#also this looks so cool with the bits that are lit up and the map being nighttime

[pookietv]

aquatic missile | arthurtv

had this idea that i thought was adorable so here

have a little arthur with a crush on a marine biologist !!!!

after arthur had moved to london, finally getting somewhat used to the area he had moved to, he had become slightly socially worn out from seeing his friends much more often, being exposed to many more social situations all whilst trying to unpack and organise his new flat.

so he had decided to abandon his responsibilities for the day to go to the aquarium, which was honestly one of the things he had been looking forward to most when moving to a bigger city then he was used to, the museums, zoos, and aquariums he could finally visit.

he was happy going alone, wanting to unwind, his headphones hanging from his neck, ready to play some music as he strolled through and gawked at all the sea life.

when he walked into the lobby, he noticed the place was quite empty, but it didn't wholly surprise him - it was 11am on a tuesday, most people were probably at work or school, and he had somewhat been glad it was empty.

he walked up to the desk, slightly looking up at the woman at the desk before back down to his feet for a moment.

the worker was quite pretty.

"hi, can i help you?" the woman spoke, in a sweetly helpful way.

"hello, i just wanted to get a ticket?" he said, a little quietly.

"just a one day general admission?" she asked, and he confirmed with a nod of his head.

"yeah, that sounds good to me," he nodded, his eyes slightly crinkling as he offered her a slightly awkward smile.

"have you been before? we have a little leaflet with a map in that might help if you'd like one, you can obviously just wander as you please but if theres specific things you'd like to see, they're all labelled in here," she offered, placing a small blue coloured leaflet on the desk, his fingers gently reaching to take it, nodding gratefully.

"oh, thank you, yeah.. i mean, i love all the sea creatures but i do really like the sharks," he admitted with a small laugh, and she nodded, giggling a little herself.

"oh, me too.. the sharks are my favourite by a mile, i even have a specific favourite shark, they actually let me name her," she smiled, and his eyes lit up.

"no way, really? what did you call her?" he asked, clearly interested.

"a little rogue but i called her missile," she said bashfully, and he laughed.

"that is very cool." he confirmed, and she blushed a little with a nod.

arthur handed her the money for the ticket, taking it from her with a small thanks as he headed his way into the aquarium.

he could easily spend hours in the aquarium, and he did, meandering slowly and stopping at each small fish that he could see, reading all the boards with the facts on, and by the time he had even looked down at his phone he noticed it was already 2pm, and he was approaching the shark section of the aquarium, a grin on his face at the prospect.

he had barely ran into anyone whilst walking through the winding path of the place, and in the shark section he could only see one person in the whole big area, a big glass tunnel, someone hunched over on a bench, eating and watching the sharks on the other side.

he began slowly walking around, his head focussed on looking up at the glass, watching the sharks swim around, even over his head when he was lucky before he heard noise.

"oh, hi again," a small familiar voice said, and he turned to the girl eating, who had lifted her head up - the worker from before.

"hello," he said, smiling a little, "must be very cool to be able to eat here on your lunch break," he joked a bit, and she nodded.

"uh huh, one of my favourite parts of the day, checking on missile... and of course all the other sharks, i love them all. though, feeding time is also pretty cool,"

"feeding them would be so cool," he nodded in confirmation. "which one is missile?" he asked curiously, and she grinned.

"the one that swam over your head before," she laughed slightly, putting down her box of pasta and standing up for a second, slightly closer to him before pointing upwards, at a spotted slightly smaller shark, "that's missile, she's a leopard shark,"

"what about the others? do you know all their names?" he asked, and she nodded, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"that's david, he's a lemon shark... that's haribo, he's a gummy shark, that ones called eve, she's a nurse shark... and the rest are hiding somewhere, but we have hammerheads, angel sharks and cow sharks hiding round here somewhere," she laughed a little, shrugging, "some of them like the attention more then others,"

"so you're really interested in sharks? or is it just a thing where you know a lot from working near them?" arthur asked, and she nodded again.

"i studied marine biology, i usually work more behind the scenes but on quiet days i work behind the desk too, but yeah, i love sharks, and just sea animals on a whole... i mean, i even have a shark tattoo," she giggled. "what about you, you just here to see them or do you have an interest?"

"oh, um, i have an interest in animals in general, and i just moved to london, so i wanted to come see the aquarium 'cause i've never been before," he admitted, and she nodded.

"i do love the aquarium, it's so peaceful, i mean sometimes i come in even on my days off, which in most jobs seems so bizarre but, i don't know, i just love it here."

and that's how arthur ended up frequenting the aquarium more than he intended to, over the past month going at least six times, enjoying the aquarium (and secretly hoping to run into the girl who he had become just a small bit infatuated with but had only admitted that to his close friends, who in turn obviously mocked him)

"you literally don't even know this girls name," george laughed when arthur had admitted he may have had a tiny crush on her after telling them about going to the aquarium for the fourth time in two weeks.

"well, obviously i know that, but i mean, i can't find out unless i see her again, can i?"

"only arthur could go to an aquarium and randomly fall in love with a girl just because she spoke to him about sharks," chris said sarcastically, and arthur rolled his eyes at him, his face red.

"she was cool, okay? she literally gets to name and feed and pet sharks, that is cool!" he defended himself in a splutter of embarrassment, only leading to slightly more giggles

when he next went, and he had paid for his ticket with someone else at the desk, and began his wander around the museum, he heard a slightly teasing voice once in the shark exhibit.

"you know, you could have saved yourself a lot of money if you had just bought a monthly pass," a giggling voice said, and he turned around to her with a slightly red face and a shrug.

"didn't realise i was gonna end up coming so much," he admitted with flushed cheeks.

"just become obsessed with the sharks, eh?" she asked, and he gulped down with another shy nod.

"uh huh. and, um. well, kinda hoping to run into you, also," he acknowledged, only to hear her laugh a little more.

"stalking me now, are you?" she asked, only to make his eyes widen

"no, not like that! just that, you know, i thought you were interesting and that-" she laughed a little harder now,

"i'm just kidding, don't worry about it. you do know there's other ways to see girls you find interesting other then hoping to bump into them at work?" she teased.

"well, that's what i was hoping to ask, you know... if i could maybe see you not in the shark section of the aquarium? like a date?" he asked, fiddling with his fingers a little.

"sure, that sounds nice," she smiled at him, "though, you don't even know my name," she teased.

"well, what is your name?" arthur asked, slight more confidence in his voice and a small smile on his face, slightly reassured that she had said yes.

"whats yours? i mean, for all i know you're some stalker who frequents aquariums looking for victims," she teased, leading him to jokingly roll his eyes.

"my name is arthur, and i promise it was not stalking... just thought you were smart, and pretty, so.. what's your name?"

"suppose you'll have to find that out on the date, hm, arthur?

#arthur frederick #arthur frederick x reader #arthurtv #arthurtv x reader

[bunnypeew]

Under star-lit skies - Moon/Sun x reader part 1

Okay so I started writing this cuz my obsession for Sun and Moon came back since I keep getting posts and fanart of them so here is the first part of the fanfic you can read it on Ao3 linked in my bio :3c

it was one of those days, one where you and your class had to go to a stupid location outside of town. You weren’t eager about it since you preferred being closed in the confinement of your dorm room, but an outing was necessary even for you. You got up from your bed unwillingly and started getting dressed, some sweatpants a t-shirt and a hoodie on top, was pretty easygoing and comfortable for a day out.

you weren’t sure where you were going until it came into focus, the Freddy Fazbear Pizzaplex for some reason you weren’t going to question it since your school did choose some random places all the time, not caring if it’s educational or not, but you guessed it was because of the way the pizzaplex was built, could be really interesting or maybe how the animatronics worked. You all went into the pizzaplex being greeted by some basic-looking bots holding maps

“Take a map, take a map,,

you take one and look the other way a little creeped out, you hope those poor things weren’t sentient like the bigger ones otherwise this would’ve been fucked up. The tour starts then, going around the entire pizzaplex from Gator golf to Roxy raceway, it was pleasant meeting the big animatronics in charge of entertainment. Roxy, in charge of Roxy Raceway, was a wolf animatronic with long grey hair and a puff of green in the front, while Gator Golf was attended by Monty, an alligator-like animatronic with icon star-shaped sunglasses, he was pretty cool. Then you arrived at the star of the gang Freddy Fazbear himself, he was a nice bear animatronic with a little top hat on his head and an iconic earring on his left ear. He waved at everyone with a happy smile on his face, you waved back catching his attention, noticing you he winked at you also doing finger guns, you smiled and blushed a little bit at that (blushing over an animatronic? Are you okay??)

You then arrived at your last stop, the Superstar Daycare. It was a place full of kids, also full of toys and arts&crafts stuff (of course like the name said it was a daycare) but something caught your eye, the animatronic that was attending the children, it was a jester-like robot with a sun for a head that could spin around when it wanted to

“Hello everyone! I am Sun! the daycare attendant I hope you guys had a lovely tour so far!,,

he says lively his rays on his head spinning around happily, Sun huh? (ironic isn’t it) You were fascinated by him, he was really, pretty? I guess you could call him pretty.

When you got back to your dorm you picked up your laptop right away and started doing research on Fazbear Entertainment, finding a lot of weird stuff about some lawsuits and shit like that, you didn’t care you went on to look if the pizzaplex out of town was looking for a job, you really needed one and that was a big place so maybe they did need some human personal, you were also hoping you’d get to work near or in the daycare, you wanted to know more about Sun. Thinking about that you looked up the Superstar Daycare for some more information and found yet another lawsuit about the daycare this time, you read through it.

“my son was traumatised by your stupid daycare attendant and can’t sleep with the lights off anymore, whatever that thing did to him. You should decommission it right away it is not safe for children,,

you scrunch up your nose at that, because there is no way this person was talking about Sun seemed like a nice guy! So you did more research finding out the animatronic they were talking about was not Sun, but an animatronic called Moon, he was the nap time attendant and apparently, they were two separate animatronics, which intrigued you even more.

Doing even more research you find out they were actually looking to hire someone, it didn't say in which position but you weren't one to complain about stuff like that so you wrote an email and sent it, you weren't expecting a reply right away so you decided to go to bed.

It was dark, and something was bothering you but you couldn't put your finger on it, you found yourself in a jungle gym of some sort crumbled up like a pretzel, you started moving in front of you or what you thought was in front of you, while moving you could hear some sort of music, like a soft melody getting closer and closer until it stopped, you stopped as well, looking around now trying to understand where you were.

clang.

clang.

clang.

BOOM.

You wake up in your bed full of sweat and your heart beating super fast, you get your phone from your nightstand only to see it is 2 am, you definitely can't sleep after this weird ass nightmare you just add so you decide to start scrolling through social media. Before you get the chance to do that tho you get a notification from your emails, saying that Fazbear Entertainment sent a reply to your email, accepting your application!

You get up to do a little victory dance happy for it to begin.

tomorrow is another day.

this is how they will look in the fanfic since they are separate animatronics here the one in the middle is my persona ignore them I insert myself in every fandom I go in lol!!

#moondrop #sundrop #fnaf moondrop #fnaf security breach #fnaf sun #fnaf #fnaf moon #fnaf sb #fnaf fanfic #fnaf fanart #fnaf fandom #ao3 writer #fanfic #ao3 fanfic #ao3 tags #ao3 stuff #fanfiction #archive of our own

[xbruised-peachx]

Sowa Team

(crawling out of my cave as a husk) Finally... some Gromsko x Fem Reader content... from yours truly...

Summary: Sent on a scouting mission for Specgru, you're kept company by Gromsko, among Poland's finest soldiers. Bold, light-hearted, and deep down, very caring and passionate, he makes not only a great partner but great entertainment. As the sunsets though and you have to call it a day, an injury let's him show his skills from JW GROM to you while you two settle down for the night... and maybe settle down for a little more... Word Count: 13,397 Tags: Slight medical play, slight size kink, language kink, praise kink, heavy petting, marking, face sitting, multiple orgasms, slightly possessive, creampie A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TOO TO EVE, @ave661​, FOR PROOF READING THE POLISH AS I KNOW ZERO POLISH! I can’t thank you enough, dziękuję bardzo, I love you bestie 🥹💙 🔞+ STORY

Also avaliable on AO3! Translation at the end of the chapter!

~

The day was finally coming to an end, the sun starting to set over the mountains, casting warm shadows over your location. You were sent on a scouting mission, looking out on a base of a possible HVT. You were Specgru’s regular choice for scout, being small and easy to miss, light on your feet to the point you regularly snuck up on your own teammates without them noticing or you really meaning to. Obviously though, you couldn’t be sent in alone. You appreciated any company on these sorts of missions. Sure you enjoyed the nice quiet times, exploring and attempting to map a location from hundreds of meters away, but if you did it all the time, you’d definitely go crazy.

“I think it’s about time we call into HQ,” his voice boomed as he came up behind you. The orange of the setting sun lit the small bits of camo fabric that draped his helmet, practically his signature piece. Sobiesław Kościuszko, or as everyone else called him, Gromsko. “We at least know there’s gotta be someone in there that needs these guards around. It can’t be just some regular guy, right?”

You smiled softly, holding back a laugh from him being so light-hearted. You admit, you don’t really know much about Gromsko. Not that you avoided him or anything but... most interactions you had with him were from the battlefield. You know the amount of adrenaline and action brought out a new side in most people. On the field, he was loud, boisterous, a lil bit cocky but his confidence was not without merit. He was good at what he did. Though sometimes, you couldn’t understand what he was saying. With his thick accent and baritone voice, you could make out the fact that he slipped into Polish quite a bit. You’d hear passing conversations in the Specgru halls, how even when calm, he’d slip bits of Polish in there too. You yourself knew very little Polish, but you could tell he was just as vulgar in any language he spoke, often able to make out him yelling “Kurwa” when he was hurt or frustrated. From his tone, gruff and ranging from annoyance to anger, you could tell he probably wasn’t saying the nicest things to the enemy... or teammates for that matter.

“HQ, this is Sowa team, information on target, how copy?” You asked into your radio. Sowa, the Polish word for owl. Gromsko himself suggested it, which gave you a hint this was probably going to be an overnight thing as well. You didn’t mind but you knew you’d have to find a clearing near enough to this cabin in the Alps, and also you two would have to find some way to keep warm as the fall night air cooled.

“Copy, Sowa. What’s the information?” A rough, heavy British accent spoke in your earpiece. Despite his gruff tone, you knew he was calm.

“Can not confirm that target is in the location. There are a lot of guards outside though, I can imagine there’s more indoors.”

“Any rough estimate on a count?”

“19,” Gromsko cut in. “I counted 20 but someone caught me counting...”

“Any chance they’ll catch someone missing, Gromsko?” The lieutenant’s voice sounded a little bit more annoyed, with a hint of anxiety just barely creaking through. 

“Nie, he was just on a smoke break at the wrong time. He got lost in the woods and chickened out.”

“Alright, if you say so, Gromsko...” His voice didn’t bleed any less annoyance hearing this. You had seen it across the mountain, you were actually helping him count with binoculars from a blind spot on the mountain, and he was right, it was just a smoke break at the wrong time. You saw as he got spotted and proceeded to take down the man a few inches shorter than him with ease. Shoving him in a bush many meters away from the location, you had overheard other guards talking about the flight risk of some others, so you figured it wasn’t that bad.

“Are we allowed to return?” You asked, even though you knew the answer was probably going to be...

“No.” Yeah... “We need absolute confirmation the target is in that cabin. You two will need to shelter in overnight. If you still have no signs of the target by tomorrow evening, we’ll bring you back. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” you both said in unison. You looked over at him, his face full of determination as he looked at the ground through his yellow tinted glasses. You had to admit that you admired him. Clearly he knew when to be serious and he knew how to hold his own, but still he had a bit of light-heartedness to him, bringing warmth to an otherwise gloomy situation.

“Good. Ghost, out.”

He caught you looking at him as he took his thumb off the radio. You heard him take a deep breath out. “I think we should try and find a flat spot now, before it gets too dark. Agreed?”

You nodded. “Do you happen to have a tarp? I feel like the wind is gonna pick up, but I know I forgot mine...”

He let out a scoff laugh as he started heading north, heading for the more wooded area, you following close behind. “Afraid of getting cold? It’s quite nice to me, but I do happen to have a covering for you, maleńka.”

You looked at him a bit offended, implying you were weaker for thinking you would be cold and at least wanted some shelter for tonight. And whatever he called you... his joking tone made you think it was condescending, maybe a backhanded compliment but in a lighthearted way. You knew if you asked him though, he’d sugar coat it or translate it completely wrong.

“I suppose you’re fine then with being on watch first then, if you can deal with the cold better?” You returned the lighthearted spite, taking his own words and spinning them back on him.

He turned around to look at you, but kept walking, walking backwards. “Hey now, I didn’t say that. I think you should be on first watch, it will be much colder later at night. You can cuddle up nice and warm in a blanket, late at night. Wish I could do that.”

You could hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice from the last sentence. His mask hid most of his lower face, but you saw the way his cheek rose, showing his slight smirk. You crossed your arms, showing your disapproval to him non-verbally, but couldn’t hold a straight face. Especially while his back was turned, watching you, he didn’t see the upcoming rock wall.

He crashed against it, his backpack saving him from most of the brunt of the force, but not saving him from feeling the sudden stop. His arms came out in front of him, eyes widening in surprise. “CHOLERA!” He let out in a shocked breath, sucking it back through his teeth as his body reset to the sudden stop. “Ej dupku, why didn’t you warn me?!”

You let your laugh out, his mad face making you laugh more as you couldn’t take him seriously. “You should pay attention to what’s ahead of you, dummy. We’re on a mission here.”

He shook his head, his face relaxed more and you could almost see him start to smile. He took a deep breath, turning around and looking up the wall. It was a decent bit taller than him, taller than he could reach, but the forest surrounded every other direction, no other way forward. He made it look easy, especially due to his height, just having to put his foot on one rock and push himself off from the ground, reaching up and holding the top. He pulled his own weight up with ease, sitting on the top and looking down at you. You slowly approached, making you realize the height difference between the two of you as you had to arch your back to meet his gaze. With that gaze though, he held his hand out, offering help with the looming wall. You smiled, hoping this would finally be the end of the little games you two were playing. You got your footing on one rock, able to reach his hand and grasp it. You could tell he had a quick wicked smile and let go, dropping you but a few feet, but still threw you off and almost had you falling down on your ass.

“Okay, you prick,” you spoke through gritted teeth, getting tired from everything between you two now. You caught your footing, hearing his deep, rumbling laugh above you.

“Oko za oko!” His voice remained just as boisterous, able to hear the shit-eating grin under that mask.

You shook your head, glaring up at him, watching for him to finally meet your eyes again so you could speak, letting him know you were serious. You took a deep breath out, “Can we call a truce? We have to at least deal with each other for a night, not to mention tomorrow.”

His eyes went to the side, you hoped just joking, playing overdramatically that he was actually considering not agreeing. “Dobra. I can agree to that.” He held out his hand again. You looked up at him, trying to hide some suspicion on your face as you reached up reluctantly, hoping he wouldn’t break the trust you had to have for him for the night. He noticed it, his expression softening a moment, showing a bit of guilt. “I promise, I won’t do it again.”

You put your foot on the rock and pushed off the ground, able to reach his forearm. He twisted, providing more support and allowing him to lift you up easier, with you helping as much as you could by pushing off with whatever rock you could get your foot on. He pulled you over the ledge, grunting as he did, his breath getting slightly heavier. You both sat on the ground a moment, catching your breath as the light from the sky slowly got darker. Looking up, you could even start to see Venus twinkle in the sky. You both looked at each other again, knowing it was time to hurry up, lest you lose the daylight you had.

He helped you back on your feet and you both continued, unfortunately struggling to find a good clearing that would provide a good shelter but still hide you both for the night. He started picking up rocks, leaving them to the right of whatever path you two were on, and putting a specific dot of mud on them. As you got deeper in the forest, anxiety took over, and you hoped his rock idea would actually help you two find your path back. As you went deeper too, the foliage increased in more than just trees. You both were covered enough but still, you watched the floor for anything with thorns, or possibly anything poisonous, though you hadn’t heard of too many poisonous plants in the Alps. It spiked your anxiety even more, having to try to level your breathing while keeping up with Gromsko.

Just as you thought you were about to finally catch your breath, he called out, “Hey, over here. I think there’s a spot.” He picked up his pace, his longer strides helping him out but leaving you lagging behind. You had to break into a decent jog to keep up, unable to watch where you were stepping, praying you wouldn’t step into some thorns and hurt yourself more. You were stuck focused on him, trying to see where he was going, but also keep an eye on the floor for anything suspicious, you didn’t even notice when you stumbled a bit to keep yourself out of an incoming bush to your left that you went into a fallen branch to your right, the jog you had causing it to scrap against your side. You quickly held where it had hit, just at the side of your stomach, slicing a good 3 inches down to your hip. You sucked a breath through your teeth, seeing Gromsko hadn’t even noticed and was continuing on his trek. You sucked it up, taking a quick breath and pulling your vest down slightly, hoping that would help compress it for the moment and not make him worry.

He finally stopped after turning to his right, a few feet ahead of you. He stood there, hands on his hips as he observed his surroundings. You finally caught up and joined him, looking at the very small clearing. It was at least something, not so open that it’d be easy to see you guys, but enough of a patch to home you two for a night. He sighed and looked back at you.

“What do you think? Those trees over there I can tie my tarp to, making a nice tent for you.” He smiled again, clearly unaware that you had even injured yourself. You were sure it was nothing, just a branch, you could walk it off. You nodded in agreement, trying to hide a wince as you pulled your backpack off, setting it down in the dirt nearby said trees. You rummaged through, pulling out your lantern, letting the little warm light fill the small clearing. He had the same idea, setting his bag down and pulling out the tarp, unfolding it gently. Once he did he unclasped his helmet, taking off both the helmet and ghillie attachment and set it beside his backpack. You hadn’t even realized he was wearing a full balaclava under there, just thinking it was a mouth and neck covering, but he soon pulled that off too, putting it in his helmet for safe keeping. He rolled his neck and let out a big deep breath. “I know I wouldn’t be able to set this thing up with that shit on. Hurts your neck after a while.”

You chuckled softly, looking up at him as he stood up, still looking in your bag for the blanket you brought. “I imagine... why don’t you just go for the full ghillie suit at this point?”

He shrugged, grabbing one end of the tarp as well as some rope. “I don’t have all the components. Plus at this point I think it looks cooler, that’s how people know it’s me.” He let out a laugh of his own, cutting one end of the rope with his combat knife. He squinted as he struggled to tie the knot though, eventually relenting to the dark and pulling his glasses up to rest on his short brown hair, letting you see his grey-ish blue eyes focus more. He finished his knot, taking a moment to look back at his work, but the weight of the rest of the tarp plus a small gust of wind sent it down the bottom of the tree. “Cholera... Ej, maleńka, can you grab the other end and tie it to that tree there.”

You stood up slowly from rummaging in your bag, making sure your back was to him so he didn’t see as you instinctively winced. It was just a scratch from a tree branch, it shouldn’t be affecting you that much. “You’ve said ‘maleńka’ twice now, what does that mean?” You asked, hoping it would distract you from the stinging pain and him from noticing.

“Maleńka? It just means ‘little’. It’s nothing to worry about.” You could see his smile now clearly, a bit more of a smirk now as you caught his gaze.

“You know, you saying there’s nothing to worry about makes me think you’re not telling the whole truth.”

