#[ but anyway yeah i'm not against shipping at all btw!!! ]

[spitedriven]

i've been a touch hesitant to make this post buuuut--

i think most shipping with lucanis is best done post-veilguard. truth be told, he's not in the right headspace during the game to really entertain the idea of a romantic partner. it's not that he doesn't want romance, nor that he wouldn't grow romantically fond of someone, but he is literally fresh out of a year in prison, has a spirit inside him that wants to break free and do maker knows what in the world, and his grandmother essentially dies as soon as he gets back. not to mention y'know. the fucking main plot of the game.

the man is, rightfully, fully preoccupied.

on top of that, he's demi. he wants to take a romance slow. he wants to build trust and familiarity. he wants to know his partner deeply. additionally, he's not exactly living a peaceful life, nor will he ever leave the crows. best case, he's going back to the crows as first talon and maybe a peaceful transition. worst, it's going to be struggle and infighting and everyone jumping on top of each other in power grabs while others are weak. especially on house dellamorte. and the first talon's new lover will absolutely be a target. he needs to know that his lover can protect themselves when he's not there.

and, truthfully, he needs his partner to understand that they will come second to leading the crows. lucanis takes responsibility very seriously. becoming first talon, becoming head of house dellamorte, those are massive responsibilities that he will not fail at. it will take nearly all his time and focus. his lover will not be his first priority (a very close second, for sure, but not everyone wants to play second fiddle to a job). he wants to take it slow to give them outs. to let them understand how things will go. he can compromise, to a degree, but being first talon comes before everything else.

and of course, spite is part of the package deal. he cannot be with someone who is uncomfortable around spite, and after veilguard, someone who is mean or insensitive to spite. lucanis has his hands full negotiating life with spite, and his lover needs to help with it, to a degree. that's not to say they need to bear the brunt of the burden, but lucanis needs help keeping spite from wandering away or understanding how much time has passed since spite took over.

he's got a lot on his plate still, after veilguard, and this isn't even touching the family aspect of it all with caterina and illario. which is all to say--lucanis might develop feelings, even strong feelings, during veilguard, but there's a lot of other things on his mind as well, and he doesn't want his potential lover to have to put up with his mess. he wants to feel like he can pull an equal weight. he doesn't want to trauma dump or have someone play therapist. he wants to put himself in order. and that takes time he doesn't have in veilguard.

the biggest change i'll say is that his romance scene, the night before the final battle, is less about sex and more about hand holding and quiet conversation and promises that if they make it through this, he wants more.

[somanyratsinthewalls]

Congrats on 300 folower 🎉🎉🎉 can I request caramel lily it's totally ok if you can't lol btw love the way you write

Thanks so much for the req! This is SO much plot with a bit of porn, I'm not sure what got into me here! Hope you enjoy!

Pairing: Sanji x Afab!Reader

WC: 2100 LOL

Prompt: “I’d eat 10 devil fruits if it meant I could see you naked.” 

— — 

It was Robin’s birthday, so you and the rest of the Straw Hats were enjoying an evening of drinking and celebrating. Empty bottles littered the dining room table and your captain was asleep and snoring on the deck, distended belly evident of his overindulgence. A few of your crew mates had returned to their quarters, the hour having grown late. You sat at the wooden table with Nami, Zoro, Franky and Robin playing cards while Sanji finished up dishes at the sink. You were all a bit tipsy, some more than others *cough* Zoro *cough* but it was clear the party was winding down. 

“I’m not tired yet. What if we made this game more interesting?” Robin made a suggestion and set her hand of cards down on the table. 

“*yawn* like a drinking game? I’m in.” Zoro takes another swig from his bottle of sake. 

“How about we put real money on the table? I know I’d kick your asses if there was actually something at stake.” Nami suggests. 

“I was actually thinking we could play strip poker.” Robin smirks as she makes the lewd proposal. 

*WOOOSH* 

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Sanji was somehow squeezed in between Nami and Robin on the dining room bench when he was all the way across the room at the sink not a second ago. 

“What an incredible idea, Robin! And it is your birthday after all, so we should all do whatever Robin suggests!” Sanji hurriedly spits out with hearts in his eyes, seemingly out of breath from rushing over. 

“Absolutely not. If you think for a second that I’m going to-“ Nami protests. 

“Sure, I’m in.” Zoro interrupts her. 

“Yeah I’m down I guess.” You chime in, wanting to keep the party going. You had known these people for years now, they were your best friends. Everyone has a body, who cares if they see you naked? What’s the worst that could happen. 

“Aww come on, bros! That’s like super unfair! I’ll obviously lose first! This game is rigged!” Franky exclaims while gesturing to his lack of clothing. 

“Rigged against who? Perverts?” Zoro cocks his head and smirks. 

“Whatever, I’m out. I have maintenance to do on the engine anyway.” Franky excuses himself and heads down into the belly of the ship to finish his tasks. 

“Come on, Nami. We can still put real money on it. Well… most of us could, anyway…” Robin smirks as she looks at Zoro hunched over his drink at the other end of the table. “Hey! I have… some.. cash.. somewhere…” Zoro looks in his pockets and inside his sash trying to find some semblance of money. 

Nami sighed. She pulls a small stack of berries out of her pocket and puts it on the table in front of Zoro. 

“I’ll add this to your tab. I’m going to bed, goodnight guys.” She turns back to Zoro. “Don’t lose it all at once, idiot.” 

After Nami exits, the four of you that remained settled your first bets and started the first round of cards. 

Much to Sanji’s dismay, he lost the first three hands and has already removed his tie, sport coat and belt while the two beautiful women before him were still fully clothed. Zoro lost the next few, casually shedding his shirt and boots. Eventually, after many more hands of cards and many more bottles of booze, the four of you are all minimally clothed. Robin was winning, still in her bra and skirt. You were sat in your bra and panties, happy that you chose a nicer looking pair to wear today. The boys were both left in their pants. 

“Alright, guesshh I’m out…” a very drunk Zoro sighs out as he puts his losing hand down on the table. Wordlessly he stands up and pulls his pants down to his ankles. 

“OH MY GOD MY EYES-“ Sanji throws his head down on the table to shield himself from the now fully nude swordsman. “ROBIN? Y/N? AM I BLIND?” Sanji continues to scream towards the floor.

“WHY don’t you wear underwear! That’s gross! I do our laundry!” You exclaim with wide eyes. 

“Hmm.” Robin hums. “Carpet does match the drapes.” She raises an eyebrow.

“Screw you guyshhh… I.. I’m going to… to lie downshh…” Zoro stumbles fully naked out of the dining room. 

“I’m going to make sure he makes it back to his room…” Robin stands up and dresses herself. Hands sprout from the floor and gather Zoro’s shed clothing and neatly folds it into a pile. Robin grabs the pile and heads towards the door. “… and make sure he doesn’t permanently traumatize Chopper in the process.” 

The door slammed closed and you and Sanji were left alone at opposite sides of the table. 

Sanji cleared his throat. 

“Shall we play on, angel?” 

You roll your eyes. You were up tons of berries, there was no reason for you to keep playing, but something urged you to keep going. 

“Bring it on, Mr. Cook.” You give him a wink and you could swear your saw a drop of blood spill from his nose. 

Perhaps distracted by your tipsy flirting, Sanji loses the next hand and stands up from the table to remove his slacks. He returns to his seat quickly but not quick enough for the large bulge in his briefs to go unnoticed. You smirk. You spot his hands trembling as Sanji pushes his money into the center of the table for the next hand. 

“Wow, Sanji, that’s the last of your berries! What if you lose? How are you going to afford cigarettes this week? It’s worth that much to you?” You laugh and take a sip of your drink. 

“It’s not the money, angel.” Sanji looks across the table at you with sparkling eyes. “I’d pay any cost. I’d eat 10 devil fruits if it meant I could see you naked.” You couldn’t help but smile at his desperation. 

“Well…” You say teasingly. “Let’s play then.” 

Your confidence betrays you. You lose the hand. 

“Shit!” You throw your losing hand on the table. You rub your eyes with your hand, realizing that you have very little left to remove. The air in the room is different from before. Earlier it had been four crew mates laughing and goofing around, now the air was heavy with tension. It was just you and Sanji, sitting across from each other in your underwear. He was handsome and you found yourself admiring his lithe, slim body. You couldn’t help yourself from becoming aroused. 

“Well, fair is fair.” You push the money back towards Sanji and move your hand behind your back to unhook your bra. Your other arm held the cups of your bra in place over your chest as you undid the clasp. You look across the table at Sanji and his mouth was hanging open in anticipation. You aren’t sure why, but you decide to tease him a bit. You use your arm holding your breasts to push them up and together before you let them fall out of your bra, bouncing dramatically. 

