#and also if they could 36 star the abyss

[pixies--dust]

Ngl im very curious as to what some more “professional” genshin players would think of my account…

[narwhalandchill]

also like . huge fan (not) of the way that hsr is having the worst endgame modes of all time . AND. at the same time. genshin Also gets whatever the fuck THIS abyss is like . what the actual fuck.

like u know its fucking bad when i take 1 look at the lineup and unanimously bench international 😭😭 ajax im so sorry but theres a limit to the cringe im willing to commit to enduring for a clear Even when its for u xx. like im sure i couldve figured out A Clear somehow but it wouldve cost my actual sanity wkjjfjkwjkwdkj

(putting the pyro lectors on 12-1-2 2nd wave not final wave feels. Actually SO personal against childe teams wtf. like extending childes melee so he solos their shields without worry for the CD bc its last wave anyway has been THE strat since those fuckers fucking released as enemies and now its like nah fuck you actually. what the hell hoyo)

(give him the narwhalpilled final form op alt already hoyo i WILL c6r5)

anyway. ended up going for the. easiest way out possible and i am Completely shameless on that one.

did aggravate and tazer to safely clean up that demonic 12-1 at first, realized 12-2 is also hell so then i just leave to double up on hyperbloom lmao. o7 truly

except unironically this shit had me crafting and leveling a second fucking prototype amber bc kokomi and neuvi had been sharing my R5 one before 💀💀 bc like. neuvi just wasnt doing enough dmg with that one fontaine event catalyst i usually substitute for either of them and i cant run prayers on him bc he will overcap crit but kokomi Also needed the pamber.... so now she has a 80/80 r2 one.

also i had ZERO patience for DMC energy issues btw thats a 4p deepwood build with SEVENTY crit rate 245% ER and R5 fav (=overkill much) . i love fa🅱️onius . DMC unironically still such a solid unit tho like. had a surprisingly great time using them after the longest time . theres some thinking around positioning ur lotus so it hits multiple waves more efficiently but with that figured out it was p kewl all things considered

ALSO WHAT THE FUCKKKKK i only. NOW. looked at my XQ gears since he was feeling rly Off in terms of ER on 2nd half despite my nahidas R5 fav and i.

I FORGOT I PUT THE LVL 90 ONE ON QIQI FOR THE CLORINDE TEAM 😭😭😭 and bc theyre both R5 its not like. i had any issue proccing the passive so That didnt clue me in to there being A problem. oh my fucking god i made this so much more cringe for myself than it actually wouldve been didnt i..................

[fischlcatgirl]

Board certified abyss 12 HATER

[mintjeru]

are you normal or did you note down the puns in the act 1 event quest to compare between localizations

[mengyan]

Hello! If you have read the novel, could you give us some details about Furong and Mofang? :) I am curious about their story since the drama unfortunately doesn't show much about them

sure anon! actually speaking, as the drama’s script was also written by jiu lu fei xiang (aka the author of the novel), she’s doing a fantastic job of expanding further on mo fang and fu rong’s relationship! there are actually more moments and, in a way, feelings between them in the drama compared to the novel. but that’s just my opinion as someone who has seen both!

in the novel, this is what we get (WARNING FOR PLOT SPOILERS):

the selling tickets thing doesn’t happen in the novel. mo fang and fu rong first meet when fu rong gets drunk in that wine shop. mo fang is furious at him for dragging shen li’s reputation down with him and thus goes to pick him up, taking him away. before he can do so, fu rong says he has “eyes like stars, with such soul” and kisses him in front of everyone. mo fang is dumbstruck but the second he recovers, he immediately knocks fu rong out before dragging him home. this scene was edited slightly to attempt to pass censorship and presumably filmed, but ended up being cut— thus resulting in that weird cut to the knockout and a shorter runtime of the final produced episode (which was only 36 mins).

although in the novel it is not explicitly stated how fu rong ends up grabbing mo fang’s pendant, he does do so while drunk (i headcanon that it happens while mo fang drags him back) and he does spend a long while trying to return it to him, just like in the drama. jlfx actually managed to keep 95% accuracy of their scenes and lines said, with the 5% amount of deviation due to censorship.

one of the lines cut was mo fang saying that he's "never hated/never been more annoyed by anyone in his entire life" which i wish they kept but it's okay

when xing zhi ends up clarifying that mo fang was rejected by shen li, fu rong is overjoyed and says something like “this is a good chance for me [to pursue him] then!!”

again, like the drama, fu rong is kicked and escapes to the mortal realm, and when fu rong returns, he clings every day to mo fang’s side. one detail i like that the drama added was that we got to see mo fang regret it and hold out his hand to help him up, but fu rong didn’t know he was trying to help and fled!! 😭

you lan still warns mo fang to stay away from fu rong and says all that stuff about how her brother normally doesn’t pursue men like this, like i am not kidding when i say jlfx is keeping everything she can

this is where plot spoilers begin so look away if you must!

while the demon realm is in crisis, mo fang is “swallowed” by demons upon fighting them, and “dies”. when fu rong finds this out, we learn from you lan that he went crazy, his spiritual power exploded, and because his powers are so pure, he ended up washing out all of the colour of his plants and exploded his courtyard.

he was unconscious for a long time, and when he woke up, he learned of mo fang’s betrayal, which broke his heart even further. he became silent and uncommunicative and did not let anyone fix his courtyard, so it’s still broken to this day.

from then on, fu rong dresses in plainer clothes (as if he's mourning... 😭) and swears to work hard to help guard the xutian abyss's barrier for the rest of time.

from one of he yu (fu rong) and xin yunlai (mo fang)'s interviews, it seems like we will be getting a lot more of their bond in the drama which makes me really excited! xin yunlai says that mo fang eventually ends up finding fu rong quite cute and that he doesn't want such a cute and kind person to be in danger. he yu says that later, when mo fang is revealed as a traitor, fu rong is the first to believe that he's not a bad person, and that he understands mo fang the most.

suffice to say i am NOT READY for the second half of this drama!! i hope this helps you out, anon!

[yandere-fics]

I had no more fishes in my world left so I had to break into my friend world, lmao. After work (she came in the middle of my shift and left before it ended, traitorous girl) i just bullied her to just log in. My crusade for all achiv is all time high. Also congrats on 11-3 and gl on serpent if u will try it b4 refresh, the annoying bitch still can't 36 star cuz of it so abyssal crusader achiv is off limits

I think I'll try but I probably won't get it, I want to refine the stats on my Scara's artifacts cause they are good but could be better and since he's my main, never ever leaves my party, I need to refine him completely. I also need to finish Bennett's constellation to make my abyss team tighter.

[vees-genshin-blog]

Day 21

It's day 21 which means another week has passed!! That's officially three weeks of daily genshin posts!!! I can't believe I managed to keep this up for so long 😭. Though I will admit, it's really hard to get any time in when midterms come around.

As today was a weekend, I called my friend and they helped me out again with the weekly bosses before we did artifact farming!! We started off with emblem, which we did most of our runs for and I got a decent Shimenawa piece on Childe!! But then I was an idiot and I accidentally leveled a Shimenawa pyro damage goblet that I thought was a hydro dmg one and used my old hydro damage goblet to level it up soooo.. oops? (My poor Childe has no hydro dmg bonus now, how can I call myself a Childe simp if I mess up his artifacts so badly 😭😭😭) The only good thing is that he's on a proper 2p2pc set and according to akasha, that makes him way better than my old build so I guess it's not too bad? You can judge for yourself when I post Progress check 4.

Anyway, after emblem, we did a few runs of the Pale Flame domain because I wanted a better feather for Lumine as her current one is still a 4 star feather that I got her about a year ago. Also this may be dumb, but I wanna improve my main team and tackling Abyss with it and Childe International before building the Aggravate Keqing team. If people can 36 star the abyss with two 4-stars, then I can do the bare minimum with my physical traveler team 😤. I'm thinking of building Yun jin since she has a normal attack dmg buff, but I need to look into it a bit more. I could also replace Diona with Kaeya if I do switch to Yun Jin, but my heart breaks at the idea of doing so 😭😭😭. We'll see.

