#I enjoy the joke but it really makes me uncomfortable how many people believe it’s true

[f1cha0s]

Now seriously guys it’s almost worrying how many news outlets put out the story about the fernando/taylor thing but as if it was an actual rumor like it was based on something without even mentioning that it was a joke that started on twitter. 😵‍💫 makes you think about how many bullshit articles are out there that people take as facts just because a “respectable” news outlet put it out

[boofeine]

Heyyyy I really love your writing and I think it fits the members very well

I am not sure if you do these types of request but are you okay with writing headcanons on Jeonghan's personality? Like just his personality in general? Are you okay with adding some spicy (I didn't know which other word I was supposed to use) ones at the end? How would he be like? I am a very weird person and I love analysing people's personality and jeonghan happens to be my main interest these days lol. You can do it through tarot if you want!! You of course know better than me lol and I am completely alright if you don't wanna do my request. I will still love you lol

helloo!! u r def not weird at all!! as a psychology major bb i also love analyzing ppl :)))) — i won't work with tarot for now bc next year im planning on open requests just for it. one more thing I've done tarot in their persona in bed over here !

Jh's personality – headcanons

WARNINGS: mdni under the cut, descriptive and mention of sexual subjects

jeonghan gives me best friends vibes... he looks calm, almost indifferent, but he just looks like he loves to peep with you, to talk for hours and go grab meals together. he reminds me of family.

you know his lives just eating, joking around and talking... that's exactly how he is with his friends. obviously, he's more reserved because it's with us, but i feel he is all out with his friends. that one friend that literally doesn't know when to stop the teasing and goes overboard, but it's funny nonetheless... especially when he's drunk.

prefers to do meetings at his home with homemade barbecue and beverages. or going to a restaurant with his close friends. not the club type 100%. he likes the introspective meetings.

cocky and flirty for fun :/

so so so so caring!!!!!! the type of person you'd choose to say your deepest secrets and ask advice. hears you closely, gives you comfort, and tries to help you how he can. he will even make sure to check up on you for the next days, make a joke or two to light up your mood.

he's love language is probably acts of service.

don't ever pick up a fight with jeonghan... he's that type of scary that nothing bothers him until it does. his words get assertive, and he's not afraid of saying what he has to.

something makes me believe jeonghan is protective with his friends. he will speak up if he's in a situation that makes any of his friends or anyone really uncomfortable. when there's something you tell him, he not necessarily picks a fight but encourages you to do what you should, would that be cut someone toxic from your life or doing what you want.

Spicy Thoughts

kinky!!!! KINKYYY!!! he will be honest with his wantings and desires with you, you will know what he wants to try, and he's hoping you're wanting too. communicative as hell, we love it.

jeonghan isn't quiet. man trying to contain himself?? not him!! he moans, groans, dirty talk, grunts, the whole package bb. you're making him feel good, and he wants you to know.

a switch and open for anything.

sex drive high and horny. when i say he's open for anything, i mean it... he's up for anything!! will not always be penetrative sex, you want to get on your knees and suck him, fine, let's do it. want to make out, grind and cum on your panties, he's up to. just finger you and make you cum on his tongue, okay... let's do that.

not the type to enjoy lazy or slow sexy, he likes raw, sweaty, and nasty sex.

im sorry, but i do believe he'd go to strip clubs. i feel like sex is a need for him, like a healthy need, you know what i mean? so if he's not with someone, he'd would satisfy that paying for it.

a tease, baby!!! prepare yourself for overstimulation, sensory play, and orgasm denial. he's up to make you cum many times 🙂‍↕️ you're getting sore and sensitive next morning.

jeonghan is not aggressive. he's ok with accessories, handcuffs, blindfolds, anything, he's just not causing you any physical pain.

[autisticfaun420]

I opened up to my mom about age regression

(if you are reading this and are new to my blog I am high support needs autistic and I already have childish interests please don’t say I’m infantilizing autism)

So first of all she kind of knew something was up with me, I brought my plushie with me to my disability day program. I showed her my blog, she said she hadn’t logged into my account to check yet so it was a surprise to her. First of all she was very proud and said I was brave for opening about some of my struggles and being so candid about it, I don’t know if it’s bravery or just autism making it so I don’t know what’s appropriate to share haha. Then I showed her my posts about age regression and how I learned about it here and was like, instant hyper fixation for me. I told her about how I never felt negatively infantilized by her and my dad almost never compared to people at school or strangers and I enjoy the connection we have when my parents kind of “baby” me the right way when they take care of my support needs. Like I need to have physical touch to calm me down and being cradled and my diaper changes are met with nick names, hugs and tickles, yeah very embarrassing I’m sure but whatever. I told her about “little space” and how I already enter it when she takes care of me sometimes and she said she always knew something like was going on but never pushed me or into it and made sure I was enjoying myself in those moments. She said if it would make me happy she and my dad would for sure be willing to help me out with little space. I told her that I want to take the power back from people who infantilized me negatively and assume I can’t think for myself by doing this and that surprised her but she said it made sense. I mentioned that I want to keep what independences and adult privileges I do have and I don’t want them to think I want this 24/7 and they said of coarse they will and I trust them. She had a talk with my dad real fast and they agreed to let me spend some of the money I saved up doing internet surveys, like a hundred dollars for an age regression starting pack essentially, my dad asked if this is really what I want and I guess the way I looked at him after and nodded made him believe me. My dad talked to me about how it’s important to keep my regression inside so others don’t get the wrong idea and I said of coarse and I shouldn’t do more then take my plushie with me in public and I agree. However I’m getting an adult sized bottle and pacifier, a mobile for my special needs cubby bed and a few fisher price toys. I am over the moon ecstatic and my mom said she’ll throw in the money for overnight shipping cause I earned it for using coping mechanisms when meltdowns could of gone worse lately.

I told them about pet regression too and they were still supportive of me being interested in it, they said they would feel uncomfortable with treating their disabled child like a pet personally and I can see where they’re coming from on that. They told me that one day I can find someone special to do that stuff with. As you can imagine dating is really hard with my level of needs but I’m not completely discouraged I’ll find somebody but that’s a post for another day. We did have a talk about how much I enjoyed being on an anti elopement harness and how I would pretend play as a puppy when out on walks with her, she said she knew had a feeling that’s what I was doing. Also I had my pacifier till 4 or 5 years and she said me giving it up was one of the hardest things she saw me go through and joked about it like I’m a drug addict about to relapse on it. I still have so many oral stims and use chewerly throughout the day so I think she has a point. Imagining what a paci would feel like in my mouth makes me feel so happy. I am just excited all around and can’t wait till tomorrow. For now my mom asked if I wanted some “little time” tonight and of course she said yes. We watched In the Night Garden on the big TV while she stroked my hair and cuddled when I normally only watch shows like that on my tablet as a form of stimming I guess. It was nice watching it where I could relax. I felt extra giggly at all the dumb stuff in the show, my friends describe it as an “acid trip” if that gives you an idea about what it’s like. My mom after the episode tickles me down and played games with me like I did when I was a little kid and I loved it. I started crying tears of happiness because I felt so loved I guess you could say. She teared a little bit too and told me every mother secretly wishes they could still baby their grown children so she said she had fun, I don’t know if it’s true or not but it’s a funny thought.

I feel so happy I wanted to write this out and share with you guys. I don’t know what else to say I think I wrote out enough. Now my mom wants me to get into my pajamas early I think she’s having too much fun with this but so am I and my dad is gonna run to get some of my favorite ice cream when I was a kid. I feel so lucky to have parents who can support my physical and emotional and disability support needs.

[admirange]

Ok this is a hot take and I know for a fact people will get mad at me, but after playing the 8th episode, I don't think it was that bad people were saying it was.

Maybe because all my friends, even family tease eachother in similar ways like the office scene in the episode, just funnier bc yk. Irl jokes are always funnier. And before anyone mentions it, I also do have traumas from harrassment, fucked me up hard, still couldn't heal from it entirely. I just didn't see this episode that way. And no, I did not enjoy every aspect of the story.

First of all, I saw a lot of people calling the characters coworkers, and while that's true, it's mentioned sooo many times in the episodes that they are friends. Some are childhood friends even. That's a pretty important information to add.

As I said, the office teasing was pretty lighthearted imo. I already made this example but will say it again, how many sitcom series do these same things? And do we get mad at the writers for it? (I'm sure some people are, but not the average person). If Roy was really uncomfortable with the jokes I'm sure he would've told everyone and they'd stop. But again, it's just teasing between friends.

Now onto the next part, I do agree spying on him is not right. I took the route of going but telling him about it, so idk what happened if you didn't. But he didn't seem angry throughout the episode. The characters being excited about it was kinda weird I admit that one, but couldn't help but draw a comparison between this and How I met your mother. It's my fav sitcom, and the characters sometimes get excited to humiliate/tease eachother as well. Would it be acceptable irl? Not at all. But it's fictional. I think it's important to see how the victim sees these situations as well, and as I said, I didn't feel like Roy was uncomfortable.

However I agree this episode is on thin ice since everyone's boundaries are different. Sexual jokes are too early to make. The main issue is still beemoov rushing everything.

Well I feel like I also have to add that it's usually hard for me to get angry with fictional stories. If it's bad, I just leave. Come on people, you're getting mad at an otome game. It really seems ridiculous when we take a few steps back. No, I'm not saying forming negative opinions is not allowed, it very much is, I did too in this post. But I've seen so hateful comments lately (okay not just lately, I see it under every post about Eric too), it's not normal to be this mad about a game.

Beemoov probably already saw the complaints, they said the episodes can't be rewritten once published, and I believe they'll probably try to do better in the future. I'm not being naive, I know their stuff, good and bad (mostly bad), been playing for 10 years. They are currently working on redoing the style contest voting as well, because we complained.

The point is, just try not being this hateful. I completely understand being pissed at beemoov, we have reasons for that. But attacking other players for their opinions, really? This behaviour is ruining the fandom, not the company.

[lavender-long-stories]

I wrote 1 MILLION words in 2024. 

This post will act as a Q&A and a retrospective of my experience. In the last year, I have received many questions about what I recommend writing consistently, so I want to dump all that information in one place in the hopes that it might help someone who wants to write a little more.

Questions

Did you expect this at all when you were setting the goal back then? Maybe a hunch? From Asks Inbox

At the beginning of the year, a few people joked that I could hit 1 million words. I didn’t think it was possible, but it was nice that they believed in me. Even when I hit the 500k in July, I didn’t think it was possible because it meant I would have to do the same amount of words in 5 months. That just took me 7 months to do. So then I set it to 800k because that seemed more reasonable. I thought I might reach 900k, but never 1 million. Then I wrote 100k in Aug, and I had another 100k in just the first two weeks of Sept, and that is when I realized I could reasonably hit 100k at the rate I was going. I updated the website code but forgot to push the changes. 

How did you feel when you first realized you were surpassing the goal way earlier than you might have expected? From Asks Inbox

Uh, this is going to be a depressing answer, but actually, hitting goals doesn’t feel super fulfilling for me. I think I felt way more excited month after month, watching them build up, and by the time I actually hit them, I was a little numb to it.

I don’t believe it helped that the higher the word count got, I think the less people were excited for me. It's not their fault. I think they got used to it, too. It became more ‘expected’ rather than an achievement.

