#and maybe start on compiling eight

[sideblog-ver3]

steddie (18+)

(vampire boobs) (spider webs) (big dick steve) (club bang)

“she takes it like a champ, stevie. look at our girl.”

you whined and squirmed beneath them, the pillow under your stomach sinking under your weight and your face rubbed into the comforter. tight ropes wrapped around your wrist that connected to your thigh and another rope held your ankles to the bed.

“such a good girl. listens to her daddies.”

a finger was pushed into your hole and a silicone vibrator was stimulating your clit. the two boys just talked about you, not bothering to address you, not like you could respond in sentences. you’d only be able to say, “uh- uh huh.” “ah ah ah.” “ple- please.” face pinching in pleasure, drool dripping from the side of your mouth.

“kick it up a notch, eddie. sure she can handle it.” a warm palm caressed at your tensed shoulder blades. sliding bits of wild hair over your shoulders, lingering fingers rubbing at your neck.

“she’s a good pup.” a slight shift in the air and you felt wet lips pressing kisses onto your moistened skin. then pressing in hard, lips parting, teeth toying at your skin and tongue licking at scattered beauty marks.

you shivered and sighed. “yes i am.” responding to steve’s statement about you being their good pup. you were well trained for the two sex fiend boys. knowing to only cum when they say, being their cock slut, allowing them to fill any of your holes to the brim. even just sitting on your knees as steve and eddie pleasured themselves only, leaving you to watch and feel your slick coat your thighs together.

“oh, she can speak? definitely kicking it up. also give her another finger.” eddie commanded steve. you heard a click then felt the toy go from mild to mildly higher. you cooed at the sensation then moaned when a thick finger curled in your tight cunt.

eddie’s musical laugh fluttered your heart. “i can see these lips getting puffy with the second.” then a harsh slap was gifted to your right ass cheek, you yelp and tried to drag your legs up but the ropes restrained you.

“you suck these fingers so good, almost as good as your mouth.” steve grunted as he thrust his two fingers back and forth harshly into your pussy. your fingers curled into the ropes on your wrist, wishing you could hold either boys hand.

“maybe she can have our cocks after, you know, as a treat. how that sound, baby?” eddie’s gruff voice twisted your stomach, the mental image making you salivate. “ye- yes da- daddy.”

“atta girl.” a ringed hand spread your lips further apart, the chill of metal a welcoming touch. you could hear the gentle noise of your wetness growing, the smooth gliding without friction. eddie pressed the toy harder to your sensitive nub, causing your ass to push up further into steve’s fingers.

now steve smacked your left ass cheek, “stay down. be a good pup.” he started to finger you harder, causing your body to slid on the pillow. you squeezed your eyes shut but couldn’t help your open jaw mouth, glops of drool staining the bedding.

the knot in your lower stomach grew tighter by each thrust and electric burst. legs wishing to close together but unable to compile.

“how close?” eddie asked. your brows scrunched as you assessed your body, “eight. al- almost there.”

“another finger.” steve warned and you couldn’t help the throaty moan that followed, feeling full to the brim up wanting even more. you wished to get fucked right now, but that wasn’t on the menu for the night.

“going up.” a click and the silicone went into high mode. a strong pulse stringing you closer and closer as you imagined the muscles in steve’s bicep as he worked his arm.

“daddies….” trying to warn them about your incoming release. needing a verbal confirmation from one of them, not wanting to be edged tonight for punishment.

“it’s okay baby. whenever you’re ready.” steve’s honey laced voice soothed your burning left ear, his tongue licking at the lobe.

three more pumps and a hard pressure of the toy and you were gushing around steve’s fingers, legs trembling and breath choppy. eddie clicked the toy off and steve slid his three fingers out slowly, pussy fluttering at the thick loss.

your tired eyes closed as your heard them work at your restraints then felt as they soothed and kissed at your reddened marks. adoring hands worked over your body, noises of clean up filled the space and you were slowly getting ready for that treat they promised.

“i think i deserve a reward. don’t you agree?” getting a bit of a cocky attitude.

both boys chuckled and started stripping bits of left over clothing. “yeah pup.” “but we’re gonna fuck that bit of brattiness out of you.” and you were happy for that outcome.

[ihaveforgortoomany]

Discussing Urd (2.2 Spoilers)

This will compile for anyone my own general thoughts on Urd, the links to the previous posts (haha I figured out how to use PC version without locking myself out yippee)

The links below are from from the CN came out and my initial speculation, plus an analysis of Urd as a character I'll make at a later point, below them will be any new info or thoughts I have:

New thoughts or just new stuff with Global release:

Igor - "Her works seemed to be published after every era the 'Storm' has affect"

Vertin - "Could she really have crossed the 'Storm eight times?"

Confirmation that Urd has been writing UTTU entries possibly since the First Storm. Doctor Dores, this new iteration or version or alias of Urd confirms she is aware of being the author to the Rayashki and London:

Doctor Dores: "A foggy city by the Thames, and a little town blanketed in snow and sunflowers. I met so many different people, though I find I can no longer recall their voice, I have only their words left, only my records of them"

"To forget the past - its lessons, in pain and joy alike - that isn't a blessing. It's oblivion"

Each time she crosses the Storm, her memory is lost with her records being the only surviving evidence of that previous experience, these pieces are the letters and memoirs of 'A Friend From Afar'. It is not known how exactly she is able to ensure each time these records are not lost (maybe something like an arcane skill or something that has similar properties to Vertin's suitcase) . Whatever it is, after each Storm she is able to access it, and publish it shortly after as claimed by Igor, the issues are always published after the Storm. Urd clearly doesn't seem to be aware of what started her recording her every experience but understands it as the only way to retain a sense of self, or else continue to being Stormed and forgetting everything.

Igor and Urd knowing each other prior to the Storm is fascinating, Urd was probably a war doctor of sorts prior to the First Storm .

The Dores story fragements:

"Once you get used to the darkness, you'll find it kind - compare to fate that took my sight" - I wonder what gruesome and horrifying reason is for her blindness then, this does confirm that she wasn't born blind from the start.

"A strangely shaped typewriter; the only weapon this doctor had in her battle with fate" - The typewriter is clearly seen in her Dores iteration, and the symbol for the Friend From Afar memoirs such as it being seen in Rayashki, maybe this is the object she is able to retain across each Storm, in order to record her memories each time she finds herself caught in a Storm. (parallels to how Vertin also initally used to use her suitcase of record fragments of the last era, but now able to save others). Its hard to confirm if the typewriter is always with her, as Martha and Bessmert didn't have the typerwriter with them visually or hinted at.

My main theory on Urd, outside of being Vertin's mom is this: She was a former member of the White Marble House, the defacto and elusive leaders of the Foundation. She was closely allied with Igor, and probably the two of them aspired to make the world a better place through their actions. Whatever happened in the days leading to the first Storm, Urd was given a marble chair and went into the "white house" something she did and something happened that Igor does not know. Remember how Vertin said she remembered her mother being in a medicial room strapped down? What if that was within the white marble house? Maybe what Vertin saw was the aftermath of whatever Urd did, leading to her blindness?

We also know that memory around the time of the First Storm was fuzzy (the interchapter The Star Greta mentions this) - Why no one knows who Urd is? Remember the leader of Laplace prior to Lucy had vanished in the Storm, so probably many members including Urd were forgotten by the masses.

I think we can say for certain that 'Urd' is the true name to the identity of the Friend From Afar, Doctor Dores, Martha and Bessmert as Igor calls her Urd and knows her prior to the First Storm.

(Any other theories and speculation surrounding Urd will be linked here, this is gonna get long if I just wrote everything here)

Also feel free to ask about shit, or discuss in comment below)

[nabi-unveiled]

Nabi Notices (Mar 18, 2025)

It's been something like eight weeks since I decided to stop being a ghost and risk writing up my thoughts on Tumblr. I tagged my first post as "things I might regret", and I still might regret it one day. But today is not that day.

Interacting with everyone has been so much fun. It's enriched my viewing experience, and it's given me an outlet that I didn't know I needed. I'm not new to Asian media or BL by any means. I've watched Asian media for over 20 years and BL since 2017 (plus other queer media prior), but my options for discussing it have been very limited (my brother mostly).

It's just not safe in my family or my community. But man - it really is fun talking about the things you enjoy. There have been some interesting side effects of this venture, but I'll save those thoughts for a future week.

In general, the BL Tumblr community has been so welcoming and affirming. We may disagree on our takes and interpretations. A show one person loves, another may hate. But isn't that the beauty of it? We can actually say those things. We can have conversations about dopamine sprinkles, read too much into symbols and colors, and rant about poorly written dialogue. I continually feel affirmed here.