Next, we did a few runs of the Nymph domain and then strongboxed with the leftovers. I got some potential pieces for some of the other characters, but I have no more fodder so I'll take my time to level them up. Also, I did NOT realize how low my mora has gotten, which I honestly shouldn't be too surprised as I mainly farm and upgrade and haven't done any pure exploration in a while. I'm thinking of maxing out the Liyue statue when I have time as it also gives the chance to go through the parts of Liyue I haven't been to before!!

Finally, we fought all the Mondstadt bosses and the Liyue ones for the coop achievements!! I got enough primos for 60 wishes so I pulled for my guaranteed Nahida and YAAAAAYYYY!! She came in around 30 pity! I ended up doing another 10 pull to get Kuki since the previous ones gave me Sethos and some 4 star weapons, and thankfully she did come!! I ended up wasting another 10 pull on the weapon banner, but I managed to reign myself in and have 10 pulls saved for Ororon (and Zhongli)!!!! Overall, I got what I wanted with a C0 Nahida, C1 Sethos, and C0 Kuki!!

Anyway, that's about it for today, and I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

PS: As always, Progress check 4 should be out either today or tomorrow (or the day after because I have a midterm tomorrow 🙃)

[4giorno]

YESSSSS i finally could 36 star the abyss again after not being able to for 2 cycles 😭 with 30 seconds to spare on 12-3 too. this abyss is def easier than the last but also the al haitham/shinobu/xingqiu combo is too cracked lol

[geoarchcn]

ah yes, a c4 qiqi instead of ganyu. EXACTLY what I wanted mihoyo thank you SO much 🙄🤬😡

[anantaru]

Thoughts on Shenhe??

I love her sm

-🐚

she‘s honestly so pretty (also i have a weakness for characters with white hair/greyish hair) and i use her quite frequently in my team, together with ayaka!! 💗 they literally kill everything in the spiral abyss and without this combo i could never 36 star the abyss either💀

she‘s so pretty bro like 😩

[suganovakawa]

do you happen to take requests? if so, may i- hcs abt playing and simping on genshin impact with kenma, kuroo, oikawa and bokuto-? you can lessen the cast if you want^^ thank you for the time! i love your blog 💖

GENSHIN IMPACT HERE I COME

genshin impact frenzy!

— kenma, kuroo, oikawa, and bokuto play genshin impact with you!

gen masterlist

taglist ( open! ) —

a/n — this game has taken literally so much of my time, it was only meant to be that i fulfill this request—also bokuto’s has minor spoilers to venti’s story quest! it’s pretty vague but it’s still there

kenma kozume.

✧｡ this guy can take on literally everyone with just the standard team

✧｡ and he does—he sees no point in wishing for people when he’s already got a decent team given to him for free

✧｡ you’ve literally fought with him so many times because he forgets that wishing is a thing and finds it strange that you are willing to spend your life savings on a single five star character

✧｡ he will only wish on the standard banner, since that’s where you can get constellations for the standard team

✧｡ somehow he’s collected so many constellations for kaeya and amber, it’s unreal

✧｡ you’ve debated on sending a complaint to mihoyo because kenma can’t send any of his primogems to you

✧｡ he’s currently AR 50 and still has the beginner’s banner untouched aside from noelle

✧｡ “kenma, would it kill you to wish on a banner once? just one ten wish summon. one time.”

✧｡ “but i already have my team up to level 90, why should i put in the effort to grind for anything else?”

✧｡ “because the other characters look nice?”

✧｡ “okay, and?”

✧｡ there’s no winning against him

✧｡ you ain’t ever catching him simp

✧｡ you almost caught him eyeing kaeya’s new idle animation but to no avail </3

✧｡ timeskip kenma streams on twitch, where even some of his viewers are completely distraught that he never wishes on the banners

✧｡ on multiple occasions he’s held events where he gives you money for primogems, and just streams you wishing for the characters instead of him

✧｡ he’d never admit it out loud, but his heart flutters when he sees the excited look on your face as you pull a five star character

tetsurou kuroo.

✧｡ for shits and giggles he probably decided to choose lumine instead of aether

✧｡ when he realized that he liked aether’s design more than hers, he just stopped using her entirely

✧｡ if he hadn’t gotten all the way to AR 30 before this realization, he probably would’ve started over with a new account just to choose aether instead

✧｡ he doesn’t play this game religiously, but he is far from a f2p guy

✧｡ will shamelessly simp with you if he deems the character simp worthy—if not he’ll just watch you simp and then simp over his own characters

✧｡ he almost lost his mind over albedo and had a heart attack when he ended up pulling a weapon instead

✧｡ don’t even get me started when he laid eyes on ganyu

✧｡ if you can’t get a five star character you want, he’ll purposely spend money so that he gets them before you and rub it in your face

✧｡ that’s what he did for zhongli

✧｡ “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU GOT ZHONGLI?”

✧｡ “i mean, he’s right here. look! isn’t he so sexy? he would be a great addition to my team. you enjoy having jean though! i’ve heard she’s a great healer.”

✧｡ “tetsurou, i am going to murder you.”

✧｡ “no you won’t.”

✧｡ “i won’t. i just won’t help you with domains anymore.”

✧｡ “okay okay wait this can be discussed—”

✧｡ he hates grinding and will continuously hold if off until he physically can’t defeat any of the ascension material bosses

✧｡ however, he completes ascension quests the moment he can—it’s just his luck that he has to deal with the consequences when he has to deal with mobs with his severely under leveled team

✧｡ both of you raced to get to AR 40 first, and you won since you were actually smart enough to level up your characters long before he did

✧｡ you two like completing domains together rather than doing it online or alone

✧｡ genshin is more of a leisure pastime for kuroo, but he finds himself playing it more and more with each passing day

tooru oikawa.

✧｡ surprisingly? he’s much better at genshin than what you were originally expecting

✧｡ it’s probably because he has enough patience to grind for all of the materials SDJKFJKSDF

✧｡ but because he prioritizes volleyball a lot more, he’s only at AR 36 while you’re on your way to AR 47

✧｡ he takes it upon himself to compare himself to childe, and you just have to go with it because tooru will not take no for an answer

✧｡ just to spite you he goes around saying “hey girlie” every now and then

✧｡ he’ll come up behind you quietly and whisper in your ear, causing you to jump at the sound of his voice

✧｡ “hey girlie, hold still.”

✧｡ “TOORU COULD YOU NOT—”

✧｡ “c’mon, you know you you like it.”

✧｡ “maybe if you dressed up into childe’s foul legacy transformation, i would be persuaded.”

✧｡ “SAY NO MORE”

✧｡ simps for both mona and diluc lowk

✧｡ i just know he purposely chooses the suggestive and flirty choices every chance he gets

✧｡ he had a field day with ying’er (that perfume lady idk)

✧｡ he hates spiral abyss with every fiber of his being and refuses to do anything more after he got xiangling

✧｡ he likes flaunting his five stars to random people he plays with in domains just for the fun of it

✧｡ his favorites to flaunt are childe and xiao (he was originally wanting ganyu but her banner expired before he could pull her so he just wasted the rest of his pity and got xiao instead)

✧｡ idk why but i get the sense that he’s eagerly waiting for an announcement that scaramouche will be a playable character

✧｡ he will give you money for genshin if you ask nicely

✧｡ if you ask nicely and you give him something in return

✧｡ but all in all, he does genuinely enjoy the game

koutarou bokuto.

