#Canny Variations

[cannibalovers]

Hello:3

posted on my personal blog about hannibal so much that i decided to create a separate one just so i can rant about it cuz i think im gonna get very deep into this gay cannibal shit for a very long time <3

my primary blog is @aggressiveguitarnoises so if u get a notification from that url, then yeah, that's me :) (personal blog, music especially nin based and other interests)

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rumai/canni/any variation of my url lol ¦ ukrainian ¦ 17 ¦ she/her

ofc expect hannibal on here (nbc for now but who knows!!!)

probably mostly reblogs than original posts? although i do make art but anyway expect:

hannibal quotes out of context (although most of it is on my other blog but...)

hannibal song of the day, music overall (got like 4 playlists just for hannibal,,,, concerning ik but here)

art!!! mostly digital and will be hannibal related (gonna be under rumaiq art hashtag)

hannigram. a lot of it. like cmon that's what the show is about. but other characters too obv

memes

shit posts

prob giving my opinions and thoughts in the hashtags, theyre very elaborate,,

rants about specific scenes or moments cuz i had a mind blowing realisation

asks open for anything(tho preferably hannibal related), including doodles

dms always open too:)

also got myself into a lovely mess of a hannibal rp and I am somehow running jack crawford's blog, @jack-loves-bella !

i think thats it for now

(there's also a discord server in the post which i highly encourage to join, it is very fun and very active, very friendly I love yall already)

also, i have a redbubble shop, encourage u to visit it :3

enjoy:3

[erikmodi]

I've always wondered: why "monster hunters?"

In all manner of supernatural fiction, people who venture out to fight the creatures of the night are called "hunters" in some variation. I've always wondered why, since some of these hunters seem to do comparatively little "hunting," as I picture it. Seeking, searching, and tracking their prey, luring them to a time and place of the hunter's choosing to deal with them.

These entries, of the crew trying to track Dracula and him slipping their snares, really feels like a "hunt" to me, against a very canny and dangerous prey. Prey that could turn predator most unexpectedly if the hunters screw up in the least. And seminal as Dracula is to vampire stories, it makes sense it's equally important to stories about hunters.

[subzeroparade]

Hello! I really liked the clothes you designed for Laurence in the last artwork. I was wondering if it's just an alternative design to the usual one or if it's how you'll draw him from now on. Is it maybe something he wore before he started wearing the choir clothes?

Thank you anon (・‧̫・) Also you made the mistake of asking me about fashion, so - *inhales*

I’ve drawn Laurence in version(s) of the Choir garb before (you'll notice I change his sleeves a lot lol), but I normally almost never draw characters in the same outfits all the time, even if they are canon - just by virtue of being bored of it, and wanting to invent. 

The one you’re referencing was early Church, in my timeline - there’s two similar ones that I’ve more or less described in fic that are simpler, and closer to typically clerical/in-game Church garb. One of the first scenes in The Feast We Were Promised (which deals mostly with early Church timeline) is Laurence changing from the weighty, jewelled chasuble he wears in the context of ministration/communion in the Grand Cathedral into a modest black cassock to return to the Chapel of the Good Chalice down in the poorer quarters of old Yharnam. There is a certain canny strategy for the Church to remain humble in what they wear, if only to imply a sort of modesty and separation from the main religious powers of the time - there’s an established church, in this timeline, with all its pomp and splendour (because sects don’t just spring up in a religious vacuum).

I think that changes with the founding of the Choir, and the domination of the Healing Church as the main religious organisation over time, consolidating its power on the reputation of the blood. I think the Choir garb feels like a kind of mix between clerical clothes and Byrgenwerth-style robes (this should not be surprising - Willem’s imagery in his chair is very papal). This reflects the Church’s eventual takeover of Byrgenwerth, and how the Choir is established - which is to say an "order", or faction of the Church only in name, but solely focused on using the Church’s resources to attain ascension/communion. I like to imagine that Laurence would wear a different variation of the Choir garb at the height of his power, to distinguish himself - incorporating some of these more traditional liturgical symbols, since he retains the title of vicar. 

On the other side of the Church’s heyday, I think the more things get out of hand, the more ostentatious their dress - a sort of visual power, if you will, that negates what is happening in the streets with the coming scourge. A veneer of material splendour to mask the reality - a show of control, and mastery, even as the Church is impotent in the face of what's happening. In that sense I’d imagine Laurence wearing really ornate chasubles, or the kind of stunning cope that Lenny wears (minus the hat) in the Sistine Chapel scene in The Young Pope (which I am a big fan of). To bring it back to your first question, that white and black ensemble is a play on both real ecclesiastical garb but also specifically Lenny’s wardrobe, and his countenance when he wears it. (The costume designer, Carlo Poggioli, did a spectacular job working from the existing pieces in the Vatican museum). The red shoes in that final design above are a bit of a joke - the pope actually wears red shoes in real life, but the version on set are Louboutins and were nicknamed by Poggioli “the Ferraris” (extra inside joke - my Laurence has partly Corsican roots for obvious parallels with another historical tyrant).  

As for Ludwig, I almost always give him a different outfit - even in plainclothes - but I like the idea that he only starts wearing that pseudo-Executioner’s garb after the Cainhurst massacre (in my timeline, anyway). I always try to add a little element of armour to his clothing and to distinguish him from both the clergy and other Church-affiliated folk, be they Prospectors or Hunters. Beyond actual historical sources, I’m obsessed with Jany Temime’s work in House of the Dragon, and so you’ll find traces of the Kingsguard armour in Ludwig’s overall look, but without making it too medieval. 

I also have a headcanon (developed alongside some mutuals) that the blindfold part of the Choir cap is a very late introduction, during the scourge. In my work Laurence’s disdain for Willem’s dumbfuck pope hat is evident, and so there’s none of that shutting-your-eyes-to-the-world stuff - until most everyone’s eyes, including his, start to change by way of the scourge. 

Anyway tldr I like playing dress-up with them. 

[sapphic-scylla]

My Current Commander Decks

So, a few people on here have started to pick up on the fact that, yes, I am a MTG player and a Commander player at that. I genuinely think it’s fun and it makes for a great way of not only making friends, but just being social with people in general, being that I am not only an introvert, but have a massive amount of social anxiety. So, with the ability to not really be able to skirt by it anymore, I figured “why not do a full rundown of the current decks I am running regularly?” Not sharing too many specifics just in case you want to play me eventually, but I do like talking about my current projects.

Shelob Spider Kindred (Golgari)-My current pride and joy. An army of spiders led by my favorite LOTR character, Shelob, Child of Ungoliant. Very fun and nasty deck that grants all of my spiders Deathtouch and the ability to create food copies of creatures my spiders kill.

Atraxa, Grand Executioner(Witch Maw or Everything but Red)-My competitive heavy-hitter. Atraxa holds as one of my favorite commanders in Magic (yes both of them) specifically because she lends to versatility and creativity. My variation on Atraxa, Grand Unifier lends to my love of three things: Phyrexian Praetors, Reanimation, and Edict effects. And before you ask, no. Not all of the Praetors are in here. Vorinclex and the two main villain Jin-Gitaxias cards don’t really fit here and they kinda ruin the fun for everyone else at the table, so I make a point to not run them. But I do have all three Sheoldreds, Elesh Norn (Mother of Machines), and the two sided Jin-Gitaxias and this deck goes to town when it wants.

Sauron, Lord of Reanimation(Grixis)-The first commander I picked up after a several year break. Sauron, Lord of the Rings, satisfies my deep love for two things: Reanimation and Behemoths. This version of Sauron is a 9/9 Trampler with the ability to just bring something out of the graveyard when he gets cast, so this deck is themed out with several ways to not only build an army of (who else?) Wraiths and Nazgul to force a retreat and then slam the Lidless Eye himself onto the field and bring the entire Wrath of Mordor screaming from the grave.

Atraxa’s Pet Hydras(Witch Maw)-To be fair, when I started building this deck, I did not intend for Atraxa to become the commander. However, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. This is an overrun deck. Hydras in MTG are notoriously dangerous because of their power versatility. Most rely on +1/+1 counters to rack up their power, so that’s where Atraxa comes in. Ramping her menagerie’s power to absolutely unhinged levels.

Angels and Assassins(Boros)-My newest banger. Aurelia, the Warleader is a huge pet card of mine and I love seeing her go to work, so I built out a Boros equipment deck for her to show off. Then Assassin’s Creed came out and not only introduced a bunch of solid equipment and gear to suit Aurelia up with, but they also dropped Kassandra, Eagle-bearer, that CAPITALIZES on the Equipment strategy. So this deck has a few alternate commanders that I swap in and out based on who I feel like swinging with that day.

Kitt Kanto Cat Fights(Naya)-There are very few things more fun than goading my opponents into attacking when most of my pod plays fairly passive. But when I have a Lounge singer Cat Druid from New Capenna which is essentially the Roaring 20’s plane and a deck filled with token generators and so many ways to make people fight? You can’t NOT sell me on this deck.

Gonti’s Casino(Sultai)-OTJ granted a lot of fun cards, but Gonti, Canny Acquisitor dropped at just the right time. See, when you play in a high powered pod, sometimes, the easiest way to deal with people’s insane power is to just steal it and use it for yourself and see how they like it. Gonti leans into the roulette that is exiling your opponents cards of the top of their deck and using them for yourself which is always a toss up. However, when Gonti and their rogues gallery is smooth enough to sleight of hand an Aetherflux Reservoir and an Ugin off the top of the deck? Don’t blame me, it wasn’t in MY deck.

Inalla, Archmage of Possibility(Grixis)-My VERY FIRST commander. At the time I got into commander, the Eminence cycle had been out for a bit and I managed to grab Inalla, Archmage Ritualist. Now, at the time, I had no clue what I was doing. I’m much more prepared now and this deck has TEETH. Wizard Tribal with the intention of copying and building out an army of Wizards from time and space to overwhelm and repurpose for not just combat damage, but direct damage. Ever seen someone lose a third of their health by me playing one card? How about me playing that card four times instead?

Ukkima & Cazur/Hollow Knight & Hornet(Sultai)-A 1v1 deck that can also be used in multiplayer. Ukkima, Stalking Shadow was a Partner commander I stumbled upon in one of my precons. What it turned into was a Voltron Juggernaut capable of swinging for lethal in four turns. After building it out, I reflavored the card into Hollow Knight and Hornet for the two halves of the partnership and now, I can show people what it’s like to be the residents of Hallownest.

[eastgaysian]

1, 53, and 54 for the whole crew :3

What’s the lie your character says most often?

oh this is a really fun one... hmm.

lemming: he has been telling people he is 49 for 4 years. this is a funny answer but it is also just a real and true lemming fact dak-wai: they don't directly lie that often, they're much more likely to lie by omission. that being said i think their most frequent lie is getting really defensive and insisting that they do not feel personally responsible for the deaths of alfira/isobel, because they shouldn't, because they were not in control of their actions. as if everything they do isn't clearly motivated by debilitating guilt ephros: 'i won't let that happen again' or variations. it's not that he doesn't mean it in the moment, but in reality ephros will never learn from his mistakes or grow as a person and that is a promise.

53. Who would / do they believe without question?

hm... as established lemming is susceptible to manipulation by beautiful men he is emotionally attached to, but they do have to work for it. it's not totally unquestioning loyalty, he'll go 'hey i'm going to let you explain yourself but what you just did was fucked up.' he's a little too cynical to put all of his faith in somebody like that dak-wai ends up relying on wyll as their moral compass and is 100% willing to follow his lead, they view him aspirationally as the kind of altruistic noble hero they Could Never Be and trust his judgment a lot more than their own. they start reaching for their sword in the middle of a tense conversation, see him shake his head, and reluctantly move their hand away like :/ ephros' general mindset is that he always knows best, but honestly he falls for the emperor's whole thing hook line and sinker. there's a little bit of letting himself get manipulated, because he is canny enough to go Well this guy is definitely using me for his purposes. but also it's an immediately beneficial partnership where i get all kinds of fun new tadpole powers hehe :)

54. What’s their instinct in a fight / flight / freeze / fawn situation?

lemming: freeze > fawn - generally he wants to avoid a hostile situation in the first place by talking it out and playing nice, if things go south he gets caught up in a 'oh shit fuck shit' reaction first dak-wai: fight. self-explanatory ephros: fawn > flight - just willing to do whatever it takes to save his own skin

[carmilla-dilaurentis]

Wooow this was supposed to be a safe space for all cannibals. Are we seriously gatekeeping cannibalism right now??? Spreading this amount of negativity is making me perform non consensual emotional labor. This community is so toxic and exclusionary. Calling people “poseurs” by any other name is triggering to me. As a canni-girlie, I feel kink-shamed.

Do I have to remind you of our foundational revolutionary slogan?  Don’t devour your own comrades. Anyways, here’s some positivity and acceptance for all of us cannies: ❤️🧡💛All roads lead to cannibalism, and all of these are valid💛🧡❤️ ❤️🧡💛It’s OK if you spell it “canibal” “canniball” or any other such variation. Dyslexic and dis-orthographic cannies are valid. You’re allowed to identify with the spelling you use. 💛🧡❤️ ❤️🧡💛It’s OK to have a sexual or platonic relationship to cannibalism💛🧡❤️ ❤️🧡💛It’s OK to have a fictional or non-fictional relationship to cannibalism💛🧡❤️ ✨ALL 👏CANNIBALS 👏ARE 👏VALID✨

you are not a cannibal. you make centaurworld animatics set to lemon demon songs. you watched hannibal during the tender childhood age of 17 and it made you annoying. if you were actually aroused by cannibalism you wouldnt be blogging about it like you do. you wouldnt be saying the things you do. why don't you learn some german and hit up the forums? right, you can't, because the authorities hate us. but not you. where were you? reading fanfiction? beat off in front of me right now. prove yourself. cannibalism is in vogue cause of you freaky deaky "ex catholic" types but i know your ass was mormon or protestant or shit like that & your childhood church was an ugly grey room. i know your ass never got to taste the wine cause you went to liberal church that takes a stance against underage drinking. & your jewish mutuals told you that you were being weird about angels so you started being weird about the eucharist. well i'm here to put a stop to it. lets be real here. you kill someone, or stumble across a body, your ass is not taking a bite. you lack the strength to remove a limb. i bet you wont even stick your dick in. you freeze up. because nobody on this website really gets a boner from the thought of eating a dead body. and if they do they are running a blog that posts pictures of dead mangled real life bodies in stages of decay. Or they know damn well to keep quiet. Theyre not on tumblr beside you. Theyre far away from people like you. and even if they didnt run a gore blog, i'm sure they know better than to bare their true feelings. because they know prosecution. nobody on tumblr for normal people like these things. & he/they who says so in the replies, or reblogs, or tags from which below, is lying. straight up. its just an aesthetic. you say its a fetish but its an aesthetic. you are fucking lying. you are just annoying. go post about stinky feet and getting boypreggers and leave the real shit alone cause once you get out of your cute little circle of tumblr kinnies and come into contact with a guy who actually gets a big big sloppy boner from the thought of writhing in filth inside and out, you are going to call Whang.

