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xythlia · 7 months

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⎙ — 𝐉𝐎𝐘𝐓𝐎𝐘.𝐓𝐎𝐑

› WELCOME TO THE RED ROOM... RESERVED FOR GUESTS OF PARTICULAR TASTES

› toji x f!reader

› word count : 2k+

- ̗̀໒ warnings : sex work, on camera, choking, my spit kink shining thru again, biting, backshots, (1) ass smack, fingering, cervix fucking, reader has hair long enough to pull, squirting, rough sex, full nelson, creampie

You take a drag of your cigarette, bleary sleep deprived eyes doing their best to focus on the obnoxious flashing neon sign. WE'VE GOT A DOLL FOR EVERY TASTE. It makes you scoff as you grind the but out beneath your scuffed shoe, that's all they think of you all as, dolls. Props that just so happen to moan and squirt.

For the most part you keep your complaints to yourself, money is money. Not that this was what you ever pictured you'd land on as a career but it could always be worse.

Exhaling the last of the crisp night air from your lungs you pull open the sleek silver backdoor to Cloud Nine. The back hallways are made up of dim, twisting corridors. Some lead to the back offices, to security, but as you hook a left to brush past a tinkling bead curtain you're met with the large open dressing room you all share.

You prefer to spend as little time back here as possible, doing the bulk of your prep at your apartment before you're on for the night. You can't stand their mindless, giddy chatter. It also prevents you from getting attached to any of them, or taking on a puppy so to speak.

Before you can finish tucking your bag and coat away in the dingy locker your floor manager is waving a piece of paper in your face.

It makes your stomach flip.

"You got swapped, Angel can't do the red room and you're the only other experienced girl in tonight."

The red room was only ever offered on nights an experienced doll was on the floor, since the people reserving red rooms always have a... particular taste in mind. Newer girls wouldn't be able to handle it. As much of an annoyance as it is to be switched with so little notice, you don't mind. It can get dull shaking your ass for run of the mill patrons all night, plus the red room is where the real money is.

"One or-?" You ask vaguely.

"One guy, don't keep him waiting alright?" She says dismissively.

You grab the piece of paper, the list of what you will and strictly won't do for a red room service. It was standard fare: creampie, light sadism, degradation, ect. Since it wasn't too extreme you didn't bother filling it out, it's easier to just tell the guy.

It's not far to the private rooms, and part of you is more than a little eager to see just who reserved one of these eye wateringly expensive sessions.

Even bathed in the dim red lights you could tell he was attractive, dark hair and eyes that held something elusive even though he kept contact with your own.

"I didn't bother filling this out, nothing you requested is off limits for me." You smile as you let the paper flutter to the floor, taking the seat beside him on the plush lounge.

Out of the corner of your eye you see the blinking light on the camera, he already set it up to record. It makes you quirk a brow at him, usually even the most gutsy ones are a little camera shy.

He smirks at you. "I'll be gentle."

With the way he says it you know it's a lie.

With a grin you lay back, propping a pillow under your head and trying not to focus on that little green recording light in your peripheral. The worst part is being filmed, but that's part of the rooms appeal. These guys pay for the ability to record the entire session not just for being able to fuck someone with no holds bared, but the catch is the club also gets to upload it.

The feeling of his skin brushing against yours cracks your train of thought. His fingertips are calloused, hands rough but he doesn't have the look of a working man. As those fingertips caress a trail down your inner thighs you shiver, letting out a quiet gasp.

"Puttin' on a show?" He purrs.

You give a breathy giggle, winding your arms around his muscles back as he leans over you between your legs. "Isn't that what you paid for?"

He pushes against you, lips brushing experimentally against yours, and deepens it to something harsh and hungry when he feels you start to squirm beneath him. His touch feels like fire, scorching a path across your skin with every grope and fondle of your body. You feel a familiar sensation of dizziness, of lightheadedness; every movement is skilled and purposeful, a deliberate attempt to steal the breath from your lungs and leave you choking on your own spit.

His lips begin to make their way down your neck, sucking hard against the delicate skin and making you groan with every nip of his teeth. In a daze you help him undo the straps of your barely there top, head tipping back when his mouth finds one of your nipples. They get the same rough treatment as your throat, and he gives a particularly sharp graze of his teeth clearly just to hear you yelp.

Your hands cup your breasts, kneading them, as his mouth dips marks a path down your stomach. Caught up in your own eagerness you wiggle your hips slightly, anticipating what's coming only to feel him grip your legs and yank you down further. The suddenness makes you wince, propping on your elbows to see just what he has in mind.

The way he's looking at you, with such debauched hunger it sends butterflies off in your chest. You don't even know his name but you know this is the kind of man a red room was designed for. As he leans forward again between your legs you feel his erection press hard against you, making the fabric of your panties slide against your clit with delicious friction.

Before you can ask, beg, for more his thick fingers glide up the column of your throat and press hard against the sides. Squeezing against your carotid artery and making your mouth drop open. As soon as your lips part you see the shimmer against his bottom lip, watch in fascination as a thick clear string of spit comes down to meet your tongue.

Sucking his lip he brings his face barely an inch from yours, through the fuzz of your restricted blood supply you notice a scar on the corner of his mouth.

"I didn't pay for you to look at the fuckin' camera." His voice is low, gutteral.

The second he lets go your body is automatically sucking air into your lungs, hard and sputtering as you lift your hips up to grind against him. In one smooth movement, before you can even process it properly, he's got you flipped on your stomach and pulling your ass up and back.

Your cheek presses against the plush fabric, eyes squeezed shut feeling his fingers run over your damp panties. There's not even enough time to relish in the contact before two fingers have the fabric pulled to the side, his knuckles sliding past the ring of muscle makes you moan against the lounge seat.

Hearing the soft shuffling of clothes you know he's undressing, even while his other hand is occupied with keeping his fingers scissoring against your slick walls. The sudden emptiness of his fingers withdrawing was quickly replaced by the head of his cock sliding through your arousal, making you suck in a sharp breath.

Just from that little contact you can feel he's got girth and heft, excitement makes you dig your nails into the lounge and press your chest down against it, keeping your ass higher.

You hear him scoff and the sting of his hand coming down hard against your skin makes you cry out, but it's nothing compared to the biting pain as the swollen head pushes against your soaked hole. The stretch is agonizing, you're not sure any amount of prep would've been sufficient. You groan, bottom lip caught in your teeth as you feel the fabric against your face getting wet with the spit seeping from the corners of your mouth.

He doesn't wait for you to adjust before slamming his hips against your ass, hard enough to make your breathing hitch in your throat, and you can feel him brushing against your cervix. The pace is brutal, making your body jostle and shake with each thrust.

Slick squelching mingles with the sound of skin smacking skin to form a perverse melody that only heightens the tension building in your gut. Frantically you slide one hand down to rub you neglected, aching clit but before you can make contact he's got you pulled up by a fistful of your hair. The sting of pain makes tears prick in your waterline as blubbering moans spill from your lips.

The way your body rocks forward with every brush of his cock against your cervix, the way his girth makes your cunt feel overstuffed, it all makes your head spin. His grunts join the obscene cacophony of sounds along with your whines when he lets go of your hair to support your body with one arm while his other hand catches your jaw in a bruising grip.

You squirm, feeling the hot tracks of tears slipping down your cheeks but his hold is steadfast. If you had more presence of mind you'd swear you could feel your heartbeat not just through your entire body but in your cunt too.

As you dissolve in his hold, a crying whimpering mess, he pushes you back down face first into the lounge, holding you by the scruff as he repositions to hit deeper. Your moans fracture into gasps and hiccups as you clench down around him, finally able to rub frenzied circles around your clit and feel that compressed coil snap inside you.

The lounge becomes incredibly damp around your knees and your brain feels as if it's coated in sticky, thick honey.

You whimper pathetically as he yanks you up again, never breaking his pace, forces you to look straight into that ever blinking green light.

"Not all you can take is it?" He sneers, hooking fingers into your mouth and whatever reply you had gets lost in the garbled sounds you choke out around them.

When he suddenly pulls out you groan, body feeling exhausted and boneless on the comedown from your orgasm but he isn't done with you yet. He lays on his back, supporting you on top of him as he makes sure your pussy faces the cameras lens and slips back inside you.

Your eyes roll back as you struggle to help support your own weight. It catches you off guard when pulls you down so your back is pressed against his chest, both of your bodies slick with sweat and various other fluids. His arms loop beneath yours and his fingers lock together behind your neck, making your breaths come in wheezed yelps and your legs automatically rise up.

The muscles in your thighs are screaming from the strain and your lungs burn again, you feel yourself camping around him, walls throbbing and sucking his cock back in with every thrust.

You can't help but sob and blubber hoarsely, begging to cum again with every sharp upswing of his hips. His pace breaks up quickly the tighter you squeeze him, devolving into sloppy thrusts until you feel his cock throb inside you. Warm, sticky heat spreads inside you and you sigh brokenly in his hold.

The cameras unfeeling, fish eye lens catches the creamy white rings forming on his cock, the way his cum drips out of your sore pussy when he slides out of you with a throaty, satisfied groan.

You grin, slow and lazy up at the ceiling. Red room sessions aren't just about the money, they're the most... fulfilling.

#inspired by talking about cyberpunk & toji with anesa this is for youuu <33 #& before anyone says anything ik thats not how tor addresses work but i ain't making the title 56 numbers so #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen smut #jjk smut #jjk x y/n #jjk x you #toji x reader #toji fushiguro x reader #toji smut #toji x you #jjk fic

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cyjammy · 3 months

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Magenta or Green When Alastor Desires to be Seen

After rewatching the pilot and the scenes where Alastor is singing, I realized his palette swaps may be emotionally/situationally dependent. At first I thought, “Yeah, this is just a callback to the pilot where he sang with Charlie,” but I think it’s deeper than that.

