#listen. listen. I have my priorities in proper order

[juniperhillpatient]

if you’re wondering how fat I am I’m going to the movies tomorrow morning & I just googled can you get extra extra butter on your popcorn at cinemark lmao

#the last few times I’ve been I’ve been disappointed #so Imma be That Person #& ask can they please do 2 extra pumps & maybe try to spread it like one half way through one at the end ? #cause I don’t want it to be all at the bottom & then there’s not enough butter for the majority of it #listen. listen. I have my priorities in proper order #I am Planning this #rose.txt

[auspicioustidings]

Any version of Soap in any position of power would be soooo disgusting, calling IT Security reader at all times of the day and telling her that the speaker on his computer doesn’t work, while he’s clearly streaming some porno in the background 😭😭😭

You get it Lumi, he's a sick freak :) You also sent this while I happen to be working through 1k requests so bonus short for you <3

Back Chat

Words: 1k

CWs: non-con groping, just all around gross awful Soap

Sergeant John MacTavish was the reason you had poured over your contract for any get out clause that didn't cost you a fortune. You came up with nothing. The military had paid for a high end training course for you on the provision that if you left the role within 2 years then you had to pay every penny back.

Plus this job paid well and the benefits were great. You didn't even mind having gruff military personnel seeing fit to give you a bollocking over the phone because you would be following procedure whether they liked it or not and they could file a damn ticket if they wanted their issue looked at. Generally they were an OK bunch at heart, but rough around the edges and used to recruits eager to please them. When they realised your lack of any rank also excused you from being ordered around by anyone but your actual boss they usually mellowed out.

Of course you had made the mistake of chewing out one such gruff man after he called in a temper demanding that his laptop be fixed as a priority. Not even his work laptop, no he wanted his personal laptop fixed.

“Look MacTavish was it?”

“Sergeant MacTavish tae you.”

“No it isn't. I am not one of your soldiers. I work in IT for the military, your laptop is not military property so I'm not touching it. Use your big boy Sergeant wage and buy a new one.”

“Listen here ye wee bitch-”

You hung up on him and got on with your day right up until he physically showed up at your office on base. You handled IT for multiple bases, you had not considered that the person you had chewed out would actually work on this one. Oops.

He was a big motherfucker as well. Handsome. Crazy scary dog energy. Definitely not your usual soldier with his lack of uniform (unless jeans and a t-shirt that was so tight he was liable to tear out of it was uniform these days) and out of regulation haircut. You scrambled to try and stand but he was already looming over you in your chair, leaving you no space to do so as he settled his hands on the armrests and leaned over you to get into your face.

“I'll need tae settle for you then hen. Better make it good.”

“Excuse me?”

“The lassie on my laptop begs tae get it up the arse. Is a good girl for a thick cock pounding her tight cunt. Even when she's fucked oot her nut and ruined she still gags around a man down her throat and swallows like a proper bitch.”

You were flooded with fear and arousal. Nobody had ever spoken to you like that and you weren't entirely sure he was joking. He wouldn't actually do anything to you right? He was just being a dick because he wanted his laptop fixed. Just trying to intimidate you.

“And I bet she gets paid a lot more than me MacTavish, back off.”

Oh no. There was a feral gleam in his eye and a rabid grin that showed those sharp incisors. He clearly relished your response.

“Then I'll need to buy ye with, what was it? Right. My big boy Sergeant wage.”

He leaned in close and took a deep breath. Christ he was sniffing your currently greasy and messy hair. You hadn't showered in like 2 days, you were fucking IT, it wasn't like people usually came to physically see you in your little den.

“...I'll fix your fucking laptop oh my God just bring it by.”

“Atta girl” he all but panted into your ear before tugging at the lobe with his teeth and then fully tounging at your ear hole.

The sensation was truly the most awful thing you had ever felt. Your skin crawled and your body shivered uncomfortably as you tried to push him away from you. He chuckled and you choked on your own saliva as he firmly smacked your pussy before pulling away.

“I'll bring it right doon.”

You were left completely gobsmacked in your little office, your body hopped up on adrenaline and your cunt throbbing from the spank it had gotten and from the sick part of your mind that found the whole thing depraved and disgusting but sort of titillating.

When he brought the laptop back he hovered behind you while you worked on it, making you sweat. It was an easy enough fix and you sighed in relief and carefully avoided eye contact when you told him it was fixed.

“Ye’ll check it over, cannae be sending me away with a half done job.”

“You can see that it's working.”

He leant over, arms surrounding you so he could scroll over to open a video file. It was of a woman being railed hard from behind, drooling into the pillow and babbling for more. The wet squelch was disgusting, the man spitting down on her and smacking her already red ass.

“Speakers are fucked.”

You squirmed in your seat.

“I can hear it just fine.”

“Aye? What are ye hearing then?”

You remained silent, eyes fixed on the wall instead of on the screen. At least you were silent until he drew a yelp from you by groping one of your tits.

“Told ye, if ye cannae prove that it's fixed I'll need to settle for you. Bit shorter, softer and dirtier than my lassie mind, so got tae give it yer full effort.”

“I-It's working!”

“Prove it, what ye hearing?”

He made you replicate the whole script from each broken moan to the begging to the degrading. He was only satisfied when the whole video had run its course, by which time he had a hand on either tit, rough with how he groped and tugged.

“See now? Wisnae so hard to follow a Sergeant's orders was it?”

“No” you mumbled, crying out when he gripped your nipples through your shirt and twisted. “No Sergeant!”

He let go then, closing the lid of the laptop and standing with it to leave.

“Got an LT having trouble with his phone, he's naw as friendly as me though so best limit the back chat soldier.”

#mhairiwrites #cod #soap x reader

[pjisskullourful]

ᵂⁱᶜᵏᵉᵈ ᴴᵘᵐᵒᵘʳ

🐰Damiano × reader

NSFW 🔥 nasty adults engage in sexytimes

° Damiano David/female reader insert

° his wicked sense of humour suggests exciting sex || you & damiano become great friends after meeting at a bar, but it eventually becomes clear this should be more than a friendship [based during il ballo della vita era]

wordcount::: 9,640

° commissioned by the bloody wonder that is jace (@wow-ihateithere)💋 my absolute beloved, you're the best [commissions get priority- there are 3 fics in cue, secure your own spot right here]

° lyrics stolen from björk

The stage manager said your name, prompting you to look up, startled out of the thoughts you had been trying to keep organised. “You’re up next, babes.”

You attempted to return their smile as you got to your feet. This was the driest your mouth had ever been in your life and swarms of butterflies had taken up residence in your belly. You walked over to this relative stranger, wondering if it was too late to run away from this.

But an equal part of you insisted that you keep going and you met the manager’s eye. You had wondered about going through with this for so long, toying with the idea of stand-up comedy for years. You would be betraying a huge part of yourself if you gave into the fear and fled now. You stood in front of this person you had known for less than an hour, steeling yourself.

“When you hear the host introduce you, you just walk out and take the mic from him. Simple, right?”

“Simple.” You repeated, pleased when the word came out clearly.

You barely paid any attention to the act preceding you, they could have been speaking in an entirely made up language without you realising. What you listened to was the audience - they didn’t sound too difficult, they were generous with laughter and no aggressive voices were trying to make themselves known. Even as your hands were sweating, you thought you could do this.

There was a fair amount of applause then the host was saying your name. Before you could question it, you were starting to walk. You saw the spotlight, then you saw the smiling face of the local comedian as he held the microphone out to you. You took it and he left the stage - officially, it was too late to run now. There was modest, welcoming clapping as you turned to face the crowd. The spotlight got in your eyes at once, you raised the microphone towards your face.

“Well, hello there.” You said, a smile on your face as the adrenaline took over. “How are you guys tonight?” You turned the end of the microphone in the direction of the crowd and there were a handful of responding cheers. Less than a second later, you were snatching the microphone back towards yourself with a theatrical rolling of your eyes. “Enough about you, jeez.”

This got you your first laugh, the loudest coming at you from the right-hand side. Your eyes had somewhat adjusted to the light, allowing you to find this amused patron - a long-haired guy who appeared to be about your age. You hoped this wouldn’t be the only time you earned his boisterous laugh.

“I have a confession to make. Yes, an announcement to get us rolling. This is my first time doing stand-up.” You said, prompting some clapping. “Ooh, thank you for the encouragement, keep it coming. Give me that encouragement that I clearly didn’t get through my childhood, otherwise I wouldn’t need to be here.”

This gained laughs as you had hoped, including the long-haired guy. He sounded so genuine, you felt confident that you had him on your side. You thought that so long as you could keep this guy laughing, then you would be okay - you would be able to successfully make it through these next ten minutes.

Your hand was shaky on the microphone, but you didn’t let this rattle you. You glanced down at your other hand, where you had scribbled something of a running order with a fine-tip sharpie. You drew in the deepest breath you could manage and launched into your first proper bit.

It all happened so quickly, once you started talking it flowed out of you. Your nerves couldn’t touch you while you were on a roll like this. Your mouth was still horrendously dry but each word came out without flaw, getting you more laughs. You caught a glimpse of your best friend Liam seated at one of the tables. But your eye kept going back to that expressive stranger with the long hair. And every time you looked, he was either mid-laugh, or wearing a brilliantly bright smile.

Something moving in your peripheral vision of the rest of the stage caught your eye. The host was easing his way back onto the stage - you had done it.

“Well, that’s my time. Thank you so much for having me.” You said and as you spoke, you added more enthusiasm to each word, ramping up while wearing the biggest smile you could manage. “You guys have been so…”

In an instant, you stopped smiling and dropped your voice to a dreary monotone. “...here.” As the audience laughed, you turned to the host. You returned the microphone to the safety of his hands and gave a disappointed shrugging of your shoulders before leaving the stage.

The release was immensely satisfying, plastering a wide smile onto your face. Your body was filled with energising tingles as you got to disappear into the backstage darkness.

You began to laugh, not because anything funny was happening. This was the only way you could react to this overwhelming whirlwind of emotions. Disbelief and relief were married together in an intoxicating rush. You clasped your hands over your face and sank into the pride, so proud to have captured this victory for yourself.

You composed yourself enough to leave the backstage area, still feeling like you were walking on air as you returned to the venue’s main room. You went directly to the bar, not having to wait in line to request a glass of water. You were guzzling it down as quickly as you could, needing to remedy this feeling of the inside of your mouth being drier than a desert.

You had just turned back to the bartender, opening your mouth to speak. But someone else had approached, taking this silence as an opportunity to talk first.

“Whatever she’s having, I’ll pay.” It was the guy with the long hair. You smiled as he came closer, now that you were seeing him clearly you could appreciate how attractive he was. You had thought that his loud laughter would be enough to make him your favourite audience member, but he was racking up more merit points with you.

The bartender raised her eyebrows as she looked at you for a reaction. “Did you want a refill on that glass of water?”

“Fuck. That was meant to be smooth.” He said with a disarming smile as you giggled.

“Is that out of your price range, pal?” You teased before handing your glass back to the bartender. “A refill would be greatly appreciated, thanks.”

He turned to fully face you, resting his elbow on the bar. “I really loved your set and I didn’t think it would be right for you to not have a celebratory drink. But if that conflicts with your sobriety or something, uh…” He dragged his eyes across the stocked shelves behind the bartender. “They’ve got candy bars, I could buy you one of those?”

“I was just rehydrating. You can get me a Midori Illusion.” You said.

As you sipped your water, he repeated this order to the bartender, who got to work mixing. There was another comic on the stage now, earning their own laughs, but you only gave them a cursory glance.

Your new companion provided you with his name - Damiano. You responded with yours and a relaxed handshake was shared. The bartender set the green cocktail down in front of you and he provided payment.

“Thank you for the drink.” You said, downing the rest of your water so you could concentrate on the alcohol.

“No, you earned it. That’s a big deal what you just did.” He said. “Except, I’ve got my doubts over whether or not that was actually your first time.”

You looked at him with wide eyes. “Pardon me?”

“I’m just sayin’, you seemed like you knew exactly what you were doing up there, like someone with a fair amount of experience.” He said.

“Oh, so I’m a liar, am I?” You asked, wearing an amused grin on your face. “We’ve just met and already you’re calling me a liar?”

“Only a little.” He said, resplendent in his cheekiness.

You shook your head. “I don’t know if I like this side of you, Damiano.”

“Alright, how about this side?” He asked and turned his back on you, looking at you over his shoulder. “Do you like this side better?” He turned again, now putting his back to the bar. “Is this better? I’ll just side-eye you the rest of the night.”

You began laughing, raising a hand to cover your mouth before you got too loud. He appeared pleased by this, a twinkle in his brown eyes as he stood before you normally again.

“I guess I’ll just have to take your word for it that you’ve never done that before.” He said.

“I swear…” You didn’t hesitate to reach out, your fingers going around the crucifix pendant on his necklace. You lifted it from between the open collar of his button-down shirt. “Hand to God, that was my first time doing stand-up comedy.”

