#(not the only reason every game we won is the reason we won bc one single game less we probs would have lost but shhh)

[svtskneecaps]

literally it's 3am where i live and i'm on mobile but FUCK IT i haven't posted any actual writing in like a YEAR on this blog whose description include the words "I WRITE" and i can't tell if i'm even going anywhere with this so fuck it under the cut is the prospective absolute mess of the first chapter of the flipo family time loop fic. (for clarity, flipo family as in slime, mariana, and juanaflippa) this covers loop 0, aka the relevant parts of canon. words: 1630

parts of it i popped off with and other parts i hate; up to you to identify them. also the italics and other formatting got erased when i copy pasted and i'm re-adding all of it by hand so if i missed a spot, no i didn't. if i missed an accent on a letter in spanish that was a typo, if i missed a ¡ or ¿ that may have been on purpose.

oh and for obvious reasons, content warning for mentions and mild descriptions of child death and child murder. no blood, and most of it is a three word mention; i'd say the brief paragraph beginning "Tilín didn't scream" is most of the reason this warning exists.

Charlie Slimecicle stepped off the train.

He’d been hoping for a bright, sunny day to start their vacation, but was sorely disappointed. The portal had apparently taken them pretty far, since they’d gone from noon to night time. Talk about jetlag. They hadn’t even been on a plane.

“What happened to the other guys?” he wondered aloud as he stepped onto the platform.

“Yeah no clue,” Phil said, scanning the empty station. “Thought they’d meet us here.”

“Guys!” one of the Spanish speakers--Vegetta, he’d said, when they’d all met up at the first station--called, from a lectern at the wall. “There is a book!”

They crowded around as he read the instructions aloud--something about pressure plates, Slime wasn’t paying that close of attention. He was a little more preoccupied with making sure it only felt like his brain was dripping out of his ears. That would be kind of embarrassing.

Which was not to say that he wasn’t enjoying the constant onslaught of people talking over each other using words he may or may not understand. In fact, it was the opposite; he was frankly thriving in the absolute chaos that kicked back up around him as a timer appeared in the wrist communicators they’d been provided along with their tickets.

“Como se dice ‘we are going to die now’?” He giggled, chasing Phil and Fit to one end of the station.

“¡Vamos a morir!” shouted Spiderman, echoed seconds later by the black bear in the collared shirt.

Giddy over the high of attempting to use his high school foreign language for the first time maybe ever, Slime absolutely didn’t contribute much to solving the puzzle, and before long the sound of the timer ticking down was accompanied by a loud buzzing alarm.

“It’s been an honor!” he shrieked at the top of his lungs. “It’s been an honor!”

The bear ran past them again, shouting, “I’m going to die!” in English this time.

“Adiós amigos!” Slime yelled.

The countdown ended.

And then his communicator buzzed, and there was a video playing on the screen, showing a cartoonish yellow duck in front of a blurry beach stock photo. He skimmed it absently--some generic welcoming message and another side quest for them--distracted by Maximus audibly losing his shit laughing across the station.

“Come on, I’m trying to take a vacation, I gotta work now?” Fit complained. “This is ridiculous.”

Slime wanted to jump on that bit, but the message cut off with coordinates marred by static and the noise of the emergency weather alert system and he lost his train of thought completely.

“I got the English book!” Spreen called, holding it with two fingers like it had personally offended him.

“English leader,” Vegetta said, seeming to find that amusing.

“English leader.” Spreen laughed and flicked the book away. Slime stepped back but somehow it still nailed him in the chest.

“Guess I’m reading then,” he said cheerfully.

“In Spanish?” Maximus said.

“Um.”

Vegetta called something, backing across the plaza with the book open in his hands. Phil backed up to the wall.

“Here,” Phil instructed, “we’ll read it here.”

“Okay okay.” He flicked it open. “So we have to get water wheel planks--”

Their peace lasted a grand total of thirty seconds as voices suddenly began shouting, overlapping in chaotic chorus.

“What is that?” Fit demanded.

“Is that coming from the other side?” Phil stared up at the top of the wall.

“This is the thinnest thick wall I’ve ever seen,” Slime said, giddy laughter bubbling out of him again. “Is this thing made out of pencil shavings? If I sneeze on it, is there gonna be a hole?”

“Nevermind, we’ll read it over here.” Phil dragged them away again, but the Spanish speakers were dispersing into the trees.

“Forget the book,” Fit said, “follow them!”

(In the end it was explosives that took the wall down, which in hindsight was a precursor to how a not insignificant portion of time on the island was spent. The first day, however, it was just funny, much like everything else.)

(That was to say, the first first day.)

The communicator had indicated that today there was something special planned, so he made an extra effort to wake up.

“Morning Jaiden!” he called to his upstairs neighbor.

“Hi Charlie!” He could hear her farming through the wall. “Glad you woke up on time!”

“Well you know, you know, El Backflipo couldn’t miss it,” he joked, sifting through his backpack. “Got any spare food? I’ll trade you uno backflipo.”

“I have so much toast, come here and get some, free of charge.”

With a quick backflip and some toast to start the day, he popped open the map.

“There’s a lot of people down the wall,” he noted, their green dots so clustered they formed one. “Wanna check it out?”

“Yeah sure.” Jaiden tossed some seeds into a chest. “Do you know what this event’s gonna be?”

“I have no idea,” he admitted cheerfully.

She laughed. “Yeah, me neither. I guess there’s an egg involved, but that’s all I know.”

He dug around in his backpack for a paraglider, nodding along. “Yeah, yeah, un huevo, I get you.” Shuffling the landmine from Vegetta to one side, he yanked out his glider and threw himself out her window. “Let’s go!”

(nothing like getting struck by lightning to wake a guy up in the morning)

Slime fiddled with the communicator as he waited for the line of people to get through the ticket machine; he already had his own, a nice B for Backflipo. The new live translations still boggled his mind. He had to fight the urge to chant weird shit under his breath, just to see what the bubbles would say.

He paid a little extra attention when Mariana walked up to the machine. That guy seemed cool. They’d done that pequeño dormir together on day one, and he had a good sense of humor. Egg parenting would probably be funny.

He was thrilled to see the B for Backflipo on the ticket Mariana stepped away with, even if Mariana was decidedly less so. This was gonna be good.

(it was, and it wasn’t)

So, Mariana wasn’t exactly the coparent of dreams. Then again, Slime was pretty sure Mariana could say the same about him. In fact he was pretty sure Mariana had said the same, but in Spanish, when he wasn’t checking the translation.

It was great. They thought they’d killed a child immediately and then decided to fake their own child’s death to get away with it, and then confessed their sins to a bilingual angel and built a farm and then he buried himself beneath an improvised cross and went into a coma until his sins were forgiven, or something, except his sins weren’t forgiven in time to save his own child’s life.

And then Juanaflippa was dead. Dead at Mariana’s hand.

His bitch wife killed their daughter.

(Everything went faster, after that.)

Slime wanted to kill him.

Slime wanted to kill him for killing their fucking daughter, but of course, Mariana couldn’t even be bothered to be around to take care of her alive, never mind to pay for his crimes when she died by his hand!

(in a better world, his rage started and ended there. in a better world, the anger fizzled out with the lack of a target.

this was not that world)

There couldn’t be an Egg Event with no eggs.

If he killed them all, it would bring her back.

(in a worse world, he succeeded. in a worse world, the Egg Event ended there.

this was not that world)

They held a trial.

If he won, it would bring her back.

(in another world, he didn’t convince them. in another world, they left his daughter in Hell.

this was not that world)

Tilín was still before she hit the ground.

Tilín didn’t scream. Maybe they didn’t have time. It happened so fast. He was sure it happened fast. Almost too fast. But everything went so fast, now, even though Flippa was back. Yet, time slowed down for this, like a rubberneck driving past a highway accident, watching him desperately trying to shock their heart back into motion.

“YOU KILL MY BEST FRIENDS,” Flippa wrote. He begged her to understand. She wrote, “i can’t believe it.”

She wrote, “I HATE YOU.”

(in a better world, the error would have been caught in April instead of July.

this was not that world)

His daughter fell to his bitch wife’s sword. The same way. The next day.

They’d only just gotten her back. And Mariana killed her again.

He only left eggxile for the funeral. She wouldn’t stay dead, but he had to be there.

Time went even faster after that. He was Gegg, or maybe Gegg was him, or maybe Gegg was Gegg, or maybe. . . ?

He went back to eggxile.

He wasn’t leaving without them. Tilín. Juanaflippa. He would do whatever was necessary. He would pray to any higher power. Lil J still owed him a goddamn favor, but the guy wouldn’t pick up his calls. Maybe if he put more shit in the shrine; angels liked shiny shit, didn’t they? He went back to the mine, where the gasses swirled in his head. He built the shrine. He mined. He built the shrine.

He went back to the mine.

He went back to the mine.

He went back to the mine.

“This is where I sit, this is where my bitch wife sits, and this is where my daughter sits, if I had one!”

He’d said that before. No he hadn’t. Yes he had.

No, he just needed to clear his head.

Charlie Slimecicle went back to the mine.

Charlie Slimecicle stepped off the train.

[aroaceofthesea]

I shouldnt be this happy about beating a bunch of 15 year olds at board games

[mimasroom2]

My tennis star! (∩˃o˂∩)♡

Secretly dating jock!ellie

C/w: smut but for like 2 seconds. Mention of weed lol. Uhh that’s it this is pretty laid back. This is my first time using those fake texting things I think I like it? Idk

W/c: ≈ 800

𓆟. ° .• .𓆝 .• ° . 𓆟 . ° .• .𓆞

- She plays tennis bc I said so 🎾

- She’d win a match and she’d post on her instagram story something REAL cheesy like “only reason why we won is because someone special was in the crowd💖” and everyone thinks she’s talking ab a guy but it’s really you >•<

- She’d pull you aside into an empty hallway and lean over you with her arm up (yknow. The classic masc move.) and whisper “You comin’ to the game tonight, baby?”

- It’s so fucking cheesy but you swear she makes your knees weak every time she talks with her sexy ass voice.

- “Too bad I can’t have a massive ass sign that says your name on it all big or something.” You grin widely and she laughs, leaning in to give you a soft kiss.

- You guys go on dates to the mall so she can buy new workout clothes & equipment. Every time you guys see someone you know in a store you split up and pretend to be looking at different things on other ends of the store. Eventually when they leave you two come back together and giggle.

- “Heya stranger.” She grins, showing you some knee high socks she found while she was pretending to look around.

- Only your two best friends know ab you and Ellie, so you’re always having to make up excuses as to why you’re going to the tennis games.

- “They needed help with grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for the game, and you know I always need more service hours!”

- “Man I’m sorry I can’t go to the movies tonight. I already told the tennis coach I’d do face painting for the little kids that come😕”

- You’re studying at your desk when the first message from Ellie absolutely jumpscares you. The girl really needs to learn about context 🙄

- Absolutely all the girls in the crowd and on the opposing team would swoon over her. She lovesssss the attention and always waves at the crowd and blows kisses to them. Sometimes she winks at the girls on the other team to purposefully distract them as they’re serving. You don’t feel jealous though because you know as soon as the game’s over you’re going back to her place to celebrate ;)

- You feel so fucking lucky you’re dating a jock as her toned muscular arm is pumping in and out of you.

