#a lot of things is the answer lmfao

[kangaracha]

wips list

nevermore (120k)

queenmaker (3 chapters)

lyre lyre (1/4 done)

FNF (dear fucking lord keeps i hate it here)

what the water brought/pirate au

boxer!minho? dlc? something

pretty ch 4

the gone and the gathered ch 3&4

valleys (66k)

torture fic x3

tgbyb ch 4

tsotl end part 1

darling don't wake up x4

goldmine goldmine (landmine) all of it

soul is yours to keep/zelda fic

draculas

heart rewrite

where the river bends

rabbithole/angel/the stars in your eyes

all that is good/holy

[gingermintpepper]

I would love to hear you talk about Kassandra???

So, what can I say about Kassandra.

Well, firstly, I've been thinking about how I want to answer this question since I got it however many months ago and I figured I wanted to speak about my own interpretation of things rather than formal stuff - half because I don't want to cite anything since going through Iliad based papers brings me little joy and half because I figure I could treat it a bit more casually this way. So here's like, a very brief selection of thoughts I have about Kassandra, Saintess of Troy.

I view her tale as a microcosm of the wider tale of the Fall of Troy from Apollo's perspective. A human is given a choice and, of their own free-will, they make the most destructive decision ignorant of the way they're sealing their own fate and no matter how much their patron will want to save and help them, they will be unable to so much as lift a meaningful finger because the choice made is one that is sealed in Fate and powers far beyond any one god. The themes of doomed love are also shared; Kassandra loved Apollo just as Apollo loved her but she couldn't be what he wanted of her. She couldn't accept what it was he was offering, no matter how much power, honour and love he tried to tempt her with and in a lot of ways, I think of her devastating visions of doom and death(tm) as a physical parallel to the feelings Helen must be tormented with knowing that she will be cited as the reason of such mass death, destruction and violence. Likewise, I see Apollo's inability to save Kassandra up until the end as representative of his wider inability to save Troy. All his love and blessing were not enough, even though all she had to do was take his hand, it simply wasn't meant to be and so I imagine that must be a fresh hurt for him with each beloved mortal he loses during the campaign.

Kassandra is genuinely so interesting? Both as a character and as a narrative idea; she sits almost in the center of so many fascinating parallels and foils that it gets me so excited whenever she comes up in conversation! I've mentioned it briefly before but she forms a very neat triad with Iphigenia and Troilus which runs parallel to the three dominant male powers in Iliad - Agamemnon, Achilles and Apollo. They're what I somewhat refer to as the sacrifice trio, innocents who must ultimately be abandoned and stripped away for the sake of the desire of their sacrificer, in turn revealing something intrinsic about the nature of the man. For Iphigenia, she reveals that Agamemnon truly values his ambition over all, that his image and status as a leader is more meaningful to him than the love of his family (which, of course, dooms him in the end). Likewise, for Achilles, Troilus' sacrifice reveals that no matter the glamour or glory that crowns Achilles' head, his rage is ultimately his most powerful feeling and it burns bright and hot no matter the circumstance, opponent or arena. For Apollo, Kassandra's sacrifice (which is much more symbolic as he is a god and therefore need not actually physically kill her) reveals his position as the 'loser', one who will be scorned and reviled and lose all the things he loves no matter how closely he cherishes or adorns them. He can't protect the mortals he's blessed, he can't protect his children - he can't even save one woman. She also has that aforementioned triad with Helen and Andromache - the sequestered women; doomed to wait and pray but each, in their own ways working to save and support their own in the conflict. They're all haunted by the promise of what awaits them - Andromache's hopes and future lies with Hector and with her son yet she is the embodiment of a war-wife, solid and stoic in her support when Hector returns but suffering deeply knowing each fight could be his last. Helen, of course, carries with her both the suffering of the greek women and the hatred of their men - if Andromache fears death taking the breath from her beloved fighters then Helen bears the weight of death upon her shoulders, all grief and scorn is bore like a crown upon her head and she must bear it. It is her duty to bear it. Kassandra then becomes the suffering of the young women - they who are surrounding on all sides by throngs of death and do not know why it has come, they whose screams intermix with that of the dead upon them. There is no avatar for Kassandra to experience the war through, no reason for her to be stoic or strong or upright. She tears her hair, hysterical at the suffering that is poured into her mind day in and day out, wild and unrestrained where her elders must hold their grief and tame it. In this way, she gives voice to the voiceless, she screams for those who cannot and is reviled for it - a young woman surrounded by death yet ordered not to speak a word of its stench or horror. There's many more things I can talk about too such as the whole Kassandra as Apollo's living Palladium thing or the Kassandra-Electra-Clytemnestra trio or even Chryseis as a reflection of Kassandra and how the taking of a priest's daughter could be seen as tantamount to trying to steal away Kassandra (and how this eventually wraps back around to the actual incident of Kassandra being stolen away and ending up right back under Agamemnon's care just as Chryseis before her) but like, we would be here all day.

