#So like. It's nice to see someone who is actually invested in this game in the obscure facts type of way

[anothermonikan]

There’s this TikTok account who’s whole gimmick is like, posting DDLC facts everyday until there’s a ‘new DDLC game’, and people are so mean about the technicalities of that in the comments, they’ve explained countless time that they mean Project Libitina, and they still keep getting comments by people who think they’re being smart by pointing out that there’s not gonna be another DDLC game, like. They are having fun posting about a media they like. And also people are like ‘Your gonna run out of facts DDLC isn’t a big game’ which I’m like. Wrong. X. Buzzer. I still learn new things about DDLC and I’ve been an active fan of the game since December 2017

[wcnderlnds]

fxxk it | choi su-bong (thanos)

・❥・ summary: thanos is your ex and when he sees you linking up with the guy that scammed him out of his money, he's furious. ・❥・word count: 1.5k ・❥・warnings: mentions of death bc squid game, fighting, blood, jealous thanos, female reader ・❥・ authors note: making it my mission to name every fic after a bigbang song now.

The air was thick with tension as winning team by winning team slowly rolled into the main holding area. Frustrated groans echoing off the walls from some of the players at how many people had survived. Everyone was fighting for that money and the more people that survived, the more the money had to be shared. Praying on each other's downfall wasn’t the most fun situation to be in but in this place it was necessary. You did what you had to do to survive even if it went against every human moral in existence. It was do or die in this place. If you weren’t strong willed (and strong-stomached) then it was game over. 

The blood in your veins was pumping fast, adrenaline coursing through you at the fact you had survived yet another game. It was all thanks to your team. Myung-gi had very kindly let you join his team. If you were honest with yourself, you had wanted to team with him anyway but your ex boyfriend - who just so happened to be in the games, too - had tried to recruit you for his team. Sensing how uncomfortable you were, Myung-gi had come to the rescue, gently grabbing you by the elbow and pulling you away. To say your ex was furious was an understatement. But, you didn’t care. Definitely didn’t care one bit. Nope.

That wasn’t to say that you didn’t keep an eye on him, often finding yourself seeking him out. It was just a precaution to make sure he stayed away from you. The breakup hadn’t been smooth sailing — a lot of hurtful words and unspoken truths finally coming to light. It had been almost two years since you’d seen him. All the lingering feelings you had deep down were threatening to surface again but no. You liked Myung-gi — he was kind and different from Su-bong. Different is what you needed.

“Hey, you okay?” Myung-gi gently elbowed you to get your attention. “I know the games are rough but I’m here if you need to talk.”

You smiled. “Thank you. Not just for that but for saving me from Thanos. He and I.. we have a history.”

“Yeah, I kind of picked up on that with the face you were pulling when he approached you. He’s an asshole. He’s still blaming me that he lost all his money.”

“Sorry. He’s just very… difficult.”

It wasn’t long after when the voting took place. You wanted out so you’d voted to leave along with Myung-gi who had taken to staying close by your side. The thought alone that someone was protecting you made you smile. A sweet guy that was easy on the eyes? There’d be no complaints from you. Thanos had voted to stay which was no surprise. He was more eager than most to get that money. From what you’d read in the media, he had lost all the money he’d made rapping after he’d invested it in Myung-gi’s crypto – every single penny. His life had apparently gone downhill from there. There had almost been a moment of weakness on your end where you reached out to him but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. Now, as you stood in line to grab your food, you could hear his familiar voice behind you. 

“You know I’ve seen you with him,” his deep voice was right against your ear, you could feel his chest almost pressing against your back. “Of all the fuckin’ people in here, you pick him. Thought you had better taste than that, Senorita.”

You had to take a deep calming breath. Something about having him so close after so long was sending a shiver up your spine, all your senses going into overdrive as you remembered the way he used to made you feel. “Yeah, he’s nice and he actually seems to give a damn about me.”

“I…yeah, well…” Thanos shrugged like he didn’t care but you could tell by the clench of his jaw and the slight reddening of his cheeks that he was furious.

“You look like you’re about to explode there, Su-bong. Don’t go poppin’ a vein now,” you teased, turning around to face him.

“Maybe stop talking about the guy who fucking scammed me like he’s an angel on earth. He’s an even shittier person than I am. The sooner you see that, the better but you go carry on with your sweet little angel boy,” Thanos rolled his eyes, stepping in front of you to grab his food. You watched as he stalked off. A small frown appeared on your face before you shook it off. No way you were going to feel bad. That’s exactly what he wanted.

‘Whatever’, you thought as you grabbed your own food and sat back down with Myung-gi. He was stuffing his face with his food, cross legged on his bunk. A word wasn’t said between you but you could see him occasionally glancing at you, the corners of his lips unturned in a small smile. The attention was nice – it had been a while since someone had looked at you like that. After your relationship with Su-bong, you had remained single hoping to finally find peace with yourself first before you jumped into another relationship. Maybe now it was time to officially move on. Myung-gi seemed to like you and there was a part of you that liked him. If you both survived, maybe this could be the start of something good.

Good thoughts never seemed to last in your world because as soon as the idea of dating someone else popped into your head, Thanos made his way over. It was like he had some kind of sixth sense. This time, he didn’t approach you but Myung-gi instead. Oh no, this was sure to be trouble. 

“First you scam me out of my money and then you want to steal my girl away?” Thanos seethed.

“Last I heard she wasn’t your girl,” Myung-gi quipped. He didn’t even bother looking up which seemed to infuriate your ex more.

“You don’t know shit about us so shut your mouth and stay away from her. She has better taste than a puny, little, fraudulent fuck like you.”

That seemed to trigger something in Myung-gi and before you could even react, he had jumped up and pushed Thanos to the ground. The two men threw punches at each other, yelling obscenities. It wasn’t the first time they had fought. It was becoming an almost daily occurrence at this point. Thanos seemed to have the upper hand, his hands wrapped around Myung-gi’s neck trying to choke the life out of him but Myung-gi kneed him in between the legs. He rolled them around, sitting on top of Thanos as he threw punch after punch into his face.

“Stop!” You cried out but nobody listened. It wasn’t until Gi-hun and Young-il stepped in to stop it. Thanos had blood pouring from his nose, his hand trying to staunch the flow. Myung-gi held his cheek, both of them panting heavily. Your eyes flitted between the two men before you made a decision you knew you’d probably regret.

“Come on,” you said, taking Thanos’ hand and dragging him off towards the bathroom. Myung-gi looked offended but you didn’t care. Your heart had told you Thanos needed you more and, as reckless as it was, you always trusted it.

He sat down on the counter as you dabbed the blood away from his face with some paper towels. Not a word was said between the two of you, only Thanos wincing when you dabbed a particularly sore spot on his face. His poor beautiful face that was now littered in bruises. Once everything was wiped up, you gently examined him. 

“Your nose might be broken but… other than that you’re probably going to have a few brusines,” your fingers softly ran across his cheek causing him to sigh deeply, leaning into your touch.

“You chose me…”

“Yeah.”

“Why? Thought you hated me,” he met your eyes, his hand coming up to take yours from his cheek and hold it in his. “Aren’t I an ‘obnoxious, loud, annoying purple haired moron’ or whatever I heard you call me the other day.”

You blushed. “I mean… yeah you are but… you’re you and there’s always going to be a part of me that loves you regardless of how obnoxious and a pain in the ass you are. I just wish you weren’t so reckless.”

“Sorry, babygirl. Gotta take me or leave me as I am. Can’t change. Won’t change,” he pulled you in a little closer, his lips hovering inches from yours. “So, what’ll it be?”

You were going to regret this, you knew you were but the heart wants what it wants and in that moment it was telling you that was him. The most reckless person you knew but there was something about him that always seemed to pull you back in. Without hesitation, you closed the distance, pressing your lips against his.

“We have a lot to talk about,” you mumbled against his lips.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he said as he wrapped his arms around you with no intentions of ever letting you go.

taglist: @ldydeath @angelofbooksworld @taivantaylor @sherlocke3d @djarindroid @justsisse @sassyyoyo @mysatnin @basquiat-top @urmomsg1rlfreind @belladonna-303

[bobacupcake]

indie game releases may 9 2024

today is just an absolutely amazing day for indie game launches. like there is something here for just about everyone. i want to catalogue all the ones ive seen

animal well

described by some as a "metroidvania thats similar to outer wilds in that you want to go into it knowing as little as possible" . which i assume if youre like me is all you need to know to be sold on this, so thats all i have to say

steam | switch | ps5

little kitty big city

you play as a little kitty in a big city. incredibly cute. great for people who love cats and play games to just take it easy and have a nice time. you get to put the kitty in so many silly hats

steam | switch | xbox (also on gamepass)

rabbit & steel

"what if you could do mmo raid progression but without having to invest hours into an mmo" here you go this is the game for you. get together with friends and learn mechanics and fights and get 5 different debuffs and try to parse what they mean before they make you explode in 5 seconds. i hope this sounds fun to you because to me this is what i live for

steam

crow county

an incredibly stylish ps1-style survival horror game. solve mysteries!! shoot monsters!! pick up items!! you probably know if this is the game for you already!! from what ive seen its a great love letter to the genre

steam | ps5 | xbox

1000xresist

i have heard /immense/ praise over this game from a narrative angle. scifi thriller. also the trailer starts with someone getting stabbed. cool. if you play games for their stories and a hyper-cinematic scifi adventure is up your alley check this one out

steam

cryptmaster

a dungeon crawler where you do everything by typing words . i dont know how to properly describe this but it looks incredibly cool the trailer through the link does a much better job of showcasing it than i do. AND , if this game and 100xresist both look up your alley, you can actually get a bundle with both of them for 40% off

steam

anyways thanks for getting through my big wall of gifs i really wanted to showcase these games because like these are some Real amazing games all launching on the same day. and also the same week as hades2 . and im sure theres even more that i didnt even see!!! check the replies because im sure people are gonna add even more

[cursed-angelic-art]

Shen Yuan is a streamer known as Peerless Cucumber. His main focus is an rpg called Proud Immortal Demon Way that is often critiqued as "just another waifu collector" and Peerless Cucumber gets a ton of flak for being so invested in the lore and for heavily defending the main player character, Luo Binghe. But as is the way with content creators who are overly invested in one piece of media, he has a healthy niche following. One of his longtime followers is Heavenly Pillar, a Luo Binghe role player who leaves him lots of donations, despite his pleas for people not to send him money.

Shen Yuan has a love/hate relationship with this follower. On the one hand, he's pretty terrible at roleplaying Luo Binghe. He seems to have the characterization and speech patterns down, but he'll constantly go super OOC and start flirting with Shen Yuan while still pretending to be in character. And he barely says anything about the wives Shen Yuan encounters while playing. Luo Binghe isn't gay! And he certainly wouldn't be into Shen Yuan!

On the other hand, it's nice that someone out there seems to not only like Shen Yuan's content so much, but also values him as a person, showing concern if he's playing at odd hours of the day or hasn't eaten anything in a while or just seems particularly lonely. Maybe it's borderline parasocial, maybe Shen Yuan should be focusing on making friends irl, but it's nice, you know, to have someone's attention wholly on you.

Luo Binghe is a centuries old demon lord who's traveled to nigh on hundreds of universes and donned countless personas in his neverending quest to find something to alleviate the monotony of his life. This one caught his eye a few years back when he saw some advertisements for Proud Immortal Demon Way. It's far from the first time he's come across a story about his life, but a video game is a novelty.

