why you would.”

Natalie was startled and flustered by the accusation. With nowhere to turn, she was forced to play her only card.

“They’re not outlandish accusations. I have pictures of this woman running around in the basement, and it looked like she had a knife on her,” she said with exasperation.

That changed the look on the woman’s face instantly. First to surprise and then to something much sharper. Her voice switched as well from dry and unenthused to sharp and direct.

“You are not authorized to remove security footage out of the Pizzaplex. You will need to hand those over immediately.”

Natalie all but recoiled in shock at the comment. Then she narrowed her eyes at the accusation.

“How can I hand them over? They’re in the Pizzaplex. In the computer,” she retorted.

“You didn’t remove any copies of the footage?” she pressed. To which Natalie lied and said she hadn’t. “Good. Very good, then we don’t have a problem.”

The disbelief returned to the blond’s face. “What do you mean, we don’t have a problem? There is a woman in a rabbit suit running around the Pizzaplex with a knife! And she’s come back at least twice.”

“Isn’t it your job to be dealing with that? It certainly isn’t mine, and it’s not Mr. Wight’s. Now, I would recommend you figuring something out without getting law enforcement involved, if you want to keep your job,” she hissed. “This business hinges on trust, and we will lose all of our goodwill if someone starts spreading accusations that remind the community of the rumors about Freddy’s.”

“They weren’t rumors.”

“They were.”

“They weren’t,” Natalie snapped. She was barely able to keep herself in line and only did so for her own wellbeing. “Also, don’t threaten my job. Mr. Wight’s done nothing but sung praises about my work and he’s the one who signs my paycheck. If you have a problem with it, you go to him. Or better yet, maybe I should go to him. We can see what he thinks about all this.”

Now it was the woman who looked startled. Even lifting a hand to her chest as though she had just been personally attacked. Natalie didn’t feel much victory as she turned on her heel and strode out of the office.

She had almost thought that Fritz had been exaggerating about how little Freddy’s cared about safety, or assumed that was the old Freddy’s, but no. A lack of concern for staff and patrons was very much still present at Freddy Fazbear’s.

Natalie stormed out of the office with a sour look on her face, unsure if she should be relieved that Fazbear Entertainment seemingly didn’t care or just outright offended at whatever just happened. Honestly, she was leaning towards the latter. She huffed out a very unkind word under her breath.

“I know, right? She’s just such a pain in the neck.”

And was promptly blindsided by someone waiting beside the door. Her head snapped over and her stomach nearly plummeted at the sight of Ness standing there. Like she had been listening, at least the closeness to the door suggested so.

“Did you hear us…?” Natalie dared to ask.

“What? Oh, no! I wasn’t eavesdropping! I just meant I’ve run into her a few times and she’s, yeah, she’s a lot. Even Mr. Wight doesn’t get along with her, and I mean, can you blame him?” Ness said. Her face broke into an excited grin. “Speaking of Mr. Wight, take a look at what I’ve got.”

She lifted what looked to be a little coupon book with a Pizzaplex logo on it between her hands. She flipped through them in front of her, allowing Natalie to get a few brief glimpses at coupons inside.

“Coupons?”

“For the Pizzaplex! Wight gave them for me because I said I’d go to the retreat with him. Look! Seventy-five percent off mini-golf, twenty percent off a membership to Mazercise, free refills to all mega-sized mug drinks!” Ness listed off. She waved the coupons in her hand. “Okay, so, I don’t really want to spend my life hanging out at the Pizzaplex alone like a weirdo, so why don’t you come with me, and we like… blow through most of these in one day? What do you say?”

She sounded so excited about the prospect. So bouncy and thrilled at the idea of them hanging out.

Natalie only noticed now how Ness’ eager little motions seemed to line up with Vanny’s. She really hoped she was just imagining it, even though she was almost completely convinced that this was the white rabbit out of costume standing before her.

“You went on the retreat already?” she asked. Buying herself a little time to consider her answer.

“No, we’re not leaving until the seventeenth. Just enough time for him to maybe change his mind? Hopefully.”

“You don’t have to go.”

“I think I do. I took the coupons,” Ness pointed out. “So, what do you say? Girls’ night out? Or day. Afternoon.”

What could’ve been such an innocent offer a week or two ago was suddenly much less safe. Ignoring the fact that Ness might’ve been listening in on her, but now she had reasons to believe Ness herself wasn’t quite what she seemed to be.

It was like walking a tight-rope, and Natalie considered it for a second. Eventually she came to a decision.

“You know what? Sure! I’ve got nothing else going on,” Natalie agreed. She had a bit of a bad feeling about this, but she had a worse feeling about giving Ness a reason to retaliate. Though she wasn’t going to open herself up to that much risk without a backup plan. “Hey, do you mind if I invite someone to come with us?”

[viviangohcn]

What is Social Gaming?