Y'all maybe this is a hot take but scorned woman Kassandra is like, the most boring interpretation of her ever. She has so much life and passion in her, so much joy, so much despair, so much love - making her jaded and cynical towards both her fate and her god is such a slap in the face to me of what her character could and generally does seem to stand for. Kassandra never stopped loving Apollo - likewise, Apollo (at least to me) never abandoned her. All in Troy suffer heavy, cursed fates - Kassandra is one of the few who at least had some awareness of how hers would turn out. I like that she's a fighter. I like that she screams and cries and spits and is expressive and ugly in her torment and grief when so many of the women around her cannot afford to be. I like that she said no and despite how much she suffered for it, she never begged for her yolk to be taken from her because she knew that the choice she made was the right one for her. She's raw, she's vivid, she's human and more than anything, that's what I love so much about her.

[louroth]

Hello hello everybody! It is time for another months progress, and I am so excited to share with you, all the things I have gotten my grimy little gremlin hands on. First off, what we are all here for; writing. I have been on fire, to be honest! Last month I churned through the last of the first batch of erotica stories (there's 6 (!!!) of them on my patreon already) and set them up for publishing along with two more unseen ones- I'm still going over the logistics of where to publish for the best revenue (I know this sounds boring, but I have to make an income somehow, and hopefully find another audience as a smut writer on other platforms 💀 I love writing it so why not!), and I am making headway, learning the ins and outs of self publishing. On patreon, there are also two Q&A's that are written in a bit more fictional manner, in character: a more fun way than just writing answers straight up and down. I have enjoyed those so much! There's a bunch of other stuff I haven't even mentioned- honestly, I have to say, I'm really proud of my output on Patreon even though I have been really anxious about writing full time. It's going great! I have to thank my new friends and support-network on discord; you make this all worth it. I cannot express how fun it is to shoot the shit with you in vc, gaming together, or seeing your shenanigans in gen or your in depth theories (thanks for the brainworms!) or memes or staring longingly at the fanfic channel or drooling over your art (ouro related or not) or... Gah. You are just amazing people, and I will waste no opportunity in saying so. Thank you forever and ever and ever an-

When it comes to OUROBOROS, I am happy to announce that the next chapter is damn near done! I was halted because of the discovery that dashingdon is no longer supported by it's creator, and have been working on the twine version ever since, earlier than I expected- it's tough work, but I am so excited to make this an actual game made entirely by myself, and not submitting to a company that quite frankly leaves a bitter aftertaste. It is taking long to make because I want to make it mobile compatible from the start, which there isn't a lot of resources for. But I'm doing my best! The plan is that I will be posting the next chapter for Patreons in the coming month, and then treat you to a full twine release here on tumblr. I haven't made any rewrites when porting the twine build, but I would like to do that too... so we will see; this plan is not set in stone. I will just have to see how it evolves over the next month. Yes, beta-readers is still on the schedule, just holding off a little while while I wrap my head around this new coding landscape.

Other than that, I have been working on the set aesthetic for ouro, which has been really hard, a lot harder than I expected. You all know I am no wizard when it comes to graphic design, but I want to at least develop a set palette and imagery and portraits that is cohesive to the story. The work is ongoing, and I don't have much to say about it- even though it is taking a lot of my brain power. I'm hoping I can come to some kind of set and in depth conclusion that I am happy with before the twine release, because I want the game to feel like a treat to open up and play; a world to get lost in.