[sleepingswift85]

MUSIC THOUGHTS

Haven’t heard the new Gracie album yet but I can provide on what is hot in my opinion:

Tortured Poets… what can be said.. it was what we thought it was gonna be with a double album and references across an eighteen year discography.

Guts (Olivia Rodrigo) I barely find time to listen to it but Olivia delivers with a Tour that is blowing minds.

Once Upon A Time (Simple Minds) came out in 1985 but they were awesome at the Isle Of Wright Festival on Sunday and the singer is incredible. Lady on drums also killed it with her solos. Alive and Kicking? Definitely

Na (Nayeon) The reblogs tell the story. This lady has blown it all out of the park even beyond K-Pop standards. And THE DANCE BREAK on ABCD is well… the thing of the summer. I knew my Twice bias would deliver the best

With You (Twice) well it’s Twice what the hell am I supposed to say? One Spark is a banger and it follows on from Ready To Be. Dive a (Japanese Album) is out in a few weeks. In light of the noise Nayeon’s made on her own gonna be mad.

Staring to think maybe ONCE are giving us Swifties a run for our money in hypedom.

Morning View (Incubus) this got re-recorded apparently? OG album is a banger but what grabs the soul is the final track ‘Aqueous Transmission’ whatever the instrument Nick played it is just the sweetest sound. The axeman borrowed it from a friend on the condition he made something beautiful with it.

Armageddon (Aespa) these girls canny stop recording vibey songs with a cool story with them. A Banger

Fearless (Le Ssafirm) this albums a banger tbh. Just like Aespa the experimental nature of the songs and a collab with the legendary Chic Axeman Nile Rodgers? Cool.

Fave songs:

But Daddy I Love Him, Paper Rings, Mean (Tay) Butterflies, ABCD, Magic (Nayeon), Aqueous Transmission, Crowded Elevator, Wish You Were Here (Incubus), FFW, One Spark, Fancy (Twice), Chucky Vs The Giant Tortoise, Variation, On The Run (Dance Gavin Dance), Sanctify Yourself, Alive And Kicking (Simple Minds), Ice Cream Cake (Red Velvet) Blood and Fire, We Hate Everyone (Type O Negative) Part 2, Burying Luck (Minus The Bear) Expresso (Sabrina Carpenter) Frozen Creek (Circa Survive) Lovesick Girls (Blackpink) Sometimes, Right There, Problem (Ariana Grande) City of Ocala, Heartless, Another Song About The Weekend (A Day To Remember) Spot (Zico/Jennie)*

What wasn’t hot

Iwoa (Slipknot) it annoyed me when it came out and annoyed me when I tried it again. Corey’s screams don’t hit the way like they did with Slipknot’s debut.

Eternal Sunshine (Ariana Grande) no lie, I’ve been an annoyed Arianator for several years. Her obsession of wanting to wail in high key just such a far cry from the days of Pink Champagne, Problem and Dangerous Woman. I can enjoy Thank U Next and Sweetner. Positions is Meh. Ari’s problem is her music lacks personality. (Personality is a big feature of K-Pop)

Canny think of other bad records grating me at The mo.

just a summary by Mr Sleepingwell 🩷🎉

[erikabsworld]

Advanced Image Processing Assignment: Solving Object Recognition Challenges

Image processing is a crucial aspect of modern technology, driving advancements in fields like computer vision, medical imaging, and digital photography. University-level image processing assignments can be particularly challenging, requiring a blend of theoretical understanding and practical application. In this blog, we will explore a tough image processing assignment question related to object recognition, explain the underlying concepts in detail, and provide a step-by-step guide to solving it.

Sample Assignment Question: Object Recognition in Natural Scenes

Question:

You are given a dataset of images containing various natural scenes. Your task is to develop an image processing algorithm that can recognize and classify different objects (such as trees, buildings, cars, and people) within these images. Outline the steps you would take to preprocess the images, segment the objects, extract relevant features, and classify the objects. Discuss the challenges you might face and how you would address them.

Step-by-Step Guide to Answering the Question

Step 1: Image Acquisition

The first step is to acquire a dataset of images containing natural scenes. These images can be obtained from online repositories, or you can create your own dataset using a digital camera. Ensure that the images are in a format compatible with your image processing tools (e.g., JPEG, PNG).

Step 2: Preprocessing

Preprocessing is essential for enhancing image quality and making the subsequent steps more effective. Common preprocessing techniques include:

Noise Reduction: Use filters like Gaussian or median filters to reduce noise.

Contrast Adjustment: Enhance the contrast to make objects more distinguishable.

Grayscale Conversion: Convert the image to grayscale if color information is not critical for recognition.

Step 3: Segmentation

Segmentation involves dividing the image into meaningful segments to isolate objects. Techniques for segmentation include:

Thresholding: Convert the image to a binary format by setting a threshold value.

Edge Detection: Use edge detection algorithms like Canny or Sobel to identify object boundaries.

Region-Based Segmentation: Group pixels into regions based on their similarity.

Step 4: Feature Extraction

Feature extraction is crucial for identifying characteristics that can help in object classification. Common features include:

Edges: Identify the boundaries of objects.

Textures: Analyze the surface properties of objects.

Shapes: Recognize geometric shapes using techniques like Hough Transform.

Step 5: Classification

Classification involves using machine learning algorithms to categorize the objects based on the extracted features. Popular algorithms include:

Support Vector Machines (SVM): Effective for binary classification problems.

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN): Highly effective for image classification tasks.

k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN): Simple and effective for small datasets.

Challenges and Solutions

Challenge 1: Variability in Object Appearance Objects in natural scenes can vary widely in appearance due to changes in lighting, angle, and occlusion.

Solution: Use robust feature extraction methods and augment the training dataset with variations in object appearance.

Challenge 2: Background Clutter Natural scenes often have complex backgrounds that can interfere with object recognition.

Solution: Use advanced segmentation techniques to accurately isolate objects from the background.

Challenge 3: Real-Time Processing Processing images in real-time can be computationally intensive.

Solution: Optimize algorithms for speed and use efficient hardware like GPUs.

How We Help Students

At matlabassignmentexperts.com, we understand the complexities involved in university-level image processing assignments. Our team of experts provides comprehensive image processing assignment help, including:

Personalized Tutoring: One-on-one sessions to help you understand tough concepts.

Step-by-Step Solutions: Detailed guides and explanations for assignment questions.

Quality Assurance: Thorough review and feedback to ensure your work meets academic standards.

24/7 Support: Around-the-clock assistance to address any queries or concerns.

We are dedicated to helping you succeed in your studies and achieve your academic goals.

Conclusion

Object recognition is a challenging yet fascinating aspect of image processing. By understanding the key concepts and following a structured approach, you can tackle even the toughest assignments. Remember, the key steps involve image acquisition, preprocessing, segmentation, feature extraction, and classification. With the right techniques and support, you can excel in your image processing coursework and beyond.

For more personalized assistance and expert guidance, visit matlabassignmentexperts.com and let us help you achieve academic success in image processing and beyond.

[theeverlastingshade]

The Collective- Kim Gordon

Solo albums from musicians who were once or currently in a revered band present a tricky prospect. If the musician going solo makes music that hews too closely to the sound of their revered band, they run the risk of lapsing into diminishing returns that fail to retain the idiosyncrasies of their bandmates and can verge on self-parody. If the musician going solo alters the style of their music too dramatically from what they were doing in their revered band, they run the risk of abandoning the qualities that made their band’s music so revered in the first place and can come off as painfully out of their depth. Listening to Kim Gordon's 2019 debut solo LP, No Home Record, you wouldn't get the sense that these considerations fazed her in the slightest. That album's blend of noise, industrial, and trap music presented a perfectly natural yet satisfying path forward for Gordon's solo work which she continued to follow to excellent effect on her recently released 2nd solo LP, The Collective. TC, in all its brazen, blown out glory, is the strongest album that Gordon has been involved with outside of her work in Sonic Youth to date, and it represents the best case scenario for any musician in this position.

On songs like "Paprika Pony" and "Cookie Butter" Gordon flirted with trap cosplay, but TC is a full-length exploration of those experiments. Producer Justin Raisen returns behind the boards, and he continues to lend his canny, hyper modern touch to Gordon's evocative imagery without watering down their corrosive edges. Most of these songs fuse walls of industrial guitars with combustible trap drums and serrated synths for a brutal but cohesive sound. Raisen provides just enough of a modern art-pop flavor to these songs that the music lands with an unusual approachability for something so beholden to noise. The tinny 808 drums juxtaposed against volatile shards of white noise on “The Candy House” provide a haunting allure well before Gordon’s eerie, heavily manipulated vocals emerge for some actual rapping during the bridge to remind us that witch house still has plenty of juice in 2024. “Tree House” begins like an early but tamer Sonic Youth cut in miniature before a brittle hi-hat/snare rhythm imbues the music with a contemporary twist without compromising its momentum. These songs are just as noisy as anything that you could reasonably expect from Gordon, but they're also disarmingly tuneful and rhythmically immediate. There's not a ton of sonic variation on display throughout TC, but it's extremely impressive to hear how much variation Gordon and Raisen manage to achieve within these narrow sonic parameters without lapsing into diminishing returns.

The blend of trap and noise is such an inspired, compatible pairing that the general sound of TC never overstays its welcome even after 11 different executions of what’s essentially the same idea. And while the relatively narrow sonic scope results in a few songs that bleed together somewhat, particularly during the middle section, there are a handful of highlights that are among her most inspired work to date. Opener "BYE BYE" convincingly reimagines an alternate timeline where Gordon rose to acclaim as a full-blown plugg rapper, with her dead-pan vocal delivery and rhythmic cadence floating above the propulsive 808s and incendiary synths, culminating in the purest realizations of those early trap forays to date. "Psychedelic Orgasm" applies nightmarish cement mixer guitars with blown-out drums that crawl at a trudging tempo and some vocal affects reminiscent of Burial for a particularly nasty sounding concoction that does wonders for the overall pacing and sonic variety on display. And while the cutting pose that Gordon strikes on "I'm A Man" wears a little thin and feels like a slight retread of past critiques, the plume of noise that expands and contrasts throughout its runtime is some of the most appealingly abrasive music that I've heard all year. Very few musicians her age and/or who operate in her stylistic circles would even attempt this sort of thing, and she largely pulls it off with aplomb.

While the aforementioned “I’m A Man” doesn’t have any lyrics that are among Gordon’s most striking to date, there are plenty of other songs on TC that do. Most of the songs on TC deal in mundane observations and non-sequiturs strewn together in impressionistic patchworks, but Gordon’s acerbic wit imbues the imagery with plenty of personality and charm. On the disarmingly vulnerable “I Don’t Miss My Mind” Gordon drops the cool veneer for some unusually direct verses that show a more sensitive side of her “Crying in the subway/Remembering the day/The liquid kiss, it don’t exist/Your money breathes, I feel the leaves/Yeah, industry of nothing” while “Dark Inside” finds Gordon in top form as she dunks on the fallacy of American exceptionalism “Send in the clowns/Send in the army/You want to be American/Go get your gun/You’re so free/You can shoot me”. While the concrete critiques aren’t as ample as seemingly random lines about calling a groomer or buying absurdly expensive potatoes, it all coalesces into a striking collection of late capitalist vignettes punctuated with sublime sound design. It’s incredibly inspiring that, at 70 years old, Gordon’s artistry remains so full of curiosity, a critical eye, and an adventurous spirit.

Essentials: “BYE BYE”, “Psychedelic Orgasm”, “I’m A Man”

[healthcoach95]

Keto Diet for Weight Loss: Focus on the ketogenic diet and its variations, including recipes, meal plans, and success stories.

In our current reality where endless eating regimens guarantee to be the way to weight reduction, the ketogenic diet has arisen as a convincing and viable methodology, catching the consideration of people looking for a groundbreaking excursion towards better wellbeing. The ketogenic diet, or keto diet for short, stands apart for its unmistakable accentuation on modifying the body's metabolic state through an essential control of macronutrients. As the quest for a better way of life picks up speed, understanding the standards and subtleties of the keto diet becomes vital.

At its center, the ketogenic diet is described by a huge decrease in sugar consumption, driving the body to enter a state known as ketosis. This metabolic state prompts the body to depend on putting away fat for energy, encouraging weight reduction and other medical advantages. Past shedding pounds, the keto diet has earned consideration for its capability to work on mental lucidity, upgrade energy levels, and even location certain medical issues.

In this far-reaching investigation, we dive into the complexities of the ketogenic diet, disentangling its science, analyzing its different emphases, and investigating firsthand records of people who have accomplished astounding weight reduction and health through keto. Go along with us on this canny excursion into the universe of keto, where wholesome decisions become a strong impetus for change.

Understanding the Keto Diet:

The ketogenic diet is a wholesome worldview that spins around the idea of ketosis, a metabolic state where the body prevalently depends on fat for fuel rather than sugars. At its center, the keto diet is a low-starch, high-fat, and moderate-protein approach, purposefully guiding the body away from its customary dependence on glucose as the essential energy source.

To start ketosis, professionals limit their starch admission, ordinarily to around 20-50 grams each day. Without even a trace of more than adequate carbs, the body puts away fat, separating it into ketones, which act as an elective energy source. This shift not only advances weight reduction by consuming fat holds but additionally gives a steady wellspring of energy, adding to work on mental lucidity and supported imperativeness.

The macronutrient breakdown in the keto diet commonly comprises 70-75% fats, 20-25% protein, and 5-10% carbs. This purposeful change in supplement proportions sets off a metabolic transformation that recognizes the keto diet from customary dietary methodologies.