“Merde, y/n…” Sanji couldn’t pry his gaze from your bare tits. 

“We still have one more round to play, don’t we?” You pick up a new hand of cards and hold it with both hands. Doing this, you push your naked breasts together with your elbows, teasing the poor cook further. 

“I… Y-yes…” Sanji grabs another hand while shaking himself out of his stupor. 

You had four of a kind, there was no way you could lose. You were going to make off with all the money and Sanji’s dignity. 

“Royal Flush.” 

“What?!” You balk at the cards Sanji had laid on the table. It was his turn to lean back in his seat and smirk. You were speechless. You stared blankly at the table for a few moments before you slide out from your seat on the bench. Sanji watched you intently. 

You turn around so that your back is towards him. You hook both of your thumbs into the sides of your light pink panties. You bent forward at the hip, poking your ass closer to Sanji’s face. You slowly, dramatically peel your panties down your bottom, revealing your supple skin inch by inch. Sanji groans as your glistening cunt is revealed to him. You straighten your back and step out of your panties. You turn around. 

“Well, Sanji. Looks like you won. I guess you could take the money…” You slink towards him and swiftly hop onto his lap, straddling his trapped erection. You place both your hands on the side of his face to make him look up at you. You gently grind your bare pussy onto his throbbing crotch. 

“Or you could have me…” You purr at him, lips almost touching. 

Sanji takes no time to weigh his options before slamming his mouth onto yours. His hands fly into your hair, trying to force your lips impossibly closer to his. His tongue forces its needy way into your mouth. You kiss wildly for several minutes before you snake your hand down Sanji’s slender torso and lift your pelvis up so you can free his aching cock from its confines in his silk briefs. You give his member a few slow strokes before Sanji whimpers into your mouth desperately. 

“Mmm… Y/n.. please…” Sanji mutters. 

You pull away and kiss down his neck. 

“Please what, Mr. Cook? I can’t quite understand…” You seductively whisper out. You lick and suck his collarbone as you continue to pump his cock. 

“Need you…” Sanji is panting like he ran a marathon, he can’t handle your teasing anymore.

“Need me what, Sanji? Come on… tell me what you need…” You bring your hand that isn’t wrapped around his member up to his chest to tweak and squeeze at his nipple. Sanji lets out a high pitched moan. 

“Need to be inside you, please angel, let me feel you…” Sanji grips your hips suddenly and firmly. He could barely form a coherent sentence. You giggled. 

“Hm…. Fair is fair…” You smiled as you lifted your pelvis and aligned Sanji’s cock up with your hole before slowly sinking down him. The stretch overwhelmed you at first as you moved your hands up to grip at his shoulders tightly. 

“Shit, angel… so tight and wet…” Sanji buries his face in your breasts as you adjust your body to his length. 

“Fuck…” You moan softly as you begin to bounce softly on Sanji’s cock. He was thicker than expected, and the anticipation had your body alight with sensation. 

“Does it feel nice, my love? Is my cock good for you? Please tell me…” Sanji breaths out as you use him for your pleasure, trying to contain his own release. 

“Mmmh…” You let out a moan as you switch from bouncing to grinding yourself onto the blonde’s slim hips. “You feel so good inside me, baby… you’re doing so good for me…” You rub your clit into the base of his shaft as Sanji hits that sweet spot inside of you. You bring your gaze to look into his eyes. Those gorgeous ice-blue eyes stared up at you with what could only be described as adoration and amazement. You saw tears well in his glazed eyes, he was clearly so lost inside the pleasure that was your warm cunt. 

“So good…” You continued to praise him. “Gonna cum…” You throw your head back and grip Sanji’s shoulders tighter. 

“Please cum on me, angel, want to feel your pussy when you cum, please…” You hear Sanji’s muttering but you were too focused on reaching your peak. 

You shriek out a loud moan as your orgasm rolls through your body. You fall forward into Sanji’s neck and stop your movements as the spasms slow down. Sanji picks up the slack and pumps his hips upwards into yours, finally able to let go. 

“Fuck, love, I’m cumming!” Sanji slams your hips down onto his and works his load deep into your cunt with a loud groan. 

After you both catch your breath from the intense love-making session you had just experienced in the dining room, you slide yourself off of Sanji’s cock and sit onto the seat next to him. You put your head on his shoulder, feeling exhausted. 

Sanji reached for his pack of cigarettes, desperately needing one after his climax. He finds the pack empty. He looks at all the money that is now rightfully yours on the table. 

“So…. I might need to borrow a little cash this week…” 

[pharawee]

Welcome to the second part of my Pit Babe novel commentary aka "hey this isn't so ba---wait where's Babe's sudden daddy kink even coming from??"

And I try (oh my god do I try). 🤡

I'm now at chapter 10, trying to pace myself because the (auto-translated) translation I'm reading is apparently a WIP. I'm on the edge of my seat. The plot is beginning to thicken.

Previously, Charlie was being sus and Babe was catching feelings, but most importantly there was a lot of pwp and very little racing.

Now there's more racing. Babe even brings Charlie (he still has to wear a mask and a hat) but gets too distracted by his presence (he's apparently addicting enough to kiss through the mask) and promptly forgets to check his car before the race (even though Charlie warns him against it but such is the power of scent - or lack of scent in this case. I don't even know anymore - neither does Babe but at some point Charlie states that's he's now in an alpha rut which I suppose means exactly what it says on the tin).

But, oh no! Babe runs into trouble during the race. He loses the lead and his car gets increasingly difficult to control until it crashes and bursts into flames. But it's okay, Babe jumps out of the driving car just in the nick of time (have you ever seen a supercar outfitted for racing? It's difficult enough to climb into one - funny how I'm apparently okay with omegaverse shenanigans but I draw the line at wonky motorsports physics 🤣).

Anyway, the track marshals are doing a really shit job because somehow they 1. let Charlie on the track to singlehandedly try and rescue Babe and 2. they also completely miss that Babe has literally jumped ship car and is lying on the track. He ends up with a broken wrist and a sprained knee (or was it the other way around? anyway, he's wearing several casts) which means he won't be able to finish the season and lose the title of King (all because he was too horny to check his car... but yeah also apparently it was sabotage  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So much for the racing part.

Babe needs weeks to heal so naturally he needs Charlie to pamper and feed him and dick him down several times a day but what else is new. No offence to the the dicking down part but ugh I hate this trope. Maybe it's just because I dislike the dynamics but I don't like the way Babe is taking on more and more cliché omega traits. If I have to read one more time about how much smaller he is (or about his "rounded" hips... are you ok google translate?)...

Oh, and btw. There are omegas in this! Charlie gets flirted at by one (which Babe absolutely hates) and he does have a scent and all. Later, when Charlie is busy being extremely sus again he meets up with a childhood friend, Jeff (Pon's character in the series is called Jeff - oh. oh no...), and if I'm not mistaken he's an omega as well. Jeff cautions Charlie against being with Babe and displeasing his father (which also seems to be Jeff's father? Dude sure has a lots of adoptive kids...) but Charlie argues that he knows what he's doing and he doesn't want to stop anyway.

Later on he tells the exact same thing to his (adoptive?) father, and why do I get the feeling that this might be the same father Babe mentioned earlier when he was telling a feverish Charlie a story to get him to sleep:

In his story, Babe mentions how when he was very small he used to go hungry every day because his mum was out of the picture and his father didn't even make enough money bring food to the table. One day the hunger was so bad that he passed out and woke up in the hospital where a stranger told him he'd be his new family. With little choice in the matter, Babe accepted and went on to spend the rest of his childhood well-cared for and in elite schools etc. That is, until he turned (presumably...) 18 and discovered that his father didn't adopt him out of the kindness of his heart but for ulterior motives that Babe doesn't explain any further because at that point Charlie has fallen asleep.

So yeah, what are the odds that Babe's "father" and Charlie's father are the same person (no spoilers, please)? Because if so then... that's disturbing, especially since Charlie's father seems to want Charlie to lure Babe back home. I mean, Charlie seems to have his own plans but it's not like his father throws him out after their secret meeting. Sus, very sus.

Meanwhile, Babe is slowly losing his heightened senses (the novel doesn't mention it yet but I'm pretty sure this is Charlie's doing) but he doesn't seem to mind because he's too busy falling in love. There's a lovely scene where Charlie and he spend the night stargazing, and this is when Babe realises that something's different because usually his heart only beats this fast when he thinks about racing (lmao).

Cue to them not having sex for a week because Babe feels like he's going crazy.