Is there a pairing you wrote about this year that you didn’t think you would write at the start? From Asks Inbox

ChoHina and KankHina. Those were both requests from @0rent and @nikandrros

Do you have a pairing you're thinking about writing but haven’t gotten to yet or haven’t released? From Asks Inbox

I had a secret goal this year of doing one story for each of the pairings that I wanted to but hadn’t, and with a one-shot out already and multi-chapter coming out before the year ends for Deidara, I will have checked off every single pairing I set out for at the beginning of the year.

I know you wrote a lot of SasuHina, but do you have a personal favorite ship of the year, or is it SasuHina? From Asks Inbox

I think I have the most ideas for SasuHina, and I do enjoy writing them deeply, but my favorite? That is really hard to say because usually my favorite is the last one I was working on. The issue is I love couple dynamics more than anything, and it's really hard to pick between them.

SasuHina is the most versatile as the dynamic can change depending on the situation you put them in, but it usually boils down to pessimism and optimism, but with them both having a little of both. Hinata having pessimism in her skills but optimism for others in general. Sasuke has optimism for his ambitions but pessimism for everyone else.

KisaHina has a lovely big brute and little joy aspect that I love. I really like the idea that Hinata feels safe in a shadow of someone taller and doesn’t judge the scars, and Kisame is sheepish when given affection and trying to be gentle.

HidaHina is funny to me because it doesn’t look like it should work, but Hidan’s brash personality actually fits well with Hinata’s passive one. Hinata appreciates honesty, and Hidan is nothing if not honest. Hidan does what he wants, and no one yelling about him is going to make him change, but I think if made uncomfortable enough, he would tweak his behavior, like Hinata being visibly uncomfortable but not scolding him. It's a very fun dynamic to play with.

GaaHina is warm in a way that is hard to explain. Both are rather calm people in their adulthood. Gaara feels a lot of guilt and has a perception of how others view him and accept that, but Hinata is forgiving and would see new, improved behavior as who he is now and ignore the past, and I think that challenges his worldview in fun ways.

ShikaHina is very comfortable, both quiet, reserved, and smart, but Shikamaru is far more observant and logical, whereas Hinata sees what paints her the worst and others better. Shikamaru makes for an interesting lead for stories where it is clear he is seeing things that Hinata isn’t but not speaking up about it.

SasoHina has a special place in my heart from back in my first fic (Lavender Clouds). The pure difference in seeing the best in people and intentions verse seeing the worst in people and intentions. Sasori being egotistical contrasts well against Hinata, who has nearly less than an ego, particularly when he can become frustrated that she doesn’t seem more in herself. It makes for arguments with chemistry, you can feel.

Bonus Dynamic I have come to love: Fugaku as a father figure/mentor to Hinata. I find the stern but more forgiving father figure a very nice contrast to Hiashi and Hinata’s relationship. I like to see the build-up of seeing Hinata as another pain to appreciating that no matter what, she keeps trying even if she is below rock bottom. And of course, Hinata having a decent father figure to look up to does not hurt.

Do you have goals and hopes for 2025? From Asks Inbox

Oh boy. Having a hard time choosing more than just do it all again, really.

Do it all again. The 100k, the rotation of ships, keep the streak going (hopefully hit a full year in Feb)

Do you make preparations before you write? Do you have to be doing specific things in order to get into writing mode?… I was just thinking if that plays a part in how you could sustainably build up routine From @daifukumochiin

I do not have any kind of routine to get into a writing mood, but that is because I have made the barrier to entry to writing very low. I have ADHD and mental blocks between me and the thing I want to do feel like mountains rather than pebbles, so it is ideal if there is 0 resistance or distraction between me and opening a doc to write.

For this I have a very intense notion board set up that allows me to easily keep track of all of my stories. [If anyone is interested in that, I can make another post on an updated version of that board - here is the old version of my Notion Writing Template]

I can open my writing page, then a story page for its notes, and its current chapter document with three clicks. 

Now, of course, that had an upfront setup up, and is might be over kill for someone working on one thing at a time, but once I had it in place, it was low maintenance, and all my notes are in one place, and I can start in a few moments.

Also, getting to a million is not an easy feat. I know you’re a planner than a pantser. But, just as the fics you’ve been posting recently, with Hinata in even more unconventional ships, do you think character/pairing first before plot or do you tend to come up with a plot first and then decide which character would fit it best?  From @daifukumochiin

I am not a planner. XD (context planners outline their writing and pantsers “fly by the seat of their pants”’)

I already talked to Mochi about this on Discord, but this still makes me laugh. I think this misunderstanding is because of my organization when it comes to knowing what five or more stories I am working on, what chapters are going up, and what I need to work on next. That is mistaken for actually planning the stories I am working on.

To be clear, I almost never have anything close to an outline on a story. What I tend to have when I am writing is a mildly organized massive note dump that will have everything I have thought of regarding that story, cute fluff moments that could be placed anywhere, main plot points I want to happen (might be subject to change), and key list of things like character’s professions or motivations if I already wrote it in, or it’s important something I want to get to and then maybe the plot to maybe the next 3-5 chapters at most bullet pointed for general direction. There have been a few expectations, but very, very rare for me to have any sort or real outline in place.

I rarely know how a story will end until I get within five chapters of it. This is why I can never answer the question, ‘How many more chapters do you think this is going to be’? I don’t know when it will end or how it will end. It will tell me when I get there.

When it comes to story concepts, verse pairing, how most of my story ideas come about from inspiration from my own writing or talking about a dynamic that a couple already has. So, usually, the couple comes baked into the idea. However, if the idea is just ‘let me put Hinata in a situation,’ that situation may not have a pair attached, and in that case, it goes on a specific general ideas board that I tend to steal from to give to more fleshed-out stories.

Do you think working with a variety of material contributed to you reaching an even higher word count? From @daifukumochiin

I would say so. Mainly because if I ever get bored with one story, I can move to another. If I get bored with that, I can move to ANOTHER. Ping-pong balling myself around means I can rarely get writer's block solidly to the point I can write nothing. And if I am not interested in writing anything that I have active, I have a concepts board with 100+ stories on it all begging to be written.

Did you ever have moments where there’s a scene you wanted to do, but you just didn’t have the words for it, or you didn’t know how to go about it, picking up where you last left off? Do you just dive recklessly into a scene, or did you have moments where you were like, “I think I’ll do this differently than I initially envisioned because it’s too difficult”? From @daifukumochiin

On occasion, I can get stuck on a scene, but it’s rare. I am not trying to make every scene perfect as much as I am just trying to make the story happen, so I usually just write it the best I can and move on and see if I hate it in editing (usually, I was just thinking about it too much and when I read it back it’s fine). If I get particularly frustrated and stuck, I then can just put it down and come back after writing a few chapters of something else, and that tends to wipe my expectations for the scene, and I can look at it with new eyes.

It’s rare and hasn’t happened in months, but there have been times when a scene was so bad that I realized I had written myself in a direction I didn’t want to go and deleted five chapters to go a different way, but that doesn’t happen often and symptom of me trying to push an idea that simply wasn’t going to work.

Generally, I don’t put a lot of weight on individual scenes panning out perfectly as much as I do with the whole story continuing in the direction I want it to.

Which new Hinata ship did you enjoy writing? from @0rent

All of them. XD

How did you keep the motivation to write so many words? from @Orent

I don't rely solely on motivation as much as I have made it a habit to keep writing when the motivation isn't there and abusing the motivation when I have it.

Motivation comes and goes. Use it while you have it but don't wait for it to come to continue writing.

How do you paced yourself? From @kavi_vu_ on discord

Writing every day. 

Making monthly personal goals rather than trying to look at the whole year. 

Set a daily goal and aim slightly above it. Meaning with any word count goal, know what your daily word count HAS to be and then try to write just slightly more than it so when you have a low day, you don’t have to scramble to make up for it. For example, if you are going for 30k in a 30-day month, that is 1k a day, but aim for 1.2k or 1.5k rather than just hitting the number and calling it a day, especially toward the beginning when you have the most motivation so that you can have a 100-word day or two late and not have the scramble to make up for it.

How did you ended up deciding to write 1 million words? From @kavi_vu_ on discord

I didn’t, I only set out to write 500k.

Would you do this again? From @kavi_vu_ on discord

I plan to do it again next year.

Do you recommend this experience to others including newbie writers? From @kavi_vu_ on discord

I don’t think I can recommend 1 million to anyone who doesn’t make it like their main hobby.

I do recommend tracking words to everyone, if nothing else to have cool data at the end of the year.

Have you seen a change in your writing style/habits? Anon on discord

Not really. I have been writing the same way for a very long time.

What I Learned/Takeaways 

I originally had a list of takeaways that I had been piling up, but almost all that I was planning ended up covered in the questions. Here is what wasn’t:

MORE words on the page quicker: Dictation is frustrating to start, but damn, it is useful.

I picked up dictation (speech-to-text) in Aug, and without it, I probably wouldn’t have gone for the home stretch for 1 million. I can type rather quickly, but my spelling is poor, and realizing that a word is spelled horrendously wrong can be distracting. On top of that, no matter how fast I type, it will never be as fast as I can think and speak, and I find it better to get all the thoughts of the chapter out and go back a fix after. If nothing else, I would recommend it for taking bullet notes, just to empty your brain of empty of ideas.

[If anyone is interested in a brief dictation post, I can make that.]

Try not to compare yourself to others.

I want to say this knowing that it will not be received well by everyone.

If your response to someone doing 10k writing days is to say, ‘oh man I can do only 1k’ or ‘it's easy for you, and it’s hard for me’ then you are being way too hard on yourself. You are comparing and I don’t recommend it. It does not serve you to look to anyone else and put yourself under them.

If you tell me you got 200 words in a day, I will cheer you on because that is progress toward your story. I will NEVER tell you it’s not enough, only to keep going, keep writing at whatever pace you can, and I am proud of you for continuing.

I am proud of you for writing whatever you do, and I think you should be, too.

Find Community 

I know that this is easier said than done, but if you are writing a story that you care about, go talk about it. There are lots of discords for all kinds of fandoms, and you might find some great story tellers in there as well.

I would like to encourage you to have a place where people can find you to talk to you about your work (like Tumblr) linked in your profile because sometimes, the people who want to talk about your stories as much as you do find you. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t find anyone right away. I spent 8+ years hiding from the communities, but I am very happy that I have joined them.

Write until a Nari finds you.

This is where I would like to talk for a little moment to highlight the chaos demon that is at fault for a good portion of the story concepts that have been written in the last two years AND who I go to when I need to talk about a plot, the lovely @nikandrros.

@nikandrros is one of those lovely commenters that writers dream about, who writes comments so long and so unhinged that they exceed the character limit of AO3’s comment system and have to be broken up into parts. They then found me on Tumblr, and we have been bestest friends ever since. They text you at 3 am with lovely ideas like ‘What if we hit Itachi with a car?’ and ‘Let me tell you this thing that happened at the office that is straight out of a Kdrama’ and ‘I need Sasuke crying face down on a couch.’ I literally can’t write out all the examples I want to because that would take forever, but if you have enjoyed anything I have put out in the last year at least, thank @nikandrros for either the unhinged ideas I had to tone down or keeping me motivated when I am 8k deep into a 12k writing night. I adore you @nikandrros, and I hope everyone gets themselves a @nikandrros.

Ready for another 1 million?

Thank you for all the questions! If you have any more, don't be afraid to ask. I will link them here. If you're shy, feel free to ask Annon.

If you are interested in any follow-ups on the processes, let me know.

[ambeer6]

Longer than expected yapping about case 2 of DRDT. (dated ep 14 of ch 2)

Some thoughts about the chapter 2 case. Warnings for all the obvious.