In both instances of singing with the Morningstars, Alastor is seen to have a palette change.

When he has the duet with Vox, he stays in his original color palette for the entire number.

Once is coincidence and twice is a pattern. When the color green is so engrained in Alastor's abilities, it's difficult not to notice.

When he’s in the presence of someone he considers powerful, he puts in that extra effort to change appearances. If it was only for production sake, he could have remained in his usual red outfit with a different background color to push him forward like in Stayed Gone. Even then he was still on a red background most of the time.

Both of these performances take place within the Hotel, which has become Alastor’s domain. Even then, at the end of Stayed Gone, he was in his radio tower in the Hotel. There were no special effects and Alastor only showed off his demon form.

When Alastor feels like he needs to posture, he changes his color. In the pilot, he demonstrates his strength by changing everyone’s outfits, manipulating the environment and summoning demons under his control. That really means that Vox isn’t shit but an annoyance to him. And I think that's hilarious.

Alastor at the end of his breakdown is enshrouded in green.

When he gets upset with Husk, the chains are green. When he makes deals with both Vaggie and Charlie a green outline is around their hands, within the walls, spreading in the cracks of his face.

Almost like a poison dart frog, Alastor wants to be seen as a danger. He wants to be a warning sign. Always caring for his image, he desires to take attention away from his possible weaknesses. He was reborn as a deer in Hell which is something I and many others head canon that he's insecure about. His perceived lack of strength as a creature commonly considered prey is definitely a factor in how he portrays himself.

Alastor's deep rooted insecurities led him to begin antagonizing Lucifer. He's held under strict contract with his deal and his power has been stifled. Alastor's dignity has been stripped away under these constraints, he's forced to follow orders when he yearns to be the one in control.

When Alastor is in that green and magenta state, he is posturing. This is his attempt at taking back his agency, showing that despite his situation and probably poor choice to have signed a deal with a currently unknown entity more powerful than him, he is still strong. He is the infamous Radio Demon, a sinner full of natural magical talent who took down countless Overlords within his first few weeks in Hell.

(Unless that happened due to his deal rather than his own ability and he postures to make up for that to get people believe that he is all powerful.)

Alastor only feels the need to do this in the presence of those who he considers a threat -- no matter how reluctant he may be to admit whether they are or not. To him, other Overlords, especially Vox, are considered low on his list. His first targets when he arrived in Hell were Overlords

Meanwhile, the Morningstars are a whole different ball game. Two holy entities that are ranked higher than him on the food chain are most definitely threats, so he tries to act unbothered and remain confident in his abilities.

For someone so adamant about hiding his emotions with a smile, he's certainly created a whole load of flashing tells for others to key in on his wavering mental state. Alastor is not as fortified in will as he claims.

#hazbin hotel #alastor #theory #speculationstation #Extreme reach #but i mean #it’s lining up #i’ve connected the dots #he’s definitely posturing #He does not care about Vox #lucifer morningstar #hazbin lucifer #charlie morningstar #text post #undescribed

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kippipies · 4 months

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Calculation of U for the wip game?

lmao this one is gonna be a crack romcom one-shot that i really want to try and post for valentine's day, and it's a tomarry au where they attend hogwarts at the same time. Basically, Harry gets a potion from Fred and George that gives him the ability to temporarily see the percentage of people's romantic interest in him (like a dating game lol). He's all surprised by the amount of people that are interested in him, but what's most surprising to him is that Tom somehow has the highest percentage by a wide margin. Here's a snippet if anyone's interested --

“Tom Riddle is in love with me.” The words don’t have the dramatic effect Harry’s hoping for: Ron sluggishly blinks one eye, then the next, still deep in the dregs of early morning exhaustion. Hermione doesn’t even look up from her perilous stack of books, mumbling under her breath about one thing or another. Ginny, knees pulled up to her chest on the bench next to them, pulls an automatic face at the mention of Riddle’s name, then continues her laborious task of wedging out a shard of bacon out of her teeth with a toothpick. Harry clears his throat, then tries again. “I said, Riddle’s in love with me.” “Are you feeling alright, Harry?” Hermione absently places the back of her hand against his forehead, without looking up from her studies. “You weren’t up all night working on one of Hagrid's projects, again, were you?” Harry grimaces as he bats Hermione’s hand away. He was, but that’s beyond the point. “Or, did you accidentally swap out your pumpkin juice for firewhiskey?” Ron suggests. He gives Harry’s goblet a dubious swill and sniff. “No, what? I’m completely sober here!” Harry protests, waving his arms about frantically, and flinging eggs straight into a Hufflepuff's unsuspecting hair. They all squint at him, and Harry defensively bristles. “You’re talking about Tom Riddle,” Ginny says, jabbing her toothpick out accusingly. “Tom Riddle, you mean, the bloke that’s had it out for you since fourth year, and literally just docked you ten points yesterday for sneezing too loudly in the hall?” “Er, yep. That’s the one.” “In Riddle’s defense, it was a wicked sneeze,” Ron grins, leaning forward excitedly. “Nailed Goyle right on the back of his lumpy head - you shoulda seen his face.” Harry guffaws, and Hermione hides a smile behind her hand. “Look, I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true, alright?” Harry insists. “I can’t really say how I know, but I do.” Ginny flicks her toothpick away. “Well, no use waffling on about this. Let’s just ask and see.” Before Harry can comprehend what she’s saying, or recall the spell that will toss them all out the nearest window, Ginny’s already clambering up on the bench and cupping her hands around her mouth. “Oi, Riddle!” she calls out. “Harry thinks you fancy him! Is this true?” Harry’s jaw drops to the floor as the whole hall goes deathly silent. Like a sentient wave, everyone turns as one to regard Riddle. He's sitting in his usual place at the foot of the Slytherin table, his sycophants practically lapping at his feet as he blabs about one thing or another. Clusters of younger students hover around him in the distance, clutching pink notes and chocolates in sweaty hands. Riddle pauses, then carefully sips at his goblet. For the briefest moment, his dark eyes flick to Harry, and Harry feels his heart wedge somewhere in the vicinity of his throat. "And where did you get a silly idea like that?" Riddle says, tilting his head innocently. Harry's face flames as the hall erupts in chaos and laughter. He jumps to his feet - probably to take it out on Malfoy - but Hermione and Ron wrestle him back down. His teeth grind as he glares down Riddle, who's already settling back into his conversation as if nothing had just happened. The eighty-five percent dances over his head like a mocking beacon. The absolute bastard is lying straight through his perfect teeth. And if there's one thing Harry knows for certain -- it's that he's gonna get Riddle to eat his own words, even if it's the last thing he does.

#tomarry #harry potter #tom riddle #love obsessive harry stories...let my son go bonkers!!#he's always right tho lol

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star-going-supernova · 8 months

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I think it was probably inevitable that I'd write Gregory's side of the role swap, even if I hadn't gotten any interest for it, lol. The general idea is that Cassie was the protag in SB (here’s her ficlet) and now Gregory’s the protag in Ruin. And, well. We’re just putting each kid into the other’s events, and my favorite Gregory is a violent little gremlin, so… :)

title is a spin on the phrase “survival of the fittest”

Survival of the Vicious

The Roxy walkie-talkie slid out of the shadows to Gregory’s feet, and the glowing red eyes slowly rose up higher off the ground. “I-I’m Cassie,” Cassie’s staticky voice said. It was garbled, mechanical. “I’m Cassie.”

It was insistent, forceful. Like it was trying to convince itself as much as Gregory. He wasn’t impressed.

The robot lumbered forward with heavy footsteps, already reaching out for him when it stepped into the light. Its claws were sharp.

Unfortunately for it, Gregory’s were sharper.

He’d collected quite the arsenal on his twisting trip down here. And most of it had stood up to all the other robots who had the misfortunate to get in his way.

He wasn’t sure what the wicked-sharp, two-pronged piece of metal had been part of before it became a piece of scrap, but it punctured straight through the robot’s chest like a hot knife through butter.

The stupid thing probably hadn’t expected him to leap at it with a feral little cackle. It reeled back, sparks flying from its chest, with a chorus of scratchy beeps. Gregory’s adrenaline had been running high for the past few hours, and he was positively chomping at the bit to find something to take it out on.

He went for the more vulnerable of the two knees next, a simple ball joint with no protective casing whatsoever. Idiot. Using his heavy metal weapon like a baseball bat, he swung with all his strength. The jolt up his arms was so satisfying.

The robot screeched and stumbled, swiping at him with no skill and barely any aim. It didn’t even do it with its claw-tipped hand, so the single finger that skidded across Gregory’s forehead was nothing but a rounded pipe cap.

Gregory swung for the knee again for the fun of it, denting it sideways and completely destroying its ability to bend. Then, just to add insult to injury, he grabbed a handful of the wires and cables running from the knee to the ankle and yanked.

That made the robot loseabsolutely all ability to put any weight on its left leg, and it went down with a resounding clang. It grabbed him and dragged him to the ground with it, too stupid to realize it should be pushing the vicious human child away from its prone body.

Gregory had no complaints with this turn of events. He raised his weapon, prongs pointing down and drove it into the spine-esque hydraulic system jutting between its chest and pelvis.

A horrible chorus of human screams—Cassie’s among them—rose up out of the thing’s voice box. It managed to do something defensive and jabbed its sharp fingertips into Gregory’s side.