“Now, are you calling me a liar? I thought we had a truce?” His cocky smirk increased as he finished up his bowline knot and you did the same. “Come on, let’s tie the other corners down here.” He walked to the corner of the tarp that was facing the clearing, starting to fold it under the shelter. He crouched under the little bit you had set up, leading it under and rolling out the other side to meet the third tree, making it a nice triangle. You crouched as well, you both standing on either side of the tree, tying the final corners down.

“It’s not me saying you’re a liar just... I know how vulgar you tend to be when you speak Polish so forgive me if I don’t think you’re saying the nicest things about me.” He raised an eyebrow at you, the smile not fading from his face. “...I know what kurwa means at least.”

He let out a hearty laugh, and admittedly his deep, rumbling laugh made you smile a bit more too. “O, ona wie, co znaczy ‘kurwa’? Co za mądra dziewczyna.” His laugh continued, and you did a little over dramatic pout, trying to show your disappointment at him. “You just sound so cute saying it... I should teach you some Polish.”

“Again, I feel like you’d just sabotage me, tell me the wrong meanings of things.”

He tutted. “You think so lowly of me, just because I curse. We have to be together a night and you are already so mean to me.” He did a joking pout back at you, but couldn’t hold it without smiling. As you both tied the knots, your rope had a bit of kink in it, making you pull harder to get it through. As your body twisted though, you felt your muscle pull right on the side of your abdomen, stretching your injury. You couldn’t help but groan slightly, letting go of the rope and letting out your own curse under your breath. He obviously heard it, his face dropping from his joking demeanor to serious in half a second. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you lied, speaking through your teeth. It stung like no other, but now you couldn’t hide it, though you tried your best to not worry him anymore. It was clear though he didn’t care and saw you objectively.

“Come on, get under the tarp. I’ll grab my first aid.” He had stood up, holding his hand out for you to help you up. You took it, slowly walking to sit under the tarp. Maybe it was worse but still... it was just a tree branch, it really couldn’t be that bad. You scooted over to your bag, pulling out the blanket and laying it out, just so you wouldn’t be sitting on the cold ground. He came back over, holding his first aid bag, setting it down in his lap as he sat in front of you. “Alright, where is it?”

You lifted your vest slightly, the makeshift compression clearly not working as a little bit of blood seeped through even onto your combat shirt. “I-It really shouldn’t be that bad... it was just a branch.”

“Yeah? A branch out here with dirt and moss and god knows what else on it? Ja pierdolę, you're bleeding through your shirt and I can see your undershirt is soaked already!” He grunted, scolding you harshingly and making you feel slightly embarrassed. He opened his kit, pulling out a bandage, thread and needle, and isopropyl alcohol. He also had his hydration pack nearby, a small cloth he soaked in said water. He took a small, travel sized hand sanitizer, squeezing it and rubbing his hands together. “Alright, go ahead, lift up your shirt.”

Your face fully went red, his low voice telling you that, even if it was in such a serious tone, lit something inside you. You weren’t sure if it was just some strange instinct or if maybe... You were hesitating and despite the low light, he read your expression clearly. “D-don’t look at me like that. Come on, we’re both adults.” The silence hung for a moment, still hesitant to lift your shirt for a man like him. His voice went softer, more caring, and did not help the spark that ran down your spine, “You only have to lift it a bit. I promise, I won’t go any further than we need to.”

You took a breath, hoping to calm your own thoughts and unconscious feelings, undoing your vest and throwing it aside, then rolled up your combat shirt, bringing your camisole underneath with it. He came closer, lowering himself to look closer, running his large, cold fingers along the exterior. He took another breath, you were able to feel it slightly hit the edge of your wound, but also drag across your exposed abdomen. “Sorry, maleńka, I can't quite see and I have to...” His finger ran down, barely resting them at the top of your pants. He looked up at you, his eyes full of embarrassment and pity as he nonverbally asked you if this was okay.

More heat crawled up to your face, you avoided eye contact with him, but nodded. “W-whatever you have to do...” Still avoiding his gaze, you felt as he brought them down a few inches. The silence hung a moment, wincing as you felt him stretch it open a bit. “...How bad is it?”

He took a deep breath, twisting his body to grab the soaked towel. He shifted from sitting on his knees to having his legs straight out in front of him, letting him see it without having to crane his back as much, as he started dabbing the outside gently. “I can see the dirt, even in this shit lighting... And it’s really deep...” He sighed again as he set the towel aside, looking up at you again with pity. “They don’t give me any damn soap in this thing either, so... even though it's better to disinfect with soap and water, I have to use alcohol.” You always thought it was better to use alcohol but you remembered how he was trained. The JW GROM in Poland were known as “the surgeons” not just for tactical precision, but for their thorough medical training. And even among those in GROM, Gromsko was considered among the best. You knew you were in good hands but still, the way his saddened expression looked at you really made you realize he didn’t want to go about this method. But with a very dirty but fresh wound, there had to be some way to clean it while you two were by yourselves in the forest.

You knew how much this was going to sting and mentally you were preparing yourself. One of his hands held the side of your waist, pulling the skin taught gently while the other wet a small cloth with the isopropyl.

“I’ll count off.. at three...” You held your breath in anticipation.

“One...”

“Two...”

He didn’t wait for the three, instead holding the towelette there, not letting you brace yourself fully so you didn’t have any resistance. You cried out as it stung harshly, your abdomen instinctively crunching and pulling you forward as you attempted to protect yourself from the new found pain. Your hands went down, gripping hard as you continued suck a harsh breath through your teeth, occasionally letting out a pained moan, unable to hold back.

Your eyes were sewed shut the whole time, in pure anguish. You slowly caught your breath, cracking your eyes open and able to focus. You looked down, seeing you had not flung yourself and grabbed your own knees in instinct, instead landing forward onto his thighs. You quickly retreated your grip from him, the full embarrassment showing on your face, but his as well. You could tell a flush went to his cheeks that matched your bright one. “I-I’m so sorry! I-”

He cut off your fumbling apology before you could embarrass yourself any further. “It’s...” he cleared his throat, clearly a bit more affected by this than he wanted to admit. “It’s fine. I should’ve given you something to grip but...” His gaze averted as he looked down at the slightly blood stained towelette. He held his other arm up, offering it to you as the alternative. “...I still have to clean up a little more.”

Regrettably, you were left gripping hard at his sleeve and forearm, at points wondering if he’d have to give himself some care from just how hard your nails were digging into him. Occasionally you’d rest your head into him as well, just groaning in pain as the stinging did not get any better. Once he lifted away though, you knew this was only the beginning as you slowly opened your eyes and looked at the shining metal that sat by his side next to the thin thread. “You... don’t have any numbing anything in there, do you?”

He shook his head, holding up the needle to the light and attempting to put the thread through the eye. “Sorry, if I did I would... I want to make this as easy on you as I can but...” He looked away sadly, then looked back up at you. He was just barely at your height again as he wasn’t leaning over, still just barely taller than you even when his ass was fully to the floor while you were on your knees. He got the needle threaded, then looked over at you, examining you again as he held the needle up. Instinctively, your stomach flinched away from him. You knew he was just trying to judge what was the best angle to come at it from, but you couldn’t help but suck your stomach back in an attempt to get away from the sharp object. He took a deep breath again, closing his eyes as he thought about the next words he was going to say. “...I know it’s going to sound bad again but... can you please sit up on your knees?”

You knew what he meant and even though he premented it, you still blushed again. You did as he said, assuming he knew what he was doing. He slowly scooted forward, letting his legs spread open as he straddled yours, getting close to your stomach again. At this height, though he still slightly had to slouch, it was easier to meet it, and he was but inches away from how closely he had to look. One hand held your wound steady, no doubt you were unconsciously trembling under him, while the other just barely hovered above with the needle. He looked up at you, those blue eyes big with sympathy and causing another spark to shoot down from the unintentionally somewhat sensual position you two were in. “You can grip my shoulder if you need to, but try not to move my arms.”

You nodded at the obvious direction he had to give you, taking him up on his offer and putting your hands on them preemptively. Your breath shook as you spoke, “Are you... going to give me a countdown?” 

“Nope,” he said, unceremoniously forcing the needle down to make his first stitch. You cried out, instantly gripping on his shoulders and crashing your head down as you shut your eyes. You felt his hair against your nose, confirming your suspicion that you slightly lost control while giving into instinct, but didn’t lift up, no matter how embarrassed and hot your cheeks felt because you knew you’d come crashing back down either way. “If I did you’d flinch away... but you’re doing great with this first stitch.”

You knew he was lying, but still you smiled, taking his praise anyway. You sucked a breath through your teeth as you felt the needle graze you again. With the hand that was holding you still, he gently rubbed circles with his thumb, comforting you as you felt the prick again. You felt his breath hot on your stomach as you let another cry of anguish. You knew you had to be stronger than this but... damn, this hurt.

You felt his hair get slightly wet as tears instinctively fell from you, tightening your grip on him as you lifted up, looking back down on him. He was so focused on his next stitch, he didn’t even notice the weight lifting from his head. The way he was looking at you though, so determined, his brows furrowed, breath steady just tracing your abdomen. It felt so odd and you didn’t want to admit but seeing him like this seemed to be starting to turn you on.

He held his breath as he went for another stitch, shutting your eyes and moaning in agony, your grip tightening on his shoulders tightly as you hoped the pain would erase these strange feelings you were starting to have. As he breathed out, he glanced up, finally noticing you weren’t resting on him. He saw even though your face showed your pain, the moan clearly a response to it, looking up at you with your eyes shut and mouth slightly open, the moan almost being indecipherable from a different kind of moan, he felt a heat run up to his cheeks as well, trying to shake the feeling by shaking his head. He couldn’t help it though when he felt you clawing at his shoulders. He had to keep telling himself this was basically his patient... he couldn’t let what he was feeling get the better of him.

Rubbing his thumb again in an attempt to comfort, he refocused, putting another stitch in and almost immediately watching your reaction. “Kurwa...” he cursed softly under his breath, hoping you wouldn’t hear. “Dlaczego uważam to za...” he let his voice trail off as he saw you slowly open your eyes, looking at him half lidded as you were dazed slightly from the pain of it all. He chuckled and smirked, “You’re looking at me funny.”

You thought you had blushed all you could but were proven wrong as you felt more, being called out for your feelings you were trying to repress. “H-hey! You’re looking at me funny, too...”

His smirk did not fade as he remained looking into your eyes. "Yeah? How so?"

You stayed silent a moment, trying to figure out a way to word it. His eyes slowly looked back down, pulling another stitch through. You sucked a breath through your teeth, gasping as you felt him slowly pull it out, and his gaze met yours again. “...I think you should focus on the task at hand.”

He hummed softly, comforting you again with the slight touch of his fingers on your waist. “I can focus on two things at once, kochanie.”

The way his voice came out more husky... it made your already growing feelings hard to fight as well you wondered what he actually just said. “W-what does ‘kochanie’ mean?”

“That’s not important right now...” He knew you were avoiding the question. As if a perfectly timed punishment, he pulled another stitch through. The pain was getting more bearable, just barely though as you still gasped feeling it, no doubt igniting another spark in him. “I just want an answer... How am I looking at you funny?”

Once you caught your breath, you looked down at him, trying again to gather your thoughts and throw a cohesive description at him. “Your pupils are so dilated and I can tell you’re blushing... Your sly little smile too? You’re taking way too much joy in this...”

He hummed again, slowly turning into a low laugh, his eyes boring into yours, seeming to return the favor by trying to find a way to describe your current expression. “Mhmm... I can say the same about you. You’re not smiling but, the way you're looking at me... something about me looking up at you has you going, huh?” The corner of his lip turned up and before you could respond, he put another stitch in. You cried out again, gripping hard. The pain did sting but you thought it almost didn’t warrant that reaction from you. You wondered just why then did you react in such a way. You slowly opened your eyes, looking at him as he still had that cocky smirk on him. “It’s like you’re begging me with your eyes alone to just kiss your little injury away once I put these last two stitches through...”

His voice trailed off, low and smooth, giving you another stitch. He had just one more stitch now, and it was clear now your assumption was right. He was enjoying this  more than he should... but also he was trying to hurry this along now. You still couldn’t admit to yourself that you like this. I mean, you definitely hated the pain of the needle but the way his calloused fingers softly caressed your side, enveloping you with ease, his hot breath getting even warmer on your stomach, trailing down to a high spot on your pelvis.

He pulled the final stitch through, letting out your little moan of pain as your grip just barely tightened. You were able to not shut your eyes fully, instead looking at him through dazed, half lidded eyes. He was focused on tying the end off, so you were able to just watch him. That handsome square face, eyebrows furrowed as they focused intently. He cut the string, putting it gently back in his kit so as to not lose his needle. You were able to see his face even more clearly now, the little bits of stubble that poked through as he was attempting to grow his facial hair, a little bit of a wider nose with a slight hook. As he turned around, holding the bandage gently, he caught your gaze. You saw the way his pupils dilated again, unconsciously showing his desire for you, causing more fire to light up in you. He gently held the side of your waist, letting his hand drag as he smoothed the bandage over, not taking his eyes off you the whole time.

“Well, kochanie... tell me, do you want me to make you feel better?”

His voice was so deep, rumbling your core but still holding such confidence you couldn’t help but stop and just take it all in. Just lost in thought of what he said, what he meant when he said make you feel better.

He noticed your pause and backed away slightly, still leaving his hot breath lingering on your stomach. “I need an answer, kotku... I’m not going to go further ‘til I hear a yes from you.” You stayed still, pausing as your mind raced. “...It’s only you and me out here. And this will stay between us, as long as you want that.”

He was so cocky but still respectful of you. You absolutely admired it, and it was making your admiration of him grow stronger, as well as the growing attraction you had of him. “P-please...” was all you could muster out under your breath as you waited in anticipation.

He brought his mouth centimeters from your stomach, insanely hot breath ghosting over you as he gripped both sides of your waist, one side even sliding slightly lower to your hips. “Please...? Please what, kochanie?”

You choked out breathily, sounding insanely desperate. “Yes, please... please make me feel good, Gromsko.”

He wasted no time, immediately closing the gap and kissing where his breath stained. Your hands instantly went to the back of his head, encouraging him to stay where he was at and continue. He did as such, kissing from the center out, lingering and trailing his tongue on spots, particularly right along your abdominals. His hands grip increased, though his left hand remained careful, avoiding the area which he had just worked so hard on. You felt the way he hummed to himself in the kisses, the vibrations almost like he was purring, purely content just from this.

He lifted after leaving what had to be more than 50 kisses on you alone, getting on his knees and towering above you. It was your turn to look up at him now, eyes pleading as you wanted more. Clearly, he enjoyed the sight of you looking up as much as you did when he was. He smiled that lopsided smile, unclicking his vest and tossing it aside, along with his glasses. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you didn’t say yes. I guess I would’ve had to just dream of the way your soft skin tempted me but...” He leaned close, letting his lips gently reach yours, kissing you softly. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Your fingers curled in his short hair, and you felt him smile in the kiss.

He pulled away, staying an inch way, you both exchanging hot, heavy breaths. “I’m going to say now...” He let his left hand slide down your right side, softly caressing every dip and curve you had until he reached to top your thigh. “...Be careful with this leg. You stretch it too far and well...” He leaned over to your ear, his nose nuzzling against the side of your hair and breath dancing on the shell of it. “I’m going to have to fix some stitches. And I don’t want to put you through that again.”

Just as he leaned down to kiss along your jawline, he let his hand squeeze your thigh. You gasped softly and he instantly lifted himself, chuckling darkly. “You like that, baby?” He gave you another harsh squeeze, his hand easily able to wrap around your thigh, squishing the soft flesh and rubbing his thumb over to comfort again. “Mmm... you don’t even have to tell me... twoje ciało mówi za ciebie.” He slipped into Polish, though the way he was purring it, you didn’t even mind that you couldn’t understand him. It even made more of a fire spark in you, leaving what he was saying a mystery to you but you knew he was saying nice things to himself.

You gasped as he squeezed again, he leaned back, watching the way your face showed its pleasure, its desire for him. “Taka dobra dziewczynka... such a good, good girl...” He quickly kissed you, his lips feeling just as soft but he kissed you harsher, like he wanted to take you all in. He wasted no time, licking at your bottom lip. His right hand started to dip, caressing around your hip to harshly grip your ass. You let out a gasp again, but in the middle of the kiss he took his opportunity, letting his tongue lull into your mouth and wrap around yours. You instantly deepened the kiss, accepting him as lust took you over. You wanted him right now, badly. Gripping at the back of his hair, you pulled yourself as close as could. As you hummed in the kiss, slowly turning into a soft moan, you felt his lips curl up into a smile. He pulled away, laughing softly at your blushing, needy face. “Hahah... you are so cute, you know that?”

The blush grew on your cheeks, you quickly turned away, shifting your gaze as you felt flustered. When you glanced back, you saw his face had a pang of worry. Was he worried about you taking it the wrong way? “Heh... and just how long have you thought that?” You tried keeping your gaze on him to match your confident remark, but the second those slate eyes switched from worry to desire, you found yourself struggling to maintain composure around him. You just wanted to melt back into his large arms, into those hands that still traced circles on you. 

“Mmm... hard to say. I think from the day I first saw you, I was surprised they let such a beautiful girl in. I figured though, someone like you must have someone at home. Someone to enjoy those little laughs you make, the way your cheeks light up when you smile, the way you’re so passionate, dedicated on the field.” He let out an elongated sigh, his expression softening as he just gazed at your features. You noticed the way his lightly freckled cheeks blushed as you looked back, trying to not crumble as he looked at you so lovingly. “I just admired from afar... thinking how lucky the person at home must be.”

You chuckled a little bit, looking at him with a bit of pity. “Why didn’t you just ask me?”

He looked to the side as he thought, remaining silent for a good moment. It seemed even he hadn’t even thought of it. The normally confident, boisterous man who was not afraid to scream his lungs out on the field, yell all sorts of profanities at enemies and teammates alike, was struggling to ask a girl he liked if she was single? “I guess... I thought it was better to just believe you had one than ask and have it confirmed.”

You smiled again, nodding your head. You understood where he was coming from. Having it confirmed would almost be like its own form of rejection... and it seemed he never wanted to face that. “Well... I don’t have one. At least... not right now.” You smiled confidently, twirling your fingers in the little bits of hair around his neck. He smiled at you, the red of his cheeks growing brighter as you flirted with him. “...Do you wanna change that?”

He laughed deeply, a solid rumble in his chest, gripping hard at your hips and pulling him close to his own. He grinned as he brought his lips right next to yours. “Chętnie...” was all he said huskily before closing the gap, letting his tongue slip as soon as he could. You didn't mind his impatience, smiling and letting yours meet his. He gave gentle little licks, grabbing a handful of your ass and squeezing hard, causing you to melt more, moaning into his mouth. He smiled, but you felt the way he hummed in the kiss. You weren’t sure if it was a moan of his own or some low, animalistic growl.

He broke the kiss, still smiling, not wasting a moment to softly kiss your jawline, trailing down to kiss your neck. He let one hand roam up, gently running his hands through your hair before grabbing a handful. He was going slow though, careful not to hurt you as he pulled your head to the side. You chuckled, helping him out by leaning with him. He laughed as well, but stopped once he saw your exposed neck. Instantly he placed hot, passionate kisses on it, remaining there longer as he took deep breaths through his nose. He gave your pert ass a squeeze again, and you bit your lip, suppressing yourself to a gasp as he placed another long kiss on your neck. You definitely heard him growl this time, low and almost hard to catch with the sounds of crickets taking up most of the noise. “No dalej... Where are those pretty noises? Heheh... I wanna hear you, kotku.”

You took a moment to catch your breath, your breathing heavy as you looked at his inquisitive face. The sound of the crickets barely drowned out the noise of the wind that whistled through the branches of the trees. It was the only other noise you heard other than you two’s bated breaths, and that worried you. “What if someone hears us? And... they catch us...”

He cut you off before your mind could wander more, laughing softly. “Oh, darling... if someone interrupts me right now? Heh... they’ll be wishing I’d give them the release of death...” His voice got lower, a threatening growl taking over as he thought of it more. He kissed your neck, growling as he did, his grip on your hair getting tighter, causing a breathy gasp to come from you. “No one’s gonna catch us... we’re too far away from the cabin. It’s just you and me... Jesteś moja na cała noc...”

He continued trailing his kisses down, enjoying as you let loose, letting yourself gasp as he continued to caress and grip your body, trusting him that you wouldn’t be heard by anyone other than him. Your collarbones teased him as your shirt covered them, but just slipped out an inch. Once he kissed his way down, he pulled it to the side, starting by kissing softly but contrasted it quickly, biting hard at the sensitive bone. “A-ah~! G-Gromsko!” You gasped, surprised by the sudden pain, but not complaining as it started to feel good, especially when his hot breath traced over it, placing gentle kisses again to soothe it.

“Mmm... sorry, kochanie. Your perfect skin... Kurwa... I just have to make sure once we go back to base, all of them know you had a good time, hmm?” He raised an eyebrow playfully while looking up at you, making you giggle and blush. “Heheh... make sure they know you have someone... let them know your mine without me having to say a word.” His lips trailed up to where your shoulder met your neck, giving a kiss before latching on, sucking and letting his tongue lick around your soft flesh. You gasped again, your hand gripping on the back of his head, encouraging him to stay. He moaned softly as you pulled on his short hair, your fingers locking around him.

He gently rolled his hips forward, almost out of instinct as he wanted some release for the tension he was feeling. You felt it grind against you, hard and clearly straining the fabric of his pants. You gasped softly, heat rising both to your cheeks and your own sex. You smiled, thinking of something and acting on it without a second thought. You let your other hand trail down from his neck, tracing gently down his chest, feeling the way it rose and fell with his heavy breaths, past his abdomen, below his belt, placing your hand over and gently rubbing his hard bulge. He broke the kiss on you, bucking his hips and groaning softly, “Kurwa~...” His breathing increased as you continued, smiling cheekily as you had him panting. You were able to feel just how thick he was, his length above average. More fire lit up in you as he grinded into your delicate touch, the kissing on your neck becoming more sloppy and desperate. “Proszę, baby... Potrzebuję cię...” he said breathily into your neck, groaning as he rocked his hips against you. He looked up to you, eyes craving and begging, another spark making you feel desperate as well. “Can you say that to me, kochanie? Potrzebuję cię...”

He slowed down the way he said it, but even then you had to take a moment to wrap your head around it. He repeated it again, even slower, letting you watch the way his mouth formed around the words, almost getting lost in his soft lips as you did. You tried your best to remember each syllable as you slowly repeated back to him. “Po-trze-bu-ję cię...?”

He smiled widely as he stood up straight, looking down at you as he looked at you with lust filled eyes. “You got it, now just say it a little faster.” He gently tucked your hair behind your ear, cupping your face as you looked up at him.

“Potrzebuję cię,” you tried to say with more confidence, though it was hard to as Polish was such a different language. You were sure he was just encouraging you, no matter if it was good or bad. He closed his eyes, rolling his hips forward into your touch again as he took in your words, humming in delight. “W-what does that mean?”

He leaned down, a smirk growing on him as he leaned to your ear. “It means ‘I need you...’” Before you could respond, he hungrily kissed you again, letting his hand trail around your hip, gently rolling his fingers as he did. He let his hand dip to your front, teasing as he held his hand in place, not letting it dip further down. You felt the way he smirked in the kiss, his thumb rubbing circles as he let his hand roam to caress your inner thighs. You whined softly, every time you tried to roll your hips into his touch, his hand followed you, dodging as he wanted to tease you mercilessly. You were frustrated and started rubbing on him harder, but this only encouraged him more, as he gave your thighs a tight squeeze as he moaned in your mouth. You racked your brain, thinking back to the Polish he had said before. Potrzebuję cię meant I need you, so when he said proszę, baby...

