#// Oops

[alchemistc]

Let's goooo! 15. trembling hands

I already did this prompt but I've been steeping in a pile of blankets and a heating pad and miserable cramps for hours just thinking about this so:

"I just keep thinking about the last time you kissed me," Buck says, and he hates the waver in it, hates the way he has to set the neatly packed bankers box down on his island because his hands are shaking as bad as his voice.

Tommy gives him the kind of look he'd expect to see if he rounded a dark curve late at night and his headlights caught a deer crossing the road.

Total devastation lies ahead. Neither one of them gets out of this without a scratch.

He'd had a call, years back now. Some family driving home after an evening of movies and arcades and dinner, a nice newer SUV, a nervous creature who would have had plenty of time to cross into the woods but got stuck in the beam of light hurtling towards it. Until it tried to jump the vehicle right before impact.

The dad had died quick, Buck remembers. They'd only found that out later, though, because the deer hadn't died. Not then. Not right away. Not until after they'd arrived, because they'd watch the thing, stuck in the windscreen, panicked and dying and kicking.

Animal control didn't make it on scene until after the moms chest had been caved in.

Tommy's grip on the box in his own hands looks painful.

"It was just - it was the kind of kiss I figured we'd share a few thousand more times, you know?"

Nothing special, a barely there peck, an appetizer because they had places to be and they'd lost more than one reservation getting caught up before so they'd made it a habit of the greeting kiss being... quick.

"I just wish I'd known it was gonna be the last time."

It hurts to say. It hurts to think, but this one's been spinning on a loop every time he's got idle hands and an idle mind and it feels like Tommy should at least know that he -

"I have to go," Tommy says. He'd set this up with that excuse - I have some of your things, can I drop them off before work - like he could rip the bandaid and be done and Buck had spent twenty minutes folding and refolding the same pair of Tommy's sweatpants before he found the nerve to respond with a thumbs up.

"Yeah," Buck says, and takes a moment to drink in the sight of him a final time. Tommy's eyes dart to the hand still hanging at his side, fingers tapping out a rhythm against his palm, unlike the one holding onto his kitchen island like a lifeline.

This is it.

There's - nothing left to tie them together. No excuses to see each other again outside of random happenstance. He'd debated stuffing one of Tommy's zip ups into the bottom of his laundry basket for about ten minutes after Tommy let him know he was headed over, but that's in the box with everything else.

He has to look away when he realizes his vision's gone a little blurry.

"I'll... see you," Buck manages, and convinces himself he doesn't hear the blown out breath from where Tommy's standing.

He listens to the footsteps moving away. Hears the latch click and sucks in a breath so harsh Tommy has to hear it.

He remembers trying to shield those kids in the back seat from the sight of both their parents and wishes he at least had some bruises to show for the way his own chest feels like it's caving in.

The door clicks shut, and Buck turns towards it a second before he feels his chin being angled.

It's nothing like their first kiss, or the greeting kiss. This is the kiss he'd get when he couldn't shut the hell up about something and Tommy had to do something about it. The kiss they'd share when it became clear a movie wasn't holding his attention and Tommy pressed him into the couch cushions with a grin. The kiss he'd give when he was so overwhelmed by how he felt and didn't have the words to explain it so he'd poured every ounce of - of love into his lips and his tongue and his teeth because even if he didn't know how to say it he wanted Tommy to know.

It slows and settles into something soft and breathy and Buck lets the hand he'd curled over Tommy's jaw drop to his chest when they break it. Their breathing is shaky, and the hand clenched in the back of Buck's shirt shakes before he breaks the hold. Buck keeps his eyes closed. His throat is tight.

"That's - if I'd known it was the last one, that's the one I'd have wanted it to be," Tommy says, and then he's pulling away. Leaving.

The door clicks open and shut while Buck's eyes are still closed, and he stands there in silence for a good ten minutes until he's sure he can breath again. When he licks his lips he doesn't recognize the taste of the lip balm Tommy'd left behind there.

The box of Tommy's stuff is sitting on the end table.

It takes Buck four goddamn tries to type out a coherent text, with the way it's shaking in his hand.

You forgot to take your stuff, he sends.

Tommy's the kind of old school where he keeps his phone in the center console while he's driving, so he doesn't expect anything back immediately.

He refuses to let himself read into it at all. An honest mistake after leaving them both more hurt than the first time around.

He'll ask Chim to deliver it so they don't have to see each other again.

Forty-two minutes later, he happens to glance at his phone just in time to see the bubbles.

They disappear. Reappear. Disappear.

How forgetful of me.

And that's - that's all he gets for another five minutes. He nearly tosses his phone in the air when the bubbles come back, like somehow someone will have witnessed him staring at it hard enough to burn a hole through it.

Maybe you could bring it by sometime.