The pain wasn’t nearly enough to snuff out his rage and bloodthirstiness. He kicked the other arm away before it could wrap around his neck, and then he dropped his weapon for a moment to grab the wrist at his side and wrench it around until something snapped.

“Where’d you get her voice, you freak?” Gregory roared, straddling the robot. “If you hurt Cassie—!”

“I-I’m Cassie!”

Gregory swiped up his weapon and drove it downward again, this time pinning its segmented neck between the prongs, which sank heavily into a crack in the concrete. It smacked at him, yelling in his best friend’s glitchy voice.

He ripped at the monster in a frenzy, pulling at the exposed wires in its chest and around its mouth, yanking out the flimsy metal tabs that made up its grotesquely exposed teeth. He snapped the lower jaw piece off entirely, and when that didn’t shut it up, Gregory reached into his pocket and pulled out the switchblade he swiped from some employee’s locker.

The left eyeball shattered beneath the sharp point, and both the robot’s hands raised to wrestle him off or shove him away. He dug his sneakers beneath the sturdy beam of its spine for an anchor, holding on for dear life as it scratched and bruised him with its inhuman strength. He shattered the other eye, then shoved the switchblade deep into its sockets and thrashed it around. A flash of wires beneath the facsimile of the bridge of its nonexistent nose caught his attention, and he thrust the knife in there next, doing his level best to lobotomize the monster.

Its whole body seized and spasmed, the arms flailing and cracking against the ground. Leaning up on his knees, Gregory let out a war cry as he threw his whole weight on the end of his metal weapon, forcing the prongs deeper into the crack they were lodged in until, with a final, resounding snap, the robot’s neck was severed.

It went limp.

Chest heaving, Gregory stayed where he was for a minute. It didn’t so much as twitch. Not even the faintest whir of life came from its core.

He stood. Glaring down at it, he tucked his switchblade back in his pocket.

The side of his stomach stung where it had first stabbed him, his shirt gone bloody (again), and there were some shallow scratches along his right arm and shoulder and face where it had swiped at him after he pinned it. Faint aches littered his body, but it hadn’t landed any significant blow on him. Nothing like what he’d done to it.

Gregory grinned to himself over a job well done. There was just one problem: he still didn’t know where Cassie was. Best case scenario, she was at her house totally okay and unaware that Gregory had been summoned to the pizzaplex on her behalf.

Worse case—the robot learned her screams from the source.

He wrenched his trusty metal weapon from the concrete floor and turned away to go back the way he’d come. He’d search the entire ruins of the pizzaplex to find Cassie if he had to.

#fnaf fic #fnaf ruin #star's stories #life and times of star

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searchingforserendipity25 · 1 year

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Brainstorming on the Maglor = Lindir concept for @funwithfanon and here’s a list of different takes, in no particular order:

Lindir does not exist. It’s more of a temporary, honorary rank, a job description - anyone can be the Lindir of Rivendell if their application is accepted. Duties include diplomacy, welcoming guests, playing the harp, singing beautifully, babysitting and being able to remember all the Dúnedain’s names. The usual contract goes for fifteen summers, which is much less than the regular yéni. Whatever you do, do not ask why Lord Elrond is very particular about having an open call for minstrels going on regularly. The Lindor of the book events is just some guy who is here for the steady pay to save up for a fancy dowry to take on his Ship to Valinor. It’s not that he has a sweetheart or anything, but he fully intends to nab himself a hot, rich, and influential Calaquendi once he gets to the West, and Elrond’s court is a good place to practice. I, for one, respect Lindir’s hustle.

The same, but the current Lindir is Maglor. This is never discussed. If you recognize him, no you don’t. He shows up for the fifteen years, and then goes away, and then comes back. It’s fine. They don’t talk about it. It’s definitely fine! The job interviews have gone from dramatic to downright farcical. Neither of them is willing to be the first one to crack. The first time, Elrond gets to ask for a portfolio and watch Maglor draw a blank on anything that isn't a lament. By the fourth time, he has a long repertoire of new works inspired by Imladris ready, all dedicated to its gracious and most generous lord. They come up with ridiculously complicated linguistic crossword games and then swap them to play over morning tea. Again, I cannot overstate how much they do not Talk About It.

Lindir is of the Falathrim of Sirion and he will fight you if you ask whether he’s secretly Maglor Fëanorian. He will hit you with his gigantic gold-and-ivory harp and you will deserve it.

Lindir is Maglor. Ish. Maglor-ghost. Maglor's remaint. If you look at him too hard the edges of him start to blur, like an old crosshatching drawing left to blur in the sun for too long. The shadow he casts upon the wall rests over his shoulders like a cloak. He is also rather misty. Somewhere by the sea, a body has been eaten by the fish, but the fëa wandered far inland and found refuge in the valley where all those in pain are made welcome. One day Elrond woke to a faint song. He followed it through the stairs of his house until he found - the smouldering embers in Hall of Fire stirring, and a darker darkness singing. Lindir has been part of the household ever since.

Lindir is Daeron. He loves the line of Lúthien more than all things, except for the Lady Celebrían, who was the one who found him, once, by the still dark waters of the North, and brought him home to the valley where the guards sing nonsense and the air in the twilit starlight smells nothing at all and very much like Melian’s kingdom in the days before the Sun and the Moon.

Maglor did not defend himself, whenever anyone found him wandering by the sea Maglor never defended himself, with words or Song, steel or harp. Not from wolves, or orcs, brigands or avengers, from the wrathful sea or the elements. Varda's Hallowing had scorched him through, a maddening and encompassing pain, the sort of continuous justice that left very little space for anything that was not regret. He could not defend himself from it, or the absolute, star-bright knowledge that its horror and ugliness should not and could not be denied. By the time he came again among the elves, there was very little left to recognize him by. He was so plainly beyond the ability to do harm - getting him in custody was less a matter of containing him than making certain no one went and killed him. It is imprisonment, in the sense that he’s in custody. There will be no Kinslayings or executions in Imladris (Glorfindel's passionate defence of Turgon's precedent aside), and even if it were allowed - no one could put him on trial presently. Elf parole gets invented eventually, after he is in the healing halls for half an Age, and slowly readjusts to society again. Much has his countenance changed, in grief and pain, and from wounds besides; few people recognize him outright. It takes him a long, long time before he touches a harp again, and longer still before he can be certain enough of himself to sing before an audience.

You would not have caught Maglor Fëanorian admitting he could not identify a poem’s authorial contributions, be he dead or damned or deranged. Luckily, local musical prodigy Lindir, born and bred in Imladris, does not have weird First Age perfectionist hang-ups. Elrond’s students all have a perfectly non-traumatic apprenticeship and are very well-adjusted, thank you very much.

Lindir is a nightingale Arwen accidentally turned into an elf. Listen, it's a thing, it happens with Peredhel sometimes. He’s - adjusting. Focused on playing the harp to develop finger coordination and ended up enjoying it a great deal, after the first challenging yéni (Fingers! Tiny bony bits! What a notion. Lindir misses his beak sometimes). He does still trill sometimes; his old friends answer him during their afternoon songs, it is quite a sight. Mortals are very strange and they have the bad habit of dying fairly often just when he’s started to recognize them, but he likes the way the scruffy one makes his lady smile so he does not chirp in with comments on his poetry. Not many comments, anyway.

They take his harp away, at first. Glorfindel, who had seen him in battle, wanted anted a geas of silence. But that would be a waste, in its way. His voice is bound to the valley instead, to the protection of it, and the working of its purpose as a place of safety and succour. Eternal servitude to the line of Earendil is not, objectively, the worst punishment that could befall the last Kinslayer. If Elrond is not entirely easy with having him in Imladris, neither is he able to countenance the idea that he might go free, and unaccounted for. The might in him goes away from his mouth, and beyond his mastery. He sings, sometimes, when it is for the benefit of the valley. That he must be of use is a just demand, and a kinder end than exile. A grace, in its way - and it is not as if he has any reason or right to have any wish in his heart that is not to serve the line of Elwing. It is not, Maglor knows well, the cruellest captivity a soul has ever suffered. He can even speak, if he wishes; and in time, among the long Ages, he does gather enough nerve to ask leave to sing in the Hall of Fire in company, on those moonless nights when he is not needed to sing enchantments of protection. A minstrel can have many duties, after all. There are many ways to serve, in small and deedless fashion, without doing any harm. Pity is not torment, for all it is difficult to withstand, and difficult the making of a gift rich enough to answer it. Well, and he is an excellent minstrel; that much he can offer still, and he does it willingly. They call him Lindir, and that is fair, as well - it is only that Lindir does not and must not and cannot sing laments.

Maglor the Kinslayer is the minstrel Lindir. Everyone knows this. It's not clear whether Lindir, who cries when the cooks behead the hen and hums to the horses and loathes the silver sound of a drawn sword, does know this.

#maglor #lindir #elrond #funwithfanon #rivendell

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starry-blue-echoes · 5 months

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I had thoughts help.

So. Magical Girl AU. 2 ideas. First one is one I've touched upon very briefly before, but I love the idea of Weather's initial rage not simply being darkness but instead an overwhelming light, that relentlessly burns and destroys/ensnails anything near him. The darkness that overtook him actually calmed him, sealing that destructive light away. (Also maybe the dark was tied to Perla somehow idk.)

Then Pucci showed up and misread the situation completely. So now not only is Weather devoid of dark, he also is lacking in light as well, since that's still sealed away.

And when some light enters him again, and weakens that seal... well. Nobody liked what happened after that.