Past its weight reduction benefits, research proposes that the keto diet might have helpful applications in conditions like epilepsy, type 2 diabetes, and neurodegenerative problems. As we unwind the complexities of the keto diet, it becomes clear that its effect stretches out past simple weight the board, offering a comprehensive way to deal with well-being and prosperity.

Varieties of the Keto Diet:

The ketogenic diet is certainly not a one-size-fits-all methodology, and different cycles take care of individual inclinations, ways of life, and well-being objectives. Understanding these varieties permits people to tailor their ketogenic venture for ideal outcomes.

Standard Ketogenic Diet (SKD): This is the most well-known form, portrayed by high-fat, moderate-protein, and low-sugar consumption. Keeping a day-to-day carb breaking point of 20-50 grams incites and supports ketosis.

Designated Ketogenic Diet (TKD): Ideal for those participating in extreme focus exercises, TKD includes consuming extra carbs around practice meetings. This gives additional energy without compromising ketosis.

Repeating Ketogenic Diet (CKD): CKD includes cycling between times of severe keto adherence and higher-carb consumption. This approach is well known among competitors and jocks, permitting periodic carb refeeds to renew glycogen stores.

High-Protein Ketogenic Diet: While conventional keto underscores moderate protein consumption, this variety takes into consideration a higher extent of protein. It very well may be gainful for people planning to save or fabricate bulk.

Every variety takes care of different requirements, and choosing the right methodology relies upon variables, for example, movement level, well-being status, and individual inclinations. By embracing the adaptability inside the ketogenic structure, people can adjust their dietary decisions to make supportable and customized progress on their weight reduction venture.

Getting everything rolling with Keto:

Setting out on a ketogenic venture requires cautious planning and a smart way to deal with and explore the underlying progress. Here is a bit-by-bit manual for getting everything rolling with the keto diet:

Teach Yourself: Comprehend the standards of the keto diet, including macronutrient proportions and the idea of ketosis. Find out more about keto-accommodating and non-keto food varieties.

Storage room Makeover: Get out high-carb things from your storeroom and supplant them with keto staples like solid fats (olive oil, avocados), proteins (meat, eggs), and low-carb vegetables.

Feast Arranging: Plan your dinners to guarantee they line up with keto standards. This dodges hasty food decisions and guarantees you meet your macronutrient targets.

Remain Hydrated: Expanded water misfortune is normal in the underlying phases of keto. Remain hydrated by polishing off a lot of water and electrolytes to relieve the gamble of parchedness and "keto influenza" side effects.

Track Macros and Ketones: Use applications or diaries to follow your everyday macronutrient admission. Observing ketone levels gives significant criticism of your body's change into ketosis.

Begin Slow: Step by step diminish sugar admission to permit your body to change. This limits expected incidental effects and upgrades the probability of long-haul adherence.

Look for Help: Join keto networks or track down a pal to share encounters and tips. Having an emotionally supportive network can be instrumental in conquering difficulties and remaining propelled.

Beginning with the keto diet includes a guarantee to picking up, arranging, and adjusting. By making these underlying strides, you set a strong starting point for an effective and supportable ketogenic venture toward further developed well-being and weight reduction.

Keto-Accommodating Food Varieties and Recipes:

Taking on a ketogenic way of life includes embracing a better approach to eating that focuses on low-carb, high-fat, and moderate-protein food varieties. Here is a complete glance at keto-accommodating food varieties and a few heavenly recipes:

Sound Fats: Avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, margarine, and nuts are rich wellsprings of solid fats fundamental for keeping up with ketosis.

Proteins: Pick top-caliber, lean protein sources like meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and tofu. Keep away from handled meats with added sugars.

Low-Carb Vegetables: Non-dull vegetables like salad greens, broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini are low in carbs and high in fiber, making them ideal for keto.

Dairy: Pick full-fat dairy choices like cheddar, cream, and Greek yogurt. These give the two fats and proteins while holding carbs under control.

Berries: While many natural products are high in carbs, berries like strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are lower in sugar and can be delighted with some restraint.

Presently, we should investigate two or three heavenly keto recipes:

Avocado and Bacon Egg Cups: Split avocados, break an egg into every half, sprinkle with bacon bits, and heat until the eggs are set.

Barbecued Chicken Caesar Salad: Prepare barbecued chicken with romaine lettuce, Parmesan cheddar, and Caesar dressing made with olive oil and anchovies.

These keto-accommodating food sources and recipes not only help the macronutrient proportions expected for ketosis but additionally change it up and flavor your everyday feasts, making the ketogenic diet both nutritious and agreeable.

Examples of overcoming adversity:

The keto diet has turned into a signal of change for endless people looking for a supportable and successful way to deal with weight reduction and generally speaking prosperity. Individual examples of overcoming adversity act as strong tributes, revealing insight into the substantial advantages of taking on a ketogenic way of life.

Numerous people share normal stories of huge weight reduction accomplished through the keto diet. These examples of overcoming adversity frequently stretch out past the scale, featuring upgrades in energy levels, mental lucidity, and by and large essentialness. Members report diminished desires, upgraded satiety, and a recently discovered feeling of command over their relationship with food.

When photographs distinctively portray the actual changes, displaying a slimmer figure as well as a brilliant gleam and further developed certainty. Non-scale triumphs, for example, better rest, standardized glucose levels, and further developed lipid profiles, further highlight the all-encompassing effect of the keto venture.

These examples of overcoming adversity move and spur others to leave the all-alone keto experience. Shared encounters inside internet-based networks, web-based entertainment stages, and care groups cultivate a feeling of brotherhood and consolation. As people observe the accomplishments of their friends, the keto diet keeps on acquiring believability as an extraordinary and maintainable way to deal with well-being and weigh the board.

Tips for Long Haul Achievement:

Long-haul accomplishment on the keto diet goes past introductory weight reduction and includes developing reasonable propensities for enduring medical advantages. Consider these tips to improve your excursion:

Consolidate Exercise: Matching the keto diet with customary active work can streamline weight reduction, work on metabolic well-being, and add to general prosperity.

Enhance Your Feasts: Keep your keto dinners intriguing by trying different things with various food sources and recipes. This forestalls tedium and improves the probability of adherence.

Remain Hydrated: Legitimate hydration is pivotal in keto. Drinking water mitigates potential aftereffects like stoppage and supports generally speaking well-being.

Screen Piece Sizes: While keto underscores fat admission, segment control is as yet significant. Be aware of calorie admission to accomplish an equilibrium that upholds your objectives.

Observe Non-Scale Triumphs: Perceive and celebrate accomplishments past the scale, like expanded energy, mental lucidity, and further developed temperament. These triumphs support inspiration.

Adjust to Your Way of Life: Designer the keto diet to your way of life and inclinations. Adaptability guarantees that the dietary methodology lines up with your drawn-out objectives.

Normal Registrations: Intermittently rethink your dietary requirements and change your methodology in like manner. This guarantees that your keto plan stays viable and economical over the long run.

Look for Proficient Direction: Talk with medical services experts or nutritionists to modify your keto approach given your singular well-being profile, guaranteeing long-haul security and achievement.

By integrating these tips into your keto venture, you can lay out propensities that broaden well past momentary objectives, cultivating a supportable and charming way of life for long-haul achievement.

Likely Dangers and Contemplations:

While the ketogenic diet has shown viability in weight reduction and certain ailments, it's vital to know about possible dangers and contemplations related to this dietary methodology.

Supplement Inadequacies: Seriously confining specific nutritional categories might prompt micronutrient lacks. It's fundamental to plan a balanced, supplement thick keto diet that incorporates various food varieties.

Keto Influenza: A few people might encounter "keto influenza" during the underlying stages, described by side effects like weariness, dazedness, and crabbiness. Remaining hydrated and guaranteeing adequate electrolyte admission can assist with easing these impacts.

Gastrointestinal Issues: Changes in fiber admission and stomach microbes may cause obstruction or other stomach-related issues. Integrating fiber-rich vegetables and remaining hydrated can alleviate these worries.

Expanded Cholesterol Levels: While certain examinations propose upgrades in lipid profiles, others demonstrate a likely expansion in LDL cholesterol. Observing cholesterol levels and talking with a medical care proficient is fitting.

Kidney Stones: The gamble of kidney stones might ascend because of expanded discharge of oxalate and uric corrosive. Satisfactory hydration and overseeing mineral admission can assist with forestalling stone development.

Social Difficulties: Sticking to a severe keto diet in group environments or while feasting out may present difficulties. Preparing and imparting dietary requirements can assist with exploring these circumstances.

Individual Changeability: The keto diet may not suit everybody. People with specific ailments, for example, pancreatitis or gallbladder issues, ought to counsel medical care experts before embracing this dietary methodology.

Before leaving on the keto diet, people ought to gauge the possible dangers against the apparent advantages and counsel medical care experts for customized direction. A very educated and careful methodology guarantees a more secure and viable involvement in the ketogenic way of life.

[katdbee]

more rpg portrait naginata guys

thirst trap first.

some of these guys actually turned out better than the first batch posted because that's how a learning curve works.

the hand or rather the weapon object meant to be a naginata being held by a hand gave me some difficulty at first, but using openpose hand and touching up the canny processed input image helped considerably!

of course these are all initial generations, inpainting and touching up would have to happen if these were meant as more than starting points or disposable mooks.

the reason for the similarity in a lot of these is that I like to stay at the same seed and move the steps and clipskip to generate variations that are similar.

so sometimes it looks like the same guy in different clothes, and that's handy.

at this point I started throwing 'cyberpunk' into the mix

The next area of skill development is going to be dynamic prompting.

because I am trying to post the best quality generations but also a wide variety of possibilities.

Overall I'd say about half of the naginata portraits generated ended up being good enough to post as a convenient way to share what I've spent my time and gpu creating.

Most have weapons problems that I'd probably fix with modelling a proper 3d thing and then mashing it into the pic and fixing with an inpaint. Maybe next time you see these posted I'll pick the best looking of the broken and fix them up with proper weapons and grips.

[mileageblofcker]

Fuel efficiency at its best: revealing the excellent mileage of the Range Rover Evoque

The Reach Meanderer Evoque has gained notoriety for its complex plan, perfect craftsmanship, and surprising execution. Among its numerous great elements, one angle that merits unique consideration is its wonderful mileage. In this article, we dig into the eco-friendliness of the Reach Wanderer Evoque, investigating the variables that add to its excellent mileage and why it hangs out in its group.

  Unparalleled Motor Innovation:

The Reach Wanderer Evoque is outfitted with cutting edge motor innovation that amplifies eco-friendliness without settling on execution. The Ingenium motor, accessible in both petroleum and diesel variations, consolidates power and effectiveness flawlessly. With state of the art advancements like turbocharging and direct fuel infusion, the Evoque conveys ideal execution while guaranteeing negligible fuel utilization.

  Lightweight Development:

The Evoque's lightweight development assumes an imperative part in improving its mileage. Using lightweight materials, for example, aluminum, high-strength steel, and composite plastics, Reach Meanderer engineers have prevailed with regards to diminishing the vehicle's general weight. This weight decrease, joined with cutting edge optimal design, permits the Evoque to float through the air effortlessly, limiting drag and further developing eco-friendliness.

  Begin Stop Innovation:

Another imperative element adding to the Evoque's great mileage is its beginning stop innovation. This framework consequently stop the motor when the vehicle halts, for example, at traffic signals or in weighty rush hour gridlock. When the driver delivers the brake pedal, the motor flawlessly restarts, bringing about decreased fuel utilization and emanations during inactive periods.

  Eco Mode and Insightful Driving Frameworks:

The Reach Meanderer Evoque offers an Eco mode that improves the vehicle's exhibition for upgraded eco-friendliness. By changing motor boundaries and choke reaction, the Eco mode supports a more prudent driving style. Furthermore, the Evoque consolidates savvy driving frameworks, for example, versatile voyage control and territory reaction, which help with improving fuel utilization in light of street conditions, considering a smoother and more proficient driving experience.

  Cross breed and Module Mixture Choices:

For those looking for significantly more prominent eco-friendliness, Reach Wanderer offers cross breed and module mixture variations of the Evoque. These models consolidate a traditional ignition motor with an electric engine, considering decreased fuel utilization and lower emanations. The mixture and module crossover choices give a great option in contrast to ecologically cognizant drivers without settling on the extravagance and execution anticipated from a Reach Wanderer.

  End:

The Reach Wanderer Evoque represents the ideal mix of extravagance, execution, and eco-friendliness. With its creative motor innovation, lightweight development, begin stop framework, canny driving frameworks, and half breed choices, the Evoque sets an elevated expectation concerning mileage in its group. Whether you're exploring metropolitan roads or setting out on a gutsy excursion, the Evoque guarantees that each mile voyaged is joined by extraordinary eco-friendliness.

For More Info :-

Range Rover Evoque Mileage

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Podcasting "Reasonable Agreement"

This week on my podcast, I read my recent Medium column, “Reasonable Agreement: On the Crapification of Literary Contracts,” about the alarming standardization of non-negotiable (and terrible) contracting terms in freelance writing contracts:

https://doctorow.medium.com/reasonable-agreement-ea8600a89ed7

I started selling to magazines in the 1980s, a moment when Reagan’s antitrust deregulation drove waves of mergers in the market. The major magazines were changing owners frequently, and each new corporate overlord brought new contracts lawyers with weird and terrible ideas about the contracts they sent to writers. Lucky for writers, editors were on our side, and were able to help us get around these unfair terms.

For example, one of these mergers resulted in a whole family of magazines changing their contracts to grab rights that had historically belonged to writers (translation, audio adaptation) including some that were rarely exercised but represented an enormous upside for authors (film and TV rights). These new contracts also grabbed stupid rights that no one ever bought or sold for short stories, like theme-park and toy rights.

The editors came up with a clever countermeasure: they moved all this objectionable garbage to the final page of the contract, then quietly advised writers to tear off that page, throw it in the trash, and sign the bottom of the page before, where they’d conveniently left room for dated signatures.

But the editors — and us writers — were fighting a losing battle. Corporate contract lawyers figured out what was going on and started to force all contractual variations through their offices, and declared the worst of these clauses to be “non-negotiable” and simply refused to discuss (or change!) them.