So he downloads it. And in his expert opinion after hours of play, the game sucks ass. Not only are the fighting mechanics unwieldy and the rewards limited, but the wife quests have incredibly contrived plot lines that repeat the same 5 tropes over and over. Sure, Luo Binghe's actual harem was oft unwieldy and annoying (it has dwindled significantly in recent years), but he doesn't recognize any of the people he remembers marrying in these 2d pixels. Even the ones that are staples of the Luo Binghe genre, like Sha Hualing, Liu Mingyan, and Ning Yingying are pale caricatures of their real life selves in his memory.

Luo Binghe decides to shelve the game, but first takes to the internet to see what others have to say about it and that's where he finds him. Shen Yuan shows his face on screen. His voice. His mannerisms. Luo Binghe has only met the "not-Shizun" Shen Qingqiu a scant number of times, briefly, in a handful of universes. And each time, he was closely guarded by another Luo Binghe. But not this one. This Shen Yuan appears to be alone, neglected, a wilting flower carrying on through energy drinks, cup noodle, and sheer determination.

Luo Binghe is going to find out where he lives. It's not a matter of if, but when. And in the meantime, he's gaining his trust and affection one stream at a time.

[esotericpluto]

your life 5 years from now

from left to right; intuitively choose the pile you feel more connected to. To make it easier, you can take a deep breathe, close your eyes and ask for guidance to your deities or guides. These are all general messages, so just take what resonates and leave what doesn't. This reading is timeless. If it resonates, feedback is always appreciated and motivates to keep doing pick a card readings. You can donate here.

dividers credit: @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

pile 1

fully intuitive, no cards

I feel like you will have a lot of success in your life, mainly financially. You will be very financially stable and living out your dreams. I see most of you will be in your desired career and learning everyday more about it, advancing in it and adquiring new skills. I see some of you investing money in various ways too, as buying properties, jewels or art pieces. Others might be investing in actions/stocks as well and building a diverse portfolio.

For some people in this group (mainly those who will be 25 plus in 5 years) I'm seeing that you will be building a family too or preparing yourself to build one, however I do advise you to be very careful with the partner you pick as some of you might be investing in a rotten apple without realizing. Do not ignore red flags and be 100% sure this person is fulfilling you and doing more than the bare minimum, as you do not want to regret the person you build a family with. Some of you might even receive warnings of this through dreams, so dream journal and study dream analysis.

Overall, I see, especially for women who picked this pile, that you will be highly successful. I see you having very close friends who are there for you and who are successful themselves, so no jealousy or envy in the scene. I see you all going on trips and nice fancy dates together and truly uplifting each other up.

You will be extremely well educated by then and might even be beginning to take on a PHD by that time. I also see you taking some free courses here and there and truly building yourself up and becoming very well read. You will be a real catch and grow into yourself both physically and mentally. You will be very grounded in all aspects of yourself. I am also seeing some travels around the world and possibly owning a cat or two.

pile 2

2 of cups, 10 of swords, 4 of wands, 7 of pentacles

For those who picked this pile, you will be entering a harmonious time in your life after a long era of suffering and worrying. I see, however, that all this depends on you. You will have to remove your blindfolds and actually take control of your life and make a decision once and for all about yourself and the direction of things. This might be working on yourself, working on limiting beliefs, putting end to toxic behaviors and thoughts you have about yourself or others, going to therapy and doing shadow work. For some of you, this will require the end of friendships/a relationship that won't serve you anymore and you will have to put yourself first, choosing yourself over them, even if hurts you for a while.

For others, this might indicate you are going to be entering a new relationship after worries of never finding the ideal person for you. However, I see that you will be plagued by fears that the relationship won't work or that the person will leave eventually and that you'll have to start from zero with someone new all over again. This is a valid fear, but you will only be allowing these thoughts to drain you out of life and happiness if you don't address them. Not only that, but you will end up easily minsunderstanding your partner or jumping to conclusions that will only put a strain in the relationship. You have been hurt before and you didn't deserve that, but be careful to not project the aftermath of that pain onto innocent people.

I do feel like this partner could be the end game for you, but only if you are willing to truly work through these issues and I'd recommend starting now. When the time comes, be willing to be open with them about the things you have been through as they'll be open minded and understand you better than anyone has. Consider going to therapy too and even couple therapy with them if you have the chance. People tend to think couple therapy is only for when things are going through rough patch or to "fix" things, but the truth is that every couple can benefit from couple therapy and it can help them heal from expectations and fears they carry on from childhood or past connections.

Working through all this will require some time dedication and patience from both, but I see it strengthening the relationship and even possibly leading to marriage and a lot of happy moments together.

I also feel like you might be going through a lot of tiring moments when it comes to your career in 5 years. I feel like most of you will still be trying to find a career/workplace that fits you and where you feel welcome. Others might even not be enjoying your job/employers for being too strict, non-understanding and draining. While you should be collaborative, you should never take abuse or energy draining vampires. You are strong enough to leave and find a better job for you, there are enough of them out there for you and you might even find a better area or truly follow your childhood dreams.

Your efforts when it comes to work will definitely pay off after a while and you will even receive a financial bonus/reward due to this.

I see a lot of celebrations. I feel like some of your friends or even family members like cousins and siblings (i'm also seeing an younger aunt possibly) getting married, engaged or having children. You might also be going to parties or hanging out with friends, trying to maintain a healthy social life. I'm also hearing to keep family close.

pile 3

Lovers, Temperance, 6 of cups, 5 of cups, Knight of Cups, 6 of wands, 7 of pentacles, 3 of cups

So I feel like for most of you 5 years from now this will be a time of self-love and balance in your life. I also see that you will be surrounded by life, with a stable partner/relationship (possibly already marriage for some of you) and expecting a new family member/child, whilw trying to balance things out in your life and home to make space for the new family element.

Because of this new addition to your newly founded family, I feel like you will be reminiscing a lot about your own childhood and how things went with your parents. I feel like they committed many mistakes that you feel resentful over still and that you'll fear repeating. It could also apply to anyone who might have hurt you during your childhood and you fearing the same happening to your kid. However, you're going to choose to look at this as a new beginning and as a way to give someone else the childhood they deserve, since you didn't have yours. I feel like this will help you heal your inner child and release the unwarranted guilt you might feel.

I feel like around this time you might even receive texts from ex partners trying to reconnect, which you will of course decline since you'll be in a happy relationship expecting (although this could also apply for people adopting/using surrogacy btw). Some of you, old friends will reconnect and want to catch up with you. I'm hearing to be careful with who you let back in, but a few of them will be trustworthy and you'll miss them in your life. I feel like some of them might just try to get into your life again for their own benefit and to ask you for money, so be careful. This could also be a family member for some of you.

Overall, it will be a time that you'll see many things come to fruition and you will feel truly victorious. I see a lot of happy joyful moments and celebrations, especially when the little one gets in the picture. I think it will be a very united and bonded family which is adorable.

There will be one month or two that you might need to go into introspection/solitude until you feel better and ready to face the world too. I feel like for some of you this could sadly be some form of postpartum depression, but I see you getting counselling for it and overcoming it without many struggles.

You will be pausing your career for a bit with this, however once you do get back I see people welcoming you with open arms, missing you and wishing you the best. I see you will also be able to get promoted/salary raise in a few months after you get back and so will your significant other, bringing more abundance to you two especially after being a bit tight on finances to make space for the baby.

[hgfictionwriter]

Maybe This Time - Part Three

Jessie Fleming x Reader

Summary: Jessie and you finally get some 1:1 time together (thanks Janine!). You work to build new memories together, but hurt from the past needs to be addressed.

Warnings: None. Temporary, very light angst, but mostly sweet fluff.

A/N: Part two and one.

"What do you think? Should I go for it?" 

Jessie smirked as she saw the screenshot you sent her of her jersey in the Thorns' site shopping cart. 

"I don't know. I thought you said that was too big a commitment." 

"I did. But I was rather impressed at the last game. And we went for drinks after, I finally got to meet Janine – so you know, points for that. And if I think about it, I'm like an OG fan. But if you think I should get a different jersey..." 

Jessie laughed under her breath, her smirk now a full blown smile as she read your message while she ate lunch. The conversation she'd been on the periphery of carried on as she ate another bite before typing out a reply. 

"Oh yeah? Post-game drinks were a hit, huh? And you know, my stats are only getting better with each game 😉 And let's be honest, I'd be pretty offended if you got someone else's jersey. Except Sinc's. Because, you know, GOAT." 

"Oh, well, say no more. You had me at 'stats' lol. Done. I'll pick it up before next game." 

"Lol I figured. My plan all along – I know how much you love stats." 

"You know me so well. I have to say, I'm kind of tempted to modify the jersey. Add some sort of patch or stitching, 'Yay sports!'" 

Jessie laughed out loud, less discrete than before.  

"Don't you dare lol. I've taught you better than that. But hey, if you ask nicely, I could actually sign it for you 😎" 

"I'm sure I have an old group paper kicking around with your signature on it. I need to be able to wash this thing lol. What else can you offer though?" 

Jessie swallowed her food hard, the bite getting caught temporarily in her throat with a wince. Okay, no signature – how humbling. However, there was an opening. 

She stared at her phone temporarily before a loud clearing of someone's throat caught her attention. She lifted her gaze with a curious frown on her face to see Janine staring expectantly at her. Jessie instinctively tilted the phone inwards towards her body. 

"I don't even have to spy to know who you're texting," the blonde said rather self-satisfied. Jessie looked around, heat building in her face already as she hoped Janine was the only one focused on her.  

"Yeah?" Jessie retorted, attempting to appear as unfazed as possible. "You should be pleased. You keep pushing me to text her." She cracked a smirk. "Now that you don't think she's the devil incarnate for 'stringing me along' in university." 

"Oh I don't think you need to be pushed," Janine teased with a wicked grin. "And I never said she was the devil incarnate." She lifted a hand to her chest in exaggeration. "I merely questioned things. But you're right," she relented, "she's quite lovely. And she gives you butterflies, and she makes you blush - more than usual - and you try to act all nonchalant and it's just too adorable for words." 

"Uh huh," Jessie muttered with a flat look. Janine leaned in excitedly. 

"And I have to say, I got the sense that she and I could riff off of each other and just tease the heck out of you, so that really sealed the deal for me." 

Jessie rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, that's exactly what I need in my life." She'd never admit that it actually excited her that her best friend and you could get along so well. If – and it was a huge 'if' - anything evolved between you two, it was key that you got along with her friends and family.  

She started thinking about how well you got on with her parents and sister – you'd met before during your days at UCLA and they loved you. She also remembered how disappointed they'd seemed when she eventually told them that you two didn't speak anymore.  

"Well, since you're so invested," Jessie went on, rolling her eyes facetiously once more as she opened her phone again and turned it to Janine, "what should I say?" 

Janine squinted as she leaned in to read and it only took a moment for her expression to light up. Before Janine could say anything, Jessie snatched the phone back and placed it on her lap with a frown.  

"I don't want to hear it," she pre-empted the girl. 

"What?" Janine said innocently with a mischievous glint in her eye. "I am totally supportive of the flirtation between you two." She ignored Jessie's look of complaint and cut off her protest. "Her shutting down your autograph is pretty hilarious, by the way," she said with a marginally apologetic look. "Not smooth on your part – you know she's not impressed by your elite football skills. Don't lean on your Jessie the Footballer identity." 