When I started this blog two months ago, I initially did a "Weekly Wrap-Up" outlining shows I watched and a few thoughts. I really enjoy reading those posts from other people. However, I quickly learned that I don't enjoy writing those posts myself.

I watch a lot of shows during the week - some properly, most as background noise. I'm sporadic at best. My brother calls us human ping-pong balls. In our defense, we only get to talk 1-2 hours a month. There's a lot of ground we need to cover in those calls.

I drop and pick up shows based on my current mood, the nature of my current work assignment, time availability, and if I crash from lack of sleep. Sometimes I binge. Sometimes I space episodes out weeks apart. Anyone who followed me during When It Rains knows I have bouts of hyperfixation. The thought of being "locked into" a show is not for me. After all, the reason I delayed this long in watching the ThamePo finale is personal. It has nothing to do with the show. The typical format of a weekly wrap-up felt like I was setting up an expectation I couldn't keep.

So this made me ponder - what type of "weekly post" would work for me? After much thought, I've decided I'll post my favorite moments of the past week from a variety of categories. The categories may change from time to time. My main goal here is to give myself flexibility and have fun with it. The intro will probably be MUCH shorter in future weeks.

The Things I Noticed This Week:

Fabulous Fit

I love talking style. I love looking at fashion. My phone background changes about every three days and is always a look I liked from an actor or K-pop idol. I still dress in comfy basics more often than not. But this week, the look that caught my eye was this one right here:

My man Eve (Make Up With Mud) is the epitome of dressing how you feel and varying style up. I can't recommend the show, but I'll be watching it to the end solely for this character and his asymmetrical earrings. I fully intend on making a compilation of his looks by the end of my watch. Maybe by then I'll have learned how to properly make GIFs.

Fascinating Find

I go on a lot of deep dives. When a question pops into my brain, I tend to seek out the answer. I've learned a lot of interesting information over the years. Some things I never figure out. This week's fascinating find came from Secret Relationships.

I knew that this move here is referred to as being the black knight/black rose (or dark knight/dark rose). But I wasn't really sure "why" it was called black knight. My search didn't produce exactly what I was looking for other than the black knight/black rose gets a wish from the person they drink for. It's really a different type of drinking game, and you can be asked to do some very embarrassing things if someone drinks for you. It's not really a pure/selfless act in most cases. I mostly knew all that - though we don't see the "wish" aspect itself often in shows. I still found it interesting because...that means Sung-hyun owes Da-on a wish (or does he? Sung-hyun didn't ask him to drink it after all).

Fantastic Frame

I loved this shot in Secret Relationships this week. There's a light on the chessboard in the back highlighting Jae-min's playing games. There's Jae-min wearing pink with his pink plates and making a dinner that looks great just like he looks great to society. But the trash is peeking out from under the counter, because others are beginning to see him for what he is. We know something he doesn't. We are now up high observing him as we wonder what the next move will be.

Fun Fluorish

This category is my "miscellaneous" category. It could be about anything really. Just something that caught my attention. This week it's the name of the bar in P10Ls.

I know that this bar has a perfectly respectable name in Thai. Something along the lines of "village of food"? (my Thai is super weak; feel free to correct). But all I keep seeing is these college boys drinking in a bar that says "Bang On" which in English....yeah. It makes me chuckle every time I see it. I have the mind of a middle schooler at times. It's probably part of the reason I get along so well with my oldest son.

Favorite Fragment

This is the category for a bit of dialogue I particularly enjoyed. This could be dialogue that is serious, humorous, nerdy, etc. It just caught my attention for whatever reason.

I watch Flirt Milk for one reason - Scrappy Doo and his brat tamer (formerly called Swamp Thing). There is SO MUCH wrong with this show and it's definitely a background watch for me, but Scrappy Doo continues to bring me at least one smile (or fun fit) a week so I typically tune in at some point.

My Queue for the Coming Week:

These are the things that I KNOW I will be watching (unless disaster of some kind strikes).

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo (Finale)

Secret Relationships (Ep 7-8)

Perfect 10 Liners (Ep 22)

Make Up With Mud (Ep 4)

Love for Love's Sake (Ep 1) (It seemed like this show was on everyone's list during the tag game.)

When Life Gives You Tangerines (Ep 1)

I'll also probably watch the ThamePo finale. I've delayed it long enough. Anything else is up to whim and fancy.

[richeeduvie]

Can someone please explain to me the whole baby thing? And dog bone au? And all these aus im so confused

DOG AND BONE!AU BASICS

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.

This is asked every five months and I'm happy to explain it each time! I'll put it in the pinned post! This is a long one so sorry yall

So Dog and Bone is the title to the AU for a self-insert x Roman Roy fic compilation. There's no actual series yet…sorry, I know! How long has it been? But these fics range from entire one-shots that center around a plot that can lead into another one-shot/drabble, with the content of said piece becoming important to the whole AU, to just cute, fluffy or smutty drabbles and blurbs. Most of them are based on requests. Your request could become a big part of Dog and Bone!

BABY

Baby is the name for the self-insert. Fics will flip from a second person to third person POV, so you'll see her referred to as 'Baby' a lot. I don't consider her an OC because there's no and will never be a physical description of her and to be honest, I only started to referred to her as Baby so I could write third person POV fics when I'm lazy and don't want to go heavy in internal monologue, which is what I do for second person POV fics. I never use 'Y/N' for her or any self-insert. But many see her as other people and not themselves and I love that too!

Personality-wise, you'll find her to Roman's soulmate. Although she is still a victim of being out-of-touch due to her wealth, she's managed to be kind and respectful and just something that Roys don't have outside of her. She's the ultimate nepo baby with Logan just giving her some vague career path at Waystar to keep her around. She mostly works in marketing and spends her days with Tom and Greg. So, the story of DAB (lol). Baby is the childhood best friend of Roman (and Shiv). In the AU, Baby's biological father was Logan's best friend and business associate. She met the Roy family when she was five and when Roman when almost seven. She was meant to be the best friend of Shiv, but Roman stole her one day when Shiv when to get more toys and baby Baby was on the swings. His sister is still pissed about this to this day.

Nothing much has been mentioned of Baby's bio dad just yet, but it was a one-time thing (so understandable is yall don't remember) that we see Logan giving Baby the medal her father gave him after his funeral. He's dead and apparently fought in a war, or maybe just liked collecting medals as much as Logan did.

So, facts about the dead dad:

Maybe was a veteran

Was hinted to have given Baby an eating disorder

Died when she was eight

Possibly kept her away from her mother

Logan's her godfather, but it was Frank to take her in after her dad had passed. Frank ON TOP!!!! PAPA FRANK!!! Baby's mother is very distant and she's really only seen her for a few holidays throughout her childhood. I've always imagined her to be those wealthy hippies feigning spirituality and did maybe try to get Baby in terms of custody, but didn't try a lot - not even after Baby's father died. So, Baby gets to stay with the Roys with Frank being her guardian. With this, it's just co-dependency and possessiveness growing.

Roman and Baby don't really have friends outside of each other. They do everything together and eventually start doing relationship sort of things together. They take each others virginities. Roman gets panicky and painful in the muscles if Baby has to leave him for more than three days. It's great, but nothing's official.

They live this way until Roman gets with Tabitha.

Now, you may be thinking 'Why does he begin a relationship with Tabitha if he's so possessive and seemingly satisfied with the situation he has with Baby?' Well, I have two fics that'll help you to explain Roman's stupidity:

Why Does Rome Still Date Tabitha (They Don’t Have Sex, but Still) Kendall Wins!AU Confession

The latter of the two is a bit more personal and truthful for Roman. It can be noted that as much as I am a GerriRoman supporter, their relationship does not happen in the DogandBone!AU. Only because one, frankly, I don't know how to or have the desire to thread it throughout the story because I already kept Tabitha's plotline…which is Roman's downfall. You will see. And two, you'll find that Roman and all of the Roys, really, have a lot of themselves changed all because they have one genuine friend that's cared and loved them since childhood so that big part of Roman's plotless plot-time in canon is gone here. Grace didn't happen as well because Jesse Armstrong said so lol.

As I said, the genuine friend line applies to all of the Roys (excluding Logan, except for his AU…), but it really applies to Kendall. Going back to the point where Baby and Roman are fourteen/fifteen and fifteen/sixteen, he gets sent away to military school. I made it so he's only there for two years to which Logan just doesn't care to send him there anymore because I want Baby and Roman teenage puppy and needy love for as much as I can get it. During this time, Kendall has this belief, this kindness to take in Baby when she's at her loneliest.

and…so…Kendall and Baby's whole thing?

The link above sums up their whole situation but I'll elaborate a bit more here because there's Tern Haven. Tern Haven happens in the OG!DogandBone!AU and KendallWins!AU, the grooming situation happens in every AU.