That's it! If you want to see weekly and more in depth dev-logs, you know where to go. I hope you have an amazing day or night, and we will see each other soon. xx

[mohntilyet]

4 and 5 for tyche pls?? 🥺

Lace,

Rebuilding efforts in Dock Town are going well. Killing Elgar'nan seems to have drawn back the Blight, and what is left to clear at least does not include an unpurgeable sickness, thank goodness. 

But Tyche is still here, a month since defeating the Gods. She hasn’t gone back to Rivain yet. Her family wants her to go with them, to bury her brother, and I keep saying that she can come back to help after. But I'm not sure she can pull herself away from where he died. Like she has to stay here and fix things before she can leave.

We started this together in Minrathous. I think she might need us. If Kal-Sharok can spare you, please come. I’ve been trying to talk to Tyche, but just knowing the why doesn’t help me find the right thing to say. I’m afraid I’ve been I'll be too harsh with her. Help us figure this out, won’t you? You always knew how to cheer us up.

With love from Minrathous, Neve

+ 04. a letter from your OC to their love interest !

Lucanis,

I know you offered to follow me, but the Crows need a permanent solution that is not just you ignoring all Talon correspondence. That was not going to last forever, my heart. We got away with stealing a lot of time, but I missed the sea and the Crows finally got their claws into you.

I knew this separation would come, and prepared for it. Of course, I could not prepare for what it actually was. Adventuring is dull without you. Isabela says I’m scaring everyone. The Lords reluctantly suggested I could go into privateering, but Da found out and wrote to me to say he’d rather die than watch me sell out to the Crown, and to ‘at least work for a merchant prince if I had to’. If this does not explain my family’s priorities, I do not know what will.

I often look across Rialto Bay and think of you. I promise, if you take the time to look too, there will come a ship on the horizon that always finds its way back to Treviso. I won't be long.

Wait for me, Tyche

(Feel free to beat me to it. Find a job to do in Rivain— I’d love the excuse to kill a few nobles.)

[neolxzr]

Literally a genuine question no ill intent

What do you like about Aira? As much as people are absolutely adamant Akira is projecting (I really don't think he is (I'm not saying Akira is innocent) I just think he's trying to address the prejudiced thoughts the average Japanese person will have on the Ainu) Aira's weird comments and behaviour to Hiiro have been there since day one. And I also think Aira being the one who says all this is because he's supposed to reflect the fans and the average Japanese fan probably isn't that educated on the Ainu + there can be a good few racist enstars fans...

I'm not trying to sound heated about this I'm just coming from a genuine place, what appeal is there in Aira?

Also, as much as the Aira fans are talking about blaming Akira, I feel like there should absolutely be a focus on Hiiro right now considering that comment was... yknow said to him. I just think we should actually be talking about the Amagis considering that comment was intended to discuss the Amagis and their culture and the discrimination they go through.

i had someone ask me a similar question once but not in the context of all thats happening currently so you can read that here if youre inclined

buuuut what made me like aira so much in the first place was honestly that his concept as a character is really funny. i made a post a long while back that went into the funny meta jokes that you could make using aira as a character before i really knew much about enstars at all. having a character in your idol series that loves idols and canonically reads fanfic about them is just a funny concept in general. and as i continued to read more he continued to be funny and annoying and endearing (his little mini interaction with midori comes to mind immediately. there is something wrong with him)

also i tend to gravitate towards characters that give me like. little sibling energy. i love having a favorite little guy to dote on

but afterwards what really drew me to him was the main story!! thermometry specifically comes to mind (ouuugh,,,,). his feature scout stories are also great and so is feather touch! i wont like. go into detail really cause my blog is covered in me talking about aira already

his dynamic with hiiro is one of my favorites too, especially in mainstory. their dynamic isnt JUST aira says shitty things to hiiro and thats it. their relationship develops really far to the point where aira admits that he needs hiiro as much as hiiro needs him. they're young and inexperienced and kind of codependent as they're trying to keep themselves from going under in a sort of cutthroat industry. i think thats really neat. their relationship is really sweet to me and aira is a great tsundere type of character. he regularly is shown to actually like hiiro a lot as mean as he can be to him sometimes i.e. here. and you know the whole holding hands thing (which they also fucked up in the climax story but Whatever)