“Well then you should take my scepticism as a compliment, you’ve got some kind of natural talent for the stage.” He said.

“Thank you. I was so nervous, I was worried that everyone would get distracted by how much my hand was shaking on the mic, it felt-”

“Girl…” Liam’s familiar voice greeted you and you found him quickly approaching you, his arms open wide. “You did it.”

You beamed at your best friend, extending an arm to him, getting excited to bask in the achievement for longer. “I did it.”

He wrapped both arms around your middle, squeezing your body tight to him. You put an arm around him and as you embraced, you thought about all of the encouragement he had given you in the lead up to tonight. He felt this victory with almost the same weight as you.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Liam said as he let you go. “I just really had to say congratulations.”

“Yeah, that’s what this guy was doing- meet Damiano.” You said and the two men shared a handshake.

“Oh, we’re kind of in the way here.” Liam said, noticing the influx of people coming to the bar now that the show was over. “Should we find a table?”

“Yes. You’re coming too, right Damiano?” You asked of your new companion.

“Sure.”

The three of you found a small circular table, it was away from the main activity of the club. Conversation could be had without the need to shout over obnoxious background noises. You had some more sips of your provided cocktail.

“Was it as scary as you thought it would be?” Liam asked.

“Yeah. The anxiety was very real. I think that if I hadn’t prepared as much…” You said, pointing to the words on the back of your hand. “...I would have fallen flat on my face.”

Damiano’s eyes had remained on your hand. “Ah, I was wondering what all of that was about.”

“It’s my cheat sheet, I do it with pretty much everything.” You said, twisting your wrist before you placed the palm of your hand on the table in front of him, allowing him to read. “I was gonna make a joke about it, call myself out on it…” You indicated to one of the dot points about halfway down the very abbreviated list. “It’s really practical and helpful in some situations. But it’s not always welcome. My ex-boyfriend wasn’t exactly a fan of me looking at the notes on the back of my hand when we were mid-boning.”

Damiano burst out laughing at that. “You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m not. He would think it was weird, taking out the spontaneity compromised the romance, or whatever.” You said.

“Because he was so incredible at all the romantic stuff.” Liam sarcastically commented with a rolling of his eyes.

“What kind of notes did you need for sex?” Damiano asked, still half-laughing.

“I was working on a new blow job technique. And you do not know me well enough to ask any follow up questions about that.” You warned.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He said before swiftly changing the topic, pointing to a different idea on your list. “That bit, that was my favourite, I think I laughed the hardest at that.”

You looked to where he was indicating. “About my parents getting divorced instead of getting me a pet bunny?”

“Yes, the way you told that was hilarious. And so succinct, but I was on the emotional journey with you, and then… no rabbit.” He said.

“Mum is gonna be pissed that I told that story.” You said, glancing at Liam. “She always gets so cranky when she hears me joking about it.”

“What does she have to be cranky about? She wasn’t the one cheated out of a rabbit.” Damiano said.

“I know.” You loudly agreed.

“I keep telling her to just buy one for herself.” Liam said.

You had another sip of your drink before shaking your head. “No, I’ve Googled, they’re actually a lot of work, kinda high-maintenance.”

This set Damiano off laughing again. “But you’re still mad that you didn’t get one as a kid?”

You maintained eye contact with him, wearing a serious expression. “It’s the principle of the thing, sir.”

“You’re so damn funny.” He said. “If you’re not a full-time comedian, then what’s your day job?”

You looked at Liam, he was starting to smirk as he leaned in. Then you returned your full attention to Damiano. “I work retail. You’ve probably heard of the shop I work at.” He cocked his head to one side, clearly curious. “The Tool Shed.”

His eyes grew incredibly wide in an instant - filled with recognition and some other emotions. Even in the dim lighting, you could see the blush rising in his cheeks as he changed how he was sitting. “Mm-hmm.” He said, sucking on his bottom lip a little. “Yep, I believe I’ve heard of that place.”

It was Liam who began laughing first, he was never unamused when seeing someone’s reaction to the fact that you worked at a sex shop. The reaction could reveal a person’s true colours, probably earlier than they anticipated. Whatever Damiano had been expecting, he hadn’t gotten it. You laughed too, enjoying catching him off guard. He started to laugh as well, appearing to loosen up again.

“Good for you.” You said. “Admitting to it, I mean. We’re the biggest adult entertainment shop in Rome, literally everybody knows about us. But there are two types of people- the ones who lie and play dumb, or the ones not afraid to be honest.”

“Congratulations, you’re in the category that we like.” Liam said before getting to his feet. “I’m gonna get a soda.”

Damiano didn’t take his eyes off of you for a second, he leaned in closer across the table. “In the spirit of honesty: my brain did explode a little when you said that.”

You chuckled. “Yeah, I could kinda tell.”

“Where was any of that in your set?” He wanted to know. “You must have a million funny stories from working there.”

You had more of your drink. “I do, but I didn’t want to pigeon-hole myself as the sex-shop-girl. Besides, I prefer telling people one-on-one. Imagine if I had deprived myself of seeing your reaction. Anyway, what do you do with yourself?”

“I’m in a band, singer slash a bit of guitar.” He said.

“Yep, that tracks.”

His eyebrows raised. “What do you mean by that?”

“No, no offence, but I didn’t have you picked for a corporate world kind of guy. I judged the book by the cover and I judged that you weren’t selling life insurance or working in a bank.” You said.

“I could work in a bank.” He said, pretending to get defensive.

“Of course you could, sweetheart. You can do anything you set your mind to.” You teased before finishing your cocktail with a final swig. “So, tell me about your band?”

You didn’t just learn about his band (Måneskin - you had actually heard of it before, friends mentioning an interest once or twice), but you learnt a Hell of a lot about him because he was so easy to talk to. Between the two of you, the conversation flowed. You didn’t have time to look around, wondering where Liam had disappeared off to.

You continued to make Damiano laugh as he asked about your life. You returned just as many questions, wanting to hear about all of the interesting experiences he’d already had packed into his life.

There were common interests that you were quickly bonding over. He liked a lot of the same nerdy movies as you. Your sense of humour was syncing up, you didn’t have to explain any of your jabs or worry that he would take them the wrong way. He was a cat person just like you were.

You weren’t conscious of the time as it was passing. But you were forced to acknowledge it when Liam came back to the table, awkwardly announcing that he, your designated driver, had to leave shortly - he had work tomorrow, he couldn’t spend the entirety of his night in this club.

“It was really nice to meet you guys.” Damiano said, getting to his feet at the same time as you did.

“You too.” Liam replied.

“I was serious about being there in the front row for the next time you do stand-up.” Damiano said.

“I know and I was serious when I told you that I would message as soon as it comes up again.” You said. “And I’ll send you photos of Björk when I get home, given she isn’t feeling like running from me. You know how unpredictable cats are.”

“Moody little bastards.” He said.

Something in you was instructing that you give him a parting hug, which you wouldn’t normally do with a stranger. But for some reason, you wanted to.

It’ll be weird, an insistent voice in your head chimed in. You let this be the deciding vote, leaving on friendly terms, but without any further physical contact.

“I did it.” You reiterated after buckling yourself into the passenger seat of Liam’s car.

He paused to give you a longer look rather than starting the engine. “Which part are we celebrating- the stand-up or getting the cute boys’ phone number?”

“I was talking about the stand-up.” You gently corrected. “But if you think Damiano’s cute and you wanna talk about that more- we can.”

“Are you saying you didn’t find him cute?” He asked, starting to drive away from the nightclub. “Which bit wasn’t cute to you- was it all of the tattoos, how tall he is, all of that hair, his giant eyes, or did his really great sense of humour turn you off?”

“Yeah, he’s an attractive guy, but that’s not why I got his number.”

“Sure it’s not.” He said sarcastically, to which you just silently rolled your eyes - you could sense that he wasn’t going to let this point go. “It’s okay girl, he seemed into you too.”

“I wasn’t picking up on that vibe.” You said with a shake of your head.

“Doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.” He said. “You’re just painfully unaware of the fact that you’re a catch.”

You weren’t entirely over your post-performance rush by the time you were unlocking the front door of your home, the pleasing buzz from your accomplishment keeping a smile on your lips.

But you had to keep it inside, you couldn’t risk waking your housemate - she had an early shift tomorrow. Your main goal was to find her pet cat with as little noise as possible. After talking about her so much, you wanted to show Björk off to Damiano. Your night would be incomplete if you couldn’t share a video with him.

The black, white and brown cat looked none-too-enthused by your return home as you approached her spot in the lounge room. She was at the top of her cat tower, not even raising her head to acknowledge you. She continued looking bored as you pointed your phone’s camera at her, stretching your arms out.

See how much she loves me - you sent to him following the video of the cat looking away from you.

His response was very quick, it made you wonder if he had been waiting to hear from you. The bond is very clear.

For the sake of his entertainment, you endeavoured to create a second, more amusing video. Under the cat’s watchful eyes, you swept your hair up, capturing it in a bun on top of your head. Then you got closer to the cat tower, with her gaze fixing on the elevated section of hair.

You turned your back to the tower, lifting your phone again - this time with the front-facing camera on. Björk had taken to batting at your bun before you had begun filming. You just had to make sure you held the phone steady and at the best angle as her attack went on, swiping her paw tirelessly at your hair.

You stepped away when you stopped filming, immediately sending this video to him. We think she was a high-strung hair stylist in a former life.

Before you had reached your bedroom, you were getting his response. Jeez, I thought my brother complaining about my man bun was rude. Another message was quickly following this, note to self: wear hair down when I visit your place.

It didn’t matter that you had moved away from the cat, he kept talking with you. A new conversation began and you still had so much to say to him. You fell asleep with your phone in hand.

*** *** ***

Two months had passed since that night, and ever since you had been in constant contact with Damiano. The friendship had formed effortlessly, spending countless hours sharing ideas and laughter. You never tired of his company, getting to know him incredibly well as you saw him a minimum of once every week.

When you needed to go shopping for a housewarming gift, it seemed only natural that he would accompany you. You needed a second opinion on the ideas of what to get your co-worker ahead of his party this weekend. Damiano could provide the insight of what would suit the home of a heterosexual man - a market you weren’t typically shopping for. He liked feeling useful and you knew he would keep you entertained.

But you had yet to find an item you could agree on. Wandering the aisles of the department store, you had been vetoing one another regularly. He thought a fake plant as a gift had a shady undertone. Buying a laundry hamper for someone felt like something a mum would do, in your opinion. He advised you to stay away from anything decorated with flowers and he was unimpressed by every photo frame that you showed him.

“Why don’t you get this for him?” Damiano suggested, taking a box down from the shelf. “I’m sure Nathan will love this.”

Instead of accepting the box that he held out to you, you gave it a sceptical look. “A wireless charging station?” You just raised your eyebrows as he pushed it further into your personal space. “That doesn’t strike me as a very personal gift.”

“Doesn’t matter, it’s practical. I have one, it’s a game-changer.” He said. “If you really want it to be personal, you can get a sharpie and write his name on it. Problem solved, you are so very welcome.”

You took the object from him, getting his hopes up momentarily. But then you returned it to the shelf. “I’m not, though. I don’t want to get him something that he could easily go out and buy for himself. Personal, that’s a really important factor here.”

“If it’s so fucking important, then why isn’t it written on the back of your hand?” He asked.

You considered the back of your hand, which was free of any kind of list for once. “Oh, the back of this hand? Did you wanna get a closer look at it, maybe as I’m smacking you upside the head with it?”

Instead of challenging you further, he took half a step away from you. “We need to get out of the tech section. We’re not gonna find anything with a personal touch here.”

He didn’t hesitate to leave the aisle, but you took your time, looking at the stock all around you. For the moment you weren’t thinking about Nathan, considering products for yourself.

A man saying your name distracted you, it wasn’t Damiano’s voice. And when you looked up, you immediately wished it was him, rather than the man approaching you. But you fixed a smile to your face, covering the fact that you were cringing inside.

Brad, it had been almost a full year since you had last seen him, the best friend of your ex-boyfriend. He had been around quite regularly, loving to remind you that he knew your boyfriend better than you ever would. His other favourite ‘jokes’ had revolved around the age-gap in your relationship. When you broke up with Chad, you had removed him and any of his friends from your social media, and you hadn’t looked back for a single second.

“Wow, what are the chances of bumping into you here?” Brad marvelled, wearing a smile that easily bested yours.

Silently you cursed the luck that had seen your paths crossing. “Kinda crazy.”

“You look really, really great.” He said after giving you an up-and-down assessment, which lingered at your chest - far from the first time you had caught him looking at your tits.

“Oh, thanks. And you- yeah, you too.”

He had walked over to stand directly in front of you, closer than what was necessary, bringing the strong scent of his cologne into your nostrils. “Thanks. I renewed my gym membership and I’ve actually been using it, not just wasting my money.”