“Proszę, Gromsko,” you hoped to god that you said it right and that it actually meant what you thought it did, please. He immediately stopped, pulling away slightly, his pupils blown out in pure desire, but his expression showed that he was stunned.

“...S-say again?” He stuttered on his words for once, in pure disbelief that you not only remembered a word and said it right, but that you even took the context and knew what it meant. You were a little nervous that you had messed up, since he didn’t verbalize that you were right, but did as he said.

“Proszę, Grom-”

“Please,” he cut you off with an airy breath before you could finish, cupping your face gently and rubbing his thumb on your cheek, staring deeply in your eyes. “Do you know how to say my name?”

You thought again, thinking back to when you’ve seen it written, Sobiesław. That l with the line through it, if you recalled right, it made the w sound. And then the w would be pronounced like v, like how it is in kurwa. Swav, that’s at least how the last part was pronounced. “Sobiesław...” You weren’t too sure, and your lack of confidence showed as you spoke it quietly.

He chuckled softly, his smile warming your heart and reassuring you. “Close, kotku... Sobiesław...” He said, placing emphasis on the ie sound. You had pronounced it like ee, like how it is most times in English, but the way he said it, it had that ee sound for a split second, then dropped to an eh sound. You tried to keep it in mind as you repeated it back.

“Sobiesław...?”

His smile grew as his lids fell, leaning close to you again. “You got it...”

You smiled as well, happy you got it right, giggling softly as you looked him in the eyes, “Proszę, Sobiesław~...”

“Well... since you asked so nicely...” His smile didn’t drop as he leaned in to kiss you, throwing his gloves off before raising his hand to undo your belt, making quick work of your button too. Your breathing increased in anticipation. He lifted up from the kiss, letting you two exchange hot breaths. He dipped his hand down past the waistband of your panties, wasting no time as he let his calloused finger slip between your folds, your gasp quickly turning to a moan as he rubbed at your clit. His eyes bored into you, his smile increasing as his pupils dilated even more. His mouth hung open slightly as he chuckled lowly. “Fuck... you’re so wet already?”

He hummed as he let his finger continue to tease you, going up and down, just barely grazing your entrance. As your breath got heavier, you continued to paw at his own pants desperately, grinding instinctively against his hand as you felt him twitch, begging to come out, begging for more. He groaned as he gave you what you wanted, letting his finger slip in. You cried out softly, his much bigger finger stretching you slightly, but slipping in easily from how wet you were. Your grip on him tightened, his hips bucking harshly into your hand as you did, clearly enjoying it. He looked down at you with heavy lids, watching as your mouth hung open from everytime you moaned, his fingers making you melt into his touch, every thrust making it hard to keep your eyes open.

“Kurwa...” he said in a low growl under his breath. He slipped his finger out, making you whine as you were longing for more of it. He backed away, even getting out of reach of your touch, making you worried something was wrong. His face still showed his craving, letting his finger slip into his mouth. His eyes shut as he took it all in, only opening as he pulled it out, his tongue barely grazing on it as he did. You saw it in his eyes, a type of fervor you hadn’t seen up until now. He placed both his hands on your pants, pulling down as much as he could. You gasped, happy you hadn’t messed up and helped him out with taking your pants off. He spoke through gritted teeth, “Cholernie cię potrzebuję...”

He let one his hands hold you by the small of your back, the other holding and gripping at the soft, exposed flesh of your ass. You gasped and chuckled, rolling your body into his touch, making him smile too. He leaned in, giving you small pecks of kisses before he started to lean back, bringing you with him. He lifted from your lips, his face longing for you as you had a bit of a confused expression, wondering where he was going with this. “Please, baby... sit on my face...”

Immediately your expression turned stunned, blush creeping onto your cheeks again. You appreciated him being direct with what he wanted, but just hearing it out loud... and then your brain imagining it. You spoke just as breathlessly as he did, “Y-you want me to sit on your face?”

“Yes~...” he said, his words almost starting to slur, like he was losing himself completely to pleasure, getting drunk off the sexual tension. “I want to taste you, I want your thighs around me, I want you grinding on me, pleeeaaase...” He whined as he started to kiss your neck again, begging for what he wanted. You giggle, running your hands through his hair.

“You don’t have to ask me twice.” You felt him smile against your neck as he pulled up. He started leaning back again, his eyes looking deeply into yours until he had to fall back fully. You stepped yourself over his shoulders, currently on your knees on top of him. He had a big smile on his face, pulling his arms up so he could wrap his hands around the front of your thighs, his fingers resting on your inner thigh. You still felt the blush on your cheeks, feeling so exposed to him, but he quickly alleviated that anxiety, pulling you down slowly. He took a deep breath in just as you met him, the warm breath as he breathed out traced your clit, already igniting a fire in you. He gave a small, tentative lick to test the waters, you gasped in response. It seemed he wanted to just test it, see what you would like, but as soon as he tasted you, he lost any control he had. You felt him growl again, the vibrations making you jolt as his tongue immediately went faster, up and down. He gripped harder on your thighs, pulling you closer, your thighs spilling to the sides of his face, the little scraps of stubble and facial hair tickling at your inner thighs. It was a lot of sensations all at once, making you cry out his name, “S-Sobiesław~!”

He chuckled under you, sending more vibrations to your core as they traveled through his tongue. He pulled away slightly, looking up at you through lust struck eyes, “Lubisz to, kochanie?” He was slipping into Polish the more he slipped into his own pleasure. You weren’t even sure if it was because he didn’t want to translate, or if it was because he couldn’t anymore. Though he asked you a question, he didn’t wait for a response, immediately bringing you back to his mouth and licking up to your clit. He gave lots of little licks, little laps before latching on and kissing, sucking at it softly. You moaned more, running out of breath as he continued. Your hand went down to his hair, tightly bawling in his hair. You didn’t want to hurt him but it was hard when you were losing yourself to pleasure as well. He didn’t mind at all though, humming a moan in response directly into you. You cried out his name again as you cursed, moaning uncontrollably under his touch. He started to laugh, and it seemed like any noise he made set off a spark inside you. Your hips started to buck against him instinctively, especially as he let his tongue drift lower and lap at your ever growing wet entrance. It would even occasionally slip inside, and he would purposely hum to set you off. You could feel the way he smiled everytime you reacted, enjoying every bit of torturous teasing. His hands squeezed at your thighs, loving the way the plump flesh surrounded him and how it spilled on his fingers. You wondered how on earth he was breathing under there as he pulled you even closer to him, the warm breath from his nose answered your question. Your grip on his hair tightened as you felt the way it danced on your clit.

He finally released himself from your pussy, drenched with his own saliva and your juices. He looked up at you, barely being able to see the blue of them just due to how dilated they were. He scooted himself up so he could see your panting, longing face look back at him, confused why he stopped. “Poł-... L-lay back.”

You were in such a lust-addled state that you did what he said with no hesitation, scooting your legs back to meet his hips, as he started to scoot himself out from under you. “D-don’t you want anything done for you, baby?” You asked, desperately wanting to repay him for the pleasure he’s already made you feel.

He shook his head as he sat up, “I’m fine... I just want to make you feel good...” As you continued to lay down, he ran his hand down your abdomen, reaching where your bandage was. He pressed lightly, running his hands over where the stitching was, no doubt checking to make sure none had popped. His eyes met yours again as his hands trailed down your thighs. “You’ve been through a lot today, not to mention your good work... I think it deserves a reward, no?”

He let his hands drift under your thighs, his arm trailing as he pulled you up onto his shoulders, barely lifting you from the ground as he was laying down himself. His hand slid to your wet cunt, running up and down on your lips, he glanced at you again, gauging your reaction. You bit your lip softly, gasping as you wanted to respond to him. “A-ah~! Y-you did good today, too... you deserve stuff too...”

Your breathing was getting in the way of you trying to talk, struggling to not moan between your words as he continued to tease you. He looked up at you inquisitively, cocking a brow as you spoke. “Yeah? How so?”

You caught whatever whimper you were about to let out in your throat, instead just answering him breathily, “I-... If that guy had... mmm~... had come up, I probably would have... been screwed... A-Ah~!” You cried out at the end of your sentence as he slipped two fingers in you with ease. Your head fell back as you closed your eyes, but you could hear the snickering under you.

“Mhmm~...” He laughed as he hummed to himself, pumping into you ever so slowly. “That is true... but you were the one who called out that he was there, yeah?” He looked up at you expecting a response, but you still were just moaning from his fingers. This was what he was taking pleasure in right now, seeing you struggle to form an answer while he was finger fucking you, losing yourself on him. “You watched while I choked him out, hmm? You know I know how to control a choke... I wonder if you thought about me doing that to you... fucking you with my hard cock while I choke you, already struggling to breath due to how breathless I leave you?”

You cried out as you thought of it, him giving you a harsh thrust and curling up his fingers, almost like a reward in itself for thinking that way. “Y-Yes~! God... fuck, I do, Sobie~...” You were whining out his name, your hips bouncing back on him as you were getting off to the thought of it.

He laughed darkly, quickening his pace and making you moan wantonly. “Heheh... maybe some other time... Do you know what I want right now, kochanie?”

You tried to catch your breath, becoming a mess under him, able to choke out a “W-What?” under your breath.

You looked down at him, seeing him smile just as deviously as his laugh, pulling his left arm out from under your leg to be by side, leaning up to your ear. Consequently, it pulled your good leg up more, letting his right hand that was harshly thrusting in reach even deeper. He spoke through gritted teeth, his breath hot on your ear as he did, “I want to fuck you and make you cum over and over again, until we’re both messes that can’t even think straight... until we forget the world and just focus on how good we feel... aż nie będę w stanie niczego przetłumaczyć...” With every pause, he thrust deeply into you, making you cry out. He’d curl his fingers up just to torture you more, and you could hear the way his lips curled up into a smile with every reaction you had. You bucked your hips into him, wanting more and more, loving the idea he had.

He lowered himself back down, quickly wrapping his arm back around your leg to lift you up. He brought his mouth to your clit as soon as he could, latching on and suckling, not letting up on his barrage to your pussy. You cried out another curse, surprised you were screaming out of instinct, especially as his lust filled eyes locked with you again. You felt him smile, lifting up slightly. “Mmm~... I liked feeling your thighs on my face but... I think I like watching that pretty face moan my name more~...” Just as he finished his statement, he started lapping at your clit, able to see the way he was bouncing his tongue on it. And you did as he said, moaned out his name, making him chuckle on you. “That’s it... dobra dziewczynka~...” He cooed on you as he continued to lap at you, never seeming to stop getting wetter under his touch.

As he curled his fingers again you felt it. The world starting to slow as you bounced yourself against him, losing your breath as your closed eyes started seeing flashes. You felt your pussy clench on his fingers, but he quickly pulled them out. You whined, you were just about at your release, and he had stopped. You quickly opened your eyes, in your pure pleasure you hadn’t even felt that he let go of your thighs, stood on his knees in front of you, looking down as he undid his own belt. It made another pang of excitement hit you, almost cumming in anticipation of him. You wondered what your lustful face looked like as he started smiling and chuckling as he looked at you, pulling down his pants and boxers in one go. It sprung up immediately, him growling as the cool night air hit him. It was just as you felt even when it was confined, thick and clearly rigid as a rock as he wrapped his hand around it. He leaned down, both arms to the sides of you as he slowly pumped himself, just inches away from you. “Sorry, darling... I wanted to make sure you were nice and ready for me... So I could just...”

He quickly brushed his head just against your entrance, making sure he was lined up and thrusted his whole length in, in one go. You cried out, gripping hard onto his back as the knot in your stomach released, cumming as soon as you felt his head hit deep inside you. He growled right in your ear as he felt you tighten around him, gasping himself as he cooed praise in your ear, “There you go~... Taaaak, dobra dziewczynka~... Good girl~... Keep cumming for me... Kurwa~, kontynuuj cumming dla mnie...” It helped you as you came down from your high, though you were sure his back was going to look wartorn by the time you were done. You slowly caught your breath, opening your eyes and seeing him completely still inside you, him also breathing heavily as he looked at you. “T-tell me when you’re ready for me to move, kochan-”

You cut him off before he could finish, kissing him out of pure passion as his hips bucked slightly into yours, making you moan as your tongue slipped to meet his. The kiss was sloppy, desperate, but still showed just how much passion you were having. You broke the kiss, looking deep into his eyes. “...How do you say ‘fuck me’ in Polish?”

You saw the way his eyes instantly dilated, just from hearing you say it in English. “...Pieprz mnie.” He was hesitant, though his breath remained heavy in his voice, he was wondering what you were plotting.

“Proszę, pieprz mnie, Sobiesław.”

He shut his eyes in pleasure, rolling them back as he rolled his hips back. “Oh mój jebany Boże~...” He thrust into you deeply, making you cry out again. You were still hypersensitive from the orgasm, you could feel the way you were still tight around him as he stretched you out. The thing was though that since you were so dazed, so love drunk already, you didn't even feel a single twinge of pain as he kept thrusting his thick cock in you. Maybe that was his plan, to get you to orgasm so you didn’t have to feel anything other than pure ecstasy as he entered... or maybe he just wanted you to cum on his dick first thing... both seemed valid.

He thrust into you evenly, his pace constant as his hips rolled perfectly, going deep inside of your tightening walls. You smiled as you lifted your hips up slightly, bring your feet under your knees, allowing him to hit you at an even more nirvanic angle as he followed. You were moaning constantly, unable to help yourself but you heard the way your pitch spiked once his hard head hit that one spot in you. His eyes were trained on you the whole time, watching your face intently when his eyes weren’t shut, taking in his own pleasure, mouth hung agape as he was breathing heavily, occasionally moaning himself. His mouth turned to a devilish smile though when your head flew back after hitting that spot, his hands holding your hips as he sat up on his knees.

“Right, there? You want to be fucked right there?” He growled his words as his stare intensified, solidifying his point by showing an example, thrusting harshly against your g-spot.

You cried out again, back arching as the grip on your hips tightened, making sure you wouldn’t roll yourself off him. “Ahh~! Y-yes, like that! Fuck, Sobie... please, don’t fucking stop~” You words came out dazed and desperate, almost starting to slur like you were getting drunk of his cock thrusting so deeply into you. Though you heard it too in his voice, words starting to slur when he had ate your pussy.

“Wasn’t planning on it...” He chuckled, though it was hard to keep up a joking demeanor when he felt so good. “Kurwa~... Boże, jak ciasno~...” You started bouncing yourself back against him, fucking yourself on him to take in as much pleasure as you could. It was hard though as your legs started shaking, losing focus as you felt your muscles tightening around him, heightening your senses again to only the sheer ecstasy of his cock slamming into you relentlessly. You heard him laugh darkly above you, grabbing your hips tighter and fucking you even harder. “You gonna cum again, kotku? Ahahaha~... Don’t hold yourself back... No dalej, kochanie, dojdź dla mnie~...”

Even though you had no clue what he was saying, you immediately gave in, coming undone on his cock. You were left a spasming mess again, only held up by his strong hands wrapping around you and his praise showering you. “Good girl, mmm~... Kurwa, you feel like heaven~...” His thrusts slowed, letting you calm down from your orgasm, but still letting himself enjoy every little twitch, every contraction, every bit of extra sensitivity you had. You slowly came to, still feeling his slower, much more shallow thrust as he lets his hands drift to your thighs. Your orgasms seemed to leave you hypersensitive everywhere, feeling the fiery tingle even just as he dragged his fingertips over your soft flesh. He noticed the way you were looking at him, almost looking light-headed, looking up through heavy lids and gorgeous lashes, lust making your pupils take over your entire eye color. Just the way he wanted you... cock drunk beyond all imagination, so sensitive from orgasm after orgasm that you forgot even about the pain from your gash.

He let his hands slip just under your lower thigh, lifting up your left leg easily, but being more gentle with your right. Your left leg rested easily on his shoulder as he placed it there, letting his right hand reach over and trail along your stomach, pressing on your bandage as he kept lifting up your right leg slowly, watching you seriously to see your reaction. He was able to lift straight up, unable to feel any pain especially as his dick was still buried deep inside you. He let out a sigh of relief, returning his right hand to hold your other leg. “Good... you are holding up... thank fucking god because I know you only got one more left in you and I want to make sure I’m nice and deep when I cum with you~...”

His voice trailed off as he smiled wickedly, almost purring his statement as he made good on his word, immediately thrusting deeper than he did before. You screamed out, not caring anymore about your volume, or perhaps not even realizing as you just gave into the pleasure. Your hands were gripping hard at the blanket under you, glad you had laid it out as it helped ground you as he pounded into you. Your eyes rolled back in your head, trying to focus on him and watching as his cock disappeared into you. He seemed to be enjoying that sight too, but much more, he loved watching your face screw into pure bliss, crying out his name in choked breaths, moans becoming more hoarse as he never stopped pounding into you. He loved just how much you were enjoying this... that he was making you feel this way. He felt on top of the world.

His pace quickened as he felt you tighten again, the stars creeping at you faster from all the previous orgasms. Your throat felt tight, dehydrated from moaning and whining from him, your hand flew up from the blanket up to your own leg, desperately clawing at his hand to help you out, give you some sort of grounding. He quickly took it, squeezing as he leaned even closer to you. “Kurwa... Nie mogę... I can’t hold back~... Come on, kochanie~... so fucking good for me... taking me so well... Proszę... dojdź ze mną... Cum with me...”

His voice was airy, his thrust going even faster as he desperately chased his own ending, finally letting himself go. It took nothing for you, but the fast and deep thrust helped tip you over the edge as you finished on him for a third time, fingers interlacing with his and gripping hard. He gripped just as hard back as you tightened around him, almost as if your body was begging for you wordlessly for him to stay just as deep, to stay all the way in as he...

He growled as both his grip on your thigh and hand tightened exponentially, making you cry out even more as you spasmed under him. “Moja... Jesteś cała kurwa moja...” He growled directly in your ear as he leaned over, doing one finally thrust as his growl transitioned to a moan. You felt it, his hot, thick load cum into your hypersensitive walls, able to feel every drop drip down you as he made sure your legs stayed up right. He did small, shallow thrusts to keep himself stimulated but for the most part, his hips stayed completely flush with yours. He made sure you were not going to miss a single drop from him.

You both slowly opened your eyes, meeting each other with hands still interlocked, exchanging heavy pants as he remained leaning over you. It was almost like you were both in complete disbelief, the world frozen as you two took in the lingering feeling, and the new feeling arising post coitus. Instantly, he brought his mouth to yours, kissing you more passionately than ever, the only way to relieve this feeling, to express how he felt. Your other hand rose from the blanket to wrap around his neck, the little bits of his hair pouring over and tangling with your fingers. He was still holding your leg, but let go, letting them fall off his shoulders as they laid down more comfortably. He broke the kiss, looking deeply into your eyes, his head lightly shaking in disbelief. “Kurwa, byłaś zajebista...”

You giggled softly, looking at him with light hearted confusion. “And that means...?”

He looked taken aback a moment, before clearing his throat. “You were fucking amazing...”

Your laugh continued, though you kept it quiet, trying not to offend him by thinking you were laughing at him. Part of you thought though maybe had completely forgotten he needed to translate. “Mmm... I can say the same... holy shit, how many times did I...?”

Your voice trailed off, not needing to finish before he could answer you. “Three...” His smile was wide, proud of himself. “Heheh... I think I can go for more next time... maybe even a couple from me too...” Still as cocky and overzealous as usual, but you had to admit, it attracted you even more to him. Not to mention the prospect of it was enticing... maybe you would have to remember to stop by his dorm more often.

He slowly pulled himself out, you hadn’t even realized he was still inside until you felt it, making you gasp slightly out of instinct. He leaned up and reached over, grabbing the towel he threw aside early and putting it right under you. You helped him out, lifting your legs and not letting them down until you were sure it was under you. You also didn’t want to ruin your blanket, though you were sure it was slightly stained forever from you two tonight. He sat back as he watched you set your legs down, watching his seed slowly spill out of you in awe. He bit his lip, his cock twitching at the sight. Almost by instinct, he let his hand drift down, sliding past your folds and letting two fingers in. You gasped at the feeling, starting to sit up as you locked eyes with him. “S-Sobie... I can’t-”

He cut you off, giving you a small kiss to gently silence you. “I know you can’t take anymore tonight, kotku. Mmm... I just can’t help it when you feel so good...” He smiled softly, leaning over to your ear as he whispered, “I want to make sure every bit stays in... Kurwa, you just look so beautiful dripping with my cum...”

You blushed at the comment, smiling back as you turned to look at him. You locked your lips with his again, with lazy but strong love drunk passion. True to his word, his fingers stayed completely still, even as you adjusted and, out of instinct, grinded against him, he remained them as stable as could be.

The kiss broke after a few moments, letting his fingers slip out at the same time. He looked at the way they shined in the dim lighting, your own wet juices mixed with his cum. He locked eyes with you as he took his middle finger into his mouth, letting it come out trailing on his tongue. He couldn’t help but smile as he saw a blush return to your cheeks, biting your lip as you watched him. He held his hand up to your mouth, offering you his ring finger that was still wet. You smiled, coyly wrapping your tongue around the tip before taking him in. The way it tasted... you made a mental note for next time to make sure he got some head of his own. But the way he was watching you, mouth agape as he felt the way you sucked his finger clean, something told you he would desperately want that.

He hastily pulled his finger out, clearing his throat as he broke eye contact, looking at the ground. “Cholera... Nope... Can’t be doing this again, I’ll get myself too excited.” He pulled his boxers up, sitting on his knees as he pulled his pants up. He reached over while pulling his fly up, tossing your pants to you. As you put your panties back on, you knew tomorrow was gonna be... somewhat uncomfortable to you. Most certainly they would be ruined, especially if he tried teasing you on comms. Maybe that would be his next mission.

Once you had your pants back on, you laid back, crashing onto the ground with the blanket breaking your fall. You didn’t even care, didn’t even feel anything as you were still in pure bliss from him. He quickly looked over to you, hearing your body softly fall, genuine concern in his eyes. “You okay, kochanie?”

You smiled and nodded. “Mhmm... you just wore me out, that’s all...”

The concern immediately dropped, smiling and softly laughing to himself. “Is that so? Hmm... maybe I’ll have to go more gentle next time?” He slowly lowered himself behind you, his broad chest against your back as his warm arm acted as a blanket.

“No, no,” you said quickly, earning another laugh from him. “I can take it just... fuck, that was so good.”

You felt him smile a big grin as he pressed his lips on the crown of your head, softly kissing it. “I’m glad you like it, because you were... God, words can’t even describe you...”

You smiled softly, happy that you were both mutually pleased. The way you both had the best time... wanting more but now just enjoying this moment you had. You held tightly onto his arm, snuggling yourself into him and shutting your eyes, taking in everything about him; the soft smell of cigarettes and gunpowder, the sound of his heart softly thumping in his chest, the feeling as he breathed deeply with you against him. With your eyes closed and feeling so relaxed, worn out from everything still, you found it hard not to doze off. “Mmm... you’re gonna be on first watch then, right?”

You heard him laugh softly, his other hand lifting to tuck your hair behind your ear. “I wouldn’t worry about that... I’m not going anywhere right now...” He pressed another kiss to your head, taking longer as he took a deep breath in. “If I die tonight, I’ll die happily with you in my arms...”

You didn’t even care because you absolutely agreed. You two were too far out, no one would find you. You would much rather enjoy the presence of his warm, cuddly body as you fell asleep.