Meanwhile, it's been decided that Charlie will finish Babe's racing season for him because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and I'm sure he'll win the title too because he's Charlie, alphaest of alphas. Or something.

So one night Babe officially introduces him to the rest of team X-Hunter (and curiously Sonic and North seem to be racers in the novel as well) but things go awry when Babe is too busy fooling around with Way (no you cannot be affectionate with a male friend in a BL novel it is forbidden!!). Charlie and Babe argue and proceed to ignore each other for the rest of the night until they make up (and out) during the official X-Hunter sleepover (with Way and another poor dude sleeping in the same room).

They're polite enough to seek out the indoor pool (this isn't even their house - have you no shame?) and talk it out. And by talk it out I mean there's an inappropriate amount of daddy-calling and Little Mermaid jokes. This is where Charlie claims Babe. Yes, there's knotting (I think? like I said, I'm not axactly an expert and auto-translate is a bit vague, bless its little AI heart). Charlie threatens (I'm sure it's all meant very lovingly 🤡) to impregnate Babe if there's no other way to show others that he's his. To which Babe replies that that's impossible anway.

It's impossible, right? Right??

[eph-em-era]

hey so i am so so pleased they hired an intimacy coordinator this time around! and you can tell that the actors are much more comfortable too! the intimacy is much much better!!

let's do a lil intimacy breakdown from my knowledge as an IC in training and a director just in general

(this is a long post so it's under the cut)

fact is, there's some awkwardness in the ed/stede s1 kiss, which i am ninety percent sure is due to body placement. i'd wager there was a discussion on set that was like "hey this is a stunning shot, we love what it looks like, let's get the actors in" and they got the actors in and got to the blocking for the kiss and everyone was like "hey this is a bit awkward but we'll muscle through" - cause that awkwardness fits the character arcs.

but it's not actually all that easy turning all the way to one side to kiss someone without moving where your legs are! it's weird! it's an awkward angle! - or more accurately, it's the angle that two people would kiss at if it was a very impulsive, awkward surprise; or if your two lead actors are very good friends faced with playing lovers for the first time and not sure what to feel about that (we've all been there) - there's reticence, but it fits the scene so it's fine.

(Lucius and Pete and Olu and Jim also have moments of intimacy, which for the most part are fine, and I suspect that's a combo of a) their staging is SO MUCH BETTER, b) character choices, c) different directors and d) less of that "OMG WE'RE PLAYING LOVERS NOW" anxiety)

~~onto season 2~~

for the record, intimacy direction isn't just for kissing/sex scenes, ICs can come in for intimacy building exercises and additional blocking, as well as things like nudity, childbirth or any similar sensitive work, but I'm going to be talking mostly about kisses in this. anyway!

Beautiful! Kind, lovely, tender! The backdrop is super nice too. Honestly, the Lucius/Pete stuff has really been so nice all the way along; that's great casting! Especially in S2E5, everything reads as very earnest and space is used very well.

Archie and Jim. Now, we don't have anything to compare it to from S1, but I'm flagging it cause yeah, they definitely have similar staging to Ed/Stede from S1E09. I would say there's a much better range of movement in this one, likely because they're sitting on the floor, braced against the bed, so they can compensate for the weird angle better than E/S could. This might come off as a lil rude but it's also more likely that these two actors are slightly more flexible and can make this staging work better than Taika and Rhys.

Cannot for the LIFE OF ME find a gif of their hug, but they have fantastic chemistry! despite only showing up for like 2/3s of one episode. I've seen people whining about how they absolutely should have kissed - and you know what, I would have liked that too!

however, I suspect that what happened here was that one or both of the actors didn't want to kiss on screen, and voiced their objections to the IC, who found a work around. It was likely not cause of any kind of ill will or homophobia, for the record - sometimes you just don't want to kiss people. Maybe you're sick, maybe you're feeling weird, maybe you're just not in the right headspace, but a kiss might be off the cards that day.

This is behaviour we want to encourage, btw. The goal is to ensure that actors feel comfortable and that the shot isn't be all end all. I've done something very similar, we had 20 mins to get the blocking done and the actors weren't at a point where kissing felt comfy, so we did a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

it is better that the actors are comfortable than your ship is fulfilled.

Hey yknow what I was saying about how ICs aren't just used for blocking, they're used for chemistry building? That's what they've HIT ON HERE. This is genuinely a very lovely kiss. It's deeply appropriate for the characters, and it's private and simple. things get a little more raunchy, and hands start moving, but then it's stopped, for a narrative reason, and the chemistry remains with the hand hold. It's really very nice, well blocked and well performed. the hand placement! the tenderness! it's great. there's none of that s1 reticence, whether that was from characters or actors.

I think the intimacy work, much like the writing and the characterisation is much, much stronger in this season, and that's to the show's benefit. I know we're only halfway through, but I'm thoroughly interested to see where things go in the remaining episodes. I will update this post if anything exciting crops up in the final five.

and this is why you need to hire ICs! they make life easier for actors, directors and crew alike!!

[bthump]

what draws you to homosexual relationships in fiction as opposed to heterosexual ones? I noticed I prefer them as well but I don’t really know why. Or maybe it’s just in the media I like the homosexual relationships are written to be much more compelling, I don’t know. This isn’t hate against het relationships btw I support all sexualities

Probably a million different reasons honestly. Off the top of my head, some of my personal reasons:

-- I'm bi but more interested in gay relationships in my personal life, so my fictional interests reflect my irl interests.

-- Removes misogyny as a factor both within the romantic dynamic and, if m/m, the depiction.

-- Relatedly, I hate how 99% of hetero relationships in media have a built in lowkey unacknowledged d/s vibe due to that misogyny. Woman passive man active, woman pursued man pursues, woman weak man strong, woman soft man hard, woman fucked man fuck, woman object man subject, woman prize man winner, woman small man big, woman puts in work and money to make herself attractive man gets to live at his default state, woman desirable for looks man desirable for personality/money/skill, woman financially dependent on man, etc etc etc. Turns me off.

-- Like at least when that's the dynamic in m/m or f/f it's deliberately someone's kink and a gender norm is being subverted by one of the characters.

-- Gay relationships being more equal is something I've seen cited a lot, rightly or not, but it isn't one of my reasons lol, I like unequal relationships in fiction. That said, gender not being a factor in that inequality is definitely a draw for me.

-- Subtext is more engaging than most textual romances, and gay relationships are more likely to be subtext while het is more likely to be textual.

-- Gay sex (m/m and f/f) turns me on, straight sex rarely does.

-- Specific to m/m, but men in fiction are more likely to have compelling, complicated, deep relationships with each other than they are with women.

-- I enjoy gender nonconformity which is much more plentiful in gay ships and fiction than straight media.

-- Heterosexuality is oversaturated in media and I'm exhausted and irritated by its ubiquitousness.

-- As someone who grew up in the 90s, the existence of casually gay popular media still blows my mind lol, the shine has not come even close to wearing off. Heterosexual media just can't compete with that.

Anyway yeah, those are a few of my reasons, and maybe they align with some of yours as well.

Ultimately though I don't think it matters and it shouldn't be something you feel the need to justify imo. Enjoy whatever you enjoy for whatever reason, or no reason at all. But if you enjoy soul searching, then maybe this list is a decent starting point.

[puckpocketed]

*Kicks in the doors* You put Jeff Carter and Mike Richards on my dash and let me tell you...thanks! I love them and their love and their tragedy. They played against each other in the OHL, were drafted by the Flyers, played in the AHL during the lockout and won the Calder Cup together. Then they would go on to play and party in Philly, becoming beloved and reviled by the fanbases in turn. They signed massive 12 year deals (which the new CBA prevents anyone from signing more then 8 years) together so that they could play together forever...and then they were both traded. Richards to the Kings and Carter to the Blue Jackets.

Carter's play dropped off so badly with the Blue Jackets that the basically got given to the Kings. And when he arrived, his play and Richards' play picked up. They were inseparable. Winning the Cup together, twice, and handing the Cup off to each other.

And then, the tragedy. The ending. Richards substance abuse issues, buyout (that he's still being paid, I believe), and eventual retirement. Carter becoming a Penguin and retiring as one.

The journalists giving us lines like "Mike likes Jeff but Jeff loves Mike." etc. Tragic yaoi central.

ALSO the Mike Richards trade is what sent Wayne Simmonds to Philly where he would be beloved and is still beloved and now works for the org. And the new front office is working hard to repair relationships with former players to the point that Mike Richards played in the alumni game last season. It was a very big deal.