“That’s cool.” You said.

“Are you seeing anybody new?” He asked. “Pretty little thing like you probably had a line waiting to take Chad’s place, huh?”

“I don’t know about that.” You said and he went on grinning, his amusement frustrating you. “I’ve mostly just been concentrating on myself, not really seeing anyone right now.”

His eyes moved down the entirety of your body again. “How have you been?” He asked, then kept on talking before you had the chance to respond. “I thought about reaching out to you, like a million times. Because the way things ended with you and Chad- that was really shitty.”

‘Don’t remind me’, you thought bitterly. He had only gotten the cliff notes. He hadn’t been there for the weeks of loud arguments, he hadn’t seen Chad throwing your phone and other belongings out the window of his apartment. You doubted Chad’s retellings had included all of the rude names he had called you, he was probably the hero in his version.

“And I wanted to know if you were okay through it. But I figured I wasn’t the person you would want to talk to, so I gave you space and all of that.” Brad said. “I don’t really talk to Chad that much anymore, you don’t have to worry about me running to him after this, with a report about bumping into you.”

This didn’t clear you of much discomfort. “Oh, that’s good.”

“We should hang out…” He said.

In the corner of your vision, you saw movement and Damiano was coming over. You were swept with relief, fighting against the urge to run over to your friend. He was respectfully keeping from rushing into the conversation, more polite than you needed him to be right now.

“Chad’s out of the picture, but that doesn’t mean me and you can’t stay friends and, you know…” Brad said, a certain look in his eyes.

You had no idea how to respond, so you grasped for the closest thing to a life-preserver that you had. “Damiano.” You held your hand out to him. “You’ve gotta meet Brad.” You were extremely grateful when he took your hand, safety. “This is my friend, Damiano.”

“What’s up, man?” Brad’s voice was completely monotone and his eyes were on Damiano for less than a second. “Anyway, we should get a coffee or dinner or you could come to my place, so we could catch up properly. I’d really like to catch up with you, honey.”

You took half a step back from him, your need to be polite dwindling as you considered hiding behind Damiano. “Actually, I’m busy with work lately and my weekend is already full, so…”

“So another time then.” Brad said. “Let me give you my number.”

You just blinked at the open palm of his hand, where he was expecting you to place your phone. “Uh, I’ve already got it. From that Halloween when Chad lost his phone.”

Brad continued to hold his hand out. “That was my old number, I got a different one when I updated my phone- got the new iPhone.”

“Hey, I’ve got something to show you a few aisles over.” Damiano told you with a brief squeeze of your hand. “The perfect thing for that party you’re going to this weekend.”

“Well hang on pal, we’re trying to get something organised here.” Brad said. “I really think we should catch up. I’ve missed you, haven’t you missed me?”

Instead of answering, you looked at Damiano, who was taking in all of this with his eyebrows raised very high. His eyes darted over to you and he seemed to know what you needed, speaking up again. “What exactly would she have missed about you- your horrible cologne or your inability to take a hint?”

“Excuse me, and who are you?” Brad asked, no longer expecting you to hand over your phone. “I don’t remember asking your opinion.”

“But check this out, you’re getting it anyway. Aren’t you lucky?” Damiano responded, full of that irrepressible sass that had you mentally cheering him on. “It’s time for you to take a seat, son.”

“Son?” Brad repeated - you made a mental note to tease Damiano over this later. In a less tense moment, it would be funny that he had called a man almost a decade older than him ‘son’.

“She’s just being polite but you hitting on her like this isn’t welcome, it’s making her uncomfortable. Which would be obvious to you if you were talking to her like an actual human.” Damiano said, eloquently expressing himself even though his annoyance was clear. You weren’t taking any notice of how Brad was reacting, as your heart was racing, your eyes were locked on Damiano. He appeared taller in this moment and you were admiring him like never before.

“But you don’t know how to do that and I sincerely feel sorry for the women in your life.” He said, finally finding what it took to get Brad to move back. “So take a seat, you can take several seats. We have a housewarming party to shop for.”

Maybe Damiano had another comeback in mind (possibly more than one) because he didn’t instantly walk away, instead giving Brad the opportunity to respond. But the man from your unpleasant past was silent and you were freed of this interaction. He took a step back, his eyes going down to the ground.

Damiano checked on you before turning and walking away, still holding your hand. You went with him, feeling a surge of more than just relief. Before you had left the aisle, you were already smiling. You didn’t know where he was going, but you were happy to be going with him, buzzing with every step.

“What a sleaze.” He commented. Then he held up a pink, stuffed bunny toy, which you had been too flustered to notice him holding until now. He passed it to you. “I found you a pet rabbit.”

You were blushing as you accepted the plushie. “Sweetie.”

Hand-in-hand, you walked past five aisles before he turned down one, determining this to be far enough from Brad. You walked about halfway down the aisle, surrounded by home security wares as Damiano placed himself in front of you.

“Are you alright?” He asked, his brow furrowed as he concentrated only on you.

“Sure, I’m fine. I just feel like I need to do this…” You pushed invisible dirt off of each of your forearms, as if Brad’s very presence had brought grime to your skin. “There’s someone I didn’t need to bump into. He’s not the top of the list, but still…”

“Yeah, I could tell that it wasn’t a happy reunion for you. And with what you’ve told me about what Chad did to you, I figured you wouldn’t want to be reminiscing on that time in your life.”

Damiano was one of the only people in your life that you had told the full story of your breakup to. You didn’t indulge the misery inside of you by thinking about it very often and you really didn’t like talking about it. But you trusted him. And he had returned that trust, telling you about the breakup he had gone through not long before your meeting, the end of a two year relationship.

“You’re right, thank you.” You said. “Ugh, I hate confrontation, but you just handled that so well.”

“I didn’t say anything out of line, did I?”

“No, I was happy- I liked everything you said. Like, damn, seeing you all protective like that, it really makes me wonder what you’d look like between my thighs.” You said, maintaining eye-contact, even as you felt butterflies filling your tummy.

This wasn’t followed by an instant comeback from him, it seemed that he needed time to register this information. He stared at you, a new smile growing on his face. You smiled back, part of you in disbelief that you had said it, the rest of you very glad that you had. Your fingers fidgeted against the soft fur of the rabbit as you waited for him to move past this uncharacteristic quietness.

“What do you mean by that?” He asked.

You didn’t want to laugh and try to pass it off as a joke, instead you stepped in closer to him. “I think you know what I mean, sweetheart.”

He watched you as you raised your empty hand, holding it to his cheek. He was licking his lips as you got in closer, until you could reach his mouth with yours.

Gently, he kissed you back and you were soon feeling your heart racing. The rest of the large shop faded away as you leaned into him more. You savoured how exciting this was, as well as how natural it felt, as if you should have been doing this all along.

You deepened the kiss, unwilling to let this be short. You loved the feeling of his arm slipping around your waist, bringing so much security. It made you want to kiss him for hours, to make up for lost time. It made you want to go on discovering him in this way, to keep going until you were drunk on him.

Before pulling away, you couldn’t help swiping your tongue against his lip - feeding your curiosity because his taste was all that you wanted to know.

You watched his eyes slowly flutter open, you weren’t minding his silence so much now. The hand not holding onto the toy moved down to hold his and it was like holding his hand for the first time. You stayed close, studying his face like never before as he started smiling.

“Do you want me to explain what I mean?” You offered.

“No, I wanna take you back to my house.” He said and you didn’t know if you had ever heard a more seductive offer in your life. Already you knew this would be different to any of the other times you had been to his apartment. “I wanna know more about being between your thighs.”

Your cheeks were burning hot as you nodded. “Good, ‘cause that’s what I want, right fucking now.”

He gave your hand a keen squeeze, but he didn’t immediately begin walking for the exit. “What about buying the gift?”

“I’ll order the charging station online, whatever.”

“So now it’s a good enough gift?” He asked, looking a little smug.

But you just rolled your eyes. “That’s the thing you’re choosing to concentrate on right now?”

“Right.” He said and he spared you any bragging. “What about the rabbit?”

You didn’t hesitate to stuff it onto the closest shelf, where it immediately stood out as an imposter. “It’s not coming home with me.”

“But I am?” He asked, grinning as he clearly forgot all about the toy.

“That’s right.”

You thought about kissing him again. But before you could act on this, he was making a hurried exit from the aisle, your hand secured in his. You were beaming as you rushed to keep up with him. He didn’t slow down and you didn’t ask him to, this quickness matched the racing of your heart. You were too excited to remember to fear another bump into Brad and very soon you were power walking through the doors.

*** *** ***

Damiano had never touched you like this before, but he did it all without hesitation. This new level of closeness didn’t intimidate him and he wasn’t unsure of where he wanted to put his hands, making you wonder how much time he had dedicated to thinking about this before today.

You had thought about it. Not instantly after meeting him, but it was an idea that had begun popping up. As you spent time together, it would occur to you that you had the opportune moment to make a move and you had seriously considered it more than once. But you would always find a reason to stop yourself.

But there was no stopping now. Everything leading up to you reaching his bedroom had passed in a fast blur. There had been grabbing as you both explored, whispered requests and you were starting to learn his kissing technique.

The excitement was sizzling in the air between the two of you as you stood in his bedroom, removing clothing. You were seeing tattoos on him that you had never seen before and he was seeing all of your scars for the first time. You were so eager to see what came next.

“God, you’re so beautiful.” He said, bringing your naked body into his arms so that he could secure more kisses. You shut your eyes as you sank into this embrace. His hands were tender as they moved over so much bare skin. “I wanna absolutely worship you…”

Having never heard this before, you couldn’t help but smile. You caressed the nape of his neck as you looked into his eyes, seeing great anticipation reflected back to you. “That sounds really romantic, sweetheart. But what does that mean, it’s kinda vague.”

“You’re right. Let me make it clear for you, yeah?” He asked. “Please, lay down on your back for me.”

You did this instantly. It felt like it had been years since you had last experienced intimacy. And you had never had it like this before. As you automatically spread your thighs, you struggled to recall a partner that you had been this honest with. You felt safety as you looked at that familiar face, even as he looked at you in a different way. In this security, you were granted the luxury of being vulnerable, you wanted to serve your vital connection by holding nothing back.

He had brought his knees down to the mattress, towards the end of the bed. As leaned down closer to you, his eyes swept up-and-down your body, lingering the longest on your face. He studied your expression, looking for a reaction that suggested you needed to stop.

When he didn’t get this, he progressed with getting into position to eat your cunt. Your heart was pounding as you watched all of this, acutely aware of how his body heat reached your skin before you felt his touch. You had never had a man begin with cunnilingus before, not without an exhaustive amount of begging from you.

You were so keen that you couldn’t help squirming before he’d had the opportunity to lower his head down to your crotch. The ends of his long hair tickled at your thighs, until you gathered it up in your hands, twisting some of the strands around your fingers. You watched as his brown eyes got locked onto your cunt and you sucked in a quick breath.

His fingers were gentle as they went to your labia, parting them just enough to get your moist clit exposed to him. You let out a shaky sigh when he touched his lips to your clit, greeting the hood with a little kiss. You were immediately invigorated by this feeling, getting your hopes up at this seemingly promising start.

He didn’t shy away from giving your clit more attention. You rested your head down on his pillow, your thighs opening wider as he trained his tongue onto the hood, working it back-and-forth in a luxurious massage. So many sensitivities sprang to life inside of you and his unhurried movements made it seem like he had the time to explore all of them. You sank into this teasing as you happily floated away from everything else.

Needy whines were falling from your lips when he placed his mouth around your clitoral hood so that he could begin sucking on it. This intensity had you seeing little stars in your vision. You felt so much blood surging into the hood, until all of your cunt seemed to be aching. You tilted your pelvis and he kept your legs from moving by placing his hands to each of your thighs.

“Fuck. You are really good at this.” You told him as more of your body was rocked by these dazzling sensations.

He let your clit slip out from between his lips and lifted his head, gazing up at you. “Thanks babygirl. And I don’t even need notes on the back of my hand to help me give good head.”

You frowned in response to the very pleased smile on his face and you made to reposition your leg. “Prepare to be kicked, I will kick you in that smug, pretty boy face.”

He laughed, unbothered by your threat. He ensured that you couldn’t act upon this by grabbing both of your ankles, his fingers wrapped tight as he forced them onto the mattress. Your heart was launched into your throat as he quickly transferred his grip to your knees, holding them down. He met your gaze and you could see he was still smiling, still happy with himself.

You were without any further threats, nor did you have any sassy comments to make. You were just concentrating on how it felt to have him pinning your legs down, how it made you desire him all the more. You knew you wouldn’t be able to easily get yourself free and you loved it, you wanted to know more of his control.

You were even wetter when he returned his mouth to your pussy. You were so happily at his mercy as he kept a consistent pressure on your knees.

