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galedekarios · 3 months

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gale's early access dialogue transcripts - part 3: dialogues regarding various decisions & quest progression

in early access, companions used to react much more to the decisions you made in dialogue as well as the overall quest progression pertaining to the main quest as well as side quests, and the events happening around them.

these conversations would be shorter in nature and were usually marked with an exclamation mark ( ! ) over their head.

some of these conversations survived the transition from early access to the full release, but they are very few and far between. the only ones that did survive are 1) gale's reaction to nettie poisoning the protag, 2) gale's reaction to saving mirkon, and 3) gale's reaction to saving arabella.

gale was much, much more responsive in early access and had conversations with the protag about a variety of topics.

following are all cut conversations / dialogues with gale (excluding the deer stew scene and loss scene, which i have covered here and here, but have decided to exclude because they are much longer conversations):

overview:

jergal's temple

reaching the druid's grove / emerald enclave

arabella the tiefling child dies / protag stood by and did nothing

protag killed lae'zel after lae'zel tried to prevent them from turning into a mind flayer

karlach vs anders, the paladin of tyr / agent of zariel

after edowin / the siblings brynna and andrick

killing the druids

arriving at the goblin camp

finding out that the absolute's brand is magic

about true souls

dror ragzlin & the dead mindflayer

ogre + bugbear couple in moonhaven

giving the necromancy of thay tome to gale (dialogue option in player-initiated dialogue / gale asks for tome)

on ethel

on ethel's deal

after finishing mayrina's quest

the zhentarim chest / rugan

the myconid colony in the underdark

defending astarion to gandrel the gur monster hunter

handing astarion over to gandrel the gur monster hunter

arka the tiefling (kanon's sister) kills sazza the goblin / protag stood by and watched it happen

letting sazza escape

finding out about priestess gut from sazza

below the read more, you'll find the transcripts of these 23 cut conversations.

where i can and still have them, i will include screenshots and, when i can find them online, i will include links to watch those conversation in video format.

jergal's temple [link to gifset]

Gale: Bad form, isn't it? Grave robbing? Judging by those undead guardians, the architects of this crypt certainly thought so. - Protag Option 1: I'm desperate, not proud. Best to take what I can get. Gale: Then again, to be alive is to be curious. - Protag Option 2: Dressing up the dead is pointless. They have no need for trinkets. Gale: Never lost a loved one, have you? Then again, those who loved these loved ones are dust and bones themselves. - Protag Option 3: A good fight and fine treasure. What's not to like? Gale: I suppose that's one way to spin it. - Protag Option 4: Why care about decorum in a long-abandoned tomb? Gale: Because my mother raised a gentleman. Then again, to be alive is to be curious. - Protag Option 5 [Cleric]: True. My god might not be particularly happy about it. Gale: You can pray for your sins later. I’m told that does the trick. Gale: Let's have a look at the loot. It isn't for your pockets only.

2. reaching the druid's grove / emerald enclave

Gale: So much for finding a safe haven. - Protag Option 1: This is a druid grove. With a bit of luck we'll find help here. Gale: Druids master the ancient magic that is part of nature's fabric itself. They can make bloom, and they can make wither. Let's hope the latter applies to tadpoles. - Protag Option 2: We won't linger long. Gale: And we shouldn't – but we'd be remiss not to give the place a once-over. Druids master the ancient magic that is part of nature's fabric itself. They can make bloom, and they can make wither. Let's hope the latter applies to tadpoles.

3. arabella the tiefling child dies / protag stood by and did nothing [link to gifset]

Gale: This place is a snake pit in more ways than one. That poor girl... Such sudden madness.... And what did we do? We stood by and watched. Her parents – we'll have to tell them that we failed. - Protag Option 1: Our priority remains to find a healer. The most dangerous snake is in our heads, remember? Gale: Distinctly. But it hasn't poisoned my sense of right and wrong just yet. How about yours? - Protag Option 2: We're here on Zevlor's behalf. Let's not lose sight of that. Gale: Yes, nothing like serving up a dead child as the appetiser to successful negotiations. - Protag Option 3: Her parents deserve to know what happened. And that we are not to blame. Gale: So inaction equals innocence? There's a small corpse on the floor over there that might just beg to differ. - Protag Option 4: This is none of our concern. Where there's strife, there will be blood. Gale: And where there's blood, there will be vengeance. This troubled grove is about to become far more troubled still. - [Arabella died because protag failed the DC twice] Protag Option 5: The girl really should have left the druid's idol alone. Look where it got her. Gale: If the errors of youth deserve an early grave, none of us would live to see a dozen summers. There is no justification for this tragedy.

4. protag killed lae'zel after lae'zel tried to prevent them from turning into a mind flayer

Gale: Lae'zel... that was brutal. Are you all right? I'm here if you want to talk about it. - Protag Option 1: Is there anything left to say? Gale: She was alive. Now she is dead. Might be worth a few words. Then again, maybe not. What a night... - Protag Option 2: She was danger to us all. She didn't leave me with a choice. Gale: I was not judging, merely offering my sympathy. One moment we are travelling together, then the next... - Protag Option 3: Don't bother. It's over and done with. Gale: Words as final as your acts. One moment we are travelling together, then the next...

5. karlach vs anders, the paladin of tyr / agent of zariel

Gale: I have to say I don't know if agreeing to this hunt was such a wise idea. Who's to say who's the real villain in this tale of devils and masquerades? - Protag Option 1: Cheer up! It'll be fun. Gale: Yes, I used to sign up for a round of Kill-The-Stranger every tenday back home [sarcastic]. When we track Karlach down, let's chat before we chop. - Protag Option 2: You're saying I shouldn't trust a bunch of devil-sworn pretending to be paladins of Tyr? Gale: I'm saying I really shouldn't have to point that out. When we track Karlach down, let's chat before we chop. - Protag Option 3: It's easy: I say who the villain is. Gale: My, so it's you who is Tyr then, the mighty judge of justice? Go ahead, tell them. I'm sure they'd love to fawn all over their erstwhile patron.

6. after edowin / the siblings brynna and andrick

Gale: I have to say, it's one thing to have a parasite in your head, quite another not to know it's there. What's more, these people weren't on the nautiloid with us. Just how many mind flayers are at work in these parts? - Protag Option 1: The real question is: how does this all link to their belief in this “Absolute”? Gale: Mind flayers excel -> See Option 3 - Protag Option 2: Do you really think there may be more mind flayers around? Gale: This True Soul and his acolytes are ample proof of that... They 're ample proof of a dread suspicion as well. - Protag Option 3: Let's move. I don't mean to lose daylight pondering idle questions. Gale: You really do dismiss these events too casually. - Gale: Mind flayers excel at mind games. To enthral completely is their bread and butter. What if they perfected their craft by convincing their subjects they're not thralls at all, but that they have free will? That the commandments they experience are the will of a benevolent god. How terrifying a level of perfection that would be.

7. killing the druids

Gale: If Silvanus is the mighty oak, his druids were but the weakest of his leaves, tossed by the winds of fury. I can't shake the image of what happened to the grove: the winds have blown and the harvest has come. The oak stands lone and barren. - Protag [Druid] Option 1: A grove destroyed... I dont think I can forgive myself. Gale: After winter, spring will come, but I'm not sure we left behind much fertile ground. - Protag [Druid] Option 2: The druids caused the harvest. It was only just we did the reaping. Gale: Yes, well, I prefer to pluck apples and pick strawberries. They don't tend to weigh on one's conscience. - Protag Option 3: They were in need of a lesson – and we taught it well. Gale: One usually needs to be alive to reap the benefits of education. If anything, we taught them too well. - Protag Option 4: They felt threatened and lashed out. A tragedy I wish we could have avoided. Gale: Their action are on them, that much is true, but the consequences are ours to carry - Protag Option 5: Come, let's move on. What's done is done. Gale: Look around you. What's done is done, but what's wrong is also wrong.

8. arriving at the goblin camp [link to gifset]

Gale: Amid all this grandeur sunk into squalor, I wonder what dismal corner we'll find Halsin in. - Protag Option 1: Any suggestions? Gale: Prisoners are treated the same by everyone: they serve as serfs, or they waste away in a dungeon. Stands to reason we'll find Halsin in either one of these less-than-appealing conditions. - Protag Option 2: What grandeur is that? Gale: This must have been a splendid complex once, a temple of impressive proportions. Worshippers lived here. Pilgrims visited. They required food, shelter, ceremony, entertainment. Now that it's nothing but a goblin-ridden death-trap? Plenty of places to hide away a druid, I imagine. - Protag Option 3: With our luck? Marinating in a cooking pot most likely. Gale: A hearty serving of druid stew wouldn't do us any good. No, let's hope the best and keep this in mind: Prisoners are treated the same by everyone: they serve as serfs, or they waste away in a dungeon. If he's still alive, it stands to reason we'll find Halsin in either one of these less-than-appealing conditions. Well -more-than-appealing conditions come to think of it, when one considers the stew alternative.

9. finding out that the absolute's brand is magic

Gut: Hold out your arm so I can mark your flesh. It's charged with magic. Ordinary slobs can't see it; only us that follow the Absolute. Gale: Charged with magic? Perhaps that explains the ease with which these goblins submit to True Souls.

10. about true souls

Gale: I can hardly wrap my head around what we've just heard. Let's list up the facts, shall we? There are other people here with tadpoles in their heads. They can hear the tadpoles speak to them, and they think it's a new god. I don't know about you, but to me, none of this makes any logical sense. - Protag Option 1: I concur. There doesn't seem to be a logical explanation. Gale: And yet I suspect something... intelligent behind it all. Some carefully nurtured scheme. - Protag Option 2: I'm seeing too many coincidences – which tend to add up to conspiracies. Gale: Evil cults and grand designs, is it? Mind you, I'll not even dispute the possibility. - Protag Option 3: I don't care about logic, I care about solutions. Gale: I'm not sure those are mutually exclusive. If we seek to solve we must seek to comprehend. - Gale: But let's not lose sight of what we've learned here – what joins us and what separates us from these True Souls: They heard a voice we do not hear, a voice that binds them in servitude. As long as we're possessed of our own free will, I venture to say there's hope for us yet.

11. dror ragzlin & the dead mindflayer

Gale: A grand necromantic spectacle staged at the behest of a newfangled god to track down... us. Can't quite say which of these two wins out: to be honoured or to be horrified. - Protag Option 1: The real question is: why are they looking for us? Gale: Several guesses spring to mind, all equally plausible and implausible at once. - Protag Option 2: Not to worry: we easily tricked that hobgoblin – and his god. Gale: We tricked the minion, yes, but its master? I doubt it. - Protag Option 3: Can't say I'm thrilled to be a god's pet project. Gale: Horrified it is then. - Gale: Fact is we're being hunted, but at least we have the hunters at a disadvantage: even here, in the lion's den, they don't recognise us as their prey.

12. ogre + bugbear couple in moonhaven

Gale: One moment they were embracing each other in intimacy, the next they're embracing only death. Can't say I'm proud of our actions here. - Protag Option 1: Me either. We should have left well enough alone Gale: Don't get me wrong, I know they'd have gladly made us their post-coital picnic given half a chance. It just feels wrong to turn lovemaking into life-taking. - Protag Option 2: Playing it a bit fast and loose with the word 'intimacy' there, Gale. Gale: I'm not contemplating definitions, I'm contemplating our deeds. Don't get me wrong, I know they'd have gladly made us their post-coital picnic given half a chance. It just feels wrong to turn lovemaking into life-taking. - Protag Option 3: Don't dwell on it. Ogres and bugbears are nothing but vermin. Gale: And yet they speak and bond and revel. Don't get me wrong, I know they'd have gladly made us their post-coital picnic given half a chance. It just feels wrong to turn lovemaking into life-taking.

13. giving the necromancy of thay tome to gale (dialogue option in player-initiated dialogue / gale asks for tome)

Gale: Much obliged. Narrator: you watch Gale perusing the book with a true wizard's fascination. A few pages in, something startles him. Gale: A rough read indeed... I'll give it my undivided attention at a more appropriate time.

14. on ethel

Gale: You know, I think there's a little something more to Ethel than meets the eye. 'Hag' is the word they used. If that's what she really is, she's beyond dangerous. - Protag Option 1: If that's what she is, that means we killed two innocent men. Gale: But theit sister still lives. And I doubt Auntie has her over for tea and conversation. - Protag Option 2: Hags are powerful creatures. She might actually be able to help us with the parasite. Gale: See Option 3 - Protag Option 3: She hinted at a reward. That's all I really care about. Gale: Beware of a hag bearing gifts. They're never gifts to begin with.