Anyway, this is like a reader's digest version of the history. You Can't Do That podcast (a very funny Caps podcast that I would recommend) has an episode where they go into the Ballad of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter more in depth. And I am sure other people have other recs. But yeah, here we are. It's 2024 and these old men still have a hold on me.

im learning so many new things. such as their names .and also they played for the FLYE RS... okay... <3 CRAZY finding all this out btw, from the standpoint of someone whos kinda just been following the hockey. a friend described it to me as digging down and finding a whole abandoned civilisation <- i did NOT realise how popular LA was on here in the 2010s... lmao.... like i had an inkling. they do have 2 cups. and people like good teams. right (<- shark s enjoyer) but yeah the whole Epic Yaoi Tragedy was not on my radar at ALL . Im so glad those two old men have a hold on you... yayyy <3

hope im not coming off as like... gawking at zoo animals. i rly do feel a level of kinship with rpf writers ( to me we are siblings) and i'm just very interested in it all on a meta level. plus, the narrative IS super fun without the shipping twist lol i love melodrama and i LOVE tragedy!!! scuttling over to the podcast and good heavens that sure is. 194 episodes. . you wouldn't happen to know which episode it is where they talk about these guys?? also if you have any more recommendations for caps pods pls share!

deep cuts about van puckpocketed: i used to be a dm! i love listening to lore. when players used to bring me lore about their characters i horked that shit up with two spoons <3 what im saying is thank u very much for the morning papers/lore dump!!

[exo-raskreia]

hey again, thanks for replying to my previous ask! I have another ask, if you think AiTani (Aizen x Tanisha) have parallels with Ulquihime (Ulquiorra x Orihime?) What do you think are the similarities between the ships?

So in the TCACLOM (the captive and captor's liberation) fan made novel (it's a continuation of post-canon CFYOW events) there is this character named Tanisha Chōdhori, she is appointed the warden of muken and all, she's this stoic and almost nearly emotionless character and then she meets Aizen who she's guarding in Muken obviously and while she guards him, Aizen makes her so infuriated with his words about her true desires and how she desires a path free from soul society that she started feeling emotion in a long time, and she realized that she could openly explore these new emotions if she has Aizen with her so she breaks him out of muken for his companionship while he gets liberation and freedom from imprisonment. For context: Soul Society forced Tanisha as a young girl into this emotionally detached mindset that if she acts the way they want, she'll be a respected member of the Gotei 13 and if she acts in any other way, she'd be criticized for not meeting the standards of how a professional shinigami should be. (The soul society has a bias against Tanisha because of her grandfather named Saphir who ruled the chōdhori clan as the 20th head. The chōdhori clan was a minor clan ruled by the Shiba which was their parent family, so they're basically related ig. The 20th head of the chōdhori clan had attempted to assassinate Kaien Shiba (Before Kaien's Actual Death) to take over the branch of the Shiba clan that Kaien ruled, and by ruling this branch, he could sabotage the other branches of the Shiba Clan but was caught by Ukitake and executed while the rest of the chōdhori clan was exiled to the poorest district of rukongai to repent in place of the 20th head's crime. Tanisha's father named Raiten had obviously escaped Soul Society to the Human World with another elderly chōdhori who was also a Vice Kidō Chief that managed to open the Senkaimon for him, and that's how Raiten started a new life and eventually had Tanisha.) Tanisha has been severely misunderstood for her family's reputation and this damaged the image the other shinigami would have of her, so they became more expectant of her to follow their standards so she can at least fit in with the crowd. Tanisha only developed a strong bond and relationship with Aizen when she became his warden as he challenged her rigid belief that she had no capacity for any other desire besides serving soul society, basically Aizen helped her see a new world and that is why she liberated him from Muken. Tanisha broke Aizen out of Muken if he'd marry her in exchange for liberation, because he's the only one to show her a new world and a new trajectory that no one else has shown her before, and she would explore that path with Aizen).

Oh btw, u got great taste in ships. I love Ichiruki.

I don't have any interest in the Bleach novels (retcons & more nonsense) but this fan novel doesn't sound too bad. Based on what you said, it does sound like this AiTani ship has some similarities with UlquiHime. The girl sounds similar to Ulquiorra in the stoicism & stuff, & both became curious & intrigued by their captive. Aizen was being a manipulator but Ori was just showing her heart to Ulquiorra. I'm surprised Tanisha asked for marriage but I guess Aizen will do whatever it takes to get free, lol. Idk if the novel implies if he will develop any feelings for Tanisha, but I think that Ulquiorra would have definitely developed them for Ori had he lived (or maybe he kind of did?).

Anyway, so yeah, I can see some parallels there. Maybe the writer is an UH fan? Lol.

And oh, lol, thanks. IchiRuki FTW fr. Kubo fumbled big time. None of my main Bleach ships are canon (formerly established canon ships like ByaHisa don't count, for example 🤷‍♀���), and yet are still better than the endgame ones 🤣.

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Get to Know Me tag

Ultimate Addition

Been tagged with multiple versions of this. Will do this all in one.

And maybe this will be the definitive version.

Thanks to: @herrmannhalsteadproduction here, @sleepywriter00 here, @mk-writes-stuff here and here, @dyrewrites here, @infinnative here, @buffythevampirelover here, and @mysticstarlightduck here.

Tagging @illarian-rambling @gottestod-writes @cowboybrunch @blind-the-winds @uninspired-platypuss @little-peril-stories @loopyhoopywrites @its-on-site @aalinaaaaaa @randomlettrrsqqssfxwcvhxnqbwriro @thepeculiarbird + anyone else

(y'all don't have to do all of these - pick one. Honestly you can do all of them but like...only if you really want to)

Version 1

Last Song - Driving the Last Spike (Genesis)

Currently Watching - Star Trek Voyager in my trek marathon, still have a little bit of Phineas and Ferb to rewatch, MythBusters, Whose Line is it Anyway, The Bad Batch as it comes out, and I keep forgetting the last bit of Hamster and Gretel is on D+ rip

Three Ships - uhhh the least controversial I feel will be Robin/Starfire (Teen Titans), Kirk/Spock (Star Trek), and Dakota/Cavendish (Milo Murphy's Law)

Favorite color - T E A L 🩵💚 it slaps. Btw this: 🩵 is not teal but it's the emoji that pops up when I type teal wtf teal is GREENER that's like cyan which also has the same emoji I'm sick of people calling light blue teal

Currently reading - beta reading Whispers by @magic-is-something-we-create and making my way through Purple Hyacinth on Webtoon

Currently consuming - uh just woke up will have my coffee in a bit

Place of birth - Earth

Currently location - pretty sure it's Earth

Last movie - True Lies (first time watching)

Version 2

Are you named after anyone? No my mom was sick of the family name she was given so revolted against peer pressure.

When was the last time you cried? Uhh couple days ago got caught in traffic due to an accident and went a separate way only to find myself on the feeder road with more traffic from another accident so I had to pull into a Jaguar parking lot before I got full a panic attack

Do you have kids? No please dear God. Future students are my kids.

What sport do you/have you played? Soccer when I was like in kindergarten.

Do you sarcasm? See next answer

What's the first thing you notice about someone? That they exist

Eye color? Brown

Scary movie or happy ending? These aren't opposites?? Scary movies have happy endings! So happy endings.

Any talents? Uh, writing, I guess. Media analysis. I can read fast. I'm Gen Z and can write in cursive. I kick ass at the puzzle match mini game on Wii Party.