He glided his tongue over the hood in one smooth motion. Then the next thing you were feeling was just the tip of his tongue, reaching down to give the hood something like a poke. It was over just as quickly as it had begun. Then you were feeling it again-and-again as he bobbed his head, bouncing the tip of his tongue against your clitoral hood.

Your breathing had become laboured but you smiled as you enjoyed these quick bursts of contact. His firm tongue was building up tingles inside of you, ready to surge through all of you. The moments when your clit was allowed to pulse against his tongue were so thrilling, filling you with something more powerful than butterflies and you knew they could take you higher. But the moments in between were exciting as well, your nerves on edge as you tried to recover from his last tap, while attempting to prepare for the next.

He worked according to his own tempo. You were enjoying this masterful teasing so much that you found yourself beginning to laugh, a desperate, gasping sound that you had no control over.

You sought out a use for the tension gripping you and so you set your hips into motion. You rode the waves of pleasure, synchronising with him occasionally.

You liked this indulgence so much that you kept at it, steadily rocking into his face. You continued going, even when he stopped bouncing his tongue to go back to sucking on your clitoris. The stakes were higher this time around, prompting your knees to twitch and tremble under his hands.

The way that he wiggled his head paired perfectly with the way you were rolling your hips. It wasn’t just teasing anymore, with every single inch of your clitoris being stimulated it was getting to be mind-blowing. He was taking full advantage of all of the sensitivities in this very concentrated area and you were obsessed with it.

“Mmn…” You moaned as your grinding into his face got more powerful and you began to partially sit up.

You could sense the edge coming and it intimidated you. You grabbed his hand with one of yours and he instantly held it back, letting you squeeze. Your other hand went to your mouth, somewhat muffling the sounds that were coming in more frequently.

The trembles in your body had become non-stop and there were even more stars in your vision. Your heart sat in your throat as you continued to enjoy the intensity of his lips caress.

Your breathing skipped and you came undone. Your entire body jolted, feeling the dazzling surprise. Your knees shot up and you forced yourself into his face with all of the strength that you had.

“Fuck, fuck, oh fuck…” You whimpered as you well and truly captured the peak.

Your clit continued to pulse as he pulled back. Your chest was burning as you looked down and placed your hands to his cheeks. His eyes were sparkling as they reached your face, surveying you again.

“Are you alright, babygirl?” He asked, repositioning his body between your legs.

“More than.” You felt like you were stating the obvious as you said it. “Get on top of me, right fucking now.”

“Let me get a condom.”

You were still filled with so much desire, hardly worn out from your orgasm as you watched him covering his boner with latex. You weren’t done enjoying him in this way, stuck wondering how much higher he could take you.

You could taste your pussy on his lips as soon as he started to kiss you, his mouth hungrily reclaiming yours. He kissed you deep enough to steal away what little breath you did have.

He laid down on top of you, his body comfortably fitting with yours. In the process, your mouths didn’t separate, chasing more of this connection. He wrapped one arm around your middle, holding you tight, skin pressed on skin like never before. Soon you were experiencing the sensation of melting into each other.

You draped one of your arms over his shoulders, so very happy with this embrace. Your hand moved up the back of his neck, synchronising with how you eased your tongue forward, teasing it between his lips. You held the back of his head as you guided your tongue deeper, pushing over the top of his.

You had been feeling his cock all along, its stiffness pressing against you and trying to gain your attention. You instantly noticed when he repositioned to get it closer to your pussy and you responded by moving your thighs further apart. He fit into this space perfectly.

You slid your tongue against the roof of his mouth as he slowly stuffed himself into you. He was whining as your cunt eagerly hugged to the first couple of inches of his cock. His receptive head was engulfed and the arm holding you tensed.

He drew back from your mouth with a gasp. Your eyes fluttered open to the sight of him licking his lips. His face remained very close to yours as ragged breaths fell from his mouth. He adjusted his weight on top of you, his ever-watchful eyes still monitoring all of your reactions.

“You’re just so beautiful.” He said and you wanted to remember this look on his face for the rest of your life - how did this keep getting more intimate? Surely a limit would soon be reached.

“And I bet that- well, I wanna see if you get even sexier when you come.” He said.

You smiled as you wrapped one of your legs around his waist. “Yeah, that’s what you wanna see?”

“Yeah.” He echoed you immediately.

You rolled your hips up, taking a little more of him into your pussy. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He repeated, his eyelids briefly fluttering when you plunged forward another time.

There was a feeling of pressure on your tender clit as you gave another thrust, making the movement of your body with his even more significant.

As he began experimenting with his range of motion, more of his dick disappeared inside of you. Soon you were writhing into him, encouraging the swinging of his hips. You held tighter to him, embracing this momentum.

He had established a rhythm, still sliding more of his length into you. His eyes remained on your face, not a single reaction went unnoticed as he concentrated on your enjoyment.

You loved the feeling of grinding against him as you matched his tempo, meeting him thrust-for-thrust. You were safe to go higher with him, unafraid to make more honest sounds as the pleasure kept increasing. Those stars were back in your vision.

He bottomed out with a gasp, his hips on yours pinning you down to the bed. You both paused, your bodies settling into this new closeness. Then he bumped his nose against yours, tilting his head until he could capture your lips in a kiss.

As you concentrated on kissing him, the fluttering of your sensitive inner-walls continued beyond your control. The eager, unpredictable spasming made it impossible for him to remain still for very long. You welcomed the friction that came with this and you joined the momentum as soon as you could.

When he picked up speed, you kept up with him. Desperation dictated your movements and you could feel each collision having so much impact. It was getting harder to breathe but you didn’t mind, just enjoying how deep these stimulations were reaching. It was so intense, poised to take over every part of your body.

He let out a choked sob after your lips parted. Listening to his laboured breathing, you could notice his rocking had lost some of its smoothness. His hand went to the pillow beside your head, muscles flexing as he gripped it in a fist.

“You feel so- oh- good.” He moaned, his approval making your heart do a little somersault.

“So do you, sweetheart.” You said over the consistent noises of your skin slapping together. “Keep fucking me. Please keep fucking me just like that, Damiano.”

“I think that I- oh, I’m close.” His words came out in a strained whisper and you could clearly see the effort on his face. “I’m close.”

“Yeah?” You asked with a smile, paying attention to the little changes he already displayed.

He had said he wanted to see you come, but now it was you who wanted to watch. You wanted to know how he looked in that moment of perfection, how he reacted to it.

“Yeah.” He said shakily.

“Do it, you should do it.” You purred, giving him a quick kiss.

He was holding his eyes shut as he kept still. A crease had formed between his eyebrows and his breathing was heavier than ever. “I don’t think I can hold off.”

You tightened your leg around him and grinded a little. “Do it, come. Be a good boy and come for me.”

His bottom lip trembled and he whispered your name before easing himself back into motion. You gathered up handfuls of his long hair, holding it away from his face, your view unobscured as he kept getting quicker. It was a rhythm you didn’t have the strength to match as you just rode out the rapidly increasing pleasure.

It only took a few more enthusiastic thrusts to get him over that edge. His orgasm was reached with a triumphant whine as he latched onto his bottom lip with his teeth. He stopped mid-plunge into you, the creases leaving his face as he secured his delight.

You were watching the fluttering of his eyelids before his head slumped. He brought his forehead down to rest against your shoulder, sighing heavily. You played with his hair, feeling how he continued to throb inside of you.

“I didn’t mean to- I didn’t- that’s not how-...”

“What are you talking about?” You asked.

He groaned, keeping his head down. “I couldn’t help it, but I didn’t want to come first. I wanted it- fuck…”

“It’s not a big deal.” You said.

He groaned again, sounding truly displeased. “The woman should always come first. That’s what I think, and usually I can…”

“What… are you seri-...?” You tried to manually lift his head. “I did come.” This got the desired reaction and he looked up at you. “When you were going down on me, I came. I told you that you’re really good at-...”

“I didn’t know you came from that.” He said, seeming that he was coming back into himself.

“Oh. I didn’t know that you didn’t know.” You said. You nuzzled your nose against his, smiling as an opportunity presented itself. “I bet you could make me louder, so loud that it’s crystal clear this time.”

He smiled back as he braced himself by putting his hands on the bed. “I’d love that.”

You leaned in, your lips hovering less than an inch from his. “Do it, sweetheart. Get me off again.” You kissed him, giving him a greater sense of how eager you remained. “I know you can do it.”

He was still smiling when he started to move again, rocking his hips as he stayed buried deep inside of you. He hovered over you, watching how you took it when he established the rhythm.

You let your eyes flutter shut, those twinkling stars ready to greet you at once. You didn’t quite match his movements as you rolled your hips, but the motion felt good, all of your body invested in these wonderful sensations.

It was all enough to take you higher and you didn’t resist any of the noises that were soon rising up inside of you. You weren’t using your hand to muffle these moans. You let them come out loudly, celebrating your pleasure without any shame. His enjoyment of this was obvious as he pounded into you quicker and harder.

It was building to something truly spectacular, you knew this as fact as you kept writhing and trembling underneath him. You could see the stars expanding in your mind’s eye as your inner-walls spasmed relentlessly around him. The desperation gripped you like never before, going straight to your head until every thought was blocked out.

“Fuck.” You cried out in response to every bit of intense stimulation shooting at a direct path to your core. You simply couldn’t hide, you would be shortly overwhelmed.

“Come, babygirl.” He cooed, his words marked with exertion. “Come for me.”

The stars in your eyes became fireworks, fizzing and bursting in a fabulous display. Your body rocketed up into him for one last collision before you were pushed over the glorious edge. You loudly rejoiced as you surrendered all control.

The next thing you were aware of was your body slumping back onto the mattress as you greedily sucked in as much air as possible. You were still seeing the glow of the fireworks as he carefully pulled out. You felt him applying soft kisses to your face, but you were still too far gone to react to this.

You were gradually coming back into yourself as he laid down next to you. He initiated the beginnings of a cuddle with one arm around you and you savoured this continuing closeness. It wasn’t long before you were cuddling him back.

When you finally opened your eyes, you were instantly taking in the sight of his bright smile. It made your heart flutter a little and you found yourself reflecting on the first time you had seen him smiling at you like this. You supposed he’d been in possession of a piece of your heart ever since he had made that night for you - this was a conclusion you probably should have seen coming. As you inched closer to him, you smiled back. You enjoyed seeing him in this new light.

“Do you feel worshipped, babygirl?” He asked and you sensed you could get addicted to him calling you this nickname.

“God, yes.”

“Excellent, because there’s more where that came from.” He told you before covering your lips in enthusiastic kisses.

»»————-　♡　————-««  

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#maneskin x reader #maneskin fanfiction #maneskin smut #maneskin fic #manesmut #damiano david fic #damiano x reader #damiano david x you

[presidentofthelipglossclub]

my last post about the rescue bots' origin did well and someone asked me to continue so ofc i GLADLY will

ok so continuing on the whole genetically engineered thing, i think rescue bots were originally created by primus, and then adjusted by the senate/primes to fit specific jobs. this is because as far as we know, the rescue bots have no natural alt modes. they can scan any vehicle mode, no matter how much it doesn't fit them (blades) which no other cybertronian can.

also, the no natural alt mode means they can't fit into functionism, like at all. if they don't have a natural alt mode, they can't be assigned a proper job. any bot made this way would become a rescue bot, but after that they had freedom over their career.

of course, that kind of freedom would go against the status quo, and could potentially uproot society. of course the senate couldn't have that. this is why the rescue bots all spent so much time in space/on other planets. they were all also equipped with personality dampeners, to make them more obedient. being so far out in space where no one can watch them was also a huge risk, so the senate wanted to make sure they were being obeyed.

this is a large part of why the rescue bots never chose a side. new avenues of society were being explored, but they couldn't do anything except follow orders. after the senate and reigning prime was murdered, they had no one to listen to. gradually they began to figure it out, and as rescue team leaders had weaker dampeners (to make choices while on missions), they took charge of the faction. it was sort of like their own council.

when other bots realized they basically maintained a functioning society where everyone was treated as an equal, people got jealous. this would eventually lead to the deaths of the last rescue bots.

or so everyone thought. sigma 17 was in stasis, waiting for a priority prime message to wake them up. now, why would optimus prime be able to wake them up if they didn't choose a side? simple. the rescue bots helped EVERYONE. obviously both optimus and megatron realized this could be a useful tool in winning the war. however, the rescue bot ships were all constructed before the war broke out, and they were equipped to receive orders from the prime. sigma 17 hoped that the other rescue bots would realize they were gone, and send a message to everyone. well, the rescue bots did realize, but no one answered their messages and calls to help their waiting friends.

and that brings us to earth!

#tfrb #rescue bots #transformers #transformers rescue bots #transformers aligned #i did get off topic of the biology thing but i really wanted to talk about their societies because that has been consuming my mind #i'll probably make a follow up post on the biology aspects of their lives #ask me questions about this stuff please i love worldbuilding

[pocketsizedowls]

The first time I read The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, I was in my second year of college.