- “Fuck,, guess all that racket swinging comes in handy when I’m fucking you, hm?” She smirks, and she was actually right. She could practically finger you forever and never get tired.

- She’s a perfectionist with her playing and in bed. She’d have to make you cum at least twice before she’s satisfied.

- The next morning Ellie has to leave early for practice so she lets you stay in her room to sleep in. She texts you a WHOLE BUNCH, effectively spamming your phone and waking you up:

- She comes up to you one day out of the blue and says “Hey y/n, I’m like so serious can you hide all my stoner shit until this season is over…?” You knew she smoked but she told you she only does it when she’s off in tennis, so you’re surprised when she hands you a shoebox full of all her stuff.

- “Yeah ‘m fine. Coach has been gettin’ on to me. Jus’ more stressed out is all.” Is all she has to say when you ask about it. She runs her hands through her hair, thinking you’re frustrated with her. You’re just glad she trusts you enough to make her keep her promises to herself.

- She’d ask you what your favorite color is and get a special racket in that color for whenever you see her play. She’d say it’s her lucky racket :,)

- You were never super into sports but you loveeeee spending time with Ellie, so she decides to give you some one on one lessons.

- “Yeah, thas’ it, baby.” She’d mutter in your ear from behind you. She’s holding the racket with you and helping you swing your arms the right way.

- You guys didn’t expect to see anyone on the tennis court this early, so when other people come and Ellie recognizes them, she quickly guides you guys behind a tree.

- Your stomach is filled with butterflies as she tucks your loose hair behind your ear and kisses you !!

- You feel like a little kid playing in the woods again because now you and Ellie are sneaking around the park/tennis court trying not to be seen by the other people

- She gets really cocky sometimes and posts soft launches of you on her insta stories

- It would be a picture of you in her lap WAHH! Her tattooed hand is on your thigh with the caption “keeping me occupied”

𓆟. ° .• .𓆝 .• ° . 𓆟 . ° .• .𓆞

[ncroissant]

chilchuck tims x bimbo! reader x laios touden

summary: how your poly relationship with your little lock picker and blond himbo would start<3

wc: 1.6k

content warning: sfw (for once???), looottts of fluff

author's note: surprise!! i'm writing both lmaoooo bc i love writing sm u guys. also i saw @ququoquaw post about how they wanted more laios x reader and laios x chilchuck, so here's all of it combined teehee!! hope u enjoy !!

(alt nsfw ver. here)

it was a slow day in the dungeon today that you all decided to just set up the camp and retired for the night. you, laios and chilchuck were the only ones up, playing cards around the warmth of the fire.

"i won again," chilchuck chuckled, already anticipating his win. laios threw down his cards in defeat while you gave him a little applause, yawning quietly.

to be honest, you were already dozing off mid-game. chilchuck and laios were the real night owls. you just had fomo and didn't miss out on the fun with the "adults".

"you feelin' tired, (name)? wanna head to bed?" chilchuck cooed, pushing off his knees to stand up. he noticed the way you were eyes would close for a second to doze off every time you blinked.

"mmnn...i dunno," you yawned even bigger this time, cupping your mouth with both of your hands.

"c'mon (name)! you gotta stay up with us, we're gonna have so much fun!" laios chuckled, shaking you awake. you gasped, trying to keep your eyes as open as possible. but you only had the energy to slump against laios' shoulder.

chilchuck stifled a laugh. you reminded him of his kids when they tried to convince him they weren't tired. "no, i think someone sounds a little tired," chilchuck walked over to kneel in front of you, brushing away the hair that fell over your eyes with two fingers.

"nu-uh..." you whined, rubbing at your eyes. "'m awake, chi." you were so not awake right now. it was way past your bedtime and you couldn't even bother to open your eyes.

"okay, okay, we're bringin' you to your room, squirt," laios nodded, lifting you into his arms. your arms and legs were securely wrapped around his body, your face stuffed into his neck.

"'m not a squirt, jerk," you mumbled, landing a weak punch against his back.

they both laughed at your deliriousness, placing you in the warmth of your bed, cocooned your blanket. "she looks like a caterpillar," laios slapped a hand over his mouth, hiding a loud laugh.

chilchuck didn't say anything in response, but his shoulders were shaking from laugher.

you were almost asleep, your arms splayed out on the bed and your head lulled to the side. you were breathing shallowly, feeling sleep slowly overtake you.

"alright, time for another round, chil!" laios silently ushered chilchuck towards the door, but a hand wrapped around chilchuck's wrist. the boys looked down at you with your eyes still closed, tugging his wrist towards you.

"can you guys stay 'n sleep with me?" you brought chilchuck's hand against your cheek, nuzzling against it. both boys had a fat, soft spot for you. like they could never resist you when you asked for something.

laios didn't understand his feelings at first. he thought he had some sort of "brotherly obligation" towards you like falin, but he quickly realized it was a lot different than that.

chilchuck, on the otherhand, was in denial for so long. he just thought you were ditzy and clingy. he didn't have the energy to deal with you at first. plus, he didn't even have any desire to date anymore. unfortunately, there were many times when you could be stupidly cute like this.

"y-yeah...we can. right, chil?" laios rubbed his neck awkwardly, looking at chilchuck for approval.

chilchuck bit his inner cheek in contemplation, looking down at the way you were leaning against the back of his hand like a puppy. "yeah, we can," he nodded, giving laios the same look.

they'd be so awkward slipping under your sheets, laying on either side of you to sandwich you in the middle. they kept a reasonable distance, not too reasonable since the bed was small and laios was a giant in comparison.

it would be so quiet. your eyes were still closed but your heart was racing. even if you opened your eyes, you wouldn't be able to see anything since it was so dark. you just laid there with your hands clasped on your chest.

"ummm...." laios started, cutting the silence. "am i taking up too much space?" he was nearly falling off the bed, just balancing on the edge of the mattress.

you pulled him closer towards you and chilchuck. "c'mere, lai," you nestled yourself safely into laois' chest, while pressing your back against chilchuck's chest. you could feel both hearts beat rapidly along with yours.

"thanks," laois mumbled, carefully putting an arm right above your head on the extra space of the pillow. his free arm was loosely wrapped around your head as he lightly patted the back.

chilchuck would grumble something about wanting more attention, wrapping his arms around your waist and placing his chin on your shoulder.

he was so close that you could feel his breath tickle your ears. it made you feel so tingly. "is this okay?" chilchuck pouted with puffed cheeks as you nodded, flushed. "i think it's time for us to sleep now, hm?" he rubbed your hips softly, lulling you to sleep.

"sweet dreams, (name)," laios hugged you tightly, ruffling your hair gently. chilchuck would be already asleep and laios would lay awake thinking about how small you felt in his arms.

the next morning, you and chilchuck would be well-rested, looking like babies fresh out the womb. laios would have the deepest dark circles, devoid of any rest.

"slept so well!" you were already sitting up, stretching out your arms with a hearty yawn. "what about you two?" you looked at them expectantly.

"that's good to hear. i slept like a rock honestly," chilchuck chuckled, combing through your messy strands of hair. "can't say the say for him though," he looked down at the way laios was trying to hide under the blankets from the bright rays shining through your window.

"uuuughhhhh....." laios whined, stuffing his face deeper into the pillow.

you pouted at his sorry state, lifting the blanket to reveal a very tired laios. "aw, you didn't sleep so well, did you lai?" you frowned, carding your fingers through his blond locks.

"no. i was too scared that i was gonna roll over and kill you in my sleep, so i just stayed up all night," he groaned, clutching his throbbing head in a tight grasp.

you stifled a laugh, covering your mouth with your hands. "you're so silly, lai," you giggled, biting back your smile. "'m tougher than you think," you flexed your arms, patting them lightly with a big smile.

laios looked at you with his mouth agape. he didn't know if it was because of the rays of sun or if you were just naturally this beautiful, but you were extra pretty smiling like that.

"i am so in love with you." he'd blurt out, thinking with his heart and not his head.

you lowered your arm, mirroring the surprised look on his face. chilchuck smacked his forehead, sighing. "what he meant to say is-"

"no, i meant it, (name)," laios cut him off, clasping your hands in his and looking up at you with serious look. chilchuck didn't expect him to be so bold, emotions stirring up inside of him. he didn't know if should add his piece into this mess.

"oh." you looked at him, not a single thought behind those eyes.

"i'm sorry if i messed things up between us, but i just had to tell you. i didn't mean to just blurt it out like that," laios apologized, removing his hands from your hastily.

"no, 's not like that, lai," you put your hands up, shaking your head. "'s just i like chi," you bit your lip, cheeks flushed.

both boys looked at you dumbfounded. one heartbroken, one with an equally flushed expression like yours.

"but i like you too, lai!" you reassured him, placing your hands on his. "i like...both of you," you frowned, feeling embarrassed from your confession.

it's not that you only liked one of them, but both of them. and you were having a hard time choosing which one you wanted, knowing both would be too greedy.

it was silent for a moment, but not for too long. both boys had figured out a way to ease your predicament. one look at each other and instantly figured out a solution.

"well, i like you. and chil likes you too, so," laios started, rubbing his neck.

"would you be open to dating us both?" chilchuck mumbled, his neck completely flushed. chilchuck was familiar with sharing since having kids, but sharing a lover with his best friend was completely different.

it wasn't that he was against it at all, it was just new. it flustered him. knowing he'd be dating both of you if you agreed with their proposal.

naturally, your eyes lit up at their suggestion. "really?" your smile was almost blinding, your cheeks flushed in excitement.

"yeah," the two boys looked at each other, nodding.

your squeal was almost deafening. you wrapped an arm around each boy, pulling them in and kicking your feet under the blanket. the happiness you felt was fathomable.

"you're both mine, eee!" you sung, rubbing your cheek against chilchuck's amber hair. "and you're both each others' too!" you gasped, looking at both boys.

"that's so cool!" you cheered, hugging them both tighter than before.

as tired as laios was, he could only indulge in your happiness. and as much as chilchuck didn't want to admit, you were the prettiest when you were happy.

the entire morning consisted of you goofing off with your himbo + dilf boyfriends !!

[obislittleone]

The Winner Takes It All

Episode 15

Pairing: Finnick Odair x Tribute(OC)!Reader

Chapter Warnings: This one is a little nerve wracking and angsty but there's a lot of fluff, too. ALSO THE BIG REVEAL.

Chapter Summary: The crowning ceremony has begun, but Snow's words drive Finnick to do something he may regret sometime in the near future.