2nd idea: Perhaps those possessed by darkness look a little... off. Unless their modus operandi depends on going unnoticed, like Kira, they have some feature that twists their appearance, different for each person, and growing more pronounced the longer their body remains darkened. I imagine this would make the part 5 and 6 designs very interesting. :)

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

tbh, this AU is rotating really hard in my head and this is P E R F E C T

for the first part, I had an idea to both make it better and worse :>

so as I mentioned before, humans and most Earth Creatures in this are naturally born as beings of Light. However, what if while they can be corrupted by outside sources of Darkness, it's also somewhat..... natural, so to speak. Pain, fear, anger, even apathy, those feelings all make it a bit easier for Darkness to be inside them, but in healthy small amounts. Light meanwhile has more to do with emotions like happiness, determination, justice and can drive it back.........

so what if before his memories were taken, Weather completely gave into his newly unlocked Light. His Light that was once righteous and warm because burning and scalding, driving away the Darkness that would've been the balm to soothe his grief

Pucci (albeit accidentally and unintentionally) giving him this all powerful Light in the middle of his grief took away his ability to process his feelings and what had happened with Perla. These feelings toward tragedy are natural, healthy even, and necessary for the healing process. Instead, Weather got a bright, powerful but uncontrollable Light forced upon him that he didn't know how to use. He was a Magical Girl yes, and he wasn't necessarily a corrupted one, but that's simply because the Light burned too strong and bright to let it

The Light wanted justice, and in this case it was very close to vengeance. Perla was innocent and kind, and these people were hardly good. Perhaps they themselves were corrupted with Darkness, and Weather's own Light reacted to fight back, to protect, to try so desperately to keep him and what little he had left safe. The Light made him tunnel vision so much he didn't notice those getting caught in the crossfire nor the way his own body was slowly burning inside out. Didn't notice how his grief and anger and sadness where suddenly nonexistent beyond the desire to Do Good And Help By Getting Rid Of The Threat

Pucci awakening his power nearly spelt the end for Weather's life, had it gone for a few more hours

maybe that's also why Pucci brought him to Green Dolphin, hoping that the oppressive and constant Darkness will keep the seals firmly shut

this also raises the fun possibility of Jolyne And Co healing him not with Light like they usually have but with Darkness. Maybe Emporio could help here since he's been exposed to so much that it's basically a permanent part of him now, and in the process it helps balance himself out. They almost swap the excess power they have and finally get to be at peace

(also, I think for this bit I had a fun idea for the rain imagery. This whole time Weather is practically glowing, radiating Light constantly and the longer it goes one the more he begins to burn. His skin begins to crack in places, his eyes lighten to white, his hair begins to grow black at the tips and curl like it's been set on fire

((Actually hey what if Weather's hair is white because the overwhelming light from that one time basically bleached his hair))

but then....... when it's finally over. When they manage to douse the flames the overwhelming Light has brought, to give him Darkness to let him finally feel........ it gets cloudy and rains and finally Weather gets the chance to cry)

And shifting gears for the second idea, OF COURSE

Limbs and nails and teeth that are a bit too long or numerous, eyes that are a bit too vivid or have colored sclera, patches of skin that don't look quite right like instead they're scaled or leathery or just the completely wrong color, hair that seems to defy physics or sway in a nonexistent wind or not be completely made of hair at all, voices that have strange qualities and echoes to them, etc etc :)

Giorno and Emporio both grow up surrounded by those traits 24/7 and kinda got desensitized to it all. If anything, this is how people look and are supposed to be. To them, if someone looks normal they're an even bigger threat because that means either a) they're a trap and trying to get you to lower your guard and/or b) they're powerful enough to hide

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yetanothergreyjedi · 1 year

Text

Ghosts of Our Pasts: 9

DP x DC Crossover

Danny Fenton and Damian Wayne Siblings AU

Ao3

Masterpost Previous Next

Dani: Yo, what's with the massive group chat I just got dropped into?

Dani: I'm assuming you guys have to do with this

Tucker: ....did... did we forget to send you Danny’s new number?

Dani: he has a NEW one? I just swapped his contact information like 2 weeks ago

Tucker: it's actually the same number just backwards... present from the Backwards Day Ghost

Dani: WOW

Tucker: it was miserable

Dani: I'm sure

Dani: so about the group chat?

Tucker: Danny met his bio-sibling and he had a fraid too, so idk its like fraid inlaws or something?

Dani: Bio-sibling? Danny's adopted?

Tucker:Shouldn't you know this?

Dani: Why would I?

Tucker: You're his cousin....

Dani: Oh... I forgot I told you guys that...

Tucker: ?

Dani: I'm his clone

Tucker: this is gonna be a wild story isn't it

* Dani started a call that lasted 31 minutes *

---

Jazz: Danny why did you just put me in a group chat with like 25 people in it?

Danny: Sibling groupchat

Jazz: What?

Jazz: Danny, I'm going to need a bit more explanation than that.

Jazz: you didn't get cloned again?

Jazz: Did you???

Jazz: Danny?

* 1 missed call from Jazz *

* 2 missed calls from Jazz *

* 3 missed calls from Jazz *

---

Jazz: please tell me Danny lost his phone again and isn't in some kind of trouble.

Tucker: Oh, it's in his bag... he's out rn...

Jazz: out where?

Jazz: I thought this was supposed to be a 'laying low' vacation?

Sam: that was before he met his brother

Jazz: his brother?

Tucker: yeah! Apparently he's related to the Batman!

Jazz: you left him alone with his brother

Sam: Yeah...?

Jazz: the brother that killed him?

* multiple people are typing *

---

So yeah, Danny was officially tasting emotions now. He realized as Damian looked him over. The flour-y taste of concern was replaced with a salty-savory pride as he confirmed that, no, Danny hadn't been shot. (Well, he would've been, if he hadn't decided to not be tangible.) Then Bio-dad dropped down, mugger dude gave off another milk-sour wave of fear. Then Bio-dad saw the gun and huh, he didn't think describe how disappointment tasted with human words. But maybe he should be focusing less on what flavors most accurately described his stupid new empath ability and focus more on the situation at hand.

Together Dami and Bio-dad explained the normal process of cuffing criminals in obvious places so the police can find them. It was simple, didn't really require Danny to do anything, so he disassembled the weapon while he listened. Which he probably shouldn't have done, because now he was being asked to hand it over as evidence...

"Uh..." Danny fished the larger pieces back out of his pocket, but their was a lot of little ones, because he might've phased the screws out to take apart the fun little inner bits and he ended up dropping tiny metal parts all over the sidewalk.

There was a beat of silence, then Damian clicked his tongue with a little "Tt," and Danny flushed.

"Sorry..." Danny started.

"It's fine," the Bat said. Amusement, it turned out, tasted like raspberries.

Notes

Danny, holding a deadly weapon: "is this a fidget toy?"

Somebody told me once that they didn't see any Canon evidence that Sam and Tucker knew Dani was a clone. And like, their lives are so crazy that peice of information falling into a crack, sure. Where did Danny's concerned about vlad cloning people came from. Like they didn't question it, vlad is weird. They could see him doing it... oh... he did do it? That makes more sense than a sudden semi rational fear.

Also Batman has absolutely noticed some weird things about Danny. But he also knows that Danny has "a weird conglomeration" of Lazarus put side effects, and that Danny said "mood" about being in other dimensions. It might be ooc for him to be patient with answers, but he's in my story so he's gotta play by my rules.

Tag list

@spectralstardustandphantomnights @avelnfear @idfk-man10 @blackroserelina @candeartist422 @mur-ururu @luer-mirin @insufferablecatenthusiast @skulld3mort-1fan @alonedustspeck @voidbornposts @meira-3919 @marshmello @aethernorwood @mimilikey @undead-essence @cloudminder @markus209 @everything163 @latheevening226 @roman4517 @moobloomrights @battybatbat @lumosfeather18581 @werv @ahyesanerd @pyramaniac @lexdamo @princessbelix @bun-fish @deeannthepan @edgyboi10000 @thatrandomsarahchick @busterkeel @aconitewolfsbane @spoopyspoony @bright-shade @spidey29phangirl @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @keimiwolf @u-a-wizard-jamie @gay-puff @bicerise @itshype @blackfoxsposts @icanneverdecide @lolottes @chubbypotato @jovialherringtacoghost @saltyladynightmare

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capricioussun · 2 months

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As always thinking lots abt uf but still on a little bit of a swap kick so I wanted to add a little more context for what I'd mentioned in the Stretch post abt his relationship w/ Blue

So, as per my usual baseline, the royal scientist made Sans first, and then Papyrus. Almost exactly the same. Sans came out well (alive), but unfortunately very frail with slightly unstable magic. Instead of pushing it too much (and what leads to how unswapped Sanses typically gaining the judgement ability), that focus shifted gears to Papyrus, as the corrections made "in utero" (very early days of test tube life) proved sufficient, providing a much more stable and sturdy test subject.

Hence, those experiments were then performed on Papyrus, while a much slower and more thought out approach was taken with Sans. Both became very healthy as they grew, gaining tremendous control over their magic and Papyrus seemingly following in his brother's footsteps of being an absolute powerhouse.

At the time, and even after they left the labs, Blue wasn't fully aware of the extent of experiments done on Stretch. Similar to classic Sans, Blue was incredibly smart from an early age, and took it upon himself to be his brother's caretaker and teacher after [REDACTED], but being a couple of homeless kids didn't exactly make that super easy in the beginning.

Still, with the help of a few kind strangers turned new friends, they slowly got back on their feet...and of course, that was when Stretch began presenting and complaining of strange and worrying symptoms.

Blue and Stretch were always very close from an early age, very similar to the Tale brothers. The prime difference was that Blue had significantly more energy and drive than Sans, which made him a better role model and caretaker to Stretch, and so Stretch never felt that pressure to grow up faster to be the caretaker of his brother the way Rus and Edge did.