First of all, I think Teruko is right about how the pulley system was set up. Rope over the rafters on the ceiling, then through the seesaw and then around the carousel. Then tying the rope to the correct length before letting go, so there's no worry about stopping the carousel with your bare hands. This simply makes sense.

Something that confuses me, is the amount of people arguing against this idea? Not many people on tumblr thankfully, but I don't really see why this setup would be unbelievable.

Advantages of the pulley:

Using a pulley reduces weight. Arei would be far easier to lift using this method. Even a kid could lift her this way by simply leaning into the carousel.

Using the pulley means you don't have to pick up Arei and hook her into the noose. You can simply leave her unconscious on the ground and hook the noose around her instead, then push the carousel.

Even if you're okay with her dying of strangulation, it's easy to tie the rope to the right length and just let her drop to break her neck. It grants Arei a quick death. (and you'll be done quicker)

Even if the killer is strong enough to just lift Arei into the noose, using a pulley is much easier and means you'll spend less time holding her. I know not everyone would care, but I certainly wouldn't enjoy holding onto an unconscious girl and trying to lift her into a noose, let alone an awake girl trying to struggle. (if you believe she woke up)

Downsides of the pulley:

A lot more work to clean up afterwards. Especially since we know most of it wasn't actually cleaned up, all they did was hang Arei into a different place afterwards. (I wonder if they were in a hurry, or if they assumed that somehow people wouldn't realize Arei couldn't have broken her neck from the short rope on the swingset)

a lot more work to set up to begin with. You'll have to either get up very early, or set it up the night beforehand if you wanted to be completely prepared for the murder. Clearly this wasn't just a spur of the moment thing.

That's pretty much all I can think of, honestly. When talking about the advantages or downsides of the pulley at least.

Other stuff that's maybe a bit silly to bring up:

Those fish are a bit big to have fitted through the holes in the jerrycan handles.

How do we think those jerrycans were attached to Arei? Like, I know the handles are broken (also giggle at the size of the holes and the size of the fish), but my question is more like... did they use rope? It sounds logical to use rope, but they don't mention any rope burn on Arei's body.

Maybe the 'glove is for ropeburn' truthers meant the ropeburn on Arei herself? Did the killer place the glove on Arei's neck before hanging the rope with the jerrycans off her? If they got rid of the jerrycans afterwards, maybe they also took Arei's glove. (disclaimer: I don't think they used the glove this way, but I'm open to arguments in favour of it's usage)

Rose mentioned she memorized the trash. Do you think there's a chance the needle and thread will be brought up by her? I feel like if those are going to be important, then Rose will be the person to mention seeing them in the trash.

Clothes baul.

Something else I want to mention is that the way some people talk about this case makes me uncomfortable. I want to remind people that this is just a story that someone wanted to tell. I understand that the people saying they'll drop hang themselves if the killer is a specific person are just joking, but if I were the dev, I'd feel extremely uncomfortable from just how many people are talking about the case like this.

I understand not wanting a certain character to die and I can't stop you from making jokes about it, but saying that killing off your fave character is a horrible writing choice and you'll kill yourself over it, would put immense stress on the dev, as well as everyone who helped with the project.

Also on the topic of writing: people make illogical decisions sometimes, but especially when under stress. The case needs to make sense, but I don't want people arguing something is bad writing because the killer made one or two illogical decisions along the way.

Another thing I noticed is that a lot of people are assuming what I call the "Ellery Queen case logic", which assumes that the reader (or viewer, in this case) should be able to solve the full murder based on the clues given during the investigation, before the confrontation (trial, in this case). While definitely understandable, it's great being able to solve things beforehand, we need to remember that this is not the only way to go about writing cases. Personally I've engaged more with what I call the "Arthur Conan Doyle case logic", which leaves the most vital piece(s) of evidence hidden from the reader (viewer) until the end of the final confrontation. This makes is either very difficult, or even impossible to solve the case beforehand, meaning you'll have to wait until the very end to even see the final piece of the puzzle.

Now, there's no saying whether Despair Time uses either one or the other case logic style (they could mix it up between every chapter if they want to), so because of that, I ask people to be polite about people's theories, even if they don't explain every single piece of evidence, or if they state that we need to wait for more evidence to be revealed even though the trial already started.

Nothing wrong with voicing your own ideas on people's theories, it can be helpful if they actually misremember something (I misremembered stuff too, so it was good to have it pointed out!) and can help people rework their theories with your arguments in mind, but I just ask that you're not condescending about it if you do.

THAT'S ALL! THANKS FOR READING!

[graveyardcuddles]

If you attack ascended Astarion at the epilogue party as a mindflayer, all the rest of the companions will join in the attack with you. Which doesn't make a ton of sense from my perspective because frankly, they should all be just as scared of mindflayer Tav as they are of ascended Astarion, if not even more so. Let's just be real and admit that Astarion, as "mean" as he is when he breaks up with mindflayer Tav, is 100% correct. Tav is not Tav anymore. Ilithids don't have souls. They're not a person anymore. And Tav can prove it by attacking him out of the blue at a peaceful-ass gathering. Even Astarion with how cruel and egotistical he becomes when ascended is still more "human" than a mindflayer because he at least retains his soul and personality, as warped as it becomes. That's all besides the point, though.

My main point it I just find it weird how so many so-called Astarion "fans" revile in this scene and find it so funny how Astarion "gets his comeuppance" in this scene or whatever. And I don't know about anyone else, but I find this scene incredibly sad and tragic. Both Astarion and Tav have lost themselves completely (Tav even more so than Astarion, I would argue). And it kinda baffles me how so few fans of Astarion can see how much he's clearly hurting here as well?

He claims he hasn't thought about Tav in the past 6 months, and he delivers the line in a way that is clearly meant to sting as much as possible. People point to that moment as a "gotcha" moment that Astarion genuinely doesn't miss Tav. But he then immediately contradicts this a few sentences later when he says thinks all the time about what could have been if they had stayed his consort and never became a mindflayer. And that all his power is nothing without Tav by his side (paraphrasing).

"OH he's just manipulating Tav" why would he say anything that would make him look weak or vulnerable? If anything, he should be bragging about how GREAT he's doing without Tav. How awesome his life as a vampire lord is without them. And at first he does just that, the first half of the conversation is all bragging. But the longer he talks to them, the more the little hurtful truths slip out behind the hateful words. Like for as much as fans claim to understand that Astarion will often say one thing but mean another some of them sure are shit at being able to tell when he's clearly covering up his hurt with vitriol.

And again there's something weird about cheering on mindflayer Tav when their turn can be considered just as tragic as Astarion ascending. Like don't get me wrong I enjoy letting a monster do their thing. But it's like this weird double standard where mindflayer Tav's monstrosity is good and cool to idolize and joke about them wanting to eat the brains of their friends but the second someone has fantasies about being Astarion's consort they need to be psychoanalyzed.

And it's also ridiculous that if you even so much as suggest that hey, maybe there's more going on with ascended Astarion than meets the eye, maybe he actually is suffering in his isolation, ect. you get called a delusional idiot because people just really want to believe Astarion is truly a 100% different person from his ascended self when that's simply. not. true. Again the writers have confirmed the ritual didn't consume his soul. The ritual amplified all his worst personality traits that he already had.

I'm not saying you need to love ascended Astarion BUT if you love his character for what he is you should be able to at least appreciate him. You should be able to at least find him tragic and compelling. Kinda annoyed that many fans, who are seemingly uncomfortable with being confronted with this side of him, would rather turn him into a big joke or reduce his full spectrum of emotion to just "smug apathy."

[realshadowfan07]

The autism took over and I made a long list of Luis headcanons. Originally wrote them on paper and colour coded them by category :3

Category 1: the ones without a category

He has autism and OCD because I have autism and OCD and I think they fit him

He is super mega queer (doesn't really label himself, just says queer (this definitely isn't me projecting again))

Trans ftm (there was a whole thread somewhere but i forgot who made it but i love you)

He defo gave himself top and bottom surgery because he's insane like that

Sentimental fella

Multilingual (spanish, english, and french)

He is HAIRY

Still doesn't quite get a lot of english phrases, slang, jokes, etc

HE HAS A LAZY EYE. It could just be game graphics but ITS THERE AND I SEE IT AND IM TAKING IT AS CANON THERE IS MANY SHOTS WHERE HIS EYE BALL IS LIKE THIS ↓

Category 2: romantic ♡

His happiness comes from making his partner happy

VERY VERY romantic

Malewife

Petnames +100

Main love language is touch

He yaps and yaps about how much he adores his partner

He loves praise

Mega gay flirt, but will absolutely become a mess when someone flirts back

Clingy (doesn't want to lose the one person who loves him)

Does all the chores because malewife

Pathetic wet cat

Category 3: angsty stuffs

Dogs/wolves make him very uncomfortable and tense due to what happened to dear old gandpapa

Fire can cause PTSD induced panic attacks (gramps death, and also what happened in the lab thingy)

Loves helping others, but struggles to ask for help because he thinks he doesn't deserve it

VERY low self esteem (his confidence is all a big ol facade)

Not completely comfortable with his body and sexuality, having been raised in erm... A silly not fun environment

His silly little dancing is a form of self soothing

Not a big fan of holidays, because he has nobody to spend them with

Doesn't bother celebrating his birthday

Category 4: interests/likes

Really doesn't like silence because it reminds him of being stuck in a lab, so he ALWAYS has music on in the background on one of them vinyl record playing old people things

Very good cook, would've had to cook a lot for gramps because he's like old and stuff

Collects silly little trinkets and just anything that catches his interest

Gramps defo taught him guitar

Loves loves loves to yap and yap about his interests

Knows how to ride horses 100% because people defo travelled around Valdelobos on horseback

Would very much enjoy a cheeky spa day, needs to relax

Category 5: post re4 because HE IS ALIVE

Refuses to ever use an elevator again because they lead to death and evilness

Craves simplicity 🙏

Again, HATESSS asking for help

Nightmares +100

Believes that he deserved what happened

Depression +100

PTSD +100

Was mega underweight in Valdelobos, but gains healthy chub as he recovers

Selective mutism

Bed bound -> wheelchair -> crutches -> cane

Lets his hair grow

Starts taking care of his hair and suddenly BOOM curls appear

Sometimes needs help to bathe, but he HATES being vulnerable

Cried the first time that Leon helped him bathe

Very much struggled to come out due to the environment he was raised in

Cane is permanent due to mega big ouchie

Back ache +100

Struggles to come to terms with the fact that he's been given a second chance

Uhhhh that's it methinks BYE

[foundnthestars]

so i've always related more to dipper, for many reasons that aren't worth mentioning now, but recently i had a thought that made me take pause...

i've always related to mabel's gut instinct to make a joke or goad others, especially my family, with silly jokes or bits or whatnot. at least for myself, this gut instinct to make others laugh isn't always just for the sake of making a joke. i mean, yeah, i enjoy a good bit myself, but i know the real reason is something much deeper.

in the book of bill, we learn that mabel and dipper's parents are in the middle of a divorce, or at least gearing up for one, at any rate. while it seems like mainly dipper is affected by this in tbob, at least in his nightmares, i 100% believe that mabel knows about it, and is probably just as affected. only, she has a different reaction.

mabel's a do-er, whereas dipper is more the stew in it and let it consume him type of person. i believe she's an extremely emotionally intelligent person.

the girl literally carried around a list where she kept tabs on the emotional states of all of her friends and felt an extreme desire to “fix” their sadness and in turn, hers. she notices when the people around her are upset, and it makes her uncomfortable. she sees it as a problem to be solved rather than something she should let others deal with on their own terms.

and, yeah, i know what you're thinking. mabel's a child. she's silly and funny and makes jokes because that's what kids do. but it's also a defense mechanism children develop, and it’s rooted in childhood trauma (like witnessing longstanding domestic disputes, parents who can't emotionally regulate, etc.) this desire to constantly keep tabs on how others are feeling keeps us safe — if we've grown up in environments where people may lash out if they're experiencing turbulent emotions or longstanding fights.

my point is: mabel is portrayed as being silly and “unserious” but really she uses humor and optimism as a shield, taking on immense emotional labor for her friends and family and trying oh so desperately to bear the weight of others’ hardships. i think its a wonderful argument against the “mabel is selfish��� crowd. she's avoidant, sometimes, under extreme duress, and other times she's proactive in tracking the emotional states of the people in her life.