Word Count: 5.0k

Season two is being written rn I'm about halfway through and It will be 20 chapters (I will not be posting them any time soon bc i swore i would finish some other series)

“I think that they were enraptured purely by you, Mercedes.” But your face still did not change, and he didn’t know why. Why were you so completely happy? He had known for certain from watching the games that you did not win them for glory or for stature. You won them to survive, to exact vengeance. So why were you filled with joy? “I suppose it was t-the work of my mentor,” you breathed out, never looking away from him in the crowd. He couldn’t hear a word being said, but he was smiling back at you all the same. 

Waking up felt achy the next morning. Like your entire body had been dragged through hell and landed in this bed, surrounded by comforts you’d never seen. It felt like you were slightly dehydrated, and most likely experiencing the strain of tight muscles from the night before. The way you’d cried, your entire body jolting like it was the end of the world, it was now affecting you. 

You felt as if you were dying, but then as you came into clearer consciousness, you felt the warmth surrounding you, in the form of two arms that were tightly wound over and under your body, holding you close to his own that practically radiated heat. It was your reminder, that though you felt like dying, there was still something left for you here. 

It wasn’t said that you had to be awake by a certain time, nor did anyone go over your schedule for the day ahead of you in any moments prior. It stands to reason that you don’t make any moves to get up. It’s why you don’t even stir past a few blinks of your still sleepy eyes, staring with great interest at Finnick’s resting features. He’s so beautiful and defined, but without those snarky expressions or that dazzling smile, he looks so peaceful and soft. If not for the light shining in gentle beams over his shoulder, you may not have awoken, but you’re glad you did. You find you rather like looking at him, especially so close and personally, in a way that few others have ever seen him. 

After a few moments you allowed your eyes to close again, snuggling further into his chest, right between his shoulders. He had nice shoulders, you noted. They were broad and tan and strong. 

He stirred not long after, tightening his hold around your body and pressing a light kiss to the top of your head. It was small and he thought that you weren’t even awake to feel it, but every time he did that you were slowly understanding why he did it. It was just a gesture, sweet and endearing, and a reminder. You’re here, you’re alive, and you’re with him.

His fingers found solace in the strands of your hair, the length gliding through and falling over his palms. He came to a conclusion the night before, after the charade with the Flickerman Interview played out. He watched you go through that, alone on a stage, with only gawking capitol members surrounding you. Your trauma didn’t matter to them. To them it was drama, and they loved it… wanted to see more. 

He kissed your hairline once more and started to whisper in your ear. 

“We have to get up soon,” his voice was low and raspy from sleep. 

You groaned in defiance, turning in his arms but not leaving them, instead pulling them closer around your front as you buried your face into his elbow. 

“No we d-don’t…” 

He sighed. He certainly did not want to get up. He thinks back to every moment during the games when his stomach turned with fear, his jaw staying in a state of constant tightness while watching you in that arena. His belief that you could win was never unbothered by the small voice in his head telling him you were going to die. He remembered the feeling of dread that would fill him to the brim every time he saw you close to death, knowing he’d never hold you like this. Never be able to kiss the crown of your head or pull you closer into the curve of his body where you seemed to fit perfectly. 

Eventually, you both got up, because today was the crowning ceremony. The Victor was to accept her title and become the Capitol’s newest darling. You understood what came with it, and despite the horrors you knew you would face, you told yourself you were ready to take it on. This is the cost of escaping the arena with your life, when all others, including your allies, and best friend, did not. 

Dalton had left your new dress and necklace in the apartment that morning, unable to stay for an interview he had himself. The stylist of the newest Victor, the current peak of popular fashion. The one who was capable of extenuating even the most desirable of the tributes.

You opened the garment bag that was hanging on a portable rack in the living room, reading the small note that was peaking through the sides. 

For the mermaid… knock em’ dead.  - D

You smiled and took a look at the dress, your eyes lighting up as you pulled the floor length get up out of the bag. It was a stunning turquoise with an iridescent top layer, pearls and fish beads sewn into the fabric. The edges of the bottom looked like crashing waves, and it flared out in comparison to the tightness of the top. 

You took the dress back to your room, starting to get ready, but you realized you weren’t sure what to do with your hair. It was just down and around your shoulders right now, and you wished you’d had your mother’s expert hand in braiding it or twisting it into some sort of crown. 

You sighed in frustration after your third failed attempt, and though you hadn’t been paying attention to your groans and noises of annoyance, Mags had, because her door had been open, right across from yours, open as well. 

She leaned in the frame, watching you struggle for the last time before you threw the comb in your hand onto the vanity before you, leaning your head into your hands. 

Mags stepped in right away, her silent approach calming when she gently placed her hands on your shoulders, reaching in front of you and picking up the comb you dropped. You lifted your head and met her eyes in the vanity mirror before smiling to her in relief. 

“T-thank you.” 

She made quick and gentle work of pulling the strands in her direction, twisting them together and taking small pins from the vanity to place them down. By the time she was finished, your hair was put into a sweet looking bun, small tendrils framing your face and behind your ears. 

“It l-looks beautiful.”

She lightly patted your shoulder, helping you out of your seat and over to the bathroom to change into your dress. 

-

Finnick had been waiting to leave for a few minutes now. He knew Mags had gone to the rescue when you were struggling with your hair, but he wasn’t sure why everything else had taken so long. Dalton didn’t usually take very long preparing any tribute that sat in front of him. He supposed it was because he had a lot more experience.

Dalton was technically not the stylist for the female tributes from four… but he was Finnick’s stylist, and friend, and when Finnick asked for him by name before the games, the man had no qualms about saying yes. He felt he would have to owe Dalton a favor of some sort, because in his mind, having him as your stylist saved your life. 

He had gotten caught up in his thoughts, but turned on his heel as soon as he heard the sound of pearlized shoes clicking along the floor behind him. The dim lighting from the barely open shades provided a soft haze over the room, a glowing ambience, the reflection off the black tile allowing a certain allusion of floatation when you entered the room. 

You looked beautiful, of course, but he noticed a confidence in your step he hadn’t seen since before the arena. You looked more powerful, more ethereal. 

He wanted to say something when he met your eyes, wanted to open his mouth and feel actual words leave his mouth, but the longer he was locked onto you, the less his mind was able to work coherently. Words failed him completely, and rightfully so. 

“I t-think Dalton outdid h-himself,” You beamed, giving a small and slightly clumsy twirl in the dress. 

The first thing that came to his mind was the conversation Lukas had with Rodey in the arena, how he thought he’d fallen in love with you because of one night when you twirled in a dress, lighting up like a star in a dark sky. He recalled the exact words. Like some crazed wind turbine. You’d only twirled once, but he could only imagine it was the same as all those years ago. You had a spark of happiness in your eyes, even after everything. He caught a glimpse of your whole body before returning to your facial expression again. 

“You’re beautiful,” he smiled, finally able to gather the two simple words he’d been searching for this entire time. You’re beautiful, you’re innocent, despite the games. You’re a force to be reckoned with in the best way possible. He wants to preserve this image of you, keep it untarnished, so he tucks it away in the recesses of his mind to return to in the future. “The color suits you.”

Your smile and slight giggle that erupted told him that maybe you were just as nervous as he was, and perhaps you were just more outwardly expressive. 

“You look g-good, too.”

He didn’t even think about how he looked, if he was being honest. An older white knit sweater shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and embellished buttons on the side coming directly from both of your district. 

“I’ve been known to clean up nice, sometimes,” he laid on the charm, trying his best to wear a facade before he even stepped outside. There was no use in keeping on in his stare like a poor love struck boy. He had a show to put on, today. 

He offered his arm, and you took it without hesitation, glancing over at Mags who had only now made her presence known, following you all to the door. Arbin would probably already be at the party, knowing him. He needed to be where the noise was, the drama, and the excitement. A true capitol citizen, except for maybe he had compassion. More than any of the other higher up bloodsuckers did, anyway. 

The ride to the center of the capitol was extremely wild, the shouts of fans outside the windows, they were screaming and shouting. You couldn’t bring yourself to dislike it, though you didn’t exactly throw yourself into the adoration, either. This was life, now. You didn’t have a choice or a way to change it, so you might as well just let the world go on around you. 

The fanfare of triumphant music began the moment you stepped onto the concrete, the grounds and buildings around you decorated with things reminiscent of four. You were somehow always surprised when the capitol showed a new part of itself to you, as if you expected something different. They strangely romanticized the cultures of the districts, but would never even think about setting foot in any of them except for the ones that are well off.

You allowed yourself to feel important while roaming amongst the citizens. Making your way to the glorious stage, where a throne awaited and President Snow stood by. He seemed much more intimidating now that you were going to have to approach him. 

The steps of the platform were steep, so you took your time going up them. You ignored the thought in the back of your brain telling you to stop stalling and to go faster, but by the time you completely shoved it away, you’d reached the top anyways. 

You nodded to the man with a smile, forced. He came before you, offering his hand to be shaken. You took it right away, scared to anger him in any capacity. There was a story you’d heard in passing about the girl from last year who refused to shake his hand. She hadn’t had a happy moment since the end of her games. 

“Congratulations, my dear. You are a worthy adversary.” 

The cold blue of his eyes burned like ice in your veins, and you swallowed back the anxiousness that built up in your throat. You kept a pleasant look on your face but in an instant, you could tell he was reading every single inch of you, and knew what you were thinking. He knew you were afraid of him, and the smirk he wore as you responded was only confirmation.

“Thank you, s-sir.” 

“You may be aware, you’ve had an effect on the people in the capitol,” he commented, turning away to take the crown of silver and pearl off of the stand beside him. If this were under different circumstances, you would have taken notice of the beautifully crafted headpiece that was made specifically to suit you. “They find you quite lovely.”

“They must have ap-pprecitated my stylist,” you tried to deflect, feeling even more the prey under a predator than before. The conversations with Finnick, the things he said you were going to be expected to do. It rushed past you, and yet… something felt stuck in your brain, because the weight didn’t hit you yet. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that as you turned, allowing him to place the crown on your head, your eyes met a pair of sea green ones, at the front of the crowd. He looked at you differently than any of these people did, or even had the capacity to. And it made you feel safe. Even in this situation of uncertainty and a path of future turmoil, he was going to be there, so you were going to be okay.

You smiled, genuinely, and for the first time since you arrived, Snow could not read you. 

“I think that they were enraptured purely by you, Mercedes.” But your face still did not change, and he didn’t know why. Why were you so completely happy? He had known for certain from watching the games that you did not win them for glory or for stature. You won them to survive, to exact vengeance. So why were you filled with joy?

“I suppose it was t-the work of my mentor,” you breathed out, never looking away from him in the crowd. He couldn’t hear a word being said, but he was smiling back at you all the same. 

“Well,” Snow turned to catch where your eyes were locked, and now he held an even bigger smirk across his face. The information gained just from a single glance was ever beneficial to a man like President Snow. He hummed when he saw the strand of eye contact, nodding to himself. He didn’t like the way you were suddenly un-bothered by him. Perhaps there was something he could say to change that. “In any case, I hope we can be friends. Perhaps do favors for one another.”

Hearing the word favors made you still for a moment, and Finnick saw it. That was when your skin crawled, and you returned to your previous state of thinking, and feeling.