So when things changed, and Stretch became more dependent on Blue rather than less, like most other kids going into teendom, even though Blue never really outwardly faltered and did his best to help Stretch through everything, there was a crack in the foundation.

Blue, being a caretaker, teacher, and older brother (along with the standard trait of tending towards secrecy), had that pressure to always be more okay than he actually felt. He had to remain strong for Papyrus, doubly so after he got sick. He couldn't slow down or show weakness or do anything that might make Stretch feel like a burden or a tax on him.

Especially not after Stretch had tried explaining symptoms of the judging ability, and the obvious toll that was starting to take on his mental health. Blue was really all Stretch had, and as Stretch's HP slowly ticked away with every downswing, and never ticked back up, he was terrified of how increasingly susceptible his brother was to Falling Down.

I need to clarify and emphasize that Blue was only around 13-15 when this all started, and 17-20 at its peak. He'd been the primary parent figure to his 5 year younger brother since around the time he was 10, so Blue's entirely life pretty much revolved around taking care of Stretch for his entire childhood. It stands to reason the thought of him Falling being beyond Blue's control was one of his biggest nightmares, because even though others didn't alienate him the way they did Stretch, Stretch was the only person who he really felt a strong connection to, especially after everything they went through together as kids.

They knew things about each other they probably couldn't ever tell anyone else, and Blue had been Stretch's only real family since the day he was "born". Watching Stretch decline over his teen years was a special form a torture that he couldn't ever let Stretch know he was going through. He couldn't put that on him.

That didn't stop Stretch from being able to tell though. Brotherly intuition, knowing each other so well, and of course, the judge, the worst his health became, the more stressed Blue became, and the deeper that sinking pit in Stretch's soul sunk knowing he was the cause of it all.

That's why I'd mentioned Blue's joining the guard being the last straw. He joined when he was around 21, because it paid better than the most of the other meager jobs he’d been spreading himself way too thin to work keeping them afloat, which meant more time to take care of Papyrus.

The thought of his incredibly non-confrontational brother forcing himself into a position where he might have to kill capture a human, deal with rowdy drunks stumbling out of Muffet's at all hours, as well as regularly spar with the captain sent Stretch into a very intense guilt and resentment spiral.

Over the years, the more Blue worried the more Stretch tried to hide from him, but now this tipped the scales and Stretch became determined to do whatever it took to become less useless.

(Another aside, Toriel did not know how young Papyrus was when she offered him the Judge position, as the brothers routinely lied about their ages since they'd had to take care of themselves from such a young age. She suspects they're younger than they say certainly, but she didn't realize he was only 15 ish at the time).

The more Stretch pushed himself, the more practice he got, the better he was at lying and keeping up appearances. And now Blue's own schtick was biting him on the tailbone because even though he worried frequently that Stretch was pushing himself too hard (especially after learning he'd accepted the job from Toriel to act as the Judge), all he could do was try his best to be supportive and encouraging, lest Stretch realize just how stressed out and exhausted he really was all the time.

So, basically, both brothers know the other isn't okay, but they won't talk about it ever because Blue is stubborn as hell and Stretch learned from the best. And by that point, Stretch was becoming a young adult, he could certainly make decisions for himself, right?

Just like the vast majority of my skelebros, they locked themselves into this broken carousel dynamic of always interlocking, never actually meeting, and continuously dancing around the gaping hole in the middle of the room because they both know, if one falls in, the other with dive to catch him, and they may both very well be damned if they take that chance. (They're dumb but also this is what happens when incredibly smart children are forced to raise themselves. They have no idea how to function healthily, only to the best of their ability #sigh #childhoodtraumamoment)

Oh, and one more thing. I would like to add that part of the reason Stretch is so hard on himself is because, back during training at the labs, he was constantly compared to Blue, who exceeded at everything. He was scolded and reprimanded for falling short, and it was rarely ever accounted for that he was five years younger than Blue. This made Stretch feel inferior and frequently doubt his own ability, and gave Blue a strong resentment of [REDACTED], along with a fierce protective streak of Stretch.

Unfortunately the years of trying to unteach Stretch those mindsets were mostly undone by the damage the judge and health issues did (they just proved him right, he really was just a useless failure...)

#hi yeah I'm still on this sorry I think it's out of my system now...maybe #damn being a sickly orphan child really fucks u up rip Stretch fr ✌️#underswap #us stretch #us blue #underswap papyrus #underswap sans #sun spots

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rubyblue2005 · 8 months

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Based on a previous post about an Au where Atsushi's ability wasn't turning into a tiger but instead swapping places with a Giant Tiger Spirit, Byakko.

Previously I bullshited/vaguely described Atsushi being swapped into Byakko's spirit realm thing/home as a glowy garden with a pond and a sky that is always a galaxy of stars.

Now I offer a funnier residence for our Spirit Tiger.

The Backrooms

Or any Liminal Space.

The idea of Atsushi just being flung into places that call to memories he doesn't have plays a funky tune for me. Especially since Atsushi was raised pretty much solely at the Orphanage, so he wouldn't have any basis for the feeling of twisted deja vu that someone who had been to a mall or yellowing house would have stored in their subconscious. Which is why Liminal Spaces feel so off. So to him, it would just be a deathly silent area where there are things he needs to run from and has jumbled time flows.

Like, one time during his stay in the Orphanage, Atsushi sees a newspaper laying on the ground in the corner of a liminal space room covered in dust and when he picks it up to read it, he finds it's actually a newspaper a few years into the future. And that's how he finds out that he has a job in the future even though there are sparse details on the incident the "ADA" came out as the victors of. Something something... New recruit Atsushi Nakajima... Something something

Another time, maybe after some odd months at getting employed at the ADA, Atsushi finds an old photo of Dazai with two other people at a bar dated to be years old. And he just cannot believe how scrawny Dazai looked at 16. It's a bit jarring for Atsushi.

For more crack, Atsushi finds one of Poe's books once. The published date is around eight years into the future and the back of the book has that summary paragraph but it's just a proposal letter to Ranpo. And now that Atsushi has this knowledge, he has to keep his mouth shut and wait for the published date to come around and thank god, Poe and Ranpo are "Rivals" for the most part because Atsushi doesn't think he'll be able to keep from asking vastly inappropriate questions.

Atsushi even finds pages of The Book™. But the pages are more like liquid mirrors into other worlds. Especially seeing that The Book™ is just an Alternate Universe wonderland. And he always feels so solemn whenever he picks one up and looks at the page. Maybe one time he sees the BEAST Alternate universe and BEAST Atsushi just stares back with a tired visage that makes both Atsushi's sad. Another alternate version of them is stuck to forever return to this place. Maybe, all Atsushi's are tied to the backrooms because all Atsushi's are also somehow connected to The Book™.

The same "ADA doesn't know that Atsushi isn't the tiger at first" applies because I find that hilarious. But this time, it's just a little bit more serious, like the creatures from the backrooms so more than just chase but they know better than to touch something that smells distinctly like the Spirit Tiger but there are other people in the backrooms and they are far more dangerous. Especially in an unhinged sort of way. And sometimes when Atsushi "De-transforms" he somehow has wounds that weren't there before. But most of the Ada dismiss the scratches and gashes for accidental or having happened in the fight that required Atsushi to secretly swap with Byakko in the first place.

Atsushi stays with the lanky shadow creature's territories to avoid the other humans. But sometimes, a human that's been in the Backrooms for just a little too long is insane enough to wander far into that territory and Atsushi nearly pays the price each time.

Though, Atsushi being kinda buddy-buddy with the lanky shadow creatures of the Backrooms has the side effect of him not really having the instincts to fight with Rashomon and Atsushi has to literally train his body to react towards Rashomon because the shadow creatures are considered 'safer' in the eyes of the Spirit Tiger. This also has the unfortunate side effect of Ryuunosuke thinking "Jinko is dumb" but also unfortunately for Ryuunosuke, he's the one who gets dragged into the backrooms with Atsushi when someone inevitably has the ability to fuck with other abilities on a semi-higher level. At least it wasn't Kyouka stuck in this strange place.

Now, unlike Atsushi, Ryuunosuke does indeed have the vague memories of places in his subconscious from his life, so he gets the full Backrooms and Liminal Space unsettling vibes. However, unlike Atsushi, Ryuunosuke also does not have a scent that is distinctly like the Spirit Tiger, and the lanky shadow creatures of the Backrooms notice. And now the two are trying to leave but they can't and it's now significantly harder with everyone and everything being after the two now.

To Shin Soukoku, it felt like they are in the Backrooms for a week at most, to everyone else... This is not so. How long it has been for Yokohama is up for interpretation.

Was it only a few seconds?

Or was it over a month?

#bsd atsushi #bsd headcanons #bsd fanfic #bungou stray dogs headcanon #bungou stray dogs #bungou stray dogs atsushi #bsd atsushi nakajima #bsd au #bsd aus #bungou stray dogs au #atsushi's ability alternate universe #atsushi's ability #atsushi more like catsushi #ryuunosuke akutagawa #The Backrooms au

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speckyposting · 1 month

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[ OOC ] : These are old questions I never got around to answering on main when I first posted Specchio's sheet, so let's take a look!

Hemispheres is a rather versatile stand, so it can be a little confusing! Most of its abilities center around reflection, and I try not to overdo it in terms of how much it can do. My main idea behind Hemispheres is that it would be a sort of jack-of-all-trades, and more of a "support" stand since a majority of Team Bucciarati is more on the offensive side in regards to their abilities. (To me, Moody Blues and Gold Experience are the more "supportive" there... but even then, GE could still pack a punch - especially with the retconned ability vs. Bucciarati!)