Social gaming refers to online video games that are widely played and available only through social media platforms (Bernachi, n.d.). These games are made to promote social interaction and conversation about the game both inside and outside of the game. They usually have multiplayer gaming mechanics and gamification systems.

Types of Games:

Card games

Board games

Mobile games

Social network games

Alternate reality games

LAN parties

Miniature wargaming

Live action role-playing games

Tabletop games

Massively multiplayer online games

Four Types of Play of Roger Caillois

French sociologist Roger Caillois developed four basic categories of play to characterize the roles in games and their intricacies:

Agon: This involves competition and is characterized by the presence of rules and the desire to win. It encompasses activities such as sports and board games

Alea: Games of chance fall under this category, where ability is not as important as luck in determining the result. Lottery games and gambling are two examples.

Mimicry: Role-playing, pretend play, and simulation are all part of this kind of play. People can take on several roles and identities, which encourages imagination and creativity.

Ilinx: Disorientation and vertigo are symptoms of ilinx. Activities that cause vertigo or changed perception, such spinning or some amusement park rides, fall under this category of play.

Caillois further divided these categories into two types of play:

Paida: This type of play is more spontaneous, exuberant, and unstructured. It corresponds to mimicry and ilinx and is associated with Mead's concept of pretend play.

Ludus: Ludus play is highly regulated and consists of structured, well-defined activities. It is translates to Mead's category of "games" and includes contests (agon) and games of chance (alea).

Are gaming communities becoming less about play and more about monetisation?

According to (Daniels, 2023), the conventional idea of play within these groups has been impacted by the growing tendency of commercialization in gaming communities. More and more gaming communities are concentrating on monetization techniques in order to leverage their user base and engagement. This shift is evident in various way:

Impact on consumer behavior

Sponsorships and advertising

Web3 and game monetization

Social gaming marketing

Diverse monetization models

Source: https://youtu.be/ARV5QCDb2UE

Has the Covid-19 pandemic changed the public perception of gaming?

It is true that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a variety of effects on how the general public views games. The consequences of the epidemic on gaming behavior and players' well-being have been clarified by research and studies. Here are some key findings:

Increased gaming activity

Research has shown that during the Covid-19 epidemic, young people's gaming engagement increased overall (Haug et al., 2022). Due to the epidemic and its accompanying constraints, people spent more time at home and played more video games for amusement and social connection.

Concerns and Public Health Initiatives

Concerns over young people's lack of physical activity, poor mental health, and sleep issues have been highlighted by the pandemic's increased gaming participation (Haug et al., 2022). It has been suggested that public health initiatives stress the promotion of physical exercise and create practical plans to stop harmful gaming habits.

Perceived benefits of gaming

Online gaming may enhance young people's psychosocial development in cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social domains, according to some research. Furthermore, it has been discovered that social gaming during social separation significantly but modestly lessens the experience of loneliness.

Negative perceptions

Negative themes have surfaced surrounding the belief that playing video games was a way to pass the time during the pandemic, notwithstanding any potential advantages (Barr & Copeland-Stewart, 2021).

In summary, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a rise in youth gaming, and opinions on the effects of gaming on wellbeing are beginning to take shape, with both positive and negative views being expressed. Public health activities are necessary to address the challenges of physical inactivity and mental health disorders, even as other research emphasize the potential benefits of gaming.

Source: https://youtu.be/vL4W2zdWL9k

References

Bernachi, M. (n.d.). Social Gaming: What it is, benefits, and examples of platforms. https://www.cyberclick.net/numericalblogen/social-gaming-what-it-is-benefits-and-examples-of-platforms

Daniels, B. (2023, April 13). 10 tried & proven ways to monetize your gaming community in 2022. StriveCloud. https://strivecloud.io/blog/monetize-discord-communities/

Haug, E., Mæland, S., Lehmann, S., Bjørknes, R., Fadnes, L. T., Sandal, G. M., & Skogen, J. C. (2022). Increased gaming during COVID-19 Predicts physical inactivity among youth in Norway—A Two-Wave Longitudinal Cohort study. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.812932

Barr, M., & Copeland-Stewart, A. (2021). Playing video games during the COVID-19 pandemic and effects on Players’ Well-Being. Games and Culture, 17(1), 122–139. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211017036

[lostwords-found]

Whew. I've gotten so used to people politely ignoring the name on my debit card that being asked point-blank by the guy who runs the local coffee shop, "So, are you transitioning, or...?" was very much not on my bingo card for today. The hazards of coming to work for half the year in an extremely small, extremely rural town 3000 miles from home 🙃

It all turned out okay. I managed to squash my immediate impulse to freeze up, said yes as calmly as I could, and clarified the shortened version of my legal name that I currently use. The guy immediately addressed me that way and said "Hey, congratulations, man--good for you! Totally support that, I've got your back." We moved on to conversation about other things, and he ended by welcoming me to town and saying hey, he was down for a game of pool at the bar if I ever wanted one.