Something happened, he knew… but he wouldn’t ask. He’d let you tell him. 

He just didn’t think you’d tell him so quickly. After coming off the stage, you didn’t even look at the people passing by, reaching for you and calling your name. It was all noise until you reached him. There was another venue to get to, anyway. You didn’t want to stay long in the first place. 

“You alright?” He whispered, letting you take his arm once more as you both walked through the noise and back to the vehicle. 

“I d-don’t know,” you breathed, trying to keep a neutral expression before anyone noticed. “I need to l-leave.”

“Mags,” Finnick turned to his side, where she stayed right by the both of you. “Help her to the car, I’ll find Arbin.”

“No,” you stopped in your tracks, grabbing a hold of his arm tighter. You were only now thankful for the loud ambience, covering the transparency of this dire situation. “Please, s-stay.”

Mags patted his arm, nodding her head back to the crowd as she dove back into it to retrieve the infamous Capitol rep of district four.

“I’m here,” he soothed, taking your hand and squeezing it as you kept moving to the car. There was a moment of tension when a few nosey Capitol citizens blocked the door he was trying to open. 

“The mermaid! Oh darling you are even more stunning in person,” they rambled, reaching out to touch you, as indecent as it was. The woman’s hands found your other hand, squeezing it, but not in a comforting way like the man beside you. The woman’s husband seemed to eye you up and down from the moment you stepped before them. “Isn’t she just gorgeous?” 

“Absolutely, she is!” The husband gave you a wink and your stomach turned again, the tightness in your chest was making the world spin. The moment the man placed a hand on your shoulder, you felt it ripped away, as quickly and carefully as possible. 

“She’s unfortunately leaving now,” Finnick said flippantly, stepping between them and pulling the door open, making sure they were not going to touch you again. “Thanks for coming out.”

You climbed into the backseat quickly, hearing some gasps of dramatic proportion and words of contempt for Finnick. 

When the door closed, you felt safer, but not safe. You weren’t quite able to decipher the quick change in your emotions. You thought you were fine, even with everything around you. Even with the thoughts of what you would have to endure… so what changed? Snow’s words were only those of confirmation to what you already knew was true. It didn’t change anything. 

You couldn’t meet Finnick’s eyes anymore, and you had no clue as to what would cause your aversion to him. He’s helping you, he’s protecting you. You have no reason to be afraid of facing him. 

“Mercy,” he took hold of your cheek, trying to gently convince you to look his way. “What happened?”

You shook your head. “I’m n-not sure. Snow said some t-things. But I expected it…”

He looked at you with a sadder expression, one of pity and condolences, but that’s not what bothered you. What bothered you now was the thought that he was going to see you differently from how he did before, even how he does now. 

If you were shoved into the life that he’d been forced into, would he think of you as tainted? Would he see the marks of capitol citizens and treat you as though you’re a ruined object? Surely, he couldn’t. He’s never looked at you with an ounce of contempt, not even after the arena. So then why do you feel so small and unworthy of his affectionate gaze?

“I know things w-will change,” you kept on, since he didn’t have any words to say. “I just d-don’t want others to look at m-me differently, if they find out.” 

“Merc-”

“I don’t w-want you to look at me d-differently.”

Your eyes, lids and under eye coated with a pearly glaze that had been such a struggle for you and Mags earlier… it began to run with the wetness from the bleary corners and over your cheeks. 

He let out a deep breath, his heart nearly shattering over how your bottom lip quivered with your stuttered words. He saw in you a person that would soon know exactly what it was like to be him, and he hated it. He tucked you into himself closely, holding onto the back of your head and caressing the exposed skin of your back. 

“I know this… feeling. I used to feel it. Nothing ever made it better,” he explained, and as you breathed him in, you waited. Waited for him to tell you that there was no shame in being seen differently, waited for him to say that being seen differently didn’t change the way he would talk to you, or treat you... “But I promise you, none of that could ever make me see you differently.”

You pulled back to meet his gaze, soft and unwavering. You didn’t realize how you trembled in his arms until he ran his hands down the side of your shoulders and down to your elbows. He stilled your movement and leaned his forehead against yours, breathing with you like he did all that time ago before the arena. 

“Snow has power over a lot, but he can’t change the way I feel about anyone, most of all you, Mercy.”

You smiled, the way he spoke opened a new trail of thoughts in your mind that were much more pleasant than the ones from before. How he felt about you, how did he feel about you? You assumed fondly, for the way he held you so gently… but there could be something more. Something that you never thought could be there with anyone. Your past experiences were never kind to you, but maybe this time the odds were in your favor. 

“Thank y-you,” you sniffed, the smile you’d been wearing earlier in the day finally making a reappearance. 

“Don’t thank me.” 

“I h-have to. You’re the reason t-that I’m alive at all…”

“S’just my job,” he mumbled, but you both knew it wasn’t true. He’d never saved a tribute before. He never cared this much. And now, you being brought into this world he just escaped from, he knew what he had to do. 

The scene started to return to normal when the car pulled up to the second destination. 

Time for another show, but maybe this one didn’t need to end in tears. 

“Alright,” he wiped under your eyes and readjusted your hair for you, making it look like nothing even happened. “I’ll stay close, make sure they keep their distance. You’re gonna be okay.”

You nodded, looking out the window at the anticipating guests of the large hall. It was like the crowning ceremony, but maybe a bit more rambunctious. The people, however, seemed a bit tipsy and unserious. It was a proper party, a celebration of their yearly tradition. 

“It’s not too late t-to have a good t-time, is it?” 

He let a genuine laugh escape him, and shook his head. He was still locked onto you, and a part of him didn’t even want to leave the car… but as usual, there were expectations. 

“Not at all.”

-

He walked the halls with a chill down his spine. The last time he’d had a private audience with Snow, his life changed for the worst. This time he’d hoped to feel a bit more power at the prospect that he was the one seeking Snow’s presence. Only time would tell if that feeling of power ever made itself known, because standing before the large and ornate wooden doors, knocking rapidly, it wasn’t anywhere to be found. 

The doors were opened by two house staff, and Snow awaited at his desk on the other side. 

“Come in, dear boy,” he ushered with a smile, even backed by genuine joy, it looked menacing. “Have a seat.”

He did as he was told, turning and watching as the staff left them alone together, closing the doors as they left the room. The cold air of the night was seeping in through the open window, and it took everything in him not to visibly shiver. 

“What can I do for you?” Snow offered, leaning back into his seat, that twisted, gleeful look never washing from his face. “It’s been a long time since we’ve sat down together.”

Finnick nodded, trying to keep the air light, but knowing the second he started in that it would change. He tried not to grimace in the president’s direction, lord knows he wanted to. 

“I have a few questions about the new victor,” he began, his shoulders turning slightly inwards and his posture failing him the second he mentioned you. He was terrified to be doing this. Terrified that it might backfire and you would be punished… but he wasn’t going to let what happened to him now befall you. Any means necessary. 

“If you are wondering about any favors I may ask from Miss Blythe, I’m afraid it’s none of your concern…” Snow’s voice was solid, but not harsh. He spoke forwardly, as he always did, but he was intrigued in the slightest to hear out one of his most profitable victors. “You’ve helped her win the games and usually it is customary after that happens to forget about her affairs, so I ask, dear boy… What plagues you?”

He didn’t know if he should proceed. He was in the lesser seat, with the lesser circumstances. He always has been, victor or not. How foolish of him to think he had a chance at the upper hand. No power comes to those who sit beneath the Capitol’s boot. 

He almost gave up, almost changed the subject… but then he remembered the look you’d given him just moments ago. That sweet, beautiful, shining glance you gave him, wearing a crown of silver and pearl upon your head. He will do whatever it takes to not let that gleam in your eyes be tarnished. It may have survived the hunger games, but he isn’t willing to chance putting it through years of abuse and torment. 

“I know what you plan on asking her to do,” he remembers the way he was once asked, the chill again sweeping over his neck and down his back. He remembers the day it happened, at the end of his victory tour. He remembers his dread, but he continues, anyway. “I’ve come to ask if I could take her place.”

Snow tilted his head, a sort of funny expression was worn. He looked, for lack of a better word, puzzled. It was quite hard to surprise the president.

“I see.”

There was a moment where Finnick could see the gears turning inside Snow’s mind. He was curious as to the reasoning behind it, because surely, if he thought about it for this long, he would not deny him his request? Maybe he’d been returned the upper hand after all. 

“I find it admirable, that you would do favors for me in place of another tribute. I do think, however, I may need remind you…” Snow leaned forward towards his desk, his eyes opening wider as to show his sincerity. “You are not quite as popular right now as Miss Blythe.” 

“I’ve already taken that into consideration. I understand that a mentor’s role in a victory tour is limited, but I can change that.”

Snow’s intrigue did not fall, in fact it increased.

“Do tell, Mr. Odair.”

Finnick almost felt relief. Had the cards finally been stacked in his favor? He doubts it, because he’s not asking for just your freedom, he’s only asking to bear the task of your sexual slavery himself. There’s no such thing as ‘in his favor’ when it concerns Snow.

“I’ve been known to make a spectacle of myself, as you know. Last few years I’ve reigned it in, but I think it might be time for a comeback. Finnick Odair, the mentor who promised himself a victor, and won.”

It was an engaging concept, and a true one at that. Snow thinks he must be telling the truth, but of course, he’s not just one to assume. 

“And did you?” His eyebrow raised along with his question, and Finnick got caught up in it… “Did you promise yourself Miss Blythe would win? Or just a district four tribute?” 

Finnick doesn’t have an answer to that. Originally, yes, he’d promised himself any district four tribute would become victor… and after meeting the pair from the reaping, he thought it would be Lukas… but then you spoke, stuttering and stumbling through a single sentence, and his world collapsed.

“I promised myself a victor this year, and I kept that promise. Miss Blythe just happened to be the more, as you put it, popular one.” 

Snow smirked, not smiled, smirked. He sat back into his chair again, his relaxed position led Finnick to believe that he was in agreement, and he was… but there were always going to be catches. 

“If you can somehow outshine Mercedes Blythe on her victory tour, the responsibilities you wish to take on in her stead will resume. If you do not, you must understand it is a task for the most desired of victors to obtain,” he spoke evenly, as if this were some sort of high honor that victors were clawing at one another to have a chance at. 

“I understand.”

“Good, that’s good.” There was one thing sitting at the edge of Snow’s mind, a question he was positive he knew the answer to, but wanted to hear it for himself. Words were so much more valuable to him these days. “I have one more curiosity I was hoping you could resolve.”

Finnick looked on, Snow’s position changing one last time. He leaned over the desk, holding a tight contact with Finnick’s eyeline. He was staring so ruthlessly, it didn’t even matter what Snow’s question was, he was already terrified to answer. 

“Why would you, after just a year being relieved of your obligations, take up the place of the new victor?” 

His stomach turned. There was no right answer here. If he lies, he looks indifferent. If he tells the truth, he’s given Snow information he shouldn’t have.