15. on ethel's deal

Gale: Netherese. A portentous word. Combine it with mind flayers, and it's... unspeakable. - Protag Option 1: What do you make of it all? Gale: What we can do is combine what we know and make our deductions. At the heart of it all, the problem is clear: we've been infected by a mind flayer parasite. So far, however, we've been spared the dread fate that is ceremorphosis. How have we been spared? It would seem the answer is that the parasite is somehow infused with Netherese magic – more powerful, more sinister than it has any right to be. The question remains, however: why? Infected, but unchanging. Blind cogs in an all-seeing machine. - Protag Option 2: If even a hag can't help us, who can? Gale: I... I actually don't know. All we can do is combine what we know and make our deductions- See Option 1 - Protag Option 3: It's all gibberish as far as I'm concerned. Gale: No, there's meaning to it. There has to be. All we can do is combine- See Option 1 - Protag Option 4: None of this actually solves our problems. Gale: I know, but let's consider this: at the heart of it all, not only is our problem clear, but so is the motive of our enemy: power. All power has a nexus. Find it, and we may just find both the answers and the remedy we seek. - Protag Option 5: Get to the point if you have one. Gale: I was merely thinking out loud, but if you desire a point, consider this: See Option 4 - Protag Option 6: Enough talk. Let's go. Gale: Fine, but while we walk, consider this: See Option 4

16. after finishing mayrina's quest [link to gifset]

Gale: Hags really do redefine depravity, don't they? A promise kept in the cruellest of ways: a loved one returned, undead. - Protag Option 1: This entire affair sickens me. I wish we'd had no part in it. Gale: We don't always choose the roles we play. All we can do is perform them to the best of our ability. [Connor killed] At least the curtain's fallen on this tragedy. The lovers' tale is quite over. [Connor alive] Can't say I'm very enthusiastic though, about the extra you just cast. - Protag Option 1: Hags thrive on corruption. It is simply their nature Gale: A nature that, as far as I'm concerned, deserves to go extinct. [Connor killed] As extinct as the happiness Ethel cut out of Mayrina. [Connor alive] So does that abhorrent thing-once-man. For god's sake let his eternal sleep be free of this undead nightmare. - Protag Option 3: You have to admit Auntie Ethel knows how to have some fun. Gale: [disapproves] You can't possibly mean that. [Connor killed] In any case, the man's dead for good. The spectacle has come to a close. Fun's over. [Connor alive] Although, judging by the newest company you've decided to keep, you may just be depraved enough yourself to mean that after all.

17. the zhentarim chest / rugan

Gale: So you threatened your way into ownership of that chest. Now that it's yours, what will you do with it? - Protag Option 1: I say we hold on to it until we find the rightful owner. Gale: So that means you're not curious as to what's inside? Very well, suit yourself... - Protag Option 2: Let's seell it. We're bound to make a tidy profit. Gale: See Option 1 - Protag Option 3: I will do what is meant to be done with a sealed chest: open it. Gale: Music to my curious ears!

18. the myconid colony in the underdark [link to gifset]

Gale: Spores that can raise the dead... These myconids certainly are fascinating creatures. Protag Option 1: They make for good allies. Gale: Agreed. And there are precious few of those in the Underdark. - Protag Option 2: They're more dangerous than I thought. We should be on our guard. Gale: They will remain welcome hosts unless we turn hostile. Should be easy enough to avoid. - Protag Option 3: Sorry, but I don't share your fascination for fungi. Gale: Nobody's perfect.

19. defending astarion to gandrel the gur monster hunter [link to youtube video]

[Protag defends Astarion] Gale: How thoroughly invigorating it is to stand by one's friend in the face of danger. Even if that friend is an egomaniacal vampire with moral longevity of a mayfly. - Protag Option 1: We did the right thing and that's all there is to it. Gale: It's charming that you think that. - Protag Option 2: Are you saying that you would have thrown Astarion to the wolves? Gale: Never. What harm did the wolves ever do? - Protag Option 3: I'll remember you skepticism if anyone ever comes looking for you. Gale: ?

20. handing astarion over to gandrel the gur monster hunter

[Protag hands Astarion over to Gandrel the Gur Monster Hunter] Gale: I had a friend who had a dog once. Beautiful animal, but it got mean in its old days. Gale: It would growl and bark at everyone. Even bit him at the end. Gale: Yet still it was the saddest of occasions when he took the dog away for good. - Protag Option 1: It was for the best, I'm sure. Gale: I'm not sure the dog would agree. Gale: Astarion wouldn't. I'm absolutely sure of that. - Protag Option 2: Parting is never easy. Gale: ? - Protag Option 3: Put the mongrel down, did he? Gale: ?

21. arka the tiefling (kanon's sister) kills sazza the goblin / protag stood by and watched it happen [link to gifset]

Gale: Arka's thirst for revenge has been sated... and the goblin welcomed death with open arms. All's well with the world one might argue. And yet there's something unsettling about witnessing an execution. - Protag Option 1: I take no pleasure in it, but justice has been done. Gale: No one will mourn this goblin I suppose. Let's leave it at that. - Protag Option 2: Somehow that sounds a condemnation. Gale: I condemn nothing - but a question can be a mirror: Gale: If it's guilt you see reflected, the condemnation is your own. - Protag Option 3: I have no patience for the squeamish. Gale: You imply a weakness. I say a critical mind is one of our greatest strengths.

22. letting sazza the goblin escape

Gale: I know I said it's not inconceivable a goblin priestess could help us. And yet... was it really wise to set another goblin free so she can arrange introductions? - Protag Option 1: Passing up the promise of a healer would be far more unwise. Gale: A perfectly reasonable train of thoughts. But what if she leads her entire tribe to the grove? - Protag Option 2: What's done is done. Doubt doesn't help us. Gale: I'm not quite done yet. What if she leads her entire tribe to the grove? - Protag Option 3: Keep your misgivings to yourself. Gale: But consider the consequences. What if she leads her entire tribe to the grove? -> Protag Option 1: I'll make sure that doesn't happen Gale: I'm not sure you can. - Protag Option 2: Getting rid of the tadpole comes first. Otherwise we might be the monsters that destroy this place. Gale: Harsh. But fair. If not given too much further thought. - Protag Option 3: I don't care, I owe this grove no allegiance. Gale: No allegiance, no. Though we don't need to sign its death warrant.

23. finding out about priestess gut from sazza

Gale: Booyahg – the goblin word for magic. Primitive to a fault, but not entirely without merit. To seek some goblin priestess' help would be unconventional to say the least. Then again, I'm not one to advocate conventionality. - Protag Option 2: A goblin healer sounds absurd to me. Gale: I wouldn't dismiss the idea out of hand. Goblins come from a warrior culture: to heal wounds is a highly prized skill. - Protag Option 1: I don't care if a cure comes from a goblin, an ogre, or an orc: as long as it works, I'm happy. Gale: My sentiments exactly. - Gale: If this priestess is indeed a master in the arts of booyahg, it's not inconceivable she could be of help to us. And if she isn't, we might find items of interest among her shamanic paraphernalia. If her tribe doesn't kill us on sight, that is.

thank you for reading! please consider liking and reblogging this post to support my work. thank you.

coming up next:

-part 1: the three tadpole dreams -> completed -part 2: major cut scenes: the deer stew scene & the loss scene -> completed -part 3: minor cut scenes: abandoned temple of jergal, failed to save arabella, talking to the paladins of tyr and agreeing to go after karlach, edowin and the tadpole reveal, mayrina giving ethel's wand to her or breaking it, handing astarion over to the gur or defending him, reaching the druid grove, killing lae'zel, reaching the goblin camp & looking for halsin, killing the druids, priestess gut & the brand & the cult of the absolute, dror ragzlin and talking to the dead mind flayer, ogre couple, necromancy of thay, ethel, zhentarim chest, myconid colony -> completed with this post -part 4: gale's condition & the way it was treated in early access

taglist: @chainsawmascara, @randomfanner, @tacogoats, @khajiit-necromancer, @gwinharper, @galesenchantedpanties, @swampfaerie, @ardently-queer, @nirraein, @gale-enjoyer, @xiv-wolfram, @kairoswouldnever, @a-psychopathic-dream, @toboldlydammitjim, @mishtress, @vcxahlia, @fitzmagus,

i thought i'd tag the people i'd seen taking an interest in my original post! if you want to be taken off the taglist, or added, please let me know!

#gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 meta #early access #ch: gale dekarios #vg: baldur's gate 3 #series: baldur's gate #meta: mybg3 #series: eadialogue

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gothgengargirl · 11 months

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The Works

You came to the new salon mostly on a whim. It was a Sunday, so it’s not like you had anything special in mind for the next day. Just work. Boring, dreary, work. But you thought that feeling pretty might help the work week go a little more smoothly. Give your colleagues something else to talk about besides meetings and progress updates. You wanted to feel seen for once.

For such a nice place, it was a pleasant surprise that you were able to get a walk-in appointment. Fern’s Grove, it was called. Cute name. The ceilings were high, and the place felt remarkably open and airy for being just another building in a strip mall. A fountain bubbled away cheerfully, a variety of exotic plants growing alongside it. The air was even perfumed, floral and berry-like, but in a way you couldn’t quite place. And the woman at the counter, who set your bag in a drawer and got you settled into a astonishingly comfortable chair, was gorgeous. Everyone who worked here was gorgeous. If this was how they took care of themselves, you felt like you were in good hands.

Your cosmetologist came up to you just as you were getting settled. She was just as beautiful as everyone else, maybe more so, with her dramatic cat eye makeup, purple hair and generous curves. She handed you a laminated list of your options, and you could hear her whistling cheerfully in the background as she got her instruments together and you looked over your choices. Hair cut, hair color, hair extensions. Face wash, moisturizing treatments, full makeup. Permanent makeup? That sounded intriguing. Manicure, pedicure, they even offered waxing services (presumably those were in another room). And one thing at the bottom stuck out to you, drawing your attention like a light in the darkness.

The Works.

“I’ll take The Works, please,” you said, almost instinctively. You wanted to see what this place could do.

“Sure about that, doll?” Her voice was sweet like honey, with an edge of something in it. Condescension? Anticipation? Both?

“I’m sure.”

“Okay, then, The Works, coming right up. Lift your arms.”

You did so instinctively. You were always good at following directions. And you thought you knew what was going to happen. She would put an apron on you to protect your clothes, you would talk about what cut and color you wanted for the hair, maybe get your shoes off and your feet soaking for the pedicure.

That’s not what happened.

Cables descended from that high, airy ceiling, and wrapped themselves around your wrists. You tried, briefly, to pull away, but you were held in place. Like a puppet on her strings. Clamps emerged from the chair to do the same to your ankles. You were stuck.

A momentary wave of panic was replaced by a curious fear, as you could feel something seeping from your new restraints. Soaking into the skin of your wrists and ankles. It felt GOOD. Like you were being polished from the inside, like all of the tension in your body was replaced with pleasure. And as you sank back briefly, She placed something over your head. A visor. You tried to close your eyes, but the flashing colors shone through your eyelids, and you opened them out of curiosity. And once they were open, you never wanted to close them again.

At first the messages were simply soothing. Telling you to relax, to sink, to accept all of the new feelings in your body. And there were new feelings. You couldn’t see anything but the swirling colors, couldn’t hear anything but the whispered suggestions from that set of headphones that must have come on just after the visor. But you felt good. Hands nimbly massaged your scalp. The waves of whatever it was from your restraints spread all the way through your arms and legs, making them feel limp and loose and silky smooth and perfectly plastic.

Plastic?

Perfect. Plastic. Puppet.

Pretty. Programmed. Plaything.

This was what the suggestions in your head were saying now. And you kind of liked the sound of it. On some level, you knew that you had work in the morning. You were a Busy Woman With Important Things To Do. But you always hated it. There was another way now? And at least for this afternoon, you could enjoy being a

Perfect

Pretty

Plaything

...

Time passed. You couldn’t tell how long. Minutes? Hours? Days? Time felt less and less meaningful, paying attention to the sensations running through your body. It was almost like an orgasm, but orgasms came and went much faster than this. This was a slow build, leading to a great flowing tide of ecstasy. You didn’t want it to stop. You never wanted to stop being a programmed plastic puppet.

But then, as suddenly as it started, it ended. The visor and the headphones were pulled off. The restraints at your arms and legs snapped open, your arms dropping into your lap. Your hands moved automatically, one of them grasping a breast, the other rubbing at your crotch shamelessly.

As your eyes focused again, you were amazed with what you saw in the mirror. She… you… was different. Your clothes didn’t fit the same way—blouse swollen and buttons open, skirt disheveled and riding up over thicker thighs. Your mouth was hanging open, lips larger than they were before, and your tongue was hanging out. It was pierced! A blue gemstone sitting in your pretty pink mouth, its color matching your new long nails, your thick eye shadow. Your gleaming metallic hair. And the place on your neck that didn’t even look like flesh anymore. It was seemingly embedded in your skin, blue circuits tracing out from a thick black band.

A Collar.

You didn’t even look human anymore, did you? You looked like…

A Doll.

“What do you think, hun?” said the voice behind you. The voice you now instinctively knew as Owner.

“I don’t think. I just obey.” Automatic.

“Good girl. Stop touching yourself.”

You did, immediately. Arms limp at your sides. Awaiting further instructions.

“What are you?”

“I’m just a doll. An empty-headed plaything.”

“Excellent! And what do you want me to do next?”

“Please…” these words felt like they were escaping from your soul. They were your soul. All you had left was this one thought.

“Please play with me”.

You saw Owner’s luscious mouth open into a wide toothy grin as you said that, watching her and you in the mirror. And then you didn’t think anything else. Not for a long while. Dolls don’t think, they just obey.