Of course, Roman comes back and Baby sobers up for the most part and leaves groomer Kendall's ass in the dust! It's when Roman starts dating Tabitha decades later that Kendall, who never actually made a move on Baby, brings hell and tragedy to the family. Baby's not so keen on continuing to have sex and the weird thing she has with Roman as he is with Tabitha around, so she becomes lonely and thoughtful in the need to reconnect with friends, maybe start dating herself. She's there during Tern Haven and can't go to Roman's room to hang out, Tabitha's there. She doesn't bother Shiv and Tom, she could talk with Frank, maybe? Maybe, but she makes her way to Kendall's room.

And whatever high horse Kendall put himself on for not doing anything with Baby, maybe not being in love with her - or at least having no awareness about it, whatever was starting with Naomi, it's gone when Baby enters that room.

Again, Tern Haven happens in Kendallwins!AU and the OG!AU. The only difference is that after, Roman is either successful in pulling Baby away from Kendall, or he isn't. This is where it can get confusing as it can with all the AUs because there's so many little splices of moments within content that really helps you understand how things happen but I can say that the Kendallwins!AU is just sad, scary, and dark.

But enough of that!

OG!DOGANDBONE!AU

After Roman's successful in getting Kendall away from Baby, he immediately breaks up with Tabitha and they heal from what happened. Kendall declines quickly during this. Logan dies and they get married after the GoJo sale. They have Baby Jr. On occasion, we'll have fun and write them having two more kids, Baby Jr Jr and Roman Jr, but they aren't canon - or they at least would get a canon fic like Baby

FICS TO HELP: Romulus Sneakers | Dad Frank feat. Baby Roman Call Them Brothers Back in Town Bone and Her Heart Roman’s a Friend Stealer While you were sleeping Touch Me (I'm Sick) Date Death | Part One Date Death Part 2 Babied (He Loves It) Violet, Blue, Green, Red To Keep Me Out Phone Call Home Baby Baby in “I went to Market” Baby in ‘Too Much Birthday’ After the GoJo Sale Telling Roman She's Pregnant

BABY JR

Baby Jr is an unrealistically perfect angel of a child that belongs to Roman and Baby in their AU and was born a preemie with a slew of health problems, but because I love her so much, it's becoming a running joke for her to just exist in every AU, somehow. if Baby's there, Baby Jr's there. She's named fittingly. You'll see her a lot in smaller blurbs and fics. Another running joke is that she hates Kendall in every AU, though she's barely mentioned outside of the OG! and Loganwins!AU.

JUST MY FAVORITE BABY JR FICS:

Baby Baby's First and Last Day at School Bear Baby Jr! Baby Jr Doing Something Dangerous Connor Taking Baby Jr Fishing Baby Jr seeing Baby Roman with Glasses

VARIATIONS OF THE OG!AU

They aren't mentioned a lot anymore because we don't get so serious about them and it was more just to have fun with the story, but the OG!AU does have some variations to how the plot goes. You have Baby and Roman having Baby Jr before season one where Tabitha and Tern Haven are things that obviously never happened:

If Roman Knocked Baby Up Logan Bullying Baby Jr YoungBornBabyJr!AU With Roman Forcing Baby to Marry Him Roman Drunk and Loving If Roman Knocked Baby Up in Their 20s If Baby Jr was Little in The Pilot Logan’s Baby Jr Favoritism Where’s Your Daughter?

Then, you have Baby dying and Roman killing himself to leave Baby Jr an orphan: Come Time, Baby Jr Missing Mommy.

Or you have Baby AND Baby Jr dying to leave Roman killing himself after his last moments of suffering…which, I can't find, but do we really want to read that?

If you don't want to suffer, it can end simply as a nightmare Roman had in the night. Here's another Nightmare Blurb.

LOGANWINS!AU

Listen. I CANNOT be the only person who has consistently written for Logan. I CANNOT! But I do and Baby is unfortunately the victim of a joke turned into a horniness for an old, old man.

Logan doesn't actually have a fic establishing the Loganwins!AU. Everything that's longer than a blurb are moments that already take place after they've gotten together. Tern Haven does not take place here because it appears that this…intimate relationship takes place before season one. Roman doesn't get together with Tabitha in this AU because he's really fucked up about his soulmate having sex and marriage with his…Dad. His abusive Dad. Baby Jr does exist here! This started as a joke to get people grossed out over old man Logan cock, I played it so I was DISGUSTED to appease any requests that were sent in. I really was. I don't know what happened. But a lot of what is written expands past Logan x Reader and more about the AU itself, which happens with Kendallwins! and the OG!AU too.

FICS TO HELP: THE OFFICE CONFRONTATION Mondale The Second Baseball Sick Baby Jr Mom(my) Siblings and Baby Jr Buzz off! Sister Shiv Recital Alone Baby Jr How Does The Relationship Begin? How Does Logan Propose? Are Baby and Roman Still Close? Pregnancy Announcement in the AU They Bought a Cat Who's Baby Jr's Godfather? Panty Stealer Roman's Twitter Argument

You guys are lucky I can't find the smut fic I wrote. But it's here on this blog. Somewhere.

Nvm here it is my bad: Reflections.

AFFAIR!AU

There's the Loganwins!AU, then there's the Affair!AU, which was established pretty recently. It's where Baby begins an affair with Roman while she's married to Logan and Baby Jr ends up being Roman's daughter, not his little sister. As much as I have accepted my great enjoyment in indulging the Logan lovers, I do think this is Baby at her most Succession.

She gets the benefits of being Logan's wife and his favorite wife, a cute daughter, Roman at her heel, whining for her to really be with him but knowing he'll never leave her at her denial. She's horrible, a whore. A baddie winning.

FICS TO HELP: Baby Jr being Roman's Daughter Roman and Newborn Baby Jr Baby in the Affair!AU Roman revealing she's his to his siblings "Dada" A Slight Confrontation How does it start? In Dad's Bed

GROOMING SITUATION (OG!AU and KENDALLWINS!AU)

So, I explained most of it above, but these are the fics to help understand just how messed up DogandBone!Kendall is. He's a different man, guys.

(Also Stewy was there. Stewy was her friend. A flawed twenty-something year old who didn't care enough to separate himself from Kendall when noticing the red flags of him and Baby, but he denied, denied, denied. But he also gave Baby some sense of being…ya know, a kid…cause he saw her as a CHILD)

Tern Haven:

Tern Haven EXTENDED TERN HAVEN More of Tern Haven (…Yay…)

Ken's Groomer Era:

Sleepover Drugged Up Heart Does Baby go Clubbing With Kendall? The Birthday (Big One) Kendall being Confused That Baby's Not Jealous More of Ken being Confused That Baby's Not Jealous Sleepover 2 Kendall's Birthday Gifts....

The Aftermath:

Smacktalking During Too Much Birthday Bad Bit

There's more, of course. There's always more.

KENDALLWINS!AU

After Tern Haven, Kendall has Baby. He's won Baby. He gets more addicted to drugs while making her dependent on them. He turns her into nothing - and just for him. He's scary and paranoid when it comes to Roman. A variation of the AU would be the Babydies!AU, where she accidently overdoses after he leaves her alone. It's a lot. This is not a fun AU, guys. But I like to write it!

FICS TO HELP:

Housewife Thing Waystar Press Conference Accusing Baby Jr of Not Being His Roman Trying to Get Baby Back From Kendall A Slight, Brotherly Confrontation Daily Does of Horror (Heroin) Mention of Heroin Handsy Baby and Kendall and Pills Panty Stealer Brother Roman's Dick Pics Saying Roman's Name Flower Delivery

THE OD FICS:

No Time Needled Memories

NOW....

SHIV'S AU

Shiv's AU isn't even a win!AU, technically. We haven't really dabbled in the idea of her winning. Just more of her yearning, but all in all, this woman wants Baby soooo badly. Too sad she has the guilt of being a woman. And her father. And Tom. And the denial hot on her skin.

Calling Shiv Shiv

TOM'S AU

Apparently the man can get obsessed and they haven't even kissed in his AU, yet. Fitting considering the shit he pulls with Greg. It's Baby at her most guilty due to her friendship with Shiv.

KARL'S AU

No.

STEWY'S AU

I give crumbs and only crumbs. But we're getting something started with Wedding Bells (Part One)!

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.

