do you deserve to be loved?

Id really like to credit my friend panda for helping me out on editing my story because they noticed mistakes I made <3 besides I'd like to have new ideas so it you guys want me to do something new like, new ships or share your plot ideas it'd be great !! I do oc/yn X any character from any show and game and fluff+nsfw+angst ect!!

First times in a relationship's can be scary especially if everytime you've had sexual contact, it wasn't filled with love you so desperately craved

Husk and angel had formed a friendship after their bonding near the bar that night, it was clear to everyone that there was more than friendship between the two and after awhile they made their attraction be known and a loving relationship blossomed between them but they promised to never let this relationship out the hotel to reach the ears of Valentino, angels boss. Many months has passed since they made it official and they found themselves at the 8 month mark, husk being the awkward romantic he is, he wanted it to be something immensely special for angel just to show how much he genuinely loved him.. Husk examined the stores down the pathways of the somewhat busy area but no matter how hard he searched all he could find was bondage stores, lingerie stores ect; and he didn't want that, he didn't want angel to think he was just like all the rest of the men he had to deal with and additionally, husk wasn't a big.. sex fiend.. sure he got urges but he had boundaries and the thought of leather wear and overly threatening sex felt disgusting to him, so he despised these types of stores..eventually after a long day of trying to search he sighed, he'd been to every ring, even the lust ring, but still he hasn't found what he felt was right for angel, what was he supposed to get for someone that gorgeous? He was down on his luck til he heard two strangers talking down the sidewalk as if they were married and raised his head to look at the imps. One imp had black hair, 'a girl' he noted absent-mindedly, and the other imp had white hair, 'a guy'." 'excuse me? Sorry, I don't mean to listen in on you folks but am I right to assume you're both..?" "Together? Yea we're married' the white haired imp spoke, his voice kind of scratchy that made husks ears twitch ever so slightly, 'great! I need help, me and my boyfriends 8 month mark is comin' up and I can't find anything romantic.. everywhere I look it's just.. sex novels or over-the-top sexual stores.'

The black haired imp girl spoke excitedly, her southern accent bounced off of her husband's demeanor like a bouncy-ball on a whiteboard "Well hi thereee! You're alright to ask, sugar —"

"I'd suggest checkin' out LooLoo Land stores! Even though its a theme park they have the gosh darnedest cutest things, my mox got me a thang from there!' 'christ' husk thought to himself, already he formed a headache solely because of her loud voice but despite it, he thanked her, she was kind enough to help "thanks" *his deep voice grumbled but his expression was as if he were genuinely trying to force an awkward smile and eventually they changed paths and husk found himself on the way to the infamous looloo land, loud blaring music and the sound of kids screaming and crying made husk furrow his brows and groan but it was worth it to find something angel could love..perhaps after an hour of searching he found it.. a stand filled with stuffed animals and one caught his eye immediately.. a white bear with crossed out red eyes stitched in along with round red cheeks at each side of its smile,

he knew it'd be beyond perfect for his angel and he threw a coin at the stand-man, a determined look plastered on his face. Husk picked up the toy-gun and shot water at the wooden stands. No matter the amount of times he hit them though, the standman rigged the game and after draining his coin pocket dry, Husk had enough and tackled the man. Pulling him close by the collar and holding a sharp claw up to his neck. "Give me the fuckin' bear." He growled, and while he would usually never lose his composure, he was not going to let that bear be dangled in front of him. Feeling the man shudder with a nod, he backed away to let him grab his prize; the bear and his money back in full. He loved it, the texture of the bear and the way it felt on his fur made him know Angel would adore it. A proud look made its way to his face subtly and he walked out of the park happily, believing that to be enough from LooLoo land today. he deserved everything. Angel deserved the universe, in Husk's eyes and as he walked, he found his eyes gravitating towards a jumper on the way back home. It was beautiful; the jumper was white with flowers trailing up the sleeves in pink stitching and a heart cutout on the chest and on the back. It looked as if it was made for Angel, with a lighter wallet and a newfound bag in his claws, along with a bouquet of Devil-Eye flowers (Mammon Special!) he made his way back home. Husk smiled as he walked through those hotel doors and stood in front of sir pentiouses big portrait on the wall and sighed. "Wish me luck, buddy." he muttered as he made his way to the second floor of the hotel and faced the door of Angel's room, staring at the picture of his boyfriend and their friends. It made Husk's heart melt and his fur grow hot at the beauty of Angel. with courage that took a few minutes to tame, he twisted the doorknob and opened it to see his Angel sitting with a book in his top hands. He cleared his throat lowly and watched as Angel perked up and smiled, "Whiska's! Ya made it!" he said In disbelief

lord, Angel adored husk more than afterlife itself

He knew Husk was genuine, but a part of him still doubted he'd show up for their 8th month. He was pleasingly surprised to be wrong as he pecked both sides of Husk's face and massaged his fingers into his cheek fluff and slid them up to scratch behind his ears; causing Husk to purr and melt lovingly into his touch and for his leg to ever so slightly start thumping "ah what's this then husky, this fa' mee?" Angel said teasingly, his tone joking to ready himself to be wrong. Angel couldn't believe it, he nervously took the gifts and smiled at the bouquet 'husk' he spoke 'i don't know what ta' say..' his voice seemed much softer as he sat down in his bed, the silk curtains draped up and the pink lighting above set such a pretty tone to the scene.. he placed the flowers down against his bedside table before taking a look at the jumper, sliding straight into it and it fit so perfectly. Husk could barely believe his eyes, all four arms fit so perfectly and angel suited it so well, it made husk feel hot N heavy, his cheeks slightly pink tinted 'i knew you'd like it ange' " he smiled softly just before angels tears slipped, his hand covering one side of his face to wipe his tears.. husk didn't know how to respond, 'aye what's wrong ange'.. do you not like it? I can take it bac-" "no!- no I love it I just.. didn't.. expect it' he admitted with a smile.. the two of his arms connected to his waist wrapped around himself like a self hug.. his heart was racing and in that moment husk was the only one he cared for, the only one he ever wanted to be with and die with.. he placed a kiss against husks lips, but it was soft, like their lips had barley even touched.. and before he could respond again he made contact with the bear husk had 'won' for him and got ecstatic "huska' it looks like me' awh you big-' he immediately wrapped his arms around husk and buried his cheek into his head, his fingertips stroking his cheek.. Husk laughed and held angels back to pull him closer, like this hug wasn't enough contact for him.. in the moment it's like a piece of a puzzle finally clicked and he took a deep breath, pulling away and holding one of angels hand 'i.. want.. you to know I'm ready' he smiled and this confused angel, 'ready fa' what huskie..' he responded like his heart dropped to his stomach 'to be intimate with you' he whispered, his eyes drifting up to meet angels gaze 'oh.. huska' don't force ya'self for lil ol' me.. I can wai-" "no, I want this.. I want you but I don't know.. what, I'm doing.. I'm scared I'll embarrass myself y'know' he sighed as he traced his fingers through his hair to push it back, a huff leaving his lips and his eyelashes fluttering shut to avoid angels stare 'aright then but.. I.. can help, we all start somewhere yaknow?'

It'd been awhile since husk had been intimate with anyone, the last time he did he was alive and walking earth, but this felt so different because he WANTED to be perfect for angel.. so he smiled and took his boyfriends hands, and kissing him, a passionate, gentle kiss that burned straight through with not just love but lust too, for once angel felt genuinely... Turned on by the thought of sex and he slowly shuffled down, propping himself up on his bottom elbows while his other arms hoisted around husks neck, the dim room only lit by the pink lighting above angels bed had made it feel so much more perfect, husk, being the nervous guy he was didn't know where to touch him so instinctively he moved his hands up to hold angels chest fluff and immediately angel pushed back, panting with only drool stringing their lips together, 'shit, I'm sorry' husk said immediately before angel shook his eyes, eyes wide and breath heavy 'nono, husk it's okay I just want expecting it, it's hard to..' husk frowned and lay flat against angel, his head against his chest fluff 'we don't have to do this ange' trust me I'm not a sex-maniac, I'll wait til you can feel safer with this whole thing' he spoke reassuringly, his hands moving up to hold angels cheeks, swirling his thumb just under his eye 'husk, it's fine, I want this but it's hard to.. know what people are gonna do when all I've ever been through was abuse and unconsenting touchy sex yaknow..' 'yea I know sweetheart' husk lifted himself up a little, angels legs around his waist as he peppered soft kisses down his neck towards his arms 'ill be gentle with you my love.. let me show you what love is, trust me, all I ever want to make you feel is my love'

And with that angel smiled and nodded, his head slowly cocking back as a sign of angel giving himself over to husk, at this point they could hear their own heartbeats as well as each others heartbeat, the sensuality raising the heat through the roof as husk slipped off angels shorts..his hand sliding down his hips and down his v-line til eventually he found himself grasping at angels cock, slowly moving his hand in a up and down motion while undressing himself, angels moans felt like music to his ears, knowing he was capable of actually making angel feel good sent knots of love and lust into his gut and he craved so much more..

but at the same time, watching angels face, his brows furrow and his mouth agape, his pretty waist jolting up and his hips bucking into husks touch as if he wanted more friction, god he looked gorgeous like that and husk let his desires take control. He pulled his hand away and slid his arms under angels back with his palms behind angels head, fingers interlocked into his hair before finding himself entering angels hole, a groan leaving his lips while angel wrapped his arms around husk, their bodies close enough to make the heat somehow hotter, angel seemed to grip onto husks fur and pull like he needed even closer so husk obliged and pushed himself up against angel, his head buried in his chest fluff and loud purrs alongside moans escaped his lips, he was quite the sensitive man, not very aggressive dominant, and angel adored it, The shockwaves of love being pumped into angel overwhelmed him, when it was more loving, it just felt better to angel, he let this pleasure be known via his whimpers, moans, cries, whispered begs for more, not just that but his body reacted so strangely.. his legs twitched and perked up sometimes and his hips arched upwards, the spiders hands gently stretching behind husks ears 'good kitty' angel whispered 'fuck, my god' hmmnph.." be cried out quietly all the while husk slowly thrusted into angel, his dick twitching inside angel causing a reaction from both of them, husker tightened his hug like grip on angel, holding him closely 'i love you, i love you, god.. i love you angie..' he moaned in chants, his hips bucking and his hands squeezing his hair, gently tugging at it as he opened his mouth, drooling a little as he did so.

Angel let his head fall back and succumbed to husks movements and words, his eyes slowly drifting backwards and eventually his moans became so loud that they clogged his throat sometimes, he was choking on his own pleasure.. his legs squeezing around husks waist and his hands unable to comprehend where to hold next. He wanted all of husk so he tried to speak through his moans despite the struggle 'i love ya.. t..oo..gh..whiskas" he whined out just as he felt himself release on his own chest..his hand moving up to cover his mouth and muffle his pretty moans.. and the sight of that to husk sent electricity down his guts, and almost like a wild animal, his last thrusts became power filled and he moved his arms from under angel, he found himself squeezing under angels thighs while also lifting them up a little, and let himself vunerabalise, his semen filling angel quickly. He forgot how good it felt to be intimate like that with someone and it was enough to make them both moan while hugging at eachother tightly.. the relaxation setting in while they gently rode their high out together "Christ" husk huffed through a chuckle, slowly pulling away from angel and sitting up, his eyes focusing on the quite red and lovely spider Infront of him.. he finally faced his fear and he did it, he let himself be that vulnerable with someone, "You ain't gonna leave are ya?' angel said almost nervously, despite his broken speaking and loud breathing, there was a sense of seriousness and scarseness to it 'what? No, no, baby, I'm just gonna get ya something to eat.. I ain't gonna just have sex with ya and not treat ya like a prince after' he reassured while standing up, sliding on a dark red robe he left behind the last time he went to angels, a smile forming from ear to ear that made angel feel easy 'ya really doin' that fa' me?' he spoke back as he pulled up the silk bedsheets, not taking his eyes of husk the entire time.

'of course ange, sweetheart, you deserve it' husk responded while leaning in and laying a kiss on angels forehead

NSB (Straud Legacy) Gen 8 Ep. 102: Prank Day Pals

At the cabin the newlyweds had selected, the first morning of their honeymoon started early the day after the Romance Festival.

Jack was too excited to sleep in and roused his hubby bright and early to get started on breakfast. They had a big day of outdoor adventures ahead of them and he couldn’t wait to get going! Since it also happened to be Prank Day Jack also got started bright and early on the fun.

He almost couldn’t believe how easy it was to make Peachy fall for the tall tale of their friend Karwan’s tragic death by dad joke shortly after arriving home. As he laughed uproariously at his own wit his spouse promised to get him back later that day.

Let the prank war begin!

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Peachy was going have a lot of ground to make up as Jack was determined to keep the pranks coming. A sim never had to worry about a broken toilet when their husband could easily Repairo away any damage, and so Jack quickly rigged the bowl to explode as soon as he was finished.

Peachy got quite the unpleasant surprise when he came to relieve himself before getting changed. Now he was also going to need a shower!

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Their first stop of the day was the Crystal Caverns Peachy had read about when researching the area. He was sure Jack would love it in there.

Temporarily losing site of his boy as he scouted for the entrance to the caves, Jack earned another “point” when he jumped out from behind a tall bush, Peachy’s high pitch scream echoing off the surrounding rocks as he jumped straight up in the air!

Heading inside, Peachy finally managed his first prank of the day with some fake bad news of his own. He put on his most serious face as he told Jack about a text from August telling him Paul had been rushed to the clinic after reinjuring his back badly while practicing jumps with Misty, before breaking down in hysterical laughter. Jack couldn’t believe he’d fallen for the trick so easily – today of all days he should have known better!