Translations! Kurwa- Fuck/Fucking. Multiple Polish ppl told me this is like the most universal curse and it is basically used like how we say fuck/fucking in English. Nie- No Maleńka- little. Literally just translates to little but is a diminutive generally used toward smaller girls. Cholera- Shit/Fuck/Damn. This one doesn't have a direct translation but again, is more of an exclamation you say Ej dupku- Hey asshole Oko za oko!- An eye for an eye Dobra- Alright O, ona wie, co znaczy ‘kurwa’? Co za mądra dziewczyna.- Oh, so she knows what 'kurwa' means? What a smart girl. Ja pierdolę- Fuck me/Fuck's sake Kurwa... Dlaczego uważam to za...- Fuck... why do I find this... (he cuts himself off before he says 'why do I find this hot') Kochanie- darling/dear/baby, pet name Kotku- kitty/kitten Twoje ciało mówi za ciebie.- Your body is talking for you. Taka dobra dziewczynka...- Such a good girl... Chętnie...- Gladly... No dalej...- Come on... Jesteś moja na cała noc...- And you are all mine tonight... Proszę, baby... Potrzebuję cię...- Please, baby... I need you... Cholernie cię potrzebuję...- I fucking need you... Lubisz to, kochanie?- You like it, baby? Poł-- he cuts himself off before he says 'Połóż się' which is lay back Aż nie będę w stanie niczego przetłumaczyć...- Until I can't even translate myself anymore. Taaaak...- Yessss Kontynuuj cumming dla mnie...- Keep cumming for me... Oh mój jebany Boże~...- Oh my fucking God~... Boże, jak ciasno~...- God, so tight~... No dalej, kochanie, dojdź dla mnie~...- Come on, darling, cum for me~... Nie mogę...- he cuts himself off before he says 'Nie mogę się powstrzymać' which is I can't hold myself back Proszę... dojdź ze mną...- Please... cum with me... Moja... Jesteś cała kurwa moja...- Mine... you're all fucking mine... Kurwa, byłaś zajebista...- Shit, you were fucking amazing...

#gromsko #gromsko x reader #sobiesław kościuszko #sobiesław kościuszko x reader #call of duty #call of duty x reader #cod #cod x reader #mw2 #gromsko mw2 #mw2 x reader

[felassan]

its that time again! 🍵 

Thoughts/wonderings on Dragon Age: The Missing #4, under a cut due to spoilers for The Missing -

I'm probably becoming a lil unhealthily obsessed with this building. what do we think it is? the Archon's Palace is the highest building in Minrathous (tho I guess not, as it has sewers and this is floating). A Circle? it has a similar shape to the logo for the Circle of Magi. the meeting place for the Magisterium senate, lording over everyone below from high above? whatever it is it looks cool and it must be important to be featured on the map. I wanna go there (๑*ᗜ*)

I love Neve Gallus' design. it's fresh and cool, and she just looks so cute and neat okay. also full of detail - the snake pattern on the headpiece, shoulder 'scales' and scales elsewhere, collar & jacket like one of those hooded snakes, snake-'tailcapped' footwear (rather than steel toe-capped), the serpent belt and of course most of all the beautiful snake design of her prosthetic limb. 10/10 character/costume design

this page had me on my knees basically. my heart.

surely this panel is a new meme format hh? same goes for the one where Varric is saying "Then perhaps all this is linked" and Harding says "And we've led them here"

you walked into the wrong neighborhood bro

I also liked this pair of illustrations, they had a nice 'bookend' feel and reminded me a lot of Lord of the Rings.

Other thoughts:

Minrathous looks kinda cyberpunk and (despite what Harding says in the opening panels) feels quite clean in this comic

Is that the person tailing them lurking in the doorway that Harding is catching sight of here?

These holes in Varric's ear seem to be new. What happened? Injury from the leopard attack?

confused a bit by the perspective flip in this issue. In issue 1, Varric was more like 'stop', and Harding was more like 'talk to him'. it's flipped around a bit here.

Varric smiled when he thought about Neve and then lit up when he saw her. she calls him an "old friend". I wonder how they met and how long they've known each other. something to do with varric's spy network?

This panel felt a bit meta hh.

When Neve says "Your friend is quite intense" is she referring to Solas or Harding?

Then we come to the two main things we learn in this issue:

We learn that Solas has been in Minrathous causing trouble. He's been attacking Venatori locations in the city, stealing artifacts from them and freeing elven slaves in the process, which has greatly angered the Venatori. The Venatori now want revenge and a "bunch of rebellious elves" are "causing trouble throughout the city, presumably in the name of the one who freed them". I wonder if the artifacts weaken the Veil, are connected to the idol somehow, or are simply sources of great power that Solas either needs for himself/his plans or that he simply thinks should be taken away from the Venatori so that they don't cause harm using them? Tevinter Nights showed agents of Fen'Harel seeking artifacts and referenced rumors of elven artifacts that strengthen the Veil, like the ones from DA:I. freeing folks also makes sense, "I am not a monster" and it's something he has a history of doing

In this issue we also learn that Neve works with a group called the Shadow Dragons, who have been trying to help the former slaves. indeed they're trying to help anyone who is held as slaves in Minrathous. this is our first time hearing about this new group. they make it their business to help those in need and Neve makes it her business to help them. I'm a bit ¿ about their name, just due to how it sounds, but it's exciting to learn about a new group/faction. Each issue of this DA:D prequel comic has shone a spotlight on a faction - Grey Wardens, Antivan Crows, the Veil Jumpers and the Shadow Dragons. two new, two old. it's a nice balance. and it brings to mind the common fan theory/speculation about the PC of DA:D having a different faction background depending on the player's choice. at the very least it feels like a way of saying 'these four groups [or characters from them] will feature in a significant way/be 'players on the board' in DA:D".

thinking about the Shadow Dragons' name in an in-world context, like thinking about why they may have chosen their name: dragons are emblematic of Tevinter. dragon imagery is everywhere there, dragons are a symbol of power and Tevinter heraldry shows a dragon. the Tevinter Imperium is a 'dragon', or several (metaphorically) - Magisters, ruling over the classes below. the "shadow dragons" feel like "the other side" of Tevinter, the side in shadow, the underside, the 'anti-Tevinter'. I'd guess that they are the "Tevinter you forgot", i.e. the Viper's faction. (and if you look at Tevinter heraldry, there is also a snake 'in opposition' to the dragon.) before Missing #4 I wondered if “the Tevinter you forgot” "means they are a group of folks who have fallen through the cracks in Tevinter society or who are the downtrodden in Tevinter society. is it some sort of uprising or anti-Magisterium movement?" - here we learn they're trying to help people Tevinter 'forgot' like slaves and former slaves. I also commented "from the story it sounds like the dark-clad card dealer is the Viper. the magister in the story is afraid of him and tries to claim that the Viper is just a tale, implying that the Viper’s name has become known as a sort of shadowy, stealthy urban legend in Minrathous and that it has a sort of bogeyman effect on magisters." Shadow indeed. Neve later comments that the Shadow Dragons are trying to "help anyone held as slaves in Minrathous". I think it was in the Dorian short story in Tevinter Nights that there's a reference to how there's now an anti-slavery movement in Tevinter. Is that the Shadow Dragons? you can see possible echoes of "the Tevinter you forgot" in later comic dialogue "The Shadow Dragons have vowed to help us restore our dignity. To get back the lives that were stolen from us by the Venatori. To make sure we don't have to scrabble in the dirt for food and warm", imo.

I wonder if Dorian, Mae and the Lucerni know anything about the Shadow Dragons? maybe they've done some work together?

and while the Viper/Viper's faction/the Shadow Dragons themselves didn't appear in issue 4, issue 4 still highlighted them, continuing the pattern I speculated about, of the DA Day short stories (Evka/Antoine/Wardens, Teia/Viago/Crows, Strife/Irelin/Veil Jumpers and Viper's faction/Shadow Dragons), one from each of those short stories per issue.

Varric is still having a bad time. also he was born in 9:1, and so if DA:D is set in 9:52, he's now over 50. from these comics, he's feeling old and tired. I don't expect that he'll be a companion in DA:D. more like an advisor (off-field), a contact or quest-giver, or the person that recruits us.

"But why? What did he get out of it? Surely, he wanted something in return" was an interesting line. because like on one hand "I am not a monster", he has a history of freeing people who were enslaved and he's shown as valuing freedom and not enjoying needless suffering. setting people free definitely is the only decent thing. but he's also smart and does things with purpose, always playing 4-D chess, and has been outwitting Varric and Harding at every turn throughout these comic issues, always one step ahead. it seems like a 'it's both' situation. like two birds, one stone. he would free people and it's the right thing to do, and he also gains from it strategically. Varric lampshades this in the final page: and it's three stones, actually. Solas freed people, dealt with the Venatori on his tail and slowed Varric/Harding down long enough to escape all in one move.

Also, at first I wondered if the brown-haired elf was sort've projecting his own perceptions on Solas (with the "his kin" lines). but look here. the leader of these Venatori has a pouch round their neck. the others don't, it's prominently placed and it's consistent on this Venatori in every panel they're in here. and where have we seen that before? around the neck of the Venatori stalker that saved Varric from the leopard in Issue 3. I think we're supposed to conclude that the ringleader of the Venatori that attack the elves in this issue is the Venatori person that's been tailing Varric and Harding all throughout these comic issues. the Venatori ringleader seems to recognize Varric in a later panel, with the "You!". They fight and Varric starts demanding answers from the Venatori leader. but then, just as he's about to get answers, the brown-haired elf intervenes and kills them at that very moment. they won't hurt their people anymore, and conveniently also (more than one purpose to things again..), now Varric and Harding won't get any answers. and also this:

another - not two, but - three stones. when the brown-haired elf kills the Venatori ringleader, A) preventing them from further harming his people and B) preventing them from giving any answers to Varric and Harding, C) the killing blow also cuts that pouch from their neck. a very specific thing to depict. presumably in the chaos of the Venatori leader's death (you can't see the elf's hands in the very next panel) the brown-haired elf has grabbed the pouch, and part of his goal all along was to take it. I think we're supposed to conclude that the pouch contained the crucious stone and that the brown-haired elf works for Solas. so the "You're too late, I already have the crucious stone" letter from issue 3 was a Solas fakeout, the Venatori at that point in time did in fact have the stone (having beaten Solas to the vault, and as-shown by the Venatori who saved Varric from the leopard having the pouch around their neck), and the events of issue 4 were part of Solas' plan to steal it/steal it back from them (and going by Neve's earlier dialogue, it's not the first artifact he's stolen from them). so two things here: one, Solas' 'three stones' are actually-actually four (free the slaves, deal with the Venatori on his tail, delay Varric/Harding long enough to escape, and steal the crucious stone artifact from the Venatori [my head hurts]). and two, the brown-haired elf was working for Solas after all. he'll give the pouch (and the contents, the stone) to Solas, "he set us, his kin, free" wasn't projection considering that he does work for him, and him being there in the alleyway when he was, with the information that he had, was part of Solas' plan to escape and get the stone. otherwise, it's pretty convenient that one of the former slaves at the place Neve's aware of where former slaves have been eating scraps, at the time when she takes Varric/Harding there, just happened to have helpful info about the meeting that Varric/Harding needed and also happened to kill the Venatori leader and in the process cut the pouch from their neck. idk if it means all the elves here were working for Solas or just the brownhaired one or the brownhaired one & the blond one, but yea. definitely the brownhaired elf is I think.

Neve fighting was cool: staff-less magic and then as a mage using a dagger or shortsword.

party combo-kill! ice spell + finishing blow - a comic depiction of Shattering :)

Brown-haired elf missing his elven ear here.

A cool panel. Also, you can't see his other hand..

just really liked these two panels :) also, they missed their chance, they missed this chance, in this, a comic called The Missing... is that why it's called that?

[clenches fist] vowing to protect Neve and her good heart at all costs

and he stole the crucious stone artifact from the Venatori.

I am not sure that I agree with the premise of this article that BioWare retweeted, that The Missing is required reading before DA:D. I enjoyed issues 2 & 3 a lot! I was hoping for a bit more from the end of issue 4, perhaps a small Solas appearance like at the end of Dark Fortress or just a bit more insight into his plans or things in/the setup for DA:D. finishing on the Dread Wolf mural from the DA:D TGA 2020 trailer as a reminder was neat but the highlight reveal from these comics as a whole was definitely the new mural depicted in issue 3.

"He knows us too well, we need to find/use people he doesn't know" is the same conclusion that was reached at the end of Trespasser (and Harding was present for that conversation). I guess the meta irl reasons for The Missing are: A] since it'll be almost 10 years irl between games, to refresh folks about that conclusion and the fact that it will be a new PC and why it has to be 'someone he doesn't know', since most new players to the franchise at DA:D aren't going to buy years old DA:I and DLC and play til it the end of Trespasser B] fill some irl time C] do some marketing/advertizing and D] highlight these four groups/factions and introduce the two new ones (Veil Jumpers and Shadow Dragons) in advance of DA:D, and possibly highlight these specific characters (Strife, Teia, Evka etc) the same way (though I speculate those characters are more like DA:D 'contact' cameos rather than that they will be companions themselves). Certainly if I was Varric at the moment when Harding asks "So who are you thinking?" at the end here, after the events I had experienced and people & groups I had met in recent weeks, with those being fresh in my mind, I would be thinking about the Grey Wardens, the Antivan Crows, the Veil Jumpers and the Shadow Dragons, both as groups and terms of the mental list of people that I had recently met who Solas doesn't know. again it makes you think about the popular speculation that the DA:D PC will have the background of being from one of these groups. also, those 4 groups aren't ones which were referenced in Tevinter Nights as keeping an eye on Solas/as Solas having some info on them in turn (unlike some other groups like the Mortalitasi, the Executors, the Ben-Hassrath etc).

#dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #dragon age: the missing #dragon age: the missing spoilers #bioware #video games #solas #late bc ive been working on other posts #long post #longpost #tevinter nights #strife

[kozykricket]

Now that we have music and a name for 1.21, I'll give some of my thoughts ... on 1.21 as it is. That is to say, I'll withdraw any comments about "they... didn't update this unrelated thing :/" because like... yes, theres many other things that I think they could've updated, and I do hope they get to stuff thats on the backburner/backlog soon, but I respect 1.21 heavily for its lovely, wonderful additions LONG READ AHEAD!!

Tricky Trials feels like it … didn’t overscope, and thus was able to accomplish confidently what it had set out to do: To add more fun to Minecraft. Yes, there are of course still issues in Minecraft, and many things on the backlog / stuck in the ideas box, but… when you just look at 1.21 for what it DOES and not for what it DOESNT do? You get a 9/10 update, I’d say.

By focusing on the trial chambers, they’ve really created a special experience. A more refined dungeon than any other. I want to talk about… why I love trial spawners. 

So, I’ve thought frequently of adding my own dungeons to minecraft, but a struggle I always came to was… If I want the player to have several rooms with encounters of enemies, how will I do that elegantly? If its rooms with spawners, they’ll just be overwhelmed forever in each room until they light it up… and they’ll be able to farm a single room for mob loot, if they so please. They’d also be able to just… completely farm the heck out of every single spawner constantly working, like you can do with battle towers in modded minecraft. I think that feels a bit too cheap. But what if you go the nether fortress route, and just have mobs spawn in the structure? Well, thats … random. Its based on the mobcap, which is unpredictable especially in multiplayer. There won’t be a consistent difficulty to the dungeon… which leaves the bastion route: Designated single time enemy spawns. It’d probably be the best, but… it also leaves the enemies to wander around while the player is in nearby rooms. What if I only want them to spawn in when the player gets near? That’s… exactly what the trial spawner is. It goes on a long cooldown, so it might as well be a single time spawner. You get into a single encounter with a wave of mobs when it gains line of sight with you, and this allows for there to be plenty of them in the chambers without it being overpowered to farm or overwhelming if not lit up. The per player loot via vaults is also fantastic. It lets players who are “late to the server / structure” have a chance at getting their own loot, and even still enjoying themselves with trial spawners resetting their cooldowns. An example of why trial spawners help the experience for players coming to structures late, is… even if we had once-per-player loot in say, bastions, there’d still be… no piglins left guarding the treasure. No fun experience, just purely the loot. But with trial spawners AND vaults? You get the full experience… minus any destruction your friends may have caused to the structure, and a few chests or so. But the chests are mostly just supplies like wood as far as I’ve seen.

And then, to add on top of that, the ominous events system lets us experience the same structure AGAIN but in a HARDER mode that lets us access more cool and powerful loot in the ominous vaults… its brilliant!

But lets get back to 1.21 being Fun: I think the breeze, mace, and wind charges are perfect examples of just purely fun content. The Mace feels a tad unbalanced at times, but its also just… fun? Like, yeah, it could stand to pierce armor less, or do less single target damage, but in terms of flying with wind burst and wind charges? Thats just FUN. When was the last time we got a fun utility consumable? Ender pearls? They aren’t even that fun, its just teleporting. Movement in games is very, very fun. Wind charges stopping your fall damage to some extent feels like they’re welcoming you into giving them a try. This combined with the open chambers of the titular structure, and the overall adventure-map like design leads to … more fun!

I really respect how the ominous trials throwing potions to make encounters tougher is done, because it feels so much like a thing you’d see done in some adventure map. A lot of the trial chambers feels very in touch with what a player might make as a map or challenge for their friends. Which, I think does sort of take away from player-built structures and challenges, but luckily they kept all of the redstoning extremely simplistic, relying on breezes to activate the dispensers. It feels hard to critique such a fun dungeon just because “it feels really well made, like it was actually made by a real person with intent” because… well, we can have a little bit of fun, can’t we? Sure, if every structure was like this, I’d have some concerns for the sandbox elements of minecraft, but having one structure in the game that embodies what the end product of creation can look like? I think that works out well. Might even inspire some people!

And theres a certain jankiness of using in game mechanics like dispensers and potions that makes it feel… human, as opposed to extremely gamey. 

Theres more I could say, I’m sure. Like how the breeze is quite a breathe of fresh air in terms of enemy design, being a disruptor / support rather than full on beeline-attack-you

But yeah, I think 1.21, Tricky Trials, is shaping up to be fun. I know mojang had been thinking about how they needed to freshen up the extrinsic content a little bit, even though minecraft IS a game focused on intrinsic motivation; doing what YOU want to do.

But having fun midgame things for people to do when they want to take a break from their personal projects is something I consider important. Maybe I want to take a break from building my house, but I don’t wanna stop playing minecraft, so I’ll pop on over to the nearest trial chamber, and do some fights.

…Did I even mention how much groundwork this lays for future updates? Like, they can use trial spawners and vaults in MORE structures, like giving them to, I dunno, strongholds! Bastions! 

I do hope 1.22 is an update that focuses on updating old stuff to newer standards, like new models for old animals or new sounds for old wood types… or changing some old weird recipes…

But as Tricky Trials stands on its own? It’s great. Maybe the vault loot needs a bit of tweaking; I sorta disagree with different dungeons having different pieces of gear… I’d like to get enchanted pickaxes, but the experience is overall pretty good, considering I can actually get XP and mob loot in an engaging manner rather than just running around at night.

#minecraft #minecraft ramblings #post #minecraft 1.21

[darubyprincx]

Ashes Pix and dandelions (symbolism, healing, however you want to interpret that)

They stepped out into a forest dimly lit with the greyish-blue of late dusk, the breeze flowing between the leaves and the bountiful foliage on the ground- when had Pix last seen a fern? When had any of them last seen a miracle such as this?

"Oh, my gods," Fwhip murmured, looking up.

They all simply stood there and drank in the scenery: the gently fading light, the brush of plant against leg, the coolness and freshness of the breeze. Somewhere deeper in the forest, an owl hooted. A cricket chirped somewhere nearby and Pix flinched, startled, but held still, held rapt by this simple but infinitely sweet noise.

"I think we made it," said Gem.

"Yeah," said Fwhip, turning around. "Oh, the portal's gone already."

Pix didn't look behind him to check. He trusted Fwhip's word, and anyways, forests at night were dangerous places to be wherever you were. He took his time finding his way through the thicket, almost blessing the way that there were so many living things here that they could obstruct his path like this.

The bushes he pushed his way through thinned suddenly, and in the middle distance between what could be guessed was more forest if you squinted and where the three stood now, a small collection of yellow lights shone and illuminated the familiar angular shapes of low houses: Pix suddenly found that his throat had choked up.

Beside him, Gem gently gasped. "There's people," she whispered excitedly. "There's people!" She whooped so loudly that the inhabitants of this small cluster of buildings surely could have heard her even from there. "Oh, my gods, this is..."

"Yeah," said Fwhip. "It's great. But also, we haven't talked to anyone else but ourselves in literal months. We don't know if they're friendly or if they even speak our language."

"Well," said Gem hesitantly but determinedly, "there's only really one way to find out, right?"

:-<•>-:

It was a tiny place, as it turned out, with nobody in the streets and only five or six buildings clustered around a small central green with a well in the middle. Gem marched right up to the nearest house and knocked on the door.

"Gem, what are you doing?" hissed Fwhip.

"Hoping," Gem whispered back.

The door opened.

An older woman stood there, long hair greying and carefully braided back into a large poof of curls at the back of her head. She was a little shorter than Fwhip and looked at the three of them with no small measure of surprise, which made sense but made Pix suddenly want to run back into the forest. What would she say? What would she think? Surely she would turn the three of them out. Three random strangers in the middle of nowhere, of course there was no reason to let them in. He had followed Gem with a small measure of caution but nothing more but now he was starting to have serious doubts. From Fwhip's face and the way he froze, it was clear he felt the same.

Gem took a deep breath and nervously exhaled. "Hello," she started tentatively. "We uh- hello, we're travelers and we're not from anywhere around here and it's getting dark. Could we maybe have some directions or a map please?" She winced, and Pix internally curdled back into his skull, but the woman just raised her eyebrows minutely and looked behind her.

"Kaloh," she said in a thick and unfamiliar accent, "we have visitors."

A young man with the same thick hair as the woman came to the door and startled a bit when he saw the three at the door. Gem, who was closest, stepped back a bit.

"At least we can understand you," said the woman with a sudden laugh. She stepped aside. "Come, come. This is a place in the middle of nowhere and I do not have the knees for travel. Do you know how rarely we get guests? No, come in. I cannot leave you standing out there."

The three glanced at each other, clearly unsure, each waiting for the other to make a move.

"If we were to kill you," said Kaloh bluntly, "we would have done it immediately. No use wasting food on those who will be dead in the night."

"That is true," said the woman with a nod. "But you three are far too awkward to be lying. If you want a meal," she gestured inside, "there is broth in the pot."

"If you'll have us, then we will gladly enter," said Pix after a short pause with a small bow. "Thank you."

"Manners, too," said Kaloh, mildly impressed. "Where are you from?"

"That's a conversation best had over dinner," said the woman, ushering the three inside. "In you go."

:-<•>-:

Pix let the other two do the talking, simply focusing on the meal at hand and the room around them. There was a woodstove against one wall, some chairs with clearly handmade pillows sitting adjacent, and several doors which Pix could only assume led to bedrooms. The whole place had a comfortable, lived in sort of glow to it, and he could feel himself relax automatically even as he kept an eye on both the food and their hosts, as bad as he felt for being suspicious of them.

The woman's name was Myra, and she had lived here for decades. Her wife had died several years previous, leaving her with a spare bedroom and a son to raise alone. She managed well these days, though, she said while bustling around to hand off the dishes to Kaloh. "It just gets quiet around here sometimes, so forgive my excitement."

Pix nodded as he took a sip of water and a small mouthful of soup, which was a veritable feast after surviving on scraps for the past eight months. He felt that the sheer amazement of the situation they had found themselves in had not settled in quite yet for him, which was lucky because he knew that as soon as it hit him he would not be able to compose himself. That was okay.

Somehow, he figured he'd be alright.