MVA, two adult males, significant internal injuries.

The bubbles are still there.

Think I may have forgotten a few of your things, anyway.

Buck doesn't believe that for a fucking second. He'd had a drawer, two hangers, a spot under the sink in the bathroom. Tommy's place had always reminded Buck how well suited they were, with how meticulously everything had a place.

Doesn't seem like you, Buck shoots back, and tries not to examine how close to the line of flirty he's being.

That was a terrible last kiss, Tommy sends back, almost immediately.

Buck's hands don't shake when he sends the next message. It's a blatant lie. It probably broke top ten. We could fix that.

[sistercara]

day three. give it up for day three

[heyblue]

Yeaaaah. Pretty sure my spouse to be thinks similar when I am about to do something really stupid.

Heh. Makes sense we both love Epic.

There’s something to be said, that even after twenty years, Penelope looks out the window, sees a storm, and says, ah yes, that must be my darling husband, pissing off the gods.

[legendary-cookies]

The winner of round 6 is Abyss Monarch!

If this whole thing has taught me anything, it's that the people participating in my polls aren't really like the players in the game lmao

Next up...

We're finally at the last poll before the semifinals lmao

[joffyworld]

Forever After, After Forever

It starts with sorry,

With who are you?

With how'd you do?

And wherefore here thou art?

It starts with understanding,

Breeding comfort,

With that comfort reaching far.

Who could have knew?

That this stranger standing,

Staring from afar,

Would so quickly take to heart

Our heart-to-heart beneath the stars

It leads to talk

That leads to answers for

Those questions that we

Feel the need to ask.

Yet there's no time for bitter tensions,

When these tensions cannot last.

For hard to mention,

Scarcer questioned,

This hollow feeling in my bones.

Yet feels so soothed,

Absconded quickly,

When with you, doth feel at home.

So listened closely,

Did us two,

Bonded quickly 'neath the homely

Fields at dusk.

When times were tough,

'Twas your company I desired mostly

And your laugh,

So nary dreary,

Always comforting and

Warming like the hearth;

Did light a fire,

It took a hoot or two,

But soon the future shon

With you and I as its main stars.....

There remains no trace of question,

Within my wizened mind...

I desire naught but your company,

Dost thou desire mine..?

I fear the answer to my worries,

May be tougher than I wish to find.

But truly,

If I chanced it?

If love truly commanded.

Would my passion and my loyalty

Be truly understanded?

All I truly wish for, granted,

Is the owl to be set free.

Happiness strides by his side in life,

But does he want that life with me..?

(Inspired by, and based on entirely, the oc ship by @twooftheluckyones between Baal and Oko and the fic they are in, which can be found here)

[v0idfangz]

HAHAHAHA ALREADY MADE NEW REFS FOR DIMPLE AKKSKWKDWKJC..... i saw user unnbatteryacidd (on here) draw him oni-like and i took that design choice and ran with it. the design philosophy is still the same for every other aspect but ill yap abt it again hehehehehe

>for spirit form dimple, i love to give him a really big swirl motif. its super fun and i feel is fitting, especially with his hypnotizing ability he gains when hes stronger.

>regular high level dimple in the show takes on a more beefier form because hes more based on brute strength. i really like this so i kept it in mind when drawing him 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ i also gave him the claws as seen in the manga and i feel like it really fits the now more demonlike appearance. the inner mouth is more purplish to match the lips also!!

>contrary to regular high level dimple, god form dimple takes a more carved form rather than a built one, because his power is gained from idealization/hes supposed to be like a "perfect" form. also lightly inspired by buddha aokskx. (he kinda looks like trollface tho LMFAO oops)

his teeth are straight also because of the perfect thing but i kept the fangs but made them small to show hes still evil. also the cheeks are super big to emphasize their iconic-ness

>this is my hc design for a post-epilogue high level dimple!!!!! i made the teeth and claws less long/sharp & made the eyes simpler to give him a friendlier appearance, since he doesnt rlly have any dubious intention anymore. hes chubby not only bc 1) im projecting deal with it, 2) also to play into the friendlier appearance thing, but also 3), since hes going around eating spirits, but not to gain power, i like to think he goes soft from it instead. his equivalent to eating snacks but not working out akskkakskx

[n7punk]

it's a real sign that you have to trim your novel when Word crashes when you just try to close the file

[pangur-and-grim]

I love how you can use the environment in baldur’s gate.

for instance, I got my ass completely handed to me in a battle, so on my second attempt I piled barrels of gunpowder & wine near where the enemies would run out, and had one of my guys posed with a fire spell to ignite them. and THIS TIME, I triggered a massive explosion on my first turn of combat, instantly killing my entire party.