To help with a quick overview, let's narrow down Hemispheres abilities to these four: Reflexive, Disorientation (CQC), Reflective (Ranged), Absorption (Healing). Full explanation of each under the cut! Always happy to answer more questions, and that ask box is open! :]

Reflexive

Hemispheres was an untamed stand when it first manifested to Specchio. While not as dangerous as Purple Haze, it still made growing up a stand user who was unaware of their own abilities very difficult. Consider Hemispheres' reflexive ability to be like an unconscious aura surrounding Specchio - a radius that only effects non-stand users and drives them away subconsciously. It's basically the "bad vibes" circle. Hemispheres did this as a way of protecting Specchio since he was a bit of a loner and anxious around strangers, but this ended up adding on to the issue because it made it very difficult to socialize. While stand users can perceive this aura, they usually have the fortitude to pass by it completely. I suppose if a non-stand user was very bold, they could bypass it as well... but, well, Specchio was never so lucky to have that happen. As Specchio honed his talents under Bucciarati's training, he was able to deactivate this ability - like a switch... though, this may have also come with him learning to be more comfortable around people. The only times it ever really shows through is if he's especially fearful, but it no longer holds the same power it once did.

I suppose you can consider this ability defunct.

Disorientation (CQC)

Hemispheres is especially weak in close-quarters, even though that's the limit of it's physical range. It isn't a punch stand, nor is it extremely durable, being perhaps only a little more well-off than Specchio is (given it isn't, well, fleshy). However, there is one ability that Hemispheres can only activate via contact: disorientation. With a quick swipe of it's palm, Hemispheres will touch an adversary and activate this ability, which will only last within a certain range of Specchio. The adversary will have the hemispheres of their brain swap, switching lefts and rights, ups and downs... in layman's terms, consider this similar to a game mechanic that swaps your control scheme.

One who is especially in-tune to their surroundings and body may be able to overcome the effects of this disorienting swap, but it can be especially bad for those who have to worry about verticality as well, such as vs. Secco when he dives beneath the ground.

Reflective (Ranged)

This could be considered Hemispheres' main ability. While not offensive, it relies on trickery to aid Specchio or his allies in a fight. 1-2 reflective panes can be summoned within a formidable range of Specchio (basically, so long as he can see it at the time of creation). These panes have no border, and sort of blend in with its surroundings to be indiscernible as its own shape until you're right up against it. They take around 2-3 hits to break, but will crack with just one. The shape of it can also be altered, but this requires significant focus from Specchio to keep maintained, lest the illusion warp and become more easy to discover (such as in his vs. Formaggio fight with Narancia, when he turned the mirror somewhat concave in order to create a mirror-magnetizing effect to fool Formaggio).

Specchio usually uses these in order to make a getaway by concealing himself, or to buy time by making a barrier between him and the enemy. It's also worth noting that these mirrors are one-way, meaning that Specchio or an ally could see through them from the other side.

Absorption (Healing)

Now, this is an ability I actually never got to use in Filo Aureo (Specchio's AU)! I never really used it because I wondered if it would be too much, but I think it might have it's place in the right scenario, so I still keep it around. It's hinted at in Specchio's backstory with how he survived his house fire, with his burn wounds being halved and reflected across his body - which while this lead to more scar tissue, prevented him from losing his left arm entirely. In short, Specchio can reflect wounds across the median of his body, OR reflect wounds from someone else's body to his own. I believe this fits in with his self-sacrificial mentality... and could also probably lead to some angsty situations of trying to convince him not to take a wound for you.

This ability could be considered more theoretical in a sense, since he never really utilized it in his "canon".

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that-ari-blogger · 6 months

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The Body Swap Episode

So, Once Upon A Swap has what might be called a "reputation" amongst the fandom. When the episode came out, the reception was average, with the immediate recognition that it was a filler episode. However, as time as gone on, more and more think pieces have sprung up discussing this as "the worst episode" or "the weakest episode".

What is my opinion? Well, this isn't my favourite episode, but it isn't my least favourite either.

I am also a contrarian by nature, so I'm going to attempt to argue that this episode has strengths and try to explain what those are and the effect they have on the series as a whole. Specifically, this episode shows character flaws and strengths under pressure.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

First up, art is subjective, there is no such thing as a "bad piece of television". Yes, expertise of craft is a thing, but that isn't synonymous with the creation itself being "good", because again, art is subjective. The best series or episode is the series or episode that you, personally, liked the most.

Anyway...

This episode is centred around the gimmick of the body swap. TV Tropes calls this a "Freaky Friday Flip", and it is a fairly stock episode of a series. Certain series take it further (There's a character in One Piece for whom this is almost their entire shtick), but that isn't the point. The point is that this is an episode used to highlight character.

As in, this is giving at least one character an insight into the life of another, and showing that insight to the audience as they follow along. It also shows the character who's mind we are following as they react to unusual situations and usually to a loss of abilities that they would usually rely on.

(Also as a note, i will be referring to the characters by their mind, not their body, if that makes sense. This episode is confusing to write about)

For example, Eda's adventure shows the perils of being King, and shows how Eda responds to not being able to cast magic (I wonder if that will ever come up again). While the perils of this episode are mostly a bit shallow in my opinion, the problem solving isn't.

We see Eda's flaws, and how like King she really is. Eda has an ego just as big as her son, and despite acknowledging the obvious warning bells of her plot, she is tricked by a simple compliment. We see that, although she is unconditionally one of the series' mentour characters, she is anything but wise.

Meanwhile King wears his flaws on his sleeves. You could say that Luz and Eda do too, but King does it the most obviously. He is ambitious, and, to put it bluntly, delusional. He seeks fame and adoration, so naturally he finds it in this episode, but is completely unprepared for it to go sour as being special as a teenager ain't all it's cracked up to be. However, we also see the sheer force of personality King is throwing around. Eloquence and charisma aren't the same thing. Bellos is eloquent, King is charismatic.

Case and point: Even when everything is going badly for him, King always has something to say to shrug it off and get under Bosha's skin.

Finally, there is Luz, and Eda's problems. First up, this is the first of only a few times we get to see Luz cast "real magic". As in, not from a glyph. And although she isn't as proficient as Eda, most likely due to a lack of experience, she revels in the power. You could even say that she relies on it above all else. Luz is a character chasing fantasies, and this is one that has almost literally fallen from the sky in front of her.

But Eda's life does have drawbacks. Eda is on the run, and we see how Luz handles that. Badly. The reason the emperor's coven is such a threat to Eda is because it's not a problem she can throw magic at until it goes away. Luz doesn't quite get that, she instead runs on TTRPG-character-after-a-power-up energy and tries to use it at every situation.

But Luz isn't without her own strengths. I've said elsewhere that Luz isn't especially powerful, and I stand by that. What she has instead is a tactical mind, and that mind carries over to this situation. Here, instead of a strategising, we see that mind learn incredibly quickly. Yes, she gets lucky, but she also picks up on some things, notably a little bit of the background between Eda, Lilith, and the Emperor's Coven itself.

Essentially, this comes back to what I have said in earlier posts. The Owl House uses archetypal storytelling masterfully. It shows characters as tropes first, then shows the nuances of their characterisation as you get closer to them and understand more. In this episode, Luz, King, and Eda can only see the tropes that their companions fit into, and only after living their lives for a while can they comprehend the complexity.

Previous - Next

#rants #literary analysis #literature analysis #character analysis #what's so special about...?#the owl house #toh #the owl house luz #the owl house eda #the owl house king

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kafus · 1 year

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how to grind IQ fast in PMD EoS

alternative title: why combee is fucking cracked

combee. yes. combee. is one of the most useful pokemon in explorers of sky and i’m not kidding. if you’ve ever wanted to grind up to max IQ on your pokemon, especially a lot of pokemon, Combee Is The Answer. unfortunately this does not work in time and darkness nearly as well because they don’t have one of the items that makes combee so good but you can still do it. much slower. this whole thing requires some setup but once you have it set up you can do it forever!!

so. combee has this funny little ability called honey gather which gives a pretty large chance of finding nectar in treasure boxes from pokemon it KOs.

why is this important? Well. nectar is one the best consumable IQ boosting item in the game. straight up gives your pokemon +10 IQ instead of gummis which give a varied amount from +1-5 based on type matchups (usually on the lower end). wonder gummis give +15 IQ so they’re technically better but there’s no good way to grind for those quickly.

so yeah honey gather is already cool enough because you can KO pokemon, hoard treasure boxes, and then open them for a ton of nectar, but that shit is slow going all things considered and that’s where sky’s exclusive items come in

the nectar bow, combee’s exclusive item, raises the chance of treasure boxes dropping while its in the bag. i can confirm from doing this myself that an absolute fuckton of boxes can be obtained this way.

you can see the method here. you get a combee, get the nectar bow, and then go to town on some pokemon and open all those boxes for more nectar than you’ve ever seen in your life before. here’s how:

1. recruit a combee and keep it as a combee. vespiquen won’t work because it loses honey gather upon evolution. you can find combee in apple woods on floors 6-12. apparently in darkness you have to complete a mission to unlock combee there first but i’m assuming most people reading this are playing sky anyways

2. this step is optional but recommended. level the combee up just a little bit, i personally did this by bringing it as a partner into postgame dungeons (i personally used spatial rift) and murdering shit with my overleveled hero/partner and letting the combee soak up all the experience. it will make life easier for you because combee straight up only has two attacking moves, gust and bug bite at levels 1 and 13 respectively, which are weak as hell. doesn’t learn anything through TM either. you want to KO shit fast and you know. not die while farming boxes

3. assuming you’re playing sky, get the nectar bow. you can find it in croagunk’s swap shop in wigglytuff’s guild’s basement. the items in the shop change every new in-game day, but there seems to be a higher chance of items appearing for the pokemon you JUST used in a dungeon, so if it isn’t there, go into a dungeon like beach cave or whatever with combee as your lead and either escape orb or speedrun through real quick and then check croagunk again. you’ll need 5 other random exclusive items to trade in for it which you can get from random treasure boxes and 150 poke.