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The caverns were as mystical and magical as Peachy had hoped. Both men admired the rock formations glistening in the dim light. When they found a communication device Peachy recognized from the attic back home, he dared Jack to attempt contact with his distant alien ancestors.

Maybe, he teased, they’d draw enough attention to get their baby the traditional Sixam way!

Jack wasn’t about to back away from a challenge, and besides, he could think of worse things than a sweet alien child to love and cherish! He brazenly stepped right up to the machine to attempt to connect with the other side.

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In a fantastic mood after the romantic stroll around the wild cave system with his spouse, Jack left pranks behind and focused on shared fun.

He had heard about a section of the nearby deep woods that was supposed to offer fantastic natural views and fishing opportunities. The pair spent the next few hours scouting around, and finally located a promising path hidden in brambles. Along the trail they quickly discovered a pond overflowing with aquatic life and Jack couldn’t resist pulling out his fishing rod to enjoy this slice of nature to the fullest.

That decision turned out to be a big mistake, as the wilderness seemed to want to get into celebrating Prank Day itself, with a large furry surprise.

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A giant bear finishing his own fish nearby suddenly emerged from the bush to express his unhappiness at puny sims “poaching” from his watering hole!

Jack had no time to react, bowled over from behind by the huge beast. Pain tore through his limbs as he was smashed into the rocky riverside by the animal on top of him. Peachy responded rapidly, aiming an Inferniate spell at the bear’s back, as far away from Jack as he could manage. As he’d hoped the giant monster roared in pain, grinding poor Jack into the dirt one last time as it fled into the deep shadows between the trees.

Peachy dashed to his husband’s side. After determining that while everything hurt nothing seemed to be broken, he carefully helped Jack to his feet, supporting him as they made their way back to the rental to rest and recover.

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The rest of their evening was spent resting and recuperating in bed. Jack was disappointed they hadn’t been able to fully explore (and fish) the deep woods, but Peachy promised they’d try again tomorrow, being much more mindful of their surroundings this time!

As he browsed through his social media Peachy was surprised to receive a text from Toni. Denton’s arrival had her and Manny thinking it was finally time to start a family of their own. Peachy showed the message to Jack and he echoed his husband’s excitement. If it worked out right, what better playmate for their respective children than a cousin the same age?

After telling her to go for it Peachy laid down his phone, stole Jack’s book, and rose to hover over him, asking if he felt up to having a little fun before bed. Jack’s answering smile and nod was all the encouragement Peachy needed to end their successful Prank Day on the highest of notes.

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Want To See More? View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

Art

I've always wanted to get back into drawing. I have so many ideas that I can't express like I can music, and I haven't had a huge passion for drawing like I did back in middle school.

“Art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time.” - Jean-Michel Basquiat

I've always wanted to be versatile with my vision. I've really wanted to get into animating either by hand or maybe rig 3D models together, but never found myself having the time for it. Maybe I could take time to learn it, maybe an hour or two out of my day. I wasn't born fluent with the piano, was I?

Felix (Pewdiepie) recently uploaded a video where he drew for 100 days. He started a little bit iffy but importantly his final drawings were really impressive, like on the dot. He's inspiring, practice really does make perfect.

I've been worried about my motivation, ADHD has gotten in my way plenty of times, but where I'm trying to push myself today and tonight I'm hoping that it's not as severe of an issue. Maybe this is what my new years resolution is.

I want to make some kind of webseries, whether good or not it was made by me. I want to put all my talents I accumulated over the years into one beautiful thing, and then another, and then another.

To me, the enjoyment you feel for what you've created overpowers the enjoyment that your viewers feel for what you've created. I've got some way to go now, but don't give up too easily on yourself.

Dead Space - feels great, especially on PS5

Dead Space ended up being a premiere survival horror series that included sequels, spin-offs, comics, and animated films, which were then dropped following Dead Space 3. Returning to the beginning of the story, EA Motive has set out to recreate the original recreation as faithfully as possible, with additional features to heighten the terror. The game starts with a distress message that you got from the USG Ishimura, the planet-breaking ship that is used to extract resources from serious locations. One small team, which includes the engineer Isaac Clarke, acts on the distress signal, and soon they are stuck on a ship full of horrific monsters with no way to escape. The plot is mostly faithful to the original, but it improves on it by providing meaningful insights and fresh new interactions with the characters. The story is also examined in greater depth through treasures and voluntary side-quests, which are carried out with great success.

The narrative is among several areas that gain massively from this method. The story that follows Isaac Clarke and the aging Planetcracker-class vessel USG Ishimura has been preserved in survival-horror culture books, and the new edition wisely chooses not to mess with the plot in any way. The main beats remain intact, and at the core, the mix of conspiracy theories, mystery, sagas, and psychological horror remains as thrilling and captivating as it was fifteen years ago. In the same way, Dead Space makes several important improvements that inject more energy into the narrative. In the first place, unlike the first game, Isaac is a spoken hero, which means that he takes on an active role in the narrative. Instead of passively watching crucial sequences, Isaac converses with characters, reacts to situations, expresses emotion, and becomes increasingly involved in the story. Meanwhile, a great number of scenes have been revamped and revised, all for the better, with the modifications ranging from the simplest, like discussions and dialogue flowing better, to more and more dramatic ones that ramp up the tension in key scenes or change the order of events in other scenes to make the story more memorable. We are one of the leading online suppliers of New Xbox One games.

The fight nevertheless feels satisfying, even as you upgrade your RIG or arms. And there are also plenty of jump scares to be had. But Dead Space has always been more than just jump scares, because the USG Ishimura is still the most terrifying and dramatic thing ever, possibly even more so now.

Large and modest heroes retain more and more dialog that helps flesh out the whole world's stories overall. Thankfully, Isaac's added dialog from his Dead Space remake never lets you feel out of place. The production widened hero roles, and execution never feels as if they're trying way too hard to make specific heroes appear more and more credible and much less general. The most important thing that potential players should appreciate is truly this: Motive Studios has proven successful in making Dead Space Remake the ultimate method of enjoying the very first chapter of Isaac Clarke's adventure. Get the best deals with us and our PS5 horror games.

In terms of visuals, it appears more spooky and enhances the atmosphere of Ishimura. The improved lighting effects and the way that fleshy surfaces glisten at particular angles bring it together. For those who thought the Necromorphs were creepy, they will change appearance whenever they are right up next to your face, trying to eat the face. Improved visuals can also be used in combat because shooting opponents can cause parts of their flesh and bones to break. You must still aim for your enemies' limbs to cut them all off; however, when you miss – which is normal given the circumstances – your shots will give you the false impression that they are causing damage, which increases your frustration in a game like this. Other improvements also enhance the game's gameplay and ease a lot of the frustration that the original experienced. The controls are tight at all times, and your stomps and melee strikes are more appropriate when you want them to be. Zero-gravity areas are much more fun to surf as they allow you to freely move through them without having the camera stuck all the time like before. The map even got an overhaul in 3D, and your location is more aware of routes, pointing anyone toward the next desired destination.

Dead Space is a done remake that not only gives fresh life to an old and much-awaited game but could also pave the way for future installments in the game series, sooner or later. While much of the gameplay will be familiar to those who have played the first game, the significant upgrades and innovations do a lot to keep the experience fresh, modern, and unique. If you're an avid Dead Space fan or new to the franchise, this game is worth the money and time, so long as you have the confidence to go for it. Some predict it will be an early winner of the year.

Weekly Update Feb 10, 2023

Struggling a bit but did some stuff this week still. Main issue was getting my computer fixed, which I was able to do. In the meanwhile I did some sketches on paper, as well as a few after I got my computer fixed.

I made progress on the test animations for the eventual TRG animated, although I have not thrown together any promotional drawings for colosseum yet. More importantly, I have found issues in a number of pieces with the rigs that will need to be replaced. Tim needs one new arm, and Emile needs all of his arms replaced. I hope to fix these tomorrow, although schoolwork will take priority. These should be faster fixes than the legs, although again, Emile will likely need added joint pieces in each of his shoulders. He is the oldest rig and thus the most scuffed.

Animation itself is running smoothly when I have time to work on it. The new tweening method is working wonders, and the old method remains for instances where it doesn’t work, like when adobe decides to break someone’s arm randomly. This saves steps and allows more minimal movements to be much easier, which should make everything smoother and more natural looking. The fan animations are meant to be practices to ease me into animating for eventual original animation, so I am willing to put in more effort than is necessary if it means building skill. Progress on the final test is locked behind making Emile’s new arms, but I’d say is one third done (in terms of frame number, a little more than that). Buying myself time for deciding a proper clip, which has not been set in stone, although I have enough to work with should I finish faster than expected.

The Nintendo direct was this week, and it showed four niche mystery detective-type games: Ghost Trick, DecaPolice, Professor Layton, and Rain Code. I hope they are all reasonably priced, since I’m not so hot on cash right now (surgery is expensive). I do hope they can also help with inspiration stuff, drawing the DecaPolice protagonist has already helped with drawing different face shapes than I’m used to with my style. Expect more of him.

As for OC related projects, not much to share this week. Outline progress was unfortunately minimal, though structural progress on the secondary story is progressing, although my intent was to make more progress towards the primary. Hopefully work on this can be done in my photography class, as the professor has kindly asked me to not animate during lecture (because she doesn’t like the clicking of my mouse, a fair reason).

Inktober 52 was almost missed entirely this week. Next week will likely be the same, due to the homework pileup, though Tomorrow and Sunday buy me time to get caught back up.

The only real OC related thing I did that mattered this week was the lineart test. Any time I’m self conscious about my art I try something new to improve, to which the test greatly helped me get the hang of where to and where not to use sketchy lines. I hope to incorporate this in the test animation as well, though that will be a finishing touch, and the proper movement and expressions should be focused on first. People do seem to still be enjoying my style, despite it being different from most others I see. Nice comments do a lot for my confidence, so I hope to make more content that warrants them.

Spring break is coming up, but also looking to be busy with doctor visits and meetings to arrange living arrangements (both looking to be effectively resolved, I’m not in any danger for a while). I should still have plenty of time to work, but until then, progress on everything will be sluggish, and which project I work on will depend on my mood. Next week I fill try to focus on fixing everyone’s arms, chipping away at the test animation, outline work, art style tests (including fanart probably), and hopefully a TRG Colosseum promotional drawing or a few.

LONELY

We were told to come up with a tittle of a movie that individually we had to animate. The animated movie was supposed to be two minutes long. The title i picked was LONELY and was based off the script I written. It was really had coming up with a storyline because it was all new to me and the aspect of imagining things and making them come true is a bit hard. I sat down and thought about what i really wanted to express. I learnt that emotional movies get peoples attention more than funny movies and this is because its really hard to make people laugh more so in a movie. So this encouraged me to go for an emotional movie. At this point i really had nothing but the moment i started writing down whatever came to my mind, I started putting the pieces together. I scripted down the story and picked the names of my characters but i was still not so sure about the title. My lecturer told me not to worry about the title because you can always get the name as you perfect your script. My script was about a girl and a bird. As the movie goes on you would see how both of them were lonely and the emotional bond that grew between them. I then went a head to draw a few sketches of how my  characters would look like. I had decided that i was going to do my animated movie in 3D\ CGI. So I did a lot of research on 3D character modals to get a clear example.

 To be honest i was scared that I was doing this animation in 3D because i had never modelled a human character before.

 So i sketched out my characters and took them to Maya to start the modeling process. While i was doing the modeling, I was also referring to tutorials on YouTube and this really helped a lot. Of course i encounter a lot of unfamiliar things while doing the modeling but eventually i came up with a model that i liked. 

I modelled both the human character who i named Yasmin and also the bird. I didn't put no feathers on the bird because that would slow down my computer processor more during the rendering of the scenes. while i was doing my character modals, I was creating my visual storyboard that would act as the animatic which would show visually as what i going to do for my final animation. I drew a couple of scenes and put dialogue just to show what exactly was happening in that particular scene. After the storyboard and the animatic i then presented it to my lecturer and then researching on 3D environments. I drew a few environments that included a city park which i had no idea how it was going to look like. I started modelling the environments in different Maya projects and this was helpful because it made my scenes look organized.

 Back to the character modals, I started rigging the modals but i used the human IK rig. This rig is already inbuilt in Maya and you just apply it to your model. I used this rig because i was running out of time and it was going to take me some good time to build my own rigs. Again i used tutorials online to learn how to use this rig and eventually i got a hang of it. 

Then I created blend shapes for both my characters and these were to help to show there mood during the animation. I created blend shapes smile, frown, blinks, raising eyebrows. Blend shapes are very crucial because they add a lot character into your modal when animating. After that I exported my two characters into a folder which would make it easier for me to import them in any scene i was about to animate. I then started animating but during this process i faced a number of problems like my blend shapes were not working as they were suppose to and this really put me down because most the scenes needed facial expressions. I tried finding a solution with my lecturer but he was also unfamiliar with the human IK rig. We couldn't find the possible way to fix this and so i had to keep on animating without using the blend shapes. The second problem i faced was the crushing of the software while i was key framing. This was so annoying because every time it crushed I lost everything I was animating but I solved this by saving every time. After animating all the scenes, i then started rendering them out. The rendering process took so long since the scenes were long and for this reason i only rendered out a few scenes to show how the rendered videos looked like. The rest of the scenes that i didn't render out, I just play blasted them because it was the quickest way.