[amemenojaku]

Hisami and Zanmu for 1 on that ask game!

When I started shipping it if I did: Since day 1 when I read Hisami's dialogues, like most people I believe lol. I mean, how can you see her and not start cheering for her to get what she wants... Since it's still pretty recent I can add that two lines in particular made me seriously consider it and think about it beyond 'this is nice/funny': when Hisami tells Zanmu that she doesn't have to hold back around her, and when Zanmu tells Hisami that she knew Hisami would mess up on purpose, and that she'll give her a reward anyway - both are about danmaku obviously, but it got my brain gears turning >:]

My thoughts: They've slowly but steadily been going up my favorite ships, especially for the past 2-3 months... They work well together. Obviously I'd love the ship in touhou where one of them has a big fat actual canon crush on the other one, I've been in this hole since 2010 or something so Hisami's kind of a gift... but also in general I think it's a good spin on the boss/henchman trope when the boss is some mega charismatic chessmaster who could probably get anyone they want on their knees and yet their subordinate is one of the only people they can't fully predict/control. The wild card aspect is really funny to me and I love seeing fanworks where Zanmu's like... fondly sighing at Hisami's antics.

Things done in fanworks that annoy me: I think there's too many fanworks where Zanmu looks generally uncomfortable around Hisami despite never doing so even once ingame, and also too many fanworks where Hisami harasses Zanmu, sometimes to make very early 2000s jokes in very poor taste... I won't name anyone but there's a few big yuri artists on twitter who do that and it makes me want to bash my head against the wall when they get praised for it just because their artstyle looks good..... On a more positive note there's a few people who've been creating constantly good content of this pair and I think given a year or two nature will be healing!!

Also I'm of the opinion that Zanmu's fairly tall herself, just a bit shorter than Hisami, so I'm not big on the crazy size difference stuff (funny coming from a seishin fan, I know......)

Things I look for in fanworks: MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING!!! Getting to know each other past the infatuation (in Hisami's case)/the curiosity (in Zanmu's case) in deeper ways. I promise this isn't about sex lol (I do think about that too but not here rn) I really want to see how their relationship can grow and I especially want to see Zanmu enjoying it (as a petty reaction to the stuff listed above...). In their case I think physical intimacy would be a good setting for that kind of scene where their emotional bond grows, so that's what I'd go with if I were to create something like it, but anything can work if it's done in good taste imo. And in general I want to see Zanmu answering Hisami's affections with a positive emotion... whatever it is... I'm desperate.......

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: It's difficult for me to imagine Hisami with anyone else, although I do think she'd have physical relationships with a bunch of women while her feelings for her boss are still unrequited. Zanmu on the other hand I can picture being interested in a few other characters like Reimu or other onis or even the sages, but ultimately not as something she'd commit to and take seriously. The only real endgame is still zanhisa haha

My prefered future/ending for them: Whenever Zanmu considers them close enough to tell Hisami to drop the honorifics and overly reverent language when they're alone, and whenever Hisami feels comfortable doing that would be the ideal "endpoint" for me because of all the things it implies :) I don't care if at that point they actually consider themselves in a relationship or if they just aknowledge there's something going on. Though if they do get in a relationship proper I imagine they'd be very discreet about it. Also I think Hisami should get a promotion so she can directly work as Zanmu's prefered right hand arm man. woman. her everything. her confidant. her silly rabbi

What is their favorite activity together: Probably drinking. I imagine with how old she is and hanging out with onis Hisami's built up a decent hold on alcohol, and Zanmu appreciates it. They reminisce about their respective pasts and talk about the inner workings of hell and Zanmu gets a huge ego boost from showing off her 4D chess plans and Hisami praising her for it

[paracosmicparadox]

So I finished FFXV ages ago, but I've been thinking about it lately bc you know, I elaborated the chocobros' story far further than it was meant to go and got way more attached to them than I should have. So here're some things that the game did really well and some of the things it didn't. (you don't have to agree w anything here; I'm not trying to corrupt y'all w my opinions; I just feel like talking)

Let's start with the bad to get it out of the way:

CINDY. I swear to everything holy her character had the potential to be So Cool if she hadn't been so overtly over-sexualized. Like, I'm a woman-liker too and I get it, lady mechanics are hot af, but you know what else is attractive? Safety in the workplace. Cindy's outfit was not something any mechanic would be caught dead wearing. Yeah, it was designed to be sexy, but do you know how many burns she would've accumulated from the hot oil and metal she works with? There's a reason mechanics typically wear clothing zipped up when they're actually working on something. If anything, Cindy's character design just made me uncomfortable. Her character itself? Great. No qualms there. Her design? Please acquire more than two square feet of fabric I'm begging you. I just feel like Cindy deserved to be so much more than fan service.

Luna's brief time on-screen. Yet another potentially incredible and deep female protagonist who got short change from this game. People joke a lot that Luna wasn't at all an important character because the game never really treated her like one. She was MEANT to be important, clearly, but it felt like she existed just for her tearjerking death scene? Like there was SO MUCH overlooked potential to bring her into the storyline as more than Tragic Love Interest In White, and yet?? Idk it frustrated me.

The emotional aspect of the game felt rushed. There were a lot of emotional scenes covered throughout the plotline ranging from King Regis's death to the deal with Prompto at Zegnautus Keep. I feel like the game TRIED to cover them realistically and show the characters' grief, but it didn't quite get there. It was just sort of an "Oh, how sad. I'm so upset and angry. Hm, what's that? My friends believe in me without truly understanding and I can kill someone to ease my pain? Oh okay I'm better now." I get that realistic healing cycles are kinda hard to portray within a set timeframe, but having some lingering effects of the blatant trauma inflicted would've been nice. You don't recover from shit like that in a week's time.

Character personalities tended to be one-sided. Noctis was edgy, Prompto was happy-go-lucky, Gladio was tough-guy, and Ignis was... nevermind, Iggy was great--- HE had some on-screen depth. Personally, I've developed these characters myself far more than what the game gave us, but I wish we'd gotten more canon depth beyond their surface-level traits. I love them with my whole heart and they deserve genuine complexity.

Now the things I actually really enjoyed:

The graphics were on-point. The amount of detail put into character design and into monsters was insane. You could zoom in and see individual textures on skin and hair and feathers, bringing a level of realism to the game that I personally enjoyed.

All of the Latin and Norse mythological references!! As a Latin nerd, I found little gems everywhere in this game. Esp in the names--- (Noctis Lucis Caelum = Of-the-night Sky-of-light (the genitives in there make the literal translation kinda a mouthful ik) Gladiolus Amicitia = Sword-flower Friendship (the gladiolus is an actual flower that gets its name from the Latin word gladius, meaning sword, for its sword-like shape) Ignis Scientia = Fire Knowledge; Prompto Argentum = Ready Silver (the word prompto is actually in the dative (possibly ablative), making the literal translation nonsense, but if they'd made his name Promptus, it would've sounded awkward, so I can see why they picked the dative/ablative form of the adjective for stylistic reasons and I put the rough translation instead)) WOW THAT WAS A LOT OF PARENTHETICAL INFO WHOOPS

Ardyn's character. I'm not saying this bc I'm one of the fans who fawn over him---Ardyn is DEFINITELY NOT MY PREFERRED FLAVOR OF MAN, but character-wise, he made an excellent antagonist. He was witty, slick, and classy in an I'm-gonna-outstep-you-like-it's-hopscotch sorta way. He was a poetic villain done well, which made him an antagonist you could both sympathize for and absolutely detest given the situation. He was both the master manipulator and the pawn one space away from the edge of the board. He can sway a crowd, but you know deep in your gut just by the cunning greed in his eyes that You Cannot Trust The Man. He was definitely Not a good person (tragic backstory isn't an excuse), but he was a good villain.

I loved the bond between the chocobros?? This is probably bc I'm a sucker for the found family trope, but their interactions were so amazing to me?? Like, not even the cutscene stuff. Just their little sidebar conversations during fights or while you're walking around or driving the Regalia. They're Roadtrip Buddies™ and I think that's excellent.

THE FOOD. By god, the food in this game looked absolutely scrumptious and I would like to partake. The Daggerquill Soup? Give it to me I'll pay you. The Creamy Crustacean Omelet? Stop it right now I'll eat that so fast it'll be a criminal offense. Like I know I touched on the graphics earlier, but broski I was not kidding. I guess I know why the game took so long to make it to the market bc the detail that went into these recipes is absolutely mouthwatering.

[harlowtales]

Jack makes your husband an offer he can’t refuse to have you for a night and a day💋

**Indecent Proposal Concept by Request**

It’s long so thank you for reading to the end and I’m not editing it so apologies in advance for typos 🙏🏾

18+ only ⚠️ Smut, Language, Adult Themes ⚠️ References to Addiction and Physical Abuse ⚠️

“Wow you look beautiful hunny.” Your husband Brad said as he twirled you around. You weren’t missing a beat in your clingy red dress and sparkling heels and jewelry. Knock out was an understatement, but you had to go all out. This was a special trip. You know your husband really was struggling to take you on a cruise but he promised it would be the time of your lives. Things had not been great the last few years and you were just getting that spark back for each other.

“After you princess.” He said as you left your cabin for the big ballroom on the ship. One of your favourite artists Jack Harlow was playing tonight with a full band and you were so excited. “Now hunny you know how you love Jack so behave tonight” your husband cautioned.

“Oh hunny Jack is sexy and all but look what I got tonight on my arm” you said looking at him lovingly. “By the way hunny, how did you afford this trip?” You had to know.

Brad shifted uncomfortably but eventually answered “Please don’t worry about that babes. Just enjoy every minute.”

You were a bit concerned due to Brad’s past issues with gambling that had almost torn you apart. You hoped it wasn’t something sketchy that enabled him to take you on such a lavish cruise.

The piano was softly playing as people filed in for the show later on in the evening. Jack was off to the side in his VIP area socializing. You immediately caught his eye when you elegantly crossed the dance floor to get to the balcony and catch the evening Caribbean breeze. Your husband hit the casino tables for a bit promising he wouldn’t go crazy. He had really cleaned up his act lately and you believed in him. You caught one of the free glasses of champagne being offered by the waiter walking by and stepped outside. Jack not seeing you with anyone was hot on your trail.

“It’s a nice breeze.” You heard a husky southern accent say behind you. You froze. It couldn’t be….