“I don’t think she can handle what’s expected of her,” he tried to mix the truth and lies. It wasn’t false, but it certainly wasn’t his primary reasoning. Snow knew it immediately.

“Mr. Odair, we’ve been friends a long time, you need not hide the truth from me… so I ask once more, why have you come to make this deal on behalf of Miss Blythe?” 

“I want to protect her,” was his next attempt, but still not the answer Snow was looking for. The old man felt the boy was trying his patience, and he wouldn’t be satisfied until he heard what he’d been after. 

“Why?”

Finnick looked at the man’s eyes, cold and discomforting, despite the soft smoothness of his voice and tone. He knew that Snow already had the information Finnick tried to keep from him. He knew that there was no use in hiding it, and the only thing Snow wanted was to hear it aloud. Finnick wanted to leave this room, to get back to the celebration and see your gleaming smile again. He wanted to be in your presence and remind himself again why he was doing this. Even now, as he answers Snow by saying the words, he’s reminded. 

“Because I love her.” 

And Snow smiles again, the devious look and raise of his brow gives him away when he chuckles under his breath. 

“Yes, I know you do.”

-

tags(open): @thepassionatereader @i-voluntears @secretsicanthideanymore @mystargirl-interlude @c4ttheart @lilibrn @emma-andrea1 @marvelescvpe

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for being weird about winning a game?

I (25 enby) am an early childhood educator. Every week, we have a morning staff meeting where we discuss important school events and to-dos. For whatever reason, today we were all told via email to bring "3 dollars to the meeting for a time-honored energizer game." Turns out the entire meeting was just us playing a game called Left Right Center. The game is basically rolling dice and shuffling money around until one person ends up with all the money, winning. It is for all intents and purposes gambling (roll dice=win money). I did not bring any money with me (I dont carry cash) and told them, maybe a little too casually, that I should have a religious exemption from the game (Its Ramadan, Im muslim. I am not very strictly religious, but there are some rules that I feel are healthy for me to follow and are there for a reason. i dont and never have gambled regardless of the time of year). My director and admins especially pushed back, joking that "it's just a game." My director gave me three dollars, and i played. It became clear pretty quickly that I would win, which I feared would happen bc I am very lucky. I joked and had fun about it, but i was internally pretty uncomfortable with the concept of taking money from others. When I won, i sort of hid the money away as quickly as possible and told people I was going to donate it. I was pretty verbal about being uncomfortable with winning the money, but no one at my workplace seemed to care or reacted pretty weirdly to my discomfort. My director kept giving me "shout-outs" for winning and told me not to donate it but to "keep it for a rainy day."

So, AITA for playing the game and then acting uncomfortable/ not keeping the money when I won? I feel like I should have just not played, but I was really hoping I'd lose so I wouldn't have to think too hard about it. I also feel like Im stealing money from my coworkers, even though it seemed like everyone was having fun.

Note: i am the only muslim at my workplace. My co-teacher, who is Orthodox christian, and I probably have the most overt religious "rules" that impact others at work. Everyone tries to be respectful, but they dont know very much. Even my co-teacher told me she didn't know Muslims weren't supposed to gamble. I'd prefer if people refrain from religious shaming in the comments.

What are these acronyms?

[jabeur]

What you said about Qinwen is so so real!! Mirra herself didn't seem to be bothered by the situation, so all of this white girls JUMPING on her hate train just sound petty and jealous to me. And like, "Qinwen is a b*tch and is unliked by every player!!" idk it looks different to me when YOU are the one liking shady tweets about her OR telling her you don't respect as an opponent on a tennis court(tbh such a nasty thing to say to someone who never did anything wrong) instead of maybe talking to her in private. She is just focused on herself! 99% of the WTA gives cold handshakes but only "certain" players get shit for it, and it's always woc who are: childish, cold, bitchy, etc...

yeah yeah. also funny how when woc are focused on their game and aren't particularly "friendly" (whatever that even means, this is, in the end, their job, why do they have to be friends with everyone at their job) they're a stuck up, cold, rude, deserve the hate. but when they don't win, don't get results, they're lazy and unmotivated and undisciplined. hear that all the time about sloane. hear it about coco too when she struggles. it's maddening. they have to focus and win, but not too much or they seem like a "bitch" who only care about themselves. literally what do these women have to do. actually don't answer that, they'd just have to be white

and yeah, how come QINWEN is the rude, unfriendly one when she's not even really saying or doing anything, just going about her way, and it's others (navarro, vekic) who keep starting shit and targeting her? like???? hello have we gone completely insane??? as you said, "i don't respect her as an opponent" is SO nasty and she hasn't given ONE valid reason for that statement, but since qinwen is an asian woman, of course people are now analyzing everything she does to find "proof" that she's disrespectful. dude WHAT. i swear it makes my blood boil.

racism and in particular the treatment of women of color has absolutely always been an issue in tennis as i said earlier and i wish it was talked about more widely and more often. does anyone else here remember the 2018 us open final? it was horrible. for both serena and naomi and all the discussions afterwards just made it clear no one was (and, honestly, i think still is now) ready to talk about racism in tennis and more specifically antiblackness. people drew racist caricatures of serena and venus for their whole careers, including of serena after that uso final. people wrote entire "articles" (if you can call a pile of antiblack shit that) discussing serena's body, weight, curves. people called her a man. they compared her to animals. they always found her outfits too "provocative", even if there was no intent to "provoke", she just dressed how she wanted but because of her body type (which is definitely tied to her being black), people saw it as provocation. they fucking banned one of her outfits at roland garros one year.

i can go on. i veered from the original topic here but i REALLY want people who are new tennis fans and weren't there during those times to know just how AWFUL the tennis world - media, fans, officials, other players - were to serena particularly. because she was the best. you might see her being praised as one of the greatest now, after she's retired, but they put her throughout so much shit during her career.

^ caroline wozniacki "imitating" serena.

i only heard about this afterwards bc i was too young but in 2001 the williams family was accused of match fixing bc venus had to play serena but pulled out last minute. they weren't found guilty, but the indian wells crowd (it happened at that tournament) was horrible to them, including richard, yelling racist slurs at them. they didn't play iw again til 2015. almost 15 years of missing a tournament bc of racist abuse.

serena was also accused of not caring enough about tennis bc she got into other things like fashion too. this happens so often with black athletes. i mean, she won 23 slams, but she didn't care enough about her career, right? yeah. (chris evert was one of those who made these accusations, writing a fucking pretentious letter to her about what she should or shouldn't do with her career. as if a racist transphobe's opinion mattered, but anyway.)

but back to that uso18 final, notice how in that article i linked with so called important figures commenting on serena's treatment by the umpire and her reactions to it, only one person points out how she must've felt as a black person, a black woman, in that situation. (and it was a black man who did point it out.) it's funny bc black people, and people of color in general, are always held to higher standards and subjected to harsher criticism bc of their race, but when they react to things happening to them, their race is never considered as a factor. how could a white man basically accusing serena of cheating not upset her? even if (if!!!! she wasn't) she was wrong in her reaction, why is the fact she's black and is being put in a corner by a white man who has power over her during her job, not ever mentioned? considered? her body type - bc she's black - gives her an advantage. her experiences - as a black woman - tho? those don't matter and bear no relevance. funny how that works huh

basically, no matter what these women do or don't do, it'll never be "right" or "enough" for those who are still stuck at tennis being a sport for rich white people

[luffysprincess]

Your games are always the highlight of my tumblr week ♡ Today I choose Alhaitham

I know you already know vaguely that me and Alhaitham don't know how we ended up together, let alone how we ended up with a child. We see for like 2 weeks every 2 months because of our undercover line of work. What you dont know yet though is that her name is Aurelia. It means Moon Jellyfish. I didn't know this, and just fell in love with the name. As basically a genius he did know this though, and hates the name jkashdjkahsdj. But I won, and now she has a pet Jellyfish that he caught her. He named it Channary, meaning moon girl. He did this to be a smartass but she loves it and is none the wiser.

We literally have no idea when we started dating, we just know that one day we were in love against our will.

Our daughter lives with his grandmother that gives him hell but absolutely loves me. She does hate that we won't just work regular jobs and be at home with the family though.

Our wedding was a small one, with a max of 30 people, just those closest to us. We planned it and were wed in less than 2 months but it looked so gorgeous it was as if i took 2 years. Kaveh still lived with us until our child was born. She was born about 3-4 years after we got married.

I think that's somehow more than 5 facts idk i was into it i'm sorry kajbsdjkashd Anyways, I cant wait to see this. I'm still completely OBSESSED with your k-drama you made me for my bday with Jackson Wang ♡

⌱ TITLE: The Dagger of His Heart

⌱ GENRE: Historical Romance, Action, Adventure

⌱ PREDOMINANT TROPE(S): strangers to frenemies to lovers; almost arranged marriage but one of them ran away

⌱ SYNOPSIS:

As word spreads across the Kingdom of Ilm of a vigilante who goes by the name Ryder, Prince Alhaitham sends orders to capture “him” in hopes of easing civilian’s unrest. So when Ryder continues to evade each ploy to capture themself, Alhaitham gets restless and ventures out in the desert himself to find his target. But things take a turn when Ryder captures him instead. Even more so when the prince finds out Ryder’s true identity and the real reason she’s kidnapped him. Now he must decide if the notorious vigilante is to be trusted and learn who his true enemies are.

⌱ ADDITIONAL PLOT POINTS:

In case it wasn’t clear, Ryder is thought to be a male by everyone. However, Alhaitham figures out very cleverly that she’s female the first time he sees her in person.

Ryder’s true identity is that of the runaway princess of the kingdom across the desert. It’s been three years since her disappearance. Alhaitham figured this out on his own as well, shortly after meeting her.

The reason why she ran away and is now capturing Alhaitham is bc she knows the corrupt secrets of both kingdoms and needs his help to end it all. Which he accepts.

Alhaitham is instantly impressed by Ryder the first time he heard any news of her. He was secretly rooting her persona on everytime news came of a vigilante raiding an army base etc etc.

Alhaitham and Ryder bicker a looooot. On their adventure, they are assumed a married couple multiple times bc of it.

First kiss happens in book 2, pg 286 when the two are running away from a deadly group and hide in an alleyway. The tight space and need to stay hidden pressures the prince to swoop down and kiss her. And then they kiss again and again…and again for a looong time.

Ryder’s true name is revealed to Alhaitham but it’s never written out in the book. The author chose for only Alhaitham to ever know her name. Not even readers are privy to this information.