Then i took the rendered videos into After Effects. Due to lack of time i was able to add effects like lighting, So I just added them to the render que and exported them. After that I imported all  the videos including the play blats into premiere pro for sound editing. I arranged all the scenes together in premiere and added the necessary sounds and finally exported out the final clip. 

Can I request some First date hc's for Karasuno? 🌼

going by jersey number order and then the two managers!

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Daichi Sawamura:

→ i feel like he's a really old fashioned guy

→ he'll show up to your house dressed nicely, and tell your parents that he'll bring you back before the curfew ends

→ he'll most likely take you out for dinner then go to the theater and watch a movie, then drive home together

→ he'll take multiple photos of you and send them all to you for your Instagram or for personal use

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Kōshi Sugawara

→ PICNIC DATE PICNIC DATE

→ the both of you will plan beforehand what kind of food/snacks/aesthetic you're going for, and then he'll go and set it up to surprise you

→ he'll play a Spotify playlist that he made just for you

→ and he'll "accidentally" have WAP in there

→ and he "accidentally" know the entire dance

→ and will "accidentally" dance it for you

→ also if you want this to come true, there's a literal playlist on youtube of this that I ABSOLUTELY live for

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

Asahi Azumane

→ coffee date!!

→ it'll be at one of those really aesthetic cafes with nice sofas so that you two can talk in comfort

→ and maybe a walk around the neighborhood once you both finish your coffee

→ the walk might take a while because every time a person with a dog passes by, he'll ask to pet the dog

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

Yū Nishinoya

→ he skateboards and you can pry that headcanon out of my cold, dead hands

→ he probably either teaches you how to skateboard or if you know how, then takes you around the neighborhood

"Noya, where are we going? We've just been going around in circles?"

"Shh, i know the popsicle vendor is somewhere here, but I somehow can't find it"

"... we passed it two blocks ago"

"whAT???"

→ after getting popsicles, he'll drop you off at your house first before going back to his

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

Ryūnosuke Tanaka

→ he would rather die than admit it but he was really nervous making sure everything was perfect

→ he planned out a little day trip around the city (stops included the bakery, a park, a cafe for lunch, and then a movie)

→ he strikes me as the type of guy to dabble in photography so he would have a pretty nice camera around his neck to take photos of you around the city

→ like he would lie down on the middle of the road in traffic to make sure to get the best shot of you

→ he sends them all to you and probably keeps one of them in a photo frame on his desk to motivate him when he studies

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

Chikara Ennoshita

→ he'll also take you on a day trip, but it's more of a one destination type of thing

→ the place is wherever you expressed the most interest in (ie: the zoo or the aquarium or the gardens, etc)

→ he'll also film parts of it (he won't tell you this yet, but he's planning to compile any and all videos of you to make a short movie/video for your one year anniversary)

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

Hisashi Kinoshita

→ he would probably take you to an ice cream parlor!

→ after eating icecream he would probably take you on a walk around town and buy you a flower

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

Kazuhito Narita

→ baking together!!

→ one of you would probably end up burning something on accident, but it would still be fun

→ some sort of feel-good movie would probably be playing in the background

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

Tobio Kageyama

→ to be honest, he's a bit newer at love in general, so if you were to look at his search history it's literally just

"what do you do on a first date"

"first date best places to go to"

"is it too early to kiss on the first date"

→ and Hinata is of absolutely no help (no surprise there)

→ in the end, Daichi suggested that he go watch a movie with you

→ so he did, you guys ended up watching a movie but Kageyama fell asleep because he got up at 4 in the fucking morning to practice volleyball with Hinata before school

→ he ends up accidentally cuddling/clinging to you (which is absolutely adorable)

→ he wakes up near the last 5 minutes of the movie, and unclings himself from you in an embarassed frenzy, but was relieved to see you were asleep and probably didn't notice (news flash: you were awake but pretended to sleep to save him his dignity)

→ you guys end up texting late into the night after getting home

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

Shōyō Hinata

→ he would take you to the amusement park or whatever state fair is going on locally!!

→ somehow??? he doesn't get lost and can always find you, despite constantly disappearing for the first half of the date

→ you both go on rides together and he does the rope ladder to get you a giant stuffed animal and goes again to get one for himself

"Shoyo, how did you even get up that? twice?? It's rigged to make it hard."

"Oh, I know it's rigged. I purposely built one exactly like it so I could get used to it and practiced on it"

"damn"

→ the entire way home he's smiling ear to ear and waves you goodbye

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

Kei Tsukishima

→ for your first date you guys go get coffee and walk around and come back home

→ the next day when Tanaka pesters him about it he's confused

"how was your date?"

"What date?"

"??? did you not go somewhere with y/n?"

"I did go somewhere...we went to the coffee shop."

"mhm, and??"

"and what?"

"AND??? you're dating them!!"

"oh shit-"

→ so he apologizes and asks to go on another "first" date, to which you agree

→ you guys end up going on a study date at the library followed by another cup of coffee

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

Tadashi Yamaguchi

→ he would take you to a place like color-me-mine and have a duo spotify playlist to play while painting

→ at the end, he would take you to get a meal at a local restaurant or cafe before walking you back home

→ when you get it back a few weeks later, he would the one he painted to you as a gift

→ it's a beautifully painted coffee cup in your favorite aesthetic

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

Bonus!:

Hitoka Yachi

→ Yachi was talking with Kiyoko about where to take you because she wanted it to be perfect

→ Tanaka overheard and suggested a beach trip, to which she agreed was a good idea

→ however, what was not mentioned was that Tanaka and Nishinoya would be following along

→ they promised to be quiet and "unnoticeable" but that meant that they were wearing terrible disguises (Tobiyolo Swaggeyama part 2)

→ the trip overall was hilarious and you both had a good time and fell asleep on the ride back home (Tanaka got a photo but it ended up being shaky because Saeko was driving them home, but it was a picture nonetheless)

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

Kiyoko Shimizu → she would probably take you on a light bike ride around the scenic part of town

→ of course, she would take photos of you whenever you asked

→ you would stop by a cafe to cool down before heading over to a pet cafe of some sort

→ the entire event would be lighthearted and fun

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

hope you enjoyed it!!

So today, it's cartoon posting AND triple cartoon review! During this month I've watched a couple of series that I will leave my thoughts on as I do when cartoon posting happens, and I'm planning 2 watch more soon as I find more content to watch so expect more!

those series, today, are:

The Ghost and Molly McGee:

Maya and the Three:

and Metal Family:

before you continue, these reviews contain spoilers of each series, so if u wanna go completely blind, go check them out before reading this! TLDR they're all great and I recommend them.

Spoilers ahead!

The Ghost and Molly McGee:

This one was pretty much felt like a refresh from the deep and dark plots like Elliot from Earth did in Cartoon Network, just it's Disney this time.

It's about a girl named Molly McGee who, instead of being cursed by Scratch the ghost, accidentaly makes her curse him instead, so, Scratch, who just wanted to live alone and scare people to stay alive in his ghost world, has to stay forever with Molly unless she leaves the house she just has moved on permanently. Molly wants to make friends and bring happiness to her new town, Scratch doesn't give a shit and just wants to eat and scare people for his own benefit.

First things first, the series animation is VERY good, it's puppet/rigged animation, but it's smooth, well made, fluid and expressive, also the juxtaposition of Molly being quite saturated over the opaque, grayer town it's a nice detail.

From the characters themselves I really liked Molly and Scratch's dynamic, and how he's slowly getting softer and more caring thanks to Molly and yes how he's also self aware. I like most characters, Libby and her friendship with Molly, Molly's parents and her brother, Molly's grandma... tho I dislike Andrea, and all the obsessed TOH fans calling it a Lumity moment with her and Molly, bitch she literally bullies and outcasts people into saying her name right which it isn't even right on the first place, why it should matter?!

Anyway, I wanna see how the plot progresses, if more people are going to know about Scratch, it just hooked me up! I really liked it and I think you will too!

Maya and the Three:

As you can see from the pic, ASTOUNDING TOP TIER visuals, Jorge Gutierrez exceds himself again, just like in The Book of life.

Anyway, aside from that, this about Maya who is meant to be the princess of Teca, but like her brothers, her father and once her mother, she wants to be a warrior instead, and be part of a certain profecy that is meant to fight and end with the monsters from the underworld who are at war with humans in the overworld.

Because this looks so astoundingly polished, fluid and also it's 3D animation, many people (myself included) thought it was a movie and it was going to be, well, another Brave kind of deal. It's not. It is really not, this is more well constructed and darker, tho Maya was kind of a brat sometimes but I think that's part of the whole point with her and well, her story.

I really liked the characters and their stories, tho Jorge Guiterrez gets kinda same-y with his female protagonists and ESPECIALLY children, all character design is GORGEOUS! The many details, the twisted remarkable Guiterrez style twists and the exagerated shapes on the characters... it's just really good and I especially liked the setting, colors and the many MANY influence of ancient mesoamerican cultures, and being one of the first series having this theme, it really, really did justice, if it wins a prize or whatever for visual development it deserves it.

Story telling wise, it was cool and interesting, some parts went too fast and not knowing what's going on, but everything else was fine, I just was annoyed I didn't really see how Maya and Zatz got finally together after winking many times and each other, I was like wait what they're together now? sheeeesh! And also I counted a total of 7 pairings in 9 episodes, all straight, damn, that amount of romance.

But on and all it's good, I really liked it, go give it a watch!

Metal Family:

This one's more obscure and it's a Youtube series as well, but it should be more popular like Hazbin Hotel is. The premise is simple at first, it's a Russian webseries about a family that like's metal, like it says in the title! It follows the life of Glam, Victoria, Dee and Heavy, the members of the family, all with different stories, personalities and intentions.

Animation? It's made with flash and so it can look cheap, but it's no doubt the animators really worked hard on it, it looks smooth, expressive and fluid! very good!

The character design is also good, and they did a great job of not making the kids just look like a combination of their parents. More on that, LOVE their dynamic! The smartness and uncanniness of Glam, the loud and strong traits of Vicky, and how it passed to both of their sons, who are their own people in the end.

Scenery and storytelling sometimes gets uninteresting and slow on the first episodes and well voice acting was a lil weird sometimes, but later on, on the final episodes of the first season, storytelling and voiceacting PEAKED, (a bit of a warning before continuing, this part of the series might contain dark themes like abuse, so, you're adviced!) it almost made me cry, thank god Glam left his abusive ass father and is with the Metal Family now, as he said himself, "I chose a family, one without you." It's probably cuz the budget of the series got bigger and bigger as it got more popular, but it's well deserved.

I watched the official English dub as I know very little Russian, and it was great as well! Both the Russian original and English dub sound amazing.

And I really like how the Metal Family series did an animated Q&A with each of the family members and how they changed lipsync on the english version to fit, that was really cool!

Overall, recommend it 100%, very very good, check it out!

Yeah, remember the good old days when Players were hunted down like animals, they would all get erased if none of them completed the mission, Reapers personally had to get their hands dirty with killing them or face erasure themselves, people were eliminated on a daily basis, you had to put the thing that mattered most to you on the line just to play, losing it forever if you lost, it was only you working with just one other person for the sake of your survival and if one of you died, the other one only had 7 minutes to live? Yep, those were the days...

Honestly, if it wasn’t for the Ruinbringers and the possibility of the game being rigged, I’d say this new way of doing the Reaper’s Game was a very fair and much less barbaric way of going about it. That said, there were some elements of the old system that really challenged Players in very meaningful ways. There’s a best of both worlds somewhere in here, I reckon. Still, it’s a little hard to feel sympathy for Uzuki longing for the old days when she got to hunt people down. Bit messed up there, girl. Still it’s gotta suck having lost most of the people you used to work with. My sympathies there. But hey, at least you now get to work with Kub-nah, yeah, sorry. That’s a shame.

Wow, Uzuki first expressing longing for Neku to return and then also doubting he would actually stack up to this mysterious all-powerful leader of the Ruinbringers. Dang, that’s a lot in a few different ways. But again, the respect that old faces drop on Neku’s name! I never tire of it.

I’d love it if Neku was gone because he’s just spent the last 3 years level-grinding and he shows up late in the game to just one-shot everything.

Might as well check Uzuki’s profile since she appeared out of the ether here. Sure enough, she’s right next to Kariya! Can’t believe I was this close to meeting her in this game this whole time.

And as Nagi commented earlier, she appears to be Kariya’s boss now, which doesn’t remotely suprise me and I was honestly expecting it. It honestly is quite sad that she was so determined to give the Reapers a better work environment at the end of the last game and wanted to work her way up the ladder to fix things, only for something to crash the system in some way, it seems, snatching that goal away from her. She seems stuck in some way, but it’s encouraging to read that she’s still intent on becoming the top dog. If she’s not at least the Conductor’s personal aide, if not the Conductor herself, should there ever be another TWEWY game, I’ll be massively disappointed.

halloween pt.3

Small Halloween drabbles with Aizawa, Toshi, Hizashi, and Fatgum.

Hizashi’s is for a mature audience. I realized how horrible it would be to go shopping with him. He’s definitely the type to get distracted by everything that you have to keep pulling along to get your shopping done.

Aizawa Shouta - Halloween Fair

“Let’s go down there.” You pointed to the branching street.

Aizawa took a long swig of his beer before chiding, “We’re not going to waste money on any games.”

“Sho, come on. You said you wanted to come with me but you don’t want to try anything.”

“They’re rigged and the prizes aren’t even good.”

You grabbed his hand, stopping him in the middle of the flowing crowd. “If we’re not going to do anything, let’s just go home. We’ve already walked everywhere and petted all the animals, anyway.”