✧｡ kou will either forget to play it for months or you’ll have to pry it from his hands after being locked away in his room for at least a week

✧｡ his favorite five star to use would probably be klee, just because of all the explosions she sets off

✧｡ definitely simps for ningguang and albedo, but will see to it that he proves himself better than any of the guys you simp for

✧｡ he loves using fischl so that he can use oz

✧｡ he doesn’t take the game very seriously but still manages to reach AR 40, even though he has no idea how builds work

✧｡ he has no desire to learn either, he’s just enjoying himself and exploring the world

✧｡ he gets carried away with exploring the world that he found both all of the anemoculus and the geoculus before AR 40

✧｡ goes into emo mode when he doesn’t pull the character he wants

✧｡ the story quests make him sad when he does them, especially venti’s

✧｡ he regretted not having venti after he finished that story quest and just watched the story with venti and his old friend over and over again to mourn

✧｡ and he checks up on stanley every time he sees him anywhere, usually in front of mondstadt at night

✧｡ “i promise you that i will never leave you or let any harm come to you, y/n”

✧｡ “kou, that’s sweet of you—”

✧｡ “i mean it! i would rather die than put you in harm’s way”

✧｡ you have to comfort him repeatedly and eventually gets over it

✧｡ but now he’s saving up for venti’s rerun and has not been deterred or tempted for anyone else, mans is almost at 10k primogems for this guy

✧｡ mihoyo pls give bokuto a venti rerun

✧｡ it’s safe to say that venti slowly becomes bokuto’s favorite character

✧｡ you should watch out before kou becomes too emotionally attached to every character

[primojade]

FR NONNIE IS AR56 WITH 4 LVL 90’s AND STILL CAN’T 36 STAR ABYSS 😭

- ✨annon

Ohhh ✨ anon u understand my pain LMAO

I have fairly built tighnari with fischl as support) and I also include albedo (for the plus em in his burst) and zhongli in the team. THEY ALL DOING GREAT IM HAPPY OFC :))

but that's only at chamber 1 LMAOOOOO yanfei, bennett, xingqiu and kazuha was struggling a lot in the chamber 2. I tried rotating their teams a lot but yeah, i couldn't complete the floor 12 with 36 stars 🤡

Maybe scara could change that soon? 😇😇 u better be u gremlin—

[cleansingreflections]

idk if ur the right person to ask for this but: I was thinking of pulling for ayato bc his skill and ult seem really useful especially in the spiral abyss. but other players say his icd is too long/his scaling is trash/ he's not worth it etcetc. do you have any thoughts on this?

starting this off by saying that i am in no way a meta player, i play how it's comfortable to me and how i'm used to, i'm not an expert and also lol sorry for the long ass response but i wanted to get as specific as possible, and also it kinda doesn't make any sense so forgive me for that lol

first i wanna say i disagree with the scaling is trash point because i think his scaling is pretty average for a sword dps as far is im concerned, besides that:

if you listen to people who talk about "meta" endlessly, then you're gonna end up not pulling for any character. i've been playing genshin since 1.1 and as far as i'm concerned almost every single limited 5* character was deemed "trash" either before or when they were released, the only exceptions i'm aware of that didn't have any major controversy, negative or even remotely dubious response were itto, xiao, hu tao, ayaka i guess but she was a special case, maybe venti and klee (initially)

idk if you're a new player, but if you are you'll be surprised to find out that raiden shogun was deemed unusable, ganyu was called "cryo amber", albedo was completely overlooked, i'm not even gonna get into the zhongli discourse because i'd have to write an entire book about it

my point is "xyz is trash because [1 flaw that they have]" are comments you shouldn't pay too much attention to, especially if the character is still in beta and hasn't been released

if you play only to 36* abyss then honestly, i don't think you should pull for ayato only for that, but i also think you shouldn't just play for spiral abyss in general. if you're a newer player then uh unless abyss gets a big rework you're gonna have a tough time 36* starring it (i kinda gave up on it :p)

if you play to have fun, then ayato seems to me a perfectly viable hydro dps, sub-dps or even support that could potentially work well with a lot of different units as far as i'm concerned; ICD is a problem that's not unique to ayato and it is kind of annoying, there's not much that can be done about that honestly and you just have to deal with it. and also. god. for the love of god. for the sake of everything that is holy in this world. look at me anon. repeat it with me:

-> vaporise is not the only reaction <-

the only reason why i would tell you to rethink pulling for ayato is if you have childe already since their kits are extremely similar as they're both very team oriented (as opposed to hypercarries) (but even then i'm still pulling for ayato even with a childe in my roster like idc)

i'd say if you're unsure then wait until he's released (if you can and weren't planning on otherwise pulling for raiden or kokomi in a couple of weeks), do his trial, if you have the patience you can even wait to see what other players think in the first few days, and then make your decision

but please, and i mean this genuinely, don't skip a character just because someone on twitter called them trash, pointing out flaws in characters is perfectly valid criticism and i watch videos about characters' flaws all the time, but you can't know for sure until the character is released and you did a test run with them outside of beta

TLDR: if you like a character and you want to play them because their kit looks genuinely fun to you, pull regardless of meta, there is no PvP in genshin so which unit you play is absolutely inconsequential outside of spiral abyss

i feel like i've definitely missed some stuff but that's what i think, at the end of the day ayato is not a badly designed unit in my opinion, he's balanced enough that whatever he lacks can be filled in with other units in my personal opinion

[bakersstreetirregulars]

Costume of the Year- Round 1

💫 Hi, everyone! Cream Puff Cookie reporting in for Round 1 of the Costume of the Year Awards! How do you get involved? Easy! Vote for the costume you want, and get 100 Crystals for your first vote in the round! When the timer expires, the votes are counted and the winners move to the next round. We don’t know what happens for the winner, but it might be something good! Then again… Timekeeper didn’t win anything for last December’s Cookie of the Year Award. For fairness, most costumes of the same rarity will be matched in this first round. Legendary Costumes are going to be matched with Super Epic Costumes. We will also highlight the rarities as follows:

Common- 1 -> 0

Rare- 4 -> 0

Epic- 41 -> 24

Super Epic- 43 -> 22

Legendary- 3 -> 2

Cheerleader’s Pillow Fight VS Milk’s Herald of Victory [UNEVEN MATCHUP] (16-84)

Blackberry’s Elegant Respite VS Sour Belt’s Choc’au Latte F/W Collection (36-64)

Princess’s Royal Crown [ROYAL CLUB EXCLUSIVE] VS Snow Sugar’s Aurora Cloak (37-63)

Jujube’s Grand Marshal VS Carrot’s Floral Chef de Cuisine (54-46) [Close one right here, folks!]

Peach’s Garden of Delights VS Ion Cookie Robot’s Red Dread (88-12) [No chance!]

Cheesecake’s Party Royale VS Aloe’s Visitor From The Future (86-14) [Party like no tomorrow!]

Alchemist’s Forbidden Flask VS Mala Sauce’s Unyielding Rook (32-68)

Moonlight’s Blissful Full Moon VS Pomegranate’s Twisted Labyrinth (74-26)

Dr. Wasabi’s Twilight Outlaw [ISLAND OF MEMORIES EXCLUSIVE] VS Matcha’s Witherbark Shaman (18-82)

Roguefort’s Pursuit Of Lost Time VS Dark Enchantress’s Chaos Incarnate [LEGENDARY MATCHUP] (53-47) [What a fierce battle! It’s anyone’s game!]

Fairy’s Brushy Brushy Toothbrush VS Sparkling’s Star Guest (15-85)

Adventurer’s Accidental Host VS Tiger Lily’s Golden Warrior (61-39)

Skating Queen’s The Decisive Day VS Pink Choco’s Ribbity Water Beam (22-78)

Orange’s Summer Parade VS Lilac’s Midsummer Bliss (18-82)

Cinnamon’s Fortuneteller Apprentice VS Plum’s Sky Master (70-30)

Angel’s Voice Of Virtue VS Dr. Wasabi’s Wasabi Overdrive (83-17)

Wizard’s Azure Flame Staff VS Grapefruit’s Phenomenal Stuntmaster (31-69)

Vampire’s Insouciant King VS Night Raven [Wind Archer] (77-23)

Mustard’s Dawn Rebel VS Popping Candy’s Red Carpet Attire (9-91) [Ouch!]