"I wasn't," Jessie nearly hissed, trying to keep her voice down and avoid drawing attention. "I was joking. Half joking." 

"You were flirting, or at least attempting to. She left you an opening here though. So, you should ask her out." 

"I'm not asking her out," Jessie pouted, her shoulders rounding as she scooched closer to the table. She huffed upon seeing the scrutinizing look her friend gave her. "We're still getting to know each other again." 

"Fine. Don't define it as a date, then," Janine dismissed with a wave. She leaned in, folding her arms on the table. "Ask her to go for dinner." 

"Basic," Jessie remarked as she sat up and crossed her arms in disapproval. She frowned. "Plus that's too date-like." 

"Fine," Janine said curtly. "How about a hike?" 

Jessie hummed and hawed, unconvinced. "Maybe someday. Doesn't seem right at this point though." Janine rolled her eyes in exasperation.  

"Well, what did you two used to do back at UCLA?" 

Jessie shrugged. She saw the frustration Janine was telegraphing at how unhelpful she was being and jumped in. "We went to drop-in art classes sometimes." 

Janine held a hand up to the sky. "Thank you. Finally – something I can work with. Okay! Let's find a drop-in class for you two to go to then." She pulled out her phone and started browsing before shooting a look at Jessie as an aside. "Oh, and dinner's too date-llke, but an art class isn't? Okay." 

Jessie grunted and pulled out her phone as well to look.  

"Here," Jessie announced after a couple of minutes. "This'll work. She enjoyed painting." 

Without further consultation, Jessie began to type out a message to you. She bit back a laugh at how Janine's head was bobbing around periodically trying to peek at the message from across the table.  

"Don't send it yet! I want to see it," Janine pouted.  

"You are not writing my messages for me," Jessie told her pointedly, but gave a heavy sigh as she turned her phone for the blonde to see. An affronted look crossed Jessie face as Janine let out a guffaw and snatched the phone out of her hand.  

"No," Janine simply said with a wag of her finger before she started typing. Jessie reached out for the phone, but Janine turned her body away. Jessie clamored more, but stopped as soon as she noted some of their teammates glancing their way. She shrunk back into her seat, a hand rubbing the side of her face as she spoke in a harsh whisper.   "What are you doing." 

"Jeff. Relax. I would never lead you astray," Janine assured her. "And this is so very satisfying for me since I never got to help you with any of this during uni. Cause let me tell you, if I had been involved, you two definitely would've been living happily ever after." 

Jessie breathed in exasperation. "Please. Give me my phone back." 

"Okay, okay. Here," Janine said, all humour from her tone gone as she now offered Jessie a sincere smile. "Read it over, but I think this is good." 

Jessie gave her a lingering stare as she took back her phone and let out another withering sigh before reading.  

"Funny you should ask. I was thinking about how much I missed art classes together. How about I take you to one of the drop-in painting classes across town when I'm back from Houston?"  

Jessie lifted her gaze to meet Janine's and she studied the blonde for a few moments before relenting with an inaudible sigh. It was better than her original "I don't know. Paint class?" reply. She hit send and released another heavy breath as she tucked the phone away once more.  

"You're welcome," Janine said with a saccharine smile. Jessie gave her a fake smile in return, pulling a laugh out of the girl. "Hey, let's remember which one of us is engaged and which one of us is perpetually single." 

"Ouch," Jessie said with a light laugh.  

"I'm just teasing," Janine went on. "I genuinely hope this turns into something for you. Considering you've only come back into each other's lives, what, like a couple months ago? You two seem pretty solid already. And you seem happier." 

Jessie wanted to give a dry retort of some kind, but Janine was right. You two talked every day now and the chemistry you had in university was still very much present. And the depth you once had in your friendship was something that was quite easily and naturally being broached again. Even if you'd both grown and changed, the cores of who you were still aligned well and fit together. Too well. 

She'd more or less dismissed the spark of emotions that came up during your initial interactions as some sort of emotional muscle memory, but the feelings were proving to not be fleeting or diminishing.  

If anything, her feelings for you were growing. And this time they felt different, too. Heavier, deeper in some way. She was a more realized person now, as were you, and it made the connection between you more substantial. Less juvenile.  

Her phone buzzed. She opened her lock screen.  

"That sounds like a lot of fun! Let's do it." 

————

By the time your paint date night came around, Jessie was nearly buzzing with anticipation. It wasn’t an official date, of course, but she hadn’t seen you since that night after the game, and truthfully, it felt like it had been too long.

She was early - as usual - but as she rounded the corner to the building, she bit back a smile upon seeing you waiting. You were always early too, which she appreciated.

“Hey.” Jessie greeted as she approached. Again, she had to tamp her smile when you beamed back at her.

“Hey, good to see you,” you said as you stepped in for a hug, which Jessie reciprocated. “I love your shirt,” you continued when you stepped back.

“Oh,” Jessie said with a slight frown and a mild laugh as she looked down at herself in question. “Thanks,” she said as she gave a shrug and fought off a blush. She looked you up and down, not entirely discretely. “I like your outfit.”

You rolled your eyes affectionately and gave her a look. “You don’t need to reciprocate my compliment. But thank you.”

“I legitimately like your outfit,” Jessie retorted, her pitch rising and pulling a laugh out of you as you both walked towards the building. Jessie took a few quick steps and grabbed the door, holding it open. “After you.”

“Such service. Thank you,” you said, both teasing and appreciative. Jessie didn’t wink, but she did give a teasing lift of her eyebrows as you passed.

As the instructor gave their directions for the lesson, Jessie found herself distracted, glancing at you out of the corner of her eye. The whole lesson carried on like that, really. Jessie had to make a point to not fall behind as she’d uncharacteristically lose concentration. The worst, well, best, moments being when she'd lean over feigning critical assessment of your work when really she just wanted to be close.

By the end, she was decently satisfied with the forest landscape she’d painted. However, she felt it paled in comparison to the ocean sunset you’d crafted.

“I love your colours. And the little cabin you added is great,” you told her as you were both leaving, canvases in hand.

“Well good,” she said as she got to a clearing on the sidewalk and stopped to turn to you. “Consider it my gift to you,” she went on as she held it out to you.

“Jessie,” you said sweetly with a smile as you took it and looked it over more thoroughly. “That’s really sweet. Thank you. It’s beautiful. And bonus - I get my Jessie Fleming signature, but on a far rarer painting as opposed to a jersey,” you laughed. “And what a coincidence. I painted this for you.”

Jessie looked at you for a moment before a smile broke out across her face as she belatedly took the painting you held out.

“Thank you,” she said softly as she studied the image. She frowned in realization as she lifted her eyes to you. “Is this the same beach from our photo?”

You nodded. “It is. Nice eye.”

“Who knew you were so sentimental?” Jessie teased.

“Apparently not you,” you replied with a roll of your eyes, but gave a small laugh. “Come on. It’s been a while, but you know me better than that.”

Jessie was quiet for a moment as she took you in. She eventually nodded. “I know.”

A small lull fell over you both before you asked. “So, what now? Do you have to leave?”

“No.” Jessie spoke quickly with a shake of her head. “I don’t have anywhere to be. How about you?”

You shook your head in return. “Same. Well, it’s beautiful out tonight. Want to just go for a walk? We can drop these off at my car first,” you proposed as you held up the painting.

“Sure. Sounds great.”

After a short detour, you both began your stroll along the quiet, tree-lined street.

“Thanks for suggesting that class,” you said. “I don’t really get to paint or pursue creative hobbies as much anymore. It was nice to make a point of it. I can’t imagine you have much of an opportunity to focus on things like that anymore, hm?”

Jessie sighed quietly in contemplation and gave a shrug.

“Not extensively, no. But we do lots of team building, so sometimes we’ll do artsy things. And I can do hobbies and such in my down time, whether during the week or between seasons.”

She looked over to see you giving her a soft smile.

“What?” She asked.

“Nothing really. Just kind of crazy how everything turned out. You’ve achieved so much and your life is so impressive.”

Jessie was about to interject with a compliment for you, but you carried on.

“Are you happy with how things turned out?” You asked with a slight cock of your head.

“I-um, yeah.” Jessie stammered slightly, caught off guard by your question. “I mean, yeah it’s been incredible. More amazing than I could’ve ever pictured. And I know I’m very lucky.”

“You’re not lucky, Jess. You’ve worked exceptionally hard.”

She huffed lightly. “Yes, but luck is involved too. Lots of people work hard and still don’t get half the opportunities I’ve had.”

“I suppose,” you relented. “But you’ve made the most of those opportunities and haven’t taken them for granted.”

“That’s true. But look at you. You’ve worked so hard. And I know what you’ve been up against, but you’ve risen above and built a great life for yourself,” Jessie emphasized.

“Thank you,” you accepted with a half smile. Jessie knew the ins and outs of your family dynamics - something few people truly knew. You smiled more fully at her. “And look at us now. We both left LA and then found ourselves in the same city again and got to reconnect,” you finished with a laugh. "It sounds strange, but it really feels like in some ways like no time has passed. Not really, anyway. Like you and I were able to pick up where we left off."

You let out a quick sigh, giving a deep shrug as you did so. Your eyes remained trained on the ground as you two walked. "I mean, we talked the other week about my family and it just felt so different. Like, I've told recent friends or girlfriends my history and everything, and they listen and they 'get it', but it's not the same. That conversation with you – via text, no less – had more depth and weight than any comparable conversation with my exes or current friends. You were there. You know it – and me, I guess - inside and out. And even if I retell things, it's just not the same." 

Jessie nodded, watching you. It did feel like yesterday when she was sitting next to you on your bed, sobs wracking your body after one confrontation too many with your family. Normally, Jessie was so analytical and tentative about her physical contact with you, but the second you started crying she put her arms around you without hesitation and you leaned in, resting your head on your shoulder as she held you. That was the first time, but it wasn't the last.  

Looking back on it, maybe your girlfriends did have good reason to dislike her. 

"I know what you mean," she told you. "It's different. I mean, it's the same with you in a lot of ways. You were there for me during some critical points – big decisions in my life and you understood who I was and who I wanted to be." 

You smiled at her fondly. You looked ready to say something and Jessie waited. A moment passed and you exhaled, saying, "It really meant a lot – having you in my life and the support you gave me back then. I hope you know that." 

"I know," Jessie accepted with a smile of her own. "And likewise." 

Her mind drifted. She should probably just leave things be, but not speaking her mind is what held her back all those years before. She needed to share her thoughts and feelings if things were going to be different this time. She took a breath.  

"You know, I was really shocked when we saw each other here." She paused briefly. "I don't know. We hadn't talked in so long. I think I'd relegated myself to assuming we'd never see each other or ever talk again. Despite how important we were to one another at some point." 

Her statement seemed to give you pause, the mild surprise evident on your face. You eventually glanced down at the street as you two continued to walk. 

"Yeah. That's true, I guess," you conceded, your voice soft. 

Jessie studied you, unsatisfied with the response you gave. She pushed.  

"I knew we wouldn't be able to stay as close as we were. That was inevitable with us living so far away from one another, but I don't think I expected contact to fall apart as quickly as it did." You didn't reply right away and she went on with an ironic laugh. "We went from talking all day every day, to a few times a week with a video call scattered in there, to the odd message every couple of weeks, then just texts on birthdays and at Christmas, to nothing at all." 