This meant that writers like me found themselves in a bind when it came to the editors who liked and sought out our work. For example, in 2009, an editor I’d worked with at the sf magazines got a plum gig, commissioning short fiction for a global, glossy, general-interest magazine and she asked me to contribute. I had loved her other short fiction work and leapt at the chance, writing her a story that she accepted on the spot.

But then the contract came in, and it included a clause that I never signed: I had to indemnify the publisher against all claims related to my work, including any that the publisher decided, unilaterally, to settle. This magazine, published all over the world, had exposure to legal systems I knew nothing about, as well as legal systems that I knew all too well to be grossly authoritarian and terrible.

Even though my short story didn’t have anything in it that would attract any legitimate legal claims, the magazine wanted me to promise that if some crank in any of these countries sent them a legal threat, they could pay this person any amount of money and then send me the bill, irrespective of the merits of the claim.

At the time, these clauses were widespread, but were considered negotiable — any canny writer would simply line them out and initial them, and the publisher’s contracts person would initial them, too, and that was that. Not this time. My requested change went all the way up to the CEO, who flat our refused to change the clause or discuss it with me.

The editor was ordered to kill the story, and I was told I wouldn’t get a nickle. I worked with SFWA’s grievance committee, who got me a 50% kill-fee and then I sold the story elsewhere for more than the original offer:

https://memex.craphound.com/2010/04/25/in-praise-of-sfwas-grievance-committee/

But I burned that editor, put her in a terrible position with her new bosses. I resolved that henceforth, I’d confirm contracting terms before accepting freelance commissions, and I did…but I still slipped up from time to time.

Last year, I got a commission from a major US daily paper who asked me to write an op-ed condemning the bullying legal threats that a giant tech company had just made against some of its critics. As is often the case with op-eds, this had a news hook and they were eager to publish immediately, so I wrote the piece — and they published it — before I saw the contract.

This contract had the same awful indemnity clause, and worse, in this case, they had asked me to take to their editorial page to criticize a company that sued people who criticized it! Of course I refused to sign, to the distress of the (perfectly nice) contracts person, who had been told that this clause could not be modified under any circumstances.

I stuck to my guns, pointing out that they’d already published and had no leverage over me, and that the couple hundred bucks they were offering to pay me wouldn’t cover a month’s worth of media insurance to back up the indemnity they were seeking, and since I have very few assets and very little savings, I was literally financially incapable of indemnifying them. Signing that clause might ruin my life and drive me to bankruptcy, but it wouldn’t actually protect them in any way.

The newspaper caved and the “non-negotiable” clause was removed from the contract I’d signed, but — once again — I’d burned an editor whose only sin was enjoying my work enough to commission me to write for them.

I’m more careful these days. There are seven contractual terms that I negotiate before I take an assignment:

Binding arbitration. This is the bullshit practice of forcing writers to surrender their right to sue publishers, even in the face of fraud or other illegal acts. Instead, writers have to take their claims to a corporate arbitrator — a fake judge whose fees are paid by the publisher. There is no legitimate reason for a publisher to demand binding arbitration. I won’t sign these, period.

Blanket warranties. I’m not a lawyer, and while I’m familiar with California and US federal law, I don’t know what other legal systems your publication is exposed to. It’s unreasonable to ask me to warrant that my work doesn’t violate “any law.” I replace this with “any US or California law.” If you are worried that my work creates legal jeopardy for you, you should ask competent counsel, not me.

Blanket indemnities. I’m not wealthy, and my insurer won’t cover claims that you settle without their consent. Asking me to indemnify you against “all claims” exposes me to the risk of bankruptcy — and still doesn’t protect you. I change this to “all finally settled claims.”

Confidentiality. It’s rare for a publisher to expose me to confidential business information, but if you are going to, then crisply define what that is (and don’t ask me to do so — I don’t know your secrets, because they are your secrets).

Noncompete. Most of my freelance commissions relate to issues that I’ve written about for 20+ years. I’m not going to promise you that I won’t write a similar piece for someone else. If you’re commissioning me to write on a new (to me) subject for a major feature, then a short period of exclusivity (6–12m) is okay.

Rights. The standard deal is 6–12 months of exclusive rights, then indefinite non-exclusive rights, and I get the right to resell, reprint, or anthologize the piece.

Derivative works. If you want TV or movie rights, you’ll have to talk to my agent at WME and negotiate for an option. If you want translation or conversion rights, that’s fine, but you need a plan to use them. I won’t give you exclusive French rights if you don’t have a French publication or a relationship with one (why would you even want that?).

These principles reflect the standard contracting terms among all publishers when I started my career. I’m lucky that I can stick to these today because the income from my books lets me to walk away from commissions on unfair terms. I write a lot of books — I have eight in production right now.

One of those books is Chokepoint Capitalism, co-written with Rebecca Giblin, a book that explains how to reverse unfairness in creative labor markets. The book explains how mergers in every part of the creative supply chain — publishers, studios, labels, distributors, retailers, and online platforms — create monoposonies, buyers’ markets for creative labor.

http://www.beacon.org/Chokepoint-Capitalism-P1856.aspx

Along with this analysis, we uncover the vulnerabilities in Big Tech and Big Content, and offer a buffet of actions that individuals, artists groups, municipalities, and regional and national governments can take right nowto materially improve the livelihoods and security of creative workers.

Throughout that book, we stress the importance of solidarity — between creative workers, with audiences, and with workers in similarly concentrated industries who face similar challenges. It’s not enough that I have the security to demand better terms — we need to work to provide better conditions for all creative workers..and all workers, period.

A good contract is a thing of beauty, a crisp articulation of the mutual expectations of two consenting parties. A contract that demands that you provide things you are incapableG of providing (such as blanket indemnity against unilaterally settled claims) is a mockery of the idea of contracts.

When I sign a contract with a publisher, I mean it. I am promising to do everything in that contract. I am baffled that corporate contracts lawyers want their writers to sign contracts that everyone knows they can’t uphold.

I have various theories for this, including the possibility that it’s just sadism. The legal profession definitely has a sadism problem, with some attorneys deriving twisted pleasure from dominating their adversaries:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/10/duke-sucks/#devils

But writers aren’t the adversaries of publishers. Or at least, we shouldn’t be. It’s a frankly bizarre circumstance when writers take contracts more seriously than the publishers who write them.

Here’s the podcast episode:

https://craphound.com/news/2022/06/27/reasonable-agreement-on-the-crapification-of-literary-contracts/

Here’s a direct link to the MP3 (hosting courtesy of the Internet Archive, they’ll host your stuff for free, forever):

https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_430/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_430_-_Reasonable_Agreement.mp3

And here’s the RSS for my podcast feed:

https://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

[Image ID: Two swordsmen cross blades while standing on the pages of an open book, an inkpot between them. The swords are antique pen-nibs.]

[artificialqueens]

Me and You Together, 5/10 (Taywhora) - Ortega

fic summary: The cardinal rule of having flatmates is that you Do Not Catch Feelings For Your Flatmates, because everything inevitably goes to shit and gets made horrifically awkward. A’whora and Tayce both know this, but being in first year of uni and making good decisions have never really gone hand in hand.

a/n: I’M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! i won’t bore u with a big long a/n but i will say thank u so so much for everyone that’s shown this fic love and been supportive to me over the writing process of this chapter, it means the world. this one has a content warning for…drumroll please…smut! enjoy u slaaaags xo

last chapter: October- The gang made plans for their first year together, Tia gave everyone plans for the evening, and A'whora had a realisation that would change the dynamic of her friendship with Tayce forever.

this chapter: February- Tayce has always hated Valentine’s day. But will hatching a plan with Lawrence and spending the day with A’whora change her opinion on it this year?

***

Tayce thinks it’s nothing short of a miracle that they’ve not been caught yet.

Honestly, she should’ve known how her and A’whora attempting to sneak around would go from the start; it’s not as if either of them are subtle people. Between A’whora always needing people’s eyes and attention to be on her and Tayce simply being unable not to attract attention, it’s hard for either of them to be covert in any way, shape or form.

The first time (or first three times in quick succession) back last month had been easy enough; by the time Bimini, Lawrence and Ellie had returned back to the flat from their day drinking expedition with Ellie’s friend they’d all been too drunk to see their hands in front of their faces, never mind notice that Tayce’s room smelt of sex and that A’whora’s top was on back to front. But living with four other people and trying to find a time where they’re all out of the flat at the same time is like gold dust, so a lot of the time Tayce and A’whora will disappear to one of their rooms (ten minutes apart, so as not to attract suspicion) and then have to spend the entire rendezvous talking in hushed whispers or biting down hard on their lips or whining into their pillows to make sure nobody boots down the door and demands to know what’s going on.

Still, even if it’s quiet and covert, Tayce is nothing short of addicted to this new layer of the relationship she has with A’whora. There’s something intoxicating about giving A’whora what she wants: it’s in the way her big, pleading doe-eyes flutter shut in ecstasy, the way her lips drop open from a bratty pout into a blissful gasp or a too-loud moan that makes Tayce feel like clamping a hand over her mouth. It’s surely only a matter of time before the others find out and ruin this whole thing for them so Tayce wants to make sure A’whora doesn’t blow their cover, because there’s part of her that loves keeping it all under wraps like it’s their own little secret they share.

Besides, the sight of A’whora biting down hard on her knuckles when she’s trying desperately not to make a sound is never one that Tayce is going to pass up on.

It’s the way she goes quiet when things get intense and Tayce has to draw her words out of her like she does her orgasm, because aside from the fact that she needs to know if A’whora’s enjoying everything Tayce is doing, the way she starts blushing whenever she tells her what she wants or how good something feels is sinful enough to make Tayce believe that maybe hell wouldn’t be so bad.

The juxtaposition of the devilishness A’whora manages to radiate whilst looking like and talking with the voice of an angel isn’t lost on Tayce. The way she’s so eager to please, the way she always asks if everything’s okay, the way she’ll look up from between Tayce’s legs with that ever-so-slightly deer in the headlights look with her juice smeared across her lips like gloss and wait for Tayce to tell her everything feels amazing before she’ll relax, and a mischievous grin will take hold on her face before she’ll continue pushing her increasingly closer to the edge. Tayce had always thought praise kinks were a myth but A’whora is the living Kelpie that disproves her theory. She only ever needs to tell her that she’s a good girl, or that she’s pretty, or that she’s perfect (usually with a princess tacked onto it for good measure) for A’whora to whimper and beg, greedy and impatient. The way she reacts to the praise is enough to make Tayce want to keep giving it, so she supposes the relationship is a symbiotic one.

It’s funny the way they seem to swap personalities in bed. Tayce- who usually can’t shut up or slow down if her life depended on it- likes hushed giggles, breathy gasps, biting hard on her lip to make sure she’s not too loud. She likes to draw out the foreplay and teasing until they’re both burning up and so wet they drip down their thighs and onto the sheets, and when she fucks A’whora she’s always painstaking and precise, slow and languid. A’whora, for her part, is the opposite. She moans and whines and bucks her hips in the air, always desperate for satisfaction and to satisfy Tayce in return. She knows exactly how to push Tayce to the edge and then over it and she never wastes a minute getting there, sometimes ripping two or three orgasms from her in quick succession with nothing short of relentless, smug determination. They shouldn’t work together but Jesus Christ, they do.

It’s because of all this that the way they sneak around has become a kind of foreplay for them. The trips to the smoking area on nights out just so Tayce can back A’whora against the wall and crash her lips against hers needily. The squeeze they’ll give each others’ thighs under the table if they’ve all gone somewhere for dinner together, and the twinkle in both of their eyes acting as a promise of things to come later. The text A’whora gives Tayce from the sofa opposite as they’re all sitting around watching whatever shite Tia has stuck on that simply says “i want to 👅 your 🐈 until you 💦” which makes Tayce almost choke on whatever she happens to be eating or drinking.

But she supposes the rest of her flatmates have been too wrapped up in their own feelings to even notice her and A’whora’s lack of subtlety. The end of January saw Tia finally make things official with Veronica who she’d been seeing for a few months already, so she’s been bouncing around the flat with a spring in her step and a permanent smile on her face and always humming or singing a cheerful tune under her breath. Tayce is happy for the girl, she really is, but even she has to admit the pair of them acting like little loved-up Sylvanian Family squirrels is vaguely nauseating; the way they’ll nuzzle each others’ noses while curled up together on the sofa and the way they happily belt along to Heathers while they make pancakes together at eight in the morning on a Sunday, which is never the hangover cure they seem to think it is.

In stark contrast, Ellie has been stomping through the flat for the past few weeks or so as if she’s an assassin with a bounty on Cupid. At literally any mention of love or romance she’s there with a fake retch or a huge roll of her blue eyes, talking about how she wishes every couple on earth would drop off the face of it. She has stark disregard for Tia’s happiness, preferring instead to wallow in her own misery. It’s immature and it’s petty and it’s completely ridiculous but Tayce supposes Ellie is hurt and heartbroken, and Tia and Veronica are getting the brunt of it because they’re the root cause.

If Ellie is bad then Lawrence is worse. If Ellie is pissed off then Lawrence is woeful, and she’s not much better whenever she’s forced to be around the flat’s new couple. Her usually cheerful jokes poking fun at her various flatmates are now entirely based around how single she is, all delivered as if Eeyore had a stand-up set. There’s only so many times Tayce can fake-laugh at each variation, only so much enthusiasm she can inject into the laugh she gives in response to “I’m so single I canny even get a bus to hit on me”. Combined with the constant way Crazy for You is getting blasted from behind her closed bedroom door on a loop, Lawrence has been acting like the lesbian reincarnation of Bridget Jones for entirely too long to be considered acceptable.

“Why don’t we just tell Els that Lawrence likes her?” A’whora had suggested, as they’d lain in Tayce’s bed naked apart from her duvet that was wrapped around them both and the opening drum beat to Crazy for You had cut through the wall for the third time in the past ten minutes.

(Tayce knows Lawrence had asked her not to tell A’whora about her crush on Ellie. She does feel bad for telling A’whora about her crush on Ellie. But when A’whora had asked her why she thought Lawrence had been behaving like a war-era mourning widow for the past few weeks it had just slipped out. Besides, the threat of a month without sex that Tayce had used as leverage so A’whora wouldn’t blab to Ellie about it has so far seemed to be good enough motivation. As it stands neither of them seem to be able to go three days without a shag, so she’s really hoping A’whora doesn’t open her big mouth for both their sakes.)