4. go into any dungeon with combee lead and the nectar bow in the bag and start beating shit up, preferably with a lot of pokemon weak to combee’s moves. i have some superstition about later dungeons dropping more boxes so i go to mystifying forest with a nearly level 50 combee but that’s probably overkill. bring minimal items so you can pick up a bajillion boxes

5. leave the dungeon. open boxes at xatu’s. profit

also by the way. this isn’t required at all but i highly recommend using your first nectar grind to get combee’s IQ up to 850 (just under 9 stars) for the IQ skill Pierce Hurler, since it lets you use nectar on three pokemon at once instead of just one. yes this requires 85 nectar but it’s WORTH IT I PROMISE!!

this is my combee. you can see it has pierce hurler which lets the items it throws impact all the pokemon the item hits along its path. when using my nectar or other useful items such as vitamins or joy seeds, i lead with combee, go to beach cave because it’s completely harmless, and hand combee the lockon specs which ensures it doesn’t miss at all. your partner pokemon that you’re using the items on also need to have item master enabled in their IQ so they actually use the items thrown at them and item catcher disabled so that they don’t catch the items. i line them up in a row by setting their tactics to “wait there”. this lets you essentially multiply all your items by three like this (the recording i had on hand was with iron but nectar works too):

and that’s how to make IQ grinding easy asf for the rest of your explorers playthrough. i use this a ton so i can experiment with different pokemon in the postgame for funsies. also good for grinding certain pokemon up to fast friend for recruiting kecleon :) hope this helpsdsofkfds

(oh and side note, you can get one nectar per sentry duty by going as fast as possible but purposefully giving the wrong answer on just one footprint so that you get the highest score without getting a perfect for making no mistakes, but this is wayyy slower and i wouldn’t do that for an extended period of time!!)

#pmd2 #pmd #pmd explorers #pokemon mystery dungeon #explorers of sky #pokemon #kiki was here #long post #inspired by people seeing my video clip of throwing vitamins at my pokemon with combee #and realizing a lot of this gameplay optimization stuff isn't common knowledge #based on people going WHAT in the tags a lot #i think pmd's gameplay is awesome not just the story #kiki.txt

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s0ckh3adstudios · 1 year

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Haunted Hats #1: Co-Op

Welcome BACK to the Haunted Hats, my nonsensical A Hat In Time Swap AU based on the shift in fate that would happen if Hat Kid, Bow Kid, Mu, and Timmy were the Subcon Ghosts. Guess who's back in that mood~

Might take this similarily to how my buddy Bee presents the USAU characters: Character dedicated posts and short comics. I guess this is kind of Haunted Hats rebooted? I'll be taking this one area at a time!

But here's your favorite protagonist duo: Beta and Mask! Their Time Pieces, their fuel and important artifacts, have been scattered all over Earth... What will our... uh... heroes do?

(LOOK DOWN HERE FOR CHARACTER INFORMATION!!!)

Beta Kid / 14 years old / She/they/her/them Non-binary

Beta is a shy, mysterous young teen living above Earth's atmosphere, hiding from social interaction in her best friend's spaceship. Beta is a recluse, a shut-in. They try to avoid people other than Mask and stick to their job of time-related deeds. She is known as a Time Guardian, and has been one since she was young. How? Why? Where did this mysterious enby come from? Inhabitants of Earth might see them sometimes, but not for long. She's often in rifts fixing glitches or cracks in time, or wandering in between the coded fabric that makes up the space time continuum. Fixing time and protecting it.

They deal with heavy anxiety and are nervous around people, but you wouldn't be able to tell by how they interact with those they're close to. They've even got an irritated and passive-aggressive side, but Beta is usually very friendly and polite. She tries to be, at least. Beta also speaks via sign language. She has the ability to speak, though it's strained a bit, but otherwise very much prefers to use sign language. She can also speak Russian!

============

Mask Kid / 15 years old /He/him (but doesn't mind they/them) Demiboy

Mask (or Moon) is Beta's best friend and current ONLY friend. He's sort of like a brother figure to her, responsible and polite and better at talking with people (Though it's not a high bar to reach as he's equally bad with people as she is). Mask is kindhearted and intelligient, though memory is where he lacks. The years prior to meeting Beta he has no memories of. He woke up in his crashed spaceship with no memories, but the reflection of his permanently-masked face told him something was different. Mask hopes to regain his past, but he's happy to sit where he is with Beta in the present.

The mask he wears is... something Beta hasn't seen before. It seems to be something otherwordly, even acting on its own accord at rare moments. Strange abilities, magic red strings, a large pack of power... Mask has managed to control most of it, but sometimes... It's not Mask who is conscious.

.....But Im sure it's nothing to worry about!

============

That's all for now! Feel free to ask questions >:D

#sock art #i'll make an art tag now fiine #but i'm not going back to fix all the other art LMAO #ahit #a hat in time #ahit au #a hat in time au #ahit haunted hats au #ahit beta kid #ahit mask kid #ahit moonjumper

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huntersmoon1 · 8 months

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JUST PUTTING THIS HERE!

IF ANYONE IS wondering where the gif in my header is from, it’s from the Netflix movie Damsel. A new favorite of mine.

•Ok I just saw a fan art of Hyoga from dr.stone as a beastman and now I want a similar plot to this but for Hyoga only.

•And instead of a clouded leopard he’s a leucistic leopard of the African variety, no not in the race swapping sense. And on that note you know Tsukasa would be a lion beastman.

•single dad beastman Hyoga has two young cubs, one is leucistic like beastman Hyoga and able to walk around in his beast form but crawl in his beastman form.

•The other melanistic and has brown fur with black rosettes and able only able to crawl on her belly in her beast form and not able to move around at all in her beastman form since she’s only a few days old.

•They dress the same and have the same ability to shift and have the same physical characteristics like the pouch as Jack (see the below pictures) and the life style is the same as with Jack.

•They live in their cozy den deep in the jungle beneath the roots of a large uprooted tree.

•The den is far from any bodies of water to prevent the den being flooded during the monsoon seasons and hidden by tall grasses and flowers to mask his cubs scents from those who would kill his cubs for food, like anything bigger than the cubs that eats meat, sport like poachers and hunters, or to just eliminate future competition like other jaguars, both beastmen and regular jaguars.

•They get sucked through a portal from their cozy den Into the world of dr.stone.

•Beastman Hyoga quickly finds what he deems to be a safe place to use as a temporary den to hide his cubs in while he goes to survey there new environment and go hunting.

•While beastman Hyoga is away from the den Ginro finds the den and the cubs.

•Being the idiot he is, he grabs the cubs and runs back to senku and the gang to show them strange creatures he found.

•Chaos ensues.

———

•Love&deepspace boys Zayne, Xavier, Rafayel. Same plot/concept different characters⬇️.

•original post⬇️.

•ROR JACK AND NOAH SINGLE DAD BEASTMAN AU IDEA! IF YOU WANT TO WRITE IT LET ME KNOW! THIS IS CRACK I KNOW BUT MOST IF NOT ALL MY IDEAS ARE!

•Au single dad jaguar beastman Jack and Noah and their tiny daughters fall through a portal in their world from their cozy den deep in the jungle beneath the roots of a large uprooted tree far from any bodies of water to prevent the den being flooded during the monsoon seasons and hidden by tall grasses and flowers to mask their cubs scents from those who would kill their cubs for food like anything bigger than the cubs that eats meat, sport like poachers and hunters, or to just eliminate future competition like other jaguars both beastmen and regular jaguars.

•They fall through the portal right into the arena while the match between Leónides and Apollo is going on in the RoR world.

•Beastman Jack and Noah and their daughters dress similar to this minus the rope around his neck. ⬇️(The guy in the picture is the good guy I promise.)

•

•But look more like the next pic ⬇️ .

•Jack has albino fur with faint silver rosettes and his daughter from this mating season has brown fur and black rosettes while the older one from the previous mating season has white fur and more visible silver rosettes since she is leucitic instead of albino.

•Noah has melanistic black as night fur with slightly darker black rosettes and his cub has the common golden fur with black rosettes.

•I headcanon that Jack is at least 5 to 10 years older than Noah after think about it for a while so Jack has sired many offspring and has 10 years worth of experience.

•He has successfully raised almost every single one to adulthood except for the cubs from his first three mating seasons.

•He remembers the mistakes he made in the first three mating season out of the 10 seasons he’s been raising his cubs.

•The first cubs drowned during a monsoon that started while he while he was out hunting because the den he chose was to close to a river that’s water level was low before the monsoon began.

•The second was killed by a predator because they stayed in one den for too long and a predator picked up his cubs scent and killed them while he was away hunting.

•He returned to find his cubs dead and half eaten with the killer long gone, killed for food or to eliminate future competition.

•He tracked the killers scent and killed it so it wouldn’t try to make a meal of any of his cubs in the future.

•The third was killed because the den wasn’t hidden well enough and he was followed when he brought a kill back to the den for his cub.

•The next day when he came back to the den after a hunt he found only blood and the scent of a poacher, his cub was killed for sport by a bullet of some sick poacher who thought it would make a nice mantelpiece.