Good Doll.

#this story literally came to me in a dream #i was half asleep and held my arms up #and thought hey i can work with this #dollification #transformation #brainwashing #hypnosis #robotization #femcorp #dollify yourself #some of the verbiage is borrowed from hypno files i enjoy #ask nice and i can send you some links #💙💙💙#💙💚💜

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vanwritesfan-fiction · 9 months

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Video Star (Request)

Travis is a star on the field, but is he just as good as your music video love interest?

Words: 1,672

Warnings: implied smut, language, DNI if under 18

“Ok, last thing to go over. We need you to choose the love interest for your music video.” Your manager handed you a piece of paper with a list of names on it. “These are all of the people who have availability over the next couple of months. We tried to pick people from different areas; athletes, a couple of models, even a musician in the mix.” You were getting ready to shoot the music video for your new song “Woman” off of your sophomore album. “Are we still going with the club scene? We need someone who can actually dance, I don’t want a repeat of last year.” Your manager nodded in agreement, jotting down notes furiously. You had chosen a model for one of your other music videos last year, and while he was extremely attractive and photogenic, he couldn’t dance worth shit and it showed on camera. You still cringe at the YouTube comments till this day.

You scanned the list, and no one caught your eye until you got to Travis Kelce. “Wait, Travis said yes? Isn’t he dating someone?” Your manager pulled up something on her phone, flipping it so you could read the headline. “Travis Kelce breaks up with longtime girlfriend Kayla Nicole.” You shrugged. You had met Travis a couple of times through work commitments, and you were a fan of his, so he seemed like the best bet. “Ok, Kelce will work. I want to meet with him before we shoot. Make sure the chemistry is there.” You handed the paper back to your manager who immediately got Travis’ team on the phone to set up a meeting.

Between your hectic schedule and Travis’ football games, you didn’t get a chance to meet up for a couple of weeks. Finally, Travis was going to be in New York for a game against the Jets and had a day off where you could grab lunch together. You rarely traveled with more than person at one time, your manager usually tagging along to your business meetings, but you asked her not to come this time because you didn’t want this to feel like work. You and Travis were going to get very “intimate” in this music video and while it was all for show, you needed it to be convincing. If the chemistry wasn’t there, no amount of editing was going to make it a good music video. You watched from the restaurant window as Travis stepped out of a taxi across the street and hustled over to the restaurant. You were surprised that he didn’t arrive with an entourage of people, and definitely expect him to take a taxi to meet you. You looked down at what you were wearing, a simple black sweater and jeans. Travis was dressed to the nines in a full suit. Forgoing the tie, a bit of his chest hair peaked out of the slightly unbuttoned white-collar shirt he was wearing. Fuck, you were going to seem like you weren’t taking this seriously at all.

He waved at you from the hostess stand and you blushed, his perfect smile making you weak in the knees. When he arrived at the table, you stood up to give him a side hug, taking in his clean cologne scent. He shrugged his suit jacket off and settled into his seat as you fixed your sweater. “Sorry I’m a few minutes late. I don’t know how to get around New York at all.” You giggled, reassuring him with a smile. “Don’t worry about it, I just got here myself.” You opened your menu, perusing the options. You looked up after a few minutes and saw that Travis was staring at you. “Something wrong? I tried to pick a place that had a variety of options. My manager was telling me that I can be a food snob.” You were rambling, your cheeks heating up as Travis just smiled as you talked. Nothing is wrong with the restaurant. You just look really good tonight. Just admiring what’s in front of me.” The restaurant must have moved to the surface of the sun because you were burning up. “Wow, does that work on girls usually?” Travis threw his head back with a laugh. “No, but you looked so tense, I had to lighten the mood.” He shook his shoulders which made you chuckle.

Dinner quickly turned into a back and forth of stories and jokes. You were quickly building feelings for Travis, and who could blame you. He was funny, humble, and completely professional. He never made you feel uncomfortable or tried to hit on you, which was rarely the case with professional athletes.

“So, tell me what I have to do. I’m all yours.” You squeezed your thighs together at that remark, thoughts of every way you could take advantage of his generosity. “Um,” you took a sip of your drink, “we’re working with one of my favorite producers. The song is called “Woman”, it’s all about wanting to be the woman your man needs and basically seducing him through different scenes. I do want to warn you though, there is a scene where we’ll need you to dance.” You grimaced after telling Travis the concept, thinking he was going to want to back out, but he just sat there taking in the concept. “I for sure thought the dancing thing would throw you off.” “You obviously haven’t seen my touchdown celebrations. I’ve got hips that would make a salsa dancer jealous.”

When the day of the shoot arrived, you were more nervous than you thought you’d be. Your mind had been on that dinner ever since, and you had been texting back with Travis, mostly about work and the video, but he so effortlessly slid in flirty comments that gave you butterflies. You were falling for him but weren’t sure if he had similar feelings or was just a natural flirt. You decided to brush it off so you could have a successful shoot.

Travis arrived early to the set, and after you both got done with hair and makeup, you headed to the first scene, the sensual bedroom shot. You begged the producer to shoot this one first in case it went terribly, making the rest of the day would be a waste. You were both standing in the set, white robes covering your scantily clad body. You were in a leather bikini ensemble while Travis was shirtless with jeans on. “I’ve never been in a music video before.” Travis rubbed his hands together as the make-up artist took off his robe and did some quick makeup touch ups on his chest. You dropped your robe to reveal your outfit, and it took everything in Travis not to drool on the spot. You were used to wearing ridiculous outfits for music videos and performances, but you could definitely feel Travis’ eyes on you as he watched you get onto the bed.

“Alright Travis, for this scene, we’re looking for heat and passion, like the two of you haven’t seen each other for months and the sexual tension is about to erupt.” The director guided Travis through the scene. You gave Travis a funny face, mouthing that the director was a little crazy, which made him laugh. The director queued the music, which began blaring through the speakers. Travis was a natural, climbing over you, ghosting kisses over your body as he made his way up to your lips. You tried to find a place to put your hands that seemed natural, ending up hooking your fingers in the belt loops of his jeans. You hoped that Travis couldn’t feel how fast your heart was beating. You locked lips and for a second, you couldn’t hear anything but the breaths between the two of you. You pulled away, bringing yourself back to reality as the director yelled cut. You struggled to get up, the leather of your shorts slipping against the silk sheets on the bed. Your knee accidently brushed against Travis as you rolled over, and you could feel a growing bulge in his jeans.

He immediately noticed and his eyes were extremely apologetic. You grabbed his arm and gave him a reassuring squeeze. “Dave, can we take a 15-minute break? I have to go pee and I have to be cut out of these shorts.” The director nodded before announcing to the crew. The short break would give Travis a chance to “collect” himself, and he hustled out of the room after a quiet thank you towards you. You looked for Travis and found him in his dressing room, head in his hands as he sat in front of the mirror. You gave a courteous knock on the door and peaked your head in. “Hey, can I come in?” You took his silence as approval. You sat at the chair next to his, not sure what to say. Travis broke the silence. “No question about our chemistry now, huh?” you laughed, glad he was able to see the humor in the situation. “I don’t think there was ever a question, but a girl always loves a bit of reassurance.”

You both sat in a comfortable silence before you heard a knock on the door calling you back to set. “The director said he got what he needed for the bedroom shot so we don’t have to shoot that scene anymore”, you reassured Travis. “No way. I need to redeem myself, I can be better.” You patted his shoulder. “This isn’t football, no need to redeem yourself, they’ll cut the scenes together, make it look amazing.” You began walking out of the room when Travis stopped you. “At least let me make it up to you. Show you my bedroom skills in private.” You turned back to him, rolling your eyes with a smile. “Is that your way of asking me on a date?” “Technically we went on a date two weeks ago, so this is me asking you on a second date.”

#travis kelce fluff #travis kelce fic #travis kelce imagine #travis kelce x reader #travis kelce #traviskelce #nfl smut #nfl fan fic #nfl fic #nfl fluff #nfl imagine

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17isrighthere · 6 months

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☆ UPSCALING LOW QUALITY FOOTAGE

what i used: • 2021 macbook pro with m1 chip (390/500gb storage used she's hanging in there) • photoshop 2020 • mpv (for screencaps but this isn't needed!) • handbrake (available for linux, mac and windows here) • video source to gif

what is handbrake? basically its a software that helps you change the format of videos, such as for certain devices or screens, or in the case that we're going to utilise, quality and frame rate!

disclaimer: handbrake is super easy to use and very beginner friendly for this procedure and it can make a video go from 30fps to 60fps however it does not replace the quality of true 4k/blue/master-pro res files. in the gif below, this is the level of detail in a master pro-res file.

getting started it's easiest first to note the timestamps of the video you want to encode, and keep in mind that unless your computer is incredibly powerful, i wouldn't try to encode an hour worth of footage in one run! my laptop could handle about 30 seconds in one go before she started toasting.

using handbrake: once you've downloaded the software, open the software and it will come up with a pop up window asking you to open the video source (that is presumably saved within your folders) and go ahead and do so!

in the range section, use the drop down button to navigate to seconds and enter your timestamp. the duration on the side will show how long of the footage you're gonna encode is!

then go down to the save as, and give your footage 'to be snipped' a name. this isn't necessary but useful because if you're planning to say, encode 3 or 4 small parts of footage in one sitting, each encoding instance will overwrite the previous one. so i just call mine 'cut 1', 'cut 2' and so on.

next go to preset, and there you'll see such a wide variety of options that you can play around with, with differing qualities, frame rates, sound options, and so on. for the sake of this tutorial, i'm using 'superhq 2160p60 4k av1 surround' and i've used the drop down menu to select it! then go ahead and press start! the time taken to complete depends on the duration of footage that you sent to encode! you'll find your encoded video as an .mp4 file in your designated folder (which you can change via browse at the bottom)

what next? • if you prefer to open footage directly into photoshop (my ps can't handle it), then go for it! • if you screencap as i do, then just use mpv or whatever screencapping program you prefer to make the screencaps and open in ps in your usual manner. • you can use the timestamps to further process the video through vapoursynth to denoise, but i've yet to try that!

the results for this first set of example footage, i used footage from the be the sun concert file, which is almost 2 hours in length and 4gb in file size.

you can see the difference in the smooth frame rate of the footage, as well as the quality of the sharpening!

and to utilise the bane of gifmaking, a gose episode, notorious for dodgy pixelated frames and less hd quality in 1080p on youtube, i ran it through the same settings!

these are the exact same files, downloaded using 4k video downloader and with the same sharpening, but see how on the original file, the sharpening looks a bit more harsh and 'outlined' while it seems to sit softer on the encoded 4k version!

so i mainly use handbrake for dvd files, or not-so-hd 1080p youtube videos or videos that seem a bit clunkier but i had never tried them on a tv/film file so take a look below! i used a 1gb (so not very good quality) of a show (as compared to its 4gb files).

as i said at the start in the disclaimer, handbrake can't replicate true file quality, as you'd expect to see in a proper hd bluray/t*rrent file of a show but there's an interesting difference in the frame rate. personally it's not something i would utilise much there but its all up to individual preference on how someone prefers to have their gifs <3

this is a very basic run-through of how i used handbrake, as i haven't really explored all its features and i use this as a quick process when i'm running through seventeen dvd/dl files but i feel like it would work well on general youtube videos (such as interviews, episodes, behind the scenes) and feel free to send an ask/message for any help/clarification! <33

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trulybetty · 3 months

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07 x chocolates - frankie morales x reader

prompt: chocolates pairing: frankie morales x reader word count: 541 notes: fluff, valentine candy, poor pick up lines, strangers, meet cute, no use of y/n, reader is a blank slate summary: never know who you might run into in the CVS valentines aisle

x. masterlist

The artificial light of the CVS did nothing but add to your already miserable mood. Valentine's Day was not your favourite of days as it was and this year in particular, you were the only one of your friends who apparently had nowhere to go or someone to be with.

With a deep sigh, you returned to the difficult choice in front of you, candy or chocolates. Your eyes scanned the shelves filled with red and pink packages. The tinny ballads playing over the store's speakers only served to further your irritation as you searched for some kind of sugary solace for your found solitude that evening.

You picked up a heart-shaped box of chocolates, figuring you might as well go all in, reading through the various flavours printed on the front.

“That's a pretty good choice,” a voice said, unexpectedly close by. You turned, slightly startled, to find the source: a tall man standing just a few feet away, his presence seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

He was looking at the box of chocolates in your hand with a thoughtful expression, his curly hair a bit tousled, as if he'd run his hands through it one too many times. Despite the underlit ambiance of the CVS, his features were striking—broad shoulders framing his silhouette, a patchy beard accentuating the cut of his jawline.

He smiled, a warm, genuine kind of smile that seemed to momentarily lift the gloom of your Valentine's Day blues.

Caught off guard by his sudden appearance and the unexpected kindness in his eyes, you find yourself momentarily speechless. “Oh, uh, thanks,” you managed. “Have you tried them yourself, or is this second-hand endorsement?”

He laughed, a warm, inviting sound that seemed to fill the space between you. “Guilty as charged. I might have a bit of a sweet tooth.”

You couldn't help but smile in return, “There could be worse things I guess.”