They were informed that this house had a shower, with warm water of all things, and Gem was pointed towards the door ("th' lady goes first, it's only manners") with a promise that the other two were soon to follow, reeking of horses as they were.

"I genuinely cannot thank you enough," said Pix, looking up after Myra passed by his seat, which had been dragged at incredible speed out of a closet as soon as they had entered. "However I can repay you, I would be happy to."

"The company's payment enough in itself," said Myra with a smile. "And the fact that you're all soon to be clean. The whole house will smell like onions in only hours at this rate."

Kaloh looked over from where he was standing at the sink. "I am curious, though," he said. "All travelers have some sort of story to tell, and you haven't told a single one yet."

"Well," said Pix slowly, "there's not much to tell." That wasn't strictly true, but anything more than a brief synopsis would take the entire night and halfway through the morning to explain. "We've been traveling for eight months- when we started, it was autumn, and when we got here, summer had begun. The place we came from- it wasn't safe to be there anymore, and so we went looking for somewhere kinder."

"This soup's really good," added Fwhip. "But yeah. It's a really heavy story, and a long one too, and I don't think we're ready to tell it yet."

"Oh," said Kaloh. "I didn't mean to press. I was just curious."

"No harm done," said Fwhip with a half shrug. "You didn't know."

"Shower's vacant," announced Gem, walking out with a burst of steam and wet hair. "Which one of you wants to go next?"

"This one smells worse," said Myra, pointing at Pix.

"Guess that settles it, then," said Pix with a laugh.

:-<•>-:

He took as much time as he dared himself to allow.

The water was warm. It came freely and it came hot, washing almost a decade of grime and sweat and blood and tears and sin from his skin and from his tangled hair. For a short amount of time, he just stood there with his forehead pressed against the wall, heart full to bursting.

The spare bedroom had two beds- two! With mattresses and sheets! Gem and Fwhip took one, and Pix the other. It was strange sleeping alone after so long of having someone else beside him, pressed shoulder to shoulder, gentle breaths and heads leaning sideways, but although the soft sheets were strange on his rough, calloused skin, they were a blessing nonetheless. He lay faceup for a while, just staring at the ceiling.

"You good over there?" asked Fwhip, who was tucking in the blankets more securely over his shoulder while also making sure Gem had enough to do the same.

"Oh, yeah," Pix said without really feeling it. "This is great. I just was wondering- like, what did we do to deserve this?"

"I don't think we deserve or don't deserve it," said Fwhip after a short pause and a shrug that Pix could see even though he wasn't looking anywhere at him. "I'm kind of done with the whole 'prove you have the right to be alive' thing. I think it's really nice of these people to do this for us and I think I wouldn't mind doing their chores for the next few days just as an extra thank you."

Pix exhaled and rolled onto his side, towards the wall. "That's a good way of thinking about it actually. I guess I just sort of expected... worse."

"So did I," said Fwhip, "but I will gladly take this. I stopped believing in an afterlife or really any sort of all powerful benevolent deity years ago, shortly after you left the second time. I think the best Heaven I can get is gonna be in places like this."

It was quiet after that. Pix stayed in bed but let his eyes wander around the section of the room in his view: there was a door to what he assumed was a small closet, and a window letting in silk-soft beams of a full moon's light. Kaloh had hurried in shortly before bidding them goodnight with a small clear cup full of what Pix assumed was water with a couple of dandelions suspended in them. Didn't dandelions represent hope or something? Gem had told him that once.

It didn't matter. He could think about it tomorrow. Pix got the feeling that this was the best turn of luck the three had gotten in a long time.

#i know i said there wouldn't be an ashes epilogue but i've had this scene stewing in my mind for a bit so you'll have to forgive me. #ray's tag #answered #ashes au #mcyt #empires smp #there's so much missing from this short piece and so much more that i wanted to add but it'd serve better as an ao3 oneshot than a #Tumblr post lol

[zacharyleartist69]

I forgot I was a writer too lmao

Anyways this is Part 1 of Funky Kong involvements in the Mario Movie and how I think it will play out.

Disclaimer: This writing may not be accurate towards the actual movie but it’s kind of a replica of how it went down.

—————————————————————————

After the battle between Mario and DK, Cranky Kong agreed to join forces with Peach in defending her Kingdom against Bowser, the King of Koopas.

Mario and Peach are talking among themselves outside of a tree house on a porch. “That was an incredible fight out there, Mario. Thank you for doing this.” Peach said. Mario looks up at Peach with an ice pack on his cheek as he forms a smile “Hey I was just doing what I felt was right”. Peach smiles back at Mario “thanks to your win, we now have the kongs by our side and together we can defeat Bowser and save my kingdom”.

Out of nowhere, DK slams the door wide open behind Peach and Mario “I let him win! By the way.”. Mario and Peach turn to DK, startled, then Mario replies back “were you eavesdropping our conversation?”.

“Well.. it’s also called mind YOUR BUSINESS!” DK yelled as he picked up a barrel and threw it at Mario. Mario quickly ducks down to dodge the barrel and gives the ice pack in Peach’s hand as he pulls his sleeves up “Alright big monkey I beat you once and I will do it again.”

DK and Mario get up at each other's faces as they are ready to start a fight until Cranky Kong hits their faces with a cane as he walks through “Enough rough housing you two and get inside! We got work to do”. The two back off and head inside, followed by Peach behind the two.

Inside of the tree house, there is a map of the kingdoms and some markings as Cranky Kong walks to it “so that Bowser guy is heading towards the Mushroom Kingdom am I correct? So what we can do is to try to cut him off”. “Yes but where exactly?” Peach asked as she stood next to Cranky. Cranky scoffs a bit and looks up at Peach “Since his island is floating towards your kingdom, there is an area where we can ride on”. Peach looks down at Cranky with her eyes widened “Ride?”.

“Why yes, if you don’t know there is a rainbow road near my kingdom. That road is around the area where Bowser is floating to. If we ride there, we have a higher chance of beating him down there” Cranky said as he slammed his cane on the map where the rainbow road is located. Peach eyes lit up as she looks at the map and turns to Cranky, excitedly “That is an excellent plan, Cranky!- I mean your highness”.

“I’ll leave you off with a warning.. This time.” Cranky adjusted his glasses as he turned to Mario and DK, “then it’s settled then. Let us go to the Kart department and get our karts ready for battle.” “Heck yeah! I hope Funky is there, I haven't seen him all day” DK exclaimed as he got off the hammock and dashed out the door. “You just saw him before your fight you imbecile!” Cranky yelled as he tried to keep up with DK, leaving Peach and Mario alone together.

The two look at each other, confused “Funky?”. “Whoever this Funky is, I bet he is a really cool guy! Let’s go karting!” Toad yelled in excitement as he ran out the door. Mario and Peach just shrugged and followed Toad behind, a little excited.

Later on, Mario, Peach, Toad, Cranky Kong, and DK soon come down from the elevator and are greeted by a team of so many kongs working together, building the karts, attaching the barrels, etc. One of the Kongs is spotted patrolling around the scene to make sure the karts are modified properly for the fight. A kong with purple sunglasses, wearing a polka dot bandana, and a white tank top with some blue shorts to match with the look. As soon as DK spotted this Kong, he immediately dashes towards him “FUNKY!”.

Funky Kong looks up to see DK running towards him and opens his arms with a smile “DK!”. DK quickly goes into a ball and rolls towards Funky, causing him to fall back onto the ground. Cranky Kong shakes his head as he walks towards the two kongs “we don’t have time to play around you two, we got a kingdom to defend”. “You should know that I can’t help myself whenever this kong is around,” DK said as he hit Funky Kong's arm with his elbow. Funky Kong snickers as he rubs his arm “Don’t worry old man, your kart is ready and polished by my kart at the entrance”. Cranky Kong huffs and walks off before turning to Mario, Toad, and Peach “Funky Kong will lead you to the station where the karts are made, now have fun.. I guess”.

“Just go and wait for us old man” Funky Kong shoves Cranky a bit as he gets up and goes to Mario, Peach, and Toad with DK following behind.

“So who do we got here, big man?” Funky Kong asked as he looked at DK. “Well here we got the princess and the protector of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach, alongside with her is a Toad, then there… that one.” DK said in an annoyed tone as he pointed at Mario. “Hey it’s Mario, you ape.” Mario said insultingly.

“Oh so you’re Mario huh?” Funky Kong said with a smile as he looked down at Mario, “Well it's nice to finally meet Cha”.

“The names Funky Kong. DK’s older brother” Funky Kong said as he lifted up his sunglasses. There was a moment of silence between the group until Peach, Mario, and Toad yells “BROTHER!?!”. DK sweats a bit as he looks away “Whaaa older brother???? I think you got it all wrong sir, don’t you mean I'M the older brother?”. “Mmmm I don’t know, maybe this picture of me holding a baby DK could say otherwise” Funky Kong said as he took a picture out of his pocket and showed it to them. The pictures show a young Funky holding a baby DK for the first time.

“AWWWWW THAT IS SO CUTE!” Toad exclaims as Peach smiles at the picture. However, Mario started to laugh hysterically at the sight of it “Oh my god that’s how you look like as a baby!?! I gotta have a copy of this and put it on a T-Shirt”.

DK soon turns red out of embarrassment and snatches the picture out of Funky’s hand “Funky I told you not to show that to anyone!”. Funky Kong grabs the picture back and puts it back in his pocket as he chuckles “Next time when we have guests here, don’t be denying that I’m your older brother, little bro”. “Fineeee” DK exclaims in frustration. “Also your kart is ready for ya” Funky said as he pats DK’s back. “HECK YEAH!” DK runs off to go find it while Funky Kong watches him with a smile. “Alright let’s get started on y’all’s karts”. Funky said as he turned around while clapping his hands together, “just follow me back here and my team will get started on your karts”.

The group starts following Funky to the station. Mario holds his hands together as he looks down a bit. Just watching Funky and DK being good brothers makes him feel even more lonely. He dearly misses his brother Luigi. He hates being separated from Luigi, and being apart from him for this long is killing him terribly.

Peach noticed Mario’s little action and put her hand on his shoulder for condolence “we will save him, Mario, don’t worry”.

“I know but… I really hope he’s okay” Mario replied.

“Alright here we are, my team behind it will help you with your dream kart” Funky whistles and three Kongs comes out behind the machine, waiting for the group to start on the kart making, “Well what are you waiting for, go and make your karts''. The group look at each other and Toad runs to the machine quickly all excited, then Peach and Mario follow behind. “Meet us at the big door once y’all are done, okay? Don’t be late!” Funky runs off to get on his kart.

Mario looks at the options then looks at Toad, who is working on his kart excitedly. He then looks to the right to see Peach is already finished with her kart and presses the “A” button. Finally, he starts to get started on his own kart, which the Kong in his station starts working on.

After the crew finish up their karts, they start driving around having the best time of their lives. Mario spins around next to DK as Peach drives behind him. DK looks down at Mario then leans out of his car when he looks up at him and whispers “I hate you”. Which made Mario switch from smiling to frowning.

Funky jumps over Mario and DK in his motorcycle and lands on the ground as he does some twirls in it while shouting in excitement “ALRIGHT KONGS! We gotta make sure that we show those koopas that we show no mercy! Now open the doors and let's get to battle!”. The army of Kongs cheers out loud as some of the mechanic kongs press a button to open the door.

“Hey DK, the last one on the rainbow road is a rotten banana!” Funky said quickly before riding off at a fast velocity. “Oh it is ON!” DK speeds off going after Funky. Peach eyes sparkles and raises her arm up as she starts speeding off as well “HERE WE GO!”. Mario and Toad follow behind as the rest of the Kong army starts out of the station and onto the road.

Mario looked out a bit to admire the sight until he spotted a ramp “Uh guys don’t want to alarm y’all but we are reaching at the end of the road”. Cranky drives next to Mario as he laughs “So? It’s called pumping the gas”. Mario hesitated a bit until he took a deep breath and slammed on the gas. Resulting him speeding past Funky and DK and moving towards the ramp at a fast pace. He closes his eyes as he zooms off the ramp while letting out a scream in fear.

But as soon as he opens his eyes, he looks down to see a rainbow revealing itself between the clouds.His eyes light up at the sight of the colorful road until it hits him that he is falling and starts screaming again.

Mario finally lands on the rainbow and drives at ease as he lets out some huffs and puffs to calm himself down. He looks around one more time to take a moment on where he is. It felt like a dream but this is reality. He jumps up with the kart in excitement as he yells “Wah who!”. The rest of the kong army, alongside Peach and Toad, drives behind him after landing on the road.

“Isn’t the rainbow road great? It’s so colorful” Peach said as she drove next to Mario.

“Yeah literally, we don’t ride on rainbows like this back at Brooklyn though” Mario replied as he chuckles a bit. Peach raises an eyebrow “Seriously? What are you gonna tell me next, turtles aren’t evil?”. “Oh yeah they’re not, they’re usually pets” Mario answers.

“No way,” Peach said in shock.

“Yeah come down to Brooklyn some time, i’ll buy you a pet turtle” Mario suggested with a smile. Peach giggles a bit “Maybe I will”.

“Dude, is this you flirting? This is painful!” DK said while riding next to Peach. “Hey I was trying to be nice here” Mario replied. “You’re so embarrassing, a princess will never go out with you,” DK added. “Yes she would, I guarantee she would!” Toad said, defending Mario. “Guys enough” Peach laughs a bit as she looks at Toad and DK.

Funky rides up between Mario and Peach “y’all heard the princess, back off”. DK snickers as he backs up with Toad. Peach looks up at Funky “Thank you, Funky”.

“Anytime, DK can be such a tease when it comes to this stuff” Funky whispers at the end. “With no regrets!” DK yelled. Funky and Peach laugh together a bit as Mario rolls his eyes “your brother is something else”. “Mm? Oh yeah but he is pretty chill when you get to know him” Funky replied while looking down at Mario.

“Yeah if that would ever happen with me any time soon” Mario said to himself.

Funky frowns at the sight a bit “hey is there something going on in your mind? It looks like something is bothering you”. Mario looks up at Funky, feeling a little hesitant a bit “I.. I don’t know if I should say or share anything with you”. “If you are worried about being made fun of then don’t, I’m not like DK you know” Funky reassures Mario as he forms a trusting smile. Mario smiles back at Funky then sighs “I don’t know, ever since I found out that DK is your little brother and the way you and him treat each other, it just reminds me of my own little brother. His name is Luigi and we practically do everything together- heck we even opened our own plumbing business. But now that we are separated, I could only imagine the worst things he must've gone through while I’m doing all this. We’ve never been this separated for this long before and I’m starting to get really worried about him. I don’t know what I’ll do if he..”. Silence grew between Mario and Funky for a moment. Soon Funky breaks the silence “I'm.. I’m sorry to hear that man. But don’t forget about one thing about having a little sibling; They will always look at the bright side of things. Even though he is in a tough situation, he feels hopeful. Why? Because he has a brother that is determined to bring him home safe and sound. You may not know this but sometimes, he looks up to you as an inspirational person.”.

“You.. You really think so?” Mario asked.

“Well from experience, yes, but this isn't about me or DK. This is about you and your relationship with your brother Luigi. He believes in you. No matter what the situation is, he will always believe in you.” Funky answered as he lowered his sunglasses down. Mario smiles at Funky “Wow.. Who knew I would get some good advice from a monkey”. “Well you don’t hear that every day am I right?” Funky laughs a bit and Mario joins in.

But the laughter soon came to a halt as one of the kongs in the army faltered by a koopa shell. Funky takes a pair of binoculars out of the bag that is on his vehicle and looks through it “Shoot, it’s an ambush!”.

“Oh crud, what do we do?” Peach asked as she looked back to see a group of koopas in carts driving behind the army. Funky thinks for a bit then snaps his fingers ``Split formation, I need a group of two; First group stick with me, DK, and Dad to fight in the front while the other group stick with the princess, the toad, and the red man to fight at the back. GO GO GO!”. Funky pushes the gas as he speeds away from Peach, Mario, and Toad so that DK, Cranky, and the first group of Kongs follow his lead.

The army of kongs starts shooting bananas at the koopas in Mario’s group to slow them down but that doesn't stop a certain koopa as it pushes through the other Koopas; The Blue Shell Koopa.

The Blue Shell laughs hysterically as he targets Mario out of the three, who quickly tries to escape the monstrosity of the kart the Blue Shell is riding on. Some of the remaining koopas try to surround Mario but he keeps escaping. However, The blue shell still remains behind him. The Blue Shell smacks his kart to summon some cannon and shoots some bullet bills at Mario, causing him to jump out of the kart and fall down. Luckily, there is a Koopa nearby so he landed onto that Koopas kart and hit him to make him hide into his shell then threw it behind him to cause a Koopa to explode on the rainbow. But that didn’t stop the Blue Shell chase. The Blue Shell grew closer and closer until he trapped Mario’s kart into the jaws of his own kart. With a laugh he started to crush the kart Mario is in, causing him to struggle to not get crushed.

Mario had to think quickly so that he doesn’t get crushed until an idea popped up. He looks around to see DK and Funky working together to protect their dad and hitting the Koopas away with the help of the Kongs they were with. Mario takes a deep breath and lets go of the spike. The jaw closes quickly and the Blue Shell starts to laugh out loud, thinking he had killed Mario. But he thought wrong. Mario managed to slide himself on the side of the kart and whistled out loud to gain DK and Funky’s attention.

DK and Funky look up to see what was going on and nodded to each other then quickly drives to where Mario is at. Mario jumps on DK’s kart as Funky strikes the wheels of his kart to blind The Blue Shell “Now DK!”. DK pushes a button on his kart to make a barrel turn towards the Blue Shell and shoots towards it, causing a huge explosion behind them. The three cheered as they sped off to escape and meet up with Peach and Cranky Kong.

“Great work you guys, that was really explosive” Peach commented and Toad nodded in agreement. Funky chuckles a bit as he hits his elbow against DK’s arm “thank him it was his idea”. “Yeah that was an incredible idea DK!” Mario said as he hits DK’s arm as well, which causes DK to make an annoyed face.

“You think you can outrun me”

The group stops talking and turns their attention to the voice.

The Blue Shell walks out of the fire as he takes his armor off, looking very intimidating “You can't defeat me, BLUE SHELL!”. The Blue Shell quickly goes into shell mode and flies towards the group at lightning speed. “OUTRUN IT QUICKLY!” Funky yelled as he started speeding off. Peach, Cranky, and DK start speeding off trying to escape the Blue shell but it quickly caught up behind one of them: DK and Mario. The Blue Shell swirls around DK and Mario and crashes onto them, causing yet another explosion but this time breaks the rainbow road.

Funky turns his head to see what happened and his heart drops at the sight. He quickly turns around and drives towards the cracking road “DONKEY KONG!”.

“FUNKY KONG!” DK yelled out as he falls.

Funky jumps out of his bike and starts running as fast as he can “DONKEY KONG!”.

“FUNKY KONG!”

“DONKEY KONG!!!!”

“FUNKY KONGGGGGGGGG”

The screams started to grow quieter and quieter by the second until there was no voice heard from the fall.

Funky Kong grew silent as he looked down at where DK and Mario had fallen. Tears started to roll down his face as he processed what just happened. “No… NOO NOOO DONKEY KONG! DONKEY KONG COME BACK!” Funky Kong yelled as he fell to his knees, still looking down. He let out a cry while tears falls down to his hands “DONKEY KONG!”

“DONKEY KONG!”

“DONKEY KONG!”

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To be Continue…

#funky kong #donkey kong #cranky kong #donkey kong country #princess peach #mario #toad mario #super mario #mario movie #the mario movie #the mario bros #nintendo #writing #original content #forgot I can write moment lmao

[boysbellyrubs]

3C or 3D with any male sickie 🥺🥺🥺

perfect cause this man gets seasick whenever he goes on boats ;))) also New Zealand towns because I’m from New Zealand hehe. the vomiting in this story is a bit short which I'm kind of pissed about, but i literally could not write more without it being repetitive. Hope it's still good :).

prompt from this list HERE. 

—

Caine was already stressed out of his mind, and the prospect of getting sick on this boat was only worsening his state. Quinn and him were actually going to Caine’s parent’s house in Wellington for Christmas, and with the two of them staying in the South Island, the boat ride across the Cook Strait was the cheapest and only other way to get there. 

The funny thing was that Quinn got plane sick and Caine got seasick, and being Caine, he had neglected to tell Quinn about that. So they had booked the ferry and were waiting to board. Caine had sneakily taken some seasick pills before they arrived, but his anxiety was telling him that they weren’t going to kick in in time. 

Safe to say, he was panicking. 

Quinn seemed none the wiser. He was too excited to be able to be on a big boat for 3 and a half hours, taking in the sites and letting the smell of salt water wash away his worries. Caine was the complete opposite. The next three hours were going to be hell on Earth if these pills didn’t start working. 

“Do you wanna sit inside for a bit or go out on deck?” 

They had a morning ride, so the sun was out shining and there were heaps of people milling around. Caine froze, 

“Um, whatever you want babe. I don’t mind.” He answered, making little eye contact. 

Quinn nodded, “Well, I’m a bit tired from the drive so let's go sit down somewhere.” 

The ‘somewhere’ Quinn chose was actually the small cafeteria. It was technically breakfast time, but Caine didn’t feel like eating anything. He begrudgingly took a few hashbrowns and a muffin, praying to God that it would stay put inside him. 

The ferry was sailing smoothly so far. Caine had obsessively checked the weather forecast and it looked like it would be okay. 

“I hope it stays like this for the whole trip.” Quinn said, munching slowly on his bag of chips. Caine nodded, 

“Yeah, hopefully no big waves come and swallow the whole ship.” 

Quinn laughed, “Scared?” His voice went up, clearly teasing. 

Caine looked away, “Course not. I’m fine.” 

Quinn chuckled again, scrunching up the bag and sitting back in his seat. Caine picked at his own meal, barely eating the hashbrowns and not even touching the muffin. It was too sweet, he knew that would come immediately back up. 

They sat in the cafeteria for a bit longer and Caine had gained a little more confidence in the seasickness pills. Maybe because it was early in the trip and the water was flat, but he felt like he would be okay. 

He almost was enjoying himself; sitting in the cool air of the cafeteria and watching the glistening water out the windows. Quinn was also sitting silently, taking in the views with a soft smile. 

They left soon enough though, Caine was getting a bit restless with all the people flooding in so they moved to a better area. It was summer, so areas of the ship were bathed in sunlight and quickly heating up. Caine felt himself drawn to those areas, maybe he could sleep for the rest of the trip then he wouldn’t have to worry about getting ill. 

He tapped Quinn’s arm, “Can we sit down in that area over there?” He pointed at a less crowded corner of the room, well lit and with large windows, “I think I’m going to try to sleep.” 

Quinn moved his gaze from the map and nodded, “Great idea, I’m still a bit sleepy too.” 

The chairs were way more comfortable than expected and Caine sank into them with a sigh. He felt his exhaustion hit him then, and shut his eyes, dropping his head onto Quinn’s shoulder. 

His sleep didn’t come so easily though. His eyes were shut, yet sleep wasn’t hitting him. He sighed and opened his eyes. The boat was still packed with people and the area they were in was hot as. Stretching, he sat up and felt the ground tilt. Okay, maybe he did sleep because the waves were suddenly a lot larger. He looked outside the window and his assumptions were correct as hearty waves stared back at him, splashing into each other and making the boat fall up and down. 

Caine groaned, slumping back into his seat. He was so hot, and he was starting to feel a little sick. The measly bites of food in his stomach were sloshing with the boat and his head was spinning. Damn those pills, why the fuck didn’t they work. 