Wind Archer’s Zephyr of Life VS Walnut’s Search For Lost Time [LEGENDARY MATCHUP] (86-14) [Time’s up!]

DJ’s Megastar VS Sandwich’s Midnight Snack [UNEVEN MATCHUP] (58-42)

Herb’s Sage of Ivies VS Sea Fairy’s Luminous Coral (21-79)

Muscle’s Warrior Tyke VS Cherry’s Water Bomb (39-61)

Devil’s Horns Of Gold VS Yogurt Cream’s Midsummer Plentitude (30-70)

Dark Choco’s Young Prince VS Salt’s Revenant Captain (76-24)

Fire Spirit’s Lord Of Flame VS Licorice’s Aberrant Conjurer (58-42) [Can Licorice put this fire out?]

Cream Puff’s Dark Magic Hat VS Ion Cookie Robot’s DinoBot No. 1 (74-26)

Alchemist’s Guileful Queen VS Sovereign Of Darkness [Dark Choco] (69-31)

Pirate’s Sea Overlord VS Shining Glitter’s Superstar Airport Attire (6-94) [OUCH, WHAT A CRUSHING BLOW!]

Sea Fairy’s Dread Trident Of The Abyss VS Roll Cake’s Menace Of The Circuit [LEGENDARY MATCHUP] (90-10) [No contest!]

Pistachio’s Virtuous Knight VS Mint Choco’s Magnificent Symphony [UNEVEN MATCHUP] (28-72)

Cherry Blossom’s Red Equinox VS Peppermint’s Ballad Of The Starry Seas (42-58) [It could go either way!]

Adventurer’s Explorer Tyke VS Gumball’s Water Bazooka (69-31)

Cocoa’s Enchanted Waltz VS Almond’s Commissioner Of Parfaedia (66-34)

Dino-Sour’s Pathfinder VS Squid Ink’s Pirate “Hunter” (20-80)

Fire Spirit’s Lord Of Ash VS Werewolf’s Shadow Lurker (31-69)

Hero’s Dark Force Suit [ISLAND OF MEMORIES EXCLUSIVE] VS Carol’s Picturesque Performer (8-92) [Devastating!]

Guardian Of The Millennial Tree [Wind Archer] VS Marshmallow’s Merry Year’s End March (36-64)

Gingerbrave’s Tuxedo VS Purple Yam’s Champion Of Valor [UNEVEN MATCHUP] (10-90) [No Commons Here!]

Kiwi’s Maverick Of The Circuit VS Chocolate Bonbon’s A.C.i.D F/W Collection (24-76)

White Choco’s Blazing Knight VS Yoga’s Enlightened Bishop [UNEVEN MATCHUP] (74-26)

Ninja’s Yami no Densetsu VS Beet’s Blooming Chef de Partie (47-53) [Beet’s barely hanging on!]

Lemon’s Unlimited Potential VS Pancake’s Unicorn Jammies (26-74)

Whipped Cream’s Night Of Reverie VS Truffle’s Rumorous Collector (51-49) [Practically a tie!]

Wizard’s Arcane Mage VS Rockstar’s Epic Year’s End Concert (40-60) [Too close to call!]

Moonlight’s Alluring Crescent Moon VS Cinnamon’s Jokester Of Hearts (68-32)

Cheerleader’s Crazy Cute Uniform [ISLAND OF MEMORIES EXCLUSIVE] VS Spinach’s Pouch of Wishes (13-87) [Everyone off the Island!]

Moonlight’s Milky Way VS Macaron’s Festive Year’s End Parade (60-40)

💫 …and that’s the bracket! Unfortunately, not every costume was added either due to their limited-time nature, the directors’ inability to find a proper matchup in the brackets, or the costume’s lack of popularity. One example being my “Almost Great Detective”. There was also only one Common costume in the entire bracket: Gingerbrave’s Tuxedo. Staring down Purple Yam, based on a short meeting with him, I would guess he’ll be out in the first round, but who knows? The post’s votes will be updated as needed, and winners will be marked. That’s it! Good luck to everyone in the bracket!

[ticklystuff]

I wanna try and clear 36 stars for the abyss and was wondering if I could get your opinion on how Childe performs? I was thinking of getting Hu Tao but I also heard good things about Childe too but his cooldown scares me LOL and I only have primos for 1

hewwo i feel like im the wrong person to ask this because of my heavy bias towards childe lol but if you were planning on pulling for hu tao originally then you probably like her more so you should just go for her

i will say that pyro dps are a dime a dozen and you get one of the best for free (xiangling) and mihoyo seems to have no problem releasing more whereas childe’s role as a consistent hydro applicator is rare (took them almost one year to release another after Childe) and is only shared by kokomi (useable but has problems and not great for vape teams) and xingqiu (mainly single-target). granted both are the best in their roles and both have a lot of benefits but from an investment standpoint, hu tao is more susceptible to powercreep whereas mihoyo would have to intentionally go out of their way to put childe out of a job due to how fast he applies hydro

another thing to consider is that hu tao is usually glued to xingqiu but a lot of teams want xingqiu whereas childe doesn’t need a specific unit to work, making him more flexible. childe’s best team does use xiangling though and xiangling is glued to bennett, so childe’s best team requires two top-tier units and hu tao’s best only needs one. also since dps in a childe team is more evenly shared between childe and xiangling compared to hu tao and xingqiu, this means childe teams require more investment

also childe’s cooldown is not that bad and i feel like is over-exaggerated and needs like two brain cells to manage. optimal play uses about nine seconds of his skill and you can either countdown in your head or do what i do and use his ranged burst before his skill and just use the burst timer as your timer for his skill. hu tao is way harder to play and requires more mechanical skill due to utilizing jump cancels at c0 and idk how it is on mobile and pc but doing jump cancels on ps4 is such a pain and i still can’t properly do them

as for childe’s performance, i really like his reverse vape team because it’s good for both single target and aoe floors which not a lot of teams can claim. his teams are really great and flexible for most floors. hu tao teams are the best at single target dps but she really struggles with aoe (possible with her though)

one last note: childe does not experience a power spike with constellations unlike hu tao’s c1 so he is more f2p friendly than her. i have him at c6 and i don’t even use the effect provided by his c6 lmao

anyway good luck on whoever you decide to pull! both are great picks

[ri-ahhh]

desert secrets

MJ meets a helpful stranger in the desert that turns out to be more than she hoped for.

7k holy shit lol

warnings: some pretty unrealistic fluff that might get your hopes up that you’ll have a meet-cute with Grayson

***

Shit. Fuck. Fuck. Shit. Shit on a fucking stick. You actual fucking idiot, MJ.

A stream of thoughts along these general lines becomes her stream of conscience as MJ Macias plops down on a large rock, throwing her head back to the sky to bask in the sun and her own general incompetency. Maybe the heat of the desert mountain sun beating on her face will cause her to shrivel up and disintegrate to become lizard food or something — the thought isn’t altogether unwelcome.

Her trip to the middle of nowhere was meant to clear her mind both through exercise in the form of a nice, long hike, as well as simply by being alone amongst nature, under an endless expanse of clouds and stars. The week had been pure hell for her: she had been let go from her dream job at her marketing firm in the latest round of budget-related layoffs; received a ticket from a dickhead cop for going 34 in a 30; and discovered last night that the hot water heater in her apartment had broken. To top it all off, her ex had been harassing her relentlessly over texts and calls, wanting to meet up and ‘talk about things’ since she had dumped him two months ago.