“So, you come here often?” He asked and you could tell from the moment the words left his lips it was instant regret, the line corny and cliche. He winced in anticipation of your reaction.

You raised an eyebrow as you gave him a playful smirk, “Do you always try to pick up people in the CVS candy section?”

The blush was instantaneous up his neck and into his cheeks, the bashful grin he gave you was endearing as opposed to offputting.

“I guess it's just my lucky day,” he replied, his voice filled with a hint of nervousness.

You couldn't help but smile at his genuine response. Something about this stranger intrigued you, and you found yourself wanting to know more. Without hesitation, you gestured towards a box of assorted chocolates on the shelf.

“Since you've already made it this far, I'll let you help me decide,” you said, flashing him a smile.

He chuckled softly and moved closer, examining the different varieties of chocolates. As you both perused the options, he turned to look at you with a genuine smile, “I'm Frankie.”

Despite the impromptuness of meeting you, you couldn't help but smile back, “Nice to meet you Frankie,” you replied, giving him your name. To which you couldn't help but notice the the spark in his eyes grow even brighter.

#x29 valentines #frankie morales #frankie morales fanfiction #frankie morales fanfic #frankie morales x you #frankie morales x reader #frankie morales x f!reader #pedro pascal character fanfic #pedro pascal character fanfiction #pedro pascal characters

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revvethasmythh · 9 months

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I think it's very interesting--and I mean that genuinely--that overwhelmingly in the past week or two, the responses I've seen about Relvin have centered around the idea that "he should have fought" for Imogen or that "he should FIGHT" for Imogen. I've seen this particular line pop up quite a few times in slightly different ways, and I think maybe we should unpack this a little.

Because in the physical sense, Relvin can't really fight. By that, I mean his stats probably look like Gilear Faeths and like, yeah, you can argue that Gilear tagged along during Sophomore Year and therefore, so could Relvin. But Gilear also *spoilers* died three separate times in a 20 episode span, and is only alive at the end because Emily loves him so fucking much and Brennan's resurrection rules in FHSY are more lax than Matt's. Particularly post-Solstice, where there is no resurrection to be had at all if Relvin were to die. If you want Relvin to join the Hells and Fight The Moon And Ludinus Too, it's really not feasible even on just a physical level. That's not even engaging with the question of "why would the Hells even want him there?" They wouldn't. He'd be a nuisance at best and a liability at worst.

If you want to him to Fight The Moon sans the Hells on his own, he's really not capable of that either! He's not a scholar, he's not a magic user, he's--he's a groom. A stablehand. He can't "pick up his pitchfork" (that he shovels manure with) and stand defiantly against the forces that face Imogen & Co. He's really, truly Just A Dude. Which is kind of the point I've been trying to make about him. He's lived his life around extraordinary people, and he is not extraordinary. He doesn't have the tools to fight something like this, which is part of his tragedy. Is there a world where he quits his job, leaves his horses and his home and his life and tries to become a warrior for the sake of his absentee wife and the daughter he loves but doesn't know how to love the right way? I suppose. But wouldn't that be a different story than this one? And isn't it worth finding the meaning in the one we're experiencing now?

If this argument is that he should have fought for Imogen on an emotional level i.e. having been there for her more or more outwardly shown her affection, we kind of run aground of the same problems. The ask here is that we fundamentally change Relvin's character to make him something that he is not. He is a man who struggles with emotions, and was probably desperately scared about what Imogen was experiencing when it happened and didn't want her to feel his fear. Or his thoughts about her mother. And so, yes, he pulls away (for a variety of reasons). And there is a conversation to be had about his choice to withhold information about Liliana--it's questionable. But, then, every option he was presented with was questionable. What do you tell Imogen, who was abandoned by her mother when she was two? That her mother is dead, or that her mother abandoned her? You pray Imogen never develops the same debilitating powers as her mother, but when she does? Do you give her the comfort of knowing someone else had the same powers, the same struggles, at the expense of prompting more questions about her mother? Do you take the chance to be peppered with questions about how these powers work only to helplessly look on and say "I don't know," and maybe send Imogen down the same road as her mother even sooner than she actually did?

There is no good option. There is no heroic version of Relvin that makes all the right choices and becomes Imogen's white knight father, endlessly supportive and wholly committed to her. The situation is too complicated, and Relvin, frankly, is far too much Just Some Guy to be able to really grasp what Imogen is going through or to fight it in an active way. But I do think it's interesting that this seems to be the version of Relvin that the fandom would have found acceptable.

#at this point I'm just collecting data from the things people are adding to my relvin post #and I am Learning Things #critical role #relvin temult #bells hells #also--don't be a dick on this post. there is no reason to be a dick. this is a chill measured discussion we're having about fandom #let's keep it that way

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mmurkoff · 5 days

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hihi not sure how fond myrielle and aerion are of each other (would love to know more about their dynamic if you are willing to share <3) but they remind me of the “who tf is burning down my kitchen” “making breakfast for my beautiful wife” twitter meme

anon ... i giggled .

as for marriage dynamics well .. i feel like by default any relationship with a guy everyone hates for good reason is going to be a bit strained . but somehow they're both kind of deranged enough to make it work (er.. well... somewhat...).

ive talked very briefly about it in my little myrielle post already but it kind of had to grow into anything beyond hating each other . right when myrielle gets to court she holds a lot of resentment toward him, mainly because he's the second son of a fourth son - not really heir to anything, and even when she's young she wants to aim higher than that with her betrothal. she spends a lot of time pining after the concept of another man that she deems 'better' (valarr, matarys, even daeron etc - the actual people matter less than the fact that they're further up in the succession than aerion) just because she's decided to herself that she deserves more. a little girl playing into the idea of being a wife and centering her whole worldview about that ala really twisted westerosi expectations and societal structures

it's kind of what you'd expect from two very willful very spoiled preteens; a lot of petty squabbles and little disagreements that have them bickering and squabbling and it's a bit of a mess . in time though it breezes over kind of because they both grow up and 'mature' in the sense that they aren't calling each other stupid and pushing each other over in the yard anymore LOL

by the time they're married ... well . it's .... . myrielle is fond of him and finds him handsome and dashing while they're in public and in private he at least treats her well a couple days a week which is enough . i think it's very shallow in the sense that ... i'm not sure if they ever truly know each other fully . myrielle projects her ambitions onto him and steadily heads down her path to making sure he becomes king (after the tourney at ashford meadow and the great spring sickness when things get a little crazy in how many targs are dying off) and aerion projects some idea of the wife he'd imagined himself to want onto her . in my mind he's kind of giving targ man too caught up in the idea of his ancestry and his family traditions given his whole deal with the dragon delusions etc so its lots of hey what if you pretend like you're (targ woman of his choosing) and ill be (her evil husband) and then we'll be a Proper Couple instead of a Fake Arrangement between me (perfect prince) and a lesser non-targ woman . you can see that there might be some issues here .

definitely not good . they hold resentment for each other mutually for a variety of reasons but theres also some deep seated dedication there especially from myrielle . she gets so deep into the thought of the both of them rising further than they're expected to that she in turn essentially drops everything for him and makes a lot of questionable choices and does a lot of questionable things to keep him happy and to assist him in whatever way she thinks he needs . i feel like she gets very caught up in the idea of really feeding into the idea aerion has of their marriage . tries to play into the thought of being more of a targaryen and tries to shift and change herself which never really works because she does treasure her own family and her identity but also because things just don't go the way she wants .

errr. ride or die i guess but it's weirrddddddd . which is funny to say because in practice they both cheat on each other and lie to each other and fight and bicker but they keep going back for more . why...? well.. maybe duty maybe genuine care maybe a third more evil option. me when i go out and cheat on my wife but its okay because i come back and bring her nice gifts and we do our historical targ roleplay which isn't weird at all guys i promise please guys listen its not weird its not w

rubs my chin. a lot of thoughts but i'm bad at putting them into words. i hope this is anything . probably not. one day you'll get something better from me .... .... <3

#txt #asks #oc #oc tag #aerion targaryen #aerion brightflame

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bathomet-writes · 1 year

Text

prom (purple edition)

summary: Your date for the school dance bails on you. Who better to come in and sweep you off your feet in their stead than the science guy?

relationship: Donnie x GN!reader

warnings: romantic, fluff, humor, kissing, smoking, sfw (just fyi reader and donnie smoke a lil in this entry!!)

word count: 3,410

author's note: here's the second part of the prom!! part one, part three, part four (thank you @/cherryp0p224 for the request)

“Do you want to dance?”

“No.”

You stood at the precipice of the gym floor, waiting for your date to follow you. Tyler seemed much more interested in the scuffed wooden floor than you at the moment.

“Do you…want some food?” You gesture over to the snack table.

He gives you a noncommittal shrug, meandering over to the wall. The place reserved for all the so-called ‘cool kids’ who were too good to actually have fun at a school dance. Huffing, you catch up to him.

You knew he wasn’t all that big on social functions like this, but you at least expected him to want a drink. Or to even look at you. You cough, leaning against the padded wall next to him.

“This is fine, we can just stand here for a sec. Catch our breath.”

Once again, you’re met with silence. You’ve seen pieces of bread more interesting than him.

You take a moment to really consider your options. You could stand here, saying nothing with a guy you barely know. One of your friends, more like a friend of a friend, set you up with Tyler. The night would stretch on, and you’d both part ways. No dancing, no fun, just silence. In a flash of anger, you knock your head against the wall. Tonight was supposed to be fun, not…this.

“Do you mind if I just do my own thing?”

You crane your head over to look Tyler in the eye. It was difficult, considering he was just scrolling on his phone.

“Hm.” He murmurs.

Hm. Hm?

“Okay, goodbye.” You spit.

Taking your invitation to leave, he calmly strides away, back toward the main doors. You didn’t really care where he was going, you were just glad to finally be rid of him. Rolling your shoulders, you try to get back into a better mindset. You were free! Free to dance, drink, and be merry. To be alone at prom.

Okay, this was somehow a little worse.

“Question of the rhetorical variety…”

You swivel around to face the stranger standing next to you. Another ‘cool kid,’ perhaps? But what was he doing talking to you? Before you can respond, he continues.

“Would you like to dance?” He smirks, bowing down to you.

You search his face, trying to ascertain whether he was joking or not. The question did seem rhetorical, judging by the way he was reaching out to grab your hand. You unconsciously back away.

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Othello von Ryan. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

To your utter shock, he catches your hand in his and places a gentlemanly smooch upon it. It was so out-of-pocket and cheesy, you nearly bust a gut.

“I’m…fine,” you shudder. “Have I met you before? That name sounds strangely familiar.”

“Nope.”

You quirk up an eyebrow. “No?”

Othello straightens, dropping your hand. “You would remember someone like me.”

You balk, a little taken with this man’s audaciousness. You allow yourself to do a quick once over, taking in his attire. He was wearing a standard button-up shirt and pants. A purple shirt. Your eyes travel up, taking note of his suspiciously thick eyebrows. They’re sculpted, almost unusually so. His head was sporting some kind of set of headphones. No, they were goggles.

Then, it hits you.

“Donnie, I know it’s you.”

Gulping nervously, he tries to recover and do a little spin before you. Maybe his impressive dance skills would throw you off his trail.

“Preposterous!”

“Only Donnie would say something like ‘preposterous.’”

In a flash, you find yourself being grabbed by Donnie. He spins you in his arms before dipping you low. You can’t help the blush that creeps into your cheeks at the suave gesture.

“You’re delusional.” He smirks. “Maybe I ought to convince you?”

He waggles his clearly drawn-on eyebrows at you suggestively. But, you won’t be swayed that easily.

“I’d like to see you try.” You give him a challenging glare.

“How can I entangle you? How can I…ensnare you?”

“Well…” You sigh, your voice lilting with amour. “Maybe you can–”

While he’s momentarily distracted by your romantic words, you flick Donnie on the nose.

“Let me go?”

Unintentionally, he lets his hands go limp. You fall unceremoniously to the floor with a loud thump. Once he registers what he’s just done, Donnie panics, leaning over your form.

“Woah! Are you okay?”

The landing was a little uncomfortable, but you were alright. You wouldn’t let him know that, though. He just looked so cute fretting over you all of the sudden. You place a hand over your forehead, feigning an injury. Maybe you could play along with Donnie’s little pretend game as well.

“My back! My poor, poor back.” You arch up in pain, your face twisting with agony. “Medic!”

Donnie frowns, finally becoming serious. With his super-human strength, he lifts you up from the floor and carts you out of the gym. You sputter as he carries you out into the hallway.

“Hey, hands to yourself! I didn’t really hurt my back, you know.”

He ignores you, looking around for the right room. “Where’s the nurse’s office?”

Donnie’s voice was oddly serious. Almost…tantalizingly so. Holding back your own uncouth thoughts, you direct him down the hall to the left.

“It’s right over there. If you just use your eyes,” you scoff. “Othello von Ryan.”

He rushes over to the door, kicking it open. To your horror, he breaks it off of its hinges. This dude wasn’t messing around! Donnie deposits you onto the medical table before tearing through every drawer and cabinet, looking for the supplies he needs.