Where were you born? *Double checks* yeah still Earth

Hobbies? Writing, reading, watching TV, scrolling through Tumblr, media analysis, watching YouTube, daydreaming, listening to music, useless data analysis

Any pets? Two cats

Height? 5'4

Favorite subject? ELAR (reading/writing) that's why I want to teach it

Dream job? See above

Version 3

Currently reading - answered this above

Last song - I'm doing this on a different day (sorry) and now it's Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Queen)

Currently watching - said above

Current fic - uh I'm just reading the stuff I already said

Current hyperfixation - brain recently has been toggling between Phineas and Ferb, Teen Titans (2003), Avatar The Last Airbender, Megamind, and my WIP The Secret Portal so uh pick one

Favorite color - T E A L

Sweet/spicy/savory - I guess savory but yeah depends on mood

Relationship status - happily dating ❤️

Last thing I Googled - Ming-Na Wen (wanted to know her age. She's 60)

Song stuck in my head - currently Somebody To Love (Queen - was listening to the greatest hits)

Favorite food - my dad's food, specifically his Cincinnati chili and his cake

Dream trip - New Zealand or Tokyo

Version 4

(highlight what describes you)

APPEARANCE

Dark hair* // I prefer loose clothing to tight clothing // I have one or more piercings // I have at least one tattoo // I have dyed or highlighted my hair // I have gotten plastic surgery // I have or had braces // I sunburn easily // I have freckles // I paint my nails // I typically wear makeup // I don't often smile// I am pleased with how I look // I prefer Nike to Adidas // I wear baseball hats backwards

*up for debate

ACTIVITIES/INTERESTS

I play a sport // I can play an instrument // I am artistic // I know more than one language // I have won a trophy in some sort of competition // I can cook or bake without a recipe // I know how to swim // I enjoy writing // I can do origami* // I prefer movies to tv shows // I can execute a perfect somersault // I enjoy singing // I could survive in the wild on my own // I have read a new book series this year // I enjoy spending time with friends // I travel during work or school breaks // I can do a handstand

*with instructions and not well

RELATIONSHIPS

I am in a relationship // I have been single for over a year// I have a crush* // I have a friend I've known for ten years // my parents are together // I have dated my best friend+ // I am adopted // My crush has confessed to me // I have a long distance relationship^ // I am an only child // I give advice to my friends // I have made an online friend // I met up with someone I have met online

*does my gf count as a crush? I still act like it lol

+am dating

^i think this is referring to romance but I do have other friends in other states

SEASONS

I have heard the ocean in a conch shell // I have watched the sunrise* // I enjoy rainy days // I have slept under the stars // I meditate outside // the sound of chirping calms me // I enjoy the smell of the beach // I know what snow tastes like // I listen to music to fall asleep // I enjoy thunderstorms // I enjoy cloud watching // I have attended a bonfire // I pay close attention to colours // I find mystery in the ocean // I enjoy hiking on nature paths // autumn is my favourite season

*I think once could be making that up

Take your bets if I'm an outdoorsy person (nope)

MISCELLANEOUS

I can fall asleep in a moving vehicle // I am the mom friend // I live by a certain quote // I like the smell of Sharpies // I am involved in extracurricular activities // I enjoy Mexican food // I can drive a stick shift // I believe in true love // I make up scenarios to fall asleep // I sing in the shower* // I wish I lived in a video game // I have a canopy above my bed+ // I am multiracial // I am a redhead // I own at least 3 dogs

*quietly

+used to

EDIT: I've decided to add onto this post whenever I get a new get to know me tag, so from here on out this was not in the original post

Version 5

I'm over 5'5 / I wear glasses or contacts (glasses) / I have blonde hair / I often wear sweatshirts (I think some of them count?) / I prefer loose clothing over tight clothes / I have one or two piercings / i have at least one tattoo / i have blue eyes / i have dyed or highlighted my hair / i have or have had braces / i have freckles / i paint my nails / I typically wear makeup / i don't often smile / resting boss face / i play sports (was in soccer in kindergarten haha) / I play an instrument (used to, violin) / i know more than one language (I know some ASL but I've forgotten most of it... ) / I can cook or bake / i like writing / i like to read / i can multitask / I have never dated anyone / I have a best friend that I have known for over five years (Cado, how has it been seven years almost????) / I am an only child

Version 6

Last song: as of answering this, technically I watched Psych so the theme song!

Favorite color: you should know this at this point in the post

Currently watching: Psych like I said, also Star Trek Voyager and a few on the side still (see above)

Sweet/spicy/savory: see Version 3

Current obsession: ...Psych but also my WIPs :)

Last thing I googled: thesaurus because I was doing the @sipofsnips and didn't have the word this morning

Favorite season: they all suck but I'll go with fall

Skill I'd like to learn: I want to draw good

Best advice: "thinking about it counts as working on it" because it's changed my outlook on how much I get done in a day, "progress is progress" for similar reasons but more general, and generally that if you burn yourself out trying to do everything nothing gets done

Woo! This was a LOT holy shit. Hope you know more about me!

Version 7

A scent you love: ooh cookies baking smells wonderful

Something you're looking forward to this week: finals finished yesterday which means more free time for me! I get to catch up on reading and writing!!

Currently reading: beta for Whispers by @magic-is-something-we-create WHICH I CAN FINALLY GET BACK TO WOOOO

Currently playing: not a video game person sorry - but I've been occasionally picking at mobile games like Animal Restaurant

Most recent movie: uh... When did I last watch a movie?? I think it was True Lies?? First time watching. Wasn't expecting it to be as chaotic as it was.

Current show: Star Trek Voyager and Psych! Partially rewatch/first time watching every episode and total rewatch respectively! I've not seen either since middle school so this is super exciting

Favorite season: autumn because it's starting to get cooler and pollen isn't everywhere

Recently learned: took a life in the universe class this semester and learned a lot about life in the universe (obviously) and while I have mixed feelings about the class MAN the content was fascinating

Water intake: currently drinking water like always :) । have to pee

[sarcasticfina]

For the prompts post if you are taking, 13 for buddie 💖

Im so glad to see you on my dash btw

i'm trying to get inspired to write fic so please send me some prompts from either of these sentence prompt lists: one, two (see original post for ship options)

13. Do you ever think we should just stop this? (credit)

It was late, and dark enough that Buck couldn't see much more than the outline of Eddie beside him. He should be sleeping. They had work tomorrow, and Chris had to be dropped off early for that science club he joined. Did Eddie pack his lunch already? They were a little distracted earlier...

In his defense, he hadn't seen Eddie outside of work for like... four whole days. That was a lot for them. Maybe he should double check the fridge. Chris had been snacking more lately. Another growth spurt. He could use an extra pack of carrot sticks or something anyway. Or maybe some of that trail mix he loved, even if he did add mini marshmallows to it, which wasn't exactly the healthiest snack...

"Stop thinking," Eddie grumbled. "Go t' sleep."

"Hey, did you pack Chris' lunch?"

Sighing, Eddie raised his head, hair in disarray, and squinted at him. "Huh? Yeah, I... Before. After dinner, I threw something together. Why? Is that what you're worrying about?"

"I'm not worried. I was just... wondering." Buck shifted around on the bed awkwardly and shrugged. "Did you add extra snacks? He's been eating more lately..."

"Uh-huh." Eddie dropped his head back down to the pillow. "Threw in some carrots and dip and some of that trail mix. Was like half marshmallows; you gotta stop letting him talk you into that."

"It was not half..." Buck rolled his eyes. "Anyway, it's balanced out with all the nuts and raisins and dried apricot."

"Mmm."

Buck drummed his fingers atop his stomach, blanket pulled up to his chest. "Should I go out to the couch? He might have questions if he wakes up before us."

Silence answered him. But not an 'Eddie fell asleep' silence, no. This was tense, 'how do I respond to that?' silence. The worst kind of silence.

"Eds?"

"I heard you. Just... Uh... Do you wanna sleep on the couch?"

Buck frowned at the ceiling. "Not exactly comfortable for my back."

"Okay. Then stay here. I can set an earlier alarm if you want..."

Buck hummed. "I should've planned better. I wasn't even gonna come over. I was going home but then I just... didn't." He glanced in Eddie's direction. "You know, we never really talked about what the like... boundaries are."

"...boundaries," Eddie repeated. "About sleeping over or...?"

"All of it. I mean." Buck shrugged. "We just kind of... started this... thing... and we didn't really talk about it."

"Thing..."

"Historically, I'm the impulsive one, but you're not, so maybe I was expecting you to take the reins on how to handle this. Not that I was planning for us to become this. And it's not all on you, obviously."

"This thing?" Eddie sounded a little amused now and Buck frowned.

"I just don't want to overstep. Or make assumptions. Or... I don't know. I don't want to risk this... us... i don't want to do anything that might hurt Chris."

Eddie didn't respond immediately, and that heavy silence filled the room again. "What are you saying... exactly?"

"I guess..." Buck sat up and shuffled backwards. "I mean, do you ever think we should just stop this? Just go back to how it was before? Before we tried to be... more."

Eddie let out a quiet sigh and then he was shifting to sit up too, his back resting against the headboard. He rubbed a hand over his face. "Okay. First, Chris is fine. He will be fine."

"But how do you know?"

"Because he's Chris. Because he loves us and we love him. Because no matter what happens, I know you will always be a part of his life. Even if, somehow, this thing blows up in our faces, you will always put Chris first."

Buck swallowed a lump. "Yeah."

"And second, yes, we should've talked. Especially if you've been worrying about what we are. Maybe I had more time to figure out how I felt and come to grips with what it meant, I don't know. But... Evan, you're it. You're... I mean, I hope you feel the same way I do. I guess I just thought we were on the same page with how we felt. And now we're together. Boyfriend feels a little high school, but, uh, we've always been partners. Now we're just another version of that."

