#and such interesting people and we all get along so well :')

[secriden]

I thought I was done talking about Style in THK's episode 2, but jokes on me, no I'm not.

I keep thinking about Style and Bison's first interaction and how pure and sweet it was. In the middle of the mess that is this 4-way whirlwind of lies and deception, it felt like a refreshingly honest conversation between two people who are only accidentally lying to each other.

Style seems incredibly earnest when he tells Bison that Fadel is "down bad" for him. It doesn't feel like Style is 'wingmanning' Kant here; or if he is, it isn't meant to be malicious or to mislead Bison. It feels like someone being friendly with his bff's crush and hoping that they can get along because he thinks this one's going to stick around.

Similarly, when Bison tells Style to go for Fadel for real, it feels very honest and earnest. Setting aside whatever games Bison is playing with Kant, Bison seems to genuinely want someone for his big brother, and not just so he can date who he wants or as a distraction.

It's also interesting how Style's protest is that he can't see himself actually gaining feelings for Fadel because in a way there's nothing to recommend Fadel to Style at this point. As far as Style is concerned, Fadel is arrogant and condescending, rude and ungrateful (after all, he did replace a bunch of parts in Fadel's car for free), a stick in the mud about his brother dating, and can't seem to take a joke.

We see the polite, pleasant and reasonable Fadel, but Style doesn't.

Which is why I've been obsessing over Style's expressions immediately after the conversation with Bison. Bison's parting insight is "He's rough on the outside, and on the inside," and I think he accidentally piqued Style's curiosity with that line. Because why does Bison still want his brother to have a "real" relationship, then? What makes Fadel worth loving, despite (what Style thinks is) nothing to recommend him?

Ugh I wish I knew how to make gifs because Dunk goes through a whole sequence of expressions here that suggests a shift happens in the way he's thinking of Fadel. There's a pensive and thoughtful look and then almost like, "Oh what the hell, might as well see where this goes" kind of amusement at the end. And I think the reason he has this shift is because he's realised that Bison clearly loves his brother and that must mean that there's more to Fadel then his initial impression of the man.

It's interesting that his next attempt at messing with Fadel actually invites Fadel to play along with it. It's so much tamer and more private than the previous attempts because he isn't actively trying to humiliate Fadel this time. And it works?? Fadel engages in the roleplay, indulges Style's ridiculousness, actually chops faster (whilst the most hysterical series of minute expressions play over Fadel's face <3). Perhaps this was Style testing the waters: can Fadel engage with something playful and not take everything way too seriously? Huh, turns out, he can!

The next time Style shows up around Fadel, he's circled back to that playful over-the-top flirting that characterised the garage scene. This is the first time in this episode that Style is actually flirting. Every other time was just to frustrate/humiliate Fadel but notice how he's actively trying to look attractive to Fadel now? He's putting all his best (ahem) assets on display, and poor Fadel has no real protection against this. And, oh, Style is loving this! He's gleefully lapping up every single time Fadel fails to completely hide that he's affected by him.

This, though. THIS precisely is the point I think Style decides that he really does want Fadel for himself. There's so much playing out over Style's face: the determination to push things further, the delighted surprise to see Fadel so rattled, the razor sharp focus, and then desire. Style has finally broken through Fadel's "roughness" and he loves it.

If that uncle hadn't walked in, I'm convinced Fadel would have let Style do anything he wanted, and I think Style knew that.

It's the first time Style immediately chases after Fadel when he walks away from him, and he's absolutely delighted when Fadel all but chokes him against the lockers because that means he still has Fadel within reach.

The whole conversation about "love at first sight" is breathtaking because it feels like Style is discovering what's going to make Fadel crack as he says it and realising just how much he wants this. And no, I don't think he's in love with Fadel yet (not by a LONG shot), but I think he realises that he wants Fadel to fall in love with him. This is such a shift from what he expressed in the diner to Bison. In the diner, there was no hope, no chance for this.