You slowly half turned and felt butterflies in your stomach. It WAS. It was Jack Harlow…talking directly to you. “Jack…wow nice to meet you. I can’t wait for the show!” You gushed but kept it classy as he took your hand and kissed it like a perfect gentleman. He looked amazing dressed in a black velvet designer tuxedo. His longer hair was styled more controlled than the usual wild mop of curls for the occasion. You loved it either way. He smelled incredible and his watch and diamond studded earrings gleamed in the moonlight to match his pearly white teeth and pink full lips. His crystal blue eyes danced like the jokes he always played as he introduced himself. You had never been this close to a more tall and gorgeous man in your life.

“Pleasure is all mine.” He smoothly drawled. You were just as surprised as he was that each other was alone…at the moment. “So do you always come on exotic cruises alone?” He asked raising one eyebrow as you’d seen him characteristically do many times on social media or tv.

“Umm I…” You stuttered. Shocked that he appeared to be flirting with you. “I am not alone. My husband is off at the tables for a bit before you go on.” You swallowed hard, not even aware you were speaking.

“Ah…husband.” He said looking you over subtly. You felt his eyes trail up and down your body and goosebumps formed on your bare arms. “How unfortunate.” He said with a mock sigh and a grin.

“Where’s your entourage? I’m surprised you’re alone.” You said trying desperately to change the subject. “I love Urban he’s very funny.” You giggled.

“Oh you like Urb huh?” He said quizzically

“No I like you for sure…I mean not in that way of course seeing as I’m older than you and very much married.” You said nervously smiling and fiddling with your ring on your finger.

“Yeah, about you being married…how married are you?” He asked calmly taking a sip of his non-alcoholic drink.

“Pardon?” You asked confused and starting to sweat for some reason. “Maybe it’s the champagne” you thought seeing in your nervousness you had already finished your drink. Jack motioned over to the circulating server to bring you another one.

“You heard me. How. Married. Are. You.” Jack said slowly

“Very. Just like I said.” You said defensively

“Ok, I was just checking, don’t get upset. Just judging by the way you’re turning the fuck out of your ring, I wasn’t sure if you were trying to take it off.” He smiled with dimples flashing. He was toying with you and you weren’t winning. “So if you know my bestie, you’re a real one.” He said handing you another drink.

“Oh yes, from the time an album comes out I know every word.” You blushed “Gets on hubby’s nerves.” You said taking an ambitious sip of your new drink.

“Is that something you enjoy doing?” He asked fishing for some hints with your relationship.

“Enjoy what?” You said a bit more relaxed on liquid courage

“Yuh know…does it bother your man that you’re such a big fan of mine?” He poked

“Of course it does.” You said matter of factly “He loves Taylor Swift and it annoys the fuck out of me.” You chuckled

This made Jack laugh. He was taken by you and even more surprised at himself that he was still talking to you. Normally he respected when someone was in a relationship, but any chance he had to find out more about you without your significant other around, he was taking it.

“So where are you from and what’s your name?” He asked

“My….my name?” You adorably stuttered. You had a few drinks now pretty fast and it was hitting you hard.

“Yeah you got a name or did you just hatch?” Jack giggled.

“My name is y/n, and I’m from Wisconsin.” You finally managed to say.

“Really?? Some good lil spots out that way.” Jack said whimsically not taking his eyes off you.

“Jackman” You said not realizing you called him by his full name which you often did to yourself at home as many real fans did. He loved this. “I’m not feeling great.” You said faintly. You never could hold liquor well.

“Come to my section and take a load off.” He offered kindly. “Not a big drinker I see.” As he helped you up the few steps to the area where him, his friends, and managers were. They were used to Jack disappearing to talk to girls or take meetings with other industry people. Everyone wanted something when they had an opportunity to talk to him.

After some time to relax and have water and some coffee you started to sober up a bit. It was almost time for Jack to go on and no sign of your husband. You were having a good time talking to Jack’s friends but were starting to worry. Jack was starting to think you made the whole husband thing up so men wouldn’t hit on you all the time. Suddenly your phone lit up and you went in a corner so you could hear Brad. Jack looked after you with a frown on his face. Whoever this husband was he was a damn fool he decided. Something was up between the two of you and he wanted to know what it was. He could see you were arguing and came over to make sure you were ok.

“Everything alright?” He asked concerned

“Um yeah, I think so.” You said unhappily “Brad just called, he said go ahead and enjoy the show and meet him in the casino afterwards. Once he gets at those tables it’s hard for him to pull himself away.” You said with a sadness that broke Jack’s heart.

“Hey can I give you a hug?” Jack said standing close to you now and towering over you

“Yeah….” you said starting to cry.

“Ah hey no none of that ok.” He said holding you “You’re on a cruise. Enjoy the fuck out of yourself. Ok?” He said tipping your chin up and looking into your eyes. “If you were mine, I’d know where you are at all times.” He said annoyed at your husband. He wiped your tears and sat you back down. “I have to go on. It’s only for 30 mins ok? Be right back. Stay here.” Jack said comfortingly and left to go onstage.

You appreciated all his attention but you were married and felt you should go. You said your goodbyes to his friends and made your exit.

PART 2

Brad stumbled into your room around 2AM drunk out of his mind. He barely made it to the bed, took off his shoes, loosened his tie and before his head hit the pillow he was loudly snoring. He flung an arm over you and you angrily pushed it off. Furious and not able to sleep you put on your sweats and wandered away to the deck for some fresh air. You spotted Jack at a distance talking to a few fans, laughing and taking selfies with them. He motioned over to you, excited he saw you again but you ducked back into your room. You weren’t happily married but you weren’t going to encourage some entertainer looking for a one night stand and ruin your whole life.

“What’s up bruh? You’re quiet this morning.” Copelan said to his friend who was super distracted.

“What do you when you’ve felt something you never felt before but the person is married?” Jack asked

“Ah, the lady last night.” Copelan correctly assumed “You was mad feeling her, but she’s more than taken bro.”

“She’s not being treated right. He basically stood her up last night to gamble. I don’t get it…” Jack said trailing off.

“Not your problem bro. Plus we got a week on this boat and there’s string bikinis everywhere.” Cope said ruffling his friend’s hair and cracking open a Modelo.

“Dafuq? It’s 10AM” Jack grimaced at his friend having a beer so early.

“Brad…BRAD hunny, I’m going for breakfast you coming?” You said nudging your husband. He swatted you away and shook his head no. You huffed in frustration and headed out with your bathing suit packed for after breakfast. You weren’t going back to the room for the day. Brad was hung over and that was his problem. Jack was right. You were going to have a blast and have a serious talk with your husband when you got home. He had to get help. With a lot on your mind you stood in front of the buffet not knowing what to choose.

“I hear the bacon is to die for.” Jack said in your ear making you jump and laugh.

“Jackman you scared me!” You said holding onto your plate for dear life. He made you so nervous.

“You uh took off the other night Cinderella. Where’s your prince?” Jack asked mockingly biting into a strawberry 🍓

“Prince or court jester?” You sneered

“Ouch!” Jack smiled at your displeasure in your man

“Brad has a hang over. A bad one.” You said as you scooped up some scrambled eggs and placed them aggressively on your plate.

“Easy tiger you’ll break the dish!” Jack exclaimed “Join us we’re sitting right over there.” He gestured over to his table full of people. They all smiled and waved at you, but you were in no mood for company.

“I’m sorry Jack. I know you’re trying to be nice to me but I have no business hanging out with you without my husband.” You said dutifully

“I’m not fucking trying to be nice. I’m trying to take you from your man.” He said boldly “I’ve been trying that since last night, and the I’m so dedicated to my husband shit is ridiculous. You aren’t happy. Anyone can see that.”

“And you would make me happy?” You challenged “You with your life, have room for me?” You rolled your eyes put your plate down and tried walking away but Jack stopped you.

“Listen I’ve been thinking about something and want to just see if you’re up for it.” He said still holding onto your arm. “Meet me in my room. You on that fan line?”

You nodded yes.

“Ok, text me your number on that. We have a way of seeing it. I’ll text you when to meet me. And fucking eat your breakfast.” He ordered and with that he took a wedge of toast off your plate shoved it in his mouth and went back to his table.

You took your plate out to the deck and nibbled on your food under a cabana utterly miserable. You texted Jack and within minutes he texted his room number and a link. When you opened the link it was an NDA. You signed it and gulped. It didn’t matter now you had really nothing to loose.

PART 3

You quietly knocked on the door and Jack opened it smiling. He let you pass by him and locked the door causing you to jump. “Calm down. Geezus.” He said “You’re a wreck, you know that? I hate seeing such a wonderful woman like this.” He said concerned. “Hug?”

“I would love one.” You said entering his open arms and resting in them for a moment.

“Hey I want to talk to you. Sit.” He said motioning to the couch.

You both sat in awkward silence for a minute. “Did you eat?” He asked

“Yup.” You said nervously smoothing out your skirt

“You look beautiful” Jack complimented

“Thank you. So do you, uh handsome I mean…” You said embarrassed

“I’ll take beautiful” Jack said with a smile

“Jack what is it?” You asked dying to know what all this was about but it clearly wasn’t about sex.

“I have a proposition for you. Well…and your husband actually.” Jack said rubbing his hands

“Jack we don’t do any kinky couples stuff.” You answered right away

“No it’s nothing like that.” He said trying to set you straight on what he wanted to say. “I want you. One night just you and me. I’ll pay. A lot actually. I have sources that say your husband lost a lot of money last night. I think it’s a win win, but I’ll pay you separately some more money so he can’t take it from you. Any time you need me you jump on a plane and come see me. What do you think?” He sat back to watch your reaction.

After some moments you got up from the couch. “I’m not a whore you pay for.” You said. You knew Jack didn’t think that but you had to put it out there.

“Yeah I know. I want to help you, but I really like you and I know I’m not supposed to which is making me want you more.” He said anxiously “I have never done this either. You know that movie Indecent Proposal? The guys were watching last night when we were winding down and it made me think of you.”

“Jack I….” You hesitated

“Don’t say no. This is all on the up and up. Your husband will consent to everything.” He said

“Who says he’ll agree to this? He’s very jealous.” You said

“He doesn’t even know where you are half the time and you don’t know where he is.” Jack quickly pointed out. “You guys have kids?”

“He has a couple from a previous marriage. We don’t have any together. I want us to be stable before I get pregnant.” You answered sadly

“Well by that time you’ll be onto something better…and bigger.” He said leaning in for a kiss.

You couldn’t deny him and kissed him passionately. His pillowy lips caressing yours as your lips parted. You played with the curls on the back of his neck. “I knew it. You are filled with passion and he doesn’t pay any attention to you.” Jack observed. Tonight, meet me for dinner. Both of you. By the end of the night you leave with me.”

“Oh god Jack, Idk about all this.” You said confused

“You signed an NDA. I could have you right now, but I want you to see by the end of our time together you’ll be signing divorce papers.” He said looking you deeply in your eyes.

“I’ll tell him we’re going to dinner with you tonight. He’ll think we won some contest or something” You said tired of your situation.

“That’s good. That’ll work” he said excitedly. “I can’t wait. I’ll book us something private so we can talk.” He said pulling you in for another kiss.

PART 4

You went for a swim and to soak up some sun. When you got back to the room to clean up for some more activities Brad was gone. Funny, he hadn’t texted or anything, but Jack had.

He texted: “Hey pretty girl. Meet me tonight on deck 3 at the Dolphin Lounge. The reservation is under Brad’s name so paparazzi or fans don’t bug us. Dress up and prepare a small bag of things you’ll need cuz you’re coming with me.”