“It’s not that simple,” Tayce had muttered, threading some of A’whora’s long, straight hair through her fingers absent-mindedly as she spoke. “There’s feelings there, they wouldn’t be able to just fall together like we did. It’s messier when there’s crushes involved. With us it’s just good sex with a good friend, you know?”

A’whora had gone quiet as she nodded, a minute frown appearing on her face. Tayce supposes it had been as a result of the prospect of more Madonna ballads from Lawrence’s room for the foreseeable future.

Bimini, who Tayce has been the most concerned about picking up on something being different between her and A’whora, has been surprisingly and uncharacteristically imperceptive. Bimini being Bimini hasn’t let on that there’s anything different going on with them, but Tayce is sure it’s got something to do with the bashful smile they give their phone screen sometimes, or the way they seem to be at the flat with them all less and less of late, or the uni project they’re completing with their friend Asttina which seems to have been going on for about a fortnight. Whatever it is, they seem happier than usual; a little cheerful glow lighting them up from the inside out that Tayce just knows there’s a reason behind. She’ll let them tell her in their own time.

If the atmosphere in the flat had been full of mixed-up, chaotic sets of feelings before, then when it reaches Valentine’s Day it’s on another level entirely.

Tayce begins her day waking up, rubbing her eyes, and stretching as far as her bones and muscles will allow. She’s alone in bed- she and A’whora never sleep over in each others’ rooms, the overwhelming amount of suspicion it would draw the next day would be staggering- but Tayce sometimes wonders what it would be like to wake up with A’whora. Maybe she’d be curled around her, having sought her out in the night to cuddle. Maybe she talks in her sleep. Maybe she snores. Tayce doesn’t know why she’s thinking about this, or indeed why she wants to know what it would be like.

They’re just friends, after all.

She sleepily snatches up her phone from her bedside table, checks the time (10am, a decent enough lie in) and then checks her notifications. She’s got a Whatsapp message from A’whora and she ends up spluttering a laugh as she opens it. It’s a photo of her having clearly just woken up, hair all messy in its bun and bags under her brown eyes. She’s sinking into the pillow and pulling a face that gives her a double chin. She looks a state, but something about the photo makes Tayce’s heart happy. It’s the fact that A’whora- the same A’whora who took a month before she let her flatmates see her without makeup, does a full face before even going to Tesco, and fake tans twice a week- has sent her a selfie with a sleepy, bare, ridiculous face. Tayce has always felt a little like their friendship has been a series of breaking down A’whora’s walls and with this, another one has crumbled. It’s nice that she trusts Tayce enough with every little part of her, and it’s a responsibility that Tayce doesn’t take lightly.

The message that accompanies the photo says “Happy valentine’s day bestie xxx” and Tayce feels her heart flutter a bit. It should feel weird that A’whora’s acknowledging the significance of the day. It’s kind of overstepping the line they’ve drawn together, it’s sort of breaking an unspoken promise.

But regardless, Tayce doesn’t mind. She actually likes it, more than she probably should. So she taps her nails against the screen, smiling in spite of herself as her message starts to appear.

T: that selfie’s really doing it for me uno

T: got me all excited for the romantic valentine’s day sex we’re gonna be having xo

The screen tells her that A’whora’s typing, and she can feel the heat begin to pool in her stomach already at the prospect of some flirty texts to start the day off. That is until there’s a muffled drum beat and an oboe that drifts into Tayce’s consciousness through the wall, and she realises with visceral frustration that Lawrence is playing that god damn bloody fucking song again.

Tayce lifts her leg and kicks the wall that separates her room and Lawrence’s with a thud thud thud, hoping it’ll make it all stop- the soundtrack to her friend’s emotional pining doesn’t double up as a good soundtrack to dirty texting. To Tayce’s exasperation, however, her door flies open a few moments later, and she cranes her neck and buries her phone under her pillow to find that Lawrence has invited herself in.

“Did you knock?” she asks inquisitively. Tayce narrows her eyes.

“If ‘knocked’ means ‘banged on the wall to shut you up’, then yeah, I did,” Tayce deadpans. Lawrence doesn’t seem to take the hint and instead lets out a dramatic sign, flops down beside Tayce on her bed as if to fully illustrate the fact she isn’t leaving anytime soon.

“Tayyyce,” she begins, whining pitifully. Lawrence is never one to conceal how she’s feeling and always wears her heart on her sleeve, which Tayce can appreciate in a friend. If Lawrence is annoyed, she’ll tell you. If Lawrence is happy, she’ll show it. If Lawrence is pining after her best friend she’s been in love with for years, she’ll let everyone know…apart from the only girl it affects directly.

“What is it, babe?” Tayce asks sympathetically, rolling onto her side to give her friend a cuddle. She knows what the matter is, but she also knows Lawrence clearly wants to vent, so she’ll be a good friend and let her.

Lawrence huffs a sigh. “Tia’s all loved up with Veronica in the kitchen and Bimini’s probably off shagging their pal right now and Ellie’s never going to know I exist as anything other than a friend. I fuckin’ hate Valentine’s Day.”

Tayce would normally agree. Tayce usually hates it too. It’s corporate and cheap and tokenistic, as if the only ways people can show love are through red roses, chocolate or teddies. Pick one or all three, give them to the person you love the most otherwise did you ever really love them at all? Maybe she’d like it better if she had someone to spend it with, but she’s not. She’s never.

Apart from today, that is. Apart from A’whora.

“It’s bullshit,” Tayce nods, squeezing Lawrence’s side. “But hey, you’re not on your own, girl. I’ve not got anyone to spend it with either, and neither’s A’whora.”

Lawrence sticks her bottom lip out. “Yeah, but you two aren’t all sad with feelings and crushes. I mean, we all know A’whora’s not got a heart so she’s off to a flyer already.”

Tayce laughs at Lawrence’s joke even though they both know it couldn’t be less true if she tried. She pokes Lawrence’s arm, frowning and unable to stand her moping much longer. “Well, why don’t you try and make a move today? Y’know, show Ellie why you’re a good option as well.”

“A good option? Sorry, I didn’t realise I’m sat in a fridge next to a sandwich as part of a Tesco meal deal,” Lawrence rolls her eyes. Tayce nudges her with her foot to make a point.

“Fuck off. You know what I mean! Hang out with her, do something fun. Maybe dial up the flirting a bit.”

Lawrence rolls over onto her side to face her, as if to drive home the pointed stare she’s fixing her with. “Have you ever seen me trying to flirt? There’s a reason I’ve never brought a girl back here. I mean my vagina’s so out of use I think it’s closed up like a pierced ear nobody’s put an earring through in a while.”

Tayce lets out a screech, part-horrified, part-disgusted. Her stomach hurts as she tries to collect herself, and an idea forms in her mind. “You could so do it if you tried. Hey, here’s what to do, right? Tia and Veronica are going out for that big romantic beach walk Tia’s been talking our ears off about for weeks. Bimini’s missing in action, as you said, and probably will be for most of the day. And I’ll get A’whora out of the flat for a while. So that means you’ve got Ellie all to yourself, on Valentine’s day, ready to be…I don’t know, wined, dined and sixty-nined.”

It’s Lawrence’s turn to howl in disgust now, but the sparkle’s back in her eyes as she grins at Tayce. “I don’t think we’re at that stage yet, doll. But I don’t know, maybe you’re right. I mean she’s never gonna see me as anything more than a friend if I keep acting like only that, is she?”

Tayce smiles, glad to see she’s instilled some confidence in her friend. “That’s my girl!”

Lawrence claps her hands together decisively. “There we go, then. I’ll have her drippin’ like a knackered fridge in no time!”

The pair of them burst out into untethered shrieks of laughter, ones that draw footsteps from the hall and cause Tayce’s door to open again, this time to reveal both Ellie and A’whora. It looks as if the pair of them were together too, and Tayce thinks it wouldn’t be unusual if Ellie had been venting to A’whora about her own unrequited crush.

“What the hell is so funny? I’m trying to do a big emotional, dramatic monologue about my broken heart to this one but I can’t, because all we can hear is your monkey screeching through the wall,” Ellie grumps, sitting herself down at the foot of the bed.

“We were shagging. That’s just the noise I make when I come,” Lawrence deadpans. As Ellie and A’whora splutter a laugh, Tayce fixes Lawrence with an incredulous stare, one which she hopes communicates “if that was you flirting then what the fuck?”.

“G’wan, Els. Do your big monologue here,” Tayce encourages her, budging up as A’whora squashes onto the bed too even though there’s barely room for two at the best of times, never mind four. A’whora groans long-sufferingly.

“Please don’t make me sit through it again.”

Ellie turns to her friend, affronted. “Girl!”

“I’m joking, babe.”

Appeased, Ellie lets out a plaintive little sigh as she casts her gaze up to the ceiling. “I’m just fucked off. I mean I get that Tia’s happy, and I’m happy for her-”

“No you’re not,” Lawrence cuts in matter-of-factly.

“No I’m not, but that’s beside the point,” Ellie rolls with the interruption, making Tayce snort with her honesty. “I just wish they weren’t…rubbing it in my face all the time, you know?”

“They can’t rub it in your face if they don’t know you like Tia, Ellie. You can’t get annoyed at them for existing,” A’whora pulls a face, honest to a fault. It’s something else that Tayce really appreciates about her; she knows she’ll never get bullshitted by A’whora, knows she’s truthful and upfront. It’s just another part of what makes their arrangement work so well- she knows A’whora’s not exactly going to be covering up any feelings anytime soon.

Ellie continues with a huff. “I know. And I know I’m being unfair, and I know I’m being immature about it all.”

“Give yourself some credit, girl, you only just turned eighteen about five minutes ago. You’re allowed to be immature,” Tayce quips, earning a laugh from A’whora and Lawrence and a scowl from Ellie that she knows she doesn’t really mean.

“It just sucks not being able to turn my feelings off. I want to get over her, you know? It’s just hard when we live together and Veronica’s round all the time.”

There’s a lull in conversation where the girls hum in agreement and empathy. Tayce chooses this time to sneakily elbow Lawrence in her side, as if to nudge her towards spending time with Ellie.

Lawrence takes the hint. “Ellie, what’re you doing today, hen?”

Ellie looks despondently at her. “Probs greetin’ into a pint of Haagen Dazs. How?”

“Well, I’m wanting to dye my hair,” Lawrence says, and the niche context for spending time together knocks Tayce for six a little. “And although I wouldn’t trust you to keep a succulent alive, I’d trust you to do a not awful job of hairdresser duties. You wanty help me out with it?”

Tayce tries not to look at A’whora because she knows they’ll end up sharing a knowing smile that’s entirely too suspicious as Ellie’s face lights up. “If anything would cheer me up right now it’s the prospect of fucking up your hair beyond all recognition.”

“Brilliant,” Lawrence deadpans, though there’s a little smile on her lips which suggests to Tayce that Ellie could very well completely shave her completely bald then dye her scalp yellow and Lawrence would still thank her.

Tayce turns to smile at A’whora. Time to hold up her end of the deal.

“Well, I don’t much fancy staying to deal with the fallout of this inevitable disaster. You wanna go for brunch somewhere?”

A’whora’s so clearly trying to bite back her smile, make it seem more contained and controlled, but it still spreads across her face like a sunbeam and it warms Tayce’s heart like one too. “Alright. S’pose I could squeeze you into the calendar somewhere.”

As the pair of them lock eyes and Tayce struggles to suppress her own smile, the girls are interrupted by a knock on the door. Tayce shouts them in, figuring they might as well squeeze a few more people onto the bed while they’re at it and attempt some sort of world record, but it’s Tia and Veronica and they aren’t staying long judging by the fact they’ve both got their jackets on.

“Just saying goodbye before our lil’ seaside adventure!” Tia smiles, her happiness completely uncontained and radiating from her; if A’whora’s smile was a sunbeam then Tia encapsulates the energy of the whole burning star. Tayce is happy for her.

“Have fun girlies, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Tayce smiles, waggling her fingers in a wave.

“Aye, no sex on the beach!” Lawrence says, unsubtle and untactful as ever. Veronica flushes so red she borders on purple, and Ellie gives a laugh dripping in schadenfreude.

“Wind your bloody neck in, you menace,” Veronica bites back good-humouredly, the dregs of her embarrassment still colouring her cheeks. “Have you seen the weather forecast for today? It’s absolutely freezing!”

“That the only thing stopping you? Sure you wouldn’t be the only people in existence that’ve tried to shag wearing two jumpers and a parka,” Lawrence continues to joke, and by now Ellie is a collapsed heap on the bed.

Tia speaks for her girlfriend who’s still blushing fire-engine red. “Well usually, Lawrence, you wear sexy underwear for your girlfriend on Valentine’s day. Not that you’d know.”

A’whora and Ellie let out a little whoop of shock in response to the shady comment, which neither Lawrence nor Tayce join in with. Tayce deigns to give it a little smirk, but knowing how Lawrence has been feeling for the past few weeks kind of removes the humour of the comment for her.

“Here, watch it. Only I’m allowed to make jokes about how single I am,” Lawrence herself narrows her eyes in response, before smiling tightly at the loved-up pair. “Anyway, have a lovely time, you two!”

“We will!” Veronica practically squeaks in delight, flicking some of her blonde hair over her shoulders as she loops her arm through Tia’s and they leave the flat, the front door clicking behind them. There’s a silence in Tayce’s room before Lawrence speaks again.

“Smug wee gits.”

The rest of the girls dissolve into giggles, Tayce whacking Lawrence on the arm. “Shut up, bitter Betty. Go make your bad hair choices.”

“Right, let’s go!” Ellie claps excitedly before reaching out for Lawrence’s hand. She of course accepts gladly, a hint of pink blush to her cheeks as she’s dragged out of the room by her enthusiastic friend.

The moment Tayce’s door shuts A’whora shimmies up next to her side, a little twinkle in her eye that Tayce knows all too well.

“Hey you,” she smiles, throwing an arm and a leg over Tayce in a full-body hug. Tayce laughs at her clinginess, how she remembers A’whora describing herself as “not much of a huggy person” when they first met in freshers’ week and now she’s the human embodiment of a baby koala.

“Stop flirting, God,” Tayce shoots back playfully, watching the affronted expression take hold on A’whora’s face for only a second before pulling her in for a kiss that A’whora instantly turns up the heat of. Her lips are soft but her kiss is full of a hunger that makes something inside Tayce tighten up, and there’s something about the way A’whora clearly wants her that leaves her feeling ever-so-slightly breathless.