The kisses catch Style by surprise too: you can see that he's just reacting, pushing to see where Fadel will finally draw the line. Because Fadel kisses back in the first kiss and actually fails to push Style away for quite some time in the 2nd kiss (the camera purposely lingers on the way Fadel's hands hover over Style's waist without shoving him back). The third kiss is the point Fadel finally starts fighting, and in the immidate aftermath you can see Style watching so carefully again. And Fadel nearly kisses him again, you see the way Fadel's eyes drop to Style's lips, the way they both freeze and linger in the moment for that one second. The way Style registers that moment and it leaves Style shaken himself.

It's so interesting that this is how we leave Style in this episode (we only see Fadel's fantasy version of Style after this point). I've got two possible interpretations for this line:

Style possibly catches on that Fadel is more dangerous than he seems. Maybe just from vibes, maybe from something in the way Fadel threatened him that kicks off some kind of fearful instinct. This could be what makes Style start questioning if Kant told him the full story and lead to whatever scene it is where Style demands answers in the episode 3 preview.

Alternatively, perhaps Fadel is starting to become real to Style in ways he wasn't before. Fadel was almost a caricature of a man, one which Style didn't like very much before, and that made it easier to fool around with him. But this? This almost tortured man who clearly wants Style but can't seem to give into that desire? Something is going on and Style isn't sure it's worth the game to either of them anymore. Because maybe Style recognises that he's more affected than he should be. And that has implications that Style was not ready for.

[amphibiahawks321]

[Beidou watches from a distance, narrowing her eyes at the scene with a deep sigh as she mutters to herself]

Beidou : What's going on over there.... Looks like she's getting a little too comfortable...

[Ningguang's sharp gaze remains fixed on the pair, a soft frown at her lips]

Ningguang : She seems to think she can get away with that... How bold...

[Ningguang glances at beidou, her voice now low and controlled]

Ningguang : Should we perhaps do something to dismiss this scene?

Beidou : Sighs... We should... But, we know Y/N wouldn't dare to do such a thing...

Ningguang : Hm? Are you not bothered by the display that is happening before our eyes?

Beidou : Of course not...

Ningguang : Hm... Perhaps you're right beidou, let's just... See if things will get more personal...

[Y/N having a simple conversation with a civilian which slowly turns into the girl hitting on him and giving him flirty remarks despite after already telling her his taken when the conversation between the two starts getting more.... Interesting with her flirting anyway]

[Y/N notices the girl's tone starts turning more flirtatious, the lingering glances was way too obvious for Y/N not to noticed]

M!Reader : Soo yeah! I'm afraid I have to goz something I just remember came up, but it was nice talking to you!

[He quickly excuses himself, making his way to ningguang and Beidou's destination while trying to shake off the lingering tension from the conversation]

Beidou : Chuckles... Looks like someone couldn't handle the heat, huh? Took you long enough

[Beidou said with a playful smirk, crossing her arms along with a wink while Y/N approach them]

Beidou : Well ain't that just a sore view...

[Beidou said with a teasing tone that quickly turns into protectiveness]

M!Reader : Wha–!? You guys watched the conversation?

[Meanwhile ningguang's eyes flickering with both amusement and something more possessive]

Ningguang : We aren't stalkers Y/N, we just so happen to see it happening that's all dear... But it seems some people simply can't take a hint can't they? But don't worry... We'll keep you company, Chuckles... won't we Beidou?

.........

[Next morning, Y/N woke up inside a bedroom completely dizzy]

M!Reader : W-Woah.... W-What happened?

[Y/N looks down to himself naked with bite marks all around his bodyincluding his thighsand begin panicking]

M!Reader : What the!? What happened last nigh–.......

M!Reader blushing : ........

[Y/N thought 💭]

You're ours right baby?~

*Chuckles* squirming already?~

Let those moans out~ Someone's needy~

You're so good baby~ *Chuckles* goodboy~

M!Reader blushing : ......