She wasn't sure what she was anticipating, but she didn't expect you to turn to her with a perplexed frown.  

"Yeah. It did taper off pretty quickly."  

Despite the time that'd passed, Jessie still knew when you were telling half-truths. She gave a bit of an empty chuckle. "What else are you thinking?" 

You returned her laugh with a mild look. "I don’t know. I'm just kind of confused, I suppose." Jessie frowned.  

"About what?" She questioned. Faint alarm bells went off in her head when you stopped walking. She stilled her movements as well and you turned to one another on the sidewalk.  

You took a moment to gather your thoughts. You spoke with a smile that didn't quite reach your eyes. 

"I know it was me who stopped replying right away to messages – I don't deny that – but you weren't exactly giving me a lot to work with." You took a breath, dropping your shoulders before you spoke further. "Honestly? It was kind of feeling one-sided. Yeah, you replied, but a lot of your replies were brief and noncommittal. And when I asked if everything was okay you just told me you were busy. Which," you let out a slightly rueful laugh, "is absolutely fair. You were building this brand new, big life. Which is exactly what you were supposed to do. I don't begrudge you at all. I don’t know." You shrugged and averted your gaze momentarily. "I guess things just started to feel off." 

Jessie exhaled quietly as she processed your reply. What you were saying wasn't false. It had been so long it was easy for Jessie to just recall the end result – that you'd stopped replying altogether. That you'd given up on her; on the connection you'd both built for years. 

Standing here now though, if she was honest with herself, it was true that Jessie grew distant in her messages - purposefully so - knowing it would drive you away. What was she supposed to do? You two were never going to be together. And being friends was so incredibly hard sometimes because it was never just friendship for her. There was always this bittersweet feeling to everything and now that you were on completely different paths, there was an inevitable conclusion. Yet, she struggled to cut herself off cold. So instead, she took the coward's way out.  

Jessie scratched the back of her head. "I was busy," she repeated. She contemplated doubling down, but thought better of it. "And I guess I was finding it hard. We were building two very different lives." 

There was so much more she wanted to say, but she couldn't. What would be the point? Her chest panged when you gave her a sad smile.  

"I know," you accepted with a sadness in your eyes. "And I really wanted that for you. I just - it was hard to not feel like a nuisance. Like some obligation. So I just stopped writing."

Jessie's frown deepened. She knew all those years ago that she had to be hurting you, but she could lie to herself about it and focus selfishly on herself. Seeing you talk about it in front of her wasn't something she'd anticipated.

"I didn't mean for that," Jessie said. "And I never stopped caring about you," she compromised. 

"Yeah. I never stopped caring about you, either," you reciprocated in a subdued manner. Despite her role in everything, Jessie was still harbouring hurt from all those years prior and she felt compelled to push on. Sure, she'd pushed you away, but you'd let her. She erased you from her life little by little, day by day and you allowed it.

"Funny how quickly things change sometimes," Jessie went on. She didn't mean to scoff, but she did. "You didn't even tell me when you and [y/ex] broke up. You didn't even tell me you were having problems."  

In years past, Jessie was your sounding board for all your girl troubles. She remembered it well – it was painful. Having to hear you either swoon or – more often – complain about your girlfriends. Hearing how they disappointed or frustrated you when Jessie knew she could love you better. Just thinking back to it stoked a fire in Jessie's chest again. While she had genuinely loved you and cared about your well-being, she'd vowed to never get stuck in that dynamic again.  

You cracked a smirk. "It just seemed frivolous to bother you with something like that at that point." 

Another pang in Jessie's chest. "Well," she kicked idly at the concrete beneath her, "I would've been there for you if you ever needed me. I hope you knew that." 

You sighed and gave a hollow laugh as you pushed your hair back, causing Jessie to get momentarily distracted by the way the rays from the street light hit your face.  

"I know," you said quietly before meeting her gaze. "And I hope you knew the same about me. I know you're surrounded by people who love you, but," you shrugged listlessly, "I'd be there for you, too." 

Before Jessie could respond you gave her another smirk. 

"Besides. Though you never said anything explicit, I know you didn't like her. And by the end I could see why, too. No point wasting any of our limited conversation talking about her." 

Jessie bit back a smirk, but knew her eyes betrayed her. "Well, I guess that's poetic. Your girlfriends never liked me and I never liked them." 

Despite the mounting tension in your conversation, you laughed and gave her a nod. Jessie didn't return your laugh though. She gave you a solemn look. 

"You always deserved better than them. I know some of them were just fine, some of them even good, but they didn't seem earnest enough and they didn't love you enough." 

You were taken aback by her sudden proclamation. You opened your mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words.  

Jessie never understood how they didn't worship the ground you walked on. She practically did, even if she didn't show it. While those girls showed they cared through superficial acts like a generic bouquet of flowers, Jessie listened. In many ways. It was obvious to Jessie that they didn't really get you – not the way she did. And if they were so in tune with you, then why was it her you came to when things were hard or you were scared or even hopeful. If she'd been your girlfriend, she would've given you everything you needed and more. They clearly didn't. 

You eventually gave a soft huff and offered Jessie a quiet smile. 

"You've always been very observant. And very thoughtful. I get it now. There's a reason I'm single now. I don't want to settle anymore," you told her. 

Jessie was quiet before giving a nod of acceptance.  

"I'm glad to hear that." 

You both started walking again, though neither of you spoke right away. There was still a heaviness in the air, but it felt different now; hopeful.  

"I'm sorry for how things ended," you said as she glanced over at Jessie as you two strolled through the quiet street. "You've always been really important to me – regardless of whether we were in contact or not. I don't want to say that I wish things had been different, because I really don't see the point in regretting anything, but I will say I'm very grateful that we've had this chance to reconnect and rebuild." You paused. "I've really missed you. I didn't realize how much." 

"I'm really sorry, too," Jessie said, a smile spreading across her face. "And I agree – we can't change the past, but I also appreciate the chance to be friends again. I've missed you, too." 

She swallowed as she contemplated whether to add more. The lull that naturally formed told her to forge ahead.

"And you were never a nuisance or an obligation. I'm really sorry it came across that way."

"Awww, Jessie," you said in a teasing voice, lifting your conversation up again. You paused your steps and Jessie stopped and turned to you in question. "Come on," you beckoned as you waved her over and brought out your phone. "We need a new photo together." 

Jessie didn't fight it. Instead, she smiled at you and walked over to stand next to you. You leaned into her and Jessie found her hand naturally gravitated to your waist. It rest there before Jessie could even realize it, but before she could fret, you looked back at her with a smile before facing forward again. 

You took the photo and immediately opened up your messages with Jessie to send it to her. Jessie belatedly realized her hand was still on you and she pulled it back, holding her hands behind her. 

"There," you announced. "Now we can start rebuilding our collection. Portland memories – not just UCLA anymore." 

Jessie laughed and held up her phone, pointing the camera at you. 

"No, come on," you whined immediately and she laughed further.  

"Hey, this is part of the deal," she countered. You huffed, but eventually smiled for her. "Just remember. This goes both ways. I get new photos of you, too." 

She found herself giving you a wink. "I'll allow it."  

A/N: Part Four is available here.

[olderthannetfic]

Genuine question: what's the point of writing fanfic? As in, what's the purpose? No one in the fandom I'm in comments on fics and I even got told off by one person for doing so, as it "encourages bad writers and makes them think they're good". So it seems that it's a lot like book writing, where people work hard and are creative, but instead of getting paid and getting comments on the work, you just sit there silently hoping someone will press the kudos button and make a number go up. I feel like that time and work could be better spent on making something you might get some kind of profit off of. Don't get me wrong, I love doodling fanart, but I don't post it, as I'm aware that there's no point to doing so, and while it's a nice way to fill the time on a commute, it's not something that takes me as much time and effort as fanfic does. So... why do people bother? Sometimes I describe ideas I have and people I know in my fandom will tell me I should write it, but I don't see why. I get more interaction from just saying "imagine if [thing here]" than I would by sitting down, writing for hours, editing and posting [thing here], so what would the point be? I'm not punching down or going "haha women and their fanfic lol!", I genuinely do not get what the point is and this blog feels like it might have someone reading who knows the answer.

--

Do you make art for profit? Genuine question.

There's nothing inherently wrong with being motivated primarily by external factors, but it's not actually why a lot of people create things, whether it's books or recipes or doodles in a notepad.

I enjoy the actual process of writing.

I think many people lose sight of that aspect in an era where tons of <500-word fics that are mostly outlines and "Imagine if..." posts get disproportionate attention for being easy to consume. But the satisfaction of doing a bigger art piece and doing it right is real and motivates a hell of a lot of creation.

I suppose you might be thinking "Okay, but why not just write it alone and never post?", but I like sharing. Showing off my finished creation is part of the joy, and sharing with other people like me is too. But those aren't quite the same thing as worrying about kudos. It's like dressing nicely when you leave the house because you feel great when you know you look good vs. needing another person to tell you you look good.

To be honest, though, this type of feeling has grown in me the better I've gotten at a craft. The closer my finished projects get to the vision in my head, the easier it is to find them fulfilling and to be excited to share them. When I fall short of my own ambitions, it's discouraging no matter how much attention I might get from others.

I feel like it's time for my regular reblog of Adam Westbrook's video essay series The Long Game.

The third and least known in the series is all about this idea of who you're making art for if you're not getting material rewards in the short term. It talks a lot about autotelicity—being internally driven instead of externally.

--

But if you really just want clicks, anon, start a blog that accepts anon asks and posts about wanky stuff. Actually tag things, unlike me, so people can find you.

No, writing for attention isn't worth it.

The time investment is too great and your brain will always fixate on the times people didn't respond instead of the times they did.

But that's not actually why most people write.

[a-romantics-guide-to-life]

I'd kill for this au my brain is rotting there's a million things up in there for once like while you're folding laundry you steal one of his shirts and he doesn't know until another late night when you walk in wearing it and its past your thighs due to how much taller he is than you and you're wearing nothing underneath it and he finds that out when you stretch up to grab a glass to get water

𝜗𝜚₊˚⊹ ᡣ𐭩 𝔀𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝓭 𝓱𝓸𝓬𝓴𝓮𝔂 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓮𝓻 𝓫𝓲𝓵𝓵𝔂’𝓼 𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓽 ᡣ𐭩 ⊹˚₊𝜗𝜚

single dad hockey player billy x fem reader tags: nsfw (mdni), fingering, masturbation, dirty talk (ofc), praising, sex on the countertop so I don’t usually write smut or anything but was very inspired so yea @outlawdaydream this one goes out to you darling

If you had learned one thing, any thing, as a live-in nanny it’s that night, when everyone is in their rooms, is the best time to take care of yourself. Especially when your ‘boss’ is a star ice hockey team captain who also just so happened to need someone to take care of his daughter, Kara, while he was out at practice or at away games. 

Which is why you didn't think anything of it when you took a shower in the bathroom right across from your bedroom door and elected to wear nothing underneath what you thought was one of your usual gray night shirts. 

Of course, the shirt you had taken was actually one of Billy’s shirts that you had kidnapped while you were folding one day. You hadn’t even realized when you put the soft cotton gray shirt in your closet but as soon as you put it on, you knew.

It was so glaringly obvious as you looked in the mirror, noting how the soft material pooled around your thighs. You brought the collar to your nose, inhaling his scent. The warm and woody smell of Billy enveloped you, making your knees weak and your core flood with heat.