theres also this. which i think about regularly. the hiiai shipping fuel is vast

and additionally i think aira has some really great relationships with other characters too, alkaloid especially. feather touch develops his relationship with tatsumi a lot and its one of my favorite aira moments. i couldnt find my screenshots for this one but basically aira gives tatsumi his unlocked phone (something VERY important to aira since hes a little screenager) and it shows tatsumi just how much aira trusts him and he realizes how important aira is as a friend to him. being someone with a history like him aira's friendship is sort of new to him and it helps them both grow

he loves his friends so so much and he’s had a positive impact on all of alkaloid. he is its heart after all

but in any case i'm not going to like, defend myself for liking aira. i am aware that the shitty stuff has been there from the start but i've said something similar in the past that was like. aira isn't real and he cannot take accountability for what he says. he's a character written by real people who doesn't have any control over how he acts. so i guess that's why when i think the writers write something i dont think he would do or say in my own personal aira opinion i can sort of brush it off as just bad writing.

and not in the sense that i dont recognize that enstars sucks, because it does. enstars can be terribly racist sometimes and not just when concerning aira, and thats important to talk about (i.e. the orient cards, the king of thieves cards, etc). but at the end of the day the most important thing to recognize is the people and company behind the game as well as the real people who play the game and are affected by it. and not like, the specific characters in the game. cause they didn't actually do anything or feel anything you know

[babisawyer]

Jackie realizing she’s gonna have to take care of shauna and jeff’s ghost baby

[jrueships]

Do u not ship tatum and brown 💔

[the-way-astray]

did you change your blog colours??????

i swear it wasn't supposed to come out looking like christmas on crack i was just tired of the blue on black and i figured red and green would be different enough from the previous scheme. and then. i realized

[kelin-is-writing]

How would Dabi react to you asking him to wash your hair?

dabi x fem!reader

of course he would dash to you right away without a second thought. who is he to deny that to his adorable and pretty girlfriend? it’s not like he can’t wait to take the chance and touch you so more, of course not, that’s silly of you to even think about it!

side note, he’s surprisingly super good at washing hair seen his very close relationship with haird dye. has a surprisingly delicate and soft way of rubbing your scalp with the shampoo. hell, this man would also put an hair mask on them afterwards like– can he get any more perfect than this?!

[gingermintpepper]

Y'know, ever so often I go "man, I should make a post about x or y character from my story!" and then I take exactly 0.7 seconds to remember that I'm not doing historical fiction and that there is Genuine Context That Would Be Missing and then I just never talk about x or y character.

Anyway, Hyacinth has a pretty rad family. I love thinking about Hyacinth and his very rad family.

[brilliantsnafu]

Just had my first hot pot experience. One of the most stressful dinners of my life lmao.

[mokutone]

I kind of adore how in ur tags you're talking about his foot position being off and everyone (including me) in the tags is too busy being memorized by tenzō's arm and armpit hair to notice or comment.

ITS REALLY FUNNY!!! AND HONESTLY KINDA HEARTWARMING!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! LMFAOOOO also u + everyone else is right body hair is sick as HELL!!!! its easy to forget to add onto drawings too

[blood-choke]

Hello! I just wanted to say that I really appreciate this game and how it portrays butchness. I'm a huge fan of lesbian lit and there are so few butches in media that to see a game have not one, but three, makes me feel a certain kind of way.

Aside from that, I was really drawn to how you portrayed the differing relationships between all the characters. Everything feels so visceral and real, it just feels so crunchy that I find myself wanting for more. I really look forward to seeing how it will turn out for everyone involved.

Additionally, (if this is too spoilery, has been answered, or insensitive pls feel free to ignore) is it ok if I ask how you decide the dialogue and event flow of the choices? I was mildly and pleasantly surprised that flirting with Clear and staying with her in ch 3 would lead to "that" scene, and I'm curious on your writing process on how it lead to that.