At the time, despite going to a university that was a 12-hour drive away, I faithfully returned home during every break, every holiday, and every long weekend. Much like Gregor Samsa, the protagonist of The Metamorphosis and breadwinner of the Samsa household, I thought my family needed me. They couldn't function without me. Texts and calls flooded in every day from my siblings, my mother, my father, so at the end of my second year of college, I wrote a creative nonfiction essay about The Metamophosis. My family is not like Samsa's, I claimed. Even if I get transformed into a bug like Samsa did, they would never faint at the sight of me. They accepted me each and every time I returned home from college, slightly changed from the last but still human at my core. They loved me, I said. They always will.

The recent release of Teniwoha's "Zamuza" via Project Sekai's N25 brought me back to that essay, and upon rereading it for the first time since I wrote it four years ago, I... pity myself. At 19, I had not yet come to terms with my family's dysfunction, my mother's narcissism, and my father's neglect. Being parentified growing up often means that you're the last of your siblings to realize you were cheated of a proper childhood, and that growing up too quickly has detrimental consequences on your health. Cortisol, the steroid hormone released into your body during long periods of stress, is only good for your body in smaller doses. Today, I am writing this post at 6am after rolling around in bed for hours, stuck in the limbo of waking and sleeping. Unfortunately, insomnia is only one of the issues that arise in adulthood after living in fight-or-flight mode your entire life. I would love to tell you more, but that would make this post way too long, so let's move on to the interesting stuff:

I see a lot of my younger self in Mafuyu Asahina, who puts on a "good girl" facade her entire life in order to meet the expectations of her demanding parents. By that I mean, she sacrifices her happiness and her identity to secure love and empathy from her mother, and boy do I know helpless that feeling can be. I only wish that when I was in high school, I also had good friends like Kanade, Mizuki, and Ena. That it didn't take me so long to realize that I am not responsible for my parents' emotions and that I did not need to take on adult responsibilities at a young age to be loved. Because love, as most people learn at a young age and I learned when I was a little older, is supposed to be unconditional.

Gregor Samsa, who transformed into a bug at the beginning of the story, died at the end of The Metamorphosis due to familial neglect. After sacrificing his entire life and identity to serve his family, they moved on quickly without him once he was no longer useful as their golden child. This would have been my fate, had I not pivoted my priorities later on during college to focus on myself. This would have been Mafuyu's fate, if not for her good friends who are unconditionally invested in her well-being. The song "Zamuza" is inspired by The Metamorphosis, and the song is often called "Samsa" when referred to in English. A tribute to Samsa, I think this song is not only Kanade's attempt to save Mafuyu, but also her way of making sure that Samsa, despite being forgotten by his family, will continue to be remembered by her audience.

Take a listen, if you haven't yet:

#project sekai #prsk #pjsk #nightcord at 25:00 #n25 #niigo #mafuyu asahina #kanade yoisaki #mizuki akiyama #ena shinonome #25ji #project sekai brainrot #meta #i wrote this instead of sleeping #zamuza #samsa #gregor samsa #the metamorphosis #franz kafka #Youtube #pjsk song analysis #analysis

[tyo-mimt]

35/36. @tmnt-event-blog

The guys "decorate" Donnie's lab.

For some reason, Donnie was barred from his lab. It was fair enough, the brain fog keeping him from doing any more work than staring at the circuit for hours on end trying to remember which wire went where and why the opposite of what he was trying to achieve was happening. But it never got to a point where he was kicked out of his own lab by his brothers, even weirder how April and Raph were sent to watch over him.

Well, to that, Donnie could've easily waltzed back inside...

"Say, Donnie, if we were to use one of the empty rooms here as a greenhouse, which one would you pick?"

Oh.

"Ah, under these conditions, putting together a greenhouse underground would be very difficult..."

They didn't tell him to stop, nor did they walk away. They just let him keep talking. Heh, it felt strange to be listened to.

"Natural sunlight and storage problems aside, proper wind circulation and humidity to simulate natural environments are just as difficult to achieve..."

And he was listened to when it mattered, but it felt weird to have all the focus put on him. Huh, there was only one other instance where they gave him so much room to talk.

"Not to mention the larger plants that may need more room to cultivate and grow... Wait a minute! You guys are trying to distract me!"

"Ah, the jig is up..."

Raph laughed lightly. "But we really are thinking of giving you a plant room."

"Dearest Raphael, I appreciate the gesture, but one: it is a greenhouse, two: no room, both in the old and this lair, is suitable enough to house a plantation, and three: what are you fools doing to my lab!?"

Mikey stuck his head out of the room, "Keep him out there! We're not done yet!"

His head dipped back in. There was a brief moment of eye contact where Donnie prepared to rush back inside, only for the top of his battle shell to be yoinked and lifted off the ground.

"Donnie, it's for your own good!"

"The last time you distracted me for this reason, you blew a prototype up!"

April shot a look directly at Raph, who cleared his throat and laughed nervously, "It fell...?"

"Explains the Great Lab Ban of O'Twelve..."

"We don't talk about the Lab Ban of O'Twelve..."

"That's besides the point! What do you all think you're doing to my lab!?"

"Sit down; I wasn't lying when I said it's for your own good!" Donnie was placed back on his seat, huffing.

"Fine, fine, okay. Whatever you all did to it, I'll just fix it when you're done."

"You won't need to!" Leo walked out of the lab, the same cocky grin on his face, "Trust us, Dee. You'll like this."

The softshell raised an eyebrow, but relented and walked in. "I remain doubtful, but amuse me."

He looked around... And it was just hitting him how unorganised the lab was. Huh, was it really that long since he cleaned up in there?

He turned to the right side, seeing all of his tools and instruments lined up in alphabetical order. To the left, the many prototypes and blueprints organised in neat rolls or placed in order of priority. In the centre of his work desk was the very thing circuit he was working on; untouched.

"Wait, what, why?"

"Your room was a mess, Dee. Someone had to do something about it."

"Those someones were us~"

A pause.

"No need to thank us. We only did it because we wanted to." Mikey mumbled the next part, "Even if our wanting to was out of frustration."

"Yeah, dude, it was impossible to find anything in there."

Donnie blinked, unable to stifle a chuckle before pulling them all into an embrace.

"This is new..."

"I love you guys, thank you..."

#rottmnt #tmnt holiday bingo #mystic jingle #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt april #rottmnt raph #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt leo

[mysteryshoptls]

R Jack Howl Gala Couture Personal Story

"I'll drag them all down!"

[Pomefiore Dorm – Ballroom]

Vil: You're finally getting the basics. From here on out, we'll switch to one-on-one, more precise walking lessons.

Vil: I'll work with Silver. Jack, Rook will supervise you.

Jack: Eh, Rook-senpai? When did he get here…?

Vil: The success of the show is the main priority of this mission. That is why I have brought someone who has an eye I can trust.

Vil: Don't you dare slack off just because I am not watching you. I will not forgive you if you waste my Vice Dorm Leader's time.

Jack: Yessir! I'll definitely learn it all, at any cost!

Rook: Très bien! It's wonderful how motivated you are. Now, let's begin quickly!

Jack: Thank you!!

Jack: How was that, Rook-senpai?

Rook: Good. I can see that you are gaining confidence with every lesson. That was quite the dignified walk!

Rook: However, you are focused too heavily on your feet's movements that you're looking down. You need to raise your head and appeal to the audience.

Jack: A-Appeal to the audience? Even if you say somethin' like that, I ain't gonna get it at all.

Jack: If that's the case… I just gotta train harder until I get it! I'll do it one more time, so please tell me what you think!

Rook: No, let us take a break here.

Jack: A break? There’s no time to rest. I know… I know that I'm holding everyone else back.

Jack: I need to work harder than anyone else and do this fashion show performance, or else…

Jack: To both Leona-senpai, who believed I could do this, as well as Silver-senpai and Ortho, who'll be with me in the show, I'll just drag them all down!

Rook: Your enthusiasm is fantastic. However, it may be counterproductive if you push yourself too hard.

Jack: It'll be fine. I normally train this hard…

Vil: Listen to Rook's orders and take a rest, Jack.

Jack: Vil-senpai? Weren't you watching over Silver-senpai's practice…?

Vil: We are also breaking for the moment. Silver is outside grabbing a breath of fresh air.

Vil: I value your willingness to keep pushing, but that is also one of your main faults.

Vil: If you were to continue practicing to exhaustion and end up drained on the day of the gala, it will be extremely aggravating.

Jack: But…

Vil: Come to think of it… It's always been like this.

Vil: I told you not to practice for the marathon because there was a snowstorm outside, but you did not listen.

Vil: "It might snow during the actual marathon too, so this practice’ll prepare me for it!", you said. And in the end, you fell sick the day before the marathon. And then there was…

Jack: I-I get it! I'll take a break! So please don't tell any more embarrassing stories of when I was a kid.

Rook: Fufufu. Nice, Vil. You seem to know exactly what to do to calm Jack down.

Rook: But this is a great opportunity, since we're taking a break, why don't you tell us some more? I'd love to hear about both of your childhoods.

Jack: Uh… I mean, we only went to the same school for about a year or two. There's not much to tell.

Vil: Oh, really? There were plenty of entertaining stories, if I recall.

Vil: You would say, "I'm not interested in kid's games" and refuse to play tag with your friends. Instead, you'd just train your muscles.

Jack: Uh, I don't really remember that much, but… But wait, what's so funny about that?

Vil: Of course it's funny. To an outsider, that "muscle training" simply looked like "tree climbing," after all.

Rook: Oho, that sounds just like Jack-kun. Please, tell me more!

Jack: Urgh… Oh, I remember one. If it's about Vil-senpai…

Jack: This one time, we were playing all day in a huge snowstorm. You made a huge snow sculpture then, didn't you?

Vil: Ah… Yes, that did happen, didn't it? How nostalgic.

Rook: That's a charming memory. What did you make?

Vil: I made a throne that I could actually sit on. Of course, I also made sure to add all the proper embellishments to it.

Jack: Rook-senpai, he may be speaking of it so pridefully, but I was the one who made most of it.

Jack: You don't know just how much I suffered tryin’ to make all that freshly fallen snow hard enough to sit on...

Vil: Well, I concocted the design, didn't I? And of course, I helped with the decorations.

Rook: Hm, yet another story that sounds "just like" you two. I can clearly imagine it.

Jack: What else… Well, we also took extracurricular lessons on skiing and snowboarding at school together.

Vil: It was my first time, so I learned from Jack, who had experience with it.

Jack: Yeah, but you mastered it real quick, so I really only was able to help for a short while.

Vil: I'd been training my core, so it seems that I was already quite proficient in sports like skiing or snowboarding where you need that sense of balance.

Vil: …Similarly, I'd think someone like you who also trains his core should be able to master something simple like walking properly...

Vil: Rook, how do you think Jack is doing?

Rook: Yes, he's doing fantastically. His reflexes are top notch, and his hardworking spirit makes him quite malleable.

Rook: He's still struggling a bit, but with a little more practice, his walking should be flawless.

Rook: His facial expression is also quite stunning with how commanding and wild it is. I'm sure the faefolk will be mesmerized by it.

Jack: R-Really? It doesn't really feel like it…

Rook: Well, it is difficult to see your own improvements. In fact, you have been progressing quite well, Jack.

Rook: Actually. How about as a status report, you show Vil your walking?

Rook: I am sure that your actions will support my words.

Jack: Got it. Then, here I go.

Jack: …How was that?

Vil: Not bad. After a few more lessons, you may be able to join Silver to finish practicing with him.

Jack: You serious!? I mean, it's not like I think that you'd give empty compliments or anything…

Jack: And it felt like I was a bit more relaxed when walking this time than compared to before.

Jack: Maybe it was because we took a small breather that I was able to relax some tension…

Jack: Thank you, Rook-senpai.

Rook: No, no, thank you. I enjoyed hearing your fascinating stories.

Jack: Alright… I'll keep doing my best, and give you guys a show as good as Silver-senpai and Ortho would.

Jack: Please keep me going strong, both of you!

Requested by Anonymous.

#twisted wonderland #twst #jack howl #vil schoenheit #rook hunt #twst jack #twst vil #twst rook #twst translation #twst fairy gala

[ilovebeingaturtle]

What are the turtles' personalities in your AU?