You texted back: “Jack how do I pack for a night in an evening gown? I can’t take a whole backpack with me or a huge purse!”

Jack texted: “Shit you’re right. What’s your size? I’ll make sure you have everything you need and toothbrushes and stuff for our little sleepover and day together.”

You sent him the info of what bra, panty, and clothes sizes you were.

He texted back: 🫣😉😏😘

You texted back: 🙄

You hadn’t yet asked how much money was “a lot.” But you had got up the nerve to text him: “When you say a lot, what does that mean?”

He texted: “500k” basically what I made a few nights ago.”

You texted: “Excuse me?? You made 500k for 30mins in one night?”

He texted: “Yup”

You texted: “I don’t do super weird stuff and I’m not fucking your friends got it?”

He texted: “I already got you babes. It’s all in the contract we all sign it and we’re Gucci. Ok?”

You texted: “Contract? I just signed one.”

He texted: “Naw that was just for us to hang out. This I had drawn up for you, me, and Brad to sign.”

You texted: “You had an entire contract done up since I last saw you?”

He texted: “Uh huh, btw are you afraid to fly in small planes? Or deep sea dive?”

You texted: “Jack what? I haven’t done either one of those things. WTH are we going to be doing?”

Jack texted: “How are you texting me this much? Where’s Brady-Poo?”

You texted: 🤢 “Don’t call him that! Idk. I got back to the room and he’s gone.”

Jack texted: “Figures” 🙄

You were about to text back when Brad abruptly opened the door. “Hunny! You scared me.” You exclaimed

“Sorry babe I had to sober up. I went for a jog.” He said

You noticed he wasn’t sweaty or dressed for a run. “Probably was at the tables.” You thought but pretended you didn’t notice anything.

Brad had actually dipped out to get you an apology gift for standing you up at Jack’s show and coming in so late drunk. He was going to give it to you later on in the evening.

“What are we doing tonight pumpkin?” He said kissing you on the forehead.

“Well, I have some news.” You said starting to feel tense “We’re having dinner tonight with someone very special.”

“For real? Who?” Brad asked

“Jack Harlow.” You said and watched his reaction

“How the hell did that happen?” Brad said excited and skeptical

“Um well, at the show there was a draw for dinner with him and I won!” You exclaimed

“You never told me before. Seems something like this you’d text right away.” Brad said

“Oh shit he’s smells something is up.” You thought nervously and lying to him felt horrible.

“I confess hunny, I got pretty drunk that night too. The drinks were free and I was upset you weren’t there.” You said

“Hunny about that. I promised you my gambling or drinking wouldn’t be a problem ever again.” Brad said “I feel horrible so I ducked out this morning to get you something.” Brad produced a long box from behind his back. “I was going to give it to you tonight at dinner but seeing as plans have changed for tonight, I want you to have it now.”

You felt a knot in your stomach. “Hunny I…I can’t accept that.” You said tears welling up in your eyes.

“Why babe?” Brad said feeling scared

“I…can we talk?” You said twirling your ring on your finger subconsciously

“Sure baby.” Brad said concerned

You patted the spot next to you at the end of the bed and Brad slowly sat next to you. Some hammer was about to drop and he was anticipating the worst.

“Baby. This whole dinner with Jack…listen there’s something about it you need to know.”

Just then you saw Jack texting you. Three dots started moving. You put your phone away.

“Hunny….” You paused

“Baby what the fuck is going on?” Brad begged

“Jack has a proposition for us.” You said plainly because there was no other way to say it.

“Proposition? Hunny we don’t do weird sex stuff.” Brad said firmly “Wait…did you meet him too?”

“Yes.” You said looking down

“And you were drunk…” Brad said trying to put pieces together “Did you guys…”

“No! Absolutely not!” You exclaimed

“Whew!!” Brad said letting out the breath he was holding in waiting for your answer “so what’s going on?”

“We did get to talking….Apparently I made quite an impression on him and I wasn’t trying to hunny.” You explained. “He asked me to sleep with him and spend a day with him.” There was no other way to say this stuff that felt like you were in a movie and someone else wrote your lines.

“WHAT????” Brad said angrily and got up from the bed. He started pacing and yelling. “Is this what the fuck these rich mother fuckers do? They think people are just something they use like this? Does he know you’re married??”

“Yes of course!” You said defensively

“Wait…did you fucking AGREE to this?” Brad asked incredulously

“I didn’t exactly say no.” You said looking down “He offered us 500,000 dollars. I know we need the money.” There it was out. It was all out. The knot in your stomach was gone.

Brad hadn’t told you how much money he lost at the tables. It was half of everything you had saved for months working double shifts. He felt terrible and thought a necklace would make telling you easier. He sat back down beside you in silence.

“Well it’s not shocking another man found you so beautiful and captivating.” He said “I always knew you were out of my league.” Brad said sullenly

You didn’t know what to say. You leaned on his shoulder feeling a sense of relief at least you didn’t lie to your husband, and he was calming down.

“All I have to do is text Jack the deal is off hunny.” You said as you rubbed his back.

“I have one question.” Brad said hunched over and looking down at the floor “Do you want to sleep with him?”

You weren’t expecting him to ask you that. After a long pause Brad said “It’s ok, he’s your dream guy. I don’t know if I ever was.” He got up and walked out on the balcony looking out into the distance. You looked at the long jewelry box on the bed and opened it. It was a delicate gold chain with a single diamond like you said you always wanted. You started crying and noticed what Jack had texted.

You read the message: “Just emailed you the contracts. Are you still down?”

You looked out at your husband just staring off into the ocean and joined him on the balcony. You hugged him from behind. “I hate that you feel like you have to do this to save us.” He said quietly “It’s all my fault. Just a night and a day and you’re all mine again?”

“Just a night and a day doesn’t change how much I love you. We need this hunny.” You reasoned. Brad pulled away from you.

“We?” He scoffed and walked away. “I’m going to hit the shower and get ready for dinner.”

PART 5

You put on a slinky black dress with satin gloves, black strappy heels, a deep red lip, the necklace Brad bought you and your favourite perfume. When Brad saw you he said nothing about how you looked. “Ready?” He said flatly.

“No. But let’s go.” You said honestly. You took his arm and made your way to the lounge.

Jack was waiting by the entrance to the private dining room and nobody else was with him. He nodded respectfully to Brad and Brad just looked him up and down. It was then Jack realized you had told your husband everything.

“Brad.” Jack said as the door was closed to their private dining room.

“Jack.” Brad said without a hint of chill at all

“Y/n” Jack greeted you with not a hint of flirtation. It may as well have been a business dinner. This made Brad feel a bit better. Like he would be getting his wife back after her fling with Jack and they could move on with their lives.

Brad sat beside you and held your hand under the table. Jack sat on the other side of both of you, every bit the business man with an expensive fountain pen in his breast pocket and a manilla envelope on the table with the contract. The attraction you had for Jack was undeniable. You controlled yourself from making any appearance of taking to him the way you had.

“Brad I…” Jack started saying but Brad cut him off.

“Don’t. I don’t anything from you. Just bring my wife back after 24 hours.” Brad said bluntly.

“Did you get all dressed up to be rude to me?” Jack countered

“Ok guys this isn’t easy for anyone.” You said trying to bring peace. “Brad you’re agreeing to this too remember? Remind why I’m agreeing to it. To help us.” You said

“Well thank you hunny for your sacrifice.” Brad said sarcastically

“Hey easy on her, none of this is her fault at all.” Jack defended “You left the most stunning woman I have ever seen unattended to get drunk and piss money away.” Jack said firmly looking squarely at Brad. Jack stood at 6”3, with security and an entourage close by so Brad knew he better calm down. “Shall we do dinner?” Jack said more pleasantly

“I’m starving.” You said “Had a great swim today” You said trying to change the subject

“Not much of a swimmer, but I play soccer every week and basketball when I can.” Jack said with a smile

Brad didn’t attempt to contribute to the conversation. You felt that old anger towards him bubbling up and didn’t make an effort to include him.

Dinner was fabulous and you and Jack quipped in front of Brad and got to know each other a bit better. After some dessert and drinks Jack pulled out his pen. “Ok let’s get to why we’re here.” He said. “I sent you the contact did you look at it?” You both nodded yes. “Any questions?” You and Brad nodded no. “Ok let’s sign and me and y/n will be on our way Brad.”

Brad signed stone cold as if he was signing a cell phone contract. He didn’t bother to look at you or Jack and got up to leave. He glanced at your necklace and left the room without saying goodbye. You laid the pen down in silence. Jack could tell you were shaking as you signed. He had plans to make you as comfortable as possible. “Hey, you ok?” He said gently. You nodded yes. “Let’s get going. We’re just heading back to my suite. I won’t hurt you. At any time you can say you’re not doing this and we tear this piece of paper in two”

PART 6

You were silent on the way to Jack’s suite. You both walked with his security guard behind you and it actually made you feel so safe. Jack made you feel safe. Something Brad didn’t. You had to be the adult with Brad because of his addictions and it was so exhausting.

Jack’s suite was beautiful. He had prepared for you coming. There was a bottle of wine chilling and a huge bouquet of roses on the baby grand piano with a card that said. “To the night of your life”. You slipped off your heels and sank into the comfy sofa in front of the fireplace.

“A fireplace in summer.” You giggled. Jack was taking you all in. He watched as you looked around and could tell you had never seen a suite like that before. He poured you a glass of champagne and motioned to you to meet him where he was standing. He now had taken off his tie and had the few top buttons of his shirt undone.

“Let’s go to the bedroom.” He said smoothly and took your hand.

The room was dimly lit and there were rose petals on the king sized bed, candles lit, and boxes stacked high in a corner of clothes and shoes for you to wear. A a french lace neglige was put out for you on the bed and Sade was playing.

“Why don’t you slip this on.” Jack said picking up the neglige and holding it up to your frame.

“Getting right to business I see.” You said as you put your glass down.

“I only have so much time with you before I have to give you back…IF I give you back.” Jack said drawing you close for a kiss.

“I’ll go freshen up and try this on.” You said with a smile.

When you entered the bedroom Jack was sitting up in bed under the covers on his phone. His broad shoulders, smooth alabaster skin, and muscular bare chest and arms was enough to drive you wild, but you kept in control of yourself.

Truth be told you felt more of a connection with Jack these past few days than you had with Brad in the last few years. Something about Jack just felt like home. You cautioned yourself on falling for him, but it was soon becoming a lost cause.

You cleared your throat and he looked up from his phone, his mouth hanging open. “Ah fuck Brad.” He said as he tossed his phone aside. “Come.” He said and you snuggled up to him.

“Was that him on the phone?” You asked.

“Yeah. He just sent me some fucking long shit about how you and him been through hell and back and one night’s not going to change anything.” Jack said mocking how Brad would have talked. “Regret giving him my number but I wanted him to feel ok about things.”

“I’m sorry. He’s probably drunk and getting a bit irrational.” You said

“Hey. I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with that.” Jack said looking into your eyes and petting your hair lovingly. “You know I’ve been all over the world and it’s so hard to find someone like you. Someone that can get through the tough shit without bailing.” He said. He clearly had a lot on his mind.

“You know what Jack? There’s no pressure. We can just stay like this.” You said softly trailing your finger through his chest hair.

“No I’m so sorry. Come, come lay on top of me I want to feel you.” He said

You obeyed and he just caressed you all over as you kissed and melted into the deep grey/blue abyss of his eyes. He was far more gentle and romantic than you imagined from his song lyrics. You felt him rising and he wriggled off his shorts. He fondled your nipples through your lingerie and you let out a soft moan. You could feel your space aching anticipating receiving all of him in. He took your panties off under the sheets and took hold of his manhood ready for inside you. He tempted your space with a few nudges of the head of his long shaft.