⌱ AESTHETIC:

[rtgame]

why does everyone hate overwatch and especially overwatch 2? i know ppl hate it but i never see anyone say why. if anyone else wants to offer opinions in the notes i'd love to hear them. i'm not defending the game(s) i'm just curious

ok so recovering from surgery has fucked up my sleep schedule so bad i'm actually up and at my pc to answer this at 7 am on a sunday bc i have a lot to say and i didn't want to type this all out on my phone lol. (also i have to take my antibiotics in an hour so i might as well get up) this is going to be LONG because i have a lot of thoughts and a lot of reasons

i think the biggest one, just to get it out of the way, is that blizzard had a MASSIVE scandal over sexual harassment. this basically changed everyone's opinions on every blizzard property, but from what i understand, the overwatch team actually didn't have a harassment problem (FROM WHAT I KNOW), but obviously it still affected people's perception of the game and i'm not defending blizzard on this issue. i think several people should die over this.

anyways, i think one of the big things was blizzard randomly announced overwatch 2 back in 2019 to distract from them banning a pro hearthstone player over supporting the hong kong protests in an interview. the development of overwatch 2 brought overwatch 1 to a COMPLETE fucking standstill like. there was literally no actual update for 3 years because they moved the entire dev team to overwatch 2 so overwatch 1 was updated by a skeleton crew, which a lot of people weren't happy about (me included). the only real difference between 1 and 2, when 2 was announced, was that it was gonna have PVE, which was already weird because in the past they said PVE was going to be in overwatch 1 and now it's not?

and then overwatch 2 finally comes out and it's like. there's no PVE. it's "coming later." they later admit that the PVE campaign was cancelled back in 2021 (remember overwatch 2 came out late 2022) BUT THEN KEPT ADVERTISING THAT OVERWATCH 2 WAS GONNA HAVE THE PVE CAMPAIGN? THEY LITERALLY JUST LIED TO EVERYONE FOR A FUCKING YEAR?

it took like 3 years for overwatch 2 to come out and at launch, all it had to offer was 3 new heroes and a few new maps and its like, if they just kept developing overwatch 1 we would've had way more by 2022.

overwatch 2 is also free to play, which is like, that's fine on paper, yay everyone gets to play it, but in practice it means that overwatch 2 is rife with microtransactions. skins cost like $26. new heroes cost AT LEAST $10 depending on when you buy them (or you can spend a ridiculous amount of time unlocking them for free) and its like. i fucking bought overwatch 1 for $40, these characters and skins would've been goddamn free in overwatch 1, i'm not spending money on this. ALSO I SPENT $40 TO BUY THIS GAME WHY THE FUCK AM I SPENDING MORE MONEY TO UNLOCK CHARACTERS???? there's some PVE missions available in game now but they're nothing like what was promised and they. also. obviously. cost. fucking. money. and i already spent $40 on the first game.

also there's a battle pass now for monetization reasons and i fucking hate most battle passes. the microtransactions in this game are fascinating because they make the overwatch 1 loot boxes look good.

also, they started the overwatch league in 2018, which is like, professional overwatch gaming, and i really liked watching it (and even went to some games irl) (i won a raffle there once!), but then they started balancing the game around the pro competitive scene which kinda made it hard for casuals to enjoy because they would keep changing the casual game mode (quick play) to be more in line with competitive, which was getting balanced around like 0.001% of players, which just made it less fun lol.

+ when they released overwatch 2, it went from 6v6 to 5v5 which was a change i never liked because my usual team was 6 people so this means that we have to rotate someone out, and they removed the 2nd tank role when switching the game to 5v5 which was uh... my main role was off tank... which they fucking removed.... because the game's 5v5 now. my main (dva) feels borderline unplayable in 5v5 because she kinda just sucks now lol. idk i don't really like the flow of the game or how short team fights are with 5v5 and i absolutely hate being the only tank. i think 6v6 was the perfect balance for overwatch but that's been thrown out the window.

ALSO they removed capture point maps which i actually did enjoy and im still salty over this

tldr basically it's like. overwatch 1 died for 3 years and blizzard killed its momentum for overwatch 2 but then overwatch 2 has literally nothing new to it and it's just overwatch 1 but worse. we waited 3 years for literally nothing.

although, i will say i saw a lot of people online make fun of the game when they announced lifeweaver because he's, iirc, a pansexual thai man, and honestly, that never sat right with me because like. it was a bunch of online leftists making fun of the game for being.... too diverse? or feeling like it was checking off a list and i was never comfortable with it because like, even just 6 years ago we would not have gotten a character like him in an AAA game. i think it's because one of the studios under blizzard posted their "diversity tool" that they used to diversify their game and it was really fucking weird and gave points to characters depending on their race and sexuality and etc, and i think they even used overwatch characters as an example, which was REALLY weird, because the tool was being used by king and not the team developing overwatch and even the dev team called it out like "we don't fucking use this, what is this shit lol, stop using our characters for this"

also lifeweaver was made by a thai person on the team to represent his own culture so i genuinely don't think he was made with the diversity tool lol.

idk i still think representation is important and i think making fun of him was weird since like. pan thai men definitely exist irl. idk. it was weird as fuck and this is probably the only thing i'll actively defend overwatch on. #LeaveLifeweaverAlone or whatever. i mean he sucks in game but that's bc his abilities are lame and his healing is shit, not because he's pan lol

but also why do they keep making their japanese characters ninjas lol. i like playing kiriko but man why can they all wall climb.

also like, the final thing, regarding everyone else hating it is like, im gonna be blunt, i think a lot of times the internet will just randomly turn on something it loved (marvel (rightfully honestly), borderlands, someone provide more examples) and say it sucks/its cringe/etc because loving something is #Cringe and hating everything is #Cool or whatever, and overwatch has reached that phase of its life, and all the issues i mentioned above really didn't fucking help. the internet adores its hate trains yknow

idk genuinely my relationship with overwatch is super fucking complicated as someone who loved/loves the game. i really do like a lot of the characters and i think the game is still fun SOMETIMES, but it's definitely lost that spark it had in 2016 thanks to shit management and blizzard focusing on the wrong things. i think a lot about a world where blizzard didn't suck and overwatch never had all this shit happen to it.

also WOW IM SORRY this is so rambly i've had like 4 hours of sleep and this is just something i do feel strongly about since the game is/was important to me and quite literally changed my life, so it sucks to see how it turned out. when i was 16 i really was enamored by this game where the whole premise was fighting for the future and it was just optimistic about the future, and i think that really was important for me at the time, as dumb as that is. a game being like "hey, the future's gonna be awesome" during a year that was really nerve-wracking for me was something i did need at the time. it really does suck that overwatch's own future wasn't as bright as the future it was envisioning.

[shirogane-oushirou]

OMG RO HAPPY ANNIVERSARY WAJFEKAHFEKE ;-; take this as an opportunity to gush if you want!! <333

KJNASDKJN THANK YOU NICK!!! technically i messed up yesterday, it's actually tomorrow kjsndfjkn, but i started the gif and art reblogging early bc i've collected so many lmao ;; i'm the only oushirou gif-maker and people WILL see my boy!!!!!

i was going to gush on my anniversary art post, but you've handed me a golden opportunity to do it here. you will regret this. :3c 💞

[cw quick mention of a scene where he's called a slur]

oushirou's been my most beloved, specialest, best boy since my first year in college. i was working my way through the games, and i saw his profile in some artbook scans, and i went... who the FUCK is this guy??? KAJSNKDJN. i hated his design so much; it didn't fit with the rest of the series's designs.

but he immediately won me over as a side character in the pc game, and then i was Doomed the second i booted up to play the PSP port with the added oushirou route (our 13yr anniversary is the day i started posting about playing his route lol). i became The Oushirou Guy™ in the eng fandom from that point on ;; and, of course, now i'm like "i need MORE characters who look like this guy, RIGHT NEOW" kjsnfkjn.

and then a year later -- 12 years ago tomorrow -- the last game released AND, FINALLY, he had his own karedanna cd! a fandom friend sent a rip to myself and my also-oushirou-lover friend, as we were waiting for ours to ship... and he proposes in it. my friend and i both made this day the wedding anniversary in commemoration. i even have some ancient joke art i made on the release day itself LMAO

i love him so much more than i think i let on; ren's my main right now, so that's what people know me for, but oushirou really is The Blueprint for me.

he's so self-driven. he could have lived a cushy, comfortable life following the family trade as a western fortune teller, but he would rather throw that -- and an unealthy relationship with his family -- away so he could follow his dreams of being a photographer and journalist.

and he's loyal. after his life is saved by another student (kazuki), and he realizes kazuki will be held back due to spending too many days recovering from the injuries he incurred, he makes sure he's also held back a year so he can play as kazuki's right-hand-man during the remainder of their time at seigetsu academy.

also like... ngl, him being a scorpio is like 👀 he's a freak like me LMAOOOO we can be like "every zodiac girlie hates our pussiessss" together. 💖

oh. and then of course he's the Ambiguously Queer Character of the series. he's a little fruity w it in general, he loves crossdressing, he's flirty with kazuki, homare, and shiki, he's stated outright that his love for kazuki and tsukiko are equal and he can't decide between them, and his fashion sense is just a little cherry on top ksjdnfk.

ugh. honeybee's just itching to call him a slur i s2g.... wait omg wait they actually had some one-off characters call him a slur in his first route KJASNDKDJNSDFKJN WAIT???????? I JUST REMEMBERED??????? it was one of the first scenes i translated from his route i'm lksnfkns oh my fucking god. and everything since then has been like. doubling down without actually calling him anything. crying omg ksjdnfkjns.

ANYWAY. just a year ago, he was the character everybody associated me with, only beaten out once ren appeared. even my art username is based on him (zerofoursix -> 0-4-6 -> o-shi-ro -> oushirou). he's pulled me through so many things, from shitty college experiences to my health issues... to even being part of the reason why i picked art back up after i took a 5-6yr hiatus due to art school burnout. ;;

i love him so so much, forever and ever, my beloved hentai sentai red*, my adhd king, my most skilled f/o by a LONG shot**, my scorpio twin, my misunderstood weirdo... he's Everything to me 😭💗

* think i've posted about it once before, but it's a running joke that he's a sentai hero who regularly saves tsukiko from creeps in his AW route ;;

** photographer, journalist, multilingual, fashion-forward, western fortune teller, super emotionally intelligent... i could go on. the guy hides SO MUCH of his power level around others.