EE AHH OKAY THANK YOU FOR ASKING SHIT NOW I GOTTA WORDS GOOD AHSJSJ

Okay so-the complicated answer is my AU actually has two sets of turtles. And the short answer will just be me rambling about the main boys, so I’ll do that AHA

Mikey is the oldest! So he’s a very laidback party dude, his priorities are usually that everyone around him is having a good time. He’s not the type to try get his siblings to act responsibly, more so acting as strong background support while letting them be independent-he’s sort of? Developed into a people pleaser, but very much still a silly fun loving lil guy with a mischievous side. His charisma stat is basically maxed out, and he’s not above using that to his advantage

Raph is a mixture of wise guy and overconfident fighter AHA. He always just wants to do his own thing so it’s basically impossible to get him to listen to orders, he’s competitive and reckless, but while he has the usual Raphael anger it’s more of a slow burning holding a grudge type. He’s extremely passionate about fighting for those who can’t defend themselves so he’s super empathetic because of this, basically he’s very sensitive under the bravo, but also just. Yeah, he’s a comedy loving goofball, this is the 87!Raph blog okay we’re gonna get a boy very inspired by him

Leo is…one of the harder? Ones for me to describe? He’s very focused and practical, and he gets easily frustrated because in this version he isn’t regarded to have much authority at the start. He dedicated basically his entire life to training, so while he’s already a master at his craft he can be very awkward and lost in social situations or any situation beyond this. Eventually though he starts to loosen up and stop repressing the more adrenaline and fun loving side of him-it’s kind of? Like he has a reverse Rise!Leo arc LMAO, he goes from serious leader to total loser dork-I mean, cool guyyyy

Donnie’s the youngest! Without like, getting into the whole backstory, he basically starts out with zero fighting experience by the time the “ shows” plot starts, so he’s very guy in the chair at the start and needs to learn to trust his own abilities and step out of his comfort zone. Beyond that though, he’s a very snarky and deadpan Donnie, who’ll always do everything in his power to help someone once he sets himself to the task. He’s also kind of a dramatic little shIT

I don’t have proper reference art for my boys yet! But I have drawn them a ton, so have these for now AHA, I’ll try make better more recent art later

Oh! Also! Heights ❤️

#I was absolutely terrifying hitting post but yeah /aaa thank you for asking :-:/ #maeverse au

[headlessintheclouds]

dear sebastian, 

my mind has been so foggy and so scattered - i have all these things to say, but no proper way of maybe expressing it. 2023 has really tested our relationship and what it is i’m really wanting and needing. it has sucked - it really has. i feel like all i’ve been doing is breaking the ice that is our relationship, and i’m slowly destroying it. i’ve felt extremely heartbroken in learning how terrible i’ve been to you, and the worst part is knowing that this has been happening since the first day of being together - which is a long time in belittling someone you’re supposed to love. it has been extremely selfish of me to have you stay, and a part of me has genuinely questioned how you can be with someone so toxic, but at the same time, i think i understand. it’s the same reason why you question why i’m with you. 

there are many things i wish you were. i wish you were more active - not just cuz i know it’ll boost your confidence by a thousand, but cuz i am genuinely scared of your health when you’re older (esp. seeing it in my parents). i wish you had that drive and ambition to just live - you fear life so much that you miss all these opportunities in experiencing these wonderful moments and feelings. i wish you took initiative, not just in everyday decisions, but in your own life. i feel like you live the majority of your life by what others want rather than what you want. you control your own life, and you’ve always told me that, but you have never done it yourself. i know i’m hypocritical in this as i am one of those individuals who has probably influenced some of the decisions in your life, and stupidly enough, it’s also one of the main reasons that make me question my future with you. i’ve told you many times of this life that i want to create with you. a life that doesn’t include my family, nor your family, just you and me. but, in the past few years of me thinking about this more and more, i have never strongly felt that we were on the same page; no matter how many times i ask you, your answer has never been believable enough for me. one of the main reasons that i know we’re not on the same page is that there have been so many times where you’ve pushed me to the side and have made your family priority, without considering my feelings. listen, you taking care of your family the way you do is one of the reasons i fell in love with you. family, in general, has always been a priority for myself, and what i look for in a partner. i want you to really understand that when i say it. however, how can i believe that we are ever going to build this life together when there have been too many times where i’ve been mentally pushed to the side and forgotten. the time you told me that if your sister works on saturdays, we’d have to pick her up from work when realistically, she is capable of finding a way home. i see you once a week, which is really not a lot, and for you to think that i have to give up my time with you to prioritize something that can easily be resolved, puts me on the backburner. or how you owe me money for this trip, but you are willing to have your family borrow x amounts of money from you, when realistically, that is my money you’re giving away. unless it’s an emergency, you never considered my financial needs. i know you help your family a lot, and i love that you do, but i won’t lie when i say that i have felt pushed aside for “cleaning the toilets and tubs” or “i need to order them food so i can’t hangout with you” - trust me when i say that having a toilet being chosen before me is not the greatest feeling in the world. i know these are not intentional, and I know you have responsibilities, but when it happens all the time, it starts to feel dejecting. you may not understand where i’m coming from, the same way that i may not understand where you’re coming from, and i think that stems from us not being on the same page. i still hope that one day you’ll try to understand the same way i try. i think when it comes down to it - and i’ve said this before - is that you use your family as a crutch. i have this great fear that you’ll never have this life with me cuz you’ll always feel like you have to be there for your family 24/7 when realistically, there are a lot of moments where they are capable of doing a lot of things for themselves. they’re full grown adults, just like we are full grown adults, but i will always make it clear that if you feel like you can never let go of that mindset, i don’t want to be together - you will be wasting my time if you can’t be truthful to me about this. i don’t want to sever any type of relationship between you and your family - i love your family. maybe to you it’ll feel like i’m trying to ruin relationships, but i’m just trying my best to express this fear i have of you not wanting a life with me. 

a part of me wants to be selfless, and wants to leave so you can just take this huge weight off your shoulders, and be free of anything related to me. i guarantee that if we break up, you’ll be breathing fresh air. another part of me wants to remain selfish, and wants you to stay because...well, in simpler terms, because i love you. i can criticize every part of you and tell you i’ll never be happy, but i’ll still love you. i’ll love you forever. if i strip down every confusing thought, every critical moment, every negative feeling, i see a simple boy, who has always treated me with respect, who has never yelled or gotten aggressive, who has always taken care of me with the gentlest touch, and who has always tried his hardest to make sure i am fully loved when we’re together. 

i don’t know how to fix any of this mess, and to be honest, i’m not sure if it’ll ever get fixed. there are a lot of things that are unsolved, and still a lot of open wounds, but despite all of it, i am sorry. i wish we could start all over again, where the trust wasn’t broken so easily. i wish i could just accept what you’re not and just be fully happy. i wish i could be a better person for you. i’ve always told you that the last thing i’ve ever wanted to do was to hurt you, but i’ve been doing the opposite since the beginning. i’m so sorry i’ve hurt you in so many ways. im so sorry i’ve never made you feel enough, but you are so much more than what i’ve made you feel. you’re an amazing son, a sincere brother, and a true friend. you’re a good person. i hope one day, despite everything, you’ll believe it, if not from me, from someone else, and you’ll see how wonderful you really are. 

i love you with all my heart. 

i’m sorry.

kat.

[thegoldenavenger]

a little, uh, proof of concept type thing for this story i’m kicking around.

Obsidian is a blank slate, raised since childhood to be molded into the perfect weapon, to blend in anywhere and strike their target. But how can Obsidian blend into a crowd of monsters? Death is a minor advisor in the Thorned Court, but the new convoy of humans catches his eye. Most of them look uncomfortable and stoically nervous, but one… One looks more at home among monsters than they do their own kind.

Blood landed on the marble tile with a thick, plipping noise, spattering red across the ivory inlay.  Obsidian held the stuck goose by the neck, heedless of the bleeding wound in the fowl’s breast.  Chancellor Feldspar grimaced.

“The target is destabilization, the method up to your discretion.” The Chancellor finished saying, through the disgust on his face.  “You are to embark on the farce of a delegation our beloved Prince put together as the cook’s assistant.  This is a statement, discretion is not necessary.” 

“Extraction?” Alkali Feldspar asked.

“Not a priority.” 

“There is no recovery plan?” 

“That is not,” The Chancellor repeated, “a priority.”

“But father—” 

“Quiet, with your fool sentimentality!” Alkali’s father raised his hand and in the shadow of it Alkali flinched.

“An asset that cannot ensure its own integrity should at least contribute with its undoing.” The Chancellor’s narrowed eyes shifted to Obsidian and the shadow passed over Alkali’s form without force. 

“As you say. The capture… the martyr of a dissenter will do more for our cause than an anonymous murder. Not that it is your place to question my orders.”

“Of course, Chancellor.” Obsidian stood at loose attention, while Akali wilted underneath his father’s gaze.  The anger burning in the Feldspar Patriarch was of no concern to Obsidian regardless of the outcome.  Obsidian was as much a part of this display as a table is involved in a game of cards. That is to say: convenient to have but ultimately unnecessary.

Obsidian waits for the exact length of time it takes for Chancellor Feldspar to breathe a dismissive huff of breath to start striding across the ornate foyer with the goose.  Alkali’s startled steps fall behind them soon enough.  

“I will have belongings made up to match your new position.” Alkali rallied admirably quickly once out of under the oppressive gaze of his father.  Though meek, Obsidian didn’t mind him as a handler. He was thorough at the very least, and though Obsidian didn’t make it a habit to opine about things out of their control, they were… settled with the knowledge that Alkali was the one to gather the loose ends of the Chancellors decrees.  

Alkali muttered under his breath an impressive list of tasks to complete before Obsidian could start their mission. Obsidian did not listen to him, instead turning their attention to the kitchens they were approaching.  Too many heads thinking about the same thing would only get in the way. Obsidian would stick to the things they were suited at.

They started this by hefting the goose onto the work slab on the kitchen counter with a solid whack. The head cook spun around, face a jumbled mess of surprised anger, already starting to yell at whoever crossed into her domain. 

“Oh– little twig.”  The anger drained from her at the sight of Alkali, and she smiled, though her eyes skittered away from Obsidian. “What a thoughtful gift, it will be a delight to prepare for dinner.” 

“M’am,” Alkali’s lips had turned up, childish, though he’d been years out of boyhood now. “But I’d be quite pleased if we could be scholared on the proper way to dress a fowl… it’s something a hunter’s son should know.” Here, Alkali let his eyes cast downturn.  Obsidian watched the transformation with studious intensity.

“Dear little twig…” The cook trailed off, reluctant. Everyone knew in the House of Feldspar that the Chancellor’s son held no favor with the patriarch and no matter how many lessons he and his favorite playmate partook in, Alkali would not be honored with inheriting his father’s title of Royal Huntsman. Still, it was quite harmless to indulge the boy just a bit. 

Obsidian was made to fade into the background, to don new cloaks and with them a new identity bespoke to the mission they needed to complete.  With the cook’s attention off them, they quirked their lips at the corners, raised their shoulders just so, but even though they had copied Alkali’s expression exactly, they knew it wouldn’t pass.  They drop it, and their face is blank once the cook returns her attention back to them. 

“I suppose it’s quite fine of you to be interested in the trade.” She finally decided.  

Alkali asked all the questions and let the cook adjust his grip on the kitchen knives, after all the plucking and washing was completed, but it was Obsidian’s dark eyes memorizing the knowledge.  The difference between separating a goose’s meat from bone and guiding a blade home between the third and fourth rib of a man’s chest wasn’t so great. 

While the Feldspars ate the braised and buttered goose, Obsidian ducked out of the grand home and slipped into the night.  The following meals at the Feldspar home were unusually varied, as a new craft was learned.

Slipping among the apprentices in the busy kitchens of the Palace might have been more difficult if every other face wasn’t pale as Obsidian’s.  They were not the only remnant of the Thorned Wall’s raising after all, and it seemed not the only child to be scooped up by the noble upper class for the help.

They were one more orphan or second generation child sent to the palace for the hope of a better life, and those who recognized their sudden appearance kept quiet out of what Obsidian could only attribute to misplaced solidarity.  The way Obsidian wielded a knife belayed any other complaint of a new mouth to feed in the kitchens. 

Obsidian did not prefer things, merely worked with what constraints they were given.  Having to establish themself as indispensable enough to be assigned a position on a delegation to provide for nobles too accustomed to fine dining to fend for themselves in foreign land, but not stand out so much as to call to question their sudden appearance, in such a short amount of time however, was, all things considered, not ideal.

It is not insurmountable. 

The human delegation is huddled under the shadowed recesses of the Hell King’s cavernous welcoming hall like insects encircled with salt, too afraid and confused to breach the bounds of their confines. A delighted screech pierces the tense quiet and Calamity streaks from the upper balconies to land with a crack just before the group of startled humans.  

“Calamity!” One of the humans returns with matching enthusiasm. The prince one, Death recalls. 

“Pearly!” Calamity trills, the upper register tickling somewhere behind Death’s eyes.  Younglings. The Hell King’s precocious spawn strides towards the human prince, arms and wings spread wide for a human-style hug.  

The guardsmen warily circling their squishy prince finally flinch and shout alarm, some going as far as unsheathing swords. At least one carries an enchantment, and the threat ruffles those gathered in the hall. Death sees at least three imps prepare to jump at the humans. 