“Hey, I’m fine. You don’t have to keep doing this little charade. I know you’re not seriously–”

“You don’t think I’m serious? I’m deathly serious! With those lower back problems, and your family history, you’re bound to have strained something.”

You blush, clutching the edge of the bed you were sitting on. You didn’t think the admission of knowing your health background would get you so flustered.

Scoffing, he goes back to the cabinets. “Just…let me work.”

Donnie bites his lower lip in thought. He knew what was best for you, obviously.

You lower yourself onto the table, glad to finally let yourself fully relax for once this entire night. It wasn’t music or dancing, but this situation was at least a little more fun than what you were expecting.

“Sit up,” Donnie sighs. “I need to check your vitals.”

“I’m not dying, dude.”

“Stop being insolent.” He pulls you up by your collar.

You furrow your eyebrows, watching as he wordlessly begins to assess your wounds.

“Donnie?”

He doesn’t answer, moving his hand around your ribcage. What was it with guys not listening to you tonight? He prods his fingers against your chest, a little too roughly.

“Jeez!” You huff, pulling away. “Would you just–”

Your cries fall on deaf ears. Donnie continues to work his hands against your midsection until moving them against your back.

“Any pain?”

You guess this might as well happen. Your shoulders slump a bit in defeat.

“No…”

“How about here?” He palms your lower back.

“All good, doctor.”

Getting a devious idea, you backtrack. “Ahh– Actually, yeah. Right around there.”

Donnie presses, albeit gently, into your spine. You have to hold yourself back from sighing at his touch. You knew he wasn’t much for physical contact, unless he was the one initiating it. That was one thing you and Donatello had in common.

You hiss, feeling his hands venture lower.

“Your muscles are a little tense, but you seem fine.”

“No, it hurts. I feel it now.” You sigh.

Donnie focuses on your back, almost massaging it out of worry. He knew when April texted him about her reservations about your date, he just had to come along to see if you were okay. Not that he was concerned about you. He just wanted an excuse to break into the school, scope out the scene. It was all in the name of science.

Sweating, he moves a little lower. He really did feel bad about dropping you. But the way you were looking at him before was so bewitching. He couldn’t help but oblige your request to ‘let you go.’

“Here?”

His hands were right above the curve of your ass. You smile, a lecherous desire taking over your mind.

“Yeah, right there. Just go to town.” You wiggle about, teasingly.

Donnie’s concern soon dissipates as he feels you lean into his grasp. “I should have known.”

He tears his hands away from you to go to the sink. He needed to wash his hands of any potential sin he just accumulated from feeling you up so lavishly.

“Known what?”

“That you’d be uncivilized.” He scowls. Donnie knew he was above such base urges.

“Excuse me? I’m not the one who so boldly carried me off into a secluded room, where no one else could see…”

He snaps his hands, flicking off the last of the water, before turning back to you.

“I know I’m a bit irresistible, but I’m really not your type. I’m a bad boy, a loner.”

Just when you think Donnie couldn’t get anymore annoying–

“Oh please, don’t flatter yourself.”

“It’s the truth,” he smirks, placing his clean hands upon your cheeks. “You couldn’t handle me.”

His condescending tone sends a chill up your spine. Grabbing his hands, you pull them from your warm face.

“Watch it, turtle boy. You don’t know me quite as well as you think you do.”

You lift yourself off of the cot, wandering over to the door. Your relationship with Donnie could best be described as volatile. Passionate, sometimes flirtatious, but never too friendly. It was a groove you both carved out yourselves from years of friendship. Well, at least from mutual understanding.

You place your hand upon the cold handle. “I’m gonna go outside for a smoke, you wanna join me?”

He twists around, leveling you with an offended glare.

“You do not smoke.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You open the door, beckoning him to join you.

“I— uh…I mean, it’s not healthy to smoke! Even if it’s just vaping, preliminary medical studies show that it can significantly increase the likelihood of cardiovascular disease in most humans.”

Your eyes squint in suspicion.

“...Humans?”

He sputters. “Which includes me!”

Smirking, you walk out of the nurse’s office and into the hallway. You’ve grown quite accustomed to Donnie’s scientific ramblings. He usually made the information seem a lot more interesting than it should be.

You don’t check to see if he's following you. The second sound of footsteps echoing in the halls lets you know that Donnie was right behind you. You search around for the correct room, the one that had a door that led out to the soccer field. That place was sure to be unattended.

The chemistry room. Of course.

You push open the door, holding it out for Donnie. “Right this way.”

In a moment of weakness, Donnie gasps in astonishment.

“Holy Truffle Mac and Cheese! They have– Oh! I didn’t know they could afford this.” He flits around the room, appreciating the meager lab equipment. “So many flasks…”

You chuckle, amused by his genuine fascination. “You like science, huh?”

Donnie nearly forgets himself before clearing his throat. He was Othello von Ryan, not Donatello Hamato.

“It’s a hobby,” he admits. “A casual diversion from the humdrum monotony of life.”

Rolling your eyes, you push open the door leading outside. “And such a poet too.”

The refreshing night air is a welcome sensation, easing your stiff muscles. You dive into your pocket and pull out the crumpled up carton of menthols you snuck into the dance. You didn’t really smoke unless you were stressed out, or drunk, but you weren’t about to pass up an opportunity like this to test Donnie’s limits with you.

“Do you mind?”

He leans against the brick wall of the building, not even sparring you a passing glance.

“Not at all.”

You pull out your trusty lighter from your other pocket. It takes you a second, but you manage to produce a tiny flame. The breeze out here was a little more intense than you thought. Taking a long drag, you allow your lungs to fill with smoke before blowing it out of your nostrils.

Out of sheer curiosity, Donnie peeks over to you. You definitely didn’t look cool standing there, breathing in all that nasty tar. And you most certainly didn’t make Donnie squirm from how nonchalantly you looked. You were giving him your own cold shoulder, staring out into the empty field. His eyes drank in your detached body language.

This just wouldn’t do. Eagerly, he steps forward.

“So how did you figure it out? Was it my superior dance moves? My eloquent turn of phrase? My dashing good looks?”

You point up to his head, gesturing to the 3-D goggles he was still wearing. “I’m not exactly a detective, but…”

In a flash, he stows them away in his pocket. “I stole these. From a different mad genius.”

“You’re a criminal too?” You gasp. “I bet you’re a part of the Purple Dragons. You seem like you run with that kind of crowd.”

Glowering, he scratches at the back of his neck. “They wish…”

“Hm?” You smirk.

“Nothing. I didn’t say anything.”

He reaches over and snatches the cigarette out of your fingers. Even if Donatello was opposed to smoking, Othello was much more down to clown. He takes a small drag before choking on the flavor.

“U-Ugh–! What is that?”

You pluck the smoke out of his hand and crush it beneath your shoe, stomping out the light.

“It’s Wacky Weedus. Y’know, the Devil’s Lettuce?”

“I’ve sampled cannabis, you duplicitous curr, and that…was not it.”

He grabs onto your shoulders, shaking you about. You smile goofily at him, relishing the feeling of his hands upon you once again. Only, they felt off. You look up to his face, realizing that his human features were a tad unsettling. Where was that signature mask-clad forehead you’ve come to love so much?

You shrug his hands off. “Why’d you come here? Did April put you up to this?”

He sighs, finally tired of putting up a front. Being such a mysterious bad boy was exhausting sometimes.

“Yes, she did text me. But I really did want to come.”

His voice was steeped in regret, a sound you haven’t yet heard from the resident science guy. Maybe your playful teasing had overstayed its welcome. You swallow, moving a bit closer to him. The air was becoming a bit chilly.

“You did?”

You blink, a soft smile forming.

Stunned at your genuine question, he backs away.

“But of course! I've never had the pleasure of being invited to a prom. I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to socialize with other fellow…humans.”

“So this was like an experiment for you?”

You narrow your eyes. You were really trying to be honest about your feelings right now, and he was still trying to dodge your question. You bite at your chapped lips, your annoyance bubbling up from your gut up into your throat.

Finally, Donnie stills. He wrings his hands together nervously before speaking. He was usually so verbose, but for some reason, he felt at a loss for words.

“Yes.”

Wait. He shouldn’t have said that.

He watches as your face shifts in displeasure. You don’t want to feel so crestfallen, but you are. Maybe coming to prom wasn’t such a good idea. All you wanted to do was curl up into a ball on your bed and sink into its warmth.

You’d be alone, but at least it was familiar.

You turn your heel and start to leave. “Smell you later, von Ryan.”

“That came out wrong!” He catches you by your wrist, turning you around.

You ignore his apologetic frown, angling your head away from him. You feel your heartstrings tug hearing his voice, so unusually close to your ear.

Sighing, you look up. “Did you collect all your data points? Gather enough research?”

He sputters, all of the sudden bashful. “U-Uh…”

Bashful was a good look on him, you think to yourself. You’ve never seen Donnie blush before.

The two of you stand, shivering against the cold wind. Without even thinking about it, you close in on one another for shelter. It doesn’t do much to shield you from the breeze, but your body heat does seem to increase at the closeness.

You calm yourself, letting your anger melt away. You weren’t really mad at him, you were just tired of the same old song and dance. Donnie would say something smarmy, you would say something rude back. It was fun trading verbal blows with him, but…you craved something more. Something a little more real.

“I wonder if you were more popular with this thing on.” You tap your finger against the cloaking broach on his shirt. “You’re certainly a lot more conventionally attractive now.”

He gulps. “As in…I'm usually unconventionally attractive?”

You purse your lips. That wasn’t the response you were expecting, but when you thought about it, you suppose he was right. He was kind of hot, in his own way. His human body was nice, but it couldn’t really hold a candle to his turtle form.

“You’re a slight deviation in a lot of ways. Eccentric is putting it kindly.”

His hopeful smile drops, knocking his head to the side.

“Should I take that as a compliment?” He mutters sarcastically.

“Yes. Because that’s what I like most about you.”

You maneuver your hand to grab onto his instead, placing a tiny kiss upon the exposed skin of his wrist. Strangely, Donnie doesn’t pull away.

You peek up at his face, wanting to see his reaction. But, you find yourself unsatisfied with the bashful expression on his human face. The results of your smooch were inconclusive, tainted by a skewed variable.

“Wait, allow me to try again.”

Smirking, you remove Donnie’s cloaking broach. His human form melts away, revealing his normal turtle anatomy. It’s a welcome sight, and you lean back in to nip at his wrist.

A deep blush colors his cheeks as you continue to place small kisses upon his skin. Donnie moans, leaning in closer. He’s surprised at himself, his usual reflexes being dulled by your soft lips upon him.

“How is it now?” He sighs.

You smile against his pebbled skin. “I prefer you like this, I think. You’re easy on the eyes no matter what, but this is…this is better.”

Navigating around the metal plating on his wrist, you plant a couple more smooches on his arm. You have to stop yourself from traveling all the way up to his shoulder, to his neck, to his mouth. You pull away and drink in his infatuated face. Suddenly, you take a step back. You don’t know what came over you.

“Uh…sorry. I didn’t mean to–”

“It’s fine.”

You inch away, your hand brushing against your tender lips. “Is it?”

Donnie smiles as he rubs his thumb along his forearm.

“Yeah. I think we need to go back in though, it’s getting cold.”

You nod. “Right.”

Walking back to the door, Donnie pushes up against the handle. It doesn’t open. He pushes and pulls a couple more times before glancing over to you.

“It’s locked.”

You chuckle, leaning forward to hit your head against his battle shell. “Fuck, I forgot!”

Donnie laughs even harder, straining against the immovable door. He gives up and moves to walk away into the soccer field. If he couldn’t offer you a dance, the least he could do was walk you back home.

“Let’s go. This dance was kind of lame anyway.”

Smiling, you eagerly follow him. Maybe this night wasn’t such a bust after all.

“I can help you with your physics, by the by.”

“What?”

He pulls out a sheet of paper with your signature written at the top, along with a failing grade.

“I took the liberty of swiping your test. You did horribly, but you just need help understanding fission reactions. Like this problem here, the beta decay of the—“

“You’re a beta.”

Donnie trips on the grass, his charming face colliding with the ground. You double over in laughter again, falling back into your normal routine with him.

He really was the funny one.

And the cute one.

taglist: @saspas-corner

#rottmnt x reader #donnie x reader #rottmnt donnie x reader #donatello x reader #tmnt x reader #sfw #requests

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toaarcan · 20 days

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Every now and then I see the Capitalism Ruined Tieflings post float past and my brain just goes "Skill Issue."

For context, this is a popular post that states that in D&D's second and third editions, Tieflings had a huge variety of appearances and then in 4e they were homogenised into generic devil-people because Hasbro was calling the shots and demanded that Tieflings all look relatively the same because that way it was easier to sell minis of them, and now Tieflings are ruined forever because you can't make one with greasy skin that smells like farts.

But here's the thing: You can absolutely still just do that.

"But the book says-"

Fuck the book! This hobby is 50% improv and the highest authority you'll ever have to deal with is most likely going to be your friend Jim, when it comes to pure roleplay things, there is literally nothing stopping you. The D&D Police aren't going to kick down your door and haul you off to RPG Jail for the crime of not playing a Tiefling like they're described in the PHB, because there is no D&D Police.