In the moment you wondered what could possibly go wrong, Billy wasn't going to walk into your private room without knocking. So, your hand slipped underneath your shirt, pinching your nipples between your nimble fingers while your other hand took control of the vibrator you had invested in all those years ago. 

It wasn’t like you knew that as you pressed the pink toy harder to yourself, you would only be able to think of Billy’s deep ocean eyes staring into yours as he sang you praises for taking him so well.

It wasn't like you knew that when you finally finally came apart, you would be practically screaming his name.

Yet you did. As you torture yourself with fantasies of Billy pounding into you, his hips slotting perfectly into yours, you could only see his rugged face, his deep voice calling you a “good girl.” You could only feel his own calloused hands massaging your needy breasts as he nipped at your neck.

A wave of relief flushed over you as you finally found reprieve from the electrifying torture that was want. The need you felt as you walked about the house when Billy was around. The scalding hot looks of torture in Billys piercing blue eyes as he watched you play with Kara in nothing more than a loose shirt and shorts that accentuate your figure. 

Even Billy found himself in the shower, underneath the warm water fisting his cock, imagining your own around him. You on your knees, pumping him up and down, swiping your tongue across his tip slowly until he finally came apart.

Billy would flush at the thought as soon as he stepped out of the shower.

You cleaned up, wiping your legs with a nice warm towel and fixed Billy’s shirt. Your throat was hoarse and dry, mainly from moaning Billy’s name over and over again so you decided that you’d go grab a glass of water. 

Billy had also been very very thirsty after his own shower, only throwing on a pair of gray sweatpants. He figured that you and Kara were well asleep. 

As he walked downstairs to the kitchen, his and Kara’s rooms were on the second floor while yours was in the basement, he found you. 

His eyes immediately noticed your wild hair, your gray shirt. His eyes slowly trailed downward until he noticed your shirt lift slightly higher as you stretched yourself to grab a glass from the cabinet. Your bare ass peeked out from underneath and Billy’s face flushed, his breathing slowed as he approached you from behind, careful to look up. 

You helped when you felt a muscular chest behind you, your ass meeting his strong thigh. His strong arms holding your middle as he reached for the glass you were just reaching for. 

Sparks flew up your back, tingling with heat as his front met your back. Your bare ass meeting his-

Oh my.

Now, you knew Billy was fit, especially being a professional hockey player, but the feel of his toned abs rubbing against you.

You let out a small whimper as Billy finally let you go, quickly running to the other side of the island pulling down the oversized shirt.

“Darlin’...”

You finally meet the man’s gaze, his blue eyes dark as the night sky outside the windows. Glimmering stars behind sharp eyes met you as he set the glass down on the counter, a tent forming in his sweatpants. He tried to calm the blood rushing straight to his dick at the feel of your pussy against his lower parts, the sexy ass whimper you had let out. 

You two snapped and met in the middle, Billy’s hands hoisting you up and onto the counter, his face meeting your neck. He slowly moved the shirt higher and higher.

“Baby, y’sure you okay with this?”

He pulls his face away, the tips of his fingers tracing stars on your thigh.

You nod, shyly, your heart pounding away in your chest. You grew wetter from anticipation, your ass cold against the marble of the counter.

“Baby, Imma need you to use your voice f’me, okay darlin’?”

His hands inched closer and closer to your heat, his eyes glossy as he waited for you to speak up. 

“Please Billy, I need to you fuck me so bad.”

“Fuck.”

He crashed his lips to yours, his hands immediately spreading your legs apart. You yelped as your entire bum met the cold surface. Billy pressed his fingers, finally, to your clit, rubbing up and down so slowly.

You moaned, your hips bucking to meet his hand pressing it further into you. His fingertips teasing your entrance tantalizingly. Your face flushed red as Billy looked at you with such a soft gaze you thought he was about to confess all his sins to you.

“Baby, you’re so gorgeous like this. M’pretty girl.”

He finally pressed a finger into you, your head throwing back as your mouth opened, moans and whimpers escaping your swollen lips. He pumped his finger in and out, the slickness of your pussy echoing throughout the kitchen. He curled his finger upwards into you, pressing a spot that had you singing moans and whimpers even more. You bit your lip in an attempt to try and stay quiet. 

“Fuck baby, come on. That’s right, sing f’me, atta girl.”

He pumped another finger into you, making you scream. Billy was mesmerized by you, how well you took him. He watched as his fingers disappeared into you, your pussy so good for him. He pressed his face back into your neck, sucking softly as he used his palm to slap you clit with every thrust of his hand.

His calloused fingertips fucked up into you, your lips red and raw. As Billy’s palm slapped onto your clit, you got closer and closer. Your hips had started to move to the rhythm of his fingers, pressing him further into you. Your head and lips fell to his bare shoulder, biting him as one of your arms grabs onto his back for support as he quickened his pace. 

He brings his face to your ear, kissing the space right below, brushing your hair away.

“Are ya close baby, hmm? Fuck, thats right taking my fingers so well f’me, good girl,” he kisses you again, drinking in your moans. 

You shudder, tightening around his fingers. Your spine ignites as pleasure burns through you, burning you to your core.

“Fu-uuck Billy, ‘m so fucking cl-close,” your grind out, Billy’s face meeting your glassy eyes.

“Mmm, ‘s that right darlin’? Come on, show me how good you feel baby.”

He grins, his other hand trailing down to press against your clit. He rubs you, pressing his rough fingers hard against you making you cry. Your legs shake as you finally cum, his hands continuing their grueling pace. Your mouth hangs open only inviting Billy to kiss you more.

He ruts his dick against your thigh as your breathing even out once more, his cock straining against the fabric of his sweats. You lay back onto the counter, Billy’s hands moving away from your pussy. He brings them to his mouth, licking the cum, your cum, off them.

“Fuck darlin’, didn’t know ya had that in ya.” He chuckles, his palm pressing his cock down trying to ease himself.

You smile back up at him, your legs timidly closing. “Uh, you too?”

He laughs again, helping you off the counter. Your legs wobbly and weak almost give out on you until Billy wraps his warm arms around your middle, helping you walk to the couch. He kisses your head lightly before promising to come back.

You toy with the hem of his shirt, the things you two have just done flooding your mind. He was just so much sweeter, and sexier, that you thought he could be. When he came back with a warm wet towel, you could’ve nearly sobbed. Billy had even brought you a pair of shorts for you to put on. 

When you had reached out to take the towel from him, he just shook his head.

“Nah, lemme do it. It’s only right after all.”

You watched him as he looked up for permission to clean you. You smiled and muttered a small approval before he gently, oh so gently, cleaned you up. He had even brought you that glass of water you had been grabbing earlier and of course, a beer for himself. 

“Why are you so nice like this?” You had thought, although your loose lips had opened and asked the man kneeling before you.

“I guess, I like ya lot’s baby. And I hope it ain’t too forward of me but, I really do care ‘bout ya. Besides, that is my shirt, now I just need to get ya my jersey.”

You smile, leaning forward and kissing him so gently.

“I’d love to wear your number Billy.”

And the grin he shoots you? Oh, you are so gone for him.

[ten-thousand-aromantic-bees]

silly headcanon about the finale:

remember yuwen's line in the pizza scene: "you know, I've been told I'm an amazing ex-boyfriend-"?

you know what'd be kinda funny? if he was actually kind of invested in that, and a few minutes before we opened on the pizza place scene, he was having a thought process of - "okay, taylor doesn't want to date me anymore, but like. taylor's awesome and i still want her to think i'm cool. in order to achieve this goal, as well as prove to my mom that i've definitely moved on in these fifteen minutes since the breakup and do Not want to talk about it, i'll just wingman taylor into finding a new boyfriend. or girlfriend. or whatever. this is gonna go great."

and five seconds later he saunters up to, i don't know, borna or hannah or someone, and starts the conversation by going "so. taylor's single now. in case you were wondering." awkward pause. "like, if you wanted to date taylor, that's fine. we're cool and stuff. we broke up. but we're cool. and stuff." and ten seconds later taylor and kai (who were having a conversation) both realize what's happening, and like. physically drag him back to the table.

and after taylor and yuwen have a thirty second long conversation that basically consists of "do not do that, i do not need you to wingman for me fifteen minutes after we broke up, that's really nice of you but like. that's gonna get awkward really fast. also i think i'm gonna take a break from dating altogether. for a bit."

and kai says something like "maybe you should say that last part again but louder. just to avoid confusion. because hannah keeps looking at you and-"

and that's where the actual scene opens, with taylor's line: "i'm not gonna date again 'till i'm old." and then yuwen's "you know, i've been told i'm an amazing ex-boyfriend-" and kai laughing.

anyways this becomes an inside joke for yuwen and taylor.

(bonus headcanon: several years later, taylor's starting to realize she maybe also likes girls, and she mentions this to yuwen. and yuwen just stops and is like. "wait- did you not like girls when i was trying to set you up with luciana back in middle school?" "you did what back in middle school?" "it was like...five minutes after we broke up. weird five minutes for me." "at the pizza place, you mean?" "no, before the pizza place." "yuwen, how many of our teammates did you try that with after that game? i thought it was just-" "not the point! middle school was weird! the point is, i thought you were bi? like, this whole time?" "wait, seriously?" "you had the bi flag on half of your stuff. i know you did. i'm not-" "no- like, pink-purple-blue- the color palette? the very common color palette?" "well, like- laurie's bi, laurie had stickers with the flag and- i mean, imagine you're a middle schooler and you've learned about the existence of gay people like, recently- so i just figured-" and once taylor finishes dying of laughter, yuwen's like: "okay so. who's the girl. is it, uh- wait is it luciana?" "no." "laurie?" "i'm not doing this." "wait, it's laurie?" "that's not what i-" "i mean, that's cool. laurie's cool. i can totally see it. like, laurie's amazing. laurie's nice, and she's pretty, and she's kind of just- genuine, i guess, and she's, you know, easy to talk to. i mean, if i were you and laurie was laurie, i'd definitely like laurie, so- taylor why are you laughing at me." "i'm not." "you are-" "no, i'm just-" "taylor-" "it's rochelle." "...what?" "the girl. the girl who's giving me a crisis over whether or not i'm straight? rochelle. not laurie." "...i mean. rochelle's okay too, i guess." "if i were you and laurie were laurie-" "okay, conversation over, goodbye-" "-says the boy with no crush on laurie-" "really? this is the thanks i get for being the best and most amazing ex-boyfriend to ever-")

[pruneunfair]

My feelings on villains are destined to die and how it writes a toxic family, what lead them to where they were and if they chose to end the cycle or repeat it.

For one I can see why it's so popular, the plot is unique for its time since it was one of the first villainess centered manhwas and there characters are 3 dimensional. VADTD has its fair share of flaws as all media do but my problem is with the fanbase who seem to get the idea that liking something or someone means you must support it at all times otherwise it means you support the opposing party.

This will be mostly centered around our FL that you've probably seen somewhere before even if you haven't read VADTD, Penelope Eckart

If you think I'm here to dog on Penelope don't worry, I think she's a beautifully made protagonist that is actually morally gray and not a bitch with morally gray excuse. So despite how much the fandom says she's a perfect girlboss, Penelope isn't a good person. She sees everyone as just a video game character in the beginning so she doesn't care if characters like Emily would get hurt or how Eckles felt, that isn't too unreasonable since she did get transmigrated into a video game but there are lines that she crosses, she knows the horrors of abuse very well from her past life which is why she's so attached to the og Penelope, but it's clear she is willing to repeat the cycle for her own needs.