He stared at you. Eyebrows weighed low. Dark eyes reflected twinkling lights. Only he could manage an incredibly grumpy expression surrounded by cute mermaid and fairy costumes and glittering jack-o’-lanterns. 

Heaving a long sigh, he glared at the stuffed animals in the distance. “Two games.”

“Each?”

“In total.”

You smiled wide and led him down the street. A wall of balloons caught your attention. Orange and black balloons laid out a pumpkin design with purple ones enclosing it. A fair amount had been popped. “I’ll play this.”

“It’s the easiest game here.”

“Which is why I’m choosing it,” you whispered so the worker didn’t hear. She handed you three darts. You quickly and rather easily popped three balloons.

“You can choose from those items,” the worker said, motioning to the right side.

The giant bat stuffed animal was the only real choice. Its wings fit around your shoulders and Velcroed together in the front. You wore it like a shawl.

Shouta just glowered at it. You squeezed his hand, smiling and requesting, “Can you try to have some fun? If not for you, for me?”

“I don’t see how any of these games can be fun. Most depend on dumb luck and the very few that require skill don’t offer good prizes. It’s how they take your money.”

“Try this one. There’s skill in it.” You walked to the apple bobbing game. “Looks like a new group is about to go. Join them.”

He kept his groan to himself. A buff man was talking with, or more like to his girlfriend, about using his skillful mouth to win. His gaudy machismo grated almost everyone around him.

“Dumb place to brag about that,” you muttered, noting the kids running by.

Shouta finished his beer, then agreed with a smirk, “Cherry stems are better at proving that anyway.” He tied his hair back and handed over his cellphone and wallet. “Hold these.”

He lined up at the basins right beside the big guy. The worker explained they couldn’t use their hands and the first to catch one in their mouth, won. The contestants crossed their arms behind their backs. A whistle blew and everyone’s head dipped into the water, splashing and soaking themselves.

But Sho waited, calmly watching the apples float and spin. He bowed for one. His nose and chin barely ducked under the surface to swiftly pop back up, holding an apple by the stem. The worker blew his whistle, congratulating him as the winner. A bag filled with colorful objects was thrust into his arms.

Lifting the bottom of his shirt, flashing his abs, Sho dried his face and returned to you. He handed over the prize: a bunch of 3D puzzle cubes and toy puzzle games.

Despite knowing he didn’t like PDA, you gave him a peck on the cheek. And you couldn’t help but smile overhearing the buff man accusing him of cheating. You’d rather deal with a grumbling and grumpy Shouta than someone who’s way too into it like that guy.

Yagi Toshinori - Haunted Hedge Maze

A blast of air rocketed out. You spun, hiding against Toshi. Despite his laugh, you felt his hand shaking on your back and his heartbeat quickening. “It was only an air cannon, sweetheart.”

You glimpsed out from the safety of his chest. No monster or man stood on the path. You muttered to yourself, “Okay, alright, I’m good.”

“Let’s go. The faster we walk, the faster we get out of this.”

“Yeah.” You stayed flush behind him, holding his hand, letting him lead. Beams shot into the night sky from all over, giving a little light. The dirt walkway was barely visible under the smog.

“Left or right?”

A yelp came somewhere from the right. His shoulders stiffened for a millisecond. You answered, “Definitely left.”

“Definitely.”

Something popped out from the hedge, growling and crackling and dripping liquid. You tucked into his shoulder blade as you walked past the monster. It glared then lurched forward. You pushed on Toshi’s back, “Go, go, go!”

The corner opened to a spacious area- definitely not the end. Little girls danced around in circles, all singing different nursery rhymes. Their white dresses splattered red with blood. When you took a step, they stopped, turned, and started.

“Just walk away,” you whispered.

He nodded, slowly shuffling to a new path. Right as he was about to step over the threshold, a ghost vaulted down from the hedge’s arch. The girls shrieked. You turned, seeing them rushing at you.

Toshi gripped your arm and pulled you to another pathway. A few other demons and doctors jumped out, scaring you each time. Your heart began to beat a little too fast, fearing you were lost.

But Toshi didn’t stop. He kept his hold and hurried forward, eventually rounding a corner that revealed the end. Relief smacked your chest. You could breathe and took the finish line’s safety to kiss him deeply. 

Fingers dug into your forearm, shaking more than before. He asked when you broke the kiss, “Are you alright?”

“Are you?” you said, half breathless, half laughing.

“I’m okay.” He looked at the Haunted Mansion’s front doors. “Do you want to go in there next?”

You scarcely made it through the hedge maze, but if he truly wanted to go through the next part of the haunt, you would. You croaked, “Yeah.”

Blue eyes snapped to you. “Are you sure?”

“Are you?”

A group of teens walked out giggling. They complained about the ‘lack of horror’ and mentioned heading to a nearby restaurant.

Toshi cleared his throat, “I could go for some food.”

“Me too. Let’s go.” You scurried back to the car, more than ready to leave.

Yamada Hizashi - Costume Shopping

Nothing caught your eye in any of the rows and racks. Hizashi’s laughter came from another aisle. He popped out, holding a racy maid costume, chuckling, “You’d look so sexy in this. Try it on!”

“No.” You grabbed it and hung it back on the rack. “If I’m going as sexy anything, I’m going as sexy Present Mic.”

Arms embraced your waist. Lips kissed and nipped your neck. You sighed his name, trying not to get distracted like he’s been the entire damn day. “I’d rather not get it on in a witch shop.”

“It’s a metaphysical shop,” he corrected. 

“Whatever. We’re just here for costumes. Have you found anything good?”

“No.”

“Well, we’re screwed then. We’ve checked everywhere else.”

“It’ll be fine.”

He continued his kissing while you searched the hanging outfits, hoping just one was good enough to wear, but it was all sexy nun, sexy clown, and sexy Pikachu. It wasn’t too much to ask for a decent costume. Or at least something that’s actually sexy, not a children's video game character.

Hands rubbed down your hips, clearly in want. You sighed, “Go try to find something.”

“Alright,” he sulked away. But he scurried back thirty seconds later, smiling as wide as he could, holding a green cylinder with spirals. “What about this?”

“What the hell is it?”

He read the sticker, “A six-inch, Reiki infused, jade dildo that increases love-”

“Hizashi.”

“- and nurturing, and stimulates and aids in emotional-”

“Hizashi.”

“- release. It also boosts fertility and balances bodily fluids.” His eyebrows bobbed up and down as he smirked at you.

“Hizashi, did you find a costume?”

“Oh no, I got distracted in the sex toy section.”

“You were gone for a few seconds. Costume shopping shouldn’t be this hard,” you grumbled, walking the rest of the aisle.

He followed, hugging you again, kissing your shoulder. “Don’t stress about it, baby. We’ll find something.”

“The party’s tonight and unless you’re going as a sex enthusiast, we don’t have anything to wear.”

His head snapped up. And you realized you shouldn’t have given him the idea because he ran back to the sexy maid dress. “I’m totally going as a sex enthusiast.”

You laughed, “You think you can fit your shoulders in that dress?”

“I’ll make it work. I’ll educate people on sex safety and give out free orgasms.”

“You’ll give me free orgasms. No one else gets you.” You kissed him.

“Oh, here!” He picked up something from the floor. It was a gray headband with mouse ears. “You can wear your gray dress and those fishnet stockings with the lace,” he hummed, pulling your waist against him. “And that cute, little pink bow you wear for me whenever I ask because you’re such a good-”

“Are you guys gonna, like, buy somethin’ or just keep makin’ out?” The worker blew a giant bubble with her gum.

“Sorry.” You took the items from Hizashi. “We’ll take these.”

Taishiro Toyomitsu - Making Candies and Cookies

Tai meticulously spaced out the globs into four rows, measuring their size and roundness till they were perfect. When it was filled, he took out another baking sheet.

“What do you need that for?”

“Oh, there’s more.” He tilted the bowl down. A huge amount of cookie dough still remained. “I quadrupled the recipe. Gonna make seventy-two!”

“Tai, we don’t need seventy-two cookies.”

“I do.”

“We already have two pies, fudge, brittle, and a truckload of whoopie pies. I think we have enough,” you laughed.

“Nah. I found a good recipe for peanut butter bark. Looks good.” He pulled a recipe from the top of the microwave, handing it to you as he finished pouring the cookie dough. “Get the stuff out, babe. We’re making that next.”

Pans and crumbs scattered over the counter. Foil and containers were running low. Silverware lumped in the sink. All the snacks and desserts were arranged on the table. As much as you enjoyed sweets, you weren’t confident in yourself to finish all of them.

“We’re going to be sick come Monday.”

“We’ll deal with it then.” He kissed your forehead on his way to the sink. 

You gathered the ingredients. The chocolate chips melted quickly. As you poured it, Tai kept trying to smudge some on your arms or nab the candies before you could use them. You fended him off each time and sprinkled peanut butter cups, toffee, and candy over the melted chocolate.

The white chocolate was next. Right when you were about to drizzle it, a finger sunk into it, gathered a globule, and moved to smear it on your cheek. You grabbed his arm, laughing, “Tai, don’t.”

“You just need a little right there.”

He poked your nose. Between your giggling and his strength, you struggled to hold his arm away. 

“Trust me, baby. I know what’s best for you. It’ll look pretty.”

“No-” Fingers tickled your side. You tried dodging it, but he followed, ultimately plastering your face with the chocolate. His mouth landed next, smooching and licking it up through your laughing.

You scooped some onto two fingers and smeared it over his forehead. It clung to his hair which rubbed off on yours as he continued tickling your sides. He wasn’t going to release you until you were nearly peeing your pants.

Wuko in the comics

Welcome to my first post discussing Wuko in the LoK comic books!

This first post will be discussing Turf Wars- which unfortunately does not feature Wu. But there are lots of excellent Mako moments, and there are some major plot points that carry over into the next comic trilogy.

Turf Wars is the first LoK comic trilogy released after the finale. Though it was released two and half years after the finale aired, it picks up right where we left off. While the creators confirmed after the finale aired that Korrasami was canon, the last moments of the animated series were a little ambiguous (on purpose, since this was a time when queer representation was just not considered "acceptable" in children's media-it was truly the only way they could get away with it). The comics definitively remove all ambiguity. Turf Wars features multiple frames of Korra and Asami kissing, holding hands, and coming out to their friends and family. 

The overarching plot of Turf Wars is a conflict over the land upon which the new spirit portal sets. There is also conflict between rival Triad gangs, the Triple Threats and the Creeping Crystals, over turf in Republic City following the chaos of Kuvira's invasion. These two sets of turf wars overlap when a business tycoon hires the Triple Threats to secure the spirit portal for him by driving others off. The new Leader of the Triple Threats, Tokuga, is attacked by a spirit defending the portal, causing him to gain a dragon-like appearance and a new agenda-seizing control of all Republic City. In the midst of all this there is a refugee crisis, a presidential election, and Korra and Asami trying to navigate their new relationship once they return to the real world with all their responsibilities.

Notable plot points and character developments:

Korra and Asami canon is confirmed (repeatedly)-They come out to family and their friends

Business owner Wonyong Keum, who owns the land upon which the new portal sits, demands everyone vacate so he can turn it into a tourist attraction for profit-prompting Korra to enter the Avatar state to temporarily drive him away.

An unhappy spirit requests Korra closes the portal to prevent exploitation of the spirit world.

Bolin joins Mako as his rookie detective partner.

Zhu Li is running efforts to care for refugees who lost their homes during Kuvira’s attack and teams up with Asami to begin rebuilding homes for everyone displaced.

Tokuga is introduced as the leader of the Triple Threats, fighting for control of the streets with Jargala, the leader of the Creeping Crystals.

Kya reveals she is queer and gives us a history lesson on the context of LGBTQ+ history in the world.

Tokuga is attacked by the afore-mentioned spirit and his right arm and half his face become dragon-esque.

Raiko is a colossal idiot. He is way too focused on getting reelected and making his decisions based on what his campaign advisor suggests, rather than just, you know, governing his city. He calls the military to occupy the portal, prompting the Airbenders to peacefully protest.

Zhu Li runs against Raiko for the presidency. She rallies more protesters to protect the spirit portal while her husband films her for his newest project- a “docu-mover” which he presumably uses to influence the election. 

Asami and Keum are kidnapped by Tokuga and forced to make a poison gas device bring the city under Tokuga’s control.

The Krew manages to save the day of course, thanks to Asami’s wit, Korra’s unstoppable stubbornness, and back-up from Bolin and Mako. Except Mako, bless him, says he’ll “take care of Tokuga”, and then promptly loses him.

Tokuga mysteriously disappears into the spirit world.

Zhu Li wins the presidency.

Korra and Asami share a lovely, romantic moment where they exchange their first “I love you”s at the conclusion of the comic.

Mako scenes

There is no Wu in the Turf Wars comics (Unless you count one line of dialogue where it is mentioned that the Earth Kingdom is sending supplies to help the refugee situation) - however, there is plenty of Mako! Mako’s primary role in this series is as a detective trying to find and stop the Triads from waging their turf war in the city.

Our first scenes with Mako shows him back to being a detective- and his brother is his partner. He doesn’t seem super thrilled to be working with Bolin, but I think it’s just because he knows how his brother is- not that he doesn’t want to spend time with him. They are trying to track down the new leader of the triple threats and control gang activity. Mako’s arm is still in a sling, he’s got his usual brooding grumpy facial expression, and his hair is spiky again! He and Bolin arrest two-toed Ping and try to interrogate him. Two-toed Ping is weirdly proud of Mako and Bolin for rising up from being “nobodies” to a couple of “bigtime cops”.