“Gottdamn baby girl. You are very ready.” He breathed and slowly opened up your space. You closed your eyes and held onto him like he would slip away. You started moving your hips in time with his and the synergy you felt was electric. “Ride me” he ordered “Give me everything”

You adjusted and sat on top of him moving up and down as your breasts danced and you threw your head back. “Oh god Jack!” You exclaimed.

“Fuck you feel so good.” He cried as he grabbed one of your breasts and cupped your ass to feel you grind on him even more. He wanted it harder and forced your ass back and forth grabbing you by the hips. His dick rubbed and hit your g-spot in just the right way.

“Uggh! Fuck!” You shouted. You let your whole self go. You felt freer than you ever have. Sweat dripped down between your breasts as you dismounted after gushing. Jack flipped you over and you felt him push gently into your fleshy walls so sensitive after exploding.

“So wet geezus” he heaved as he thrusted aggressively now causing you to bury your face into a pillow and scream. Jack slowed down pulling out, and putting it back in driving you crazy.

“Fuck me Jack. Fuck me so hard.” You begged. The pain was the greatest pleasure you had ever felt.

He obliged by ramming into you so deeply with so much force that you screamed his name and started to cry. He didn’t stop. You didn’t want him too. He was taking you to the outer edges of what you could handle and you craved it. “On your back” he directed with a hard smack of your ass.

“Oooh!” You cried out from the sting as you flipped over.

“Don’t look away. Focus on me.” He said as he pushed your legs back and angled himself to pump up and down like he was doing army pushups. You started to close your eyes and he ordered you to stay focused on him. Then he just held himself there slowly letting more of his body weight force himself into you as he looked into your soul. You shared one breath for a couple minutes as he gently rocked back and forth wanting to stay inside of you forever. His curls were wet and hanging down.

“Fuck I’m cumming.” He announced pulling out and motioning for you to wrap your mouth around him. You did as he wanted and felt him pulsating, his sweet hot cum hitting the back of your throat. You drank every drop and Jack caressed your head as he held it in place until he gasped and pulled away from the warmth of your mouth. Catching your breath you wiped your lips from his essence and fell back onto the bed.

He rested his head on your chest as you both tried to speak. “I…I can’t give you back.” Jack said between breaths as if he’d just come from a vigorous jog. He put an arm around you and hitched his leg up engulfing you with his long frame.

“Jack…please…please let’s not think about..” You said and Jack finished your sentence

“Brad?” Jack said “How can I not?” He got up to go to the bathroom. You admired his lean lengthy body and tight behind. He came back with a towel for you and started wiping all of his sweat off of you. “You’re mine now do you understand?” You didn’t know what to say. What could you say. You wanted desperately to really be his.

PART 7

“Wake up beautiful.” Jack said as he drew back the floor to ceiling curtains. You shielded your eyes from the sun beaming in. “Gotta get going if we’re going to make our flight.” He said bending down to kiss you. “Get up and go through these boxes. See what you want to wear.” Some muffins, fruit, and tea were waiting for you to nibble on as you packed a bag. Jack was already showered and ready to go.

“Why didn’t you wake me earlier?” You said groggily

“I know how stressed out you’ve been and wanted you to get enough rest.” He said as he put on his watch and made sure he had what items he needed to bring.

“Where are we going?” You asked him through a big yawn.

“A small private island.” He said off-handedly “Just for the day. Pack your bathing suit and flip flops.” He said. His phone was ringing off the hook as he buzzed around the suite preparing for the day and having last-minute conversations. You watched him in awe as you ate a muffin and sipped some coffee. Trying to wake up.

After a quick shower you and Jack ran out onto the noisy helipad and ducked under the blades of the helicopter to climb the small staircase to get inside. The view was stunning as you flew over several tiny islands and turquoise water. Jack held your hand the entire time grinning from ear to ear. You took a selfie and sent it to Urban who texted back “cute”

You had a flowing sundress over your bathing suit and looked every bit the fresh faced island girl with no makeup on. “My baby she a natural.” Jack rapped to you and you laughed.

“You really want to leave me?” He asked you as he held you on the beach of the intimacy island.

“Never.” Is all you said back

“Wow. I thought you were so committed.” Jack said in surprise

“I have taken a lot Jack. Let’s just say that.” You said and he didn’t say anymore. He wasn’t what you thought. He was so different from that smooth guy with all the right answers that first time you met. He was light hearted, goofy, and so much fun. You hadn’t laughed this much in a very long time. The ocean was warm and you went snorkelling bringing back a sea shell for a souvenir. A picnic lunch on the beach was all set up when you got out of the water.

“Y/n” Jack said with his mouth full as he inhaled a sandwich “Why dafuq does swimming make you so fucking hungry??”

“I don’t fucking know!” You giggled as you devoured your sandwich in an extremely unladylike way. You shared a kiss and set out to head back to the helicopter.

As you flew back Jack rested his curly head on your shoulder and dozed off. You nudged him awake as you landed. It was turning into evening now. Your time together was almost over. You were both silent back in Jack’s suite as reality hit both of you. Jack felt the loss of you so much his chest felt tight. “Well.” Be said looking up at you as his head was in your lap “I can’t let you go.” You bent down and kissed him. Your tongues locking. You couldn’t bear you would never taste him again in just a few more hours. The contract expired at midnight and he had a club appearance to make. You started to tear up. It seemed he had been wiping your tears since the moment you met. “What do you want y/n” Jack asked you.

“I want you. I want this. But I know your life isn’t a cruise in the Caribbean. It’s real. It’s hectic.” You said “You’ll forget all about me soon.”

“Are you kidding me?” He said sitting up now. “Don’t ever say that. I’ll protect you if you want to stay with me.” Jack said. “Has he ever hit you?”

You squirmed a little. “No but just kinda gets a bit rough if he drinks too much is all.” You reasoned twirling your ring.

“Take that fucking ring off.” Jack said holding out his hand for you to give it to him.

“Jack, what? Why?” You said in shock

“Stop making excuses for him.” He said angrily “Take it off.”

You removed your ring and handed it over to this man you just met. This man who saw into your soul like nobody ever could. Your head was swimming in confusion.

“Tonight stay here. I’ll go for your things.” He said. “Can you come to Louisville with me and be with me there after the boat docks in Miami in a couple days? He asked. He knew Brad had hit you before by the way you shifted when he asked the question and the thought of that made him beyond determined to keep you safe.

“Are you sure?” You asked in disbelief. Was all this really happening? You tried to leave Brad before but felt guilty and kept going back. After so many years you didn’t know anything else.

“I’m calling him right now.” Jack said

“Jack no!” You said trying to stop him.

“Y/n please sit down and calm down.” Jack said firmly. He had a way of talking that made you listen.

“Yo Brad, listen buddy I’m sending my bodyguard to get the rest of y/n’s shit.” Jack declared to Brad.

“Oh the fuck you are!” He slurred. He was so depressed he didn’t go to the tables. He was broke anyway. He just sat in his room and drank for a couple days. He tried picking up girls at the bar but they just walked away as he stank of alcohol. “Put y/n on the god damn phone! She’s getting it when I get a hold of her.”

Jack was so angry he had to pause and contain himself. His fist was in a ball. “As I said, he’ll be by soon. Have her stuff ready or it won’t end well.”

“I still get the money right?” Brad asked

You winced in pain as you heard him through the phone. You turned away and went outside for some air. He didn’t care about you more than money, drinking, and gambling. It was the gut punch you needed.

“Yeah. He’ll have the money, and you don’t contact y/n again.” Jack said. His heart hurt for you. You felt him come behind you and cradle you in his arms. He just kissed you repeatedly on your head. He couldn’t even imagine what you’d been through. “Baby I’m so sorry.” He said. “You’re safe now ok?”

You melted into a puddle of tears. You had fell out of love with Brad years ago, but you kept denying it. You always thought he loved you and that’s why you stayed with him. To hear him just toss you away was all the closure you needed.

“Jack?” You said “Is Kentucky nice?”

“Yeah baby it’s real nice. You’ll love it.” He said reassuringly.

[bengiyo]

Moonlight Chicken Ep 3 Stray Thoughts

It's been an incredible week reacting to this show, and I've been particularly enjoying some of analysis from @telomeke and @respectthepetty, particularly this examination of the film Jim can't watch anymore. I'm also taken with how much homage and respect for film tradition that exists before them permeates Aof's work; there's a quality to this show that reminds me of Wong Kar-Wai that I can't exactly place yet.

Last time, we learned that Praew was pregnant, and Mark Pakin made me cry when Saleng received the dowry Jim acquired for him. Jim currently can't afford car insurance, and backed into a pair of folks on a motorcycle. Wen paid the folks off, further connecting the two of them. Speaking of Wen, he and Gaipa are now at quiet war over Jim, who is definitely in danger. Elsewhere, Li Ming opened up to Wen about his desire to travel, and began bonding with Heart (and, coincidentally, our hearts).

We're opening with Wen's work with this mall to demolish all of the traditional and street vendors. Hate how this is happening everywhere. Even Americans want street food. Look at how popular food trucks are.

Chapter 3: The Dream of the Eternal Moon

Gaipa is not happy about his mom helping them convince people to sell their businesses, and seems to be holding his tongue. I think Khaotung said that Gaipa completed college, so it's possible that his mom isn't keen on keeping her stall because she thinks he can take care of himself.

Well she's not wrong about traditional neighborhoods becoming a tourist attraction, and demolition being a missed opportunity.

Gemini and Fourth have learned a lot in their training. They use their eyes really well for newcomers. Heart seems genuinely happy to teach someone else how to communicate with him. I also like how they only have one pad and pen. It's very clear who is trying to say something that way, and the other has to agree by surrendering the tools.

Saleng is never gonna miss a chance to tease Jim.

Jim's existence feels anti-modern in so many ways. Despite his struggles, he donates to a community event and refuses promotion. You can see it affecting Wen, because it makes him uncomfortable to wear his work badge in the face of so much local camaraderie.

I like Jim's half-joking, practical view on faith. It's something he turns to when he's troubled, and believes helps him; or he convinces himself that they have already helped.

When will a man look at me the way Wen and Jim look at each other?

Oh snap a flashback. So Papang gets to play the man who made Jim give up on love? They took the risk to open this business together, and now he's gone?

Why would Beam leave his phone unlocked if he's seeing someone else?

How long has Jim conflated his failed romance with the beef he has with his homophobic sister?

At least the landlord came face to face to talk about the future of the diner. It also seems like he just assumes he can have whatever food he wants?

I'm with Li Ming. Why does a man with an upscale bike and is planning to sell off their livelihood deserve a free meal?

I'd be angry if I was Jim, too. Sleeping with someone working to demolish your livelihood and community, and who you let into that world?

Gaipa and Jim may get along, but does Jim know of his mom's role in this as a facilitator? Also, not sure how to read Saleng looking at them from the balcony.

Li Ming is failing school, and it doesn't look optimistic.

I wonder if Fourth will be playing a loser in 23.5 degrees as well. Both of his characters we've seen recently aren't great students, and have a lot of obstacles in front of their dreams.

Man, I really hope tensions ease between Li Ming and Jim. I never like when the kids in our extended family circle are at odds with us like this.

Absolutely losing it over Li Ming's Sesame Street "Everything I know I leaned on The Street" shirt.