[fleursfairies]

my main character movie moments as a popular unpopular kid in highschool:

getting nominated for prom royalty

living my cali girl life and driving in a mustang convertible with my friends with music blasting

being a cheerleader and my group being so good that we got moved to the front (and it was my first year ever)

that time two popular kids and i were playing spin the bottle in my room when we were twelve and them almost kissing and then his mom called him down and he literally RAN

being the only girl at the boys parties in elementary school and being so awkward but its ok bc they love me

getting voted 'most likely to put a smile on someones face' and 'best hair'

being undefeated in tennis

when the quiet but popular boy picked and gave me a flower because i told him my favorite color was purple literally a week before this (i sound so lame saying "popular boy" BUT I JUST NEED TO CLARIFY LMAO because i hang out with both non popular ppl and popular ppl lol)

having my ceramics pieces in the art show

i have been to SO MANY peoples houses, not even for like parties or anything, literally just random reasons, either theyre my friends, our moms are friends, or our sisters are friends

doing lots of things in the community at school like work the snack shack at baseball games and at one football game

once when the other schools football team was being real salty when we won (we won every game) me and a few other ppl ran over to their sign and stole their sign bc it was funny but then their football players ran through the sign and ripped it but we still got a piece of it

graduating and pretty much walking around and crying in my entire grades arms + getting invited to non existent weddings because i told everyone i would go no matter who you are

my entire senior year was kind of a main character moment, especially when it was only a few seniors in a class and the rest were juniors and sophomores and stuff. we were royalty.

and this is only some school related stuff but im done with this lol

[riacte]

Soo I know mcc is not as hyped up or popular as it was a few years ago, but I still find it great and cannot wait for it to come back. Therefore, for this hiatus, here are 3 winning povs I recommend to watch! I am pretty proud of this list bc I included all 3 seasons and 12 different players! It s a pretty self-indulgent list, buuut i think they are all great and all deserve a watch if you have not before

Season 1: MCC 9 Blue Bats (Hbomb, False Symetry, Rendog and Fruitberries). Out of all the teams of this list, this one is by far the most famous, and they absolutely deserve this fame! After all, its impact in mcyt is incredible, the only other teams that are as remembered are probably mcc 4 Purple Pandas (the sbi team) and mcc 17 Orange Ocelots, and it was the 1st time the hermits won mcc. The Blue Bats 9 were the ultimate underdogs, and each member of the team proved to everyone how freaking good they are in the coolest way posible. Also, the vibes were so, so good, and it was just a really epic event. It is been more than 2 years, and I still think those survival games are the best there has been in mcc history. Finally, I am pretty sure this team indirectly caused Hbomb being in vault hunters and freaking treebark, so good for em. And I could go on and on about this team, but there is a reason I am writing this in Ria´s blog lol, just scroll down!! You won´t regret it! In summary, obligatory watch and the definition of a legendary win. (Ren please come back, we all miss you. Especially False.)

Season 2: MCC 23 Orange Ocelots (Quig, Eret, Inthelittlewood and F1nnister). Look. I feel like crazy every time I say this team is incredible bc no one else seems to get it. But this pov is the definition of vibes. This team is made up of 4 random ccs who had almost no contact to each other before the event, it was the 1st time some of them even talked. And still they had the most wholesome, fun vibes ever. They were just so supportive of each other (Quig and Eret were really into getting Martyn his 1st win bc they watched him when they were kids, that was so cute), and it is so obvious they did not expect to win, it was such a close event with a lot of strong teams that in theory were better than orange. I think they were in 6th place until the 5th game or so. But still they did it by being absolute badasses and having some of the best communication I have ever seen in mcc (that parkour tag is just beautiful). Also they all really deserved that win, period. Both Quig and Finn seem to have left mcc very soon after this event, and Eret and Martyn have not teamed up again since, and this is literally my Roman Empire :(. Look people, just watch mcc 23, most povs from that event were a blast, apart from Orange I really recommend Red (the other team in dodgebolt, who did incredibly well and also deserved to win), Lime and Purple

Season 3: MCC 31 Red Rabbits (Jojosolos, OllieGamerz, CapitanGato and Shadoune). Okay, this one is kind of tricky to recomment bc for most of the event they talk in Spanish, BUT. I am Hispanic, and this mcc meant a lot. It was just so cool to see people who talked in my first language in an event I had loved for so long. As I have seen some confusion about this, I will clarify that Shadoune is not Hispanic, he s French, but he speaks Spanish very well and has been a part of that side of the mc community for long, so he s adopted i guess lol. But yeah, this team was amazing, I will never get tired of seeing Jojo dominate and prove the goddamn reddit wrong. She is just such a cool player. Her leadership skills are unmatched, like that team included two brand new players, and Shadoune had only played once. And they still won!!! The vibes were excellent. Ollie has become a player I always look forward to, he s just very chill and he was so proud of himself that mcc for knowing the "lore" (aka writing weird dunk in chat). I will never not laugh at Gato doing a 1v3 in dodgebolt and not realizing how big of a deal that is lmao. And Shadoune had to deal with a lot of technical issues during the event, but he was still great. Also, he has a very fun personality, I like seeing such a good and competitive player, basically a legend in the Hispanic circles of minecraft, being as enthusiastic as he is. During the irl mcc event he was basically jumping from happiness :)

Okay, long post, but I wanted to talk about some of my favourite teams (there are many other great ones!). I think sometimes we look back and only remember the drama and discourse, and it is true it has been so many events they might not seem as special anymore. A lot of iconic players have left as well. But we have had lots of incredible moments. A lot of new, great players have joined relatively recently and are so excited to show the community what they are capable of: Impulse, Owen, FireBreathMan, Bekyamon, DarkEyebrows, Wallibear... Like people, players who are now iconic participants such as Purpled, Scar and Jojo did not join until well into season 2! Show the newbies your love! The non-canon events have also been great (pride, scuffed my beloved, party, twitch rivals). I look forward to the future :)

Sorry for using your blog for my rant, it is just the local newspaper for me hehe. You are more than free to not awnser if you feel like it, I just wanted to write my thoughts somewhere lmao

Yayyy I really appreciate the effort it took to type all this out! MCC still has its fun bits despite everything :)) Thanks for the submission to the newspaper LMAO and yep great POVs! (Looking at the Blue Bats one with wide pleading eyes)

[hella1975]

Same playlist anon, I can’t wait until more of tams rolls out and you can explain them all in order and everything, I love hearing your explanations for taob songs. If there’s any in tams that can be explained so far or any in taob that you haven’t gotten to yet 👀👀 let’s hear em if you want. Also! The depollute me playlist has essentially become my spring playlist, I listened to it last April and again now and I know I found your taob playlist in spring 2021 and I think this one around the same time, whenever you had made it. It’s just light spring vibes idk, it was completely accidental so far but I love it

ACH I JUST LOVE HEARING THAT PEOPLE LIKE MY PLAYLISTS AND ACTIVELY LISTEN TO THEM IT'S ONE OF MY FAVE COMPLIMENTS TO RECEIVE I GIGGLE AND BLUSH EVERY TIME <3333 i will gladly go through the tams playlist as best i can. here we go!

first part of this is going to be songs that got added for Vibes, aka they're just there because i think they feel very tamscore but you dont need to analyse the lyrics for any deep meaning and/or foreshadowing (bc i absolutely do put songs on playlists purely for foreshadowing in the hopes someone will see it and be unnerved hehe). there's some here where the lyrics ARE relevant, but it's either very surface level or doesn't really need much comment on it, so typically a lot of these carry themes of caretaking and sacrifice etc:

mary on a cross by ghost

everybody wants to rule the world by tears for fears (this is very atla coded anyway)

something in the orange by zach bryan

mind over matter by young the giant

soldier, poet, king by the oh hellos

no one won the war by matt maltese (!! heavy on this one)

come over by the crawlers

cleopatra by the lumineers

somewhere only we know by lily allen

meet me in the woods by lord huron

the view between villages by noah kahan

house of the rising sun by the animals (fun fact the most recent chapter was named 'bc rising sun has connotations of new beginnings etc etc' but mainly it's bc ive associated this song so strongly with tams that it wound up sneaking in)

tous les memes by stromae

mad world by tears for fears (why is tams zuko so tears for fears coded)

americano by lady gaga (for the more badass moments. they are feral)

9 to 5 by dolly parton. i am very funny

abraham's daughter by arcade fire (THE VIBES???)

california dreamin by the mamas and papas

the borders by sam fender

american pie by don mclean (this is quickly becoming THEE tams song in my head)

which leaves us with the below songs that are all on there for a specific Reason whether it be some lyrical analysis or some connection i have to the songs. if you're curious about any, please send an ask with the individual song bc id love to talk about it :) but in the interest of keeping this response at a reasonable length im gonna cut it off here lol:

rivers and roads by the head and the heart

waiting room by phoebe bridgers

evelyn evelyn by evelyn evelyn

down the river by the crane wives

scott street by phoebe bridgers

fine china by lana del rey

come by adrianne lenker

house song by searows

eleanor by cake bake betty

brother by cake bake betty

fourth of july by sufjan stevens

leader of the landslide by the lumineers

wicked game by chris isaak

the moon will sing by the crane wives

evergreen by ricky mitch and the coal miners

blood orange morning light by andrew montana

a better son/daughter by rilo kiley (!!)

bust by lomelda

the gold by phoebe bridgers (!!)

safe and sound by taylor swift

white blank page by mumford and sons

sick in the head by the lumineers

the cave by mumford and sons

dust bowl dance by mumford and sons

my tears ricochet by taylor swift

no surprises by radiohead (!!!!!!)

because dreaming costs money, my dear by mitski

slipping through my fingers by abba

ozymandias by sammy copley

[thekimspoblog]

@somethin-stupid-67

Season 6 still canonically happened. He went to prison in 2010. He did end up serving 6 years of his sentence, but in 2016 Kim was contacted by Caleb Dawson, the eccentric preacher of a unitarian church based in Wyoming. He was impressed with her recent heroism at the womens' clinic, but the truth is Dawson has been paying attention to Saul Goodman and his associates for quite a while. Dawson used to be a friend of Ricky Sipes (BCS S1E5), who did end up going ahead with his secession plan after Jimmy turned him down. Dawson opposes the government and prisons in general, and so he's been planting his followers on parole boards for quite some time now. Considering Saul has become an icon among libertarian weirdos (the church's main membership), Dawson would be happy to pull some strings for Kim; because Jimmy is a nonviolent offender, he can be transferred to a minimum security prison in Wyoming, and from there they can get him released on house arrest in a matter of months. There's just one thing Dawson needs from Kim first: The megachurch game is really a winner-take-all industry, and Dawson has made enemies with some of his conservative competitors; other churches he'd like to crush and absorb into his own. Sure, Kim's not a lawyer anymore, not on paper... but she's still got some magic in her... and if she could come up with a plan for the other churches to lose their tax-exempt status... well she scratches his back, he'll scratch hers.

Of course Kim initially runs for the door. She doesn't want to prank anymore; shit gets real. But the universe quickly chips away at her reluctance: before the meeting with Dawson even took place, a corrupt cop beat her for helping a 17 yo get an abortion (and this also leads to her breaking up with Glenn). While seeing a doctor after that assault, she learns she has a few good childbearing years left, but the window is closing fast. What's more, hard to say if it's depression, clairvoyance or what, but Kim has been having this persistent, recurring dream; she keeps thinking back to "Suspiria" 1977, a horror movie she and Jimmy watched one night only a week before they broke up in 2004. It feels like more than a dream; it feels like she's seen a glitch in the matrix. And if her nights are haunted with tingles of the supernatural, her waking hours are plagued with apocalyptic visions. She wants to dismiss the feeling of doom as just being a symptom of hating her life in Florida (something she's tried to just accept) but when Hillary loses the election, and she sees her own cowardice reflected back in Clinton's willingness to just "accept" the results even if thousands will die, it's the final straw. Maybe Kim's not a good person, maybe when she acts, people can get hurt... but she can't spend the rest of her life living a lie/waiting around to die.