•Jack tracked them down and killed them the next day, the locals knew of his crime and why he was killed because he’d been bragging about his prize the night before. (Think of the animation Wolfsong on YouTube.)

•His cub from the previous mating season is old enough that she can run around and play, unknowingly practicing hunting through play often sneaking up and pouncing on her father or Noah or playing with their tails the way tiger cubs do but is still young enough to be in her fathers pouch and to nurse, not quite old enough to be weaned off his milk but old enough to be introduced to meat, she doesn’t stay in the pouch quite as much as her newborn younger sister but is still in there a lot like when sleeping or nursing or when she’s not playing and wants to cuddle.

•Meanwhile Noah is new to the game and his newborn cub is his first cub of his first mating season so he goes to Jack for advice when he needs it or leaves his cub with Jack when he needs a break or just needs to go hunting. Jack will also leave his own cubs with Noah when he needs a break or goes hunting.

•They can change between their semi furry form and their all animal form like in the picture and they do have tribal markings on various parts of their body’s but their semi furry form has more fur they have fur everywhere but their face,neck,and center of their chest, and Jack and Noah each have a pouch like a marsupial that they keep their daughters in when they’re not out hunting or fighting.

•Although the walls of the pouch are thick and cushioned enough to keep the cubs safe and uninjured even if they get deep lacerations on the pouch or if they fall on their belly from a great height if they have to fight while the cub is in the pouch.

•Beastman Jack and Noah also have four teets inside their pouchs that produce milk for their cubs, like kangaroos since they gotta feed their mammal babies somehow, and the females just give birth and ditch like some species do.

•Their back/lower legs are a fusion of human legs and jaguar hind legs and their faces look human just no human ears, having jaguar ears on top of their heads, their eyes look a little more cat like, and they have whiskers although Jack still has his mustache along with the whiskers. They have retractable claws and long canine teeth.

•(jaguars have the longest canines and strongest bite and muscles relative to body size of all the big cats meaning the tigers bite and muscles are stronger but if the jaguar was the same size as the tiger there would be no competition the jaguar would win hands down.)

•In both forms they are just as flexible as any cat, especially since when they have no access to clean water or if they need to brush there fur, they clean their fur the same way cats do, gotta be able to clean the places humans can’t reach without a back scrubber, and inside their pouch as well as the cubs when their in or out of the pouch, without assistance since they’re mostly solitary, the also have a tongue like a cat backwards facing bristles and all.

•They can speak the human language but also can comunícate like their animal counterparts in both forms for example roaring, growling, purring, chuffing, crying, calling, hissing, exe.

•In the au beastman Jack and Noah are from the males are the ones to raise there offspring for there whole lives and the females have no part in it they just mate,give birth,and they’re gone like some species of animals.

•Their kind are mostly solitary except for fathers and their offspring or siblings or when it’s mating season, with the exception of Jack and Noah who were raised by their mothers together cuz the fathers ditched before they were born, so their mothers couldn’t pass them over to their fathers right after birth.

•

•RoR people postpone the fight to try and get the familiar beastman out of the arena.

•Jack and Hlokk’s reactions to seeing all this on her tv.

•Apollo being the narcissistic god he is and having zero regard for boundaries, sees jaguar Jacks and Noah’s pouches and being the asshole he is just moves at the speed of light and takes out what’s in their pouches just as fast (aka jaguar Jacks and Noah’s tiny beastman cub daughters).

• The younger cubs starts crying while the older one starts wriggling around trying to scratch and bite apollos arm while growling her baby growl and roaring her baby roar cuz they’re scared and confused at very suddenly not being in the warm safety of their fathers pouches.

•They don’t recognize the scent of the person holding them in his hands in a not so comfortable way and in a way that they can’t see who’s holding them.

•Their voices sound like a fusion of a very young jaguar cub and a human baby.

•Jaguar Jack and Noah growl in warning after they ask Apollo politely to give their cubs back and when Apollo doesnt cuz lesser beings dont give Apollo orders, its followed by loud roars and then chaos ensues cuz jaguar Jack and Noah are not having it.

•Later Jaguar Jack and Noah and their daughters are sent to Hlokk’s room and Jack and Hlokk meet the beastmen and their cubs. Jaguar Jack and Noahs cubs nurse inside their pouches cuz their hungry, and because suckling (either for nursing or like when a human baby sucks on a binky) helps babies calm down.

•After a while jaguar Jacks and Noahs daughters come out of the pouches while their fathers are laying down, the younger ones crawling around on their fuzzy baby bellies while the older one looks to her father first in silent question to see if it’s safe to come out, then crouches low while slowly walking around, sniffing the air, wide eyed and curious but cautious after what happen with Apollo.

•The cubs explore their new surroundings and meet Jack and Hlokk.

•

youtube

•This is a very informative about Jaguars living in the jungle. ⚠️ Be warned though there is brief male genitalia shown once or twice because jungle natives I think so watch with caution.

•Not my best edit but here’s a rough idea of how the look in my head. I just noticed I forgot to add a tail.

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meteorites-and-forest-fires · 4 months

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This is based on the 5 leaf clover au by @justtrashperson and @kieshartzishere

I hope you don’t mind if I do a bit of writing based on your AU? I know it’s an older one now but I’m playing a bit of catch up and booooooy do I love this kind of aesthetic

There were other tables of course, any number of games run by dealers wearing hearts on their lapel. Nothing obvious to tell any of them apart, no particular sign that indicated what the popular table should have been. There was something about the dealer in the purple suit, the slight elegance he exuded, the way his heart pin shone a bit brighter and tricked the eye to seem like it was some kind of precious metal, just hidden underneath cheap paint and a gaudy air. There were those who understood, regulars and socialites that were lucky to recognize this random dealer as the owner and manager. The King of Hearts, and master of the gambling table. Those that knew him watched his lithe fingers, waiting for the moment he scammed you, watching for that little flick that revealed the magic trick. Only that moment never came. There was no magic in his fingers, only trust in the games and the deck, and the knowledge that the house would always win.

As people watched the dealer, they were watched in turn. There was no question who was in charge of of the spade-pinned security, no question who ran the pits. It was the way his scarred eye found people the second they even considered cheating, or worse stealing, even as the man continued to do his regular job. His face was bored, but serious, inviting trouble so there would at least be some excitement tonight. People who caught his eye rarely ever did though, and in his off moments, he could be caught staring at the bar, glaring, smiling, anything to rile the King of Clubs and make his own trouble.

The lead bartender wasn’t the kind who people poured their hearts out to, wasn’t friendly or inviting. He took your money and sent you on your way, not quite efficient, but not dismissive either. But the respect the other staff wearing the club pins gave him created a sense of curiosity, not quite mystery, but a depth worth investigating. Despite his dismissive behaviour, people kept coming back for more. He would tell you if your choice was stupid, but his recommendations always were the best, he would laugh if your joke was good enough, but didn’t offer them to strangers. He only really came alive when he spoke with the King of Spades, only showed respect to the King of Hearts, and demanded it from everyone else. And he smiled at his most disorderly customers, pouring drinks long after it was smart, because he knew what would happen when the customers were caught harassing the bar.

The front desk clerk, wearing the diamond pin, like all the other clerks and waiters, warned all of his customers who were changing cash for chips that they should always keep at least one. It was a common enough practice anyway, for patrons of a casino, to hold on to a single chip as a souvenir, or a lucky chip for repeat customers. He was friendly as you gave him your money, cracking jokes and wearing a smile. The same smile he gave you when you had lost all of your chips but one, the same smile he wore when he asked you, genuine and hopeful, if you had any chips to cash in, as though he didn’t already know the answer. His greeting at the door wasn’t to inform people of the customs, it was only ever so he was able to claim that no one, ever, lost all of their money at the Five Leaf Clover.

The reason the win rate was so low, and the reason people kept coming back, were the same. It wasn’t that the King of Hearts cheated, swapping your good cards for bad on the sly and doing the opposite for himself. It wasn’t that the bartender made the drinks too strong, the snacks too salty, compromised your ability to weigh risk and reward. He didn’t bother, at least no more than any other bar trying to make a buck. No, the reason that everyone kept coming back, the reason people were too distracted to pay close attention to how much money you were betting, or what the sly grin on the dealers face meant for your chance of bluffing, that reason was the Joker.

The Joker had a uniform, but gambled with the customers. He sometimes sang, sometimes told jokes to a mic, but what really made people coming back, what really drew their attention, was when he sat at a table across from the King of Hearts and just talked. Their ability to cooperate, to sabotage each other, the way their accents thickened and their jokes become just a little too inside to follow. The Joker would try to predict the next card placed upward on a table, and get it wrong far more than he got it right. He would kick the dealer out of his spot and try to deal himself, deal blackjack with all his cards on the table, to see if people would still risk their money to beat his 18. The people loved the way the Joker would sit at the bar and poke and prod the King of Clubs until they neared a fight, stand in line at the front desk to play short change games with the King of Diamonds. He would stand next to the King of Spades, trying to look intimidating, and the Joker would force his lips into a smile and distract the peacemaker from his job.

The 5 Leaf Clover wasn’t the most popular casino in town, wasn’t the most well known. But those who went, returned with stories, went home with no cash but a wealth of experiences. They told everyone that the entertainment was top notch, convinced their friends that it was worth the risk that even stepping into the threshold held for unwitting pigeons who were unprepared. They let themselves lose money with a smile, all for the sake of the clovers.

#Rtcu #5 leaf clover #Sorry again to bother #I’m gonna force myself to get back into writing one way or another damn it #Irish lads

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