Warmth bloomed in Buck's chest. Partners. Yeah, that sounded right. He turned to look at Eddie, whose features were still mostly shrouded in darkness. "You're it for me too."

Eddie's shoulders slumped. "Yeah?" His voice was softer, filled with relief.

Buck grinned. "You're stuck with me for life."

Reaching over, Eddie took his hand and folded their fingers together. "Good."

"Sorry I was freaking out."

"You get in your head sometimes; I should know better. In future, we'll work on talking it out instead of waiting until..." He glanced at the old man alarm clock on his bedside table. "Dios, 2 am. Tomorrow's gonna suck."

"Whoops." Buck shuffled down the bed and pulled him along, turning onto his side to rest his head on Eddie's shoulder. He hooked an arm around him, fingers folding around his ribs. "You can sleep in. I'll bring Chris to science club and double back for you."

Eddie mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'I love you so much,' and then pressed a kiss to Buck's birthmark. "Go to sleep, cariño."

Anxiety assuaged, Buck listened.

[doodle-do-wop]

AHH YOU KNOW I EXIST SCREECHHH OH MY GODS AHHHHJUHYGTFRDFTGYHU

First off tyy for tagging me for your lightlight reasoning request <3 And second here are a few of my main reasons for shipping lightlight (Note I haven't read stellarlune in foreverrr soo)

I had to look in my copy of book 9 for this but when Rayni reveals her identity to them, Wylie recognizes her almost immediately. Like he knows that he's seen her before, despite not seeing her for almost 5 or so years. He also (kinda?) remember what her name was (He messed up a bit there) and Rayni was genuinely surprised that he knew her.

I'm pretty sure there was another moment or two in the book, but honestly I can not remember-

ANYWAYS they have a lot of stuff they can relate too!!

For starters, both lost their parents at a young age.

Both have some kind of older sibling relationship with Tam (they can definitely bond over that; trust me).

They're the oldest of the Solreef household kids, and as the oldest daughter of 4, no matter what the situation you can always, ALWAYS relate to being the oldest.

They have a bunch more things they can relate too, but for now imma move on.

Similarities. Both are usually calm, collective, and mature.

But they also have a good amount of differences to balance it out. Rayni's more of an openly sarcastic person, putting out remarks and slightly insensitive comments, while Wylie's a bit more quiet and reserved.

I feel like they could help each other with themselves a lot too; Like I said either both struggle with loss of parents (though Wylie did got adopted by Tiergan and did get Prentice back, the trauma is still there), both have bad stuff with the Neverseen, and honestly I feel like they could help each other over come those troubles.

In all honestly, if you ship them or not Wylie and Rayni would make an amazing duo, platonic or romantic and I love them for it <3

Also there ship name is literally LightLight??? And I've seen before as Light Squared?? And other cute stuff like that like CMON UHGYOIUHY THATS ACTUALLY ADORABLE KJNHBGT

ANYWAYS ngl that convinced me to ship Lightlight even more lmaoo XD Hope this convinced you to join the two person WylieRayni squad! *bows*

(btw you did get my user right lol xD I'm probably gonna change it back to tiana4evahh later today, but yeah <3 you got it right lol)

Hmmm okay okay I see

While Rayni lost her parents around Level 5 or 6 I think that is still super young of an age especially to lose a parent much less both parents 16 is not as old as people think it is

I wish canon Rayni was less sarcasm and snake and I know it could've been a defense mechanism but god that just annoyed me so bad (Shannon write a good girlfailure please, I don't want girlbosses anymore I want girlunemployed)

Tam is out numbered in solreef fr, Linh is younger yet tells him what to do anyway (sibling core), Wylie and Rayni are both older, smh, man is against the world when it comes to four people telling him to hydrate even though he just drank water, hasn't even put down the glass

Damnit I do love a good trauma bond, I eat that shit up fr (when it's written well)

I'm seeing a little bit of the appeal now

[aurorawest]

Reading update

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers - 3.75/5 stars

I hate myself a little bit for using this word to describe this book, but it's a meditation on modern (western) culture, the drumbeat of living a purposeful life, and, imo, the millennial condition.

It also, separately from that, made me think of the song 'New Constellations' by Ryn Weaver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13EX7qGdUGI

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles - 5/5 stars

This book features Gareth Inglis, a member of the gentry whose father shipped him off to his uncle when his mother died. Gareth never saw or heard from his father (who remarried and had another child) again, and no one knew he existed because his father was a piece of human garbage. Which meant I couldn't stop thinking about my former father-in-law, who had two sons from his first marriage whom he, as far as I could tell, never had any contact with after remarrying and having another child. Life imitates art?

Anyway, it's KJ Charles, so you pretty much can't go wrong. I saw someone refer to this as enemies-to-lovers and realized my toxic trait is railing against people who want to apply enemies-to-lovers to everything. Spoiler alert, this is not enemies-to-lovers. But it is lovely, and includes Gareth and Joss Doomsday (a smuggler) bonding over beetles.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by SA Chakraborty - 4.5/5 stars

It was no Daevabad Trilogy, but then again, I remember finishing City of Brass and being like, yeah, it was fine, I'll probably pick up the sequel at some point. It wasn't until Kingdom of Copper that I grew to really love the series, so I'm hoping the same happens with this. This book was a lot of fun, and the fact that all the characters were middle-aged was pretty delightful. I'm definitely excited to see where this series goes.

The Long Run by James Acker - 5/5 stars

Excellent YA book about two lonely jocks in New Jersey.

Feel the Fire by Annabeth Albert - 3.75/5 stars

His Accidental Cowboy by AM Arthur - 4/5 stars

Brida by Paul Coelho - 1/5 stars

One of the reviews for this book on Storygraph says it 'aged like milk' and I can't put it better than that. This is a soul mate AU where souls undergo cell division, essentially, and your soul mate is from your same base soul from before the soul split in half. Okay, great. Oh but wait, the soul always divides into male and female. And your soul mate is always someone of the opposite sex, even though that doesn't make sense because as souls divide again and again, that means there are a lot of people out there who came from the same original soul as you. Also, witchcraft? Also also, even though the book is called Brida and is ostensibly about the title character, her whole journey was really just to serve the unnamed male character, the Magus. This isn't implicit either, it's completely explicit. At the end it's like, 'sometimes young women come along to show men the way' (I'm paraphrasing but...not much).

This went straight to my give away pile, and I hated it so much that the rest of my Coelho books joined it (except The Alchemist).

Enlightened by Joanna Chambers - 5/5 stars

Or, For The Love Of God Please Give David Lauriston And Murdo Balfour A Break, And Preferably A Happy Ending.

They got one, btw.

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao - DNF

Honestly, the Mad Libs YA title should have warned me off of this one, but I always give my Illumicrate books a try. Cartoonish villains and protagonists I find myself liking less the more we get to know them. The prose is quite good but not enough to make up for the character deficiencies.

Solomon's Crown by Natasha Siegel - 5/5 stars

Blurbed by no less than Tamora Pierce (Song of the Lioness supremacy!), Rainbow Rowell, Freya Marske, and CS Pacat. Did I go into this book with insanely high expectations? Yes. Did it mostly meet them? Yes! If you're a Captive Prince fan, this one's for you.

Siegel tells us up front, before the book even starts, that it's a romance and not historically accurate. So don't go into this expecting a historically accurate love story between King Richard of England and King Philip of France. It is, however, a gorgeous romance. The world-building is top notch. Even if it's not totally accurate to the High Middle Ages, it feels accurate, if that makes sense? Siegel really captures the feeling of being in a different world. Lush writing, amazing sexual/romantic tension, lovely sad boys. Highly, highly recommend.

Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots by Cat Sebastian - 4.75/5 stars

I docked .25 stars because it bugged me that they didn't move in together at the end. Idk, just felt too 'look, I'm subverting romance conventions!' Still good, obviously.

Like Real People Do by EL Massey - 4/5 stars

A very wholesome and low stakes hockey romance. I found myself often thinking that the interactions of the men on the hockey teams seemed unrealistic, but it was charming and sweet enough that I didn't care.

The book reads like fanfiction, which is because it was fanfiction—but it's in a mostly good way, not a bad way (*cough* All The Way Happy *cough*). Apparently the original version was Check, Please! fanfiction, which I am vaguely familiar with as a thing that exists. Apparently it's a web comic? Anyway, I enjoyed the book enough to pick up the sequel.

[futuregws]

Update on my opinion on the bear, since I started a conversation about ships and the show itself I will make two separate posts for this, this one is about ships (I'm currently on ep 6 season 2 btw).