I hope this helps! xoxo

[browneyesandhair]

Non-Exhaustive List of Soulmate Fics: Polin

Okay, I'm bored so I'm compiling my favorite soulmate fics. Here's the Polin edition:

These Days Will Fade Out by noveltyromance

Summary:

Penelope walked in and inspected the silvery words embedded on her skin. She really did meet her soulmate. It wouldn’t have turned colors if he was not hers. “So he said your words,” she mumbled softly to herself in the mirror, “but you didn’t say his.” It only meant one thing. Colin was her soulmate. But she wasn’t his.

tend my garden by runimpossiblegirl

Summary:

The forget-me-not on Penelope´s upper left arm had appeared when she was just sixteen. [Orinally posted with 5700 words on 31/12. Now updated to final version with 6900 and extra Colin POV on 01/01]

i'll use you as a warning sign by TheSushiMonster

Summary:

The words on his body sound like Lady Whistledown. His soulmate - the person meant to capture his body and heart, his partner and love of his life - ruins lives. Perhaps it makes sense that she’s already ruined his. - Or, soulmate AU where the words you write show up on your soulmate's skin.

i might lose everything if i lose the pain by frankchurchillsaysrelax

Summary:

Based on the prompt: On your 18th birthday you get a soul mark - one that would be identical to your soulmates. Colin is devastated that his does not match Marina’s. Trying to lighten up his mood days later - his brothers teasingly console him by saying that Penelope could get his mark when she turns 18 and that’s when she overhears him say that he would never marry her because he didn't think she's his soulmate. And as is Penelope's life a couple years later she gets an identical mark. Now she plans to hide it because she can’t handle his disappointment.

Give Me All The Pain (Give Me Everything) by wasteddarlinglover

Summary:

Penelope Featherington's soulmate hated her. She was alright with that. She hated him just as much. The only reason for their bond to exist was to bring each other pain. Colin Bridgerton's soulmate gave up on him years ago. He was not worthy of love and patience that their bond required. He learned to accept that and move on with his life. When two broken souls are brought together, Penelope and Colin find hope. Neither one of them can be with their soulmate, but maybe they can build something remarkable together. If they manage to let go of the pain, maybe they could even let themselves fall in love.

All the Time in the World by dontmakemeover

Summary:

All ladies of the Ton are instructed by their Queen to implant a TiMER on their wrists when they enter society at age 16. It is the truest and best way to find a Soulmate, with the TiMER counting down until the first time they will meet. Countless marriages have started this way (with at least a few of them ending the same way!) But Penelope Featherington does not highly rate this technology, for when her TiMER was implanted, the screen was blank. And what's more, she has seen the timer of the man she would like to be her true love, Colin Bridgerton, and knows that whoever her soulmate truly is, his is not her.

Latibule by The_Readers_Muse

Summary:

It was said you would be drawn to your one. That was the only advantage you had.

For the Both of Us by logogram

Summary:

A conversation with Fife and Cho leaves Colin wondering whether Penelope is his soulmate. Unfortunately, she seems to have become stubbornly attached to her gloves.

And So the Yandere Met the Bonnet Assassin by Seaowl

Summary:

There was a reason Violet was so hell bent to see all eight of her children married. The most valuable things to them are their soulmates and the family is told all their life that you are to do anything to protect and keep your soulmate. Lie, cheat, kill, frame, anything is on the table. The family that is so big on love that they become quite possessive of those who marry in, even if it is the soulmate of one of their siblings.

i'm the lock and you're the key by TheSushiMonster

Summary:

Penelope is ready to move on. Pining after Colin Bridgerton requires too much energy, too much of her soul. Penelope wants to find her soulmate, but maybe that may not be Colin after all. But… perhaps one last effort is necessary to completely eliminate Colin from her heart and mind. - Or, the “you must sleep with someone to determine if they’re your soulmate” AU.

Would I Lie To You? by LightLeadingMe

Summary:

It has been said and even written that true soulmates cannot lie to one another. They simply were unable to. Not even a small fib could be said to the person. Penelope began to resign herself to the fact that she'd never meet her soulmate, but then she ran (quite literally) into Colin Bridgerton.

Soulmarks by Seaowl

Summary:

Colin has found his soulmate, now he just has to find out who she is.

just let me adore you by TheSushiMonster

Summary:

Colin Bridgerton falls off his horse at age twenty-one and laughs. It’s a full-body laugh, bright and bold and gut-wrenching, as if his soul is finally free. Then he feels a burn across his left bicep, just beside his shoulder and when he inspects his skin, the outline of a detailed feather stares back at him. - Or, now that Colin knows Penelope is his soulmate, he vows to make her laugh in his presence so she can be his too. Or, the role reversal soulmate AU.

[flyingwargle]

suna week day 7: birthday

when he was a kid, suna wanted to be on tv.

he watched a lot of it, thanks to absent parents, everything from reality sitcoms, detective dramas, medical documentaries, cooking shows. he watched celebrities face their darkest fears, ordinary citizens fall in love, actors cry about their dead families, late night hosts crack jokes and make commentary that went over his adolescent head. after his sister was born, he was forced to sit through kids’ shows, educational programs, and shojo anime, but regardless of what was on screen, he retained a singular wish: to be on tv.

he never really made an effort to fulfill it, accepted it as a pipe dream. when he went to nationals as a first-year in junior high, he was astonished by the tv crews and cameras along the top rows of the stands to broadcast the tournament, hosts interviewing coaches and parents of players to look out for. any time they walked past an interview, he would try to step into frame, try to catch the interviewer’s eye.

his team never made it to nationals after that. the dream went into hibernation until high school, when inarizaki seized the competition by storm.

kita, the twins, and their coach were the only ones ever interviewed. monthly volleyball once filmed a short documentary about them during his second year, but his section didn’t make the cut. they kept the clip of atsumu fumbling his toss, though, probably to show how he isn’t completely unflappable.

graduation led him and his friends down separate paths. he watched ojiro win the championship for the falcons, atsumu score five service aces in his debut match, osamu open onigiri miya. he watched interviews with old high school rivals, documentaries about their training, podcasts explaining their journey as a pro.

he started to accept that maybe his dream will stay that way – a dream, and nothing more.

then, he signed onto ejp.

“suna-senshu! can you comment on how you feel about debuting tonight?”

the interviewer caught him ten minutes before official warm-ups began, clad in the #23 jersey, out of place in yellow and white. he had to slouch to mumble into the microphone, a camera documenting every second.

“i feel nervous, but i’m confident in my skills and teammates. we’ll emerge victorious.” and they did.

interviews came more easily after that, each one building his media persona – deadpan humor, fast quips, surprisingly insightful when needed. friends send him compilation videos of his best interview moments more often than his best plays. he saves them all, watches them on bad days, even on good days because wow, some of his best moments really are the best.

he remembers all of this while standing on the international stage.

the stadium is packed with spectators. his teammates’ backs are to him, opponents across the net. they all wear the jnt jersey, a bright red with the japanese flag over their hearts, their surnames and numbers emblazoned across their backs.

his own, suna, #20.

he has grown accustomed to the blinding stadium lights, flashing shutters, cameras that track his every move. his ears are trained for the sharp whistle’s tweet, his teammates’ shouts, the way the crowd chants his name.

the world on tv seemed so far away as a kid. now, it’s his reality.

he recalls a question that an interviewer asked him as the whistle silences the crowd. “suna-senshu, if you could speak to your eight-year-old self, what would you say?”

the ball leaves his hand. “oh, that’s a tough question. i think i’d say…”

he jumps.

“you’ll fulfill your dream. it’ll take a while – a long while – but you’ll get there.”

“was it to become a pro volleyball player?”

“nah.” he’d looked straight at the camera with his signature smirk. “it was to be on tv.”

he flies into the light.

[haven-of-dusk]

Thoughts/theories/predictions/ideas/possible plotlines/etc. for S8

I thought I would compile these so I don't create seven or eight posts in a flurry.

Bobby/Athena: Some type of tandem storyline as part of Bobby reclaiming the 118 from Gerrard's grip where he and Athena uncover a corruption scandal in the LAFD tying to Councilwoman Ortiz, Gerrard (obviously) and others. If more plotline is needed for them after that (if it wraps up by the midseason finale for example) then I would like seeing Bobby's health issues worsen bit by bit and him struggle to be honest with the rest of the team about that. Related to that plot, perhaps have Athena learn from Harry that Michael's cancer resurfaced with a vengeance and claimed his life (it's not like we're getting Michael back on the show anytime soon considering the actor's behavior), which compiles with learning about Bobby's health and starting to worry she'll lose him too. Plus both of them spending more time with Harry.