Introducing one of the most controversial characters: Eckles (or Eclis/eclipse)

Eckles as a character was designed to make you feel uncomfortable. He's a slave bought by Penelope at an auction and trust me, she isn't very nice about it. He's always wearing a collar with a spell that causes him to be paralyzed and unable to speak if Penelope touches the Ruby ring given to her by the auctioneers, (Because there's no way that could be abused) and everything about him just seems to miserable, his life depends on Penelopes love and care for him and he's willing to keep the collar just so he can be useful..everything about him seems to be the embodiment of Stockholm syndrome and a lack of identity. The saddest part? He knows why Penelope wants him around and he despises her for it (reasonable) yet he still "loves" her

Word for Word, this is what Penelope said to him when she bought him + a few more she says that are concerning to say the least

"Look at me Eckles. This is the face of your master who paid 100 million gold for you. I didn't pay such an extravagant price for you because I'm rotting in money, not even an insane noble would the equivalent of castle for a slave from a fallen kingdom, what is left for you even if you were able to resist and escape from here? You don't even have a country to run to. I despise those who don't know their place. I saw potential in you and that is why I invested in you, that is all our relationship is. Prove your worth so that I have no regrets about the price I paid for you, otherwise I'll send you back here with no hesitation. Do you understand?"

"A dog should act like a dog Eckles! What use is a son of a bitch who bites his master!?"

"You dare bite your master?"

That is NOT good person behavior, Penelope is desperate to live yes but that was one of her lowest moments. Buying a man, contributes to the buisness of slavery with 100 million gold, straight up threatening him to sell him back to slavery if he doesn't obey, and manipulates him for means of an end. But that's the point. Penelope is a gray character so naturally on top of all the good she can do, she still is capable of repeating the cycle of abuse on another person.

They have a sort of co-dependent relationship later on, Penelope views him as a beast and her way of keeping him on her side is buying him a bunch of gifts and then leaving him for long periods of time, forgetting that all he asked of her was to visit him. Of course Penelope is in no way obligated to do so just because Eckles loves her, and by love, I mean obsession to the point where Eckles starts to commit extreme acts all in the name of his obsession for her. He's no longer a person, he's just Penelopes worshipper who also "betrays" her.

Thats another thing people hate him for, for betraying the woman who bought him and treated him more like an animal than a person. And yeah, bringing Leila back to the mansion was a dick move not to mention betraying his own people but when it came to betraying Penelope.. you can't really owe your slave master loyalty, I saw this more as a consequence of Penelopes actions rather than a "poor pene" moment because im just gonna say it: Penelope had no right to be that upset when the slave she treated as an animal wound up betraying her. There was no right in that situation just two wrongs and yet there's a ton of people who solely blame Eckles for not being grateful that Penelope didn't do anything extremely egregious when she owned him (wtf!?)

Yes Eckles isnt a great person either, as i said he put all of his country to death when he snitched on them so he could stay by Penelopes side but just because Penelope is the protagonist with a tragic backstory, that doesnt mean shes an innocent lamb and while fans will glorify the toxic relationship, the way the narrative portrays it is too uncomfortable to be a romantic path, it's meant an abusive past where Penelope can choose to stay at her worst and that would honestly be depressing if she did get with him, itd be a twisted master-slave relationship where Penelope can do whatever she wants to Eckles and he can't say nor will he want to, and I think she knew to some degree that she wouldnt want to be that monster and what she was doing was inhumane which is probably she stays far away from him since she's beginning to see these people as humans and not code. It's both a mix of desperation for her own life and a desire to not repeat an abusive cycle just with extra steps.

A slave and their master isn't a forbidden romance, it's just Stockholm syndrome covered in glitter.

Now on to the other characters, the love interests/ brothers.

Theres a lot of love for Callisto and I can see why, he's not a cardboard cutout and has a personality that didn't revolve around Penelopes goals. I'll admit I didn't like him at first but he's grown on me

But I have a feeling there's another reason fans adore him outside of his character and goals. He's the only love interest that isn't an abusive one. Unlike Eckles, Callisto is closer in equality to Penelope and he's you know, not her fricking step brother. After all when the other options are lava and toxic chemicals, you would much rather stick your hand in a mysterious substance that could benefit you even if it could also kill you. That's what Callisto was when we met him, he's the one who killed OG Penelope the most in hard mode and when he first speaks to Penelope, he's putting a sword at her throat, even though he's killed Penelope in so many timelines, the timelines where he doesn't are the happiest... which I honestly don't know how to feel about that.

then there's Derrick, and uh yeah, I don't blame the fandom this time, he does suck and he has a sister complex.. Fantastic

Still though for such a hateable character it's done so well. He's not always so in your face about it, Derrick is still a 3d character with a "reason" that explains his stepbrother-stepsister love he has for Penelope, he's afraid of losing her like he lost Ivonne (that just opens so many weird doors though with how they imply it) and even if you take that away he's still a perfect example of abuser. No matter what Penelope did he's consistently blaming her for the negatives of their family, he loves her but he also controls her and makes her feel like shit. It's like another form of Eckles and Penelope which is kind of depressing since it's more portrayal of repeating cycles of abuse. *SPOILERS* He also gets to live normally after that and apparently becomes a loving uncle to Penelope and Callistos daughter which I interpret as the harsh reality that abusers who are family aren't likely to go away especially if they are older and hold more power over you, they can stop it all they want but that wound never got treated.

Reynold is another one I have a weird relationship with, he's not as terrible as Derrick but the shit he put Penelope through is yet another example of generational abuse that he started

Reynold represents the regret an abuser can feel after the harm is already done. The entire family has issues in general and communication is one that's seriously lacking but Reynold indirectly started it and justified it when he found the og Penelope praying that Ivonne would never return and from both sides, you can understand why. Penelope doesn't want to go back on the streets and Reynold is still grieving over his sister and the replacement was just wishing for that little sister to dissappear or die, but no matter the reason, abuse is still abuse. But he was willing to change after hearing her true story, but he continues to reprimand her for the past, not letting go so easily which made him a easy target for Leila to brainwash, as I've said, the damage is already done and while the two can remain civil, I wouldn't be surprised if Penelope never feels comfortable around him again.

EDIT: I thought about it and maybe "never feeling comfortable around him again" might be a little too far, OG Penelope probably wouldn't but I think the current Penelope would be more likely to move on.

And now for the figurative and literal embodiment of the lost/ghost child: Ivonne who represents how we handle grief and lost child syndrome.

Almost nothing is known about Ivonne for a long time, the family has fond memories of her but we never get to see what it was like beyond a single memory of the siblings sneaking out to the festival the night Ivonne went missing. In grief we tend to over fantasize the person we lost, usually as a perfect being who did no wrong. Thats what Leilas control represents, Ivonne is dead, her skin is cold to the touch like a corpse as described by Penelope , the goddess Leila who took over her body represents flaws the deceased may have had or a toxic coping mechanism in general and causes everyone under her control to only think about the best of her.

For Ivonne as a character, she is lost child personified, she's literally lost so it's already right there, a lost/ghost child is the type of child that stands by the toxicity of the family, they blend in and no one really bothers about them, though this is more of a reach then the other two, there arent a whole lot of chapters that mention Ivonne beyond comparing her to Penelope and the chapters where she actually does appear, shes separated from everyone else. Even her own father who spent years searching for her, he still gave up and what pushed Ivonne to become a literal ghost child is when she sees the Duke take Penelope off the streets to be his replacement daughter when his real child was staring right at him. Ivonne ends up in a mirror forever, where all she can do is watch the family from afar.

final main character is Winter, and he was the trickiest to place.

I forgot about Winter half the time since he kind just shows up at random, his introduction is literally happening to be there at the right moment when Penelope is running away from Callisto. So I wasn't very interested in him until the battle against the Leila cult, but even though I wasn't interested in him, I still preferred at the time if he was the love interest instead since he was the least violent of all the guys, he actually wanted Penelope to be happy, and very protective of nor just her but the sorcerer children so it was just green flags all around with the exception of the age gap. (I don't know how to feel about since Winter is 26 and Penelope is physically 18 but mentally she's in her 20s)

My interpretation of him is that he could be the friend/therapist that's outside the family, the one to give a little break from the disaster of a homelife. But a therapist or friend can really only do so much and in rare cases they could start suspecting you as a liar since they are also people who are dealing with their own set of problems. Kind of like how Winter starts to lose Penelopes trust when suspects her to be from the Leila cult.

Conclusion: VADTD is popular for a good reason and it has tons of great commentary on toxic households and that no character is truly innocent, but it doesn't get enough credit in that department since tons of people misinterpreted it as yet another basic reincarnation girl boss story where everything is black and white.

This is part 2 to a series I want to call "my feelings on", I'll read through a manhwa/anything one webtoon and I'll either critique it or come up with my own interpretations of it.

[nyewclear]

I saw you did a NSFW alphabet for Artemis, could you possibly do one for Kurou too? 👀

yes!! i would love to hehehe. kurou is so horrible i had a feeling that someone would ask sooner rather than later... here we go!!!

a = aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

kurou’s post-sex habits differ depending on who he’s sleeping with, really. if it’s just a fling or a hookup he doesn’t really care for, lowkey he’s up and out of there in 15 minutes after cleaning up what's necessary. if he likes you, though, he really lingers after sex. he likes to cuddle and kiss on you and he likes to tease as if he's gonna get you going again, even if he actually won't. he can be really gentle when he wants to be, but often times he doesn't care enough about whoever he's fucking to do all of that. he goes through a lot of sexual partners lol he loves a stupid situationship that he's not 100% invested in unfortunately...

b = body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

he really likes his waist. it's very grabbable hehehe. he wears a lot of tiny tops + big pants to show it off because he thinks he's super sexy when he shows off his waist (true) second favorite body part on himself would probably be his arms... he sometimes goes to the gym with kolia and he helps the twins lift all the band's equipment for their gigs, so he's got some nice arms too.

i’ve talked about before that he’s lowkey an ass guy. he’s one of those guys that always smacks your ass when he walks past you and is always grabbing your ass when you make out with him. he just likes to have something to hold onto, you know?

c = cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

he loves cum on his face and in his mouth. he always swallows. he likes to make you lick it off of him if you make a mess on his face. sometimes he’ll spit your own cum into your mouth and make you swallow it. he’s really gross when it comes to cum, it’s kind of his favorite thing to fuck around with. SLUT!!!

d = dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

the thing is i’m not too sure he actually has a dirty secret because he’ll tell you most things when it comes to his desires lol, but there’s one thing that i don’t think he could ever tell anyone. so i haven’t spoken too much about the tension between artemis and kurou (mostly because the game doesn’t dwell on it at all), but canonically, kurou and artemis have this weird homoerotic best friends thing going on. they’re very, very close and have known each other for so long, but there’s always been this underlying tension between the two of them that neither of them know what to deal with.

this affects kurou more than it does artemis, because kurou pays a little too much attention to things sometimes. i’ve talked about before that he’s attracted to all his friends in some capacity because he doesn’t see the point of having friends if he’s not attracted to them LOL. however, i think the weird tension between kurou & artemis is exacerbated largely by the fact that they smoke weed together. kurou doesn’t really smoke with anyone else. he always is a little too… observant.. if you will… when he gets high, and unfortunately artemis is like really sexy when they’re stoned. i think artemis is aware of how they come across to kurou, and they’re also very aware of the strange tension between them, but they’re not going to be the one to do anything about it, especially because they’re best friends. best friends don’t make good on these weird and strange urges lol.