Quinn was still asleep next to him, and he debated waking him up. He felt okay, but maybe waking Quinn up before he was on the verge of spewing was a good idea. 

However, his idea was squashed as the next wave made Caine’s body freeze in place. Suddenly, it felt like every limb was jelly and he couldn’t even think properly. His belly swirled, sloshing like a knocked over water bottle. He shut his eyes, breathing heavily through his nose. 

The last time he was seasick was terrible. He didn’t know he got seasick and he had eaten a full dinner before getting on. It wasn’t pretty. 

And this time, he had barely eaten anything yet he still felt just as sick as the last time. The most awful thing about it though was that he couldn’t just get off the boat and take five, no, he was trapped with a bunch of strangers and still had another two hours to go. 

He brought one hand up to his mouth, pretending to rest his head on his hand, keeping his eyes closed. Seeing the waves made it worse. Caine felt like crying, he really did not want to throw up. He felt his belly churn, bubbling and gurgling like the water outside. 

Behind his eyelids, he felt the world spin and he groaned. He held his breath with another lurch of the boat. 

Opening his eyes, he scanned the room for the nearest bathroom. Thankfully, there was one just across the hall. He didn’t want to move, he felt if he stood up he would end up on the floor. Running his hand across his belly, he felt another warning flip inside him. 

But Caine felt another churn of his stomach, and with a wave of dizziness crashing over him as he pulled himself up. He groaned, holding back his tears as his illness suddenly became a whole lot worse. Before he knew it, he pushed the heavy bathroom door open and Caine found himself staring at toilet water. He sniffled, the beginnings of a few tears leaking from his eyes. 

Kneeling down, he swore he felt every time the boat went up and crashed into the water. He hugged his belly with both arms, needing something to hold him together. He spat into the toilet, saliva gathering quickly in his mouth. He groaned, knowing that this wouldn’t end until he was back on land, and land was miles away. 

He spat again, his belly growling angrily at him. Caine moaned, tapering off into the beginnings of a heave. The boat rose up again, and as it was falling Caine’s stomach finally had enough and he burped up the first wave. It wasn’t too thick, considering he had eaten barely anything, but it hurt. He heaved again, coughing to dislodge the vomit in his throat. 

Caine groaned out a grizzly sound, vomit and spit mixing in the back of his throat, burning his tonsils and leaving a rancid taste on his tongue. A dry heave cut him off, and more coughing followed. He felt like shit, and the constant rocking of the floor was only making it worse. 

Without thinking, he propped his elbow up on the toilet seat, grabbing his hair in a tight grip. He spat again, the awful taste filling his mouth. His hand was slowly rubbing side to side on his belly, doing nothing to help him feel better but it was a false comfort. He sniffed, sighing as the boat rocked again, it was going to be a long two hours. 

—

Dw after this Quinn found him and it was all happily ever after. Of course after a light scolding from Quinn for not telling him he got seasick. 

#emeto #seasick #oc's #Caine #Quinn #emetophilia #stomach ache #vomiting #seasickness #belly kink #belly rubs #vomit kink

[dinitride-art]

Lighting and Mike and Will and El - Full Analysis (Pt. 18)

Okay, so, now we can get to El. There was a bit more than I had originally thought in the last scene, so I have to split ep.8 into another part. But this one will have El and cool explosions (that may or may not be relevant to the lighting, I just think it’s cool.) and hugs. And finally, I will get out of this episode. 

But also a brief look at the Hawkin’s crew. It’s at the end though, because of chronological order. But it’s very brief. And important. Trust me on this one. 

Anyways, to Mike and Will and El. 

S4:E8 - The Reunion.

This is before El attempts to kill Brenner. I wanted to point out that the setting here has a lot of lighting. This shot is similar to the way her face was lit at Rink O’ Mania when she was in the middle of the rink. Her clothes her also haven’t lost any layers yet- which is a good base point to have for when she does start losing the blue in her outfit. 

This shot is one of the ones where we can see that El’s socks are blue as well. The three blue items on her outfit are her blue and red plaid shirt, blue and white shit underneath that and her blue socks. 

The pizza van shows up a little after Brenner carries El outside gets shot. 

Mike spots El first and points her out so Jonathan. 

“Boy” somehow still manages to squeeze in-between Mike and Will in this shot. Mike is also, while pointing towards El, pointing in the direction of the rainbow map. This is similar to Argyle driving to the Byer’s house before the shootout, and this map being in frame. This imagery could’ve been foreshadowing to the tone of Mike and Will’s conversation, and could mean something in this context as well. 

They see El on the ground from the van’s perspective. 

And then she blows up the helicopter. (and it’s really fucking cool)

Mike may have different opinions on this. He seems quite startled while the only other reaction we see is Jonathan, who seems more concerned about the actual explosion and now who caused it. Mike was looking at El before this and this is a similar reaction to when she hit Angela in the face with a roller skate. Jonathan and Mike are also looking in two slightly different directions. They’re reaction to two different things; El and the explosion. 

This is how we see El after. She’s not being lit by the explosion, like she could be, but in shadow. 

The framing of this shot and how it moves is very neat. Mike is the first one to get to El, but her head (still in shadow) turns towards Will. Or at least in his direction. This is more subtext than what El may be thinking. It alludes to the more important person in this situation. Will is more important than Mike here. While she may be looking at Brenner, the way this is framed shows Will’s importance. 

Also interesting is that while Mike’s shirt pocket is pointed away from Will here, it’s also pointing away from El. This is El’s perspective. And the shirt pocket is pointing away from her because she knows/thinks that Mike doesn’t feel that way. 

Here, she looks surprised to see Mike. This is an OTS shot from Mike, so we know that he sees this. El’s face? Also slighting less dreary from this angle. 

And then we get El’s view of Mike. His face his in shadow. This is very different from their fight, where Mike was in the light and El wasn’t. Her view of Mike may have changed since then. 

But more importantly, the van. There is one word on the van in the background that is recognizable. And what is that word? Pizza. On the red surfboard on top and the passenger side door. They could’ve closed that van door, but they didn’t. It’s left open and places emphasis on “pizza.”

It takes El a moment to process Mike being there. She looks confused, a bit out of it, maybe slighty angry? 

But then she realizes that he’s there and recovers. Also an important note that her lighting in this shot is normal. 

Now. 

The ring.

The heart shaped ring that’s been on her finger for all of season four. She hugs Mike and cradles his head with her hand, the one with the ring. This is a very interesting parallel. That we’ll get to in a second.

The shot of Will in the middle of Mike and El is, of course, similar to Vickie and Robin and Vickie’s boyfriend. This also could be a POV shot from Will. He’s been given the power of narration and now it looks like he’s going to use it.

Her hand with the heart ring is in frame again. On Mike’s shoulder. Argyle is also hanging out behind Mike, which is also intriguing. He’s freaking out, but Argyle is the charcter that holds the most symbolic power. Dominos, rainbows, weed, it all means something. Because that’s just how his character works. He’s the ‘fool from King Lear’ character. Says what seems to be nonsense but means the most.

Mike looks away from El towards someone else. She’s looking in another direction, her ring still in shot. The explosion behind her and Mike in the smoke. 

Mike looks back at El.

And then he looks at Will again, but this time El notices Will too. 

Will is kind of being seen here from both their perspective’s. We’re looking at Will over Mike and El’s shoulders. He’s not glowing and radiant like Mike usually sees him, but he’s in a soft, light. 

Then El makes to move towards Will and Mike helps her up, the ring in frame again.

El is looking at Will because she wants to get to him. Mike is looking at Will because Mike is looking at Will. His focus would make sense to be on El because they just got her back, and she’s his girlfriend (although that’s a bit rocky at this point, it being unclear whether they’re even together for most of the season. Mike doesn’t really call El his girlfriend after she leaves the note. Even before the monologue happens their relationship is kind of up in the air.) but he’s looking at Will. 

Will has been his focus since the beginning of the season, but this is one of the rare times we see it from an outside perspective. 

Mike isn’t looking at El at all. His eyes are locked on Will. We know that this is Will’s view of Mike and El, so Mike’s shirt pocket is pointing in her direction. But it’s also pointing towards the explosion. That could mean Will (because of how the lightings been and because of Will the Wise and fireball), or the state of Mike and El’s relationship, or the state of Mike’s heart after the van scene- so many things. 

Or it could just be Will’s perspective of the two of them.

Then Will and El reunite. El doesn’t hesitate for a single second when she sees Will. 

In this shot we can see Mike watching Will and El. Similar to how Will was watching El an Mike. 

Here! El cradles Will’s head with her hand. Her hand that had the ring on it. The only difference between Mike and El’s reunion and Mike and Will’s is that Will is more important. El’s reaction to Will having zero doubt or negativity and how Will and El are shot in a way that shows they’re more important? It’s because this relationship is more important than Mike and El’s. Or at least the relationship they’re currently in. 

Also, Will is looking at El. Not at Mike. This only adds to the importance of Will and El’s relationship. They’re siblings. And they feel comfortable within this placement. Mike, however, looks to Will. This is a key difference between their reunions. Will and El are doing what is expected of their relationship, but Mike isn’t. And El’s expression when she looked at Mike for the first time shows that she isn’t either. 

Again we have her ring in shot. The reunion similarities suggest that Mike and Will might have similar connections to El. Established relationships be damned. What we see is what we see. And what we’re seeing is that El is treating Mike and Will almost exactly the same way. Although, Mike is being treated with perhaps a slight amount of animosity. 

Then we see Brenner. Mike’s shirt pocket is pointing towards everyone to the left of him, so it doesn’t hold much weight in this situation. 

This, however, does. The shots of El walking show her through the van. Argyle being in frame here is also important. Pizza is on the door.

Here, again pizza is in the middle of the frame. 

She holds Brenner’s hand in both of hers, in front of the explosion.

And then puts it back to the controller. She’s letting this connection go, in more than one way. He’s dying but she’s also letting go of any relationship they had. 

And right after that we get the Pizza door.

And who opens the pizza door? Argyle.

And who’s closing the door with the other half of the logo? Mike.

Argyle and El teaming up against Mike might’ve been foreshadowed in this scene.

Lighting wise, Will has returned. From Mike and El’s perspectives, the two of them are normal. But then the last picture, doesn’t show El’s perspective, we can still see pretty much her whole face. This is Mike’s perspective. 

Also, El is in the middle of Mike and Will, and Mike and Will have traded places in the van. She’s right in front of Mike and Will’s usual divider “boy”. 

And again when the camera is on Will, it’s from Mike’s angle. And Will’s lighting is far softer than the other two. 

Now, I am including this because it’s important and because it makes me feel a lot better about the validity of this analysis.

We see Lucas look at Max. We know who’s perspective the shot of her coming up will be in. 

And she is glowing.

Max. Is. Glowing.

And now Steve’s looking at Nancy. 

Steve is looking at Nancy.

And she is indeed glowing. 

Whether or not Steve is? I don’t know and Nancy’s not looking at him so we wouldn’t be able to tell either way. 

But this is saying that this type of lighting suggests romantic feelings. We know how Steve feels and we know how Lucas feels.

So, 

we know how Mike feels.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (To be edited)

#byler #byler theory #mike wheeler #will byers #eleven hopper #the lights #when i say that i felt the most right i ever have in my life when i noticed nancy and max #i am not lying #look at that #it gave me the same feeling that the discoball did #the im right #but how the fuck didnt i notice it the first time #god damn #i will never shut up about the lighting

[rmoonstoner]

So Strange

***

Summary:

Stephen learns magic. It's mostly the same as how he did so in the movies, with slight changes. No major warnings I suppose.

***

Chapter 2 - LIT

***

The first week for Stephen was slow and boring. He was given a run down of the place, handed a map, a ratty scroll that was essentially a handbook of rules to follow, then given a set of plain cream colored robes. He was shown to a small room with a ratty mat for a bed, but he didn't care. It was quiet, safe, and his. He had memorized the map and took note of where everything was. He read through the scroll and smiled when he could find many loopholes he could abuse at a later time. He had an entire week to adjust to the place.

***

The second week was a bit more interesting. He was given a brass ring and told it was an essential tool. He was told that it amplified any magic used through it, and it could open portals anywhere in the Multiverse. Unfortunately he also sucked at this as well. While other students were getting the hang of it the first week, he proved he couldn't grasp the concept of how to open a portal.

He tried hard everyday, with him waking up at the crack of dawn to practice for the entire week, with absolutely no results. He couldn't even get a single spark to appear and he was disappointed in himself. He hadn't worked on the guitar all week because of this.

***

The week after that, Stephen decided to take up the guitar again. He did it in an effort to give himself time to cool down from his failure to learn how to use the ring. At first he stayed in his room, only coming out to eat and shower, but soon after, he began asking around if they had any sheet music for him to look at. They were in the grand library.

Unfortunately though, he wasn't allowed into the library yet. He had to pass the ring test first, and that frustrated him to no end. Instead of finding sheet music, he started gathering papers, pens, and a ruler. His plan was to make his own music to pass the time.

Later he moved to different areas of the temple, stealing himself away into any secluded place he remembered on the map. He would practice his fret work in private, hoping no one could see or hear his struggling and general bastardization of the guitar. He would find spots that had views of the outside when it was raining, or go out into the courtyards when the weather permitted it.

Stephen became more and more comfortable with using the guitar, and by the end of the week, he was able move his fingers more gracefully. The songs didn't sound any better to him, but his fingers were starting to cooperate.

***

On the following Sunday, Mordo and another master had found Stephen outside on the ground, sitting against a tree as he was playing. Stephen had been blissfully unaware of their presence as he fumbled and scratched the chords and the wooden surface.

He still sounded awful, but he was improving, bit by bit.

"Ah! Hello, Stephen. I see you're still making use of the gift that Master Yao gave you." Wong smiled as Stephen suddenly stopped playing at the sound of his voice.

Stephen went beet red as he noticed the other man standing beside Wong. He scrambled to put the guitar away so he could show them the respect they deserved with a customary bow, but Wong reached out and gently placed his hand on the instrument.

"No. Stay there. Keep it out. My friend wanted to find out who was playing Pink Floyd songs." Wong said with a sly grin.

Stephen felt embarrassed and he looked down at the wooden guitar. He could feel the blush across his cheeks, the color bleeding through to the tips of his ears.

"Yeah, uh… That was me. I know I sound like a child with a toy ukulele. Sorry I bothered you-"

"No, no! I think it's refreshing to hear someone actually trying. I hear you haven't given up." The other man beamed at him.

"I… Thank you..?" Stephen stared at him as if he were asking the man's name. He assumed he was a master, like Wong was, given the man's attire.

"Oh, my apologies. My name is Master Hamir."

"Master Hamir? But his name is Hamir as well?" Stephen pointed to Wong with a raised brow.

"Oh, haha. Yes. This is my father." Wong said with a grin as he patted the older gentleman on the shoulder 

"Oh! Well it's nice to meet you, Mr. Wong… Wait… Master Hamir." Stephen said with a slightly confused face as he tried to get the title and names right. Master Hamir gave him a smile.

"It's alright, young man. Since I am already a master and had chosen Hamir to be known by, my son had to take the family name." Hamir offered his right hand for Stephen to shake and he took it.

"Please, can you play me a song? I liked the one you were just playing." Hamir smiled and took a step back to give Stephen some space.

Stephen frowned and looked at the guitar, then up at Hamir. He was still pretty bad at playing.

"Uh… Okay, but it's nothing like the song I am trying to play."

"You were trying to play Freebird. Please, go on. Try again."

And Stephen did try again. Mostly because he was very self conscious, he had trouble getting his hands to cooperate. He was hitting the wrong chords, accidentally shoving his fingers between the strings, and his hands went stiff with stage fright. He tried a few times to get the correct chords, chords he had memorized down to a T, but his damned hands…

"Ah, fuck! I can't. My hands won't let me. I'll never be able to get any better." Stephen groaned in complaint as he dropped the instrument onto his lap and cupped his face with his shaking hands.

"Sure you can. With a little practice-"

"My hands are broken! No one can fix them. Do you know how many times I've tried to get the ring to work? If I can not even wave my hands around and move my fingers in the required way for that, how the hell will they work well enough to play Hot Cross Buns?" Stephen sighed and he ran his hand through his hair and gripped his messy locks.

Hamir chuckled and sat down in front of Stephen. He reached out for the guitar and gave him a silent look asking to borrow it. Stephen shrugged and passed it over, then Hamir set it down on his lap.

"Do you play?" Stephen asked and he was met with a nod.

"Yes. I've been playing for years, since I was a small lad."

"My father is very good, Stephen." Wong said with a large grin. Stephen shrugged and leaned back.

"Sure. Be my guest." Stephen huffed in frustration.

He watched Hamir adjust himself and position the guitar with one hand.

The wrong hand. 

"Forgive me, Stephen, but I am a lefty. I have to switch hands, but it should still work nicely."

Stephen was a little confused. He was even more confused as to why the man had his other hand firmly inside his pocket the entire time, that is, until he pulled it from his pocket.

Which promptly revealed that there wasn't another hand.

It was a stump.

Stephen gawked as Hamir began to play. The stump by the strings wasn't even holding the guitar. There seemed to be a buffer of air there, almost as if there was an unseen hand hiding between dimensions. Stephen could see the ghostly outline of an entire hand, fingers, nails, knuckles, all silvery and barely there. The strings moved flawlessly. The tune of some traditional temple music played as Hamir tapped his foot on the ground and hummed softly to the chords.

Stephen was enraptured as he moved forward in his seat. His eyes squinted at Hamir's phantom appendage playing. Looking closer, he could see the hand more clearly.

"That's his astral hand, you know." Wong suddenly said.

Stephen raised a brow and looked at Wong, then back at the glowing image of Hamir's hand.

Is this one of the secrets these sorcerers had? Using a magical energy to replace body parts?

Almost as if Wong was reading his mind, he spoke up again.

"Just so that you know, you can learn how to do this as well. Your astral form is what you can make of it. If you're missing a body part, you can make it appear in your astral form, like my father did here."

"Can he..? You know..?"

"Yes, he can use his Sling ring. He can cast spells. All with only one hand."

The gears began to turn in Stephen's head. If Hamir could do this, while missing a whole hand, then there was no reason that Stephen couldn't succeed at this as well.

Magic was aiding Hamir in what Stephen thought was impossible, and now he was starting to truly believe in the impossible.

***

A few weeks went by, and Stephen blossomed, though he wouldn't believe it.

Every morning he would wake up at the crack of dawn, just when the sun hit his window. He would get ready for the day and then go for a run outside, followed by exercising every part of his body. After, he would practice his ring, now slowly making sparks, which was a big improvement from before.

During breakfast, Stephen would work on his hands and fingers with simple strength training techniques. Sometimes he would use multiple rubber bands, other times, he would stretch and bend them to the point of nearly crying, all while reading online news about what was happening in his home country on one of the devices Mordo had let him borrow.

After lunch, he would go on to a martial arts class and learn how to defend himself. He usually took three different forms a day, and it distracted him from his depression. It was a great way to pass the time until dinner. If he had more spare time before the meal, he would again work on the ring.

He would have a shower, then he'd steal himself away into the library waiting room to read with the guitar. Wong was nice enough to let him practice his string work, so long as Stephen stayed at the farthest most edge of the shelves so that Wong could still hear his iPod. He was technically not allowed in the library yet, but Master Yao had agreed to let him be there so long as someone else was.

Stephen would sit in the corner with a new book every day that Wong would bring him. While he read, he would play the guitar. All he wanted to do was to learn the secrets of Astral magic. He knew he could speed up his recovery if he could master it. He could play the guitar well enough to his liking, and he also knew he could make great leaps and bounds with learning the Mystic Arts if he could just grasp how to do that.

Too bad he still couldn't play for shit, and he still couldn't open a fucking portal to save his life.

***

Another week had passed, and Stephen was now playing the guitar at a relatively decent level. He was able to play slow songs without messing up, but he could only play about three songs perfectly, before his hands would cramp up and he'd miss a few chords.

Wong started to notice the music was getting much better, much faster. He gave excuses to Stephen about needing to be closer to him. Resetting books into their proper areas, dusting the shelves, sweeping the floors. He didn't wish to ask Stephen to do any of these things, because he was worried Stephen would stop practicing if he was distracted.

When Stephen tried to be courteous and move away from Wong, as per his original request, Wong would tell him it was fine, pop his headphones in, and go about his duties as he secretly listened to the vast improvement of the music, his iPod not even on.

Eventually Wong would report back to Master Yao, informing her of how Stephen was doing. She was pleased and planned the next step in Stephen's recovery.

***

Yet another week flew by, and Stephen was still improving his music. He was very self conscious about playing in front of anyone but Wong and his father.

On this particular night, Hamir had come by and requested to play a musical game with Stephen. The game in question was guessing songs, one of Stephen's favorites, but there was a twist. They would be playing the music themselves, each taking turns on playing a song, while the other took a guess on what it was. A round of five songs each. The only catches were no breaks, and they had to wear their Sling rings.

Stephen was hesitant, though excited all the same. Wearing the Sling ring while playing wasn't anything new to Stephen  as he was using it as a guitar pick whenever possible.

There was a small bit of pride in him when Hamir complimented his progress. It was enough to bloom into determination to show the man he was truly trying his best.

Hamir went first, playing a beautiful rendition of Colors of the Wind from the Pocahontas.

Stephen made a weird face and his brain thought hard. His eyes went wide and he guessed it after ten seconds of Hamir playing. Hamir chuckled and it was Stephen's turn.

Stephen drummed his fingers against the guitar as he thought about what to play. He grinned when an idea hit him and he began to play Paradise City by Guns and Roses.

It only took fifteen seconds for Hamir to figure it out, but he kept quiet for thirty seconds, before guessing. He wanted to actually hear how well Stephen had improved.

Stephen was delighted, and his confidence grew a little bit more.

Hamir played You're Gonna Go Far Kid, by the Offspring. It took Stephen about eighteen seconds to guess it correctly. He was surprised at the song choices Hamir was choosing. First a classic Disney song, now the Offspring?

Stephen took his second turn, this time choosing to play Magic Man, by Heart. This time Hamir was a little baffled. Hearing only the guitar part was hard to tell which song it was, but he eventually guessed at the minute mark.

"You're doing quiet well, young man. You're playing far better than what Wong can do." Hamir suddenly praised him, while in the same breath, revealing that Wong couldn't play for shit.

Stephen's jaw dropped. He didn't believe Hamir at all, yet Wong sighed and took the guitar to show him.

Wong was terrible. So terrible, he broke one of the strings and apologized.

"See? He's awful. Now you. You're playing at a high school band level. If you keep this up, you're going to sound just as good at the Rolling Stones." Hamir suggested as he got the guitar ready and fixed the broken string.

He started up a song, the notes coming out light and jovial. He slapped the guitar in between the notes like a drum, and Stephen took note of the clever use of the body of the guitar. At ten seconds, he was able to guess that it was No Rain, by Blind Melon.

Stephen went again, playing out a more difficult to play song. He was trying to make sure he could play them well enough to be guessed, but obscure enough that maybe Hamir hadn't heard it before.

"Oh, that one is easy. Radioactive, by Imagine Dragons." Hamir said with a grin. 

"Yeap. You are good at this game."

"You mean to say that I don't look like the type to know these songs, aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah."

Hamir chuckled and picked the guitar up once more. He played out a quick tune, this time playing Do You Believe in Life After Love, by Cher. Stephen laughed and guessed it in under twenty seconds.

The next song Stephen wanted to play was another one of his favorites, but now his fingers were getting stiff, and his wrist was sore. This was the second to last song for him, and he wanted to be able to last until the next song. With a quick cracking of his knuckles, Stephen strummed out the next song. Black Hole Sun, by Evan Konrad.