So as she cried hot tears in a frigid shower that morning, thoroughly wallowing in self-pity, an idea popped into her head that was so spontaneous and ridiculous she didn't even try to talk herself out of it: go on a solo camping trip.

MJ really has no idea why this of all the therapeutic outlets available to her was something her brain decided was the right one, since a camper she is not. Sure, she loves being outside in the sun for a good hike, or a swim in the ocean once in a while — nature isn’t the problem. It’s the whole navigating-desert-terrain-alone-and-sleeping-on-the-ground thing that isn’t usually at the top of her list of fun weekend activities. The tent and sleeping bag that she had been forced to purchase for the ridiculous bachelorette party of one of her very outdoorsy friends had called her name as she paced manically around her apartment that morning, though.

Did she have every intent to return them after their one-time use? Absolutely. Did they both end up getting thrown to the back of her storage closet and thus forgotten about until then? Also, yes.

Both her practically nonexistent camping experience and her general lack of enthusiasm for the activity as a whole should have been her first clues at how moronic she was for thinking this is a trip she should (or could) handle alone. But, now determined to have the ultimate self-care weekend, she had: packed a backpack as an overnight bag; tossed it with her shitty little tent and a cooler full of snacks and water in the back of her car; texted her best friend Lainey to sound the alarm if she wasn’t home in 36 hours; and driven away to the first camping ground Google showed her that was at least 100 miles outside of LA. It seemed adventurous and spontaneous an indie movie-esque at the time.

But now, as she sits on this rock, feet and back aching, utterly fucking lost, MJ is starting to feel more like she’s on a self-inflicted episode of Punk’d. Being very directionally challenged, she had been using the maps feature on her phone to find her way back to her campsite after going on a winding, hilly hike, until her phone had suddenly died. The trails have no legible signs so between her use of the GPS, the borderline stalker-ish calls from her ex, and the heat of the sun, she’s left without her lifeline much sooner than she could have anticipated.

She thinks of her backpack and the battery-powered charger in her tent. In a moment of pure rage with herself for being such a lost, ill-prepared dumbass, she wants nothing more than to run back up the mountain and punt the now useless little piece of metal and plastic into the abyss. Her inner drama queen thinks maybe the best thing that could happen is that it will fall on a mountain lion, which will devour her out of anger before she shrivels up into lizard food, and put her out of her misery early.

MJ rolls her eyes at how ridiculous she’s being, and forces herself to take a deep breath and think. Her inner antics really do bring up an actually pressing issue. There are plenty of animals out here that don’t need any iPhone provocation to attack, and she’s only armed with a half-empty HydroFlask and a sparkly purple tube of pepper spray. Not to mention, judging from the incurring pinkness of the sky, the sun is going to set soon, and with that means it’ll be getting cold as well. She looks down at her thin Lulu Lemon tank top and shorts.

Fuuuck.

Knowing she has to make a decision, MJ doesn’t second guess herself when her feet heave her body off of her rock and set off further down the trail. Her only hopes at this point are to either miraculously stumble upon her camp before dark, or pray that she runs into fellow campers that might have a portable charger and that also aren’t serial killers. The only people she had passed on her hike had been a middle-aged couple and a woman maybe a little older than herself with a dog, but she couldn't have any idea if they were staying on the campgrounds or merely taking a day trip. Like she should have done.

MJ walks down the trail a solid 20 minutes, and wonders where the hell she had actually gone on her hike to be so far out from her own campsite. Inexperience with the outdoors had made her assume all the trails met up in a circle, but clearly that isn’t the case here. She’s already out of the hiking trail and in one of the areas designated for camping, but there are a couple of those around the park and she has no clue which one she had chosen.

Trying and failing to keep the creeping worry out of her spine as a few clouds turn orange and the noises of the nocturnal wildlife start up, she picks up her pace.

She’s about to resign herself to huddling in an unoccupied camping spot for the night when she suddenly sees flumes of smoke about a football field away. The Hallelujah chorus fills her head, and she mumbles out a quick ‘thank you’ to whoever is listening as she practically speed-walks to her impending safety.

The smell of the crackling wood draws her nearer and nearer. When she finally rounds the corner, she’s surprised and disappointed to see that while there is indeed a small fire burning, as well as a deconstructed tent piled on the ground, the occupant of the campsite is nowhere to be found. MJ hesitates and looks around for any sign of them, not foreseeing this issue. Should she wait around like a creep? Keep walking and hope to run into them?

“Can I help you?”

MJ startles out of her skin and lets out an embarrassing little squeak. She whips around and is thoroughly unprepared to see what just might be the hottest guy she’s ever had the pleasure of laying her eyes on in real life. Judging from her own height, he’s maybe six foot or a tad over; his thick arms are laden with a bulky backpack and a sleeping bag, and his dark hazel eyes observe her warily behind a flop of dark wavy hair.

“Uh,” she begins stupidly, slightly stunned by both his sudden appearance and his masculine beauty. “Yeah, um, I’m so sorry to intrude on your space but, I, you know, got a little confused on the trails and, uh…”

He raises a naturally arched eyebrow expectantly as she pauses and stumbles over her words. MJ looks at him, then releases a huge breath she hadn't even realized had been held in her chest until this moment, officially giving up on not sounding like a complete and total idiot.

“I’m fucking lost. I have a terrible sense of direction and was using a map online of the trails to find the pin I dropped on my campsite, but my phone died. Is there any chance you have a portable charger I can use for, like, twenty minutes?”

The guy chuckles, and despite her pure mortification at the situation, MJ cracks a smile too, glad to see he isn’t pissed at her for lurking around his campsite like the actual weirdo she is. Unfortunately for her, though, his crooked grin somehow makes him even more attractive, which doesn’t bode well for her already inevitable awkwardness.

“Uh, yeah, I have my Mophie in here somewhere,” he says, indicating the backpack in his arms. He nods his head in the direction of his campsite where there is a large stone clearly put there by park officials as a makeshift bench. “Come on over and I’ll find it.”

“Thank you,” MJ sighs in relief. She follows him through the gap in the log threshold, and when he drops the items he’s carrying on the ground, she gapes; holy shit, the man is built. She could tell he had pythons for arms, but the stuffed backpack and sleeping bag had hidden the way his plain white t-shirt stretches taut over every solid, muscled crevice of his torso.

She shakes her head and hopes he can’t sense her obvious stare that has since traveled from the breadth of his shoulders, down his tapered waist, settled on his ass, and finished on the multitude of tattoos decorating his legs as he walks in front of her. MJ finds every one of these aspects of him immensely appealing; she’s never felt so viscerally attracted to a complete stranger in her entire life.

MJ settles on the rock and, sensing some of the aforementioned awkwardness about to settle in the air, searches her brain for a way to alleviate it. She knows she’ll only be here a short amount of time, but she feels compelled to get to know him even just a little bit. And to not make a complete fool of herself, if possible.

“What’s your name?” she asks. That’s a safe place to start. She hugs her knees to her chest as she watches him arrange the stuff he had just dropped into a neater pile.

“Grayson,” he replies. Grayson crouches down to dig through his backpack and flashes her a friendly, blinding smile over his shoulder. “Yours?”

As if she couldn’t embarrass herself any more, she feels a flush rise to her cheeks. For fucks sake, she isn’t 16 talking to her high school crush — she’s a grown woman who has been with plenty of guys and knows how to have a simple conversation with one, no matter how hot they are.

“MJ,” she finally manages to get out.

“MJ,” he repeats, testing it on his tongue, nodding approvingly. “That’s cool. I don't think I’ve ever met a girl with that kind of name. What does it stand for?”

He stands and turns to face her. He extends the little black charger to her and MJ looks up at him through her lashes as he towers over her, biting her lip. Flirting isn’t her strong suit whatsoever, but she can’t help trying; it’s not like she’s going to see him again by the time the sun sets.