with this backstory as context, i believe that kurou’s dirtiest secret would be this: artemis’ bedroom shares a wall with the bathroom upstairs at the artehouse. all of the bedrooms are on the same floor, so kurou uses the upstairs bathroom alongside mordag and artemis. sometimes, kurou will go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and he can hear artemis getting themself off through the wall. the first time he heard it, he was so floored. obviously he knew that they have sexual urges and would do such a thing, but like… hearing them? he didn’t understand why, but he got so turned on after hearing it that he felt sick. this doesn’t happen often, but it happens occasionally enough that it drives him nuts.

he’s gotten off to it once. just one time. he heard them through the wall and was so fucking horny that he couldn’t control himself. he felt so disgusting afterwards and couldn’t look artemis in the eyes for at least a week. he feels like he can’t tell anyone that it ever happened and it’s like humiliating that it even did. he has dirty dreams about it sometimes. he’s not too willing to unpack it all at the moment.

so yeah lol long story short that’s his dirtiest secret!!!!!!!

e = experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

kurou is very experienced! he likes to sleep around and is very willing to experiment, so he’s tried a lot of things with a variety of different people. he can make nearly anyone melt for him, it’s a little scary hahaha. he can switch roles pretty easily, so he can be on either side of the coin depending on the person, as long as he gets to (a) be a brat or (b) be a dom.

f = favorite position (this goes without saying)

any position where he has you pinned and you can’t move or can’t touch him. he likes to make it really hard for you and likes to make you squirm :3 doggy is great for this and so is prone bone and cowgirl (especially if he holds your hands above your head). he also likes to pin you up against the wall, particularly if he’s gonna give you a handjob.

g = goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

his ass is lowkey serious as hell. he’s too busy saying really gross nasty shit to you to be silly. he likes to tease and be silly after sex though.

h = hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

his hair is pretty fine, so he’s not too hairy. he wishes it was thicker though— he’s tryna have that bush!!!!! but alas, genetics did not bless him in that way… he trims to keep everything tidy considering how much sex he has (what a jerk off 🙄🙄🙄) but honestly if he was just a little lazier, he would let it get craaazy down there lmfao

i = intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

he’s genuinely not a romantic person during sex, even when it’s with someone he loves. to him, sex is for fulfilling all his weird little fantasies… the afterglow is when he gets romantic. he likes to talk & be talked to really dirty during sex, so there’s not too much room to be lovey or anything.

j = jack off (masturbation headcanon)

it’s really easy to make kurou horny. if something really turns him on during the day, he’ll come home and masturbate to the memory of it for hours. like i said before, kurou pays a little too much attention to things and he’s a bit too observant, PLUS he’s hopped up on mad testosterone all the time, so his sex drive is like through the roof. he jerks off a lot. it’s kind of a curse.

k = kink (one or more of their kinks)

i’ve listed these before but i’ll do it again! he's versatile, so with all of these he likes to give and receive. his top 5 kinks would be the following:

very dirty talk, with some sweet words sprinkled in there to keep it exciting

choking & slapping

brat taming/being a brat that needs taming

free use

semi-public sex

l = location (favorite places to do the do)

god, like anywhere. it's most exciting to him when there's a risk of getting caught or people hearing. if he's doing a more involved type of play with toys and whatnot, then he likes to be at either your place or his, since that's where all the toys are, but sometimes he likes to surprise you. the only place he hesitates to have sex at is in his car— we all know that his car is crazy sacred for him lol. he only has sex with people he REALLY likes in his car.

m = motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

being rough, talking nasty, being mean as a form of foreplay, fingers in mouths, voluntary AND forced submission, breathplay, impromptu bondage, toys under clothes while in public, scratching, biting, slapping and spanking… i could go on really. oh, and if you stroke his tail the right way, it gets him GOING hehehe

n = no (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

there’s genuinely very little that he wouldn’t do… he’s tried out most things at least once. he likes being adventurous! i think the only hard no he has (aside from anything obviously unsanitary & distasteful) would be forced/encouraged feminization. it’s really not his thing, for obvious reasons i think.

o = oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

he doesn't have a particular preference in giving or receiving, but he's pretty good at oral regardless. if he's giving, he likes to use it as a way to overstimulate you— like, really make you lay down and take it until you're in tears. he likes to make you squirm so he can hold you down.

p = pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

it depends!! he likes to be rough, but he also really likes to tease. torturing you with how good he makes you feel is his favorite. his foreplay is always agonizingly slow, but he likes to fucking to be rough.

q = quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

he likes quickies, but he never really wants to go all the way when having them. if he has like 15 minutes to get off, he'll most likely take the route of mutual masturbation or oral, but like really fast and quick. quickies take the fun of teasing away, so he likes to use the act of having a quickie as the teasing, with almost a promise of something later :3

r = risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

yes, he’s so game!! like i said before, he’s tried most things before, and often times he’s the one suggesting that you try something different. he’s also a fan of risky sex… he really likes knowing that people might catch/hear/see you. playing with vibrating toys under clothes is a particular favorite of his. unfortunately a lot of his sexual experimentation comes at the expense of others or the public lol but it makes for a really exciting sex life for you hahaha!

s = stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

generally, kurou enjoys being teased for so long that when he finally has an orgasm, it takes it all out of him. he might be able to go for one more round after that, but he'll finish pretty quickly. he always wants to make the first go-around really worthwhile, so even if you only go for one round, it'll still last quite a while.

t = toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

yes, he owns toys! a lot of them, actually. since he's frequently sexually active (either by himself or with others), he likes to have a lil stash. he'll use them on himself and with whoever he's seeing, but he has a particular preference for vibrating toys regardless on who he's using them on.

u = unfair (how much they like to tease)

kurou likes to tease SO MUCH. like 75% of having sex with him is just teasing. he loves when there's teasing to the point of like... torture. what's the point if you're not begging for him? crying like a pathetic kitten when he finally touches you where it feels good? if he can't make you cum like no one else ever has, what's the point?

v = volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

he's not particularly loud since (1) he's typically talking or (2) consciously holding back his noises out of spite/pride/being a brat in general. he'll start to lose his control when he gets close to coming though.

w = wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

kurou's the type to really enjoy taking sexy pictures and sending them to you when he really should not be sending them to you. you always have to be careful when opening texts from him up because he likes to just like... send a picture of his nice lil lean stomach and his hand down his pants or something and be like "when are u coming home. need you" HAHA. you always tell him to quit it but you don't really think that you mean it.

x = x-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

most of you know that kurou has nipple piercings (because of that slut mesh shirt he wore for the concert scene of the game)... he's got a lot of tattoos also. almost too many to describe lol i'll have to draw them all at some point. most notably, he's got a tramp stamp (angel wings.. hes ANNOYING) and a trail of stars that start on his right hip and go all the way down to his mound. testosterone has given him quite a bit of bottom growth, but i'm not too sure measurements at this point. he does have a vch piercing though! he thinks it looks sexy and most of his partners do too.

y = yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

VERY HIGH... unlike artemis, who can go without sex for a pretty extended period of time, kurou wants to fuck constantly. he masturbates a lot and likes to have sex at least like three or four times a week if he can manage it. often times he's dating multiple people/has several sexual partners, so all that fucking is split up between maybe two or three people. if he's in a committed relationship with only one person though... let's just hope that your sex drive is equally as high because he'll exhaust you if not.

z = zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

it takes him a while to fall asleep, mostly because he's big into kissing on you during the afterglow. either he gets you going again because he can't help himself or he pulls you in to cuddle and ends up falling asleep, especially if you had a particularly long session. keep in mind, he only does this if he likes you lol, if he doesn't really care too much, he's out of there quick.

[laylainalaska]

Watched 8x03 "Guerrilla My Dreams" with @sheronwrites , and have not stopped speculating since then on when in the episode, exactly, the three-way roommate collusion started happening.

Charles is definitely in cahoots with the other two by the chess game at the end. I love how BJ obliquely tells Charles that they need him to stall for time without tipping off Park.

Park: Doc, how is our patient? BJ: Oh, not well at all. These things take time, you know.

Charles flicks a little glance at BJ when he says that - it happens so fast that I couldn't manage to get a cap of it - and it's shortly after this that he starts trying to disrupt Park's playing to slow the game down. He knows perfectly well what Hawkeye and BJ are up to; you can even see him try to grab Park when Park jumps up from the table, although he misses.

Anyway, so he's fully on board with the Plan by this point and knows what his part in it is supposed to be, but I would love to know when they came up with this and how much of it was collaborative from the beginning.

(Further caps and speculation under the cut.)

I feel like there's a good chance the chess conversation earlier in the episode, when they find out that Park plays chess and Charles offers to play it with him, was spontaneous. Actually it's kind of hard to tell how much of what Charles is doing there Hawkeye is aware of at first. When Park mentions chess, you can see Charles immediately become interested; in fact they all do.

Hawkeye flicks a glance over his shoulder ...

... And Charles immediately, conspicuously looks away and doesn't look back until Hawkeye's attention is elsewhere.

It's right after that that he moves around Hawkeye - love his little touch to Hawkeye's arm, which is impossible to screencap properly because he's behind him at the time ...

And takes Park aside and tells him that it's nice to find someone else around here who likes chess and might make a worthy opponent.

What I'm not sure about is if they had talked about it at all beforehand - if they already had a sort of plan, just need a distraction, and Hawkeye's quick glance at Charles is a sort of signal that this is the opening they need - or if Charles did this spontaneously on his own because he recognized that this was a way to subtly get Park out of the way so that Hawkeye can do whatever he wants.

I think it's at least possible at this point that BJ, at least, thinks Charles is serious about wanting to spend time with the guy.

Hawkeye, though, keeps looking back and forth between them - at BJ and then at Charles - and this of course is when Charles signals his true intentions here.

A distraction!

I like how Hawkeye stares at him for a minute and then tosses a speculative glance at BJ.

They definitely all three talked about it at some point after this but before the chess game - they had to, because Charles is clearly aware of the timing of what Hawkeye and BJ are doing in post-op.

But I'm really curious if this was Charles's idea initially - that he could use this as a distraction to give Hawkeye a chance to do whatever Hawkeye is going to do - or if Hawkeye cued him.

I would also love to know if Charles volunteered his cognac as part of the distraction or if they stole it! tbh I could go about 50-50 either way, leaning probably towards Charles knowing about it beforehand (probably at least SLIGHTLY under duress, but we already know that he has exactly 0 defenses against Hawkeye asking him for things).

Which is really his entire reason for being involved at all. He has no particular investment in the situation himself, but Hawkeye really wants this patient away from Park, and Charles knows that. It's not about the principle of the thing for him, it's just about helping Hawkeye.

(Forever mildly annoyed that the show is so subtle about it, because you have to pay close attention to realize that Charles is helping them and not amusing himself with Park at Hawkeye and his patient's expense.)

[dhaaruni]

An under discussed element of the conversation about listless young men who don't have any prospects, jobs, skills, social life, etc. is how many of them got psy-oped into not going to college by rightoids who claimed that college was useless and just a Woke Indoctrination Program. Unless you are a trust fund baby/have some really good nepo connections, going to college is one of the only ways you can actually acquire skills to then go get a job to then go live on your own, and building a life. It's not necessarily even college itself though, it's about skilled v. unskilled.