“Right, that’s enough of that,” Tayce jokes as she pulls away, and A’whora’s plaintive pout is almost motivation enough to keep going. But Tayce has made a promise to Lawrence, so she doubles down. “C’mon, get ready. And wear something classy as well, we ain’t going to some scaff caff we could spend any old hungover morning in.”

“Wait, were you serious about brunch?” A’whora’s expression changes, her smile becoming almost shy. It’s ever-so-slightly adorable and completely endearing.

“Yeah, girl! I said to Lawrence I’d take you out so that her and Ellie can have some alone time. Get your shit sorted,” Tayce explains.

There’s shutters that go down behind A’whora’s eyes suddenly, and Tayce narrows her eyes, confused. “Unless you’re not keen?”

“No, of course I’m keen!” A’whora brightens up a little, smiles at Tayce mischievously. “If you’re taking me out, though, you’re paying.”

Tayce blurts out a laugh. “Fuck off! Fine, I’ll pay today. Just means you have to pay next time.”

“Oh there’s a next time, is there?”

A’whora’s batting her lashes at her flirtatiously, but her words have made Tayce’s heart do a little somersault. She supposes what they’re doing is a little bit like a date, and that’s not what their relationship is. They used to hang out like that, though, used to do things just the pair of them like go to the library and pretend to do work, go for lunch at Nandos, watch films together curled up in bed. In a way, Tayce supposes nothing has changed. It would be weird to not hang out just the two of them just because they’ve started hooking up.

So Tayce just returns the smile, casual and chill because that’s what they’ve agreed to be. “I gotta get paid back somehow, don’t I?”

“Could pay you back in other ways,” A’whora winks, and Tayce splutters in a giggle.

“Shut your whore mouth or we’ll never bloody leave the flat.”

They get ready after that, anticipative energy radiating through the wall of A’whora’s room. Tayce feels almost a little nervous. She doesn’t know why. It’s just a brunch, and it’s just A’whora. If she thinks about it, though, A’whora’s never been just A’whora. Tayce has always found an element of joy in spending time with her that she hasn’t ever felt with the others. The spark that goes off in her heart whenever A’whora laughs at one of her jokes, the comfort she takes in just being in the same room as her. The way Tayce has always looked forward to the time they get to spend alone together and the way that, since they started whatever the hell this is, that feeling has only intensified.

It feels more intense now than it ever has before, though. Maybe because it’s a little bit like a date. Maybe because it’s exactly like a date. Maybe because Tayce shouldn’t be this happy about that fact. Maybe the way she used to fancy A’whora- the way she used to just want to kiss her and get her in her bed- has evolved since they started this whole friends-with-benefits situation.

She takes a little deep breath, frowning at herself as she does her lipstick in the mirror.

“Pull yourself together, girl,” she mutters under her breath; because really, what the hell kind of levels of freaked out would A’whora be if Tayce were to show or to tell her any of this? They’re just friends. Friends that hook up. Nothing more than that, and Tayce can’t let herself hope that hard either.

A’whora knocks on Tayce’s door just as she’s securing two gold hoops into her ears. She’s taken the wear something classy brief as seriously as Tayce knew she would, and she’s dressed in a short, black leather skirt and a black and white tailored shirt; one colour on each side, separated by buttons down the middle. Every little detail and accessory has been as thought out as an outfit from a fashion student could be: a pearl choker around her neck and a pearl headband through her intricately curled hair, simple silver earrings and a pink faux fur coat and the black Michael Kors bag that Tayce knows has been her pride and joy since she got it for Christmas. Her legs are bare and she’s wearing high black stilettos which make her legs look entirely too good, and in turn fill Tayce’s head with memories that she needs to push out of her head or else the outfit A’whora’s spent so long putting together is going to end up on the floor.

“Love this,” Tayce points at her approvingly, and A’whora’s smile is a little bashful as she gives a twirl. “You look stunning. I mean, you’ll be freezing. But you’ll be stunning and freezing.”

“Just means you can warm me up later,” A’whora winks at her, and Tayce hides a giggle behind her hand. She never used to get shy if a girl flirted with her, especially not one with the lack of flirting abilities that A’whora possesses. She could always give as good as she got, she still can.

Tayce doesn’t know, though. Something about the past month with A’whora has changed her a little now that their relationship is inherently more intimate. Tayce can drop the cool, calm and collected persona she always used to wear to get girls into bed. Instead she’s allowed herself to be a little more goofy, a little more wild and animated and energised. A little more herself.

“You look stunning too, though,” A’whora adds with sincerity, the little grin on her face only making matters worse. Tayce has decided on a white shirt dress she’s cinched in at the waist with a huge belt, and paired it with thigh high vinyl boots. It’s one of those outfits she owns which is low effort but high payoff, especially when A’whora’s got a little twinkle in her eye like that.

Tayce snorts, grabs her bag from the side of her bed and whacks A’whora with it. “Stop trying to flatter me into bed and let’s go, gorgeous.”

They leave the flat with a shout of goodbye to Ellie and Lawrence, but judging from the way the door’s open and the showerhead’s running and both girls are yelping and laughing in the midst of some water fight, they aren’t able to hear it. Tayce leads A’whora through the cobbled streets and winding, dipping roads of the city as she talks a mile-a-minute about where they’re going and how she hopes they’ll have a free table. She almost wants to reach out and take A’whora’s hand, entwine their fingers together like another piece of the puzzle they share clicking into place. She doesn’t, but she wants to.

She’s sure the feeling will pass, anyway.

She’s sure it’s normal for her heart to swell as much as it’s currently doing as she walks beside A’whora, for it to flutter like a moth to a light whenever she smiles and flashes her teeth. A’whora is beautiful, and Tayce is sure that even friends that didn’t fuck would get tongue-tied if one of them was as stunning as she is.

To her delight, the brunch spot she’d had in mind has a table free for them; one beside the feature wall of plastic pink, blue and yellow flowers which Tayce already knows A’whora will be asking to take her photo in front of. She’s never actually been here before but she’s seen pictures on Instagram of the pink painted walls and pastel blue chairs and the white marble tabletops with shiny gold cutlery on top. She’s eyed up the breakfasts; avocado sourdough, eggs with golden yolks, and something which they’ve branded ‘donut French toast’ which A’whora is currently telling Tayce how excited she is to order, her eyes sparkling. If this was a date, it would be the perfect venue.

It’s just a pity that it isn’t.

They order two mimosas with their breakfasts- because fuck it, it’s Valentine’s day, and Tayce wants to celebrate the fact she’s got someone to spend it with even if it is just a friend- and the two of them fall into easy chat about all kinds of topics; uni, their courses, life at home in Wales and Worksop. Dating somebody new comes with stilted conversations, awkward pauses, the potential to cover a touchy subject. With A’whora there’s none of that. They already know each other inside out so they don’t have anything to re-learn. Tayce tells A’whora stories about Cara and Cheryl and understands when A’whora doesn’t join in with stories about her own friends from home. Instead, A’whora brings up their flatmates.

“I get really existential about it all. Y’know, fate and stuff,” A’whora frowns across the table at her mid-conversation. “Like, what are the odds the five strangers I’d live with in first year would be people I all get on with and genuinely like? And most of them would become my best friends in the world. You know?”

Tayce nods understandingly. “No, I get that. And like, fate putting Ellie and Lawrence in the same flat when they’d known each other for that long. And Tia and Bimini on the same train up when they moved in. What a small world?”

“Everything happens for a reason,” A’whora says quietly, shaken out of her small reverie by the plate of sugar-covered toast that’s being placed in front of her and thanking the waitress politely. Tayce can’t help but splutter a laugh when they’re left alone together again, looking at how A’whora’s eyes have lit up at the food in front of her.

“You’re like a child! An actual child. Swear to God, girl, you’ve got the same eating habits as Will Ferrel in Elf.”

A’whora cackles a laugh opposite her. Tayce wonders why it gives her such a sense of pride when A’whora laughs at something she says. Well, no- she knows exactly why, and the reason makes her stomach flip over like clothes in a tumble drier. She can’t think too much about that, though, so she thinks of something else quickly to take her mind off it.

“Right. I’ve got a fun game. First impressions of the five of us, go,” Tayce says, the idea coming to her as a result of what A’whora’s said. In response A’whora’s eyebrows shoot up, a scheming smile on her face as she tilts her head to consider her response.

“Ooh, well…easiest one is Bimini, because obviously I loved them from the get go.”

“How could you not?” Tayce agrees, spearing a strawberry from the pancakes she’s ordered herself.

“They just had this calm, kind aura that just immediately made me feel loads better about being away from home,” A’whora continues, nodding earnestly. “Same with Lawrence, although she was different. I actually thought she was batshit crazy. Or like, an alien, because no one human could be that funny.”

Snorting, Tayce points a finger at A’whora in recognition. “Jesus, that’s so true! I mean I’ve told you the story of when I first got to the flat? I actually thought she might’ve been on something. But that’s just who she is; when she’s up she’s up and when she’s down she’s down.”

There’s a pause as A’whora eats some more of her French toast, her gaze fixing on the wall as she thinks. “Ellie was the opposite. I didn’t know what to make of her at first. She was dead quiet and I think my back was up because I hated her dress sense.”

Tayce splutters. “Of course it was.”

“But now, like…God, don’t you miss the days when Ellie was quiet?” A’whora laughs affectionately. “I don’t know what I’d do without her, though.”

“She seemed a little more reserved than the others at first. But then that comes back to what you were saying about fate, because Lawrence definitely helped bring her out of her shell a bit.”

A’whora nods as she considers Tayce’s words, then her face breaks into a smile and she hides a guilty laugh behind her hands. “Tia…I thought I would not get on with at all.”

Tayce sips her drink and shrugs. “Well, you didn’t get on with her at first.”

“True. She’s just not somebody I would’ve ever hung out with before. I mean she’s told me before she thinks I would’ve bullied her in school, which, to be fair, I might’ve done,” A’whora pulls a guilty face. “But I guess being somehow the only two bitches with the ability to clean the flat is one hell of a bonding opportunity.”

Tayce feels her jaw drop open, offended. “Hey! I clean the flat!”

A’whora smirks. “Oh what, you pour undiluted Zoflora into the overflowing bin bag so it doesn’t smell, instead of actually…I don’t know, taking the bin out? My mistake, sorry. You’re actually the second coming of Mrs Hinch.”

The pair of them giggle together and Tayce sticks out her tongue in response. She takes a bite of her own breakfast before thinking about the girl they’re considering.

“I thought Tia was nice. Fun. I never saw her becoming my bestie or anything, but you know,” Tayce shrugs.

“No, that title was reserved for me,” A’whora smiles smugly. Tayce decides to have a bit of fun with her, tilts her head and narrows her eyes a little.

“You mean Bimini?”

“Fuck off,” A’whora fires back instantly, and Tayce throws her head back in a laugh. The laughter dies down as both girls eat some more of their food, until Tayce frowns at A’whora suddenly.

“You never said me.”

“Oh!” A’whora realises. Tayce thinks for a second that she could be blushing, but the sun has begun to appear behind the clouds and the light is shining through the glass windows and hitting the pink walls. It could just be that.

She looks gorgeous for it regardless.

“Do you want me to go first?” Tayce smirks, breaking out into a laugh as A’whora gives her an unimpressed glare.

“No, because I already know you’re gonna tell me you thought I was a total weirdo.”

“Not true! I actually thought you were a lot like me. Scared, nervous, a bit emotional. Well,” Tayce reaches across the table and pokes her playfully. “Maybe a bit more emotional than I was, but you know.”

A’whora rolls her eyes. “Good.”

“But seriously, I thought we were actually quite similar, y’know, underneath it all,” Tayce says, her voice growing a little quiet as she thinks. “It’s weird, isn’t it? The first maybe…month of uni. Everyone’s figuring shit out and either building new facades or letting their old ones from school or their hometowns drop. It’s rare you find someone who’s just real from the get-go.”

A’whora nods. “I think that was another reason why I was so scared. Because I was one of the bitches in school, and coming here I didn’t have those toxic friendships around me anymore. And you coming into my room on that first day was like…the first time in a while someone had actually been nice? And kind? So I guess I didn’t have much of a choice to just be myself. But also there was a part of me that didn’t really know what that looked like. You know?”

The conversation’s taken a deep turn, and Tayce doesn’t really know why. It’s not a result of one singular mimosa, she knows that much. But she’s glad A’whora feels like she’s able to talk like this with her. She knows it’s not always easy for her to open up to her friends, she knows she’s been burned in the past.

So Tayce reaches out across the table and takes her hand. “Well, to me…Aurora is a caring, kind, loyal friend. She has the biggest heart and all this love to give to so many people. She’s a shady hound, but we all love her for it. And all her friends treasure her because they know how lucky they are to have her in their lives.”

Tayce can tell A’whora’s trying to stop herself from smiling, and her gaze drops down to the table bashfully as she tucks her hair behind her ears. It’s almost like she’s embarrassed, self-conscious of the way all the diamonds of her personality have been excavated and laid bare. For a second Tayce feels a flush hit her face, wondering if she’s overstepped a mark, but then A’whora’s eyes lock onto hers and she’s smiling gratefully.

“Thanks, Tayce.”

Tayce would love to take her other hand. Tayce would love to lean over the table and kiss her in front of everyone else in the room. Tayce would love to tell A’whora everything she’s feeling, all these little moments and emotions illustrating a bigger picture that Tayce just wants her to colour in.

But they’re friends. So Tayce gives A’whora’s hand one last squeeze and winks at her as she draws her hand away.

“You’re welcome. Slag.”

And then they’re smiling at each other, and the conversation moves on. A’whora never did say what her first impressions of Tayce were, and it’s too late to ask her again. Tayce supposes it doesn’t really matter all that much. She’s more interested in how A’whora feels about her now. For example- does she feel the same way Tayce is feeling? Is she sitting opposite her trying to stop her heart jumping every time she smiles, trying to stop the butterflies fluttering in her stomach? Tayce is an upfront, honest girl. She’s blunt, and normally she’d ask.

But this situation isn’t normal, and something’s stopping her. Tayce always used to be the girl in primary school who’d play with the boys, run around the playground roaring until her lungs were hoarse pretending to be a tiger or a dragon, roll across the dusty tarmac getting her knees scraped and dirty. One thing she always, always used to pride herself on was her fearlessness. She’d puff up her chest before the flu vaccines, the dentist, any remotely fearful situation and hit out with “I’m not scared of anything”.