“It’s a secret,” she answers after a brief moment, taking the Mophie from Grayson and accidentally-on-purpose brushing the tips of her fingers against the back of his. “Thanks.”

Grayson raises his eyebrows, but a humored grin graces his full lips. “Okay,” he says, surprising her by taking a seat next to her as she plugs in her phone. “But who better to spill your secrets to than a total stranger, you know?”

MJ can’t help the giggle that escapes her throat, humored more by the fact that he seems to be having the same idea of fuck it, we won’t ever see each other again, as her, than his actual question. His nearness should make her uncomfortable, but it just…doesn’t; he’s close enough for her to smell his scent emanating from his warm body. Clean, like laundry and soap, but also hints of an earthy, masculine cologne and an admittedly enticing musk from being in the sun. She wants to lean in and inhale him.

God, she hopes she isn’t coming off as insane as she feels inside. What is wrong with her? He’s just a guy. A guy whose close proximity as a stranger should be making her feel intimidated rather than buzzing with electricity.

“You’re very right,” she says, leaning back on her hands to appear more relaxed. “If I die out here in the wilderness, killed by my own stupidity, I wouldn't want the last person to see me alive not know my real name.”

Grayson throws his head back and laughs, and it draws one from herself as well. She likes his laugh because despite the deep timbre of his voice, the sound is carefree and boyish.

“It’s Makenna Jean,” she finally admits once they both quiet down. “I’m named after my grandmothers, but my mom didn't like your typical shortenings people might automatically give to Makenna — you know, Mack, Ken, Kenna, all those. So she just started calling me MJ to avoid it all, and…that’s me, MJ.”

He nods in understanding. “Gotcha.”

They continue effortless conversation for a while, words and laughter flowing freely from their lips with an ease that MJ hasn’t experienced in years. In the first lull, though, MJ fills it with a sigh and extends her long legs to stretch them as they tire from being folded so closely to her body, flexing and pointing her toes. She knows her shorts are a little too short, her tank top a little low cut, even with a sports bra on. It’s another one of those accidentally-on-purpose moves that starts as inadvertent in the way it exposes and elongates her body, but ends in her relishing the way his eyes quickly dart across her form. She’s reticent to admit that she isn’t mad about it. Not even a little.

She ducks her head and bites her lip to hide a triumphant smirk as Grayson clears his throat and runs a hand through his hair. “So, are you out here by yourself?”

For the first time since she met him, a little swoop of nerves unrelated to her attraction to him passes through the pit of her stomach. She feels like she’s always had a spot-on instinct for determining someone’s ‘vibes’, and Grayson has only given her good ones since the minute she saw him. Maybe she’s fallen victim to the Ted Bundy effect, though…

He seems to pick up on her hesitation, and Grayson slaps his palm to his forehead, squeezing his eyes shut. “Fuck, sorry, that was so creepy. I didn't mean it like that, I was just, uh, making conversation.” He opens his eyes and rubs his forehead and, to her shock, is he blushing now? “I promise I’m not a murderer.”

She might have still been weirded out by a guy even putting the word out there in this situation, but her gut is telling her that Grayson is harmless, and she prides herself on being a pretty good judge of character.

“It’s okay,” she says, giving him a serious look. “I promise I’m not either. But you should know that I’m packing heat with a fully loaded can of mace and my best white belt skills from the karate classes my mom made me take in 4th grade.”

Grayson gives her a disbelieving look. “Fourth grade karate, huh?”

“Yep. For real, I’ll karate chop your arm off if you try anything sketch.”

“Try,” he challenges with a beautiful, dangerous smile, leaning in ever so slightly and looking her dead in the eye. It takes her breath away a little bit. “I dare you.”

MJ scoffs, still keeping up this facade that she isn’t fighting every primal urge to mount him, especially with the unmistakeable tinge of flirtation in his last words.

“Fine,” she accepts. Grayson grins wider and leans back, offering her his right arm. “Get ready.”

“Oh, I am.”

She lines her hand up with the dip in his muscles between his shoulder and the top of his bicep, rears it back, and —

“Ow!”

The side of her hand simply bounces off of the solid mass of his bulging arm. Grayson does that head-back belly laugh again and she pretends to pout as she rubs her sore hand. “That hurt way more than it should have!” she exclaims. “What are you, Superman?”

Grayson, still laughing, grabs her hand in his and strokes it rather tenderly considering the sheer size of his palm compared to hers. And it’s so cliche, but MJ swears she feels tingles where their skin connects.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he says, biting his lip in an attempt to contain himself. “It’s just, in the least misogynistic way possible, that was high-key cute.”

“Hmph.” MJ scrunches her nose at him as her heart drops to her stomach in the best, scariest way.

Uh oh. He's a stranger, MJ; you’ve known him for half an hour, MJ; you’re in the middle of nowhere, MJ — you can’t catch feelings for a stranger you’ve know for half an hour in the middle of nowhere, MJ…

She clears her throat and gives his hand a slight squeeze before extracting it from his grip, hoping that conveys that she doesn’t disapprove of his touch. But the sun is well on it’s way to setting, and she does need to check her phone battery. It’s at 28%, not as much as she hoped for but probably enough to do the trick.

Shit. MJ really, really doesn’t want to leave him, but she can’t exactly invite herself to stay longer. She had already kept him from building his tent, and his fire is starting to die as well. She turns back to face him only to find his eyes trained on her, brow slightly scrunched. Her belly swoops again.

“I should, ah, probably get going,” MJ admits quietly, fidgeting with her fingers. A shiver runs down her spine and goosebumps raise themselves up the skin of her arms, too, as the setting sun steadily lowers the temperature around them. She crosses her arms across her chest, partly for warmth and partly to hide her stiffened nipples that peak through her thin sports bra and tank. “Or I really will kill myself out here in the dark by walking off a cliff or something.”

Grayson smiles woefully and lets out a little huff, ducking his gaze down for a moment and picking at a thread on his shorts. “Yeah, I understand.”

Is it her imagination or does he sound…disappointed?

When he looks back up at her, the sudden intensity of his gaze makes her swallow thickly. She wants so badly to ask for his number, his Instagram, his last name, but it all seems too weird given the circumstances and the amount of time (or lack thereof) they’ve spent together. Besides, she thinks, she’s still dealing with a psycho ex amongst the rest of her life falling apart, and doesn’t need any more boy problems in her already crazy-stressful life.

MJ stands and dusts off the back of her shorts. “Thank you, Grayson, seriously. You really did save my ass,” she says with a sad smile.

“Of course,” he replies, standing with her.

She unplugs her phone and pulls up both maps before setting off down the trail with one last wave at the gorgeous, sweet man she’s so reluctantly leaving behind.

“MJ, wait!”

She stops in her tracks, black Nikes skidding in the loose, sandy dirt. Turning around in time to see Grayson dig his hands in the backpack to fish out a sweatshirt and flashlight, her heart lifts when he starts jogging toward her. Despite her elation, however, she looks up at him confusedly.

“I’ve actually been to this place a few times, so I’m pretty familiar with the trails and campgrounds. I would feel a lot better if I walked you to your tent. Not that you need a man to help you anywhere or…whatever, but yeah, only if you want —”

“Grayson,” she interrupts, touching a slim hand to his forearm. She smiles, endeared at how flustered he’s getting. He runs a hand through his hair again. Is this him wanting to spend more time with her, or him simply being a gentleman? “I really do appreciate it, but I’ve already kept you from setting up your own camp. I couldn't ask you to walk me all the way to BFE and risk you coming back alone in the dark.”

Grayson shakes his head. “I swear, it’s fine. I’ve got a flashlight.” He clicks it on and shines it under his chin, illuminating his head in typical campfire story-time style, and makes a face at her. MJ giggles. “And you can’t be too far from here; there are only two main campgrounds and they’re less than a mile apart from each other, so I should make it back before dark one way or the other.”