*Hillary didn't lose the popular vote. You know what I meant; she won the popular vote but the EC handed the title over to the traitorous rapist anyway. We all saw what happened.

Between 2010 and 2016, Kim and Jimmy were still meeting in prison once every few months. The scene we saw at the end of S6 WAS supposed to be goodbye, but as Jerry Seinfeld famously said, never bet against the backslide. When Kim went back to volunteering as a law clerk, that meant going back to the same old vocational headaches, and that just made her miss him all the more. First she was only visiting the prison every 6 months, then only once a month; by 2016 she's in the lobby like clockwork every Thursday. Everything else in life has been a disappointment, and even if things were going better for her, she'd want him there.

It was a small betrayal, but the fact is she did conceal her reasons from him, for why she really wanted him out. She emphasized the fact that the US prison system was exploiting him in a way that had nothing to do with whether he was rehabilitated; she emphasized how the nation was devolving into anarchy and he's the only man who's ever made her feel truly safe. She didn't mention that she was trying to get pregnant until Episode8 of Slippin' Kimmy, when he was already sprung. And at first he didn't react too well to the proposition; he's getting kinda fed up with how she jerks him around.

[maketakunai]

Twisty wonder glorious masks event

thoughts thus far (up to part 4) and just a little speculation for part 5

Thoughts:

-that escalated fast

-the pacing on this one has been pretty good... they didn’t waste my time with a lot of random sightseeing/omiyage talk as in kelkarot and... there were a bunch of battles in part 4 but they didn’t make us fight ramshackle ghost reskins every single episode of every part for no reason like in scary monsters. thank u yanasensei

-i’m not really yume but malleus definitely has Something going on with kantokusei and this event has given me a lot of chances to make my little isekai kid (ryouka, she/her, baffled that she has been so unquestioningly accepted into this otherwise all-boys school even though she is not trying to present herself as a boy) flirt with him so i’m grateful www when rollo dropped us into the underground and malleus yelled her name.... i love this for him.

-additionally, when malleus was about to blow the whole cité des fleurs or w/e up bc he was so angry about the “invitation” being fake and kantokusei’s reaction was just “TSUNOTAROU. BE COOL.” otp

-i felt so bad for malleus after he realized the invitation wasn’t real that after i got his event ssr (in just 53 pulls, bless) i invited him to my guest room right away w and then his line was like “i am so, so grateful to you for this invitation ;~;” the poor baby.... as soon as i get my omekashi jamil to 110 maybe i’ll invite you next...

-malleus and the gargoyle.... he’s so cute. how can maleficent’s great-grandson or whatever he is be so pure. i love him.

-based on his vargas camp 2 look i thought crewel sensei was a shoo-in for this masquerade event. and trein’s been great in this event so i’m not too disappointed he’s not here but i do hope we get a follow-up with him and lucius www

-when idia was like “FF外から失礼します”. pls

-i love riddlechan but he really only has one pattern... go too hard too early on, be the first one taken out, have to be saved by the guy that got paired up with him... (ghost marriage, main story ch 1, main story ch 6...) the game is pretty consistent in-story about 3rd years > 2nd years > 1st years which objectively makes sense but please let riddlechan be cool for once. he became the dorm leader in just a week which is better than anyone except malleus (implied)! please just let him cause massive amounts of property damage and survive the experience without relying on anybody else! ...maybe when he gets a proper event to himself, since scary monsters and tsumutsumu were both group affairs 🙄 (don’t talk to me about tsumutsumu)

-as jamil oshi i was initially disappointed that he and ruggie dropped out of the main party 2nd after riddlechan+epel BUT what they did with them made up for it wwwww everyone else is like “we will make a stand here and destroy as many flowers as we can to help our friends uwu”. meanwhile these two kids are running around NBC spreading flowers and dragging down as many other people as they can. top marks in villainy.

-maybe it’s bc it’s a pretty chill group (his sr even has a homescreen line like “so glad neither [kalim] nor [floyd] were chosen for this trip... finally i can live my best life”) but jami has been SO SPICY this event... hasn’t missed a single chance to take the piss out of azul.... love that for him.

-but also the contrast in the setup chapter of jamil “kalim your shampoo is here and your blankets are here. do you understand me. i will tell you again. this is where all the things you will need for the next 2.5 days are. do you understand me. whatever you do do not get yourself assassinated while i am gone Do You Understand Me” viper vs. azul “sure, go ahead and wreck the place while i’m gone, what do i care, i won the lottery for this great networking opportunity and you didn’t so SUCK IT EELS” ashengrotto.

-my two best boys are jami and riddle so i was hoping they would have a chance to hang out... and when we split into teams that one time they were all in malleus’s group... they didn’t talk much except for lovingly teasing bekky together but they were on the same screen a lot... thank u for these crumbs ig but they’re 2nd year overblot virgo buddies and they both get So many interactions with azul so why not with each other.... why’d you give union birthday riddlechan a SECOND azul duo when omekashi jami is still waiting for a riddle who wants to duo with him.... please....

-one joke that never gets old is nobody outside of diasomnia knowing that lilia is silver’s dad. i hope that kantokusei and maybe ignihyde (idia: how can you be my gamer buddy muscle crimson and also this kid’s dad i’m cryin) figure it out when main story ch 7 comes out but i would so happy if nobody else ever ever ever learned the truth.

-also very funny: rsa (chenya, neige, etc) sacrificing themselves to save us and everyone going “ok... that’s on them... none of my business if these evil flowers suck out all their magic, bye ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯”

-not event-related but actually if twisted wonderland is a place where all these disney villains explicitly won in their stories and are revered for it, how come the heroes still always win every time? they beat us in the dance competition, in the plushy iditarod, etc, and the conversation between rsa’s headmaster and crowley implied that Yes, This Happens Every Time. we know kantokusei’s seeing the “real” versions of all these disney movies in dreams and that something’s going on there. but how do we reconcile “everyone loves these villain guys who created the lands we are living in today” with “villains always lose”........ chapter 7 早う....

Speculation:

-kantokusei’s definitely going to roll up at the end leading an army of goats to eat up all the nasty flowers, right. right.

-rollo overblot??? i feel like most of the overblots in the main story have got to be the calculated result of some evil mastermind’s secret plot or something... some guy trying to farm those evil magic rocks our stupid cat keeps eating.... but this guy might have gone off the deep end all on his own which would be very funny. and i want to see his ob design.....

-so annoying that the ssr 3 read rollo’s diary and learned his tragic backstory but didn’t tell us about it onscreen bc they’re saving it for part 5 zzzzz but the way that esp. idia reacted (or that azul reacted to idia reading it) makes me think some magic went wrong and killed/hurt/disfigured his brother (or somebody, quasimoto equivalent?) and that’s why he wants to destroy all magic...

-how in the world are azul and idia going to stop malleus from straight-up murdering this dude lol

-what are they going to do for masks part 2 next year wwww a lot more rambunctious bunch is going to the masquerade.... and who will be the ssrs.... leona? treypai? kalim? i’d be grateful if lilia and cater appeared only as r cards uwu with diasomnia dorm ssrs coming out soon who knows how many gems i’ll have at this time next year...

btw if anyone wants to add me it’s player id CkN5E8V7 on jp (currently event malleus support [magic 5/5 sry], will change to omekashi jamil lvl 105+ after the event probably)

or id BzR8YBZk on en, level 90 dorm riddlechan support (magic 7/8 SORRY I’M SO LAZY) altho i might change to level 95 dorm jamil after i level his magic some more... once i raise his buddy levels since he finally just came home from that scarabia bait banner...

[thereanimatedrogue]

slight diary entry thing:

i'm a very seasoned gm. i recognize this. i have years of experience gming at least two campaigns that have spanned years, both running 30ish sessions a pop as well as a few sporadically running dnd games that involved a lot more heavy planning. despite ~6+ years of experience until very recently i felt like a garbage gm bc I didn't like to run campaigns in the way I was taught to by online dnd communities and irls: heavy exploration, riddles, big open sandbox worlds, 1 or 2 big fights per session. a lot of it bored me. im not into big world building and mechanics. i don't like reading rulebooks and planning dungeons/huge cities. and bc i didn't enjoy those things, when I ran sessions they were very obviously lacking.

my most recent campaign was a success. my players still talk to me about their characters/plot points, ask me when my next campaign is, what I'm planning and if they can join. and my campaign was none of the things young dm me would have felt it needed to be. it was very small world. I knew the jist of how it would end from the beginning. the mechanics straight up were forgotten half the time, I only actually remembered to lvl up my players twice. there were no dungeon crawls, fights maybe happened once every 4 sessions. and none of them minded.

in a dnd game years ago I had a player say out loud mid combat in a disappointed tone: "oh I see. this isn't a fight the dm wants us to win." the shame from that statement made me want to shrivel up and die. never run a campaign again. it was true- I didn't want that fight to be one the players won for both story and character reasons. but that wasn't the kind of game they were interested in playing, where mechanics and exploration were lost for the sake of character development and story arcs. and that was a failure on my part. I didn't read my audience correctly, they were playing dnd for a fundamentally different reason than I was. I never should have dmed for them bc I couldn't give them the experience they wanted. it was unfair of me to try and force my preferred style of gameplay onto them .

(the player I intended to have a story moment (a separate one than the one who called me out) never got it btw, bc I had to stop the fight then. I don't know if they cared, but I was excited to explore that character's psychology, morality. I was excited to give their character a moment to shine. they never got that and probably never will bc I don't intend to dm for that group again. the majority of those players didn't care about the things I cared about in ttrpgs. none of them asked to continue the campaign during the hiatus.)

it wasn't until years later that I found an audience of players that actually wanted the kind of game I was interested in playing: one intensely centered on their PCs, where broad character arcs mattered and heavy roleplay was the focus. ones that would trust that I wasn't just forcing them into a room for 5 hrs to just ramble half baked shitty stories at them. less of a board game, more of an interactive communal story. when I didn't let their characters do things that didn't mean I was trying to railroad them into a boring masturbatory dm fantasy, they trusted that there were reasons for my actions that were not purely selfish. maybe was trying to set up a moment for a different character. maybe I was trying to get their pc in a spot where their morals were challenged. they trusted that their momentary lack of autonomy would pay off on a much bigger scale. every time we would get back from a break, these players were asked me to schedule the next session. they cared.

ig the lesson I learned is that i don't need to dm for people who don't like to play the game the way I like to. I don't need to play with ppl if the thought of playing with them gives me intense anxiety, if they can't be bothered to care about the story I'm trying to tell or the questions I ask for their characters. if I don't enjoy having a player in my campaign I shouldn't force myself to dm for them bc dming is supposed to be fun. I don't need to force myself to plan things I hate and cause me to take months long breaks from dming. it never felt like a chore to plan for my recent campaigns and it shouldn't feel like a chore. I love dming, and my players love being my players. I just need to better cultivate my audience to be one that cares about the things I care about. those might not be the people I initially thought I would dm for. but they're out there and they're excited for next session.

(I accidentally added a Kermit gif to the bottom of this and idk how to get rid of it lol)