I like how careful Wen is with Li Ming. He only asks questions so Li Ming can voice his frustrations, and then gives a gentle nudge to express those feelings clearly to Jim.

It's really clever to show Li Ming picking up on sign language as he's struggling with school. Shows that he's not dumb; he's just unmotivated with school.

Also, we can confirm that the chin thing is a Fourth thing with Gemini.

Not keen on the teens raiding the liquor cabinet, but I don't see Li Ming resisting a cute boy.

Interesting, this is Wen's stepdad, and he offers useful perspective on managing complicated romances.

"We're just friends," he says as he drinks Jim's beer of choice.

Oh no, the teens think they're clever by watering down the liquor.

Again, it's interesting seeing Gemini and Fourth twice right now, because Fourth looks down at Gemini's lips at similar timing as in My School President.

I feel like Fourth must have grown after filming this. Gemini seems taller than him here more than he does in MSP.

This notion of a hard life in America being better than life in Thailand is hinted at in The Warp Effect as well, and reflects conversations we've had with Thai friends we have locally.

Wen is tactful. Jim draws the class line between them, and Wen doesn't challenge it.

Aof wasn't lying. Fourth and Gemini are very cute together.

Very excited about the secret sleepover.

We finally see Alan. Hello, First Kanaphan, my beloved.

Drama tomorrow! À demain!

[slettlune]

i couldn't sleep so i sat up all night finishing reading the three musketeers

groggy morning thoughts:

this story is bawdier than i imagined it! i have never seen an adaptation capture the way dumas keeps reminding you that the musketeers fuck: frequently, enthusiastically, and they especially appreciate getting paid for it. it doesn't happen on-page (it's not that kind of book), but it's very clear that they all have substantial sexual experience (even if athos has become celibate by the time the story begins).

i STILL don't agree with the translator's comment: aramis IS my favourite musketeer, he IS easy to love actually!! my personal ranking goes aramis >>> athos > d'artagnan > porthos. yes athos wins second place for having cyclical depression and making sarcastic jokes about it.

on the subject of "this was clearly written for a certain kind of male audience of a different time"... i admit that that one "humorous" nonconsensual sex scene was an uncomfortable chapter to get through

the female main characters were all AWESOME. i LOVE a vicious female villain! i could have done without one of the many "ooh curses that i am a weak, easily-fainting WOMAN and physically and mentally inferior to a man" internal monologues, but what can you do

i did not wind up shipping any of the main guys together, which, believe me, comes as a surprise. i fully believe in their bond and their fierce loyalty to and love for each other, but i don't need them to kiss on the lips about it. i DO think all of them (excepting d'artagnan) have had male lovers though

i checked and was disappointed that there is not a single lord de winter/tom felton fic on ao3. the religious devotion that separates them, the personal devotion that ties them together... i might have to write something.......

BUT THE WOMEN THOUGH. the women should ALL explore each other's bodies. you can't throw multiple "unhappily forced to be a nun" characters at me like this and not make me imagine them doing things to each other

i sampled several different translations and i really really really wound up enjoying lawrence ellsworth's, PERFECT mix of easy-to-read and formal, and i especially appreciated how their speech still retained french phrases here and there in an elegant, unobtrusive way.

the political machinations stuff in the early chapters <3 AAAH! i'd read a WHOLE book just about monsieur de treville elegantly tiptoeing between factions. the adventure stuff is exciting; the comedy is hilarious; the melodrama is a little meh for me, but the political drama is EXCELLENT. i wish it had continued through the book.

honestly a surprisingly fast-paced story for a 700+ pages novel. lots of twist and turns and suspense and wild horseback chases and more than a few very dramatic coincidences. i gasped irl

what i really appreciate with dumas is how he makes you wait for reveals. he'll give you all these little enticing mysteries to ponder and then it feels SO satisfying when you can finally go OOOH THAT'S WHAT THAT WAS ABOUT

it's still so wild to me that most of these characters were based on and named after real historical people. dumas has SUCH an affection for cardinal richelieu. i never realized that although he's a formidable antagonist, he's presented in an almost endearing way. that's dumas' historical blorbo

a lingering question i have is HOW was athos married and madly in love and NEVER saw his wife's naked shoulder? gonna have to assume athos is a fast cummer so they never got around to undressing properly

this is book ONE of EIGHT in the musketeer cycle and i get that dumas didn't figure it'd be a series because it ends with a bratpack freeze frame about every important character and how each spent the remainder of their lives... and now i have to read the other books because HOW do you sneak in more grand adventures in between developments like that???

the old maurice leloir illustrations in the edition i read are so expressive and lovely and replicated the EXACT feeling i'd get when i'd read classics as a kid. i loved contemplating each one

[tame-a-messenger]

I could see them not wanting to feed the shippers if this was the protocol with people that are shipped but that's literally not how they deal with things at all. like you said courtney and shayne have been in the thumbnails of almost every video they are together (and there was a point when things got really out of hand with the shippers, with stalking and stuff), ian and anthony are so shipped and all they do is embrace that, have fun with it without making fun of the fandom, amanda and angela also have quite the fan base and their videos together are always going up in quantity. their way of handling things never felt like "let's separate these people to not feed the shippers". most of the time it's the contrary, they lean into because they know that putting these people together, making jokes like the "my boyfriend" tag on ian in the who's slapped me with anthony, putting the shipps into thumbnails and more will get them views, will get engagement, will get people talking.

I feel like the fandom of smosh in general forget they are a whole ass company, a corporation. they goal is always to spread their content to the maximum amount of people they can get. and shipps do that perfectly. the fandom gets what they want and they get what they want, which is people watching it.

and also it's not like we are at the top of the fandoms in smosh. we are a small percentage here on tumblr for example. and we are not at all going as hard as others parts of the fandom go with their shipps. hell I don't even know if we can call ourselves shippers because we know they are not dating (some of us can feel some sparkles like myself but we are really good at being grounded in reality) what I feel like all of us that love them truly enjoy and connect it's their dynamic, the way they have such a specific relationship that we don't see between other cast members.

we are literally not asking or demanding them to date each other or to even hang out outside of work, we know they are closer with other people in the cast, we are literally just begging at this point to see them on videos together. that's all. we just want them playing games and bantering and having a gran old time with each other.

if and it's a big if, very unlikely I feel like, they are keeping them apart for shipping reasons then they really chose a very weird pairing to do that (now for some reason??) because we are not even a blimp in the ocean of all the "shipps" on smosh. and we are 100% definitely not the loudest ones.

I feel like we are a small group that reunites to talk quietly with their leader (you in this case)

you know that audio on tiktok that is a bunch of people talking loudly to each other and then there this one voice that says "it's entirely possible" in the middles of the chaos? that's us I feel like.

I think you made a LOT of really great points Anon. Some aren't totally true? I don't believe Smosh is a corporation? it says on their wiki they are an independent entity and a corporation is something bigger(?) I believe. (I don't totally know for sure though)

I would say that Smosh social team WOULD be and probably IS trying to push content to as many people as possible, but if we're being real, they suck ass at building hype and keeping the bit going. They get cold feet. There's SO MANY bits they kept going that weren't even good/not popular in the community.

True that they push shipping but we have to remember that Angela is a freelancer. if she felt uncomfortable (see the "I know Damien's" incident of 23') and asked not to push shipping for her and Damien I'm sure she could veto it, And obviously if Damien felt uncomfortable he'd get the same curtesy.

I really appreciated the long ask! I think a lot of it IS very pertinent to what's going on and how to think about it in reality, not get too in our heads about it and all that! so thank you!

For closing statements, (lol)

I think we've just been in a dry spell and that it'll clear up soon, and that I just am always going to be disappointed with the Smosh social team lol.

"I feel like we are a small group that reunites to talk quietly with their leader (you in this case)"

I shall not lead you astray my dears <3 (you guys are all awesome <3)

[messinwitheddie]

Have any tutorials of how you draw your tallest? (Or irkens in general?)

If Cini could wear any human casual clothing, what would he wear that is comfortable?

If he had it his way, would Cini change the life of Irken society?( you know with the whole tall and short thing.) or change everything with the empire expansion. We know their people must have many enemies with other alien races but if there was an alternative to that and not concur or go to war with them, would Cini be that one Tallest to break that cycles? I mean he looked tired of being tallest.

I'm not the best teacher. My drawings are pretty inconsistent. The best I can explain my process is, make a mark, erase a mark, rinse, repeat until it looks like a figure.

These were drawn super quick. Not sure how much help they'll be, but I tried to leave in as many reference lines in as possible.

These are some sketches on how I approach drawing a tallest with the typical JV bone-skinny body frame

The torso is where I struggle the most. I probably draw them too tall, but that's how it comes out.

It's fun to experiment with different body types;

From left to right; Tallest Spittle, Greezee and Blitz

From left to right: Tallest Miyuki, Dava and Kii

I have a tendency to draw women tallests with big hips (because that's fun for me), but Irkens really don't have gender dimorphism, and their fashion/ clothing styles are all unisex, so there's no need to follow that rule when you design your own ocs.

I would have to look through my blog to find any posts about how I draw smaller Irkens. Mostly same advice.

As far as Cini's choice in comfortable human clothing; his robes are very uncomfortable, so anything would feel comfy by comparison.

But I imagine he would immediately gravitate towards those flimsy tie dye sun dresses you see in those little hippie boutiques at the mall. Tie dye is something he would never have seen in the empire plus so many swirls and colors!

He would have a field day dress shopping. Most human male clothes would be too lacking in flair.

And to address the third question; Irkens are brainwashed at birth into believing their height based hierarchy is the natural and correct way for their society to operate and have been brainwashed into believing this for MILLIONS and millions of years.

I'm not sure if it's within the limits of his imagination to conceive a reality where Irkens did not serve a tallest who carried out the will and executed the design of the control brains.

BUT Cini wished from the moment he was measured someone, ANYONE else had been measured taller than him. His favorite partabout being tallest was lounging and smoking record breaking amounts of pipe amber.

His passion was his trapeze act and watching performances at the civilian theater. No "important" occupation really appealed to him when he was a cadet; too boring, not enough fun music and visuals. He only served in the military because all Irkens are required to go through basic training. His stats were a joke as far as his height bracket went. He stayed the same rank for almost 200 years.

Cini tried as hard as he could to be a good tallest, as much as his imposter syndrome made it for him. MOST of his reign was actually spent improving infrastructure within the empire's existing territories. He was a generous patron of the arts and sciences (beyond military research). Service drones legally received more off time and better medical benefits. Cini avoided brute force unless absolutely necessary. He loved to play ambassador. The Vortians, the Space Bees, the Inquisitorians, ect all became official allies of the Irken Armada during Cini's rule. He genuinely took the time and effort to listen to their concerns and compromise.

Cini was wise enough to know it's better to make friends than enemies in the long game, especially unnecessarily. The empire wasn't perfect, but Irkens and alien citizens alike enjoyed a higher quality of living under Cini's leadership methods.

It wasn't until the very end of his reign did he declare a war. He did so because of pressure forced down on him by the control brains, who were intimidated by the corrupting freedoms the lesser drones seemed to be enjoying and deeply concerned by the lack of new conquests that have been made over the centuries.

The Irken/ Planet Jacker war was bloody from the very beginning.

Cini would not live down the shame of his decision. Too many casualties on his conscience.

Every drone is worthy of dignity; Cini believed that. He would change A LOT about Irken society if he could. He tried. He wish he had tried harder.