Why is she so scared now? Because she’s older, and life’s big worries are no longer a needle or a tiny mirror in her mouth. She’s not afraid of anything physical, things she can see; it’s the things she doesn’t know, the things she can’t work out that scare her so much. The thought of telling A’whora that what she feels for her might not be strictly friendship any longer gives her an adrenaline rush worse than any rollercoaster she’s been on, and it’s not entirely a good kind either.

The waitress appears to clear their plates and Tayce slaps her card down against the little metal tray ready to be tapped against the reader to pay the bill, just like she’d promised. It’s funny, though, that A’whora’s lost all her gumption now the time has actually come for Tayce to follow through on her promise, and as the waitress reappears A’whora is protesting wildly.

“You honestly don’t have to pay. I was just joking!”

Tayce laughs incredulously. “Oh that was a joke, was it? Seemed like a legally binding contract when we were at the flat!”

“Shut up, hound,” A’whora sticks her tongue between her teeth as she smiles cheekily.

The waitress hands her card back to Tayce and she keeps talking as she puts it away in her purse. “Well, don’t feel bad. As I said, the next one’s on you.”

As A’whora raises her eyebrows, the waitress fixes them with a cheery smile. “Thanks so much for popping in today, ladies, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your Valentine’s Day! Is this your first one together?”

Tayce chokes a little on nothing, tries to stop her eyes from flying wide open. She doesn’t dare meet A’whora’s eye as she shakes her head. “No, uh, we’re-”

“Aw, I knew it couldn’t have been your first, I could totally tell you’d been together way longer! Well may I say, you make a lovely couple,” she continues breezily, Tayce finally meeting A’whora’s gaze and trying not to laugh. The waitress thanks them once more before disappearing, and the two girls are left in a small bubble of silence before A’whora releases her giggles, Tayce putting her hands up to her burning hot cheeks.

“Jesus, Mary and Nora, what the hell was that? The Spanish Inquisition?” Tayce babbles, and A’whora doubles over opposite her.

“Well it is Valentine’s day, Tayce. It’s not that wild to assume two good-looking girls like us with such obvious chemistry are head-over-heels in love with each other,” A’whora winks. Tayce feels her heart do a backflip at the mention of that word, and she’s got about a split-second to cover up the fact her whole body’s been rocked by a ten on the richter scale.

Just continue the joke.

“Oh, yeah. Long-term relationship, married, house, kids. The babas.”

A’whora splutters a laugh, gestures around her. “Except we don’t know where the little shits are!”

The two of them are in fits again, and for a moment Tayce could pretend that it is all real, that maybe in a different world this is a date, and they are together, and everything’s as simple as it was when she was little and not even scared of the dark.

They stumble back to the flat together all fizzy with anticipation, drunk off of one mimosa each and sheer excitable lust. The pair of them keep the joke going all the way home- they have a semi-detached house in the suburbs, their children are named Tarquin and Edith and they attend private school and go to hockey and rugby clubs, they have a live-in cleaner, they do their weekly shop at Waitrose- both of them making the story more fantastical and ridiculous with every new addition that by the time they arrive back at the flat Tayce’s stomach hurts from laughing and A’whora’s bottom lashes are smudged with mascara from her own tears of mirth.

Tayce shushes her as she turns the key in the lock of their front door, hiding her own giggles and pressing a finger to A’whora’s lips playfully. A’whora responds by opening her mouth and snapping like a crocodile, only serving to set Tayce off again as she takes her hand and opens the door, sneaking through it comically like a Scooby Doo character as they hang up their coats in the hall. Luckily, though, they don’t even need to be quiet. There’s a blast of a hairdryer from Ellie’s room which mingles with the sounds of Katy Perry behind the door, and two sets of screeching laughs that cut through the combination. Maybe Tayce and Lawrence’s plan is actually working.

Tayce feels a familiar flutter in her stomach as she pulls A’whora into her room, her anticipation building. When she closes the door she whips round to find A’whora has already dumped her bag on Tayce’s floor and is sitting on the edge of Tayce’s bed, frantically trying to unbuckle her heels. They don’t even need to discuss what’s to come. They both know it’s all the other has been able to think about all morning.

Tayce unzips her boots and sits beside A’whora, resting a hand on her bare thigh. She traces her fingers over her skin gently and presses a kiss against her neck, her heart thumping as she hears A’whora sigh gently in response.

Tayce brings her lips up against her ear as she whispers. “I think you should keep them on.”

“Fuck,” A’whora hisses, her reaction so visceral despite Tayce not really having done anything at all yet.

True to form, A’whora swivels her head around to meet Tayce’s, cups her jaw and brings their lips together in a kiss that’s eager and frantic. She can hear her breathing- heavy and laboured and shuddery as her hands push into her hair, her fingers wrapping around little sections and pulling gently in a way that makes Tayce pull back to hiss through her teeth, dig her nails into A’whora’s inner thigh in stark contrast to the way she’s been gently teasing her.

“Behave,” Tayce warns.

“You know I can’t,” A’whora murmurs, cocking an eyebrow in response. She’s got Tayce’s dark lipstick painting her own lips now and it looks too good, makes Tayce squeeze her thighs together when she thinks about the lipstick marks she wants to leave all over her bare skin.

“Can’t give you what you want if you don’t behave, princess,” Tayce responds, inching her hand up her thigh and stopping just short of where she knows A’whora wants her to. She wants it too, though. She wants to brush her fingers over the material of her underwear, feel how wet she probably already is. But not giving A’whora what she wants is just as fun as satisfying her, if only to see her being reduced to liquid form in front of her, full of frustration.

“Please, Tayce,” A’whora pulls her in again, pressing kisses to her lips between snatches of sentences. “Want it so much, fuck.”

“Already? So impatient,” Tayce runs her thumb over her soft skin again. She’s burning up too but she’s not going to lose her own composure, not when the payoff of staying in control is so good. “You gonna be good for me, angel?”

“Mm-hm,” A’whora pouts against her lips. Tayce pulls away and the sight of A’whora’s half-lidded eyes with her pupils blown from lust isn’t helping her keep a handle on the situation at all.

She gently pushes A’whora back against the mattress, straddles her whilst unbuttoning her shirt and punctuating each button with a featherlight kiss, which she knows is driving A’whora out of her mind if the way she’s squirming underneath Tayce is anything to go by. A’whora’s scrabbling at the buttons on Tayce’s dress but she doesn’t have the patience or presence of mind that she does, and Tayce almost wants to giggle at the way she’s only done two buttons by the time Tayce has got her out of her shirt.

“Fuck’s sake, why did we both choose to wear things with so many fucking buttons,” A’whora growls quietly in frustration. Before Tayce knows what’s happening, A’whora has grabbed each seam and pulled, ripping the buttons of her dress off to expose Tayce in her own bra with the criss-cross straps at the back.

A’whora’s staring at her slack-jawed and Tayce can only blink at her in response. She can’t decide if A’whora ruining her dress has pissed her off or turned her on.

It’s definitely turned her on.

“Oh, you’re in a whole world of trouble for that, missy,” she narrows her eyes, pulling the rest of her dress off before moving so she can tug down A’whora’s skirt. She’s left in a matching set of red lace which she looks so sinful in that Tayce’s brain hotwires. Judging from the way A’whora’s hips are bucking against thin air, though, she’s not the only one that’s wound up.

“Jesus, Rory, lie still,” Tayce insists through a laugh. “I’m not about to try and eat you out and get a bloody pelvic bone to the face!”

A’whora whines, and Tayce watches her chest rise and fall rapidly as she stares up to the ceiling in a petulant huff. Her pout cracks, though, when Tayce spreads her legs and kneels between them, replacing her fingers with her lips as she kisses all the way up the inside of her thighs. The way A’whora huffs in frustration and grips the duvet with white knuckles makes Tayce’s core throb, and the need to touch herself is clouding her thoughts like smoke.

She already feels like she’s on fire, so she supposes it’s apt.

So Tayce decides to have a little fun, pulls back from A’whora and sits on her heels as she lets a hand flutter across her stomach and under the waistband of her underwear. She’s not going to take it too far- she’s only trying to teach A’whora a lesson- but as she brushes her fingers over her clit Tayce can’t help but give a little gasp, the satisfaction flooding through her.

The way A’whora flinches in horror and disappointment as she sits up and realises what’s happening makes Tayce feel momentarily sorry for her.

“Tayce!” she whines pitifully. “Fuck off, that’s not fair!”

“Life’s not fair, princess,” Tayce smirks, resting her other hand on her thigh.

“Oh my God, you’re such a bitch,” A’whora pouts at her. She knows A’whora could very easily start touching herself too, but Tayce knows she won’t. Tayce knows she only wants her, and that thought is so intoxicating that it knocks her for six a little, turning up the heat from a simmer to boiling point.

“If you want something from me, you’d better start being nicer.”

A’whora sits up and takes Tayce by the hand, pulls her into a kiss that’s so intense and full of lust it almost topples her over. When she pulls back her eyes are so big and pleading that Tayce feels bad for ever teasing her in the first place. “Please, Tayce. You know I’ll be good for you.”

Tayce cocks an eyebrow at her, but she moves her hand and rests it against A’whora’s other thigh anyway. “That’s the best begging you can manage, is it?”

A’whora smirks. “I’m not used to begging, I usually don’t have much of a problem getting what I want.”

Tayce shakes her head, mocking her as she gently pushes her back against the sheets again. “Such a spoiled brat.”

“Your spoiled brat, though,” A’whora grins smugly, cutting herself off with a gasp as Tayce hooks her fingers over the waistband of her underwear and tugs it off.

Tayce knows she’s going to eat her out but seeing how wet A’whora is makes her consider fucking her with her fingers. It’s a tantalising thought; the way A’whora always has to clamp a hand over her mouth to shut herself up because her moans get too loud, the complete lack of self-control she has when she rides Tayce’s fingers and the way she’ll guide them into her mouth and suck her own juice off them afterwards- Jesus fucking Christ. Tayce needs some sort of release soon or she’s going to be too overwhelmed to speak.

She wants to hear A’whora beg just a little bit more, though. Wants to feel her squirm and taste her on her tongue and trace patterns over her clit that make her whimper and tremble. So she kisses up her thighs again but this time she doesn’t waste any time in brushing over her clit with her tongue, the broken whine A’whora gives at the contact sounding completely illegal. A’whora pushes a hand into Tayce’s hair needily, and Tayce can hear her breathing coming in short gasps as she licks over her slit, swirls her tongue over her clit in a way she knows is good but isn’t what A’whora wants. Tayce is being deliberately slow and lazy, everything A’whora doesn’t need.

“Tayce, please,” A’whora pleads. Tayce kisses against her, then makes a big show of licking A’whora’s juice off her lips. From the way A’whora squeezes her eyes shut at the sight, it’s had the desired reaction.

“What is it, baby?” she murmurs lightly. A’whora gives a broken sob, thuds her head back against the pillow.

“Please, fucking…I need to come, I’m gonna fucking die if I don’t.”

Tayce can’t help but splutter a laugh, one which makes A’whora narrow her eyes at her. She supposes she’s had her fun.

“God, well we can’t have that on the post-mortem, can we?” she deadpans, before dipping her head back between A’whora’s legs and running her tongue over her clit like she’d done before, only this time she allows herself to be a little more messy and unrestrained. She’s rewarded by the little gasps A’whora gives, the whining and the moaning that’s getting more and more frequent with every flick of her tongue.

Tayce pulls away a little, brings her head up to look at A’whora. She’s got one hand in the cup of her bra and the other limp by her side, her chest gleaming with a light sheen of sweat. Her eyes are closed and her cheeks are red and her lips have dropped open, her breathing heavy and rapid.

A’whora’s the most beautiful girl in the world, and fuck, Tayce is so screwed.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” she says without thinking. She doesn’t know if she imagines it, but she swears A’whora’s cheeks grow redder.

“Does it feel good?” Tayce follows up her words, asks what she’d meant to ask in the first place.

A’whora bites her lip and nods her head. “Yeah.”

“You like it?”

“Fuck, yes,” A’whora squirms against the sheets, her frustration starting to show.

“Tell me how much.”

“Tayce, please-”

“Come on, princess. You’re being such a good girl using your words,” Tayce purrs, knowing that the praise will get a reaction out of her.

It does.

“Fuck, feels so good Tayce, so, so, fucking good…please don’t stop, please,” A’whora sighs out, then instantly cuts herself off with a cry as Tayce swipes her tongue over her clit again, gives her what she wants.

“Such a good angel baby,” Tayce murmurs against her, tracing over A’whora’s clit in circles and listening to her whimpers get more and more muffled as she bites down on her lip to shut herself up. She’s so desperate that she’s practically riding Tayce’s face at this point and it’s so hot that Tayce has to move a hand between her own legs, grinding against it as she licks A’whora again and again and surely she must be so close to the edge that-

Knock-knock-knock.

Tayce launches her head back from between A’whora’s legs so fast she thinks she’s given herself whiplash. When she locks eyes with A’whora her eyes are wide open too, the pair of them unable to do anything but look at each other, frozen in panic.

When Ellie’s voice comes, Tayce swears she’s never been closer to committing homicide. “Tayce, A’whora! We did Lawrence’s hair, you should see it!”

“Leave it, don’t answer,” A’whora hisses frantically at her. Tayce wouldn’t even be able to reply if she wanted to, the way the blood is racing in her veins and roaring in her ears rendering her motionless.

“We know you’re in, your coats are in the hall!” Lawrence’s voice comes, louder and with a hint of accusation to it.

Shit.

Tayce launches herself off the bed and throws A’whora’s clothes at her frantically as she shouts back. “Just…give us one minute!”

“The fuck are you doing in there that you need a minute?”

Tayce ignores her, trying to calmly turn her dress the right way round but it’s so inside out and jumbled up that it’s rendering the process a lot trickier than she needs it to be right now. A’whora’s in a worse situation, though- she’s got every button on her shirt to button up, and if she wasn’t able to unbutton Tayce’s shirt when she was horny she’s sure as hell unable to button her own up under pressure.