They catch up with Korra and Asami, and the four of them are alerted by Jinora that the Triple threats are attacking the Airbenders that were meditating at the portal. Asami gets hurt in the battle and she and Korra share a kiss in front of everyone:

Look at Opal’s sweet face. She looks like she’s barely containing her excitement and is maybe squealing a bit, and she’s looking directly at Bolin which I think is a sweet moment to show their relationship. Bolin calls dibs on the first double date.

Mako probably needs time to process the information....

Mako and Bolin do some detective work to try and find Tokuga. There is an interesting scene where they are questioning Scoochy (We saw him in the first season, he’s the kid that told Korra and Mako the Bolin went to do some work for the triple threats before getting captured by equalists) Bolin tells Mako they should do “good cop, bad cop”, with Bolin being the good cop. Mako gets annoyed, and Bolin asks if he’s grumpy because his exes are dating. Mako insists he’s cool with it- though he’s got a distressed look on his face. They catch up to Scoochy and Bolin actually loses his temper and is rather menacing. Mako pulls Bolin back and genuinely connects with Scoochy- relating to his past, pushing him to do the right thing and help others. I really liked this moment because it shows how much character growth he’s had when you compare the way he treated Kai in season 3. (They are ultimately unsuccessful and Scoochy’s tip leads them to a room rigged with explosives- but I don’t think Scoochy knew that, I think he was fed false info).

There’s another touching scene, after Asami is kidnapped, where Mako notices how upset Korra seems as everyone is trying to form a plan to stop Tokuga. He steps aside to check in and see how she’s feeling. He comforts her’ empathizes with her, and reassures her that they are going to find Asami. At this point he seems to have fully processed that they are together and seems to fully accept it and is very supportive. Not easy considering the awkward position he’s in as both their exes. In this scene, Mako also informs Korra that he can’t firebend with his injured arm.

Mako and Bolin helps Korra to find Asami by requesting help from Jargala- in spite of the fact that Chief Beifong told them not to… They show up for Korra and Asami even if it means risking their jobs. They team up and fight the bad guys together, just like the old days.

We see many examples of how bad the damage is from Mako’s injury in the Colossus. He can’t bend with his left arm, it’s in a sling almost the whole comic, and he really doesn’t seem to be at the top of his game. He told Bolin he would take care of catching Tokuga, but apparently couldn’t and lost him. Mako’s injury is pretty bad and it’s probably really frustrating.

At the end, Bolin decides to quit the force (surprise. The guy loves to hop from calling to calling!). He makes a big dramatic speech to Mako, talking about how it’s time they go their separate ways. Mako is like “Um I’m going to see you at home in like two hours”, so it sounds like they are living together.

What all this might mean for Wuko

So now I’m going to try to tie things back into how all this affects the potential of Wuko- whether that’s for headcanons or fics or whatever- and just try to give you an idea of what this comic means for Wuko shippers.

Wu is governing in the Earth Kingdom right now. It is mentioned by Zhu Li that the Earth Kingdom sent supplies, so one can assume Wu has taken his place on the throne and the Earth Kingdom is in a stable enough position to be sending supplies to aid another nation. Nothing is mentioned about efforts to transform the Earth Kingdom into a democratic nation (we’ll get to that in the Ruins of the Empire comics).

Mako’s primary relationships that are explored are with his brother and with Korra. His relationship with Bolin is just as it always is. He loves his brother even if he is a little exhausted by his upbeat, enthusiastic attitude. We build up on his final interaction with Korra from the animated series and continue to firmly establish them as friends and amicable exes. Interestingly, we don’t get any meaningful Mako and Asami interactions. When he is comforting Korra, he relates to her by remembering how worried he was when Korra was kidnapped by Amon. He doesn't try to say “Yeah I’m really worried about Asami too”, which, to me is bizarre because he and Asami are friends too, right? I don’t know if we should read too much into it though- most likely it was just a writing choice that we aren’t meant to psycho-analyze- but it could also mean he is being careful with his words so that Korra doesn’t wonder if he still has feelings for Asami. The love triangle is completely resolved and Mako is out of the picture romantically with either of them and has no lingering romantic feelings. In other words, he is 100% ready available for a relationship with someone else.

The scene where Kya gives us a history lesson establishes how LGBTQ+ people are viewed in the world of LoK. In short, Korra and Asami are fully supported by their friends and family, and even their enemies acknowledge their relationship without any homophobic tones. The closest we get to homophobia is Korra's father, who, after expressing his happiness at their relationship, warns Korra to be cautious going forward because not everyone will be as understanding. Kya gives us a quick lesson on how same-gender relationships are viewed across the nations: The water tribe, being a patriarchal culture, expects discretion. The Earth Kingdom is not particularly accepting-Kya says that Avatar Kyoshi was bisexual but couldn't affect "real change" and that the earth kingdom is the slowest to accept change and is also militarily repressive (full disclosure I have not read the Kyoshi comics, maybe there is additional insight in those?). And in the fire nation, Sozin made same-gender relationships illegal when he took power (I hope Zuko undid all that when he became Firelord). The air nation is the only one that seems truly accepting-Kya paints a picture of total acceptance and says that Aang was supportive when she herself came out. Korra is worried that maybe her father was right, but Asami points out that a lot has changed over the years and everyone seems accepting, especially in Republic City. 

I think what we can take away from this as far as Wuko goes- is that in Republic City, same-gender relationships are not much of an issue, while in the Earth Kingdom it could be viewed negatively. One could make a case that Wu might have cause to be closeted, while Mako might not. (Feel free to reject this history canon and substitute your own. I’d just as soon say that no one in the avatar-verse cares if you aren’t cis or het).

In conclusion. Mako is just a guy trying very hard to be a good, supportive friend to his exes who are now dating each other. He loves them (platonically) he loves his brother, he’s kind and has matured a lot, but he still always has a grumpy look on his face so it’s time for him to move on and get together with Wu.

Well, that’s Turf Wars. I did cram the plot of three comic books into one post, so I certainly did not hit all the details. If you feel I missed something crucial, feel free to reblog with your own takes. Next I’ll discuss Ruins of the Empire, in which we get lots of Wu and potential Wuko moments, a sizable helping of angst and even some Wu & Korra friendship! RotE is a really fun comic trilogy and I’ll be breaking it down into multiple posts. Thanks for reading everyone!

Wuko In RotE part 1

Wuko in RotE part 2

Y/N L/N AND THE HALFBLOODS

Percy Jackson X Reader

-Y/N L/N met Percy Jackson and everything was now ruined.

CHAPTER 16: Mini Elvis

The war god was waiting for us in the diner parking lot. "Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed." "You knew it was a trap," Percy hissed. Ares gave me a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV." Taking the shield from Percy I shoved it at him. "You're a jerk." Annabeth and Grover caught their breath. Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back. "See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas." The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which I could read only because it was reverse-printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS. Percy said, "You're kidding." Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job." He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to Percy. Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuff Oreos. Percy said, "I don't want your lousy—" "Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving him his best red-alert warning look. "Thanks a lot." I could see Percy gritting his teeth. It was probably a deadly insult to refuse something from a god, but I also didn't want anything that Ares had touched. Reluctantly, he swung the bag over his shoulder. I looked back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now. The waitress who'd served us dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt us. She dragged the fry cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of us. Great, I thought. We'll make the papers again tomorrow.

I imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAWS BEATS UP DEFENSELESS BIKER. "You owe us one more thing," Percy told Ares, trying to keep my voice level. "You promised me information about our parents." "You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "They're not dead." The ground seemed to spin beneath me. "What do you mean?" "I mean Percy's mom was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept. As for yours, I saw them myself. Upstairs with the big guys. Why do you think you're causing one of the biggest uproar up there? They're refusing to tell who your parent is. No matter how much cut." He smirked. "What...?" Percy and the others must've seen something as they all held me back. "What are they doing to them?" I could feel the ground shake as Percy's grip on me tighten. We'll save them... calm down. Not the hero. Us. So calm down. "Calm down Y/N." Percy whispered. The ground stopped shaking and took a deep breath. "I will make you all kneel." I said. He looked at me confusedly. Then he shrug it off then laughed, "Oh yeah? can't wait, kid." Percy gripped my shoulder. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues." Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. I felt a hot wind in my hair. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back." He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street. Annabeth said, "That was not smart, Percy." "I don't care." "You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god." "Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but ..." He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck. "If we're taking the zoo express," Grover said, "we need to hurry." I didn't like it, but we had no better option. Besides, I'd seen enough of Denver. We ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big rig, closing the doors behind us. The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter. The trailer was dark inside until Percy uncapped Riptide. The blade cast a faint bronze light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals I'd ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some weird antelope thing I didn't know the name for. Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL! Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur. "This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?" He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes, and we would've helped him, but just then the trucks engine roared to life, the trailer started shaking, and we were forced to sit down or fall down. We huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but I pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, I had a feeling we might look a lot better to the lion than those turnips. I found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then Percy used Riptide to drag the mismatched food out of their cages. He gave the meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope. Grover calmed the antelope down, while I used my knife to cut the balloon off his horn. Annabeth wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but we decided that would be too risky with the truck bumping around. We told Grover to promise the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then we settled in for night. Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened our bag of Double Stuff Oreos and nibbled on one halfheartedly; I tried to cheer myself up by concentrating on the fact that we were halfway to Los Angeles. Halfway to our destination. It was only June fourteenth. The solstice wasn't until the twenty-first. We could make it in plenty of time. On the other hand, I had no idea what to expect next. The gods kept toying with me. At least Hephaestus had the decency to be honest about it—he'd put up cameras and advertised me as entertainment. But even when the cameras weren't rolling, I had a feeling my quest was being watched. I was a source of amusement for the gods. And it wasn't helping knowing they're hurting my parents. Here I was risking my life for them and what are they doing? "Hey," Percy cooed, "We'll save them. No matter what. I promised you that." "Okay." Percy pulled me closer until I was resting on him. Annabeth cleared her throat. "Hey, sorry I wasn't much help back at the park... I could've helped getting you guys out... It's just..." She shuddered. "Spiders." "Because of the Arachne story," I guessed. "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?" She nodded. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things." "We're a team, remember?" Percy said. "Besides, Grover did the fancy flying. All we did was grab the shield." I thought he was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?" Annabeth, Percy and I laughed. She pulled apart an Oreo, handed me and Percy a half each. "In the Iris message... did Luke really say nothing?" I munched my cookie and thought about how to answer. The conversation via rainbow had bothered me all evening. "Luke said you and he go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree." Percy answered. In the dim bronze light of the sword blade, it was hard to read their expressions. Grover let out a mournful bray. "I should've told you the truth from the beginning." His voice trembled. "I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along." "You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus." He nodded glumly. "And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp..." Percy looked at Annabeth. "That was you and Luke, wasn't it?" She put down her Oreo, uneaten. "Like you said, Percy, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward help. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. They'd both run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were... amazing monster-fighters, even without training. We traveled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us." "I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," he said, sniffling. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. I thought... I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker..." "Stop it," Annabeth said. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either." "She sacrificed herself to save us," he said miserably, "Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so." "Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" Percy said. "That's not fair." "Percy's right," Annabeth said. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says." Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy." "You're not lame," Annabeth insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met. Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now." She kicked me in the shin. "Yeah," I said, which I would've done even without the kick. "It's not luck that you found Thalia and Percy, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan. I mean, you found me despite my scentlessness... is that a word?" Percy muffled a laugh. I heard a deep, satisfied sigh. I waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, I realized he'd fallen sleep. "How does he do that?" I marveled. "I don't know," Annabeth said. "But that was really a nice thing you told him." "I meant it." We rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and looked at me hopefully. Percy didn't take long to fall asleep. Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts. "That pine-tree bead," I said. "Is that from your first year?" She looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing. "Yeah," she said. "Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress—now that was a weird summer...." "And the college ring is your father's?" "That's none of your—" She stopped herself. "Yeah. Yeah, it is." "You don't have to tell me." "No... it's okay." She took a shaky breath. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard without her.... That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him." "That doesn't sound so bad." "Yeah, well... the problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood." She wouldn't meet my eyes. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain." "You shouldn't give up," I told her. "You should write him a letter or something." "Thanks for the advice," she said coldly, "but my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with." We passed another few miles of silence. "Luke actually told me about you two coming to camp already." "Really?" She looked at me amazed. "You two must've gotten close fast." "Well, I don't know. I feel like I had to talk to Luke. Like I had to be there for him. The same with Percy." We have to be there for both "You're not wrong. I'm not sure how I'd be without your help." Percy yawned. "Yeah, I wouldn't have been able to handle him." Annabeth glared at him. I laughed, "I think you two are cute." Both of them blushed and said some excuse to disprove me. Which then turned into them showing off who's better than who. "If I'm dating anyone it'll be Y/N!" Both of them huffed and glared at each other. I shook my head and smiled. At least I've gotten new friends out of this. "So," Percy trailed off. "If the gods fight," he said, "will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?" Annabeth put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you." "Why?" "Because Y/N will and whether I like it or not you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?" "That's all Mr. Peabody." "Shut up, Droopy." I felt her rest on my shoulder and she fell asleep. "Am I that comfortable?" "Yeah," Percy laughed as he rested on my lap. I had trouble following their example, with Grover snoring and an albino lion staring hungrily at me, but eventually I closed my eyes. ~~~ I woke with a start. I was second one awake. Grover was talking to the antelope. "Morning?" "Everyone had the Y/N privilege except me?" "You fell asleep first." I stroked both Annabeth and Percy's hair, which unfortunately woke up Annabeth. "Sorry about that." "It's fine." She yawned. She brought out some Oreo and handed me one. Until the truck stopped. "They're checking the animals aren't they?" Annabeth froze. I shook Percy's shoulder. "The truck's stopped," I said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals." "Hide!" Annabeth hissed. She had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared. Grover, Percy and I had to dive behind feed sacks and hope we looked like turnips. The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in. "Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes. "You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face. The lion roared in indignation. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said. Next to me, under the turnip sacks, Grover tensed. For a peace-loving herbivore, he looked downright murderous. The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!" The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at us. There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer. The trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?" A voice outside—it must've been Eddie's—shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?" "What are you banging for?" Knock, knock, knock. Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?" Our guy Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot. A second later, Annabeth appeared next to me. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal." "No kidding," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!" "We've got to free them!" Grover said. He and Annabeth both looked at Percy, waiting for his say. "Percy, open the lock." I snapped at his face. Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but I knew they'd be coming inside to torment the animals again any minute. He grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage. The zebra burst out. It turned to Percy and bowed. Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing. Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. We rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra galloping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and neon signs. We'd just released a zebra in Las Vegas. Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!" "Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said. "The other animals first," Grover said. I cut the locks with my knife which wasn't as easy as what Percy had done. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used for the zebra. "Good luck," I told the animals. The antelope and the lion burst out of their cages and went off together into the streets. Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos. "Will the animals be okay?" I asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all—" "Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them." "Meaning?" "Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," he said. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live." "Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" I asked. "It only works on wild animals." "So it would only affect Percy," Annabeth reasoned. "Hey!" He protested. "Kidding," she said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck." We stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy, and we must've looked like deep-fried vagrants, but everybody was too interested in the wild animals to pay us much attention. We passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. We passed pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty, which was a pretty small replica, but still made me homesick. I wasn't sure what we were looking for. Maybe just a place to get out of the heat for a few minutes, find a sandwich and a glass of lemonade, make a new plan for getting west. We must have taken a wrong turn, because we found ourselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers—lotus blossom, maybe. I'd never smelled one, so I wasn't sure. The doorman smiled at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?" I'd learned to be suspicious, the last week or so. I figured anybody might be a monster or a god. But my knife wasn't glowing so... I figured. Besides, I was so relieved to hear somebody who sounded sympathetic that I nodded and said we'd love to come in. Inside, we took one look around, and Grover said, "Whoa." The whole lobby was a giant game room. And I'm not talking about cheesy old Pac-Man games or slot machines. There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. No waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine. "Hey!" a bellhop said. At least I guessed he was a bellhop. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key." I stammered, "Um, but..." "No, no," he said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, loom 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your Lotus Cash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides." He handed us each a green plastic credit card. I knew there must be some mistake. Obviously he thought we were some millionaire's kids. But I took the card and said, "How much is on here?" His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?" "I mean, when does it run out of cash?" He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay." We took the elevator upstairs and checked out our room. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and water beds with feather pillows. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub, and sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your gun. I didn't see how that could be legal, but I thought it was pretty cool. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, though I doubted we'd ever find time to look at the view with a room like this. "Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is ..." "Sweet," Grover said. "Absolutely sweet." There were clothes in the closet, and they fit me. I frowned, thinking that this was a little strange. I took a shower, which felt awesome after a week of grimy travel. I changed clothes, ate a bag of chips, drank three Cokes, and came out feeling better than I had in a long time. Search and find them Huh? Look for them and warn them I came out of the bedroom and found that Annabeth, Percy and Grover had also showered and changed clothes. Grover was eating potato chips to his heart's content, Percy looked like he was having a headache, while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel. "Percy you okay?" "Yeah it's just.... All those stations," he told Annabeth, "and she turn on National Geographic." "It's interesting." "I feel good," Grover said. "I love this place." Without his even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again. "So what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?" Percy and I looked at each other and grinned. We both held up our green plastic Lotus Cash cards. "Play time," I said. I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun. I came from a relatively poor family. Our idea of a splurge was eating out at Burger King and renting a video. A five-star Vegas hotel? Forget it. I spent most of my time playing and... looking for someone I think. I bungee-jumped the lobby five or six times, snowboarded the artificial ski slope, and played virtual-reality laser tag and FBI sharpshooter. I saw Grover a few times, going from game to game. He really liked the reverse hunter thing—where the deer go out and shoot the rednecks. I saw Annabeth playing trivia games and other brainiac stuff. They had this huge 3-D sim game where you build your own city, and you could actually see the holographic buildings rise on the display board. I didn't think much of it, but Annabeth loved it. Percy was playing with Grover. I'm not sure when I first realized something was wrong. Probably, it was when I noticed the guy standing next to me at VR sharpshooters. He was about thirteen, I guess, but his clothes were weird. I thought he was some Elvis impersonator's son. He wore bell-bottom jeans and a red T-shirt with black piping, and his hair was permed and gelled like a New Jersey girl's on homecoming night. When he saw me he gave a smirk and invited me to play a game of sharpshooters together and he said, "Groovy, man. Been here two weeks, and the games keep getting better and better." Groovy? Later, while we were talking, I said something was "sick," and he looked at me kind of startled, as if he'd never heard the word used that way before. He said his name was Darrin, but as soon as I started asking him questions he got bored with me and started to go back to the computer screen. I said, "Hey, Darrin?" "What?" "What year is it?" He frowned at me. "In the game?" "No. In real life." He had to think about it. "1977." "No," I said, getting a little scared. "Really." "Hey, man. Bad vibes. I got a game happening." After that he totally ignored me. I started talking to people, and I found it wasn't easy. They were glued to the TV screen, or the video game, or their food, or whatever. I found a guy who told me it was 1985. Another guy told me it was 1993. They all claimed they hadn't been in here very long, a few days, a few weeks at most. They didn't really know and they didn't care. Then it occurred to me: how long had I been here? It seemed like only a couple of hours, but was it? I then tried to move, but I bumped into a girl. "I'm sorry!" She said. "Hey, no prob." "Oh... uhm... No prob?" "I--- No problem. Say Uh... I kinda lost track of date. What's the year again?" "Huh? It's 1930. Okay, I'm sorry I have to go. I'm looking for someone." Everyone is important in our story "Did you say something?" I go by Y/N L/N, you'll find the one you're looking for at the zombie shooting game. I left her alone and confused. I didn't know why. But I knew now this place is wrong. I tried to remember why we were here. We were going to Los Angeles. We were supposed to find the entrance to the Underworld. My parents... for a scary second, I had trouble remembering their names. I had to save them. I found Percy first. "There's something wrong." We said at the same time. "Years?" He asked. I nodded. We then looked for the others. We found Annabeth still building her city. "Come on," Percy told her. "We've got to get out of here." No response. I shook her. "Annabeth?" She looked up, annoyed. "What? "We need to leave." "Leave? What are you talking about? I've just got the towers—" "This place is a trap." She didn't respond until I shook her again. "What?" "Listen. The Underworld. Our quest!" "Oh, come on, Percy. Just a few more minutes." "Annabeth, there are people here from 1977. Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay forever." "So?" she asked. "Can you imagine a better place?" I grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the game. "Hey!" She screamed and hit me, but nobody else even bothered looking at us. They were too busy. I made her look directly in my eyes. I said, "Spiders. Large, hairy spiders." That jarred her. Her vision cleared. "Oh my gods," she said. "How long have we—" "I don't know, but we've got to find Grover." We went searching, and found him still playing Virtual Deer Hunter. "Grover!" we both shouted. He said, "Die, human! Die, silly polluting nasty person!" "Grover!" He turned the plastic gun on me and started clicking, as if I were just another image from the screen. I looked at Percy, and together we took Grover by the arms and dragged him away. His flying shoes sprang to life and started tugging his legs in the other direction as he shouted, "No! I just got to a new level! No!" The Lotus bellhop hurried up to us. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?" "We're leaving," I told him. "Such a shame," he said, and I got the feeling that he really meant it, that we'd be breaking his heart if we went. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members." He held out the cards, and I wanted one. I knew that if I took one, I'd never leave. I'd stay here, happy forever, playing games forever, and soon I'd forget my parents, and our quest, and maybe even my own name. I'd be playing virtual rifleman with groovy Disco Darrin forever. Grover reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No, thanks." We walked toward the door, and as we did, the smell of the food and the sounds of the games seemed to get more and more inviting. I thought about our room upstairs. We could just stay the night, sleep in a real bed for once.... Then we burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk. It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day we'd gone into the casino, but something was wrong. The weather had completely changed. It was stormy, with heat lightning flashing out in the desert. I ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods, it was the same year it had been when we went in. Then I noticed the date: June twentieth. We had been in the Lotus Casino for five days. We had only one day left until the summer solstice. One day to complete our quest.

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@gayer-than-the-gayest-gay @the-natureofme @booknerd-3000 @katara720 @ynfics

Howl

I said I'd make this a fic because people got the okie-doke with the fic within a fic. Still funny idc 😂😂 Oh, and this is horror.

T'challa's chest heaved in the dim light of the basement. His mind swirled with fearful thoughts. He was afraid of himself and what he knew he might do. He pleaded with his heart to stop pounding and the ache hammering in his temples to cease. He'd sweated through his clothing. It clung to his salty, dark and smooth skin. Sweat dripped from his forehead, from his brow, down his neck.

"Baba," he pleaded to the lonely light source above, dizziness setting in, cementing his high fever. He was seeing doubles. It felt like he was dying but he knew better than that. "Help me stop it, baba," he cried. His arms were cuffed and tied behind him. On top of that he was chained and tethered inside of an engineered metal cage. "Ancestors.. please," he sighed fatigued, "I beg of thee. Purge me of this curse. Guide me! If not, then reinforce these bars so that I must stay here.."

Even as he was speaking his request, he felt his mind slipping. There were moments when he could not remember what he'd last thought of or said. Small details were escaping his memory at a quick rate. His sanity was beginning to flee him. "Nalani," he whispered in deep mourning, "I am truly sorry."

--

The moon, fully round and white rose high in the jet black sky and Nalani drove on the highway getting as far as she could away from her beloved fiance with much regret and pain in her gut. She wanted nothing more than to hold T'Challa through his ordeal and soothe him, letting him know that she still loved him no matter what happened. She knew his heart well and he was a gentle man, one of the sweetest she'd ever known. She'd move mountains for him if only she could. However, the plan they'd come up with together was for her to tie him up, lock him up, then get as far away from him as she possibly could without him knowing where she was going. She had to follow the plan if she wanted to survive. This was a matter of life or death.

"Nalani.. Come, I must tell you something.. very important," he'd said soberly when they'd gotten serious as a couple. They were in his home and he didn't seem to know where to start, starting and stopping before looking her dead on. He exhaled. "I have.. a condition," he said carefully. Nalani waited before shaking her head impatiently. He exhaled again. "When I am in love, which is rare... a certain frenzy will come over me. It is an animalistic..," he searched for the right word, "obsession." Nalani crossed one thigh over the other, the high split of her dress revealing smooth deep brown skin. He looked away as she grabbed his hand to play with his long fingers. "I don't think you are grasping the seriousness of this matter," he muttered pulling his hand away when she attempted to kiss his pinky ring.

"T'Challa, I've been known to be passionate. You'll soon discover we have that in common," Nalani smiled moving to sit in his lap. He stood before she could.

"Nalani, on the full moon, I will transform into a creature of extreme animal lust. You will have to restrain me and get away, as far as you possibly can for I will hunt you and no one but you until the sun comes up."

"And if you catch me," Nalani teased. He was silent and his serious expression caused her smirk to falter.

"In the interest of full disclosure, those women are not on this earth today. Not in this plane. I understand if you wish to leave me. You would not be the first and you would be safe." The sad note of his voice touched Nalani's heart and she walked over to her man, hugging him near to her.

"I fear.. that my lust for you is too great," he sighed. "One of these full moons I will transform." He handed her a gun with silver bullets. "I trust you to do all you can to escape."

The gun laid in the console of the car. She prayed she wouldn't have to use it. A warm shining tear fell that she wiped away with the back of her hand.

--

The transformation was underway after many nights of false alarms. Tonight, it was actually happening and he could only think of one thing as the power of the curse flowed through his blood, charging him with dark purpose and rewiring his once sensible mind. Nalani. He wanted, no, needed Nalani.

No... Not just need.

T'Challa had been taken over. He yelled out in excruciating pain as his skull felt like it was being drilled into and stretched. Nalani, etched painfully through the bone. Where are you Nalani? He grunted yanking on the chain mixed with rope and cable that contained him.

Something broke. He went wild, thrashing and tensing. The strength that coursed through him was too great to be contained within his body and his desire, too strong. Like knives through his skin, it ripped through him until nothing remained of his psyche. Breaking the chains and ripping the ropes, he exploded free as if they were but plastic ties. Gripping the cage bars painfully, he strained against them, pulling them until they bent creating a path for him to step through, a new creature.

Nalani's scent was thick and fragrant in his nostrils. He could smell her hair, her skin, her soap. It was as good as a GPS.

--

The darkened heavens returned Nalani's shed tears, flooding her windshield as the ineffective wipers did their best to clear the glass. She'd escaped the state and driven further than she'd planned and she was tired, meanwhile, T'Challa's body resisted itself. His limbs cracked under the building weight of muscle and his joints twisted as he panted under the moonlight, a demon blitzing forward on bloodied feet to reap the soul of the damned. He dashed until his feet were raw yet continued through darkness that seemed eternal, the white moon a guiding light through time and the undeniable perfume of earthy blood, salty tears, hot rubber, moving metal, and skin driving his body. Through the sea of odors, the distinct scent of her bones sent his heart pounding with the thrill of the hunt.