“Belay that, Pyrite! Control your unit!” The human prince demands of one of the guardsmen.  

Calamity, showing uncharacteristic temperance, waits just long enough for the aura of enchantment to be concealed within sheath before they resume scooping up the fragile princeling in over-exuberant limbs. 

“Well, it could have been worse.” Crucible says from beside Death’s perch in rafters. 

“Your spawn could learn restraint.” Death suggests, with all the gravity due the suggestion. None. 

“If the humans are going to break truce because of a little youthful excitement I’d rather know it now.” The Hell-King’s voice is warm, but Death can hear the tiredness in it. Centuries of conflict will do that to a king, Death supposes. “Calamity’s trinket at least seems genuine.”

“The Prince is a second heir,” Death feels compelled to remind his friend. “From what I hear, expendable, politically.” 

“Are humans so callous towards their own blood?” 

Death declines to answer. 

Crucible sighs, and then vanishes. 

He reappears in a flash of spirit fire below, all twelve feet of antler and bone and flame.  There is a collective gasp from the humans at his entry, even the princeling flinching in Calamity's arms, but it seems even the twitchiest of guardsmen have learned their lesson and keep themselves disciplined. 

Death ignores his friend as the Hell-King welcomes the humans, instead focusing on the humans’ reactions.  Quite a few of the faces have a nervous pallor, but more than Death would have expected seem determinedly open.  Perhaps peace can be negotiated after all. 

“Please make yourselves comfortable in my den.” Crucible finishes saying. 

There is a pause and then: “Here? You’re, uh, Majesty?” one of the humans asks. 

“I was informed that this would be the most adequate of spaces to host you. There are, of course, other living quarters further into the warren you are welcome too, though I am not sure how hospitable they would be to your needs…” Crucible flicked his wrist towards one of the walls of the welcome hall. The bones of the wall flexed and unbraided themselves, sinking into the earth and opening a gaping maw into the dark recesses of the Hell-King’s Warren. 

Hot, dank air blasted from the new opening, enough so that Death could see it blow past the hair on the humans closest to the new door.  Death knew from experience that no light escaped the tunnel, looking as black and dark as nightmares.  His own chambers were nearby that branch, though his own wing wasn’t nearly as warm. 

The Prince patted Calamity’s arm and was let down as gracefully as Calamity did anything.  The Prince rallied exceptionally well, holding himself with dignity even when being handled like a sack of flour and dumped on the floor. 

“Thank you for your generosity, but this den is more than adequate for us.” The Prince bowed a silly little human bow. “We are thankful for your shelter and are prepared with our own comforts.”  

Even from the height he was perched at, Death could hear Calamity snickering, high chittering little laughs.  The Prince’s face kept his solemnity well, even when ribbed by his paramour.  

“Then please,” Crucible gestured to the den, “make yourself at home. I’m sure Calamity will not suffer to be separated from you a moment longer, but they will relay any request you or your delegation have to my ear.”

The prince finally smiled, and relented to return the awkward hand hold Calamity was trying to initiate.  Crucible nodded and took his leave. Only a few imps remained to help with any requests the humans may have need for.  Soon, even the rafters where Death stood would be closed off for the security of the humans.  

The humans busied themselves with unrolling carpets and fabrics and tapestries, like ants building a nest.  Calamity was mostly getting in the prince’s way.  They seemed to be raising some sort of soft shelled shelters. Perhaps for privacy, though Death could only speculate.  

The previous nervous quiet of the humans faded into a soft cacophony of noise as the humans chattered and rustled and clanged through setting up their belongings.  A couple of the imps tentatively offered their help, shyly looking at Calamity’s enthusiastic participation as inspiration, and thought their help was inept, it wasn’t dismissed. 

Truly there was only so much voyeurism Death could stand when it involved the spawn of his friend fawning over an infatuation and he was about to abandon his perch when a flash of silver caught his eye.

One of the humans who had been setting up crates and frames to support heavy iron pans and pots, was holding a small knife between slim, pale fingers.  The flash returned as the human flipped the knife into the air. Even with the distance Death could see how well balanced the weapon was. The knife by itself was more of a curiosity than anything, it was the human’s eyes that kept Death’s attention. Dark and opaque as they traced Calamity’s winged form darting around the human prince. 

One revolution, two, of that well forged blade, and Death dived off the rafter roost and dropped like a weight to the ground.  He snapped his hand out, catching the dulled edge behind the head of the knife, seconds after a fumbled catch sent it flying out of a pale hand. 

“Please be careful,” Death said. “It would be… inauspicious to draw blood so early in our acquaintance.” 

The human stared up at him with perfectly calm, dark eyes, as placid and deep as a black mirror. 

“Oh my goodness!” The startled sentiment drew Death out of those fathomless eyes enough to realize he had startled the human guardsmen again, though none had drawn any weapons.  The exclamation came from a large, aproned woman who drew the knife wielding human away from him, hands fluttering. “Please to be excusing this child, my uh lord?” The woman bowed in short, choppy motions, quite different from the elegant movement the prince had used. 

“Obsidian! Please apologize!” The woman hissed to her side, trying to use her size to force them into a bow along with her. 

“It’s no trouble, just please use caution next time.” Death said.

“Oh thank you, you’re too kind, sir.” The woman simpered. “They’re quite shy, and fiddling with the knives gets the nerves out I suppose, but I always tell ‘em they’re fixing to lose one of those deft little fingers. But they’ll be careful from now on, if I have to lock every knife up myself.” 

Obsidian refused to be bowed, their dark eyes not leaving Death for one moment, their hand still held out from where the knife slipped from them.  Death flipped the knife handle first, and placed it back in their palm.  Only when the knife was back in their possession did their expression break, and like a curtain drawn their eyes shuttered behind lashes as they finally folded at their waist.  

“I’m very sorry, sir, m’am. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”  Obsidian straightened and slanted a distraught gaze towards the woman, the hand not clutching the returned knife hovering nervously around their chest. 

“It’s quite alright, like I said. I apologize for startling you.” Death inclined his head and stepped away from them.  The woman bowed again, and all but drug Obsidian back to the station of crates and pans. 

As Death turned and walked away, Calamity reached out to stop him, no doubt to ask about the commotion, but Death ducked away. He flung out his wings, wide and silent, and flashed away from the den, deeper into the heart of the warren. 

Two things stood out to him, in that moment. One, the human called Obsidian had not fumbled the blade. Two, the way Obsidian had twitched their hand in their display of nervousness had been, to the degree, the same way the woman’s hands had been shaking in her stuttering apology.  

Death stalked into the darkness of his chambers, sliding his claw-tipped fingers into his feathers, reflexively preening them as his mind flipped those thoughts around, and around, like the flashing of a silver blade.

#kamaeteWRITES #original fic #a monster's assassin #unbeta'd #unedited honestly #im so bad with tenses i dont want to edit

[powerfultipsforyourhealth]

Weight loss: 6 strategies for success

It is advisable to follow these proven strategies to lose weight and improve health.

Hundreds of innovative diets, weight loss programs and outright tricks promise easy and fast weight loss. However, the basis for successful weight loss remains a healthy, calorie-controlled diet coupled with increased physical activity. In order to lose weight successfully in the long term, you need to make permanent changes in your lifestyle and healthy habits.

How can you make those permanent changes? Consider these six strategies to make your weight loss successful.

1. Make sure you are ready for the order

Long-term weight loss takes time, effort, and long-term commitment. While you don't want to postpone weight loss indefinitely, you should make sure you're ready to make permanent changes to your eating and activity habits. Ask yourself the following questions to help you determine your readiness:

Am I excited about losing weight?

Am I too distracted by other stresses?

Do I use food as a way to cope with stress?

Am I ready to learn or use other strategies to cope with stress?

Do I need other support — both friends and professionals — to manage stress?

Am I willing to change my eating habits?

Am I willing to change activity habits?

Do I have time to spend making these changes?

Talk to your doctor if you need help with stressors or emotions that seem to be an obstacle to your preparation. When you're ready, you'll find it easier to set goals, stay committed, and change habits.

2. Find your inner motivations

No one can make you lose weight. You should make changes to diet and exercise to satisfy yourself. What will give you a strong motivation to stick to your weight loss plan?

Make a list of what's important to you to help you stay motivated and focused, whether it's an upcoming holiday or better overall health. Then find a way to make sure you can draw on your motivational factors during moments of seduction. You may want to put an encouraging note for yourself on the door of a pantry or fridge, for example.

While you have to take responsibility for your own behavior to lose weight successfully, you can benefit if you get proper support. Choose supportive people who will encourage you in positive ways, without shame, embarrassment or discouragement.

Ideally, look for people who listen to your fears and feelings, spend time exercising with you or creating healthy menus, and share the priority you've set for developing a healthier lifestyle. You can feel accountable by joining a support group, giving you a strong motivation to commit to your weight-loss goals.

If you prefer to keep your weight loss plans private, be responsible for yourself by taking regular weight measurements, recording your diet and exercise progress in a notebook, or tracking your progress using digital tools.

3. Set realistic goals

It may seem obvious that realistic weight loss goals are needed. But do you really know what is realistic? In the long run, it's best to aim for a loss of 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) per week. Generally to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 more calories than you consume daily, through a low-calorie diet and regular physical activity.

Depending on your weight, 5% of your current weight may be a realistic goal, at least as an initial goal. If you weigh 180 pounds (82 kilograms), that means 9 pounds (4 kilograms). Even this level of weight loss can help reduce the risk of chronic health problems, such as heart disease and type II diabetes.

When you set goals, think about both the goals of both the process and the results. "Walking every day for 30 minutes" is an example of the goal of the operation. "Losing 10 pounds" is an example of a score goal. It is not necessary to have a result goal, but you must set the goals of the operation, because changing your habits is a key factor in weight loss.

4. Eat healthier

The new approach to eating with the aim of losing weight should include - reducing total calories. But reducing calories does not mean giving up the taste, satiety, or even the ease of preparing a meal.

One way to reduce calories is to eat more plant foods, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Strive for variety to achieve your goals without giving up on taste or nutrition.

Start your weight loss plan by following these tips:

Eat at least four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruits daily.

Replace refined grains with whole grains.

Use modest amounts of healthy fats, such as olive oil, vegetable oils, avocados, nuts, nut butter, and nut oils.

Limit sugar as much as possible, except for the natural sugar found in fruit.

Choose low-fat dairy products and lean meat and poultry in limited quantities.

5. Stay active

While you can lose weight without exercising, regular physical activity with calorie limitation may help you lose weight. Exercise may help burn excess calories that you can't lose with diet alone.

Exercise also has many health benefits, including improving your mood, strengthening your cardiovascular system and reducing blood pressure. Exercise may also help maintain weight loss. Studies show that people who maintain long-term weight loss do regular physical activities.

The number of calories you burn depends on the frequency, duration, and intensity of your activities. One of the best ways to lose body fat is to do static aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, for at least 30 minutes most days of the week. Some people may need more physical activity than this to lose weight and maintain that weight.

Any extra movement helps burn calories. Think about ways you can increase your physical activity throughout the day if you can't exercise on a given day. For example, you can go up and down stairs several times instead of using the elevator or you can park at the end of the shopping aisle.

6. Change your perspective

Eating healthy foods and exercising for a few weeks or even months is not enough if you want long-term and successful weight management. These habits should become a lifestyle. Lifestyle changes start with taking an honest look at your eating patterns and daily routines.

After assessing your personal weight loss challenges, try developing a strategy to gradually change habits and attitudes that have ruined your past efforts. Then go beyond just realizing your challenges – plan how you will deal with them if you will succeed in losing weight once and for all.

You probably have a relapse sometimes. But instead of giving up completely after a setback, just start over the next day. And remember that you plan to change your life. And all of a sudden will not happen. Stick to a healthy lifestyle, the results are worth it.

#weight loss #lose weight #weightloss #weight loss tips #lose weight fast #fat loss #lose fat #health #fitness #healthy #health & fitness #nutrition #food #diet #workout #fasting #fast #fast diet #wellness tips #wellness #health tips #health benefits #intermittentfasting #intermittent #intermittent diet

[dutchlearningdisaster]

Hallo allemaal!

Welkom op mijn blogpagina voor Nederlands leren~ ☆彡

…I don’t know much Dutch after that. At least, not enough vocabulary + grammar concepts to structure more of a ‘proper’ introduction.

So, why did I start this?

The simple answer is that I did this to give myself an excuse to get back into Dutch lessons.

Perhaps it would help me for retention by translating in context/analyzing sentence structure/doing some other stuff? Seeing the same repetitions over & over again, broken apart.

The less simpler answer: I have executive dysfunctional problems. Meaning that I struggle to start, maintain, and finish tasks (highly suspect it may be undiagnosed ADHD). Because of this, I previously struggled to stay focused on language-learning endeavors. Without maintaining consistency of practice, all the basics studied were forgotten very soon. I found myself relearning previous things when jumping back in so many time. Therefore being a very spontaneous and inconsistent learner — so in a way, let’s hope this will be more consistent.