Hen: In addition to participating in Bobby and Athena's plotline of uncovering corruption and taking down Ortiz, I'd love to see Hen become more comfortable with leadership around the 118, especially in response to Gerrard. Perhaps have something happen in the field where Hen contradicts Gerrard's orders and the rest of the team (beyond even just our main cast, the whole rest of the team) follows her orders instead of his. And subsequently when he tries to punish her, say, by trying to make her scrub the rigs by herself, he finds the entire group cleaning together, chatting, and having fun (Hen didn't ask them to help, they just did so of their own volition) Despite being enraged, Gerrard struggles to find a way to punish them since it's not like he can fire the whole house, and any punishment he tries they find a way to circumvent, with Hen leading the charge. Basically she gets to be the ringleader of the 118's internal war with Gerrard. And along the way we get more Henren home stuff and building on the connection with Mara.

Chimney: WHERE THE HELL WAS ALBERT?! I would not at all mind Chimney having an arc where he realizes he hasn't heard from Albert in a while and ends up decrypting where Albert ended up (could be as malicious or innocent as they want, anything from Albert deciding to join an Amish community temporarily while traveling the country and not having a phone while there to straight up human trafficking. Take your pic, writers). Outside of that, I want more of Chimney getting to be the Dad he never had. More of him and Jee-Yun in general. Along the way, maybe have Gerrard's treatment trigger Chimney? Situations Gerrard puts him in drag up Chimney's trauma about Kevin, something like that.

Maddie: I don't really know what I want for Maddie per se, outside of I wouldn't mind this season being her turn to not have trauma or pain. Kind of the way her brother got off easy this season. See more of her interactions with everyone, give her the occasional intense dispatch call to show off her skills, show her being happy and domestic with Chimney and Jee-Yun, all that good stuff. If we need to give her a full plotline, perhaps she could get involved if something were to happen between Buck and their parents (we'll talk about that in a sec in his section), or be a rallying point for the other plotlines whenever they need her help, or, if we wanted to go far afield from her usual stuff, perhaps have her express interest in returning to the medical field to some degree, maybe even thinking about trying to be a paramedic? Idk, I love Maddie, but I'm not certain what to do with her character at the moment outside of just letting her be happy, since she probably got the least amount of setup from S7.

Buck: What I most want from Buck, at least in the first half of the season, is to focus on how his bisexuality affects him and his mental health and let him continue to explore those emotions, perhaps with conversations with Hen, Josh, Karen, etc. As the season continues, he realizes his relationship with Tommy has...stagnated, they go on dates, they hang out occasionally, but there's just not much energy to the proceedings, so Buck thinks maybe that means it's time to propose. (This may not be going where you think it's going). So he has an episode where he goes around to Henren, Bathena, Madney, asking all of his married friends basically how they knew they wanted to get married, and while they give different, unique answers, the general takeaway is that you shouldn't feel you have to marry someone, but that you want to. That they are your forever person. And the episode ends with Buck going to look at rings...and deciding not to buy one, leaving the store looking a bit conflicted. Within a couple episodes of that, he and Tommy break up. (I would probably want it to be amicable in this scenario, to demonstrate Buck making the mature decision that he didn't have anything against Tommy, he just wasn't his forever person, but if there had to be some drama there, Tommy making a nasty comment after Buck says he wants to break up to reassure Buck's decision and leave him with no regrets. Then after that...give Buck time to realize that Tommy was, in a lot of ways, store-brand Eddie. But Buck doesn't like Eddie, right? I mean he likes him, but he doesn't like him, right? (Spoiler alert, he does)

Eddie/Chris: The first half of the season needs to be Eddie in therapy leading to Chris' return, though I would love for Chris' choice to be...borderline untethered from Eddie's plotline. Not in the way that it his absence then subsequent return has no effect on Eddie, but I think it would be good for Chris' character to have him converse with Eddie's parents, family, etc, and have him realize on his own what his father has been through and the extent to which Eddie loves him, and then the talk with Eddie is the final piece of the puzzle, not the only piece of the puzzle, if that makes sense. And I also think it's crucial that Eddie not be "cured" when Chris returns. He's still working on himself, he's still healing, but Chris is ready to be back with him and stay with him. Building on that, I think it'd be powerful for Chris to be the one to force Eddie to confront the idealized version of Shannon he's built up in his head. Even if it happens indirectly through something Chris says, it'd be powerful for them to start healing that wound together. Then once Chris is back in LA (by the second half of the season at the latest), part of Eddie's therapy arc involves him realizing piece by piece how much he's pushed the past few seasons' girlfriends away, and why, and perhaps even he runs into Ana again and finds out she has a fiancé, and they chat about finding love like that. Along the way have Eddie talk to Athena for sure, since for some reason they haven't really interacted despite her being a pretty perfect person to talk about lost loves (Bobby too, but he and Eddie have talked more than once). But all this forces Eddie to confront who he is, who he's always been, what he's been pushing down and pushing away for years, and when that arc collides with Buck realizing his feelings, the season ends with the big Buddie canonization.

I realize I went into more detail with Buck and Eddie than the others, but part of that is down to mixing their personal arcs with the 'relationship' arc which could honestly be its own section. And possibly should have been.

Every section here is compressed anyway, but part of this post's purpose is to be an organizer for my thoughts that I can add to and expand upon as more come during this hiatus (as relatively brief as it is, it will probably continue to get more and more brutal)

I can also obviously expound on something if someone wants me to...though I know that's unlikely.

[bubblesandgutz]

Every Record I Own - Day 834: Minutemen The Punch Line

Minutemen are one of my favorite bands of all time. But it didn't start out that way.

The San Pedro trio were active from 1980 to 1985. Consisting of best friends D. Boon and Mike Watt on guitar and bass (respectively) and joined by George Hurley on drums, Minutemen churned out hundreds of songs in their half-decade lifespan. Though they were very much a part of the American punk scene (and the first band after Black Flag to have records out on the seminal SST label), their sound was much stranger and more complex than their peers. The "punk" label certainly applied to their politics, their DIY spirit, and their short, jarring, adrenalized songs. But the three chord fury, sloganeering, and speed-centric template that typified early '80s punk was noticeably absent.

Somehow, Minutemen had developed a bit of a following in my hometown of Kailua, Hawaii in the early '90s. All the skaters and punk kids at my high school were into them. Granted, this maybe meant eight people total were fans, but those eight people were all in agreement that Minutemen were A BIG DEAL. So I did what every freshmen looking to fit in with the cool upperclassmen did... I listened to their music. I got the Project: Mersh Vol. 1 compilation that combined the first two Minutemen albums---The Punch Line and What Makes a Man Start Fires---and dove into their music over a Christmas break vacation to visit my grandparents in Colorado.

It was a lot of driving, and Project: Mersh Vol. 1 was one of the only CDs I had with me on the trip. Had I heard the music prior, I would've undoubtedly left the CD at home and picked something a little more in line with my then-current notion of punk---something like Minor Threat or Bad Religion. But I was stuck with Minutemen and I had to learn to make sense of it.

The songs on The Punch Line are short. Only two of its eighteen tracks are longer than a minute. There isn't much in terms of conventional song structures. No big catchy choruses. None of the meaty hooks of hardcore. The guitar-playing is jangly and sparse instead of thick and aggressive. The vocals seem more spoken than sung or shouted. There were moments that seemed a bit more in line with my idea of punk---the uptempo "Games" and "No Parade," for instance---but those moments were fleeting, and they almost inevitably segued into some strange, seemingly disjointed bass and drum jam with some vaguely political monologue on top. I didn't get it.

But I stuck with it, initially out of a lack of other musical options and later out of a mixture of curiosity and tribalism. After all, the cool kids liked it, so there must be something to latch onto there, right? And while that might sound like an embarrassing admission, it really shaped my relationship to music.

Pop music is crafted to be instantly appealing, but it also tends to be very shallow. It's music designed to appeal to as many people as possible, and in order to do that, it has to resonate with people who aren't particularly adventurous. I often think of music as another language, and pop music is essentially the communication-equivalent of a platitude. It's obvious and its meaning has been washed out from over-saturation. But something like Minutemen? It was far less obvious. You had to sit with it. It was more like a private conversation with a fascinating stranger. Maybe at first you had no idea what they were even trying to say, but the more you listened, the more you wanted to hear.

I'm not even embarrassed to admit that I stuck with Minutemen because the cool kids liked them. There were artists they loved that I never bonded with. But Minutemen contained some particular mystery and magic that kept me coming back. I've owned The Punch Line for nearly 32 years, and every time I listen to it, I feel a bit more connected to it. Hell, it's hard to even hear the dissonant skronk I initially gleaned from this album. This, as far as I'm concerned, is the what punk sounds like.

[everydayfrimmel]

July 19, 2024

"The L Word (Love and/or Leaking Roofs and/or Late-Night Television)" 1800 words, roommate au, part 13/?

Apparently, Himmel thinks a lot of things are romantic.