The PHB is great for telling you what you get mechanically (or the "crunch") and can be entirely ignored for everything in terms of lore (or the "fluff").

I've been playing 5e for something like seven or eight years now, and during that time, across all those groups, we've used vanishingly small amounts of official lore, one official setting, and precisely zero Hasbro miniatures (largely because all of those games have been online).

If I had gone to any of those DMs, both the good and bad ones, and said "I wanna use the Planescape Tiefling tables for my character's appearance", I don't think any of them would've said no. Now, that's not something I personally would ever do (I'm not leaving my character's design up to the RNG that hates me), but I don't doubt that the option would exist if I wanted it.

Additionally, people have always broken from the official limitations of the books with these things, and a few really obvious ways.

Per the books, Tieflings have the full range of human skin tones, plus varying shades of red. Now, how many people actually keep to that limitation? I've seen blue, purple, orange, green, yellow, bone white, grey, black, pink, etcetera. Even the Planescape table only gives you red, green, and blue, random 5e players going "What if it was purple!" and disregarding the PHB is fully and openly accepted.

Hell, two of the most prominent Tiefling characters in the current era of D&D are Jester and Molly from CritRole's second campaign, who are blue and purple respectively. "Tieflings are just red" says Hasbro, and "No they aren't" says literally everybody else. Even Hasbro themselves don't care too much about it, there's an official Lego D&D Tiefling minifigure coming out this year, and they're orange, not red, when Hasbro could easily have demanded that Lego make them red.

Additionally, the book says Tiefling eyes are a single, solid colour, with no visible iris, pupil, or sclera. Yeah that one gets ignored a whole lot too. In fact, that one gets ignored more than it gets followed. I've made at least ten of these fuckers and one of them followed that rule, and only did so after her Sorcerer bloodline activated, and nobody, DM or player, has ever called me out on it.

The book says nothing about them having weird legs, I've still seen plenty with varying forms of digitigrade gait, whether it's with hooves or something else at the end of them.

If you want to make your Planescape Tieflings, then you absolutely still can. And if your DM says no, then they're probably just still in their Rules Stickler phase. Give 'em a little time and they'll loosen up, it happened to most people in this hobby.

That's the great thing about playing D&D. Most of the time, you really can just do whatever the hell you like as long as it doesn't futz with the mechanical side of things (and sometimes you can do it with that too).

Capitalism didn't ruin Tieflings. Sure, you can argue that it tried, but the only thing letting it succeed is a lack of imagination and an unwillingness to go "Hey, can I just do X instead" on the part of the players.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go make a character that's mechanically a Tiefling and lore-wise a completely different species, because nothing can stop me doing that.

#D&D #Dungeons and Dragons #Dungeons & Dragons #Tiefling #Tieflings #D&D 5e #D&D 4e

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phoenixyfriend · 9 months

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Ko-Fi prompt from @dirigibird:

I've been looking at investment options but I don't want to be messing around too much with the stock market, and a co-worker suggested exchange traded funds. Would love to know your opinions!

LEGALLY NECESSARY DISCLAIMER: I am not a licensed financial advisor, and it is illegal for me to advise anyone on investment in securities like stocks. My commentary here is merely opinion, not financial advice, and I urge you to not make any decisions with regards to securities investments based on my opinions, or without consulting a licensed advisor. I am also going to be talking this all over from an American POV, which means some of these things may not apply elsewhere.

So instead of letting you know what to pick or how to organize your securities, I'm going to go through the definitions of what various investment funds are, how they compare functionally, and maybe rant about how I disagree with the stock market on a fundamental ethical level if I have word count left over.

If you want more information, and are okay with jargon, I'd suggest hitting up investopedia. That is where I will be double-checking most of my information for this one.

I also encourage folks who know more about the stock market specifically to jump in! I like to think I'm good at research and explaining things, but I'm still liable to make mistakes.

Mutual Funds: A mutual fund is a pool of money and resources from multiple individuals (often vast numbers of people, actually) being put together and managed as a group by investment specialists. The primary appeal of these is that the money is professionally managed, but not personally so; it gives smaller investors access to professional money managers that they would not have access to on their own, at cheaper rates than if they tried to hire one for just their own assets. The secondary appeal is that, due to the sheer number of people, and thus capital, that is being invested at once, the money can be invested in a wide variety of industries, and is generally more stable than investing in just one company or industry. Low risk, low reward, but overall at least mostly reliable. Retirement plans are often invested in mutual funds by employer choice, through companies like Fidelity or John Hancock.

Hedge Funds: A hedge fund is a high risk, high reward mutual fund. Investors are generally wealthy, and have the room and safety to lose large amounts of money on an investment that has no promise of success, especially since money cannot be withdrawn at will, but must remain in the fund for a period of time following investment. It gets its name from "hedging your bets," as part of the strategy is to invest in the opposition of the fund's focus in order to ensure that there is a backup plan to salvage at least some money if the main plan backfires. Other strategies are also on the riskier side, often planning to take advantage of ongoing events like buyouts, mergers, incumbent bankruptcy, and shorting stocks (that's the one that caused the gamestop incident).

Private Equity: Private equity is... a nightmare that got its own incredibly good Hasan Minhaj episode of Patriot Act, so if you've got 20 minutes, an interest in comedically-delivered, easily-digestible, Real Information, and an internet connection, take a watch of that one. (If it's not available on YouTube in your country, it's originally from Netflix, or you can probably access it by VPN.) Private equity companies are effectively hedge funds that purchase entire companies, rebuild them in one way or another, and then sell them at (hopefully) a profit. Very often, the companies purchased by private equity are very negatively impacted, especially if the private equity group is a Vulture Fund. Sometimes, it's by taking it apart to sell off; sometimes it's by just bleeding it for cash until there's nothing left. Sometimes, it's taking over a hospital and overcharging the patients while also abusing the staff! (Glaucomflecken has a lot of videos on the topic of private equity in the medical industry, check him out.)

Venture Capital: In contrast to private equity, which purchases more mature companies, venture capital is focused on startups, or small businesses that have growth potential. These are the kinds of hedge funds that are like a whole group that you'd see some random tv character calling an Angel Investor (they're not actually the same thing, but they overlap by a lot). I'd hesitantly call these less ethically dubious than private equity, but I'm still suspicious.

And finally, to answer your question on what ETFs are and how they fit into the above.

Exchange Traded Funds: ETFs are... sort of like a mutual fund. Sort of. You are, to some extent, pooling your money... ish.

An ETF is like a stock that is made out of partial stocks. So instead of paying $100 for stock A, and not getting stocks B/C/D that all cost the same, you buy $100 of the ETF, which is $25 each of stocks A/B/C/D. You are getting a quarter of a unit of stock, which isn't normally an option, but because you are purchasing through an ETF that officially already bought those Whole stocks, you can now purchase the partial stocks through them.

They buy the whole stocks, then they resell you mixes of those stocks. They still officially own the whole stocks themselves, but you now own parts of the stocks. Basically, you own "stock" in a company that owns stock in other companies, and in that process you own partial stocks in those other companies.

I'm going to re-explain this using fruit.

Imagine you can buy apples, oranges, melons, grapes, etc. You can also buy fruit cups. You can only buy the individual fruits in big batches or you can pool your money with a few other people, hand it to a chef. The chef will decide which fruits look like they'll taste the best by lunch time, buy a bunch of those fruit pallets with your combined money, and plan out the best possible fruit salad for you to share with a bunch of people once lunch rolls around.

You could also buy a fruit cup. You don't have a lot of control over what's already in the fruit cup, but there are a few different mixes available--that one has strawberries, but that one over there uses kiwi, and the other one that way has pineapple--and you can pick which mix you want. It's a pretty small fruit cup, and it's predesigned, but you can choose the one you want without having to pool money with everyone else. You just first have to let someone else design the fruit cups you choose from, and you don't know which ones are probably going to survive the best to lunch time unless you ask a chef (which defeats the purpose of buying a fruit cup instead of pooling your money, and asking the chef costs money).

That's the ETF. The ETF is the fruit cup.

The upside is that you can now just track the prices of your fruit cup, instead of tracking the prices of four different fruits, and so if the price of one fruit drops, you can just... let the other three buoy it.

Of course, in the real world, there are more than just four stocks involved in an ETF. This part of the Investopedia article lists a few examples, and they're usually themed and involve anywhere from 30 (DOW Jones) to thousands (Russell) of shares by stock type, or by commodity/industry. So with the ETF, you can invest in an entire industry, like technology, and just keep track of that single "stock" in the industry game.

They do cost less in brokerage/management fees than regular mutual funds, and they have a slightly lower liquidity (slower to cash out). There also exist actively managed ETFs, which are basically mutual funds for ETFs. You are paying the chef to buy you premade fruit cups.

(Prompt me on ko-fi!)

#economics #stock market #etfs #etf #mutual funds #hedge funds #venture capital #private equity #capitalism #phoenix talks #ko fi #ko fi prompts #economics prompts

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envyangelic · 4 months

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꩜˚₊‧⁺⋆♱⋆☠︎︎ CHANGES ☠︎︎⋆♱⋆⁺‧₊ ˚ ꩜

♱ JEFF THE KILLER X READER ♱

WARNING 18+ - THIS CONTENT CONTAINS DESCRIPTIVE GORE, MURDER, MENTIONS OF CANNIBALISM, MENTIONS OF SA, ATTEMPTED SA, USE/MENTIONS OF DRUGS/ALCOHOL, STALKING, SMUT, AND VULGARITIES. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED

PART ii of the CHANGES series

YOU HAD TO GET AWAY, it was run away or succumb to the consequences. You felt helpless as you hurriedly packed a bag of clothes, whatever money you had left from waitressing, and whatever else had any sentinel value.

You stuffed it in and zipped it tight. You let out an aching cry gripping the fabric of your clothes. A few knocks pound on your wooden door. You let out a panicked huff and wipe your tears.

“Y/N?” The familiar sound of your fathers slurred drunken words seep into your ears and your body freezes in place. The clicking of the handle tries to twist and open but you’ve locked it so it’s no use. His slurred speech varieties he’s concerned, he’s angry, he’s upset, and then he stops. His words drain out as your headache becomes worse. It aches as the world drowns out around you. God, why did you do it? What are you doing..

<——————————————————>

The mindless driving and empty feeling of your heart. The stomach was eating at you you hadn’t eaten anything ‘good’ for a few days. You tried to reserve water the best you could but all your cash went towards gas money. You looked in the mirror above you, a new you, a new hair cut, a new color, an innocent you.

You sigh as you turn your radio up. It was fine for a while, you’d just entered Oregon a few hours ago and had been traveling on the backroads trying to stay away from the main ones. The ride is smooth for the next half hour until your car rattles with a unfamiliar sound. That and the combation of your headache makes you bang your hand with your head.

“God damnit!” And that makes angry tears slip from your eyes and down your cheeks. Everything is going wrong, all in a span of days your world has corrupted and fallen apart. You have fallen apart. Tears turn into sobs and the world becomes practically non existent as you try to rest your head on the steering wheel for just a minute.. just a minute..

“Hello? Hey” You were being shaken awake by a mysterious hand. A sound of a loud non stopping horn irritates your head as you pick your head up from the steering wheel squinting your eyes trying to make out the people infront of you. Your heart quickens.. please don’t know my face.

A boy with dark curly hair and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and another boy with white blonde hair stares at you concerned. “Are you okay?” The blonde one asks. You wipe your eyes, “I’m fine.” They look at you with curiosity “Do you need anything? You don’t look like you’re in good shape miss.” The blonde recalls and put your hand on the steering wheel and bow your head avoiding the skeptical gaze of their eyes.

“I’m FINE.” You exclaim trying to start the engine. It only revs up not turning on. No.. no! . The blonde one turns around whispering something. “We can’t just leave her here. She looks like your age. The black curly haired one side glances you. “You can and you will.” You give the key one more turn and the engine completely shuts off.

The curly haired boy grumbles “Listen lady, your engine isn’t working and you look fucking awful so we can’t leave you here.” The blonde one winces at the choice of words but the curly haired one continues “Do you want us to call somebody? A ambulance? Cops?” The word cops make you jump up. You’ve gotten this far, you can’t just go back and falter.

“NO! I just.. need help with my car!” You sigh panicky and the curly haired boy shrugs his shoulders flicking the cigarette on the ground. His posture becomes sluggish and his shoulders lay back, “Alright. Well the only option you have left is letting me check the car out.” You nod your head.

“That would be.. helpful.” You mutter and the boy comes closer to the window. You turn your head looking at yourself in the rear view mirror. Your hair is chopped and shittly dyed a different color. Purple crescent moons accompany under your eyes. You do look awful.. “What’s your name?” He asks and your hands clamp the steering wheel in anxiety. You bow your head down not telling him, it’s too risky for now.

His eyes travel around the car to the front seat next to you. A bunch of opened candy wrappers litter the seat. The only thing you’ve been trying to survive on since your money started running low and you started dedicating it to gas money. All candy was from Halloween that you stuffed in your bag and didn’t remember it was there. “Fine. I’ll just call you ‘Pez’ since you have such a sweet tooth.” You let out a groan “Okay, fine.” Silence fills the stuffy air around you. Fuck this car..