[kaisam]

Triage is a thing for a reason in emergency departments. Yes, I am sure you and your sick baby are having a shitty time, but you'll both survive a few hours. Some people might not have that long. Yes, wait lists for public health specialists are ridiculous, and emergency can take forever. But if you have urgent medical need, you will be seen.

To use myself as an example, using public health system in Australia. A couple years back I had to go to the emergency department of the Eye and Ear hospital because I had a pressure headache, on a background of having had eye surgery a few weeks prior. It was a mild headache. I certainly seemed in better shape than the tradie with a metal fragment in his eye or the screaming kid in the corner of the wait room.

But I was seen immediately. Didn't get to sit in the waiting room immediately. Went through triage and then seen straight after immediately. Because my "pressure headache" was actually increased pressure in my eye (your eye is a ball of fluid that needs to be able to drain, so if it can't, there are problems) which, if not brought down ASAP, could cause permanent damage to my optic nerve, and thus my vision. So I was seen immediately.

This is the job of triage.

Your kid screaming cos they have an earache and they're in pain is a shitty situation, and may feel like the end of the world to you. But they will survive and have no lasting damage from it. You will be seen eventually. But others need to be seen more urgently, to prevent death/harm.

I had to go to emergency for that twice. Second time got rushed into surgery the next morning. The issue has since been resolved, but I do have some permanent damage to my vision from those incidents. But I received good care, immediate care when necessary, from the public health system. The only costs were ~$60 for medications and some late night ubers to emergency.

Public universal healthcare WORKS.

Sometimes I see people from countries with public healthcare systems post videos that are like “This is the reality of socialized medicine. I had to wait in the ER with my sick baby for 4 hours.” “I had to wait 8 months to see a specialist. That’s egregious.” or “They didn’t have a bed for my loved one in mental health treatment.” and it’s like. Come to America babygirl. You can experience all of this and have your insurance deny it and pay thousands and thousands of dollars for it. Like I know healthcare systems in countries with public health can be bad but when I see someone imply they’re bad because the healthcare is universal, I want to jump through the screen and put my elbow on their throat. “The NHS is deeply flawed, therefore we should abolish it and go back to private healthcare. That will definitely make healthcare in this country better!” I am going to Kill You.

[anthropologist-on-the-loose]

Me: "I don't often cook but I'm going to quick look through my mom's recipe cards and see if I can find that specific recipe"

Me, 15 minutes later, sobbing: "Love is stored in handwritten recipe cards"

[goatedtoasts]

hey, did you catch the latest issue of the life series comics?

[hellyeahscarleteen]

F*c&!ng First Aid: A Quick Guide to Common Sex Injuries

New from our founder, Heather Corinna, a guide for those sexual times that wind up more “ow” than “oooh.”

It’s remarkably easy to hurt ourselves in the pursuit of feeling good. From genital abrasions to broken skin to pulled muscles to infections to allergic reactions, even fractures or breaks, exploring our bodies and their capacities sexually can sometimes mean finding out⁠ what’s past a bodies’ limits. We can think there was enough lube, but who among us (cough) hasn’t found out at least once that there wasn’t? We can forget that when it feels to us like we couldn’t possibly get enough of something, our body parts may have an entirely different and considerably threshold (um). Heck, you can hurt yourself just getting a date a glass of water (says my once-broken toe, bitterly).

For whatever reason (probably a combination of ableism⁠, totally inhumane sexual⁠ ideals and maybe some leftover stuff from our DNA way back when we lived a wilder existence), if and when people get hurt during sex⁠, they often feel ashamed or embarrassed, like they have ruined something. Getting hurt in our bodies is as acceptable an experience as feeling good in them. It’s not “weak” to get hurt, and it doesn’t mean anyone failed at anything, it just means we’re living in the body of a mere mortal, not a sexual superhero. So, if some kind of sex injury happens to you or a partner⁠, don’t get hung up in negative feelings about it. Instead, turn your attention to yourself or whoever got hurt. Not only might you or they need physical care, caring for ourselves and each other in attentive, tender ways is only likely to enhance our sexual experiences and the ways we connect to ourselves or one another through them. This kind of care, much like general sexual aftercare, can be something that is a highlight of a sexual experience, even when something painful or bummerful happened which that care is centered around.

This simple guide covers the most common sexual injuries for people in the age group we serve, what needs to be done when and after they have happened, and how you can best prevent them. Read F*c&!ng First Aid: A Quick Guide to Common Sex Injuries over at Scarleteen.

[spellbindingnights]

@dearxeden

Javier Peña in Narcos | 1x02 The Sword of Simón Bolívar

[chenhelelalala]

[babyanimalgifs]

When he didn't realize you're in the room

(Source)

[goldsnek]

Page 10-11-12 of my Double Edged fancomic! page 1-2-3 page 4-5-6 page 7-8-9 page 13-14-15 Feel free to tip a coffee! :)