It’s the answer he gives when Frieren notices him staring out the window and smiling at the snow: I just think it’s romantic. And when she asks why he chose a certain song to play on repeat as he makes his dinner. And why he makes two portions of freezer-section salmon and tries to plate them nicely on a greens with a dollop of herb butter instead of offering her his usual instant noodles: sounded more romantic. It is his most common response these days when Frieren asks him why he did anything. 

And normally, she would find it naïve to romanticize everyday things so insistently, but he looks so happy doing it that even Frieren isn’t cold enough to begrudge him. 

And sometimes she likes the things he calls romantic a little, too. 

That night they go into the city, for one. And how, after sitting patiently through Frieren’s very logically sound analysis of why the movie they saw was unrealistic over pizza at a place with oil stains on the tablecloths and the best crust Frieren’s ever had, he bought a whole second pie for tomorrow. How he pulls over on a deserted country road on the way back home doesn’t say anything when she takes a slice from the box, still almost warm, to eat while lying on the roof of his car (it’s freezing, she barely minds). How he knows what all of the constellations are called and admits with the freest and most triumphant laugh she’s ever heard that he only learned because he’s been daydreaming about taking a girl stargazing since he saw it in a movie when he was fourteen. 

“What can I say,” he laughs, knocking his elbow gently into Frieren’s arm. “I’ve always been a romantic guy.” 

How he’s always putting his arms around her, and how he always asks. 

How much more warmth stays trapped under a blanket when he’s there, too. 

How excited he always looks when Frieren approaches him in the kitchen while he’s doing something else and bumps her forehead into his chest to indicate that he should redirect his hands’ attention to holding her instead. 

If she had to answer the question of whether or not Himmel’s feelings are mutual, she wouldn’t know quite what to say. But she knows that she likes those things, and that, although she forgot after she grew up enough for Flamme to start giving her a little more space, it feels good to be held. 

It’s warm, secure. It makes her feel as if Himmel really means the ridiculous things he says. Sometimes it makes warmth pool in her stomach in a way she can’t quite put a pin in. 

None of this meant anything to her back in high school or college, when everyone but Frieren seemed fixated on finding someone to love. And if it weren’t Himmel—if she didn’t already know who she was trusting so well, if she hadn’t seen all the cards he has to show—she might not care even now. But the last weeks of December melt into January, and January into February, and he takes to greeting her at breakfast with a quick kiss to her forehead, cupping her face to brush back her hair, and all of the data she’s compiled thus far is promising.

She doesn’t even dust off her beloved seasonal rant about how Valentine’s Day is nothing more than an excuse for the profit-hungry to exploit the passing infatuations of people who don’t know any better. It doesn’t seem as logical this year. 

(Maybe just because Himmel, who forgoes the typical human-sized teddy bear and eight dozen roses in favor of a case of instant noodles, a tiny Erlenmeyer flask of the fuchsia Frieren loves, and a stack of five of the strangest books he could find at the secondhand store, is one of those people who don’t know any better.

Or maybe just because the kitchen smells like fuchsia, and he swallows hard when she comes up for dinner with her hair twisted up off her neck and tells her he doesn’t understand how she’s missed that she’s stunning, and because this effectively kills any desire she ever might’ve had to be cynical.

He has that effect on people.) 

They have someone deliver them pasta, pretend it’s plated on china instead of in plastic, and Frieren calls Flamme that night even though she knows that Flamme will sus out the meaning of a call on Valentine’s Day in seconds and never let Frieren know a moment’s peace about it. 

“He gave me books,” she opens, just to get it out of the way, and to catch Flamme off-guard.

“Did he?”  

That’s it? Frieren is almost disappointed.

“And…and fuchsia,” she says. “In a little flask.”

“Aw.” 

“Why are you not being weirder about this? You’re usually weird about this.” 

“What, am I supposed to be surprised?” Flamme asks. “That Himmel was sweet on Valentine’s Day? You can’t expect me to be.” 

“But-“ 

“What I wanna know is what you gave him.” 

“N-nothing,” she stammers. 

“Oh, Frieren…” 

She feels her cheeks warm and looks down at the floor even with nobody’s eyes to avoid. “I…I couldn’t think of anything.”

Except that she could. And it’s in her desk now because she hadn’t been able to convince herself it wasn’t idiotic. 

“You’re definitely lying.” 

So that’s how you’re gonna be, huh.

“I didn’t-“ 

“Frieren,” Flamme asks gently, “did he not like it?”

“I…I couldn’t give it to him.” 

“Because it was…” 

“…Taiwanese cola gummies and contact lens fluid.” 

“Oh, Frieren, contact lens fluid?”

“I said it was dumb, okay?” Frieren hates how pinched her face feels, how close a lump might be to forming in her throat. “He just ran out of it, and-“ 

“It’s not a bad gift, sweet pea,” she says. “Not at all.” 

“But you just said-“ 

“It’s just so you, Frieren.” She laughs softly. “He’ll love it.” 

“But it’s-“ 

“Go hang up the phone and give it to him, okay?” 

“But I don’t-“ 

“That boy would walk off a cliff if you asked him to,” Flamme says. “And you think he’s not going to be out of his mind with excitement about your contact lens fluid?”

And she feels silly, like she’s playing a game she doesn’t know the rules to and breaking every single one, but Frieren halfheartedly packs the gift bag she bought when she was feeling braver with contact lens fluid and gummies and tissue paper and knocks on Himmel’s bedroom door. 

“I promise I’m not being cheap,” she says when he opens the door, holding the gift bag as far from her body as she can. “I just didn’t give it to you earlier because it’s a really dumb gift.” 

His whole face seems to lift, take on color, and his eyes widen a little, and his lips part, and every movement of his body is alert, and even for Frieren, it is impossible not to see it.

All he means by love is the joy of being acknowledged and cared-for by somebody he likes and admires and could never get to know well enough.

“Frieren,” he chokes, “you got me a gift?” 

She thrusts it into his hands, red-faced with embarrassment. “I already told you it’s a really dumb gift.”

He ignores this, tossing the wads of tissue paper she stuffed in only a few moments ago onto his bed, grabbing eagerly for the first thing inside (the gummies, good, he’s gone for the normal thing first). 

“You remembered?” he asks, as if nothing has ever made him happier in his life. 

“You weren’t exactly subtle about it.” 

The last time she ordered those, she only got to eat about four of them. It had been an obvious choice.

“Bro,” he says rapturously, falling back against his pillows with the gummies clutched to his chest. “I’m gonna eat this whole thing in, like, two hours.” 

Frieren frowns. “You’re going to make yourself sick.” 

“I don’t care, man, Frieren got me cola gummies.” He looks up at her, his face aglow—“Frieren got me cola gummies!”

Oh, how she hates that her whole entire body feels warm at that.

“Well,” she says, hoping to spare herself the embarrassment, “I’m glad you liked it, goodbye,” and then he reaches out to grab for her wrist and she stops. 

There is no aggression whatsoever in his face, only a naked adoration that makes Frieren feel like she’s shrunk to the size of an ant and crawled onto the deck of a microscope. 

“How did you know?”

He holds up the bottle of contact lens fluid, and Frieren can’t even bear to look at it. 

“I saw the empty bottle in the trash a few days ago,” she mumbles. “I couldn’t think of anything better.”

He doesn’t ask this time if he can pull her into his arms. She’s glad—she wouldn’t trust her voice to answer if it did.

And she wouldn’t want to refuse. Not when Himmel is, for once, forgetting to be delicate, allowing himself to hold on as tightly as he wants to, and when the pressure of his arms around her feels so wonderful.

“I don’t care if it’s too soon,” he murmurs, cradling her head to his shoulder (oh, it’s wonderful when he does that). “Or if it’s selfish, Frieren, I love you.”

She is not surprised. He expects surprise, but she has none to give. 

“The data trends that way.” 

“Data,” he laughs, pressing his lips to her hair. “Don’t ever change, Frieren. Don’t ever.” 

I could say the same to you, she wants to reply. But it’s a thought she’s never even considered, so she simply murmurs, “hm.”

“Not even a little.” 

“Mmkay,” she says.

Contact lens fluid, huh?

And she messages Flamme after he’s gone to bed, after she can hear him snoring down the hall—he loves me—like she has a secret, even though it’s not, and like it might be the most wonderful thing in the world, which it is. Her cheeks feel warm, not just from burrowing her head under the covers, and her hands shake a little, but not unpleasantly, and she thinks, so this is what it all means, and lies back against one of her pillows with the other hugged tightly to her chest, and smiles at nothing. 

Maybe all those people lining the pockets of the retail empires this time of year do know what they’re talking about. Just a little. 

Go to bed, Frieren, Flamme texts back. He’ll still be there in the morning. 

And she falls asleep with her phone face-down on her chest, smiling, because—yes. That is the wonderful thing about Himmel: that he will be.