Ultimately, I just really want to thank you for sharing your game with us. Im just really glad to be able to experience this game and I hope that you stay safe!

thank you!

overall when it comes to structuring dialogue & choices i tend to write a linear path first & then double back to add more branches.

i had a basic outline of the chapter & knew what i wanted to touch on with each route & what scenes needed to happen, and then i just kinda started writing from there. Clear's was actually the one i wrote first, her sex scene was what i wrote first, and then i went back and built a lot of the route around it.

i wrote Clear's and Hana's routes simultaneously since they were so intertwined, but i ended up rewriting Hana's three times, whereas with Clear i just had to edit it a bit. i knew i wanted them to have that conversation at the table about Clear not having any friends, and then i wrote the scene where mc finds the vampire erotica book. it took some trial and error until i was happy with the dialogue & choices at the table, as well as how i wanted to split the following variations. i tend to do the romantic variations first, and then work my way down, and sometimes i have to go backwards and edit as i write because i'll add something on a whim to one variation and decide that actually i want this to be in all of them.

i am definitely someone that's a bit of a "planster" meaning i do minimal planning and write a lot by the seat of my pants. sometimes it works, other times it puts me in a bit of a bind. like i said i tend to set out with specific information/dialogue/scene/etc in mind that i know has to happen, and build up around it.

with Hana the main focus in her route was that conversation with mc; i wanted mc to get overwhelmed at the store, and for her and Hana to talk about it afterwards, and for Hana to be frustrated at her situation as this person who suddenly has to comfort and take care of mc after being replaced by her. again, minimal planning, i wrote almost her whole route before i started working on Valentina's & i mentioned Standard and his proclivities towards Chinese antiques. this made me realize i needed to rewrite a lot of Hana's dialogue to be more inclusive of her race. i went back to Clear's route, and ended up writing a lot of the conversation with Hana there after she gets back from the store, and then i adapted it to the other routes.

Valentina's route was all about the painting. again, i wrote that initial scene of walking into her room, the description of the painting, and then her first sex scene, and built up from there. there was also the brief meeting with Joan, which was mostly just for fun and to introduce those characters early for anyone that went on V's route, so the next chapter those players will have a little jump on who they are. but the main point was that painting & i think it's pretty obvious with how the whole route plays out, and the fact that the painting is always seen by all players.

this is still a game, so it is gamified quite a bit, with all 3 characters having a potential sex scene in the same chapter at the same time. i planned it that way to make it easy for myself and because that's just how i wanted it to go. i put some stat checks in place to add variations, like if you went with Hana or Valentina in ch2, if you flirted with Clear or not, and again, it was a lot of jumping around and trial and error. i wrote a significant part of Valentina's route out of order, and i finished hers last before i finalized the council meeting (which i had written very early on but like Hana's route i had to rewrite a few times)

i like to describe my process as building a tree. i write the core of it all first, one linear path, the trunk, and then i double back and add in all of the possible branches. it doesn't mean anything that i wrote the friendly, romantic variation of Clear's route first, it just allowed me to use that single variation as an anchor and build up around it without straying too far and losing the plot, hahahaha. i still sometimes stray a little too far... but it's fun that way. it was fun trying to figure out a way to make the rival route different, how to change it while still telegraphing the same overall ideas about Clear & her situation. it's also very frustrating, but it's all part of the process....

[rigginsstreet]

Ok but how it absolutely goes both ways and it does not matter to fred if his husband spends hours in the gym or lets himself get fat once his football career is over it does not matter to him that he's seen him at his absolute rock bottom a million times or that hes gonna get old and gray and have to wear reading glasses that is his fucking MANSSSSSSS that is the same guy he looked at with big ass heart eyes in high school and thought that is my boyfriend the sexiest guy in the room THAT is the guy he fucked sloppy style in that vw van all that summer and would still let that man fuck him in any motor vehicle despite his bad back and his bad knees and his arthritis and his joint pain!! HE WILL STILL GET THAT MAN PREGNANT IF IT IS THE LAST THING HE DOES!!! he still thanks God every night for sending him his gorgeous sexy ass husband with his gorgeous eyes and his gorgeous body regardless of what he looks like!! and not to get sappy but I think for fp who spent most of his formative years with a really fucked up relationship to sex and only valuing himself for his body because that's all anyone wanted out of him... I think that would mean the world to fp especially ❤️