Having felt she'd driven far enough, Nalani pulled off of the highway in favor of a brightly lit chain hotel beyond a sundown town. With gentle haste, she draped her charmeuse silk scarf over her spongy coils and around her neck dashing through the diagonal shower and black puddles into the warmth of the lobby to secure a room for the night with the silk pouch of emergency money she pulled from her pre-packed emergency bag. The thought of her kind-hearted, soft spoken love suffering on his own swept her up elevator's path into her room, and into bed to pray. "I entreat you to influence my fortune," she spoke. A message to her ancestors for divine guidance as she clutched her phone in small hands. T'Challa's pure and loving features were her fixation. He touched her with rare tenderness and patience. Love lived in the print of his hands and embraced her with a warmth second to none. Nalani battled the butterfly within her gut that willed her body to return. Only she had the key to that basement along with the key to that wretchedly cruel cage. On a small ring with those was the key to hand and ankle cuffs made to withstand incredible force and then there was the jungle of entertwined ropes rigging him into a strict position. He asked her to do all of this and she'd obliged. "Wait for my return, my king," she whispered to his likeness before closing her eyes, her damp lashes meeting to shadow over her tear-stained cheek. Resting proved almost impossible.

Her racing mind jolted her from slumber multiple times within the span of a few hours. "Grant me your safety," she whispered in the darkness. Locked in a fitful cycle of forgettable yet jarring dreams, she stirred between the sheets, her hands beneath the cool pillow.

--

Beginning with the point of his elbow, T'Challa's body crashed casually through two sets of glass doors as shards pierced the air with alarming noise, dropping with broken glass sheets and shattering. He appeared unaffected.

"Sir, are you.. okay," the nervous melanin deficient front desk agent inquired, shaky voice quickly fading from the lethal glare of the deep complexioned brawny tattered man soaked to the bone with eyes like wildfire. He retreated as the stranger's determined step never slowed. The tall aggresor was the personification of murder on the mind and the warmth that had been present in the air turned cold with a sharp chill no rainy night could conjure. Hiding away and with trembling fingers, the desk agent called the police and his manager. Then he called his mom.

"NALANI."

The menace possessing T'Challa's salty sweat, rain, and cut-ridden body knew no pain while fully engulfed in his lawless hunt. Pain was simply a mask worn by pleasure, the only thing his body sought. He could not idly wait for an elevator that would require him to stand still, he tracked down the stairwell, shoving a passerby to the floor with a rattling thump against the wall. Whether they were male or female, old or young he could not say for his tunnel vision made him blind to anything that was not Nalani. Reason and apprehension did not exist.

"NALANI," he wailed from his chest in anguish of her being so close yet so far from his clawed grasp. He could feel her proximity.

Nalani bolted upright instantly in her bed with wide eyes for the voice she'd heard was unmistakable, yet chillingly dissimilar as if he were a different entity all together. How could it be that he'd discovered and tracked her so quickly? Her troubled mind spun with wonder within a millisecond while she threw together her belongings. For the sake of their love, she had to escape quickly. She had to survive. Without a moment's hesitation, her body flew into action tying sheets, blankets, her scarf, clothing, everything she could quickly manage to create a makeshift rope. Shifting the big fabric chair to the window, she used its stable weight to sandwich the rope against the windowsill, the end tied to the immovable table as the other end dangled on the outer wall of the hotel. She dangled from it, feeling every ounce of danger as rain soaked through her satin sleep set as well as the cloth rope. Swinging her weight, she kneed the glass of the window below. When there was no answer, she shimmied further down, nearly slipping to her demise. With great effort, she kneed the next window which brought an angry red man to the window. He whipped open the curtains, but upon noting her sincere fear and helpless condition along with the nonthreatening frame, he helped her inside.

"Jesus, why are you out there," he exclaimed with attempts to dry her and gain an explanation but Nalani's sole mission was to survive the night.

Intoxicated by the scent of his target, so chokingly thick and near, his eyes rolled back. The wolf that was T'challa growled from deep within his core.. the rumble unheard in his ears as he ascended staircases, a hellhound with one lone purpose. A shrill scream could be heard as he bumped another obstacle over the railing to a crushing fall ending in their silence. His entire nervous system was alight. Nalani was on the move and he couldn't be anymore wired. Her goal was the car.. the same vehicle T'Challa had assisted her in preparing with gas, foreign money, food, and clothing for this very purpose. She'd taken him lightly and it would prove to cost her dearly.

"NALANI," she heard him howl. She raced into the first unlocked room she could find. It was dark and unoccupied. With deceptive calmness she approached the window and considered creating a shorter rope than before using the limited materials around her, but there was no time. He was too near. She'd already locked the door, but now she did not doubt that she was trapped and awaiting a grim fate. All she could do was crawl under the bed and pray yet again. Regretfully, her journey of love and life had come to a blunt end. "You can run, but you cannot hide," he called.

T'Challa trembled and panted in a deep and awful sweat. His once pristine nails were jagged and dirty with blood and soil and they dragged across the door with a menacingly slow scratch, trailing toward the knob. "Nalaniii..," he groaned, his hand ghosting his tightening groin as he listened. He could hear her heart race. Bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh. He could tear her completely apart with desire alone. "My dear Nalani," his voice deepened. "Come now, Kitten, do you truly believe I'd cause you harm?" His nostrils flared. "Show yourself to me."

Though terrified, Nalani desperately wanted to believe that T'Challa could overcome any obstacle that would threaten her life. He had the will of iron. She hoped he would somehow find strength within himself to walk away. His quiet laugh of depravity snapped her from her vain hopes.

She flinched and covered her mouth so not to scream at the terrifyingly loud hit that shook door. Like a scene from The Shining, he was determined to get to her, ramming the barrier. She flinched again when he followed with an aggressive barrage that collapsed the lock and the entire door. He broke it down like drywall and stood silently. She dared not breathe.

His worn feet broke her heart. They were damaged and he needed medical attention. They were all she could see from under the bed. His stride was slow, measured, and quiet. His low guttural growl was identical to that of an enemy tiger and it grew louder as he came nearer. She clamped another hand over her mouth.

T'challa salivated, swallowing before leaking another involuntarily deep growl. It rumbled through Nalani like a low grade earthquake. She watched as he stopped in front of the bed and bent, his veined hand touching down to the floor directly before her wide eyes. She gulped as his soil caked fingernails tapped the floor, the only movement in the darkness. When his hand withdrew, it left her confused. He climbed onto the bed above her, his weight collapsing over her back. Then his head popped into view. Upside down he hung, his inhuman eyes locking onto hers.

In a flash, she was dragged by her wrists from under the bed. "Fight it, T'Challa!" He tossed her and she wheezed as her back hit the mattress. His vice grip on her wrists was crushing as she wrestled for her freedom. "You don't have to do this, you don't have to. T'Challa, you can fight it." There was no recognition in his eyes at the the mention of his own name. She remained still as if she could play dead and when his teeth clamped hard on the base of her neck as if trying to rip her apart she reflexively kneed him in the groin. She screamed to the top of her lungs hoping a neighboring hotel guest would set aside fear and interject. His heavy hand clamped down on her throat, holding her down with his nails in her reddened skin, his fearsome eyes silencing. She held her breath as he bared his teeth, a genuine threat as his engorged member laid against her stomach. His snarl was in her ear, low and rumbling. "T'Challa, please! Remember who you are." His response was to tug roughly at her satin sleep set causing large rips while his jagged nails left fresh welts on her thighs and stomach. Fighting, she caught his hands, bringing hers to hold his cheeks. "T'Challa you have to hear me!"

This was not T'Challa. T'Challa had never been this rough. There was love in his every touch and affection in his kind eyes. He handled her like a high-priced gem, fragile and flawless, worthly of gentle fingers and heartfelt praise. No, this was an illness. The brutal creature above her was infected with a deadly condition. "Bring him back," Nalani begged as her body was yanked into position. His veined hands were strong and lively as he held her in place, little warning leading up to fevered thrusts. He smelled earthy and metallic. He grunted as he crashed with reckless abandon, seeking heat from the only hot and moist part of her body uneffected by the elements. Both of them were painted in blood and sweat, soaked through with rainwater.

"Bring back my T'Challa." She willed him to fight as his weight dropped back down in a ferocious rampage that jiggled her entire body and made her cry out in eye-crossing ecstacy. Her guilt was equal to the strength of her high-powered orgasm. Shaking, she tried to pull away but he doubled down with her thighs around his waist, her small hands clutching desperately to his broad muscular shoulders, clenching his forearms. She guiltily dug her own fingernails into his unmarked arms and it earned another gut rattling growl. The room echoed the sounds of a barn of animalistic lust. His tiger-like growls mingled with her camel-like grunts and then he flipped her onto her stomach, her knee rising and arms stretching to grab the sheets. Her eyes were squeezed shut as he jabbed into her womb. He fisted the soft hair at the base of her scalp bringing a burn of tension and her hand swung back.

"OW, That hurt," she shrieked scraping at his hand which aggressively pushed her head forward, mashing her face into the mattress. His hand moved to the back of her neck, holding her down. She hated it, but she could not stop her release. His words when he'd explained this phenomenon in the past had returned to to bite her, literally, Nalani's neck was still bleeding.

"Be careful of the curse that falls on young lovers. It starts so soft and sweet and turns them to hunters," T'Challa had whispered sweetly into her hair as she sat on his lap. She had nuzzled firmly into him then, feeling safe and not understanding his message. "Are you serenading me with Florence and the Machine?" She'd giggled at his approach.

"Ow," she breathed into the mattress for the umpteenth time. He clamped his teeth down on the back of her shoulder, desire unbound. When she attempted to climb the bed to escape, he gripped both of her wrists and locked them behind her in one hand. She was overheated and cramping. She felt that she likely had bruises all over along with her cuts that still ached. Her arm felt as though it would rip from the socket. She'd given up. Just then she saw the shade of the sky change.. Black to midnight blue. She begged for sunrise as his inner elbow locked under her chin. "..T'Challa," she strained feeling him choke her as she weakly tapped on his arm, scraping with her fingernails. He bit her again. The sky lightened to a dark denim. "T'Challa," she whispered nearly inaudibly, his heavy body still slamming hers unceasingly. Blood stained the sheets around her and the strong salty stench had numbed her. Her neck and chest felt sticky and she rushed the sky as it slowly broke into dawn.

"Nalani," T'Challa panted as he released her neck and collapsed, his full weight on her. He was having difficulty breathing, yet found strength to roll from the bed onto the floor.

"T'Challa," Nalani gasped, fearful. She heard loud voices in the hall just then. Police were on the way. "T'Challa," she cried willing him to rise. There was nowhere to go and she could not move. When the police arrived, they were both carted out on stretchers and taken away by ambulance. They were in terrible condition, but the both of them had in fact survived the night.

remember

uldren sov/the crow x reader

a/n: someone had to do it, so this is my first short story/one shot idk lol, I'll get the hang of it, pls be nice but also feel free to give me criticism but not too harsh, ya know? I want to get better but I also don't want to get made cry, sorry for any grammar mistakes

angst to cheesy fluff

"They call me the Crow"

You burst into your small room, which seemed even smaller at the moment, you slammed the door shut and hastily locked it. You turned, your back against the door as you slid down to your knees, your world just got yeeted upside down and back again, your emotions were scrambled.

Uldren, was alive, well- Crow as he said, when you specifically remember ending him yourself "How..?" You breathed, the memories you tried so hard to repress forcing themselves to the surface.

Ace was in your hand, Uldren was already doubled over on the ground from Petra shooting him, his gaze on you as he gave you the ultimatum of your life- kill him or let it go, each both had their own consequences, killing him and you did, would fulfill the vengeance for Cayde-6 and your love would be with you, but letting him go would've resulted in Petra hating you forever and a massive void of guilt in your conscious.

You killed him, your once romantic partner, and yet he stood right in front of you and Osiris, you both saw him with your own eyes, Uldren-..Crow, in new light flesh. Your heart raced, it raced so hard that your chest ached "Hey" Ghost appeared in a flash of blue "(Y/n), look at me" you could barely hear your little light's voice, your eyes felt and sounded like they were stuffed with cotton.

"I know it's a lot to take in..but maybe Spider will shed some light on this, he was bearing his symbol after all" Ghost said, the little robot hovering eye level with you "I can't do that..I can't face him, I can't.." You shook your head, Ghost's shell seemed to droop sadly as he gently rubbed the tip of his shell against your shoulder in a comforting way.

"I'm with you until the end, remember? I was with you when you wielded the darkness and I'll be with you when you face Uldren".

-

Your feet gently hit the ground as you arrived in Thieves' Landing, you dreaded facing the Spider and the black haired Awoken "Take your time, there's no rush and if you want, we can leave" Ghost reassured you, but you shook your head "I..I can do this" you stated, trying to convince yourself at the same time.

You stood at the entrance, eyeing the hallway that once seemed so long but now it was the opposite "You got this, (Y/n)" Ghost said in a gentle tone, you took your first steps inside, your feet felt like they weighed a ton but you kept going. You reached the final hall towards where Spider sat, you could see his large figure at the end, he didn't seem to notice you yet as he conversed with his associates "-Tell them I want that loot" his voice came into hearing range.

You mentally cursed as one of his associates noticed you standing halfways away from them, the Eliksni turned its head to Spider, Spider in turn finally found your form "Ah! Just who I expected to see!" he chuckled loudly "Do come in, (Y/n)!" He beckoned you over, his large figure leaned forward in his seat "I was wondering when you were going to show, little girl" he said in a teasing tone, you felt your eyebrows furrow together "I see you've met my little bird" he referred to Crow as his little bird, you frowned slightly.