A shiver from the cold overtakes her body suddenly. “Oh, here,” he adds, extending the purple hoodie to her. She starts to protest, but he shakes his head and holds it at her more insistently. “I know you’re cold.”

MJ flushes, but takes the soft garment from him gratefully. “I never said I was cold,” she remarks as she shoves her arms in the sleeves and slips it over her head. It practically swallows her, but it smells just like the laundry/cologne scent she had picked up earlier, only more concentrated and delicious.

Grayson eyes her up and down slowly, grinning. “I’m observant,” he says teasingly.

MJ raises her brows at him amusedly. Again, she should be creeped out, but there’s something about him that sends all potential red flags out the window.

“And I might not be done sharing secrets with you,” he adds quietly, smiling the softest, sexiest smile she’s ever seen and utilizing the ultimate puppy-dog eyes. “Please?”

Well, twist my arm, MJ thinks sarcastically. “Okay,” she says without hesitation now, her insides jittering with a strange mixture of happiness and nerves. He beams at her and jerks his head in indication for them to continue down the trail.

“So, you never said what you’re doing out here by yourself,” Grayson prompts, nudging her with his elbow.

MJ shakes her head and smiles up at him. “Nuh-uh. Not only is that a sob story no one wants to hear, it’s definitely your turn to share. So I could ask you what you’re doing out here by yourself?”

Grayson shrugs as if to say ‘fair enough.’ “I’m not, actually. I’m with my brother and his girlfriend because she wanted to camp, but my brother doesn’t know shit about it. I only came under the agreement that there was going to be no funny business while I was around, only to come back from getting firewood to find them going at it, so I chose to remove myself from the situation. They’re still at our original campsite further down the trail. I needed to make sure I was far enough away to not hear anything.”

MJ sucks in a sympathetic breath through her teeth. “Ooh, yeah, there’s nothing worse than being the third wheel, especially when you have nowhere to escape.”

“Exactly!” he exclaims, turning to her with his hands raised. “Thank you! Ethan told me I was being dramatic, but it definitely sucks. He’s been with her long enough now, I think he’s forgotten what it’s like to be the lonesome outsider.”

This is the perfect segue for the question, but it gets stuck in her throat. Come on, MJ, grown woman, remember? She’s sure she already knows the answer based on what he had just said, but it never hurts to check.

“So…you don’t have a girlfriend?”

“Nope.” She glances up at him to find him staring straight ahead with that lopsided, boyish grin. He looks back down at her and reciprocates the question. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Nope.” MJ is mortified to hear it come out as a whisper. She clears her throat and diverts her gaze to the sunset. She had literally, quite literally, just met this man — he should not have this kind of effect on her.

Just then, her phone buzzes, and she’s infuriated to see the deleted number of her ex pop up on the screen. She groans in frustration. “But it’s not for my idiot ex’s lack of trying to get back together,” she complains, wiggling the phone and sending it straight to voicemail.

“I’m sorry,” Grayson says, shaking his head understandingly. “I’ve definitely been there. How long have you been broken up?”

MJ swipes the voicemail notification away and rolls her eyes. “Over two months. We weren't super serious and it wasn't a crazy bad breakup or anything, we were just in different places, and I’m not one to be in a relationship just for the sake of it. Especially if I’m not feeling any aspect of it. I didn't hear a word from him the first month or so, but he’s acting like we were soulmates who had some tragic ending, calling and texting me nonstop the last couple of weeks.”

Grayson shrugs. “Sounds like he’s just realizing what he missed out on,” he says, grinning. MJ’s breath catches in her throat and she rolls her eyes again embarrassedly with a smile, flushing pink yet again. “Why don’t you block him?”

She sighs. “I probably will. I don't like to burn bridges like that unless someone really does me wrong, but it’s getting ridiculous at this point.”

Grayson nods. “I’m not just saying this, but I feel the exact same way. And about what you said with being in a relationship just to be in one. Like…” he ruffles the back of his hair, something she now detects as a tell for when he's uncomfortable. “Ok, like, this sounds so ugly and conceited, but if I really wanted to be with someone, I could. Ethan and I do social media for a living and we have a decent following, so it’s not a lack of girls, but that’s not me. Maybe when I was a little younger, but…yeah, not now.”

Wow. What does that mean, a decent following? Her job requires her to know the ins and outs of the social media side of marketing, but she isn’t super invested in it for herself entertainment-wise. Mainly, she’s active on Snapchat with her friends and just occasionally uses Insta, so with the knowledge of the spectrum of social media followings, that could really be any number in her book. “So you’re, like, an Instagram model or something?”

He chuckles. “No, no. We make YouTube videos mostly. We’re identical twins so a lot of them are stupid things based on that — challenges and skits and stuff. It’s pretty chill. We’re starting to dabble in documentary-style projects, too.”

MJ gawks at him playfully, though she is actually surprised by his admission. “There are two of you?!” she gasps.

Grayson gapes back at her jokingly. “Technically, yes. He’s my absolute best friend in the entire world and, like I said, we’re identical, but half the time we really couldn’t be more opposite if we tried. I’ll show you our channel later, if you want, and you’ll see.”

“Hmm,” MJ hums, catching her lip with her teeth briefly. “Well I’m sure Ethan is great, but I’m glad I met you, then.”

He bumps her with his hip. “Are you saying you like me?”

MJ rolls her eyes good-naturedly at the teasing lilt to his voice and hopes that the light is low enough that he can’t see the seemingly permanent tint to her cheeks. “Since we’re sharing secrets…maybe. Yes.”

“I like you, too,” he replies, just as quietly. She picks up a barely-detectable lisp on the ’t’ and the East Coast lilt on the ‘oo.’ It’s adorable.

Her heart flutters.

They walk steadily a few more feet in silence, when suddenly she feels his hand brush hers gently. She assumes it was accidental until it happens again, only this time there’s more assertiveness in the movement, clearly indicating what he’s trying to do. Her heart jumps in her throat as she gladly lets his palm dwarf her own as he takes her hand in his. They happen to both glance at each other, only to duck their heads simultaneously, each attempting to hide giddy smiles.

“Ah, so, secrets,” MJ says to break the silence that’s thick with the best kind of tension. “How old are you?”

There’s a beat of silence. “Old enough…almost,” he answers cryptically, side-eyeing her.

His reply actually makes MJ stop in her tracks, and she’s jerked a bit by their joined hands as he continues moving. “What?” she asks incredulously.

Grayson laughs heartily and squeezes her palm, melting her insides a bit. He’s clearly pleased with himself at catching her so off-guard. “I’m kidding. I mean, I am legal, but people tend to think I’m older than I am.” He observes her standing there, waiting for his answer, and finally relents. “I’m 20.”

MJ shakes her head, stunned. “Shut the fuck up!” she exclaims. “Twenty?! Dude, yeah, no kidding people think you’re older. I definitely did.”

He tugs on her hand to keep her walking, and MJ obeys dutifully, still amazed at yet another shocking disclosure. “Is that an issue?”

She shrugs; she feels like it should be, but he doesn’t look or act 20 at all. But also…an issue for what? They literally just met. And she should only be thinking of being friends; she can be friends with a 20 year-old.

That thought doesn’t stop her from answering, though, because time factor aside, something is happening between them. Something more than friends, if she’s letting herself be honest. “I guess it’s only an issue if it affects maturity, but that doesn't seem to be a problem here that I can tell.”

Grayson squeezes her hand again, and a shot of sparks zings up her arm this time. “Good. Now, are you gonna make me ask, or are you gonna tell me how old you are?”

MJ groans. Twenty. She’s basically a dinosaur compared to that. “God, I don’t even want to say now. I’m 24,” she admits.

“What’s wrong with that?” Grayson asks with a chuckle.