“Where the fuck is my thong? Where did you put it?” A’whora hisses at her, scrambling at the duvet in desperation. Tayce’s eyes dart round her floor, cursing herself for not having an immaculately tidy room like A’whora’s. With a sigh of relief she finds it sitting on top of a floordrobe pile and she snatches it up and throws it to A’whora quickly. She turns her attention back to her dress and can almost feel a stress headache growing at her temples. Why won’t the fucking thing turn the right way-

“Have we to stand out here all day like a pair of lemons?”

“Give us a bloody minute, Jesus!” Tayce yells back, feeling like punching the air as she finally sorts her dress out. Her blood runs cold, however, as she makes to tug it over her head and Lawrence’s voice comes again.

“For fuck’s sake, girls, I’m sure it’s not that bad, we’ve seen each other in worse states.”

The doorhandle moves and A’whora and Tayce both yell in tandem. “Nonononono!”

The door bursts open, Tayce is standing holding her unbuttoned dress in her bra and pants, A’whora’s on the bed in her thong and half a buttoned up shirt, and there’s Ellie and Lawrence in the doorway with their eyes wide and jaws slack. Lawrence, in all her freshly lilac-dyed glory, is the first to turn around, pushing against Ellie frantically as she tries to exit the room as quickly as she came in. As she’s leaving, Tayce hears the start of her sentence.

“What possible heterosexual explanation could there fuckin’ be-”

Tayce can only look at A’whora, whose head is in her hands in embarrassment. Her heart goes out to her and she crosses the room and sits beside her on the bed, placing a hand on her knee to comfort her.

“Well. They know.”

“And so will the whole flat in about five minutes’ time,” A’whora deadpans into her hands. When she pulls her head back her face is beetroot red, and even though Tayce is embarrassed too she can’t help but laugh at the state her friend is in.

“Fuck’s sake,” Tayce shakes her head as she giggles, resigned to the fact their secret is out. There’s a pause of silence before A’whora frowns.

“I’m sorry.”

Tayce frowns back at her affectionately. “What’re you apologising for! It’s not like it was either of our faults.”

There’s a silence again in which A’whora brings her knees up to her chest and hugs them.

“Do you still want to…you know. Do you still want to keep doing all this? Now they know.”

Tayce nods quickly. A thought occurs to her and she frowns. “Unless you don’t want to?”

“No! No, I still do,” A’whora insists, a shy smile growing on her face that lifts Tayce’s hopes a bit.

Tayce pokes A’whora’s arm, slyly grins in realisation. “Well. Guess if the whole flat knows then there’s no real reason to be quiet from now on, is there?”

When A’whora meets her eyes there’s a spark between them, and when they fall against the mattress together in a kiss then Tayce thinks maybe the others knowing about the pair of them won’t matter a single bit.

As long as they get to keep doing this together.

[dailycharacteroption]

Races Among the Stars 1: Androids

In an effort to include more Starfinder content on the blog, this week we’re going to dive into one of the most robustly diverse forms of character customization in the entire system: all the various playable species in the game.

Like our other race/ancestry entries for Pathfinder, we’ll be doing one per day, and start making a dent in the ever-expanding Star Wars Cantina of men and beasts that Starfinder delights in emulating and exploring, Starting off with one of the core races, androids!

 More than mere robots, androids are complex machines that sport synthetic flesh and complex mechanical brains so advanced and life-like that they are capable of attracting a soul when “born”, making them fully sapient beings that are afforded the same rights as their flesh and blood compatriots, at least in systems and societies where the law favors them.

Appearance-wise, androids can vary a lot. The vast majority are built to resemble various humanoid races, the majority appearing human in shape, though those resembling other races do exist. Beyond that, their appearance varies greatly based on their design. While some have normal skin tones for a member of the species they resemble, others have entirely different colorations. Additionally, which some have super-realistic synth-flesh, others are more akin to fully mechanical in composition with a set of synth-skin wrapping. One thing that remains common, however, is the tendency for androids to have tattoo-like circuit patterns visible on their skin.

The fact that these androids share so many traits points to a connection to the ancient Androffan android designs of the Pathfinder era, though whether the technology was lifted wholesale and reverse-engineered sometime before the Gap and the loss of Golarion, or simply a case of convergent technological process is unknown.

 Sadly, being created beings, androids have a history of suffering under the control of corporations and governments that saw them as useful property, rather than people, but thankfully, most civilized sectors of space consider them full citizens these days, though enough corporate bondage on the fringes and exploitation still exists that organizations like the Android Abolition Front are still a thing.

The modern android society is somewhat insular thanks to the prejudice they sometimes experience and the lingering stings of their bondage. While fully capable of emotion, androids sometimes have trouble processing and expressing those emotions, making them seem standoffish and awkward to others. Additionally, while gender is not a necessary part of their people, androids run the gamut of possible gender interpretations, including many that do not identify as any gender at all, either out of personal identity, or out of rejecting concepts that were forced upon them by their creators.

While androids cannot die of old age, eventually the soul of an android yearns for greater things. In these cases, an android will undergo renewal, their previous soul departing while the nanomachines integral to their bodies begin rapidly restoring their body to mint condition (which often also changes their appearance greatly, and allowing a new soul to inhabit this new form, starting a new life. To many androids, this is seen as less a death and more of a new birth. Because of this, a singular body might have had many lives over the course of centuries.

 The standard model android is agile and intelligent, though somewhat awkward socially. They also have the average amount of vitality for a human-sized creature.

Blurring the line between living thing and construct, androids can be affected by both, but their bodies do offer some advantages, namely resilience to disease, poison, and mind-affecting effects unless they are geared to target constructs. Additionally, they can survive in a vacuum with no issues.

Sporting advanced photoreceptors, androids can see in the dark and low-light conditions.

Their difficulty in grasping and expressing emotion makes it hard to androids to read others, but it also makes them hard to read as well.

Having mechanical bodies, androids can physically upgrade themselves not only with cybernetics like normal, but also install upgrades normally built for armor, assuming they are more lightweight augmentations.

 Of course, not every android is cut from the same cloth, and there are not only alternate racial traits, but even alternate ability score adjustments. For example, companion models were designed for companionship. While this does indeed include those built for carnal pursuits, it also covers butlers and surrogate family member models. These models tend to be more lifelike in design, and forgo their normal physical and mental specifications in favor of a better personality matrix, able to interact more easily with living creatues.

Alternatively, labor models are more bulky and robust, sporting superior strength and toughness while keeping the social awkwardness. Such models had the hardest time being treated as equal sapients due to their origin as corporate laborers.

As far as other variations go, some are designed to install additional augmentations instead of armor upgrades.

Others look so much like whatever species they resemble that they can easily pass for a member of that species.

Some androids have built-in infosphere integration, able to link up to local infosphere data and even download data packets on various topics for later use.

A few androids are built as translators, and have a knack for learning extra languages.

Whether they are relics of the distant past or simply built to resemble them, some androids have particularly active nanites able to boost their abilities, repair them, or otherwise aid them, depending on the type.

As mentioned previously, some androids are built to resemble other species. When this occurs, they tend to inherit the physical advantages (either anatomy or appearance) of that species, such as a kasathan android having four arms and agile bodies. This alternate trait has an extensive list, but it could be added to by an enterprising homebrewer.

 Androids can do well in pretty much any class, though unless they use the companion array, they will suffer a bit in charisma-based classes such as envoys and witchwarpers. They might make good operatives, canny mechanics or technomancers that understand machines in a way that few fleshlings can, mystics and vanguards that try to understand their place in the universe, biohackers that seek to understand what it means to be alive, and more.

If you’re looking to play a character who has the conflict of trying to understand one’s place in a universe where they are made differently, are viewed differently, and think differently to the vast majority of others, this race might be what you’re looking for. Everything from Blade Runner to Data from Star Trek and beyond can serve as inspiration here.

[calicosol-blog]

Couch Recycling Near Me

Affordable Sustainable Furniture

Will the tropical leaf print pads that are at present on your sofa end up in the garbage close by the high difference chevron throw you had three years earlier? In case speedy furniture continues to climb as quick as fast plan has, the fitting reaction is yes.

As demonstrated by EPA estimations, in excess of nine tons of furniture and home adornments ended up in landfills in 2015. In an ideal world, all purchaser product would be financially created and sensible. Regardless, that isn't the world we live in. Is it really marvelous for buyers to overextend themselves financially for being green? Where might it be a smart thought for us to stand firm and it is practical to find adjust?

Speedy Fashion To Fast Furniture

In prior numerous years, unbelievable game plans on furniture could be found in stores (plausible with the word discount in the name) that sold the whole room. Groups would consolidate a love seat, loveseat and ottoman for a low, minimal expense. They'd even throw in a free game plan of lights. However, that is as of now not stand-out.

Progressed

A couple of fast style retailers have parlayed their reputation into the home market. An extraordinary outline of this is Zara Home, which offers lots of sharp engineer complex subject dupes for each room in the home. They also have a confined assurance of furniture including irregular tables and seats.

Nevertheless, individual European fast plan retailer H&M has a substitute technique. They don't offer any decorations, yet have a greater assurance of expressive topic and embellishments. There are a couple of lines inside the home grouping including Conscious, which features things like cushions made of sensible regular cotton. In all honesty, the brand's greater target is to use absolutely 100% reused or other sensibly sourced materials by 2030.

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Wayfair Gets On Board

Wayfair has reliably offered a plan of things in each worth reach from sofas under $200 to more than $27k from its upscale picture Perigold. In June, they dispatched Hashtag Home, which is expressly displayed as speedy style. The line has furniture and additional items for each room in snappy, electronic media pleasant tones. It's a splendid, serious, and certified move for the brand.

Buyers are adequately canny to understand that the modest pieces they're presumably going to gather themselves with little screwdrivers most likely will not go to their next apartment suite, never mind their grandchildren. So why envision something different?

They Don't Make It Like They Used To

It's fair to say that various Millennials and intelligent some of Generation Z put adequate energy in the receiving area with Dad's old seat or a sofa that never really ought to have been displaced. However, it will likely be a substitute story for their children. "[Furniture] is ending up being more unnecessary than collectible and that infers pieces are not a lot of made enough to be given over through ages," says inside originator Barbara Schmidt of Studiobstyle.

Comparative as style, it's not hard to find sensible variations of designer styles. "The most stuck and popular styles are introduced by shippers more affordable, speedier and with less quality than any time in ongoing memory. As an organizer, I see emphasess of expensive plans in the critical chain retailers almost as fast as a new prevailing fashion hits Pinterest," she says.

Schmidt feels it is imperative that clients, makers, organizers, and producers look for eco-obliging, ethically and financially sourced things. "For sure, even with these undertakings, we continue to contemplate whether it's adequate to help the environment and slow ecological change. I'm a significant protector of reusing pieces and upcycling furniture to give them new life. This is the truly viable furniture that I need to focal point for my clients."

Schmidt takes however much honest conviction as could reasonably be expected, by reusing building materials, furniture, establishments and whatever else that can be repurposed. She in like manner gives supporting additional arrangement materials like models, divider covers, surfaces and tile to subject matter experts.

The Need For Fast Furniture

While various furniture purchases are necessities, need is moreover a factor, especially when families need to consume a greater space, explains Brian Sheehan, displaying overseer of Hollingsworth. "In this current reality where home credits are growing, people are at this point moving starting with one space then onto the next and require new furniture to oblige their spaces," he says. "With a compelling stock organization, people are less disposed to move furniture starting with one home then onto the next. Taking everything into account, it is more profitable to sell/dispose of something and override it with refreshed furnishings."

Sheehan sees while this may not be magnificent for the environment, it justifies communicating that 13% of Hollingsworth's stockrooms are involved by speedy decorations. As much complement as we put on sensibility, when in doubt, fast furniture isn't vanishing any time soon.

Alternatives Approaches

Enrollment models are one decision to speedy furniture that is on the climb. New organizations, for instance, Fernish and Feather have reiterated the rental business offering smooth pieces from outstanding retailers. While the typical family isn't their customer, people who are in transitory life stages are.

The used furniture market is furthermore prospering in different ways. Numerous people are buying and selling more noteworthy pieces used through Facebook Marketplace as an alternative rather than Craigslist.

Kaiyo is another web based business place that sells just utilized pieces. They say they've kept in excess of 800,000 pounds of furniture out of landfills.

In June 2019, Poshmark dispatched The Home Market. While furniture isn't open yet, a collection of home supplement characterizations including bedding, shower embellishments and divider craftsmanship are.

Security

While the biological impact of fast furniture is clear, that isn't the fundamental issue. Eugene Kim, who is the originator of home equipping brand Dims says there are issues to consider. "Most furniture is made with the most economical possible culminations and pastes, which (as anybody may expect) suggests they release risky fume and poisons," he says.

Reduces uses premium Greenguard confirmed fruitions and pastes on all of their wood things since they satisfy exhaustive rules for low releases of hazardous manufactured substances. "These materials do cost even more anyway as furniture makers, we trust it's a simple choice that the furniture we make should not adequately hurt our customers," Kim explains.

Just as ending up in landfills, designed strands in materials can be hazardous in substitute ways, says Armadillo and Co prime ally Sally Pottharst. "Armadillo and Co deliberately sidesteps designed fibers as a result of how virgin created materials are delivered utilizing oil based goods, which remove tremendous proportions of energy to isolate oil from the start to make."

Finding Balance

So how does the typical individual find balance? Mulling over impression is one philosophy. Generally, the greater a thing is, the more sensible it should be. For those on a tight spending plan, things that don't ought to be solid like irregular tables, feature seats and elaborate format can be purchased financially. Then, pick phenomenal sofas, beds, devouring tables, etc

It's moreover possible to find pieces absolutely strong at a reasonable expense. Kyle Hoff, Co-Founder of Floyd, started the brand to find that reasonable trade off. "You can make a thing out of reused materials the whole day, yet on the off chance that it's something tossed out a year sometime later, what advantage is that? In any case quality materials and being deliberate concerning how our things are created, we think one with regards to the best differentiators is genuinely arranging the thing to be kept. That suggests you assemble and destroy it."

The brand's furniture is arranged with parts that are useful, so if something breaks later on, simply a section ought to be superseded.

Hoff furthermore acknowledges that style can be fundamental for practicality. "While most furniture associations are revolved around this current season's lounge chair, Floyd is going through years culminating a thing that we'll stay behind for a serious long an ideal opportunity to come, a fundamental factor in the circumstance of making an ever-enduring piece."