HAPPY IMPREGNATE THAT OLD MAN SUNDAY!

i think for fred just fp being alive and healthy after all he's been through is such a turn on lmfao which sounds insane but like the fact fp made it out the other side of addiction and all his self harming ways is just very comforting to fred and he likes any reminder that fp is still going strong and if that happens to manifest in wild old man sex then like.... thats his husband thats his business thats how they express their love and gratitude for the life they have together

[astradyke]

I swear every dnp fan feels the equivalent of massive catholic guilt over being a fan of them . Like its a phenomenon I haven’t seen to this extent in any other fandom I can think of . Phatholic guilt if you will

Phatholic guilt is crazy anon 😭

yeah, that is definitely a phenomena. mm, i have a lot of thoughts about it, but i guess all i'll say is like... my perspective is, we're having a fun time, and dan and phil are having a fun time, yeah? and while fan culture definitely impacted them back in their roughest years, of course it did they weren't exactly insulated from it, there was so so so much more they've described going on in the 2012-2013 years alone. so while i understand a lot of guilt folks feel about like... Past Phandom Crimes, like, dan and phil can just tell us if our jokes about sister daniel's thighs or about them fucking nasty are crossing a line. so that's kind of my own thing on the guilt front just being like, well. they're happy now, things are really good. and trying to cross-examine 12 year old mare for reading wattpad fanfiction or whatever is kind of pointless, given that i am no longer 12, and 12 year old mare most certainly had bigger issues in her life than dan and phil RPF discourse. like geometry homework. and other such things

which is why i kinda think like, yeah, they'll bully us as TIT. they'll joke about us and our oh they're touching jokes, right. but i don't think they're out to punish us. i genuinely think they find all of this beautiful, us and them and our dynamic, and i think TIT is so much more of a celebratory reclamation than a "fuck you for what you've done to us" reclamation.

[nateslehky]

will you do a director’s cut of the amusement park fic? maybe the roller coaster part and/or the scene leading up to it, thank you i love you

anything for you <3 <3 tis below the cut :) fic for reference

come into my ask box and ask for the “director’s commentary” on a particular story, section of a story, or set of lines. 

Or, send in a ⭐star⭐  to have me select a section they’ve been dying to talk about!

The counter digs against Matthew’s back as he leans against it. [the counter digging into matthew was deliberate. throughout the whole fic i tried to include subtle/not-so-subtle annoyances. the counter digging into matthew here is one of those. (actually, one of the working titles for this fic was 'staring at the sunset' --a nice sentiment and beautiful image, but ultimately annoying with the sun in your eyes. i still like title i went with but kinda wish i went with that one haha)] He crosses his arms and tries not to chuckle as Sasha’s frowns in concentration, gaze focused as he takes in the targets in front of him. Sasha always takes everything so seriously, even something as simple as this carnival game. 

If Matthew had to guess, he would say the average age of players at this stand would be probably ten, but Sasha’s expression remains as serious as ever, matching the one Matthew sees on the ice at every game. [i did this just because i wanted to show how competitive and serious sasha is, but like that it calls back to the ice/hockey bc of how everlooming the stanley cup is on matthew's mind in this fc]

It takes him a few tries, but eventually Sasha’s throws find the mark. When the alarm blasts [like a goal horn almost hehe] announcing him as a victor, Matthew does chuckle at the satisfied expression on his face, lips parted in a small smile.

The girl running the stand asks him which prize he would like, gesturing to the highest shelf strewn with various stuffed animals and toys, so full that Matthew wonders at how they aren’t toppling over. Sasha is shaking his head before she even finishes.

“Oh, no,” he says, “it’s okay.”