So he genuinely seemed to mean well. This is a pretty conservative area with... very few visibly queer people, I doubt he gets too many customers with women's names on their cards and beard stubble on their faces, and I really think he was mainly curious and wanted to express support and just did so kinda awkwardly. Could he have just not asked? Would that have been better? Maybe, yeah, but eh... look, it's a town of under 2000 people, there's no such thing as people minding their own business. And if I'm going to spend several months as a weird outsider here then honestly, it's probably just as well to get at least some of that weirdness addressed openly and upfront. Particularly since it's really not a big secret that I'm trans.

Sure did take my pulse about an hour to settle back down out of fight or flight mode, though 😮‍💨

[alyjojo]

The Person On Your Mind in May 🎢 2023 - Cancer

Whole of their energy towards Cancer: 5 Pentacles

You’ve got this person very upset. For some, this person is your Twin. Going by the messages. Not everyone has a Twin, so if not, it’s an ex. They feel you pulling away from them. They know you have other people (or just one that’s out here) that you’re flirting with or loosely dating. They’re very upset and panicking because they don’t want to lose you, they feel discarded by you.

Feelings: Ace of Cups

This person wants to “start over” with you completely. I don’t get past drama, nothing caused heartache or anything like that…that I can see. They love you and want you to love them back, they’ll pretty much do anything you want them to. Your message being “greedy” shows you like the dating game and keeping it casual with multiple options…or you just want to keep both people. You could be the runner, if this Twin thing applies to you, it won’t everywhere. I don’t usually see too many runners that are spiritually inclined, this could also be a cross-watching read for someone dealing with a Cancer. If so, you’re probably right, they want to keep both people.

Intentions: Knight of Cups & Ace of Wands rev

They love you, they want to be romantic with you, and it’s not even about passion. In fact they seem to want to stuff passion in their back pocket, I don’t know if you’ve said something like…you’re not interested in intimacy, or you’re waiting, if so that’s perfectly fine with this person. They want to be sweet, wine 🍷 & dine 🥘 you, but more importantly, have a full and thorough conversation about this other person you’re involved with. Either you’re dating them, it’s a “work husband/wife” type of thing, 3 Pentacles shows 3. Both Knights appear as…Knights, very young, and your message is also young. But they see you as a Queen. Could be an age difference between you & these people. They just want to know the truth about this other person, and where they fit in your life, what do you really want, and does it involve them?

Actions: 6 Pentacles

They are very generous with you, could be giving you a gift. Whatever they’re doing is clever, thought out, something you may not expect and tricky or manipulative, but in a positive way? I don’t get them being a bad person, nor their intentions. They’re just trying to sway you into committing to them. Because they love you. This could have something to do with finances, joint things, buying something and putting your name on it too? If that applies, you’d know. It’s practical, lasting, and meaningful too, whatever it is, something they know you want. They feel you moving away from them and towards something else, and they are trying to stop that from happening. For those of you with Twins…you’ll see them again, but not anything like you saw them before.

Messages:

Their side:

- Twin Flame 🔥

- EX Drama

Your side:

- Forever Young

- Greedy 🤑

Possible signs:

Taurus 💯, and to clarify I pulled another Taurus card to make it four 😆 Gemini & Virgo too

If you’re dealing with:

Knight of Pentacles & 8 Pentacles, you could be dealing with a Virgo more than usual, especially if you work together, something good is happening there. This is a very slow, methodical, work focused energy, living day to day in a monotonous way, a lot of your friends or contacts here are through your job, at least this month. Or it’s what you talk about.

Aries - telling you some kind of truth or news that makes you very sad, or that’s switched

Taurus - something is ending for them, could be with a person, possibly a fire sign, or they may also be moving homes/relocating

Gemini - could be introducing you to a Queen of Pentacles, could be Capricorn/earth sign, someone they’re getting seriously involved with

Cancer - dealing with something shocking financially, either because of you, with you, one of you is leaving the other one…The Devil clarifies something isn’t right with them 😕

Leo - focused on their work, money, where that’s going, could be stuck in a rut/routine and need to be shown a good time

Virgo - a very positive ending and a celebration with friends, good vibes with them

Libra - loves you deeply and is playing it safe for now, they’re just enjoying the moment

Scorpio - jumping into something new with you that’s 10 Cups for them, if you’re dating them then you’re everything they’ve ever wanted 🧡

Sagittarius - could be on vacation, taking a break, needing to heal, or someone in their family is dealing with this. If they’re not speaking much to you, that’s why.

Capricorn - hurt because they expected movement with you and you don’t seem to care

Aquarius - holding back because either they’re pissed at you, or you’re pissed at them, they’re just gonna go do their own thing and not deal with it

Pisces - arguing with a boss/father, or some kind of authority figure, could be police, laws, lawyers, they feel something is not fair. Could have expected one thing and got another.