[farolero-posting]

Notes on Niko

Hello! This is basically a post where I wanna compile facts and thoughts about Niko, for now it's just shorter facts or thoughts on them, but I may share more later c:

Let's start with a list!

Niko is a crafty child, since they can manage to fix the battery in the Barrens and the button for the Elevator with our suggestions.

They also know how to herd rams, and is implied they do similar things in their village.

They have looked after small children so they probably know a few things about looking after someone else, but they still have a lot to learn.

And they do learn! Niko remembers information they've been learning, such as what power cells, yellow phosphor, or blueprints are.

(maybe) it's likely they're at that stage where they can get by on their own with what they know but they still learn plenty of things in a day.

They hear a lot from movies and cartoons. Sometimes fiction helps explain ideas.

They know what death is, even if it's not mentioned out loud they can still deduce what the suicide note was about, or what could happen if they return the sun or break it.

They don't like being described as a cat

They tend to default to "noun guy/lady" to refer to people they don't know the name of. (elevator guy, plant lady, robot lady)

They're scared of ladders, but not heights, they're fine with the flying machine or walking around the top of the Refuge.

They also have fear of any other things that are potential hazards but nothing paralyzing.

They like fire! They even talk to Alula about it. They also know to lit up a fire in the starting house. Also the devs words on Niko doing arson lol.

They love fish, but think eating it raw like sushi is weird.

They know a few "big words" like "precarious" but probably don't know more technical words. They're around eight years old so I personally assume it's a mix of fiction and children's stories often trying to teach words incidentally.

They likely don''t like people assuming they can't do things, like them insisting they know how to read, it's just that the strange journal is not in a language they understand.

Part 2 to be released soon! ...I hope :D with longer notes.

[tonydaddingham]

clearing out the drafts of Random Things I've Noticed if you can't tell but here, have another one - this building on the end of aziraphale's row of shops, on the other side of the record shop:

now im fairly certain about two things. first, it's called 'Alf Laylah wa-Laylah' - translated to english from arabic as One Thousand and One Nights. i can't quite tell at this quality if the writing below it is hebrew or yiddish, nor if it's a translation of the text above it (although, as best as i can tell? it isn't? but not sure)

im also not entirely sure on the relevance of the reference - if there is any to be had - to the story compilation that is One Thousand and One Nights, to tell the truth. the immediate thought that springs to mind is how scheherazade tells the king countless folk tales and stories over 1001 nights in order to keep him in suspense of hearing how the stories end - so he essentially stops killing women as revenge for the infidelity of his wife (it's a whole thing), whom he eventually pardons/spares from execution.

all the tales - as well as returns to the 'present' - include debate on philosophies and ethics, and explore various themes and topics, but regardless... my thoughts are somewhat jumping between this, the questions around the reliability of events as presented in s2, the flashbacks and the Lessons, etc. maybe that's not the link to make here, but it's all im coming up with so far.

but back to the building, and the second thing: think that the stars on the bottom half of the building, in the specific configuration they're shown, are the kaheksakand (estonian) / auseklis (latvian) - an eight-pointed star representing fertility and life, the triumph of light over darkness, as well as used as a protection symbol against evil (aptly placed outside the door).

there's a lot to go into re: the symbology behind '8', including its relationship to the concept of balance and harmony, especially in nature. the eight-pointed star in general, not just in the above exact shape, has dozens of cultural, religious, and mythological links (tbh it's probably featured in some capacity in nearly every culture), but i think particularly apt is how it links to venus aka. the morning star.

in the interest of keeping this brief (im sure cleverer people may wish to clarify/develop this more!!!), and keeping on track with where its place may sit in the show, i think it's first of all potentially of interest how this building is lit, given the above. we see the shot of the bentley arriving to whickber street in ep1 at night, and this particular shop (?) front is the most brightly lit... might mean nothing, might mean something:

but when the demons descend in ep5, a good portion of them appear out of the mist from that direction; a green mist (green shop?), reflecting the hell vibes we saw in ep1 etc. that being said, when crowley starts sensing Trouble Is Afoot earlier on, he's looking in all directions and certainly we see some demons behind him (in the direction of the dirty donkey) when he confronts this particular little gang of them, so unless some demons started arriving ahead of schedule, they may not have all come through this building:

but. we know from eric that the lift is broken, and the only other routes are the small lift, one at a time, or the stairs. shax obviously arrives in style, but the other demons? taken the stairs. what if this front is that exit onto earth? but just the back stairwell?

there's so many potentially loose threads to weave in here, and im sure i'll come back to this at some point, but felt it was an interesting design choice nonetheless, even if it ultimately means naff all✨

[art-that-fucks-you-up-tournament]

Stats Part 3

Now that Round 3 is over, we're down to 32 (well, 33) remaining artworks which feels about time to check in on how our statistics are doing!

And if you're not interested in statistics, I (Mod Salix) wanted to talk about the polls. You may have noticed that I've been trying to keep to 4 polls a day, which would mean that Round 4 is only going to be 4 days, and Round 5 would post everything in two days. Starting in Round 6, we'll probably re-institute week long polls. Hopefully none of us will lose track of what day to post the next round!

We have 20 artworks by male artists, 10 by female artists, and 4 by groups or unknowable entities! And of those, one person is Black, two are Aboriginal (one of whom is Mestizo and Kichwa, the other of whom is Aboriginal Australian), one is Asian-American (and two are Chinese living in China as opposed to living somewhere they're a minority), and one is Indian-British. And also three are left from gay men about the AIDS crisis, in addition to the AIDS memorial quilt, and one lesbian comic.

There are six American artists (including the Asian-American mentioned above), and three Chinese artists (including the Asian-American mentioned above), as well as three Russians (including Ilya Repin, who was born in the future Ukraine and lived near St. Petersburg), technically two different pieces by the same Dutch artist (hi van Gogh), and one each from Argentina, Serbia, Ecuador, Colombia, Canada, Italy, Northern Ireland, Poland, Australia, Finland, Germany, France, and Britain. And one artist I have listed as Denmark/Germany/France, because August Friedrich Schenck was born in a place that was Denmark at the time, Germany now, and worked mostly in France.

Of the pieces with known locations, eight are in the United States (four specifically in New York), two each in Australia and Russia, and one each in Argentina, Finland, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and one in a private collection.

There are two archaic pieces of art, Judith is our last standing piece from anything between archaic and 1843, 8 pieces of art from the 1800s, although five are from 1878 to 1896, one from 1903, two from the 70s or 80s, 5 from the 90s, four from the 00s, four from the span of 2014 to 2016, and three from the last two years. And two unknown dates and the AIDS memorial quilt which is still being added to.

There are 15 paintings, 7 installation arts, one comic, one photograph, one cave art, one sketch, one tattoo, and one fiber art slash installation. And the most common subject of the art are five queer related art pieces, although I have four each I summed up as either horror or grief/anguish.

And, lastly, someone sent in an ask in like Round 1 asking about statistics regarding whether being in first or second place in the poll biased anything. I'm not actually a statistician, so I can't answer that question, but I did compile the numbers of how many first-positioned vs second-positioned arts won! Surprisingly, Round 1 had 64 firsts to 63 seconds (and one tie), Round 2 had 29 to 35, and Round 3 had 15 to 17. Technically speaking that's not a large enough sample size to determine bias but it's... interesting?.

I was going to make a scatterplot featuring the number of votes in each poll to track engagement, but I haven't actually figured out how to do one in Google Sheets yet so maybe at the end of the bracket.

[rosenbraut]

Hey Marie!

How are you? Are you enjoying Tumblr more?

So I have started revolutionary girl utena (the way i known it could have changed the trajectory of my entire life if i had seen it at eight) and I am in love with the concepts, the themes, the architectures, everything.

Do you have similar books/movies to recommend? Any other media?

Hi!! 🌹🍓

I’m trying! :)

And I’m so, so happy you enjoyed Utena!!! Ever since I first came into contact with the phenomenon that is revolutionary girl Utena, I’ve been trying to find something that evokes a similar emotion. So far, I haven’t found anything that combines elements in a similar way — as you mentioned, there are so many aspects of it, themes, art, music, architecture. I feel like maybe we’ll have to accept that it is a completely unique piece of fiction. However, we can still read!

What I think might be a fun endeavour is to make a list of the references they make and compile a reading list out of that. Astronomy, psychoanalysis, myths, art history, there’s a LOT to dig into and I feel like enriching our own inner lives will prolong our enjoyment of Utena and deepen our enjoyment of the other material it’s referencing (if that makes sense). In the meantime, while I compile that list, here are some other things:

fairy tales (eastern European and German especially) for their interwoven morals and thoughts on death and agency. Reread sleeping beauty and savour every word (bones wrapped in rose vines), dig into Tsarevich Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf and think about fate and rebirth.