Hamir was stumped for a bit, and then his eyes brightened as he guessed the song.

Finally it was Hamir's last turn. He quickly belted out the tune for the Goldfish commercial and Stephen laughed as he guessed it.

That just left one last song, and it was Stephen's turn. His hands hurt and his joints were swollen. He hadn't missed a note yet, but he hadn't really noticed.

With a huff and another round of vigorous knuckle popping action, Stephen took up the guitar one last time and began to play.

Stephen had his eyes closed as he flicked and strummed the strings. He was using the shell of the guitar every so often as a makeshift drum, slapping his fingers against the worn wood every so often. As he played, he thought about how badly he wanted to learn the guitar, to play beautifully. He thought about how he wanted to be able to cast a simple portal into existence. He wished to be able to be happy again. He wanted to go home, back to his luxurious penthouse that he had no idea would even be there when he got back, as he had put it up for sale before he had left.

Hamir listened and nodded his head. He could tell what song it was, but just as he was about to guess, he saw something flicker behind Stephen.

Sparks flashed behind Stephen. At first it almost looked like someone was waving sparklers around and then once Stephen hit the tempo change, a full burst of a portal sparked to life. The sparks crackled and moved to the rhythm of the music, creating a perfectly formed portal.

The image on the other end of the portal was very comical. There stood a confused looking realtor and her two clients standing inside of Stephen's empty penthouse. The three of them were staring at Hamir and Wong, while Stephen had his back to them, still playing.

"Is that a skinny white man, playing People Are Strange to two monks?" The shortest woman asked the realtor. She was wearing a beautiful wrap dress, while her companion was in a tailored suit. Her partner leaned down, and tilted her head, her earrings clinking as she took a deep breath.

"Honey, if this place comes with a bunch of weirdly dressed men, we don't want it. I've got enough of those back at my studio." The taller woman sassed the Barbie look a like realtor as she tugged on her girlfriend's arm, motioning for them to leave.

"I dunno, Ray. The guy playing isn't so bad. He's certainly better than that punky looking Spider-Man that came in last week for a recording. Remember how that guy smashed his guitar all over the speakers when he was done?"

"That's fair, but I wouldn't sign this guy on. He needs more work, and looking like that, he's so plain. He needs a gimmick or something. At least Spider-Punk has the whole heavy metal Spider-Man look. This guy looks like he's about ready to go teach a sermon at a Buddhist band camp."

"Ray! You can't just say things like that!" And that was the moment Stephen heard the people behind him. 

It was at that point, that Stephen knew, he fucked up. His face went pink, and he slowly turned to look at who was talking behind him. His jaw dropped, and his hands stopped playing. The moment he did, the portal closed up.

"Well that was amazing. You've stunned me." Hamir said as he slapped his knee with a laugh.

Stephen turned to look at him, then at Wong, then back to the empty spot the portal once was. He then looked down at the guitar, then back at the two men who were surprised, but smiling.

"Did you do that?" Stephen asked and Hamir shook his head. Before he could ask Wong, he too, shook his head.

"Then who-?" They both pointed at him.

"Me? No. Nooo. Not possible. I wasn't doing the correct hand motions. I was playing this, and-"

"Magic isn't always uniform and predictable, my boy. Sometimes it works in ways that even us masters don't quite understand." Hamir grinned and held up his stump.

"But why did the portal open up to my old home? It's on the market, and the lady in pink is my realtor."

"Because you're home sick. You desperately want your old life back, so the portal opened in a place you held dear to your heart."

Stephen was relieved it didn't open up into the hospital he used to work at, but at the same time, he was confused as to why it didn't. Was work not his home, like he once thought?

"And this… This thing I just did…" Stephen asked and Hamir laughed.

"I asked the magic to help me, and this is how it chose to do so. You have asked magic to help you, and it has decided to gift you with a musical blessing. You're obviously better with the guitar as a focus, then the ring, and I saw how you used the ring as a pick. Perhaps use both, together, and try to replicate that again. It should work on any guitar. The one you have isn't special. It was left here long ago, and Master Yao thought you should have it. Feel free to use magic and change its appearence. Or by hand." Hamir said as he stood up and hung the guitar on his shoulder.

Stephen nodded and looked back down at the guitar. When he looked back up, both Wong and his father had vanished.

"Fuck. I hate it when they do that." Stephen muttered to himself, but deep down, he knew he would abuse the hell out of that ability if he had it.

He practiced more that night. He found that he could successfully and consistently open a portal while playing the guitar, using the ring as a pick, but when he tried with only the ring, only small sparks would appear. Stephen was frustrated that he couldn't just use the ring, because having to whip out the bulky guitar in a fight would cost him valuable time.

Not that he'd want to get into a fight anyway, but it would be nice to master the ring by itself to be able to make a quick getaway.

Although, smashing someone's head in with a guitar would be pretty metal, being able to repair the thing with magic after would be even better. The drive to master both was maddening for him.

It was around midnight when Stephen finally noticed the time. He groaned when he realized the next day held an early meeting with Yao. He wasn't prepared for it at all.

***

"So. Tell me, Stephen… What is felonwort?"

"Felonwort. It is known as Bittersweet Nightshade, or Solanum Dulcamara."

"What do the flowers look like?"

"The flower has 5 petals in violet and blue hues. It has a thick yellow center. The fruit produced from the flowers is usually green to start, and then typically goes to an orange and a orange tinged red when fully ripened."

"Perfect. Now, please tell me what we use it for."

"Uh… We? Do you mean its medical uses or..?"

"Yes, Stephen, what are its medical uses."

"Oh, yes. I know this. The stem is useful for skin conditions and problems with the lungs. It's best harvested before leaves grow on it, or after they fall off. It is made into tinctures, and can be put in teas, but that's avoided due to the poisonous nature of the plant. Leaves are for helping with tumors and warts. The fruit is used for the joints and lungs as well. And in North America, the Indigenous used it for fevers and-"

"Stephen. You could have just said it's used for skin conditions, lung illnesses, tumors, warts, joints, and fevers. You need to let go of this need to show off your intelligence. You're also giving out too much information that I did not ask for. This isn't a university or a hospital. Less is more."

Stephen took a deep breath in through his nose as he clenched his fists behind his back and nodded. He was trying to force his annoyance away, actively trying to stop being so… 

Much, so to speak 

"Now that you have told me about the various plants you've been reading about in our library, comparing them to your memory of your western books, can you tell me if you've been at least taking advantage of the medicine area we have?" She asked and Stephen nodded.

"Yes. It's been helping my hands. I've yet to try a few things." Stephen flexed his hands and cracked his knuckles.

"Good. Next, I would like you to use the ring and make a portal for me." Master Yao requested and motioned to the empty spot in front of Stephen.

Stephen could feel himself clam up. His hands suddenly ached and he began to sweat nervously. He glanced at the spot, then closed his eyes as he inhaled deeply and brought his hands up. With a slow exhale, he opened his eyes and concentrated on opening a portal as he moved his hands.

While Master Yao quietly watched, Stephen struggled with his concentration. His hands had nothing to hold on to, and were shaking badly with nothing to focus on. Every joint, ligament, muscle, and bone ached as his nerves were set on fire.

He could feel the magic there, a small warmth hinting that he could do better.

Beads of sweat slowly formed on his brow as he grunted and grit his teeth. He squinted at the empty spot he was trying to summon the rip in dimensions, and his confidence slowly diminished when only a few sparks coughed to life, before quickly snuffing themselves out with the help of the gentle breeze.

Everything was distracting him. Even the things he had learned in his lessons that were meant to calm him down weren't working. The sounds of nature were taunting him, making him lose his focus.

Leaves rustled and scratched each other. Branches groaned and cracked as the wind brushed past their forms. The sounds of the fountain were making him think about the words of Master Yao. Surrender to the flow and current of magic, yet all he could do was sink into place. He tried to envision the portal. He tried to think about how he felt when they appeared while playing the guitar.

Oh lords above and below, and in-between, he tried.

"I can't. We've been here for fifteen minutes already. I just can't do it. I can't-"

"Stephen. Take a deep breath, relax." Master Yao cooed as she brought her hand up and gently placed it on his shoulder.

"I am trying to relax. I just can't get this right." Stephen huffed as he hung his head in shame.

"Now, now… Perhaps we shall try it a different way. I saw you brought your guitar. Please, sit down, relax, and play me a song." Master Yao suggested.

In an instant, the guitar in question was in Stephen's hands and he found himself awkwardly standing there. He glanced around, then at the instrument, then he looked at Yao.

"So, uh… Did you want me to play a particular song?" Stephen asked as he rubbed the back of his neck. Master Yao smiled and turned to sit down on a stone bench, waiting expectantly. 

Stephen took a deep breath and adjusted the guitar strap and got comfortable. He tried to calm his racing heart by thinking about his sister, hearing her words of encouragement. He then started to crack each and every joint and knuckle he had in his hands and wrists, followed by nervously shifting from one foot to the other. The Ancient One merely sat there quietly, watching, waiting.

"Well, um, if you won't pick a song, I am just going to play one I am comfortable with, then." Stephen declared, to which Master Yao just nodded with that half smile and slight twinkle in her eye.

"Erm, okay then." He gave a shrug and again shifted on his feet while getting the guitar into a proper hold.

He hummed for a moment, the embarrassment lingering thickly in the air. His fingers plucked and strummed to warm up and figure out the proper placement of his finger tips. Soon he set forth into the song, pulling the strings for a short while.

He was attempting to play Paint It Black, by the Rolling Stones. Stephen thought it was fitting, since just recently, he had been told he could achieve that band's greatness with time and practice. The song also touched his heart and soul, making him feel exceptionally emotional as he played. He related to it, and it was always a comfort song when he was upset or depressed. Lord knows hebhad played it thousands of times in his life. He was even singing along, hoping that adding his voice would make the song slightly better.

Soon his foot was competing with the constant added slap of his palms to the sides of the guitar. He had been working on trying not to wince everytime he whacked the hard surface with his sore fingers. It didn't hurt nearly as much as it used to, and he was at the point where he could ignore the constant stinging sensation. He was so focused on trying to play, he didn't even think about opening a viable portal.

Yet, as his voice continued to spew out the lyrics to keep in time with the song, his fingers started to move more quickly. The pain was fading out to a dull throb that gave way to a pleasing stretch.

The doctor was completely unaware that he had opened a roving portal, one that was hovering right over New York's beach line. It was a perfect bird's eye view, and the portal was moving in accordance to the rhythm. The view moved on, showing rows and rows of cars on either side of a thick road. 

The people on the streets stopped to look up at the curious looking thing in the sky as it moved steadily away. The sparks almosted pulsed to the beat as Stephen played.

The scenery suddenly switched to a building, a tall and proud hospital. It was a major one, the exact same that Stephen used to work at. The large bright red doors opened and closed. A redheaded woman was inside, staring at the circle of magic. She slowly came out to stare at the sparks and the man playing in the center.

She squinted, looking at Stephen in wonder and awe, then her eyes flicked over to Master Yao, who gave her a pleasant grin and a wink. The woman looked back at Stephen and her eyes skimmed down to his hands, causing her to gasp. Even though she had tried to muffle herself, Stephen had heard her. His ears tweaked and his head whipped around to look at her as his hand promptly stilled.

The portal withered up and fizzled out of existence. The last thing Stephen saw, was Christine's shocked face, and a small group of his peers he hadn't seen in months. He sat there blinking in confusion, his eyes looking down at his guitar. Why did the portal take him there? He missed her, but he knew he missed his job more.

"Well done, Stephen! It seems as though you are capable of opening a portal. I am satisfied with your display of magic."

"But… I didn't use the ring-"

"Nonsense. You used the guitar as a focus. The ring is meant to be a focus. You simply linked them together, like the ring was an amplifier. I need you to practice more, so that in the future, you can use just the ring if need be. But, for now, you get to move on to the next level." Master Yao waved her hand and the scenery changed to that of the library.

"Now, you have my permission to take out the next level of books, should you so choose. I highly recommend the Book of Cagliostro and the Book of the Sun. If you can convince Wong, that is." Master Yao plucked up a few books that weren't the ones she had suggested and handed them to Stephen. One was about viewing orbs, another was a detailed description on how to access the Mirror Dimension.

That night Stephen read books until he fell asleep.

***

Note:

Chapter is named after the song, LIT, by Polyphia.

In the comics, Hamir is supposed to be Wong's dad. Yes, I know I already made his name Hamir. Yes, I know Hamir is the old man that is missing a hand in the movie. I made a mistake and forgot about him being a thing in the movie, so now he's just Wong's dad. Deal with it.

Yes, I know Stephen has issues bowing to others at this point in the movie, but his issues on being superior have been mostly squashed out of him by this point. He still thinks he is superior, but he's going to be more polite and respectful about it and hold his tongue.

The two ladies with the realtor that I imagined look like:

The tall woman in a suit is a black pop singer and producer. She is modeled after Ryme, from Pokémon Violet/Scarlet, while her girlfriend is short, and I pictured her to look like Nani from Lilo and Stitch. And of course, the realtor just looks exactly like a blonde Barbie.

Not proofread by anyone, but me, so there's probably mistakes.

Reminder that this story will eventually contain 18+ content and be Stephen x fem!reader

Tags:

None. Please let me know if you want to be.

#doctor strange #doctor stephen strange #stephen strange #dr stephen strange #dr. stephen strange #dr. strange #bard doctor strange #so strange #doctor strange fanfic #eventual smut #eventual x fem reader

[gentlespace]

every time I see your art on my dash it makes me :D because it's so colourful and joyful and expressive!!! Do you happen to have any tips on how to choose funkier colour palettes and arrange them in an illustration?

Ahh thank you! I absolutely adore your work so much!! :) I love any chance to talk about colours so I present..

⭐️ eliott’s guide to colourful illustrations! ⭐️

I genuinely know very little about colour theory so this method can be super easy to pick up, and the trick is using gradient maps! I find it pretty hard to visualise what colours I want to use and to start picking them out, so I usually start off by colouring my sketch very loosely in greyscale and getting the values right.

Then it’s time to apply some gradient maps! I use procreate but I’m pretty sure you can do this in other programs such as photoshop and clip studio too! I always duplicate the black and white version so I can go back and make lots of different versions.

Look at all these fun colour combinations! As you can see, I have a bunch of gradient maps that I just scroll between and some will really work, and some won’t, but it’s fun to try them out and play around with the sliders just to give you some ideas!

The next step is using the colour balance tool to adjust the colours a bit more to get something you’re really happy with. At this stage, I also like to separate the background colour to make sure that it doesn’t blend in too much, and also adjust anything that has to be a certain colour (sometimes skin shades might change too much or the coloured markings on Ashoka’s Lekku which I made more blue in the final illustration) This part can either be really fun or get super frustrating because (at least for me and my lack of colour knowledge) there’s no science behind it and I have to keep trying new things until I think it looks right.

Before and after of some colour balancing

If I don't want something with too much of a wacky colour scheme, I'll colour it in the real-life/accurate colours (rather than greyscale), and then just use the colour balance tool to nudge the colours to something a little more interesting!

So that’s kind of my main process when colouring an illustration, a lot of trying stuff out and seeing what I like the look of! Gradient maps have honestly been so beneficial to me for giving me a jumping-off point when trying to decide on colours!

I’ve got some other random bits of colour advice too if anyones interested, so I’ll add them under here! I hope you find this useful though!

For pieces with complex backgrounds I like to separate the characters from the rest of the scene and apply different gradient maps to each one. This way the characters stand out a lot more and you can easily tell which are the more important details to look at. I’ve noticed when looking back at some of my illustrations that I tend to use close-to complimentary colours schemes when doing this (it would be red/green in this example but I made it more of an orange than red) and have done the same with blue/orange (or pink) as well. It’s not something I ever did on purpose but the fact it’s happened a few times maybe means it’s a good tip?!

Picking warm or cool colours to match the mood and feel of a scene can be really important! Purples can be great for a night-time piece, but someplace with artificial light might use a much cooler/blue shade than a scene lit by a campfire which would be much warmer/red.

A lot of my colour choices are down to exaggeration too, brown and beige robes aren't too colourful, but pushing them to be pink/orange is a bit more exciting!! As long as the contrast between the different colours is okay, you can pretty much get away with anything!

A lot of my colour choices are down to exaggeration too, brown and beige robes aren't too colourful, but pushing them to be pink/orange is a bit more exciting!! As long as the contrast between the different colours is okay, you can pretty much get away with anything!

And lastly, overlay layers can be so much fun to play with too! I just chuck a random fill colour on top and then try out loads of different effects to see what it does- sometimes it will create something completely unexpected! Oooo and they can be good for special lighting effects too! Put a darker overlay layer on top, then erase sections that the light would be hitting and now you have some dramatic lighting! Or the opposite way, draw on just the highlights and turn that into the overlay!

Okay, so there we go! If you couldn’t tell, most of my technique is just throwing stuff together, hoping for the best, and adjusting things until I’m happy - but it works! I’ve never written an advice post like this before so I hope it all makes sense and that it might be even a little bit valuable!

#thank you for giving me an opportunity to talk about colours! #I got way too invested making this post! #and also annoyed that I almost always delete all the original colour roughs I make

[fluorescentvermin]

Chapter 2

You'll Figure It Out

Charlie

You’ll figure it out I was still shaken by what just happened. One day, our relationship is perfect, and the next, it’s broken and “can’t be fixed”. I’m trying to figure out what Ella was referring to when she told me she was unhappy. I can’t remember a single time where she could have even alluded to her unhappiness.

Maybe this is all a test, and she doesn’t really want to divorce me. I’m a good husband, I look after her. My only downfall is that I’m unemployed, at least I think so. It’s been difficult. I didn’t realise until after graduating from university that The Neo Journal would be hard to get into.

Maybe this is just a lesson that Ella wants me to learn. A wake-up call so I can get back on my feet and continue providing for her. I am a good husband; I want to continue being a good husband. I’ll figure this out.

But for now, I need a place to sleep.

I walk to the closest hotel from our flat and make my way inside. This hotel isn’t terrible, it can be a bit expensive, but I have the funds for it. The hotel lobby has a minimalistic design with white leather couches, plush carpet, a fun freestanding waterfall feature and marble flooring that continued up the concierge’s desk.

“Hi! Can I get a room for the night?” I ask politely, giving the concierge a smile.

“Just for yourself, sir? Or are you expecting company?” The concierge asks, tapping away at his keyboard.

“Just me. No company” I add.

“A room for one night would be $1,800. Because you’re checking in late, we’ll have to ask you to pay upfront. Is that okay, sir?” The concierge informed.

“Sure. That’s no problem” I smile.

“Perfect. The machine is ready when you are sir” the concierge instructs, holding his hand out to gesture towards the card reader. I thank him and tap my phone against the screen of the card machine.

“Oh, I’m very sorry sir. It says your credit score is in the negatives. I’m afraid I can’t accept your card at this time” the concierge winces.

“What? Why does that matter? I have the money” I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

“I’m sorry, sir. It’s company policy. We’re a high esteemed establishment and we only accept payment from people with appropriate credit scores” the concierge explains. He has a look on his face that seemed like a mixture of disgust and politeness.

“When was that implemented?” I ask, still confused.

“Since the bill went through government to prevent money laundering and�� unsavoury folks from tainting our economy three years ago” the concierge further explains with a look of judgement. I must have missed that article.

“I am not laundering money or an ‘unsavoury’ person, okay?” I defend.

“Sure, sir” the concierge smiles insincerely.

“Fine, I understand” I sigh, taking my cue to leave.

Unbelievable. The audacity. To even assume I’m either of those things is uncalled for. I’m an educated man, I’m just down on my luck is all. Maybe I can do an Infinite search for hotels that don’t care about this ‘credit score’ nonsense.

I search the internet through my phone for a reasonable hotel, deciding to go for a little walk as I do so. It doesn’t take long before I found a hotel online. It says specifically on its webpage that it accepts any credit score, whether good or bad. The only problem is, it’s a lengthy walk. About thirty minutes away. I could call a taxi, but they might deny my card also. Maybe walking could be good for me. I grab the address of the hotel from their website and put it into my Infinite Maps app through my smart glasses. My smart glasses are pretty nifty, they display a user interface onto the glass to integrate helpful information without affecting my vision. The directions are displayed onto my glasses, and I start my journey. A walk would be good, after all, it was a lovely night. The fluorescent lights of advertisements and neon signs lit up the dark sky. The cool air hit my skin as I walked through the city. It seemed quiet tonight, or maybe it was just the street I was on. I double check the map to make sure that I was following the navigation correctly. It was a bit strange that my navigation was sending me down an alleyway. Normally Infinite Maps only directs through main streets. I stopped at the entrance to the alley, it looked dark. There wasn’t much lighting up the path and I couldn’t see what was down there. I was nervous, but I swallowed it down taking a deep breath before continuing down the alley. As I made my way through, the smell of rotting garbage hit my nostrils. I use my free hand to cover my nose, but it didn’t help much. It’s fine, it’s not a lengthy alleyway, I just need to walk faster, and it’ll be over before I know it. I quicken my pace. It wasn’t long before I stepped in a puddle, soaking my socks.

“God damn it!” I curse, inspecting my foot. The water was gross, it left dirt stains on my sock.

“What’s a matter, pretty boy?” A mysterious voice called out from the shadows. My heart dropped.

“W-Who’s there?” I shout out, searching the darkness.

“Just your imagination” another voice escaped from the shadows. Fuck. Fuck this is bad. As much as I tried to find the source of the voices, I couldn’t see them. My heart was drumming in my chest. I had to get out of here. I make a break for it, running down the alleyway. Suddenly, a hand gripped onto my wrist, yanking me against the wall.

“What’s a guy like you doing in a shitty alley like this?” One of the voices showed themselves, leaning in to interrogate me. It was a punk, dressed in a spiky leather jacket and ripped jeans, sporting a neon green haircut. Two others got closer, another punk with a shaved head wearing a baggy shirt with patched up jeans, and a woman with red and white streaked hair wearing a filthy button up shirt and uneven pants. This wasn’t good.

“I-I’m just passing through. I don’t mean any trouble” I sweat. The punks were smiling sinisterly at me.

“Neither do we. If you hand us your phone” The punk with the green hair demanded, putting his hand out expectantly.

“W-What? N-No! It’s mine, you can’t have it!” I defend, looking to the end of the alleyway, hoping I can make a run for it. The punk with the shaved head grabbed my face, forcing me to look at them.

“Give us your phone” The shaved head punk demands, squeezing my cheeks. I couldn’t tell if they were a man or a woman, but their face was littered with tattoos.

“W-Will you let me go if I do?” I let out, hoping that they will be decent human beings.

“Sure” the green haired punk smiles. I sigh. I have no choice. If I don’t give them my phone, I could die. But if I give them my phone, I’ll be without access to my bank account, my wife, my family. I can’t think about that now. I have to think about my survival. With a heavy heart, I hand them my phone, making sure it was locked.

“Can I leave now?” I ask, the punk’s hand still gripping tightly onto my face. The green haired punk takes my phone and shoves it into his pocket.

“No” the green haired punk smiles, before the punk with the shaved head reels back and punches me in the stomach. I try to breathe but the wind was knocked out of me. I gasp, trying to take in air, and slide down the wall. Of course, they’d beat me up, how could I be so stupid? I flap around on the floor, desperately trying to breathe. Then one of the punk’s kicks me in the chest, and my ribs immediately hurt. I’m writhing in pain, when another kick lands against my shins. The pain is unbearable, I’m locked up in the foetal position. Another kick, this time in the head, and with the force of my head slamming against the brick wall behind me, I pass out.