"I found him, drifting aimlessly through the reef, looking all sad and alone so I took him in" Spider dramatically waved his hand in front of him "You have to admit even this is better than the fate that awaits him in the Last City, your poor little boyfriend" he sneered, you could hear the smirk in his loud voice. "You have him running around as your goony?" Ghost appeared beside you in brief flash of blue "Hello there, little morsel" you could see Spider basically foaming at the mouth over Ghost's appearance.

"So, you keep him around here, doing your dirty work because of what you say awaits him at the Tower?" Ghost ignored the way Spider seemed to hunger over him "He doesn't really have a choice" you rose a brow "What do you mean?" You spoke, Spider's attention averted back to you. "If he ever strays too far from the nest..boom" he said ominously, you felt every muscle in your body tense "I rigged his Ghost with an explosive that could very easily take them both out" your eyes widened, anger and shock flaring within you "You keep him here like a caged animal..?!" Spider scoffed "More like a caged bird".

"I assume you didn't come to converse with me, did you now, girlie?" Spider said in a low voice, you dreaded what came next "Crow!" Spider said in a firm tone, you eyed the open door to your right, you could hear very faint footsteps coming out "You wanted this, now you can have it" Spider chuckled lowly. You wanted to look away but your mind and body said no, Crow stood in the doorway, your chest constricted, your throat felt like something was lodged inside it, your heart seemed to skip two whole beats "Yes?" Your hands formed tight fists at the sound of his voice, his voice sounded a lot softer and quieter, a huge difference compared to the brash and arrogant tone it used to have "I'd like you to meet someone" Spider gestured to you.

"Oh, hello, we met on the Moon" Crow stared straight into your soul "Well, not officially..you ran away before I could ask your name, which isn't really new to me" you wanted to slap yourself, Spider laughed "My apologies if she seems quiet, little bird, she's very shy" Nope, you wanted to slap Spider instead, but that seemed to shove a whole sentence out of your mouth. "My name is (Y/n) (L/n)..I'm a Guardian of the Last City" You could see Crow's brows knit together for a few seconds in confusion, but his expression changed immediately "I'm glad to be in the presence of another lightbearer" he said in a warm tone. You were trying so hard not to throw your helmet off, jump into his arms and kiss him all over "How about you two, go on a little receive and deliver task for me, hm?" You looked to Spider with a glare in your eye "Alright, if..that's okay with you?" This man, still as thoughtful as ever, you hesitantly nodded.

-

You and Crow walked beside each other in an almost awkward silence, for you anyway "I'm sorry if you noticed my reaction to your name..I just- I just felt like I've heard that before, but I guess that wouldn't make sense because there could be so many other people with the same name but I don't know..yours felt strange to hear" your heart clenched in pain, wanting nothing more than to tell him who you were to him "Guess I just have one of those names" you said in a low voice, almost a whisper "Yeah, I suppose so".

"Do you remember anything about your past life?" Crow asked after a little while of more walking, you glanced at him "A little bit, I think..just my name at least" Crow huffed "You're lucky then, because I can't remember a thing..which is probably good, I guess, what with the way people look at me and treat me, I'm not so sure I want to know who I was at all" Crow seemed to laugh almost sadly.

"It's strange..being rebirthed as a Guardian not knowing who you are when everyone else seems to" you clutched your gun to your chest tighter as you sighed "I can't imagine what you had to go through but..I'm here for you" the words slipped passed your lips before you could process them, Crow smiled warmly at you, your heart leaped. "Thank you, (Y/n)..as am I, it's weird..I feel like I could tell you anything" your mouth opened slightly as if you were about to say something, Crow kept his gaze forward "I think this is it" you and the amnesiac Guardian approached a pile of random cargo, a device Crow was carrying was blinking rapidly "All of this?".

Your hand reached for a box, Crow happened to be reaching for the same one, his large hand covered yours instantly, you tensed as your eyes widened, it was quiet and Crow didn't pull away, neither did you, you glanced at him, but his hair was hiding his face from you, you looked down at your hands as you felt a slight pressure, he seemed to be slowly lacing his fingers with your own "Crow..?" You said, voice barely above a whisper, his hand then firmly held your own.

"Crow" you said again, slightly louder, Crow gasped, his hand and body moving away from yours, Crow held his head between his hands, his eyes tightly shut "Crow..?" Your voice came out in a worried tone, you approached him, you laid your hand on his shoulder and said his name, his eyes burst open and he looked up at you with tear welled amber eyes, he looked so frightened and your heart broke for him.

"Are you alright?" You gently covered his hands with your smaller ones, keeping his gaze on you, his mouth hung open slightly "Cro-" you barely had time to say his name as he lunged forward at you, wrapping his arms around your smaller frame, almost knocking you over- he was hugging you, a surprise but a welcome one, he pulled away after a few moments and stared down at you, your own gaze met his.

"I know why your name sounds so familiar.." He said with a smile on his face "Because it's you, my love.." You froze "You remember..?" You asked in a bewildered tone, Crow pressed his forehead against your helmet "Don't know how I could ever forget you, my forever love" you could feel the biggest smile you ever felt erupt on your lips as you threw yourself at him, Crow laughed and it was music to your ears, tears fell from your eyes as you held him there for what felt like forever but forever was welcome.

"I love you, Uldren.."

"I love you most, (Y/n)".

Fighting fiber was the right's dumbest self-own

With the deplatforming of forums where trumpists and right-wing figures congregate, there's a lot of chatter about whether and when private entities have the right to remove speech, and what obligations come with scale.

The most important - and overlooked - area of this discourse is the role that monopoly plays, and the role that anti-monopoly enforcement could play.

In short, the fact that being removed from Twitter and the app stores and Facebook and Amazon is so devastating is best addressed by weakening those companies by spreading out our digital life onto lots of platforms.

Not by strengthening them by giving them formal duties to either carry or remove speech based on its content. These duties will justify all kinds of anticompetitive activity, because only a very profitable company can afford to fulfil them.

It also turns the same companies that failed horribly to craft and uphold moderation standards into private-sector arms of powerful state actors (like domestic surveillance agencies) who defend their right to monopolize the digital sphere as necessary for national security.

(recall that the Pentagon intervened in the DoJ's breakup of AT&T in the 1950s, successfully arguing for a stay of execution on the grounds that the Korean War could not be effectively persecuted without AT&T's help - the company stayed intact for 30 years after that)

Competition in the platforms is important, but it's not the whole story. The First Amendment was drafted for newspapers, and most contemporary communications law comes from broadcast and cable regulation. The internet is not a newspaper or a TV station, after all.

The discussion of the difference between the American revolutionary era (or the heyday of broadcast TV) and the present moment focuses on technology, but there's a much more important difference to take account of: the presence or absence of a public sphere.

The First Amendment contemplates both a diversity of speech forums (newspapers, cafes, halls) alongside of public spaces that are *truly* public, owned by the people through their governments and tightly bound by 1A as to when and whether rules about speech can be enforced.

So if the Masonic Lodge won't let you give a speech from its stage, and the cafe throws you out for arguing, and the newspaper won't let you publish an op-ed, you can stand outside of those establishments with a sign or a bullhorn, leafleting and speaking your piece.

The government can still restrict your speech on the public sidewalk or in a public park, but not according to its content - only according to "time and manner" (for example, enforcing a noise ordinance after 9PM or ticketing you for blocking traffic).

The biggest difference between a world where we are locked indoors and connect to one another via the internet and the world we left behind is that there are *no public spaces* on the internet.

If a cafe kicks you out for your speech, you can picket the public right of way out front. If Twitter kicks you out for your views, you have no constitutionally guaranteed right to stand at its digital threshold and tell everyone who enters or leaves that you got a raw deal.

Now, the state provision of digital services isn't an unmitigated good. US governments at all levels have proven themselves to be utterly surveillance-addled, in thrall to the fallacy that spying on everyone will make us all safer.

But surveillance fears aren't why we lack democratically controlled tech. For that, you can thank the same right wingers who are so exorcised about deplatforming today, who, for a decade, have been the useful idiots of telcoms monopolists in the fight over public broadband.

American cable and telco monopolists have divided up the country so that the best most of us can hope for is a duopoly, while many others are burdened with monopoly carriers, and millions live in broadband deserts with no high-speed internet at all.

The poorer you are, the more your broadband costs and the worse it is. The more rural you are, the worse your broadband is and the more it costs. Homeowners with good broadband see their assets appreciate. If your home is outside a monopolist's profit zone, its price drops.

The internet barons like it that way. When Frontier went bankrupt last year, we got to see its internal docs. Guess what? If you have no choice other than Frontier, it treats you as an "asset" because you will pay more for worse service.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/04/frontiers-bankruptcy-reveals-cynical-choice-deny-profitable-fiber-millions

Frontier cares about its share price (its execs are mostly paid in stock, not cash), and share prices are rigged by influential analysts who downrank any company that makes a capitol expenditure that takes more than five years to pay off.

That's why Frontier decided to walk away from the $800,000,000 in profits it would realize on a ten-year investment in fiber for three million households who currently make do with Frontier's failing copper network, which often consists of wires draped over trees.

We've been here before. For decades, you had to live in an urban, affluent area to get electricity; your country cousins burned coal for dinner and used oil-lamps to read by. The New Deal electrified the nation, extending universal service regardless of the business-case.

Electricity became a human right, and the US government extended it across the nation (though structural racism meant that it arrived late for majority Black settlements).

Long before covid, underserved towns realized that their very existence depended on decent broadband.

The initial experiments with municipal fiber were incredible, jaw-dropping successes. Towns that invested in fiber saw a vast expansion of job opportunities, access to global information and services, and new blood from telecommuters who relocated from big cities.

The telcos fucking hated this. How can you sell flaky access to copper wires draped over shrubs for $80/month when the city is wiring people up to networks that are *1,000-100,000 times faster* at a lower price?

In a competitive market, companies would have improved service and lowered prices to compete. Luckily (for monopolists), there's a cheaper solution: buy off state legislatures so they pass laws banning municipal broadband.

These laws were promulgated to GOP-dominated statehouses across the country, passed by right wing lawmakers who told their constituents they were "keeping government out of the internet."

This is a line that their footsoldiers dutifully parroted during the Obama years, then signed up to Trump FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's order that reversed a late-term-Obama FCC order banning state laws that interfered with municipal fiber project.

Unfortunately (for the right), reality has a well-known left-wing bias. 700+ US towns and cities have municipal fiber. They are the only Americans who consistently express satisfaction with their ISPs. Most of these towns vote Republican!

https://muninetworks.org/communitymap

Woe betide the rural "red" town that lacks municipal fiber. These have been mostly abandoned by cable companies, so their cable/DSL duopoly has become a DSL monopoly, with prices rising and quality of service falling.

https://ilsr.org/monopoly-networks/

Which brings me back to the First Amendment and public sidewalks. All those people who are trying to find a way to support the "free market*" and also justify demanding that dominant platforms be ordered to carry their speech are living in a hell of their own making.

* Adam Smith popularized the term "free markets" to describe markets free from "rentiers" who collect money without adding value...such as cable monopolists. He *definitely* didn't mean "markets free from government regulation."

Because here's the thing: your ISP - and Twitter, and Facebook, and Amazon - is a private company. It is not subject to the First Amendment. It can have any rules it wants about which lawful speech it will tolerate. It can sling your ass out the door on a whim.

You know who's bound by the First Amendment? You know who can't suppress your speech based on its content? You know who has to answer public records requests about why you got booted out of its service?

Your local government.

If you had a $70/month, 100GB fiber in your rural house, you could run a kickass P2P messaging server, and while you'd be right to worry about (covert, illegal) government surveillance (use encryption, kids) on that line, you would 100% have recourse if you got booted off.

It's not an automatic home run. The First Amendment has exceptions, even beyond "time and manner," and has been substantially eroded by GW Bush and his successors, in the name of fighting terror, animal rights activists and water defenders.

But a lawsuit against your town council for nuking your Turner Diaries fanfic server is a hell of a lot more likely to succeed than griping about Twitter mods failing to grasp the "irony" in your Auschwitz jokes.

The right's war on municipal broadband was its biggest self-own of the 2010s. And while it's not true that "a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged," it might be true that "a municipal broadband activist is a conservative who's been kicked off Twitter."

And this is one of those causes (like shutting down private prisons, or opposing foreign wars of aggression) where a substantial slice of the left and the right can come together (at the most local of levels!) to really Get Shit Done.

Because the other great victims of America's monopolized broadband are people of color, poor people and working class people (often the same people). They live with digital redlining, where they pay 2X for 1/100th the speeds of their affluent neighbors a block away.

They're the ones whose kids are doing homework in Taco Bell parking lots (and getting flunked on their tests because creepy remote proctoring services penalize them for taking their tests in a beat up hatchback and not a private room).

The ones who can't videoconference with dying relatives in ICUs or doctors for telemed consults. Who can't apply for work-at-home jobs, or just play games and watch movies and upload their fun Tiktoks and Youtube videos.

The current system serves about 300 senior execs at telco monopolists, and a few thousand investors, and savagely fucks over everyone else. Even rich people in big cities usually can't buy fiber at any price.

It's time for our four decade Atlas Shrugged LARP to end. It's time for a bipartisan fiber consensus.

Image: Olaus Linn (modified) https://thenounproject.com/term/tin-can-phone/15140/

CC BY: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/