I have one male friend who never went to college and works as an electrician making six figures. I have another male friend who never went to college and instead learned how to fix HVACs for a living and also makes pretty good money. I have another family friends with no college degree that has a high paying union job working at plant doing repairs on big machinery. Like, if these listless Gen Z men don't want to go to college, that's fine, the debt and time in getting a degree is significant, but they don't even seem to want to do......literally anything else??

I agree a lot of college degrees are not worth the investment, but there is nothing stopping these people going out and learning a technical skill for anywhere from 6 months or a year or two and then getting a sweet, nice paying union gig. It's because a lot of them are fundamentally classist and elitist and think they are above working with their hands so they spent their 20s fucking around, acquiring no skills, and falling behind and OF COURSE they take their anger out at their life circumstances at women and immigrants.

Someone needs to tell some of these men, 'I'm sorry that Stacey spent her 20s getting an accounting degree and then went to work at a Big 4, and you decided to spend your 20s listening to podcasts, watching twitch streamers, and moderating reddit boards, but that is not actually the fault of women.'

Before anyone gets their panties in a twists with this ask, obviously I am excluding those men who did work hard at whatever their chosen career fields were but struggled/are struggling because jobs are scarce and the economy is hurting. Having skills/experience and not being able to find any work can be very demoralizing and emmasculating for men, and I get it and truly empathize, but that's not the phenomenon I'm talking about here.

This makes perfect sense and I think this goes back to what Bill Clinton said in Citizen (see below), that the new political phenomenon is rooted in resentment and fear, and polarization encourages it.

Republicans are very very good at propagating an us vs. them mentality within the general population, and positing life as a zero-sum game, and the scapegoats end up being women.

[ikjun]

i am bemoaning the length of the dongjae spin-off because i think it is very well done. the case is constructed in a way that it’s not boring, you just have to pay attention to everything said and shown because it is all relevant to solving it, and to the overall plot, duh, in a manner that’s very stranger-esque. dongjae being able to make a breakthrough due to a minor interaction in one of the first episodes is so the si-mok playbook that i couldn’t not love it and similarities between his team-up with police officer hyun-woo is also a nice callback. but the show is still distinctly dong-jae in tone and feel, he’s sometimes the butt of the joke but he also gets to succeed and win - we actually see him be good and sufficient at his work, which would explain why someone like him got to stay in his line of work for twenty years.

in that vein it is also great to see them put so many callbacks to his time as a character (third lead !!) in stranger into this show, which rewards longtime fans a lot. his relationship to won-cheol, showing how much medication he’s got prescribed after the events he went through, using his malpractice case from s1 as a hung-up and roadblock for him in the prosecution, and how scared he was when the internal investigator in ep7 said he’d want to interview si-mok as a witness and how dong-jae was vehemently against it right away. it makes sense to the audience that knows him while keeping first-time watchers curious what the deal with that and dong-jae is exactly.

then there is nam wan-seong as a villain. he only works as one because dong-jae is the main character. someone like si-mok wouldn’t give a man like ceo nam or his family the time of day, any temper tantrum would fly right over his head or go past him while he’d solve the case and prosecute him. but nam wan-seong can push every one of dong-jae’s buttons and so does the involvement of his son at the beginning of the case. dong-jae has two achilles heels: his opportunism and his investment in cases involving teenagers and kids. he loathes child-bullying and teenage delinquents, he doesn’t want to see teenagers (teenage boys specifically) go down this path because, for whatever reason, he is affected by that as a father himself. so he can’t let sleeping dogs lie in that regard and nam gyeo-re is the perfect segue way for him to start an investigation and that leads to him clashing more with ceo nam. ceo nam, who bribed dong-jae when it was still en vogue for dong-jae to indulge in that, and who knows how to play someone who is pliable. he’s the type of man dong-jae has to rise against because he is everything dong-jae was and somewhat is somewhere still inside of him, so to win against him also signals a character progression for dong-jae, which would also be signified in such a big case possibly getting him back to seoul.

it’s fun, even bordering on downright hilarious (the inner monologues, the soundtrack!, the physical comedy of dong-jae being dong-jae), it’s engaging and thrilling, it’s a cat and mouse game, a procedural, and more than anything it feels like a victory lap dedicated to the fans of a franchise who gave their time and energy to this character over and over again, honouring the original writing of the show as well as lee joon-hyuk’s best and most signature role. that’s our dong-jae indeed, and our show (and i wish it got the sixteen episode order to carry it home.)

[theerurishipper]

Just saw a post that said Adrien is a love bomber... are we really throwing buzzwords around for the sake of salting on Adrien, the abuse victim? Love bombing is an emotional manipulation tactic, and it is usually paired with the cycle of abuse. Adrien is not abusive. He is not emotionally manipulating Marinette. He is showing her affection. I guess we're demonizing showing our loved ones any sort of affection now...

Yeah fr, people will throw around all kinds of words istg. This is the definition of love bombing:

Love bombing is a tactic in which someone “bombs” you with extreme displays of attention and affection with the intent to manipulate you. Although being showered with "love" can seem positive at the beginning of a romantic relationship, love bombing can lead to gaslighting and abuse. Psychologists caution it might be a tactic used by a narcissist or sociopath in an attempt to control you.

Anyways, Adrien doesn't do this. In fact, this is what Gabriel does to Adrien. From this article:

In a relationship with a pathological predator, love bombing is combined with intermittent reinforcement to create a sense of instability and longing in the victim. Intermittent reinforcement (in the context of psychological abuse) is a pattern of cruel, callous treatment mixed in with periodic affection. The abuser hands out rewards such as affection, a compliment, or gifts sporadically and unpredictably throughout the abuse cycle. This causes the victim to perpetually seek their approval while settling for the crumbs of their occasional positive behavior.

This is exactly what Gabriel does. Whenever it seems like Adrien is rebelling against him because he is tired of Gabriel's neglect, Gabriel will offer him a little concession. Adrien is rebelling against him? Fine, let him go to school. In this way, Adrien doesn't rebel against his father anymore, and Gabriel can keep him under his control, because now Adrien will continue to believe the best of his father and will continue to try and earn his love. Another example is in Gorizilla. Adrien gets tired of Gabriel stopping him from seeing his mother's movie, and sneaks out. Later, Gabriel allows him to watch the movie, and throws in a little bit of gaslighting in there, essentially blaming Adrien for not being open with him and making him feel guilty, when it's his own fault his son didn't open up to him, which is because he's a neglectful asshat.

This is Gabriel and Adrien's relationship. Adrien stays with his father and tries so hard to please him, because Gabriel has instilled in him that love is something conditional that is to be earned. And whenever it seems like Adrien is breaking away from this mentality, Gabriel will do something "nice" for him, which will bring Adrien right back, because he's an abused child who wants to believe the best of his father and wants his love and affection.

Again, to quote the article:

As author Adylen Birch writes, “Creating fear of losing the relationship and then relieving it periodically with episodes of love and attention is the perfect manipulation.” Much like the way a gambler at a slot machine becomes addicted to playing the game for a potential win despite the risk of major loss, a victim in the abuse cycle can become attached to the idea of getting a return on their investment in the relationship despite the toll it takes on their well-being.

There's actually an example of this in the show. From Illusion:

Adrien: Speaking of which, Dad, I'm not really comfortable with having my face on all these rings. That's actually why I didn't want to be a model anymore, to avoid that. Do you understand? Gabriel: Of course, I understand, my son. But that's the point; it's just an image, it's not you! And since this image frees you from your obligations, we, the Agrestes, are able to spend more time together. But if you'd rather everything went back to the way it was before, just say the word. Adrien: (wears the Alliance ring on his index finger) You're probably right.

Gabriel even explicitly says what he's doing, which is holding the threat of going back to their previous relationship over his son's head to emotionally manipulate him. To refer back to the article, he creates the fear of losing the relationship in Adrien, and then makes a big deal of showing that he cares so much about Adrien and his future, and he makes him breakfast. This is love-bombing. And so, Adrien goes along with whatever Gabriel wants as long as he doesn't lose it. And so, he continues to do what Gabriel wants, which is to accept the Alliance rings and his image being used in ways he doesn't want. And true enough, Adrien goes back to defending his father after he finally worked up the courage to confront him for his shit in the beginning.

Adrien: My father? But Nino, he's changed, he's making an effort, and it's the first time he's coming to school!

I could go on, and there are several examples of this in the show, but then we'd be here forever. But I highly recommend that article. I just read it, and it is literally Gabriel and Adrien, oh my god. It's very informative and I think we should all be aware of this.

But anyways, back to your question anon (sorry for the tangent). Adrien doesn't love bomb. Adrien is just very affectionate. He doesn't withdraw affection from anyone, he doesn't make them settle for scraps. He doesn't try to manipulate anyone, he doesn't gaslight anyone, he doesn't try to make them seek his approval. Adrien is always kind and loving towards everybody he cares for.

In fact, Adrien does the exact opposite. He fawns over others, and he tries to earn their love and approval. This is because of Gabriel's abuse. And to accuse him of love bombing is so disgusting. Honestly, people just throw those words around like candy. But then again, I've seen what the side of the fandom that might have said this usually says, and it's usually the same victim-blamey abuse apologist rhetoric, so I'm not even surprised.

Thank you for your ask!

[gynandromorph]

evelyn's mother had her birth photos for jessie in her garage apparently and i feel like someone else had to take the picture there and i guess it could be adam but he's not even a marsupial and i feel like the size compared to a quarter thing is like a tradition among marsupials so someone always brings a quarter and i guess maybe they just HAPPENED to have a random dirty ass quarter handy or he brought it this time because this is evelyn's second child but i think she'd just want her mother there after giving birth because her mother has in fact given birth before, i don't think she'd want adam's mom to be there or something lmfao. either way, her mother clearly had the photos so she was trusted with them in some capacity. i want to guess that evelyn had a weird relationship with her mother where she's kind of high strung and anxious because her mother is high strung and focused on rules because she catastrophizes and thinks someone will literally die if they break the rules, so her mother could feel both suffocating and overbearing but also very comforting with concise (rule-based) opinions and doting on someone she thinks is hurt. she doesn't seem too devastated going through her mother's paperwork so i think her father probably died much earlier, i imagine he was more focused on Appearances and Being Normal, which happened to usually synchronize with her mother's desire to follow rules and play it safe, but they probably had more conflict than adam's family. evelyn probably lives close to her mom to help+ her when she's living alone and older. she would also feel a lot more comfortable leaving her child with someone she knows is preoccupied with danger for a few hours than adam's parents, probably -- i can't imagine his parents as anything but unbearably nice and loving people who constantly give gifts and love hearing about their kids'/grandkids' lives... you know if she's at adam's mom's place she's having candy for dinner. there's no question. if jessie wanted to climb a 100 foot tree and have someone catch her when she jumps from the top neither of them would be able to say no. also, i think they are really unused to fluffiness so they just go crazy when they see how puffy jessie and emily are as kids. i imagine they see their grandmother on the maternal side at least once per week for a few hours but jessie probably interacts with her paternal grandparents more often because she wants to call them on the phone all the time since they freak out at literally any accomplishment and seem so invested in if she ate her vegetables or beat this really hard level on a video game without ACTUALLY being invested enough to make her do anything she doesn't want to do. that's my tentative guess--