“Because…” How do you explain to a young, hot 20 year-old man that every year that you creep closer to 25 only means one year closer to the downhill to 30? “I don’t know. Sometimes I feel old. And stuck. Especially lately. And you seem like this super young, super successful guy. It’s a little intimidating.”

Grayson is quiet for a moment. “If there’s anything I know, it’s not to judge your path based on other’s. If you’re feeling stuck, something will happen that gets you unstuck. Age has nothing to do with that.”

His answer catches MJ by surprise in its sincerity and maturity and thoughtfulness. Before she can form an answer, they pass what must be his brother’s tent. She has to hush her fit of laughter into her free hand when Grayson makes a disgusted little noise and flips off the dark red canvas that is, indeed, rustling suspiciously.

From there on they share anything and everything about each other, with each other. Against her word from earlier, she tells him about losing her job and her other woes from the week; he briefly opens up that he had lost his dad a little over a year ago and is still coping with it. This shocks her a bit, but his openness leads her to sympathize with him by sharing how her mom had passed away in a car accident when she was 15. By the time they reach the next campground, their fingers are completely intertwined and she’s leaning her head on his shoulder, his smell enveloping her completely from both his shirt sleeve and the collar of the hoodie. MJ has truly never felt more connected to a man on this level, and it’s both exciting and terrifying.

They aren’t even to her tent yet and she already doesn’t want him to go.  

“Should be just around this corner,” Grayson says, squinting at her phone before concentrating on the trail again.

Sure enough, the next turn reveals her campsite, complete with the tent she had miraculously managed to construct herself and her cooler propped next to the same rock-bench that they had sat on at Grayson’s camp.

Her free hand clenches around his elbow. “Yep, here it is,” she says.

They stop and stand to face one another. “Thanks again, Grayson,” she tells him sincerely. “I didn't really know what the hell I was doing coming out here. In more ways than one, obviously.” This earns her a smile and — God, as if her heart could feel any more sappy in that moment — he brings their clasped hands to his lips to kiss the back of her palm. “But in the hour that I’ve known you I think you’ve helped me take my mind off things more than anyone else back home could have. So…thank you.”

“Of course, MJ,” he says quietly. “I could say the same. I rarely talk about my dad with anyone besides Ethan, let alone someone I just met.” Her heart warms at his confession, and a heated moment of quiet and intense eye contact passes between them before he breaks it. “Come on, I’ll help you start a fire.”

She nods, and they release their grasps on one another to gather sticks and dry brush at his suggestion.

“You know,” he says as he leans over the fire pit that’s now filled with their findings with her lighter, breaking the short silence, “I was going to spend the night alone since E was clearly pretty busy. I don't think he would miss me if I stayed for a bit. To keep telling secrets. If you want, that is.”

MJ swallows. What the hell is this night? She’s pretty sure sad, lost girls meeting and mutually falling for beautiful, polite, genuinely funny boys in the desert is something that only happens in the likes of cheesy Meg Cabot novels. Yet, here she is, living out her nerdy 16 year-old fantasies in real life somehow.

“Yes. I want you,” she murmurs finally, and though she doesn’t mean for it to come out as a bit of an entendre, she doesn’t regret her wording; even in the low light of the late sunset, she can see his eyes darken. “Won’t he notice eventually, though, if you stay gone for very long? And it’s getting dark…”

“If I can borrow your phone, I can text him,” he explains. “I don't have any service but you do somehow. I guarantee he’ll use the wifi in our car to check his phone before he goes to bed, so he’ll get it eventually.”

She nods and unlocks her phone for him. “How do you have service out here, actually?” he asks as he types out a new message.

“My brother,” she answers, entranced by the way his thick fingers fly across the keyboard of her phone. “Being a firefighter, he gets to be on this plan for first responders where he gets first access to a bigger network in case he’s in the middle of nowhere on a call or in a crowd during an emergency or something. I was able to sign on with his account and get all the benefits of it.”

Grayson looks up at her, surprised, and smirks when he hands her phone back to her. “Wow, a firefighter? So he could probably kick my ass if he wanted, huh?”

MJ laughs. “Normally I would say yes, but somehow I think you've got a solid 20 pounds of muscle on him, even though he's a little taller than you,” she admits.

She finally can’t resist anymore and runs her right hand over a bicep that is truly bulging right beneath the edge of his shirt sleeve, and allows herself to take in unabashedly the way the fabric stretches across his wide shoulders, his defined pecs…fuck, he’s sexy.

He swallows hard and she looks up at him. For the second time that night, the intensity of his gaze stuns her into silence and stillness.

When he ducks his head to meet her lips with his, however, her insides are screaming and the hand not clutching his arm travels to grip the front of his shirt, then the short hairs at the back of his neck.

More cliches, but it’s a perfect first kiss — soft but intense, not too much tongue but just enough as it deepens. MJ sighs into his mouth, deciding she would be perfectly content to do this with him forever despite the fire now lit within her at his touch that has her body begging for more.

It could have been a few seconds or a few hours that they stand there entwined with one another, but eventually they part, eyes closed and breaths panting heavily in the minimal space between them. The longer she isn’t distracted by his lips, the longer she stands there trying not to overthink things.

But the beauty of what this trip has been — what Grayson has been — for her is that it was the opposite of overthinking; it was instinctual, impulsive, and honest. In short, her motto had been ‘fuck it.’

Her green eyes open and lift to his hazel ones. “Grayson,” she whispers, “we’re telling secrets tonight, right?”

“Right,” he replies just as breathlessly.

She swallows past a small lump as an inexplicable rush of emotion hits her.

Fuck it.

MJ’s hands cup his angular jaw and she forces herself to keep eye contact with him. She takes a deep breath. “Look, I’m not into drama and feelings and fairytale shit. But I like you. I really like you, way more than I should considering we’re basically strangers, which fucking scares me. And even though I barely know you, I trust you for some reason. I just…need you to tell me if you feel kind of the same, or if this is starting to feel like too much now that I’m putting my thoughts out there. Because my gut is telling me this is mutual, but we can both walk away now and write it off as a crazy, whirlwind thing in the desert. I go in my tent, you go in yours, and we never see each other again.”

Her words come out in a rush, her last sentence almost painfully so. She also suddenly considers the idea that maybe he’s only using her as a fun story to tell his friends about, the pretty girl he met in the desert, wooed by his charm and good looks into her tent, only to be ghosted by him the next day.

Maybe the uncertainty in her life is leading her to be too impulsive with her wants and desires right now.

Maybe she’s starting to overthink things.

Grayson catches his lower lip with his teeth and mimics the position of her hands with his own. His thumbs brush the ridges of her mandible and his long fingers overlap at the back of her neck, scratching lightly. Despite herself, she could have purred at the sensation, almost does when it’s combined with that of his lips brushing hers tenderly.

“MJ,” he says lowly, resting his forehead against hers. “I’m not a fuckboy, I promise; like I said earlier, if all I wanted was a warm body beside me, I could have that in a second. What’s so hard for me is to find someone who's not after clout or money or anything that comes along with being in the social media space. Almost every girl I’ve talked to in the last couple of years has been attracted to one of those aspects of my life, not me. Once I find that out, no matter what they look like, I’m never interested in being in the same room as them, let alone in a relationship with them. I can tell you don't give a shit about any of that, and I love it. I love how funny, genuine, and kind you are. I love how naturally, absolutely gorgeous you are. That’s what I look for, that’s all I go for, and you’re all of it.”

Holy fuck, how is this guy real? It’s like he could read her mind. Her thumb tugs on his lower lip and he takes that as his cue to kiss her thoroughly again.

“Promise me now, then,” she huffs when they break apart, “no matter what happens tonight, we try to stay friends, at least, tomorrow.”

“Deal,” he agrees with a grin.

MJ bites her lip and smirks up at him. “How about we, uh, keep sharing secrets in my tent?”

Grayson raises his brow, his smile widening. “It is getting a little chilly out here.”