So basically my opinion is the same but stronger I guess, I don't get it, Syd and Marcus so far I HIGHLY doubt anything will happen he definitely has a crush on her but I'm not sure she likes him, but still I personally feel like they would work a lot better, still I don't personally ship them I just prefer them, about Syd and Carmy all I'm seeing is a friendship/partnership that people are trying too fucking hard to make it something else, I've seen their shippers throw literal tantrums when people rightfully bring up the fact that men and women being close does not equal a relationship or romantic feelings, they seem to like to use that against others a lot by also adding small little scenes to "prove their point" and what's even more ridiculous is how mad they get when people say that they only ship them as platonic soulmates, like am I obligated to ship Syd and Carmy romantically to be a fan of the show, bc if so let me know bc I will piss out I don't wanna deal with that behavior. Like there's this war between the people that think it's platonic and the people that think it's romantic and once again like in so many other fandoms they seem to have this superiority complex (some of them). But at the end of the day if you wanna ship them, go for it, but other people don't have to, and when you bring up scenes like his panic attack or the fridge scene and say shit like this:

Like no it won't become invalid.

It's as if your opinion/take on a scene is the only correct one therefore others need to see it the same way, it's absolutely insane, specially if you then go and see what the actors say about their characters and their "relationship" and it completely contradicts what the shippers are going for, like the whole, oh him calming down thinking about her during a panic attack is peak romance, thing gets completely crushed by all of this

Like dude this is what jeremy said:

And this is what Ayo said:

Soooo, maybe don't act like your opinion is above others when the actors would literally agree with the people calling them platonic, you know the ones that y'all like to call delusional and say that their opinion is invalid. Y'all like to make fun of this (which is very strange like what year did y'all get stuck on) but yeah men and women can be friends/best friends/coworkers hell whatever tf without romantic feelings, like do y'all fall in love with every single person you meet/all of your friends, are y'all okay?? No one is in denial no one's opinion is invalid here YOU ship them, doesn't mean it's romantic or that anyone else needs to see them as such or that they have to be.

Anyway I will give my opinion on the actual show in a minute (even though no I'm not finished yet lol)

[satsuha]

you are SO RIGHT!! agnene is sooo cute and you’ve really opened my eyes to the extent of how much it works. the parallels you drew between them and temehika also make a lot of sense.

similarly, now that you mention it, i definitely understand what you mean about the crossed path story.. i haven’t played since the game released (i plan on replaying when the anniversary arrives) so i my memory wasn’t the clearest. i’d completely forgotten about yomi ooops.. and you’re right that they really should have touched more on agnea’s past, especially since both she and hikari have lost their mothers. it could have been so sweet to see them exchanging stories about them. i do wish that had happened :(

this is somewhat unrelated but i’m vehemently against the temenos/throné ship because i kind of see them as siblings? (SPOILERS BTW) idk i saw a really good theory about temenos also being one of Mr “So i inpregnated countless women” Guy’s children (was his name claude? i’m blanking suddenly) and while i’m not usually one to go all in on believing fan theories, the theory was so compelling that every time i see them shipped it makes me just a bit uncomfortable lmao. that’s just how my brain works i guess

argh in conclusion there were so many links that could have been drawn between certain characters that the game didn’t want to touch on and it’s such a shame. i get that they didn’t want to make any protags More Prominent than the others and that’s hard to pull off but my imagination definitely runs wild with all the possibilities (i will never see that end-game “why was temenos doing all the heavy lifting” scene the same way after what you did with it hehe)

hehe my agnene agenda... i unfortunately don't have enough hands to draw them as much as i'd like to but yeah they're so cute to me 😭 and yeah i understand! i'm also going through my second playthrough (albeit slowly lol i started in may and am still on it) but i do check videos online pretty often when i want to talk about something so i'm more or less refreshed on the events of the game

and ooogh... that theory... okay well for some context i only came across it when someone told me it was canon that temenos was claude's son and i was so horrified that i'd missed something but it turns out people had just misinterpreted arcanette's line directed at throne o<-< i think the theory is... fine but it doesn't really affect any part of temenos' character for me since the only real thing claude's children have in common is that they were forced into the blacksnakes' bloodbath but temenos wasn't a part of that so... i also think it suits him better that he's just some ordinary guy because his story seems to push the fact that he's in a role he was never destined for (in an "ideal" world, it would've been roi who was the chosen cleric for the story but temenos was forced to take up the mantle)

UHHH but yeah regardless of temenos' parentage i got pretty strong sibling/platonic vibes from his and throne's interactions anyway... i like their dynamic the most amongst the crossed paths pairs because temenos is just constantly telling throne off for her bad behaviour like a child and i find it amusing lol

i'm always stuck between wanting more of a certain kind of interaction (because i think some banters were lacklustre) and being fine with it because it means i can be delusional and just fill in the gaps myself lmao... THAT scene still boggles my mind i can't think of a single reason why temenos would be the one carrying the water JKFGHJKA but temehika going off as a pair regardless of what they are doing will always make me happy.... 🥰

[crossovershipstournament]

yeah i'll give in to my lack of impulse control to infodump/spread propaganda. megapit aka megaman/pit. super smash bros is only correctly enjoyed when you think of silly dynamics with the characters after all. and then go mad when you make it deep (i did this)

both child soldiers, both have some identity problems. a robot who was meant to just be a kid who had no choice but to be transformed and fight against others of his kind, an angel who is the only one of his kind with desperation to prove himself as a hero despite his inability to fly on his own

they're besties u have to believe me. pit is like nintendo's special little fourth-wall breaking boy. seemingly aware of other games- anyways he's a big fan of megaman. and with a history of being in the infamous cartoon captain n, they are often depicted as being friendz (morally correct. best friends to lovers. you know how it is)

the fluffier aspect has megaman being kind of terrible with romantic gestures in the sense that, being a robot, can sometimes not understand social norms. he embarrasses pit with shameless acts of very sappy cliche acts of romance. and pit is SO impulsive and kind of stupid but he makes megaman smile all the same. he brings a lot of joy!!!!

a ship with a robot comes free with angst. rock (which is megaman's name lol) has your classic robot in love predicaments. he was not built to feel at that level but does it anyway. which can cause glitches and spazzes and malfunctions and it scares him!!!!! woagh. and he thinks pit is just so wonderful and deserves a REAL person to be with. sigh

an angel- pure divine life- falling in love with a synthetic mimicry doing the impossible. do you Understand. Do You See

size difference too btw. megaman is tinie

Okay so not only is this great propaganda, but as a fellow enjoyer of my own robot kid character who just wanted to be a definitely real boy and was forced to fight/be a weapon (and who also has a best friends to lovers ship with him and his own best friend), I am slowly being won over myself 👀

Also heck yeah about the Smash Bros thing; it's part of why I'm such a big fan of CPU Kerfuffle myself. There's so much fun to be had with the dynamics of that game (whether it's with the canon characters or if you're just using them as avatars for your own OCs)

Anyway, great propaganda, great art 👍

[peppertaemint]

hey! on the army/shawol drama –

i am a shawol and an army (or well... i am a bts fan lol i don't like associating with armys if i can help it) and to be completely honest i did see a level of nastiness coming from shawols this time around that i hadn't seen in a long long time. the accounts with the more inflammatory tweets seem to have either deleted or gone private for now except for this one: https://twitter.com/arcticminkey/status/1628075402156552215 / https://twitter.com/arcticminkey/status/1628111485078470678 ("didn't even change the spelling" 😭 of a four-letter word?!)

those tweets in particular annoyed me because they use the same rhetoric armys love to use (and which i loathe) – accusing other artists of "ripping off" their faves instead of acknowledging their autonomy, creativity and even humanity.

now i don't know if sm fans were already on edge because of the sm/hybe acquisition (understandably) and decided to take their frustration out on this – or if it was because the shinee plagiarism series holds a special meaning for many people – i think all of those things combined + the usual fan war logic might explain the overreaction. but yeah, i don't think shawols were all that innocent this time around. there WERE a lot of nice shawols who also shut that shit down fast, as expected, but i thought the loud minority was loud and especially nasty.

obviously armys were ten times as vile in response – WAY disproportionate, like you said, and like it tends to be. they make not knowing anything about kpop their personality and then have the nerve to call artists "flops" when they don't know them. just absolute fucking twats. lol if i may.