“Will you help now?” They both nod “I’m Mason.” The blondie says and then points to the curly haired boy. “I’m Elijah.”

<—————————————————————>

Cold ice was pressed against your head. Mason tries to stop the bleeding from the back of your head with a cold ice rag. He doesn’t think your nose is broken and checked it a thousand times.but thinks you have a concussion.

Elijah sits across from you with his hands fidgeting. You can tell he’s stressed, you speak up “Elijah, it’s not your fault.” Elijah shifts uncomfortably. “I shouldn’t have taken us there. I’m sorry.” He apologizes trying not to make eye contact. He never really apologizes like this so you know he’s feeling guilty. He doesn’t apologize directly at least. He usually just subtly helps you a lot more, that was his way of sorry.

“You didn’t expect that would happen it’s not your fault.” You try to lift mood feeling bad for your friend who’s taking most of the guilt. His eyes just shift downwards at those words. You try something else “I’ll forgive you if you take my shift tonight?”

Elijah’s guilty face lights up a bit by the joke and a smile curled the side of his lips. “I always uphold my end of the deal.”

<————————————————->

You stay at their house not daring to go to yours. Also because Elijah insisted on it. He doesn’t want you getting hurt again. It’s not like you live too far anyway just a few houses down. Their house is way nicer than yours and they actually own it thanks to Mason’s rich mom and dad.

Your house is just a shitty rental house. It has one floor, one bedroom, one kitchen, one bathroom, one living room. One everything thats shitty has flaws to it. Elijah was the one who set you up with that house. He said it was cheapest you could get it and it’s better than nothing. He’s right.

Mason goes to sleep early probably because he was so stressed. Stressed about Elijah and what happened. Masons anxious about everything. Especially about Elijah and you. He’s constantly asking if you two need help with anything. You on one hand overworks all the time and Elijah on the other hand has his own set of problems. Elijah tried to give him blank details, he only said that we walked in the wrong house where we didn’t belong and got chased out. You wouldn’t want someone in your house either would you?

But his face, his unforgettable horrifying smile. You wrap your arms around yourself in a self inducing hug, you couldn’t think about this any longer or you’d go crazy. You turned the tv on for a while it just played stupid cartoons nothing worth watching l. Then you changed it to the news, that’s when the anxiety started. The news went from ‘recent weather’ to ‘recent killings. The killings got closer and closer to your small like stop town. Your mind stirs with fear.

The door lock clicking scares the shit out of you and pulls you out of your fearful thoughts. The door opens to reveal Elijah in his uniform. His eyes are tired but he notices you still up. “Hey Y/N.” He groggily mutters and motions you to come outside with him.

You watch his back turn and open the front door. You grab your coat hanging off the couch and tug it around your body.

You step outside onto the small wooden deck of their house. Elijah lights up a cigarette taking a drag. “I didn’t tell Mason everything. He’d be even more stressed than he already is.”

You understand what means by that. Mason stresses over stuff really easily. His college work already has him drowned in anxiety and if he knew every detail about today he’d be drowning in paranoia as well.

“He also didn’t you see that you got pinned down by that… freaky fuck. He was too busy starting the car and tonight when he asked about your injuries I lied and said you fell from the stairs..” Elijah confesses. “It’s been a fucked up day. I just hope that… thing didn’t follow us.”

Elijah’s eye brows furrow when you say the last part. “Thing?” He asks and you nod slowly “Elijah, he had this smile carved into his face. Didn’t you see it? When you he attacked you?” His eyes jitter and he crosses his arms in a concerned manner.

“No, he had a surgical mask on. All I saw was his eyes.” He presses his cigarette into the ash tray on the banner of the porch. You scrunch your eyes up trying to rid the picture of the man with the scarred face. “His… his face it was like carved into a smile.” Elijah’s eyes widen when you say that.

“I wish this was all a fucked up nightmare.” You mumble turning to the other side of the road where the forest’s tree stand tall and eerie. You feel Elijah’s eyes shift of yours and towards the trees. The coldness turns your warm face into a flushed pink. The silence is filled with the crumbly leaves from the trees crinkling together. You hear Elijah sigh. He lifts his arm and places a reassuringly hand on your shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”

<————————————————————>

It was okay. A few weeks flew by without seeing the man again. Thankfully, you’ve healed from your wounds and life has been back to normal. As normal as it could get.

The same old same old, rationing the little money you had for food and gas money. Picking up any shift you could and dealing with the rowdy regulars that drank til midnight. You would force a smile and drunken them up even more in hopes of petty tips.

Mason had gone from stressing about Elijah’s safety back to stressing about school. And Elijah… he stopped giving a fuck after two days. You were still paranoid but after a week of nothing happening you decided to retire from stressing. Every now and then the man’s face plagued your dreams.

Worrying was a normal thing. There was lots of thing to worry about money, your job, your friends, and everything catching up to you.

But stressing, stressing was worse. Stressing about someone who really isn’t there. But you got over it, you had to. You have a shift tonight four - eleven.

You quickly shower and blow dry your hair. Then you put on some light makeup and your signature hairstyle. You’re content with the somewhat efforts for work. Picking up your car keys you lock the door and make your way to your car.

You had to make one stop to pick up Elijah. The car pulls out of the driveway and skids down the road towards Elijah’s house. You pull into the driveway and Elijah is already ready sitting on the porch’s step.

He’s occupied with his phone, you smirk to yourself. You push your fist into the car’s horn causing a loud noise to erupt and Elijah to jump up. When he notices it’s your car his lips tug into a smile and his posture returns to its sluggish form.

“Har. Har. You’re just so fucking funny.” He sarcastically remarks. “Hello to you too sunshine.” He turns clicking the seatbelt in.

“Where’s Mason?” You ask and Elijah twists the radio on. “Studying all day. Some important tests coming up. You pull out of the driveway. “He always has imporant tests, does that boy ever get a break?” “Nope.” The rest of the car ride is filled with small talk.

The beginning of the shift is normal like usual . It’s steady only a few people coming in every hour. A few hours through around nine Elijah walks outside for a break. You can already tell what he’s doing. He comes back in fucking stoned.

You side eye him. He shakes it off. He doesn’t seem too bad though. He still gets the orders right and even becomes a bit more useful. (Now that his mind is stimulated)The night becomes less steady even dead and only a few people are left in the bar around 1030.

An older gray woman who sits on a stool down the bar island. Fidgeting with the chunky rings on her wrinkly fingers. And A guy with a navy blue hoodie on and black jeans whom was waited on by Elijah and ordered a few beers. You didn’t pay attention to him, he wasn’t your responsibility.

Elijah’s phone starts to ring and he pulls it out of his pocket answering it. You can make out a few words like “What’s wrong? Too much school work? I’ll be home in a bit don’t worry.” You can already tell where this is going .

“Pez, would you do me a huge favor.” Elijah begs “What is it?” You groan out “Mason is really stressed with work, do you mind if I leave you to closing?” You think for a few and reluctantly agree to it. You were a bit still paranoid about the incident a few weeks back. But you shrug it off and the possibilities of anything happening like that again.

It didn’t nerve you too much as you wave him a goodbye. “Cya, Pez.” Elijah clocks out and leaves through the bar exit. Leaving you with the older woman and the man with the hood above his head. You can handle the rest of the night, right?

#creepypasta #jeff the killer #jeff the killer x reader #creepypasta fanfic #fanfic #jtk x reader #creepypasta jtk

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pangolinsandnewts · 7 months

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Tried to give a variety of options here

#Morro Ninjago #Lego Ninjago #Kai jiang #Destinyshipping

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words-from-the-coast · 2 years

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audly’s favourite (free) d&d resources

d&d books are really expensive. for beginners, that can be daunting if trying to get into playing. some people are under the impression that you have to have all the books (or at least one or two) to be a good dm or player.

so i’m here to compile my favourite resources!

5etools

literally my favourite. it has sections divided by what you’re looking for, and a super easy filtering system. it’s got stuff from most books (except the critical roll ones) and dm screen resources! also has the ua (unearthed arcana) playtest materials.

D&D wiki

also has pretty much everything! not really divided by books (as far as i can find), which may make it a bit tricky. but if you know what you’re doing, you’re set. especially helpful for spells.

Fantasy Name Generators

in my opinion, naming things is one of the hardest things to do. like you’ve got this cool axe weapon thing that glows but you don’t want to just call it the “glowy axe”. or a super badass elf character that has a pet raccoon. or a city where your campaign will be. so you go through your brain for a good name and it’s empty. names give things meaning and importance. choosing one is hard. if the name generator doesn’t give you a name, it should at least get the ball rolling. they have one for pretty much everything.

Roll20

basically a dnd specific discord! you can host games, display maps, and have access to all your player’s sheets in one place. i find this one a lil tricky to navigate without a mouse, but i’ve managed with just my trackpad. roll20 also has a fairly extensive compilation of resources like class descriptions, weapons, etc. etc. i use it a lot when making magic items and worldbuilding.

DnD Disability

all about incorporating disabilities into dnd! i really enjoy this site. they offer some creative mechanics for varieties of neurodivergence, chronic pain, and mobility aids. a super amazing resource to make your game more accessible.

Hero Forge

great for making character designs and has the option to buy a 3d print of your mini. some of the race options are little limiting (read: i tried to make a pigeon aarakocra out of a ravenfolk and it did not work), but overall is functional.

D&D Beyond

at this point i think everyone and their mother has heard of D&D beyond. it’s essentially the “official” dnd site, with all the official content and boundless homebrew. it has a character creator option too, which is useful for people who need some extra support. the issue is that it exists behind a paywall. if you want to add anything other than the “standard” options or use someone else’s homebrew in your game, you have to buy a membership. you can browse homebrew just fine without one, but can’t put it on your character sheet. for all it’s costly negatives, i do find joy in the unhinged and unbalanced home made things people conjure. worth at least looking at.

great for character and setting inspiration! also has some homebrew monsters, items, and weapons which can be meh. if you’re looking for nifty mechanics, pinterest may be your place as well. i have seen both phenomenally cool things i’ve incorporated into my games and the Most Questionable Things Ever.

Arcane Eye

more of a blog, but does contain exceptionally useful knowledge. much like roll20, arcane eye has resources that can inform you as a player or dm. they have guides to different things.

D&D Compendium

it sure is a compendium! it’s got the whole kitten caboodle, “how to dm” and “how to play” sections if you need some extra help, map tools, and a bunch of other how-to’s. they have links to other dnd resource sites as well, so if you can’t get it on the compendium, you can get it from one of those. you can also network and find a group to play with via the compendium. (but be careful with strangers from the internet, said the stranger from the internet.)

The Official D&D Site

has a bunch of free pdfs for character sheets and whatnot, as well as some pre-generated characters and basic rules. they don’t have a huge amount of content for free, but who can blame them with all the pirated content out there.

donjon

so many free generators. a dm’s best friend. they have map makers for dungeons, towns, npc’s, etc. so much stuff. so much. less useful for beginner players, more for dm’s. also good if you’re super into worldbuilding and want something to help.

Azggar’s Fantasy Map Generator

again, more for dm’s than players. also just really good for worldbuiling. if you want a unique and comprehensive overview of a world, continent, or country, azggar’s is a good place. when i saw comprehensive, i mean comprehensive. it’s got political state lines, capital cities, ports, trade routes, population densities, distribution of regional ethnic groups, religions, government styles, the whole works - all fully editable. the tools can be a lil confusing at first but they do get easier with practice.

Kassoon Puzzle Generator

puzzles and riddles for your players! some are simple, some are more complex, depending on the skill level and knowledge-base of your players. can be worked into dungeons or given as a one off in an encounter.

NPC Generator

the title says it all. gives a basic name, occupation, class, race, etc. for an npc. all of which can be edited and randomly generated.

The Homebrewery

a place to format your homebrews into an official-looking style. requires a smidgen of coding, but they have things that teach you that. it’s mostly for different headings and dispersion of sections.

Podcasts

if you’re just starting in dnd, listening to other people play can be informative, and hopefully entertaining. some shows are intended to be listened to as stories, rather than actual-play, other as wholly normal dnd, some a mix of both. they can spark inspiration for characters, settings, etc. i’ll give a mini list of my personal favourites (maybe a longer list later):

- dames and dragons: so lovely. i’ve been listening since high school, and at this point it feels like listening to old friends. top of my list, highly recommend.

- girls who don’t dnd: a group of girls who’ve never player dnd before playing dnd. this one is great for beginners who need more clarification on mechanics.

- dungeons and daddies: it’s about literal dads from earth transported to a magic realm. so so so funny.

and yeah! that concludes my list of my favourite resources for dnd for dm’s and players of all levels! happy playing!

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adhdapp · 3 months

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YOOO I’m excited! I wanna respect your time and whatnot, but I’m curious about the app called forrest basically you grow trees by focusing for set amounts of time. never tried it but the app store keeps recommending it to me. from a cursory look at the reviews, some people said it helps with phone overuse (hooray??) it is four dollars, not sure that you want to start with that. anyways thanks for your consideration, hope this blog goes super well :DD

This is actually an app I paid for the premium version of years ago, by chance! So I can give it a pretty complete shake. Here's the review.