How will things be organized?

It’ll be by tags that will hopefully help out both you and me, had we needed to sift through a particular type of practice. Off the top of my head, these are the main categories I plan to emphasize:

Vocabulary / Word lists

Grammar

Translation

Listening comprehension (IDK how often this will be bc I’ll have to link to YouTube videos and sometimes writing out the audio is a pain; other times not possible at my level)

There will be more but the above is basically the focus. Especially translation, since it’s my target priority to understand to flow of writing (it helps to process both the grammar, especially the challenging word order).

The goal now:

I want to reach A1-A2 level. My sights are short. But I’d honestly love to get through the A levels just to figure out more intermediate concepts.

So woo boy. Let’s grind for the bare basics stuff. Hopefully if you are learning Dutch + struggling too, this will help with motivation or you’ll find something useful from a fellow-learner. We can do it if we try hard enough!!! ٩(•̤̀ᵕ•̤́๑)ᵒᵏᵎᵎᵎᵎ

#introduction #personal #dutch langblr #languageblr #language blog

[astraeden]

THIS ENDS WITH ONE OF US - & OPEN

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE ; in askr / heroes, with fallen lilith

FAILURE WAS NOT AN OPTION, but to deal with the irritation that knightly voices leave... it’d be senseless on her part.  priority rests in the fruit of development, finding a path back home or bringing king anankos’ voice here.  where it prosper outside of her mind; the depths of delusion and madness.  maybe it is this, then, that prompts lilith’s minor cooperation with the askran knight; they who seem too delighted at the lack of reluctance that lilith puts up against the idea, now.

boots click against the ground, solid and rushing to reach the posted destination.  the sound makes lilith scoff, her heels hovering over the earth beneath them.  proper positioning for one of her blood.  the magic that keeps her up and moving is only a reminder of king anankos’ gift to her.  his blessing sculpted into the feast of his hand, his word, praise and favor.  it is a motivation helping her to remember that there is another lilith here.  that she, as well as the summoner, are only distractions that must be dealt with.  that will be dealt with.

“   i promise that you would not be called forth unless we had reasoning... although,   ”   the askran knight pauses, glancing nervously back at where lilith floats behind them,   “   you are a hero of the order, so you would have to be present for the mission.. one way or another.   ”

crimson eyes squint at them,   “   your voice is annoying me.  i will not be commanded by some coward dressed in paper armor and pathetic will.   ”   it is all that they share in the form of words before the trip takes to silence.   (   if you listen hard enough, you can hear gold hit rough pavement; the ground of a place somewhere under.  you do not know the source.   )

the mission in thought is merciful, truly.  it is possible that askr has given forth this mission to rid itself of these pitiful excuses; heroes, as they would call themselves.  it is an amusing term.  heroes that have not sacrificed enough.  heroes that have not served under the right hand of judgment.  the mission is fit for them, a reason behind a slaughter.  venture out into enemy territory and rescue the scouting team that was shot down during the retreat.  if they are alive.  deep down, she hopes that they are not.  reason behind the slaughter, she remembers.

it is a mission, an excuse, a deal of incompetence and—

“   i refuse,   ”   lilith says, immediate and unwavering.  before her and the askran knight stands two figures of the order; a male knight... and a hero.  there is little that stops the glare from settling in her gaze, directed only at the hero, assuming a victim of a pawn.   “   i’ll do this mission alone.  they’ll only slow me down.   ”

“   you can’t,   ”   the male askran knight says, turning from the hero and raising a brow at lilith,   “   this is your partner for the mission.  i’m nathan; will be leading you two to the front since i’m familiar with the territory.   ”

hesitation simmers into resentment, lilith does not move her gaze.   “   i was not asking for my refusal.  i was telling you of it.   ”   the glare dulls and neutrality holds her expression,   “   unless you’d like to die, pawn.  i’ll watch you till your last breath is drawn, if so.   ”

open for any muse but i have an idea for the thread and where it’ll go. this can go different ways depending on the muse that i let pick up the open. please ask before reblogging !!

#toa open #〳◌ ⁀ « a realm long but forgotten » ( WRITING. ) #〳♕ « this ends with one of us » ( A THREAD. ) #〳♕ « askr / heroes » ( AU. ) #{{ will be slightly strict w which muse takes the open but otherwise.. this is open to any muse.

[the-firebird69]

If Meghan Markle falls we won't have cars nobody else is doing it for the most part it's not true but they're not doing much we need her to do it and we have to make sure she doesn't slip and it's happening today right now we need to get in there and start doing defense and we have to go and meet and help her set it up we have to do that right now I'm sending the team to go set it up right now I don't see what else we're doing right now and he's screaming ass to get it done they know how it is cuz he sees it happening too and if there's someone who objects please let me know but if you're ready to go out there and start working please do so I'm sending the orders again and requested a meeting he says just go down there with the security program plan and tell him what we can do for them because we want to put that in and open up a factory and fill orders for her and they have plenty of money and then suggest you know the security teams no we need to do this right now okay this is a priority we need help we need the black God and black goddess and we need his group and cadre and his children and we need you in right now and others who are interested China too you can make tons of them if she agrees we're going to start talking about it but let's get it going and we're going to make it a metal pretty soon

Thor Freya

We're moving out and we're going to get there and we're going to start helping to make this work we appreciate it and he's saying it's slipping and we're not paying attention we have to start paying more attention and people are listening here and you're helping him

Uriel and Goddess

It is like suffocating and we need to get going here and we are helping but really we need to get going on this idea and he says do we have the security package ready they say yes do you have a way to contact her and we say yes and it's true proper channels and can we set up a meeting and a meeting about what we were going to do in the first place then add in we'd like to talk about this and preach the subject and yes we can do that then let's go ahead and do that and he wants me to do it and I'm going to we headed up last time and we started this time and we're going to head it up again and the others are coming too and by special request and it's important there's a couple in between France and Spain and it says terrific he was on the other line the other day this must be why one of the reasons it says yes is the church too but this is very huge and he wants him there and we want to talk about other stuff it's going to be a big meeting she's going to have to make some decisions but she'll have a lot of stuff to think about too and one is when you do this you can open plants all over and our level of involvement is up to her and we would help build factories and help distribution and Salazar and got a swipe for interested in doing it they changed it a little for each country but not much and she gets it and seen it and she's excited these are the big ways and they want to help so she is going to come down and we're going to have a meeting and we're going to talk to you on the phone and ask if we can bring down samples and she says what do you mean I don't like the walls and how it works and stuff and she's in the military occasionally so she knows and she says that would be terrific so we're going to arrange meeting

Thor Freya

Zues Hera

When you get my people involved that drives your bums into it and they start working

Zues

Haha

Hera

That's terrific I like it and it works for me it sounds great does a lot going on but it's going to get huge real fast and they want to I have a team and it says if we have like a mixed factory and then factory's theirs producing that it's going to drag ours into it and it will and I need that desperately so we need additions to these and replacements being built but we need additions that's what we're going to go look at those won't be there independent factories and I will say so much mixed and it's true it's not going to be massively mixed so now they're interested

Megan merkel

Olympus

[m39]

Doom WADs’ Roulette (2006): TurboCharged ARCADE!

Let’s finish the Bronze League of 2006 with another Mockaward winner, shall we?

Br2 Br3: TurboCharged ARCADE!

Main author(s): Xaser Acheron

Release date: November 18th, 2006 (database upload)

Version played:

Required port compatibility: ZDoom

Levels: 8

As I said in my previous review, there is a second Mockaward winner from 2006. And unlike How Not To Be Seen, this is actually a proper Doom WAD... sort of.

TurboCharged ARCADE is a collection of eight experimental maps, each testing different aspects of using ZDoom features. All spiced up with some vulgar humor, fitting its times.

Now, Xaser was a guy who helped with mapping for the first ZDoom Community Map Project take along with some scripting in its second version, so why won’t take a look at what he created when he was brainstorming, huh?

Let’s start with obvious first - none of the maps look really good. Most of these look really basic, outdated even by 2006. I can, however, somewhat forgive that since these maps are (as I said earlier) experimental, so their look wasn’t a priority.

The music was fine to listen to. Nothing ear-grating.

Also most of the time, this collection is unfairly cheap. You would think that firing twice as fast and carrying 1.5 times more ammo will make it easier but here’s the problem – you are not the only one on coke! The demons are on coke too; being twice as fast along with their projectiles being twice as fast too. The only way to actually play these maps without ripping your hair out is either with God mode enabled or on the easiest difficulty setting AKA I'm too young to die. Never though such a day will come, when I’ll be forced to play on the easiest difficulty level in Doom.

Now, you might be asking: Why I didn’t talk about how you play these levels? Hell, why didn’t I show anything at all? Simple - it’s because each of these maps is so unique (even if janky) that it’s worth more to talk about these individually.

I’ll start with the fact that you can play all of these maps in any order from the menu (still Pistol-starting though). Not to mention how each one of these ends with you dying and receiving a funny intermission screen at the end.

As for the maps themselves, here is what you need to know about them:

At Home - You are in your very tiny house and your task is to exit it while walking very slowly.

Go To Hell! – You end up in Hell and you have to kill monsters in tight areas to reach a teleporter at the end.

Prison R[[SOAP DROPPING]]! – You are surrounded by devilish goats behind prison bars in a tight corridor and you have to press two switches before squashing them into the red paste.

You are Pablo Picasso – You have to paint a human by stepping on a canvas. To make it harder, there are invisible walls that force you to take a very linear path while Imps are bombarding you. Probably my favorite map of this WAD.

Here is a tip: it’s easier to do this with strafing instead of turning.

Battleshit – You are playing Battleship with a Cyberdemon (which has only one tile). After winning, you fight him with the Plasma Gun.

Go Eat Shit, Sherlock! – After killing Sherlock Holmes, you are forced to finish his latest murder case; filled with unskippable cutscenes that don’t allow you to move (at least they are somewhat funny and don’t feel like they drag out). Also at the end, you must kill 38 demons.

The Matrix Has You – You basically blow the shit up in a bastardized version of Matrix. There are two sections where you are forced to play in bullet-time and at the end you fight the Agent (which might be easier than the rest of the map). Also, there is a secret with a Super Shotgun that you can’t carry after fighting in the office building.

I'm H[[YOUTUBE]] – You are fighting Mr. Adolf [[HEMMORROIDS]] himself, now in a form of a cube. This map is also the worst one when it comes to bullshit moments; especially at the final area, where the boss heals himself at a ridiculous speed, to the point where he can end up softlocked with healing so fast that nothing stops him when he is dying.

While I still think that How Not To Be Seen is still funnier due to me having more of a blast from Monty Python rather than randomness out of the mid-2000s this collection offers, I think it was still funnier than the previous Mockaward winners.

And that’s basically all I have to say about TurboCharged ARCADE. I wouldn’t call this set of maps good, but at least it was interesting to see what could be done with ZDoom by 2006.

And since I’m done with all of the bronze WADs, it would finally be time to choose which WAD should be promoted to the Revenant Awards without all WADs winning by default.

See you next time.

Bye.

#doom #doom wad #review #doom mod #doom 2 #doom 2006 #2006 #TurboCharged ARCADE! #doom TurboCharged ARCADE! #doom wads’ roulette #cacowards #mockaward

[prju77]

My Priorities! - Your Lion Bite Word For Today!

Beloved, I have a plan and purpose for your life and everything in it. I possess knowledge about every intricate detail of your life, right down to the number of hairs on your head. I am attentive to every detail and no aspect goes unnoticed by Me. I have already arranged everything, and I know the proper order and the necessary steps. I want you to give Me your daily schedule. Let me order your day and order your steps. Partner with Me and let Me be the one to guide and direct your day. Allow Me to lead you!

I know that you have been trying your best to accomplish tasks in your own way and to the best of your ability, but I have a greater and better way to get things done. Instead of getting overwhelmed by the chaos around you, keep your focus on me. Ask me about the priorities I have for you and learn from Me how to prioritise your day instead of worrying about the numerous things in your life that may be causing stress. Let Me show you my way of getting things done without the overwhelm, stress, and chaos. Move within My flow. My desire is for you to rest in my rhythms and gain refreshing for your soul even as you move about. Yield to Me and receive the refreshment that your soul longs for.

Activation: Have you aligned your priorities with God’s? Let’s find out. Start by making a list of your priorities for the day in order of importance. Once you have completed this, set it aside. Then, ask the Lord about His priorities for you and write them down. Compare the two lists to see if they match in terms of what needs to be accomplished and the order of importance. Discard your list and follow the Lord’s. Practice giving your daily schedule to Him, seeking His priorities and methods of accomplishing them each day.

Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!"

Matthew 11:28-30 (TPT)"Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear"

Proverbs 3:5-12 (MSG)"Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for GOD’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to GOD! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!"