(apparently some of the louder elements on the shawol side turned out to be ex-armys, which sort of supports a pattern i have been noticing for a while. armys are fucking annoying and call these people "leftovers", acting like they hold a grudge against bts specifically, but – to me at least – the issue is that while they move away from bts they do not unlearn the superiority complex, bullishness, and overall nastiness that they practiced as armys, and bring it with them wherever they go. genuinely when i say armys have made fan culture worse as a whole i mean it. this is based on my impression of things and not any hard data though lol so i concede i might be way off.)

anyway! the whole thing was ridiculous. any plagiarism accusations over common phrases are ridiculous. i concur with the last anon who is asking for jimin on nolto. MAXIMISING THEIR JOINT SLAY etc.

also re: shinee contracts: if i'm not mistaken their contract extensions are usually 3 years long. they renewed their original 7-year contract in 2015 for 3 more years, then again in 2018 for 3 more years. contracts are frozen during enlistment, so if my calculations are correct they should be renegotiating fairly soon, once taemin is out. not sure what that means in the grand scheme of the hybe/sm takeover but i believe that's the timeline. (i agree with your take on the situation btw – i really don't think groups and solo artists like shinee will be affected creatively, and they'll retain their usual freedom in that regard, but i do worry that if hybe stays obsessed with targeting the US then artists who are "only" popular domestically might see their promotional activities take a backseat. i hope i'm wrong. we'll see!)

sorry this was so long! appreciate your blog :)

Hi! Thank you for sending this in for more balance.

I have that account on mute, which is why I never saw that crap. And I'll be controversial (but also agree with you) - ex army are spreading gross behaviours. But shippers are also at the route of a lot of shitty behaviour. I say that as someone who likes shipping for fun so I see it. I've seen a lot of weird stuff from MinKey shippers in the last year. And no surprise the account you mention is in that category. Other ship accounts are problematic too but MinKeyers have been the worst lately. They just get way too comfortable speaking on things they shouldn't. They had a whole thing about MinKey bringing gay marriage to Korea.... yeah. Read that again. If you're a fan of Key or SHINee, it should be pretty fucking obvious why that's a really bizarre and just grossly insensitive way to go.

But anyway. There will always be nastiness and as SHINee World keeps growing, it will be harder to keep up our behaviour standards. But I think we have to. The fact that most people deleted is positive. Minho said we're a reflection of them so I hope shawols will keep taking that seriously.

Thanks for your Ask!

[haljathefangirlcat]

I don't want to add all of this under the post I took this pic from, because I'm going to get nitpicky and long-winded and it would probably get really annoying for OP... and also because this is the "are you saying we piss on the poor" website, so someone would inevitably think I'm hating on either OP or Mary Reufle. Which I'm not, btw. I think the passage above says something really beautiful and tragic about humanity, and I'm thankful to OP for posting it, otherwise I might have never read it.

But it does remind me of a stupid pet peeve I've been trying to ignore since people on Tumblr started debating whether asexual sailors would be safe from the lure of sirens and other people started replying that, hey! Sirens in Greek mythology, especially the Odyssey, don't lure sailors by offering sex! They lure them by offering them what they desire! Which might be sex for some, but might be just some really great pasta for others!

... again, to avoid another obvious "we piss on the poor" moment: no, I don't actually have anything serious against jokes, thought exercises, and stories in that vein. Ace people belong in fun fantasy and/or mythology-inspired stories and story ideas as much as everyone else. And I'm well-aware you don't need my permission to write about a sailor saving their entire crew by being totally indifferent to sex or almost dooming them because some weird lady on a rock in the middle of the sea was loudly singing about being desperate to share cool frog facts with someone. Hell, I'd probably read both.

But anyway, the pet peeve I was talking about before going on that tangent is that the sirens do sing Odysseus' story to Odysseus, and it just annoys me so much, seeing people ignoring the fact that that's actually a thing that happens. Like, this is from Book XII:

"[...] the Sirens failed not to note the swift ship as it drew near, and they raised their clear-toned song: “‘Come hither, as thou farest, renowned Odysseus, great glory of the Achaeans; [185] stay thy ship that thou mayest listen to the voice of us two. For never yet has any man rowed past this isle in his black ship until he has heard the sweet voice from our lips. Nay, he has joy of it, and goes his way a wiser man. For we know all the toils that in wide Troy [190] the Argives and Trojans endured through the will of the gods, and we know all things that come to pass upon the fruitful earth.’"

... yes, this translation is taken from Perseus and is, unfortunately, in prose. Give me a break, it's not easy to find good poetic translations of the Odyssey posted for free online when I'm not even a native English speaker and to me "Odyssey translation" means "Rosa Calzecchi Onesti's translation from the '60s." The point is, the sirens try to lure Odysseus (and would definitely succeed, if not for the ropes-and-wax trick) by telling him that they know everything, including all that has happened to Odysseus himself and everyone else who suffered through the war of Troy.

And yeah, you could argue that the main draw for Odysseus (his greatest desire, to tie it all back to mythological shitposting) is knowledge itself, because he is that kind of guy. But the sirens don't give any details on their knowledge of all that is presently happening "upon the fruitful earth." They do, however, give details on their knowledge of the past -- specifically stating they know Odysseus' past. The same man who, if you remember, can't take Demodocus singing about a couple of episodes from the war of Troy without needing to hide his face due to being completely overcome by tears, yet has a piece of meat from his own plate brought to Demodocus as a show of respect and gratitude for his singing. Unlike his own wife, Penelope, who when hearing the aoidos Phemius singing about the same war back in Ithaca, asks him to change the subject to something less painful...

It's just. It's so painful and complex and wonderful and it makes me want to tear my hair out every time I think about it. And nobody ever remembers it when someone brings up the sirens and specifically the ones from the Odyssey! *screams*

Btw, now that I've had my nice little rant, please do me a favor and listen to the song Le Sirene by Vinicio Capossela. Because this Italian singer and composer? He gets it.

Here's a rough translation of the lyrics:

The sirens

Tell you about yourself

What you were

As if it were forever

The sirens

Have no tail nor feathers

They only sing about you

The man of yesterday

The man you were, two steps from the sky

All your life before you

All your life as a whole

They say, stop here

The sirens

Assault you at night

Created by the night

They kept all the faces you loved and now

The sirens have them

They sing them to you in a chorus

And you're not alone anymore

They know everything about you

And the best of you

It's a song of sirens

And you hear it in the regret

Of what you lacked

What you glimpsed and won't have

They give it to you

Only in song

They sing to you of how you came from nothing

And nothing you will be

The sirens are a night of beer

And the dawn won't come anymore

They're street ghosts coming in in gusts

They have the voices of sirens

Fill your ears with wax

To not hear them when it's evening

To stay firm

Tied to your routine

But if you listen to the sirens

You won't come home

Because home is

Where they sing about you

Listen to the sirens

They won't stop their singing

In the endless wake, they sing

All your life

Who you were, who you were, who you were

Who you were, who you were, who you are

Mnemosyne

Why go on until old age

Until you feel ill?

It's all already here

Stop here

You don't have anywhere to go anymore

The sirens

Don't sing the future

They give you what has been

But time isn't kind

And if you stop and listen to them

You'll let yourself die

Because the singing is neverending

And it's full of deceit

And takes your life from you

As it sings it

... also, if you know Italian or you don't mind running lyrics through an online translator (not Google Translate, pls, they don't deserve to be butchered like that) or you're just looking for new music to listen to, do yourself a favor and go listen to Capossela's other Odyssey-inspired songs from the album Marinai, Profeti e Balene. They are:

La lancia del Pelide (The spear of Pelides, and yeah, this one is actually about the Iliad)

Le Pleiadi (The Pleiades, from the POVs of Odysseus and Penelope, and a much deeper and more fascinating take on their relationship than either "Odysseus is a jerk who doesn't care about her because he has sex with other women" or "he's cool, she's cool, they're a cool power couple" could ever hope to be -- even though I do love the latter a lot, admittedly)

Aedo (Aoidos, set in the aftermath of Odysseus' killing of the suitors)

Calipso (Calypso)

Dimmi Tiresia (Tell me, Tiresias, set in Book XI, when Odysseus summons the spirit of the dead seer and receives a prophecy from him)

Nostos (Actually about the tale of Ulysses' final "mad flight" and death in the Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto XXVI -- yes, you need to listen to this one, too)

... okay, yes, this post did turn into Vinicio Capossela shilling. I swear it wasn't the initial intention, it just happened. But you know what? I don't even care because most of the songs that make Tumblr users go "OMG THIS MAKES ME FEEL SOO UNHINGED 😭 TOTALLY FERAL 😭😭 WHY DOES IT GO SO HARD 😭😭😭" don't go even half as unnecessarily hard as the lyrics to Aedo and Nostos. So, yeah. You can thank me after lying on the floor like "head full. way too many thoughts" for an hour or two.