#fluorescent vermin #fluorescent vermin preview #fluorescent vermin chapter 2 #chapter 2 #original story #cyberpunk story #Charlie Miller #Mystery characters ooooh who are they???

[heaven-s-black-box]

Saturday- cafe Recht Chpt.6

Return to File

Recovery date: September 7th, 2020

Description: Miles owns a cafe with Franziska, and Phoenix and Maya are famous actors. Their daughters go to school together, so what happens when they want a sleepover?

Notes: A entry series involving a descendant of a traveler, following the death of her mother it was determined Sky would be better off staying with Miles Edgeworth. This is an OC insert, the fantastical technobabble is just for looks

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Word count: 1 318

Back to directory

The rest of the week had been rather uneventful for everyone. Aside from the mini heart attacks Franziska had whenever Maya stopped by for coffee, the only other thing of interest was Klavier’s announcement of a Gavineer’s concert. Athena had gone to school one other day that week, Thursday, and had gone to the cafe after school with everyone else. It had become a daily occurrence to see Sky enter, followed by a group of high schoolers.

Saturday came quickly, and while Trucy was more than excited for her first “ real” sleepover (no, the times her and Pearl slept over at whoever’s didn’t count, they were practically cousins), the astronomy club’s fair came first. 

“Wow!” Trucy said, as they entered the gym.

It was set up a lot like a science fair, each table had a model or poster board. But there was a scale model of the solar system, hanging from the ceiling, and the lights were out. There was glow in the dark tape, marking the path, and everyone got a glow stick wristband. Each station was lit up in it’s own fun way so you could see it clearly.

“So, where do you two wanna start?” Apollo asked. Pearl and Trucy were holding both his hands, so they wouldn’t get lost. 

“Clay’s station!”

“Okay,” he looked down at the map, and just like everything else, it glowed in the dark. “It should be this way.” He pulled the girls off to the right.

“So, what is his on?” Pearl asked.

“It says he did an interview.” Once they were in view of Clay, Apollo let the girls run off towards him. He already had a small crowd around him, but once they arrived he started.

“Hello ladies and gentlemen, fellow space nerds. My name is Clay Terran, and I’m the vice-president of the astronomy club. For my presentation, I did something a bit different than everyone else, I went and got an interview with an astronaut.” There were a few murmurs from the crowd, but it quickly fell quiet again. “I was lucky enough to get an interview with astronaut Solomon Starbuck, who will be going into space on the HAT-1 mission this october. But I’m sure you don’t want to listen to me read his answers, so I recorded the interview. I was also able to ask some of the other employees questions. So, please enjoy it.”

*Beep*

”Hello, I’m Clay Terran, vice-president of Watson highschool’s Astronomy club, and I’m here today with astronaut Solomon Starbuck, Psychologist Metis Cykes, and robotist Aura Blackquill.”

“Hello, I’m Solomon Starbuck, and I’ll be one of the astronauts on the HAT-1 mission.”

“Hello, I’m Metis Cykes, and I’m a psychologist collaborating with the space center on a robotics project.”

“Hello, I’m Aura Blackquill, and I’m a robotist working with Dr. Cykes on a robotics project for the space center.”

“Alright, so the first question is for Mr. Starbuck…”

Throughout the interview, they discussed astronaut training, the psychological impact going to space has on astronauts, and some of the technical behind the scenes stuff. Clay even had a few pictures to share, and his own space center jacket. It was obvious to everyone watching that Clay had enjoyed his work.

By the time they had thoroughly explored the stations, and taken part in some silly space themed activities and trivia, it was six thirty. While the event had started around eleven thirty, they had arrived near the end so they didn’t have to wait around for Clay. 

“That was so cool!” Pearl exclaimed when Clay met them outside the school. 

“It looked like you had a lot of fun,” Apollo smiled. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Clay this excited.

“Thank you Pearly, and I did. It was a nice break from exam prep.”

“Polly’s been studying wayyy too much! Daddy has to keep reminding him to sleep, and that he still has a week,” Trucy laughed, as they made their way back to the Wright’s apartment.

“I just want to be sure I remember everything,” Apollo huffed.

“Working yourself into the ground won’t help that,” Clay laughed, as he slung an arm around Apollo’s shoulders. “I got an idea! Some of the club members were talking about an upcoming Gavineer’s concert, you and I are going.”

“Gavineer’s? Isn’t that that weird law band?” Clay turned to him with a look of offence.

“How dare you call the Gavineer’s weird! But yes, they are the band that sings about law. Besides, just think of it like my early birthday present.”

“First, what they sing about doesn't count as law, it’s at best, thinly veiled innuendos. Secondly, your birthday isn’t for almost three months.”

“He said early present though,” Pearl said.

“Ya Polly, weren’t you listening,” Trucy giggled, sticking her tongue out.

“Three months is too early for an early birthday present!”

---

“Hi papa,” Sky sighed, as she closed the door and buckled herself in.

“Hello, how was dance?” Miles looked up at her through the rear view mirror. She let out a long groan.

“My body wants to die!” 

He chuckled before saying, “Well, cheer up. You have your sleepover tonight don’t forget, and aunt Kath gave me a cupcake recipe for you girls to make.” Her eyes lit up immediately. “They should get there a bit after us. So when we get home, go change.”

“Yay!”

---

“Athena!” Sky yelled, as she got out of her car. She ran at the girl, and tackled her in a hug. “Hi Junnie!”

“Hi Sky, how have you been?”

“Good! What about you? I didn’t see you all week,” Sky said, hugging her. Both Athena and Juniper were slightly taller than her.

“Where were you?” Athena asked. “And what’s with your hair, it’s never up.”

“Oh, I had dance. Come on, let’s head in. Papa said he got a cupcake recipe we can make once the others get here.”

Athena and Juniper sat downstairs, while Sky went to put her pajamas on. While she was gone, Pearl and Trucy arrived.

“Hi, I’m Phoenix Wright. You must be Mr. Edgeworth,” Phoenix said, and shook Miles’s hand, while Trucy and Pearl went to sit with Athena and Juniper.

“Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My daughter is a big fan of yours, I was quite surprised when I found out you were Trucy’s father.”

“Ya, well. We try to keep that on the down low so her and Apollo can have a normal time at school.”

“Understandable. Would you like to have a cup of coffee, or do you need to be getting back?”

“Uh, I would love to, but I need t-”

“Eeee!” Came a squeal, before Sky clamped her hands around her mouth and apologized to Athena with a quick, “Sorry.” But she wasn't down for long as she ran up to Phoenix with a beaming smile. “You’re Phoenix Wright. Phoenix Wright is in our cafe. Papa, Phoenix Wright is in our cafe!” She turned to her father who was trying hard not to laugh.

“Yes, he is. But you need to keep it down, and apologize to Athena properly.” Her smile dropped, and she ran over to her friend.

“I’m sorry Thena,” she mumbled, giving her a big hug. “I just got really excited.”

“It’s okay, it wasn’t too bad.” Athena smiled, even though it had caused her quite a bit of pain. “But, why did you two come with Phoenix Wright?” Athena asked, turning to Pearl and Trucy.

Trucy tilted her head and frowned slightly, before saying, “He’s my daddy.” The room fell silent, as Athena, Sky, and Juniper stared in shock.

“Well, I need to be getting back. Maya’s picking you guys up tomorrow. Bye Mr. Edgeworth, it was nice meeting you!” The bell chimed as the door closed, then the room fell back into silence.

“Well then,” Miles said, clasping his hands, “who wants to make cupcakes.”

#researcher s's recovery #ace attorney #cafe recht #trucy wright #pearl fey #apollo justice #clay terran #phoenix wright #miles edgeworth #athena cykes #juniper woods #oc insert #fluff

[motorfestgames2023]

The Crew: Motorfest - Igniting the Racing Scene in Hawaii

The Crew: Motorfest is like totally lit, you know? It's not about its success, but more about how it's following the same vibes as Forza Horizon. They've jacked all the dope stuff from Forza Horizon, from the menu setup to the intro, the banging music choices, and the storytelling style, down to the types of races and the actual gameplay itself. It's like, if a game series is fire, it's gonna get copied, and that's cool, but it's not getting a high score from them. Anyway, it's awesome that PlayStation players finally get a similar game to vibe with.

Hawaii is where the biggest motor fest in the world goes down, with all the different races and scenes, from lush jungles to chill volcanoes, crazy cities, and untouched beaches. All those spots are gonna get messed up by racers doing their thing, whether it's off-road, on the streets, or at the tracks. And it doesn't matter if you're into cars, bikes, boats, or planes; they got it all, and that's just the beginning of what's in store in The Crew Motorfest, which they've been hyping up. It had to step up its game and give us a map that's as rad as the one in The Crew 2, which had a "condensed" version of the whole United States we could explore coast to coast, with all the iconic spots. Hawaii, while wild and diverse, doesn't have the same pull, like no Las Vegas to hit up, but it makes up for it with a massive landmass, with different vibes in every corner. Plus, thanks to the new consoles like the PS5, the visuals are next level, with stuff to smash everywhere, and the graphics are insane especially the lighting. So, if you're looking to enhance your gaming experience, you might want to consider where to buy PS5 games.

Adrenaline Rush: The Ultimate Racing Experience on the Island

Inside the island, there are all these mini-games, just like the rival game. You got stuff like speed limits and photo ops. They even brought in this Slalom thing where you have to zigzag through points in a set area, which sounds hella fun. And there's a whole section for Formula cars that you can race on tracks. Aside from cars, boats, and planes, these Formula rides are a blast, with even pit stops. It's more arcade-style, not the hardcore sim stuff like Formula 1 games. They even threw in some Red Bull vehicles from back in the day. The real deal for a racing game is how the cars drive, right? Before, The Crew didn't do it for them, and they thought the driving in lots of Ubisoft games, like Watch Dogs 2 and Legion, was whack. So, they were mad skeptical about this game, wondering if it would be worth it to buy PS5 games like this. Like, more biased than cautious, for real.

Customization and Legend Points: Unveiling Motorfest's Personalization Features

Now, let's talk about customization in Motorfest. First off, you get to pick a character, but it's kinda meh, not much to work with, so they didn't even bother making a character that looks like them. But you can customize your character's drip a bit, from gloves to shades. They also have animations for posing and celebrating, but here's the kicker – once you pick your starting gear at the beginning, you gotta spend in-game bucks or real cash for the rest. When it comes to the money stuff, they've been grinding for over a dozen hours and haven't felt the pressure to drop real dollars. What's more important than looks is those Legend Points (LPs). You earn 'em by playing, like when you're looking to buy PS5 games, and can use 'em to unlock perks like more nitro power or better drifting. LPs let you flex your style beyond just clothes, ya feel?

#the crew motorfest – familiar horizons

[dishtothedeath]

MAPS | THE FARM

Back To Maps

The Farm

The produce you’ve been using up until now can’t all come from one little greenhouse (or Malwart™)—it needs more space than that! From the looks of things, the island has a fully operational, automated farm set up on the back half of the island. It’s a bit of a hike to get out there, but for a little peace and quiet? It’s worth it.

Barn

Probably the most notable landmark in the area, there’s a picture-perfect, big, red barn right at the front of the farmland. Hay is strewn all across the floor. On the left side are a row of pens, and on the right side are the sorts of stalls used to keep horses.

You can count three goats, one cow, and a handful of pigs in the pens. In the stalls, there is one very, very, very old mare– a nameplate decorated with yellow flowers designates her as “Daffodil”.  Her temperament means you’re unlikely to get bucked off even if you have no clue what you’re doing, but she’s also unlikely to move faster than an amble. Her neighbour is a mule named “P.I.T.A” and she seems to have a mind of her own. She’ll walk wherever she wants to walk, and ignores the prompting of uncertain or novice riders.

Behind the barn, you can find a tack closet for gear, and a shed for cleaning the barn. There’s a couple of wheelbarrows for shovelling animal dirt, as well as pitchforks for scooping and brooms for sweeping, but it seems like the island’s robot caretakers handle most of this themselves. Finally, there is a ladder in the barn that leads to a hayloft. Piles of hay are stacked in a way that gives you a bit of privacy if you’re looking for a place to nap in the company of animal ambience. It smells like sun-warmed dust.

Root Cellar

There’s a pair of wooden doors set into the ground along one side of the barn. Going down the uneven stone steps leads into a root cellar of sorts. The ceiling is low, the space is cramped, and the temperature is cool. It’s lit by a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. The walls have shelves that are stocked with various cured meats, preserves and… wine? Some surprisingly fancy wine that was definitely not made here given the lack of grapevines. It’s probably just set dressing.

Cornfield

More of a maze than a real cornfield, but there is still corn there. It might be easy to get lost in. The centre has a convenient (and suspiciously circular) area that’s been flattened. It’s probably best not to enter in the dark of night, unless you’re familiar with navigating by the stars…

Near the cornfield, there’s also a chicken coop, home to six hens and the biggest devil of a rooster you’ve ever seen in your life. The rooster is a bit territorial, and sometimes escapes to chase people into the corn…

Supply Shed

A simple shed out by the fields and orchard. It has all of the spare tools and equipment you might need for farming. There are hoes, shovels, buckets, extra animal feed, and probably a mile of garden hoses. There’s even a beat up old tractor parked outside with the keys left in the ignition. Hypothetically, it should still work.

Orchard

Rows and rows of different trees—apples, pears, peach, plum, cherry. There are baskets, stepladders, and tools to do some harvesting yourself if you’re so inclined. The apples seem like they need a bit more time, but the peaches seem ripe for the picking. There are some picnic tables set up along the side of the orchard in the shade.

Pond

There’s a small pond situated between the barn and the orchard. It’s lined with willow trees to provide plenty of shade, and the clear blue water is stocked with koi (so you probably shouldn’t fish them up). There’s a simple stone bench for you to sit at and feed the ducks that like to come by and take a dip. In a spot this peaceful, you could almost forget that you’re on a murder island. Almost.

#ch4 #maps

[dtothe4th]

four

no fucking way.. the life giving tree that cobblersbug and bakersbug had visited so long ago could not be the sans calamity that struck the ancient bugs and destroyed their civilization. as they hurried back through the jungle with futuresbug, after saying goodbye to the snailies they saved of course, they discussed how yggdrasil could do this. futuresbug explained that the tree had grown into their main settlement: a large spacious cavern underground. it's healing and regenerative abilities did not apply only to others, it also applied to itself. so when the ancient bugs tried to use its wood for building materials the tree’s thick roots grew downwards and sealed the cave’s entrance. this effectively placed a time limit on the ancient bugs’ lifespan, with the tree continuing to grow forward and encroach on their territory. it was almost as if a spiteful force inhabited the tree and wouldn't stop until the ancient bugs that wronged them were killed. futuresbug talked about how an expedition team was set out to the cavern’s entrance to check on the progress of the tree problem but they were all apparently sucked up… with a surge of growth they had been engulfed in tree and the entire kingdom saw as golden lights lit up the entrance and flew up along the cave’s ceiling to the center of town, right below where yggdrasil’s trunk up above was. this absorption of life force must be how the tree is able to grant such wonderful and mystical powers, seersbug thought. they were eating this up the most btw, hammersbug was mainly using his chef’s tools to cut through the vines and shit and crochetsbug was splitting her focus a bit like a good leader but futuresbug and seersbug were like so conversationed up. anyway the tree continued, and swallowed up many houses and tree golden lights became a daily sight. futuresbug and other prominent bugs moved to the opposite end of the cave and devised plans to stop the tree and not have their entire population wiped out. contraptionsbug thought of an idea they had gotten from an ancient blueprint of a big person before the cave’s entrance was sealed: they spent years tracing over the large paper and translating it into smaller bug sized objects but eventually they were able to do it, and they came in handy luckily.

the cave was rich in metallic resources so the ancient bugs had developed very very quickly with technology that the current kingdom of bugs couldn't even dream of. electriciansbug and contraptionsbug worked together with the miningsbug and the three of them created a series of pods that could act as a barrier between them and the tree. they worked by filling the space inside with atomized metal gas that apparently kept them alive as a preservative forever while also making them go to sleep or something. so a team consisting of the futuresbug, a bug obsessed with the future who actually had a prominent book series about what the future could look like and got rich enough off of that to be invited to the cool kids club, the contrapsionsbug, minersbug, and electriciansbug, who built the pods, their ancient kingsbug, who ruled generously and kindly over the cavern kingdom, making sure all bugs were cared for and provided for, the jestersbug, who was above all just a funny guy, the languagesbug, who studied all things vernacular and knew many many languages and made a fortune off of selling dictionaries and translation guides, the travelersbug, who mapped nearly the entire known world and kept her maps in her odd mammal-like pouch, and of course… the philosophersbug, an ancient bug obsessed with the meaning of life and the universe’s purpose. seersbug was about to explode with excitement they damn near asked for an autograph right there on their body in permanent tattoo ink even though it would run all over their slimy body and wouldn't really look good and hurt a lot and stuff. crochetsbug mainly tuned out this story except for the end. okay so there's 8 more bugs and 8 more pods out there… very interesting. i forgot to mention but bugs live forever unless they're killed in some way. like always that's just a trait of bugs and how the kingdom of bugs post modern kingsbug was able to survive for soooo fucking long. that's how bugs do. hammersbug chimed in for once because he overheard talk of the philosophersbug which he knew they were following the map of so he mentioned how there existed a large tower out in the great plains to the east far outside the kingdom of bugs that held star charts and evidence of a philosophersbug living there but no sign of death or a body or a reason for leaving anywhere. the world had assumed this bug had died especially under the rule of kingsbug but when they were all brought back there was no evidence of philosophersbug ever living among the population. especially now that they know the ancient bugs looked so different from modern bugs, they would have picked the philosophersbug out in an instant but they didn't. does that mean that the philosophersbug somehow cracked out of their pod early and may still be alive? or how about the other 7? contraptionsbug? inventorsbug would absolutely LOVE to meet them. and perhaps electriciansbug could help them use electricity. they had seen it in some of philosophersbug’s writings on the stars: they spoke of orbs that glowed like them that could fit in the palm of a bug’s hand. none of the kingdom ever knew how to create these but apparently they hadn't really been able to anyway because of their lack of metal resources: which the minersbug could help with. a!kingsbug also seemed very interesting as someone who was the exact opposite of their modern counterpart. futuresbug thought he would get a kick out of hearing how awful the modern king was and how he got the same treatment of the ancients all those years ago.

the party was just now reaching the edge of the rainforest and were able to clearly see smoke rising from the direction of the kingdom now. oh fuck. as they walked they had hoped washeranddryersbug had perhaps quelled the rebellion but it seemed like they did not at all. the group cut the conversation and began running towards the kingdom now, making it there in no time flat. futuresbug was in awe of the kingdom as they approached, in sort of a bad way. the edges of the kingdom seemed mostly intact and away from the fighting, and a calm little village is where they first entered. futuresbug noticed the lack of electricity, the lack of centralized hubs for bugs to purchase food and drink and entertainment, however they had the running water thing down, thankfully. the bug kingdom ran very simply, little farms out back used to sustain life with crops but with bakersbug’s fingers they didn't really need to. however their sudden disappearance had apparently led people to frantically start planting to no avail. it was mid-warm and these crops were destined to mature mid-cold where they would shrivel up and die before anyone could eat them properly. they ran through the deserted village in silence, going towards the center of the kingdom. they passed through several small villages, some on fire, some razed completely. clearly the year it took them to return was enough to totally wreack havoc on the kingdom, it would take so much to rebuild. they passed a couple of bugs on their way that weren't really able to explain much in the state they were in. most just sort of babbled on the floor or were asleep in a tiny hut. as they got closer they spotted newsbug with his cute little cap running away from one of the larger cities. his hat was on fire, so he threw it to the ground and stomped on it real hard before putting it back on and resuming his running. crochetsbug stuck out her hook and caught newsbug on it, who screamed, but calmed down once he saw who he was being pulled towards. thank fucking god it's you holy shit he said, the kingdom’s gone bananas. the party took refuge in a nearby village house that was still in tact for the most part, and listened as newsbug explained what happened. he was there from the start. as a part of washeranddryersbug’s appointed cabinet along with inventorsbug and deliverysbug and doctorsbug, a diverse group of carapacian bugs and softbugs alike.

as the other softbug alongside doctorsbug, news and doctor conferred a lot. she was a smart bug, went to bug college, got good grades on the BKMLE, started her own practice with her partners, receptionistbug and dentistsbug, and generally knew a lot of shit. the two of them spoke to each other and to washeranddryersbug, who had appointed themselves interim king even though that title hadn't been used since the kingsbug’s days. that should've been red flag number one. what red flag number two was that they actually saw as a red flag, was catching washeranddryersbug alone, seemingly speaking to their floor. after they had left newsbug and doctorsbug had checked out what they were talking to and it was an odd grate in the floor. looking closely they could spot two pinpricks of eyes but the creature stayed deathly still, not even blinking. it was fucking terrifying. they quickly ran out, and decided to talk to washeranddryersbug about the incident but they were blocked by inventorsbug and deliversysbug… what? excuse me, we have to talk with the interim king, it's very important. they said that they knew what we were up to, and were here to stop us from overthrowing the interim king. we explained the of course we weren't going to overthrow the interim king, we just saw some odd behavior that we wanted to talk to them about, look we can even show you - but just then, interrupting the conversation, a thick root of a tree burst through the wall of the room they were in. holy fuck. the four just looked at each other and silently agreed to drop it and flee. as they got outside they spotted it: washeranddryersbug was in the garden near C&B’s cabin, staring up at the tree growing from yggdrasil’s pail.

they held a huge axe which they assumed caused the huge chunk missing from the tree. they watched as the tree grew itself back and it's roots continued to extend in all directions. washeranddryersbug had an evil look on their face which was quickly wiped clean as yggdrasil's roots lashed out towards them, grabbing their legs and pulling them in. they desperately clawed at the earth and chopped blindly with their axe but to no avail. when they hit the trunk the tree grew over them and absorbed their body with a yellow light that now travelled up its trunk. it rose to the canopy where it bathed the leaves in a golden light, just like C&B’s description of the original yggdrasil, and just like the original this golden light shot to the stars and came falling back down onto its leaves, only fostering its growth even more. the four quickly fled though they split up along species lines: newsbug and doctorsbug ran to the mainly softbug populated areas whereas inventorsbug and deliversysbug presumably ran to the carapacian bugs populated areas. as they ran doctorsbug looked behind them and said she saw a dark figure atop the rubble of the building they were in, with the eyes of that creature in the gate. it looked like a bug, but it didn't have the silhouette of a bug they had known… in fact they sort of looked like the odd bug sitting with them in this village house, who futuresbug responded by telling newsbug their name and that they are an ancient bug . so newsbug clarified and said that creature they saw must've been an ancient bug too… anyway, after that both the carapacian bugs and softbugs blamed one another for disturbing the tree, despite what newsbug and doctorsbug had to say. the two actually had a bit of a falling out: after this occurred and they both told the softbug population about the evil king they all refused to believe it and threatened to leave them both to fend for themselves if they didn't stop peddling so called lies, doctorsbug couldn't bring herself to be separated from the group that contained both of her partners, dentistsbug and receptionistsbug, so she lied to herself that it must've been a product of the fire smoke. newsbug explained that they couldn't live with themselves lying constantly. they tried, but it didn't work. that's how they got to here, alone, running and on fire. at some early point in the conflict, inventorsbug must've shot a flair up into the sky, indicating the return of history’s second great trio. newsbug hadn't seen inventorsbug, deliverysbug, or doctorsbug since, and assumed they were all living in similar situations of loss and grief. but now that the trio is here. surely they will all come together! newsbug showed genuine hope, but the party was still grim. it was going to take a lot of fucking convincing to bring the kingdom together after this. i 

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