Demian by Herman Hesse. It seems that not many people know that the show (not the film or manga) directly quote Hesse every single episode — or both go back to the same source, I’m not sure which. Either way: Demian comes close in many aspects. Not telling you which ones <3 (I read it without knowing anything about it because I saw that quote and I think it was the best possible way to come into contact with that book, so I’ll let you enjoy it the same way)

The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony by Roberto Calasso analyses and compares Greek myths, weaves them together and summarises them in ways you might not have thought about before.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy for thoughts on trauma and beauty, history and sibling relationships.

Nabokov in general for various thoughts on language, isolation, beauty. Invitation to a Beheading for that doomed isolation. Ada or Ardor if you were intrigued by the highly mannerist incest (it’s more carnal in Nabokov, but still extremely gorgeous and soaked with that same old blood elitism and high profile intellectualism)

Apart from that, I feel like SKU is a child of its time. If you look at other manga from the time just before the new millennium, there are a lot of reoccurring themes. Sailor Moon, X (which I never finished, so this is just a first impression), etc all feature themes like the end of the world, other universes, secret societies and glittering architecture in dark voids. I’m always on the lookout for more manga from around that time because the strange future nostalgia is so fascinating to me.

[sinsisters]

I decided that I'd like to start sharing informal, occasional devlogs about various WIPs I'm working on, so feel free to filter out #SSDevlog if you're not interested in seeing them!

Project List

The Spanish Privateer: Done, I do want to send out a short story compilation to backers and maybe write a few more to distribute. Also would like to tweak the keyboard help page so it auto-configures for controllers at some point.

Blueprint to a Villain's Heart: This was a 2023 otome game jam project that unfortunately never got finished due to collaborators getting busy (why must life!!!!).

You're the lead architect for evil lairs (rich conglomerate luxury mansions, eerie castles, underwater shark tanks, floating spiral hideouts, etc.). You sometimes have to make repeat appointments with clients, and they so rarely have normal conversations that they can occasionally get a little clingy…

Mephistopheles' and Baron Samdi's routes are done, about 13K each with a good ending, two bad endings, a best ending (romanced) and a best ending (friendship). The true villain's route and the art need to be done, but I want to share the beautiful concept art...

Mephistopheles' Concept Art

Baron Samdi's Concept Art

Glycon (True Villain)'s Concept Art

Surprise Cthulhu route?

Architect (Protagonist) (Selectable Pronouns) Concept Art

(View some more concept art on Jazzy's page!)

Would love to make this little game a reality, but it's hard to guarantee anything! It would be a free game, so I'm not sure how well crowdfunding would work. And even with money, you can't force people's time or interest.

Nazla: Beds of Thorn: My personal pet project. It's inspired by both classic (Zork) and modern (Shepherds of Haven) styles of Interactive Fiction, implementing classic-style exploration and questing with modern-style dialogue and writing.

You take a rest in an inn, and wake up to an uninvited guest nestled in the soft burrow between your body and your soul. You're left with three options: exorcise the spirit, reopen the veil, or… become a bed and breakfast innkeeper?Play as a human, elf, dwarf, orc, or some combination of the above in Nazla: Beds of Thorn. Featuring fully-customizable names and appearances, seven half-hour long origin stories, eight romanceable characters, and a simple three-class combat system, your journey can be soaked in blood or one-hundred percent fighting free.

It's been really fun to work on a project without worrying about needing to acquire assets. Plus, I plan on it being free, so I'm not concerned whether anyone ever reads it. I won't be doing any out-of-pocket projects for a few years i want to afford house

And I have two other projects stashed away, one of which I'm hoping Nazla helped me learn enough skills to pull off. But in the meantime, I'll be slowly plodding away at Nazla, sharing bits and pieces as I go. ♥

also i played cxm and let's just say... morioka can get it 🥵

[echthr0s]

evaluating my game progress (emotional and technical) of late and I may have to put Veilguard on the back burner for a while. here's the thing. I am not a smart man (and that's fine with me, I have other strengths). I don't do "media analysis", I read other people's and then go "oh my god yes! you explained why xyz feels bad/good to me!" and, you know, that's pretty cool, that other people can do that. but I think people assume that's the perspective everyone is coming from, and let me be clear.

I don't enjoy VG because it doesn't make my blood fizz in my veins and my synapses light up. is it good? is it bad? I don't know! who fucking cares! am I excited when I think about it? does it keep me up at night? DA:O did. DA2 did. DA:I did not, but I was being carried on the momentum of the previous games and I didn't really care. unfortunately, that momentum could not carry me through VG's hellish development cycle.

in the time since I finally obtained VG and started playing it, I have played one and a half playthroughs of Rogue Trader and have only stopped playing it because I am waiting for the new expansion. my blood is continually fizzing and my synapses are continually firing in response to this game. I still can't believe it's only a 60-hour-on-average game (maybe closer to 75 if you actually do the combat unlike me BUT), it is so packed with incredible character stuff and fascinating sidequests and fun diversions and, and, and! anyway, we know I love RT, let's move on.

I started playing Wrath of the Righteous about a week ago (apparently I have a new favourite gamedev company, huh) and I thought "eh, this is okay" and then I met Sosiel. and now I am fucking losing my mind every hour of every day about him. sigh, it's true, I am eminently baitable. just put a Can Calah in a game and I'll eat the game up and lick the plate and then eat the plate.

(and before that there's also been CP2077 which got my attention FROM THE GATE, without even trying. that game continually amazes me. there's been FFXIV which I have played most of multiple times, but I keep playing it and I keep loving the experience of playing it. I even started playing Infinity Nikki and I don't much care for gacha games at all but you know what. at least it's cute.)

yes, VG has a few companions I enjoy, but I don't feel like I'm getting to know them in a way that... feels satisfying. I'm not dying on tenterhooks to spend time with Emmrich or Taash. I like them! a lot, even. but they're not keeping me up at night.

does this mean they're "written badly"? fuck if I know, man. I'm not here to figure that out, I'm here to follow my heart and my dick, and neither one of them seem to be getting it up for whatever is going on in this game. meanwhile, I am playing eight (shh) other games at this time that are definitely tugging at my organs, without even trying, so... why keep struggling with this one? because I said I would?

I'll finish it eventually, I'm sure. it's an RPG game and I play RPG games, it's what I do. also I hear the ending is interesting. but also every time I update my graphics card driver, VG has to compile shaders all over again, and that takes a literal hour. it would take a real amazing game indeed to make me put up with that bull-ass-shit every couple of weeks.

[delusinalandpassionate]

Hi im the person that asked u about discord!! I tried my best to compile my thoughts about don quixote so hopefully the link works ;; I will write more soon

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S9S1i0ncR-SC0Q1wQecxDrO24QxFNct2N6qFA-0_i6g/edit?usp=drivesdk

Also, did you know while shakespeare knew of cervantes, it is unlikely that cervantes ever heard of shakespeare. The two are considered the giants of literature and is said to have died on the same day (though, not actually because calendars were weird but it’s a fun thought

Thank you for sharing, it was a pleasure to read! I'm sorry it took me so long to answer!

I believe in this theory way more than I did when I first heard of it. And I'm convinced that Don's Canto is definitely will be inspired with musical, however I'm still doubting if she's Miguel herself. Maybe I was too into theories about Don being Sanch, to let go idea of her "inheriting the name" so easily. And I feel like with "Alonso Quijano" dying in the story and Miguel getting to trail in the end of musical that can make sense?

In that case, it could be that the "Man Of La Mancha" storyline ended, and we are going to explore aftermath and how it affected Don

( I kinda took your theory and started to rotate it until it fitted my vision, sorry)

I'm not sure if there will be any Inqusitors because Don seems to have like zero connections to N Corp, and they don't seem to be an important part of the story. Maybe there will be some other organization with similar roles.

And about prisoners, I am not sure if City has trial or even imprisonment as form of punishment but ...with all connections that get traced to Eight O'clock Circus, I kinda can imagine Miguel as being caught and forced being there, telling his story to entertain members. I'm not sure if Oswald would approve it, but maybe the absurdity of Don Quixote story would be amusing for him.

Also not sure if I like idea of any sinners being a characters. Kinda don't want to rob Don of important connections and NPCs, but if it should be one of the sinners than well, Hong Lu and Don almost never spoke with each other. He's one of the most suited to help, but there is no connection between him and Don. I would more see Rodya and Mearsault in this role to be honest.

Okay, all this answer reads like I'm against this theory, but I am swear it's not, it's just how I lead my conversations, and you can answer me with rejecting my ideas and writing how something else in her story would make more sense, and I would be happy to read it and interact