Forest: Phone usage control

Overall rating: Certified, with stipulations. Here's the tl;dr

App includes a disincentive for failure (tree death), so if you're sensitive to even mildly feeling like you've fucked up, this might not be your bag

Low on novelty, so if you need a variety of goals to pursue quickly, this might not be your bag (other plant unlocks take a lot of time, forest grows one 25 minute increment at a time)

Achievements and events are a big plus, with several relatively easy achievements to keep you going.

No Dark Mode

supports a charity so that's pretty cool

Diamonds shop even after a 1 time purchase: go no further if you are susceptible to impulse purchases, I respect them keeping the lights on with optional bonus content, but it can be easy to chase the Purchase Dopamine and we need to say No Thank You

Red Flags: None, this app has been going steady for a few years and for seemingly pretty good reason. I didn't find any red flags with the charity it supports either. It's not on a subscription model, and nothing in it seems to be ridiculously priced.

Dopamine hits: Okay so the main drive for using this app is growing the big old garden of trees, collecting different trees, and seeing the physical space of that garden grow. With this said I have One Major Concern I'd like to get out of the way.

Are you the kind of person that's going to feel like shit if you let a plant die? Will you accidentally tab out, kill a tree, and be miserable out it? Do not use this app.

It DOES let you clear the dead trees out of your garden (see above) but personally I don't find disincentives like that as compelling as positive reinforcement. The app is encouraging about it (as you can see) but personally I'm wary of things where I can receive what feels like a punishment because I was only productive for five minutes and not the allotted ten I needed in order to keep the tree alive. the stopwatch mode reduces this, somewhat, but again, you need over 10 minutes. Make sure you allow texts or calls in allowed apps in settings so if something comes up you don't have to feel bad about killing a tree.

Features: Forest provides you one or two different tree types you can grow as you focus, and a nice little plot of land. I'll be honest, I don't think the free version gives you very much to work with, but the premium version gives you different kinds of trees you can grow, events, social connections, tracking, custom tagging system so you can track what you're spending your time off your phone doing, and best of all, achievements. Forest also comes with both a count-down and a stopwatch mode so that if you'd like to just study or work as long as you can you don't have to just do it in increments, which is nifty, and a change from some other pomodoro counters/timers. If using the app to just do poms/increments, there's a switch to keep the app on while you work.

Price: This app is a freemium (on android), but honestly, if phone restriction usage apps are useful for you, just buy the thing right out of the gate. It's 3.99 (also the price of the entire app on the apple store) and what you get for that price is like 99% of the functionality of the app imo. 3.99$ for a one-time unlock is ridiculously cheap for what you're getting. However. The other trees do take a hot minute to unlock. So if you need that cheap and easy serotonin and you have an intense need for novelty this might not be the move.

I will add a stipulation here: Make sure that phone restriction apps are actually what you Need if this is what you're using. if you're the kind of person who can respond to messages and still be productive, this may not be your bag. If you're on a computer and you're going to end up scrolling through tumblr on your laptop instead of your phone, this may not be your bag. Phone restriction apps are useful mainly if what you need to do is get off tech and go do something physical, like read a book or do chores. I do Not recommend this if what you're trying to do is write an essay on your laptop. It is just as easy to procrastinate on pc as it is on your phone. However, For What It Is, this app is extremely functional.

This app DOES have a diamond store and in app purchases to make extra cash but frankly I don't actually begrudge them this. With a one-time purchase that cheap and regular events that seem to allow you to unlock other plants, they seem to have a good content balance and hey, whatever they have to do to keep the app running. I just launched it again and it reminded me I have the pro version even through I bought that like eight years ago.

Polish + Customization: I'm grouping these together because I really have the same quibble for both, there isn't a darkmode on the settings screen, which is an annoyingly bright white compared to the rest of the app. News is Also bright white, so is the store, generally a lot of the things off the main page are bright white with no option to change them. I do not love that. But everything is easy to find and adjust, and though the load times can be a little slow (which is annoying) I generally can't complain too much.

Roadmap: News tab indicates that the app is still being updated and having new plants added, despite the developers seemingly have a couple other projects going- they've got a to-do list app I'm going to have to check out and one to prevent you using your phone while sleeping.

So there u go: Proceed with caution and respect for your specific needs, but it's top of the line in its category, imo. You just need to make sure that category is what you're looking for.

#adhd #app review #review request #forest #phone usage control #will update this review if I find out that charity is a scam but #it seems like they plant four new trees per user or something like that from their own notes and that's nifty #personally this app wasn't for me because I got sad about trees dying and also phone use restriction isn't my main issue #but i'm sure for someone somewhere this is just what they need #certified

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seabeck · 1 year

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Trout fishing for beginners on a budget!

Do you ever look at salmon fillets in the supermarket and water at the mouth but find the price far too high? Well this guide is for you! I tried to keep this guide fairly short and to the point so if you need more info, feel free to ask.

Reasons to fish for trout:

Trout taste quite similar to salmon, a fish that's typically unaffordable expensive even here in the PNW (I find trout to be better because they're much more mild and don't overcook as easily, ymmv)

They can be caught without a boat and you don't need an expensive set up.

Fishing licenses fund conservation!

It's fun and allows you to see where your dinner is coming from, from start to finish.

Before you start: Get your fishing license. You can purchase these at Walmart in the sporting good section, stores like Cabellas, online, and many other places. Some states have separate saltwater and freshwater licenses (you want freshwater), others may require a separate stamp to keep trout in some areas. Once you have your license, find a place you can fish. Check if it’s been stocked, when, what size the fish were, and how many. Bigger fish and more recent is always better. Regulations can very a lot from body of water to body of water and state to state. Some lakes may be catch and release only, no barbed hooks, etc and it is on you to know. There are also disabled only lakes (with wheelchair friendly docks). Your fish and wildlife department will have the info online. Some states, like WA, even have interactive map apps and you can always email or call them as well.

Gear on a budget: Rods and reels are expensive new, even low end ones. Check out garage sales, thrift shops, outlet malls, Craigslist, etc. You can often find a good rod and reel combo for cheap. Check to make sure all the parts are in order, things that spin will spin and things that don’t, don’t. Minor wear and tear can often be repaired with a dab of superglue. When buying second hand spools of line, make sure time and the sun hasn’t made it brittle, give it a test tug to see if it breaks. You’re less likely to find artificial bait and hooks used but luckily those are fairly cheap even new, and sometimes you get lucky.

Rod: 5-7′, rated for no more than 10lbs is perfect. It should be flexible to allow it to cast far and not snap when you get a fish on. Ideally your rod should split into two pieces for ease of storage.

Reel: We’re going to be talking about spinning reels and spinning reels only. You want a lighter weight one where the line comes off smoothly. Make sure everything spins as it should and doesn’t make noise (some older styled ones have an intentional clicking sound that will drive you up a wall very quickly, apparently that used to be cool). The side the arm is on can be changed easily.

Line: 8-10lb test, anything more is overkill and may scare the fish. Braided for the mainline, fluorocarbon or monofilament for the leader line. Mono can be used for the mainline too but braided is tougher/stronger. Good line is worth it, here’s what I use for my mainline. You want your reel full of line so it doesn’t catch on the reel and so you don’t hit the end while casting. I recommend a cheaper mono line to tie onto your reel for the first many feet to help fill it up, then tie on your good leader line to the mono line using a double uni knot.

A leader line is useful when you get a snag or a fish takes off with your gear, instead of losing all your line, you just lose your leader.

Hooks: Size 6-8 octopus, circle, or bait hooks. Barbed if legal and if you plan on eating what you catch, barbless if you plan on releasing or regulations require it.

Swivel: Medium/small sized, get snapping ones

Weight: Get egg sinkers in a variety of sizes (they often come in mixed size kits). Note: Most fishing weights are lead, do not consume them or allow pets/children to play with them. Steel weights are an option but they have less size/shape variety and will be bigger than their same weighted lead counterparts. Some places do not allow for the use of lead weights.

Bead: Used to prevent wear on the line/knot from the lead. I personally only use one on my leader line, not below my lead, and that’s my weird angler superstition. They’re very cheap, buy a smaller sized one if you plan on using them.

Net: Seems really self explanatory but I recommend a catch and release friendly net (not knotted, typically a softer material). It's better to have that kind than the kind that may damage their scales in case you need to or decide to release.

Slip/sliding sinker rig:

Ideal for floating bait, the leader line length will depend on the depth the fish will be at (which varies with weather and body of water, 2′ is a good starting point). The lead will sit on the bottom while the bait floats and suspends itself in the water column. The sliding egg sinker weight means the fish won’t feel resistance when it tugs on the bait, fish don’t like resistance. Watch for your line moving away, then set the hook with a quick upwards motion with the rod. Sometimes you won't even need to set the hook because the fish will already be running with it.

Fixed bobber rig:

This set up can be used with or without a leader line but as always I recommend a swivel + leader line (this would be below the bobber). This set up is ideal for sinking baits or when you need to keep all of your gear and line off the bottom of the lake because of weeds, snags, etc. Most bobbers allow you to easily change the length of line below it, useful if you started out with too much or too little line. Since bobbers float, they will move with the current or the wind, this may be a pain or may be a blessing. When the bobber goes down, fish on!

Bait options:

Earthworms/nightcrawlers. This is your cheapest option, you can dig them from your own yard for free. Earthworms sink so they’re best with a bobber set up unless you buy worm blower. I do not use live bait as I find it rather cruel (and most earthworms are not native to my area, no need to help them spread further) but ultimately it’s up to you. Crickets, superworms, mealworms. waxworms, etc are also options, some of which you can breed at home easily.

Fake worms: some float (1, 2), some don’t (1, 2). Don’t get those giant rubber worms meant for bass.

Dough: Ideal for slip sinker set up. Scented Playdo textured dough. Roll enough out to cover your hook and make it float, but not so much that it’s a waste. While this stuff works well, it doesn’t like to stay on the hook. Treble hooks will hold dough on better but they aren’t always allowed and are not suitable for catch and release (if that’s your goal). Also comes in nuggets (costs more per oz). I recommend pink, orange, or yellow.

Artificial eggs: Ideal for slip sinker set up . My preferred bait, I use 3 on a hook and often can reuse the same eggs for several trout. You don’t even need to buy these, they can often be scavenged from places where anglers gather. My mom did this (or used ones I bought) for months with great success. Power eggs and similar ones typically float but there are sinking ones, always check the label. I personally use red, white, or gold ones that are half clear but I’ve also caught them on solid yellow and pink. A family or group of friends could buy multiple colors and split them.

Trout Magnet(tm): Never personally had much luck with these, they can be recasted over and over as a lure or used under a bobber, they do sink. Also useful for panfish.

Lures: I’m not really going to go over lures much since that’s a whole other can of worms, but they are very reusable and can often be found for free in bushes at lakes. They require a different set up and more work to use than bait still fishing. Some do function under a bobber hence the mention.

Now to the actual fishing!

Set up your rig, whichever one you're planning on using, and adjust your leader line accordingly.

Hold the rod with your dominant hand, you want about a foot of mainline hanging off the tip of your rod

Align your line roller (labeled diagram of a reel here) to be pointing your rod.

Use the index (or if you're weird like me your middle) finger to hold the line against the rod

Use your non dominant hand to flip the bail up. Line can now freely fall from the reel so it's important to keep your finger on the line.

Bring the rod over your head, I personally have mine like this before casting. Use a forward throwing motion and release your line. The last step will take lots of practice and I personally recommend practicing at home with just a swivel + weight on. Always be aware of your surroundings, you don't want to hook someone or lose your gear in a tree.

When you feel a bite, set the hook with a quick upwards motion while holding the rod. Sometimes the fish will hook themselves just fine.

Once you have a fish on, reel in! Large fish may need a looser drag and to be played a bit (let them run with the line, then reel in, repeat until fish is tired) but most stocked trout come quietly.

Once you've reeled your fish in, use a net to catch it (if needed) and decide if you're going to release it or keep it for dinner. Fish you're planning on releasing need to be handled gently and with wet hands to protect their fishy coating. Don't take them out of water for too long. Remove the hook quickly with fishing pliers.

If you're going to keep it, it needs to be killed quickly and humanely. Please don't be that person with a bunch of half dead fish on a stringer, or letting your fish aspirate, it's cruel. How you kill your fish is up to you and will depend on the size. For smaller ones I do cervical dislocation, head bonking and cutting the head/spine also work. If I'm killing a fish I always wait until after to remove it's hook so it suffers less.

Cleaning your fish: Ok you have a dead fish, now what? Find the fish butt, it'll be before the tail fins. Insert your fillet knife in and carefully slice up the belly. Ideally you don't want to slice too far in lest you rupture the intestines. Remove the guts. I personally toss all the guts back into the water, as to return the nutrients but there are fish organs you can eat. Use a fingernail to scrape the kidney off of the spine and rinse. From there you can fillet or cook the fish whole. Here's the video that helped me learn to fillet. Keep fish on ice until you're home. They can be frozen, cooked immediately, or refrigerated for a few days.

I hope this guide helped you and as always, if you have questions feel free to ask!

#fishing #fish #trout #I personally recommend salmon meuniere but it also makes great fish tacos

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