Matthew rolls his eyes. He knows him; Sasha wanted to win just to win. Matthew, on the other hand, never says no to free shit. [sasha is sort of just along for the ride (no pun intended lol) for this whole fic, not in a bad way, but he's ultimately at this amusement park for matthew. but i feel like this is kinda ~his~ scene, albeit from matthew's pov. i like the peak at his character throughout this scene a lot]

He leans forward and points to the cat plushie at the top of a pile of stuffed animals, and says, “He wants that.”

“Matthew,” whispers Sasha as the girl turns around and stands on her tiptoes to reach it. “What am I going to do with that?”

“Keep it,” he says. “And then every time you look at it you’ll remember that time you went to an amusement park with your cool, hot, younger boyfriend and had so, so much fun.”

“Or,” says Sasha as the girl finally plucks the plushie from the pile. “I could just look at my boyfriend and remember that.” [ever the voice of reason]

“Nonsense,” says Matthew. He reaches across the counter to grab at the cat, then says to the girl, “Thank you so much.” [this whole bit of in this scene dialogue kinda just...flew out of me but i really like how it turned out]

“No problem,” she says. “Thanks for stopping by.”

Sasha mutters his own thanks, then they turn from the stand and continue down the path. Matthew holds out the cat in front of him, running a hand down its fluffy head. “See,” he says. “It’s like a panther.”

“That’s a house cat,” says Sasha. [see comment above re: voice of reason]

“I said like a panther, not that it was. It’s called a simile, Sasha.”

Sasha laughs, then presses his lips together as if annoyed he’d let the laugh out. [sometimes sasha hates how fond he is of matthew's absurdity] After a moment, he asks, “If I keep it, where am I supposed to put it?” [he's definitely keeping it]

“I think it’ll look great with your absurd throw pillows,” says Matthew. “Right in the middle. Like a centerpiece.” [idk why but i really liked the idea of sasha having throw pillows. like i feel like he'd generally be a pretty minimal guy but i liked the image of him having a bunch of pillows that always need to be set on the bed to his specifications. no idea where this lil headcanon game from but i'm quite fond of it (stanley absolutely because a feature of it moving forward)]

With a shake of his head, Sasha starts to say, “You’re—"

“Attention,” drones a female voice over the speakers as the music cuts out. “The park will close in 30 minutes and lines for all rides and activities will cut off in 10 minutes. Thank you for understanding—and remember, always amuse yourself at Amos’!” [there's this time crunch element to the fic because the park's closing which ended up mirroring the time crunch matthew feels in regard to him getting older/being a 'veteran'/running out time to achieve his dreams etc etc (then when they actually race to the coaster there's no one in line, so they actually had more time that they thought/needed--which like, same with the hockey side of things too)

Matthew grabs at Sasha’s forearm, pulling him to a stop. “We gotta ride the coaster!” he says, craning his neck to see if he can spot the wooden structure. “The one from the ad. What’s the point of going to an amusement park without riding a roller coaster?” [matthew is meant to come across as very youthful here. the coaster is this big looming thing (both physically and mentally). matthew saw the ad for it/the amusement park, decided he wanted to go and expierence it, and went for it. it ended up mirroring his desire/want for the stanley cup (which he failed at getting, hence why he wants to ride this coaster so bad)]

“Okay, sure,” says Sasha. “We still have some time.”

“Yeah,” says Matthew. A sign along the path points them in the direction of Storm Chaser, so they can’t be that far. Struck with an idea, he smiles then says, “Wanna race?”

“What?”

“If you beat me, we can get rid of Stanley.” [so fun fact i actually named the cat stanley thinking of the florida panther's mascot. it wasn't until i was revising that i was like...oh right...stanley cup and realized stanley (the cat) pretty much ended up juxtaposing the stanley cup. here's this thing that neither matthew nor sasha had ever had any desire for, but then they actually won it (versus the stanley cup that they both want very very bad but haven't been able to get)(yet).]

Before Sasha can respond, Matthew drops his arm and sprints down the cracked [another annoyance/imperfection] sidewalk. Behind him, Sasha mutters, “Who’s Stanley?”

Matthew holds the stuffed cat above his head as he continues to dodge around lingering patrons, listening close to Sasha’s footfalls and then his laughter as he realizes what Matthew means.

---

this was a lot of fun, tysm for the suggestion!