[Y/N looks at both side of the bed to see beidou and ningguang sleeping]

M!Reader blushing : Oh f#ck....

[fanficsbysteve]

Authors Note: So I was scrolling the Tumblrs a few days ago when @lazyturtlehottub put an idea out there that stuck with me a bit so I did my best to get something out there into the world. Hopefully its good. Let me know what you think.

Rating: G?

Word Count: 3033

***

                Buck sat in his seat at the LA Lakers game that Tommy had given him tickets to. Tommy had ended things a week before the tickets were for so naturally Buck was at the game alone. He had planned to go with Tommy, so he had someone who actually understood basketball with him. He had requested the day off work so he could go and Bobby had given it to him. Unfortunately nobody else could get the day off so Buck sat in his seat, an empty seat right next to him.

                Out of depression, and he had run out of flour to bake something to distract him, Buck had made a sign that sat folded nicely on the seat next to him. If any kind of camera came on him, he was going to be petty and reveal the sign. And he had every right to be petty after what happened. It was so out of the blue. So Buck sat in his seat and just waited. He barely watched the game cause he didn’t have any interest in Basketball. He had never told Tommy this during their 6 months together. Why would he? He had literally tried desperately to get into this pick-up game that Eddie, Tommy, Chim, and a few others played so that he could get close to Tommy. Sure he hadn’t gone again since that one time. He had gotten Tommy’s attention. Plus I think after maiming Eddie, nobody expected him to go again. So he never had to explain how he really didn’t like Basketball.

                The game slowly went along. One team having the ball, then the other one did, then they threw it in a hoop, rinse, repeat. Buck honestly never understood why anyone would actually care about this sport. It was so boring. Give him a hockey game. Now that was something to watch. Particularly when the gloves came off.

                Slowly the game kept going and Buck was worried that he wouldn’t get a chance at the pettiness he had planned for the game. Then the break in the middle of the game came. Sighing, Buck was bored and was pretty sure that nothing was going to happen when something called a Kiss Cam came up on the video screen in the middle. It started panning around to all the various seats, stopping on what would appear to be couples and they would kiss or make ‘no’ motions if they weren’t together. Then it happened. The camera came and stopped on Buck and the person sitting next to him. The person looked at Buck and started making the No motions.

                Buck took this opportunity, like the petty individual he was turning into, and pulled out his homemade sign. It was on bright yellow paper with black letters. The sign read, “My Boyfriend broke up with me a week before this game so now I’m here alone, and I don’t really like Basketball that much.”

                A chorus of Boo’s started to ring out around the Arena. Not sure if it was because of the sign or because of him, but Buck didn’t care. He got his pettiness out. Folding up the sign he sat back down.

Then it started. His phone started to buzz but he was going to ignore it.  He was at a basketball game and even if he wasn’t having fun or enjoying it, he wasn’t going to be one of those people who spend the whole thing on their phone. The buzzing would not stop. This was going to get annoying. The game hadn’t started back up again so Buck excused himself past the people sitting between himself and the aisle out. He better get this phone stuff dealt with. Might as well just go home if he wasn’t enjoying himself.

He got into the lobby area and pulled his phone out. He was getting bombarded with text messages from Eddie, Hen, Chim, Maddie, basically everyone at the Firehouse. Apparently they had been watching the game during their off time and it just to happens that nothing was going on when he was on camera. So everyone saw it. There were also messages and calls from Tommy but Buck was ignoring those right now. He couldn’t be bothered to message him before so he was going to make him wait.

He started with the Maddie messages. She was his sister after all.

MH: What did you just do? On National Television?

EB: I don’t know what you mean. I just held up a sign.

MH: You just threw Tommy to the wolves.

EB: Nobody who watches this will know who is being talked about. And anyone who does will not care enough to know.

MH: Don’t count on it. You weren’t super secretive about your relationship so lots of people know.

EB: Well we will just have to wait and see won’t we.

Closing down the text thread with Maddie, he went to Eddie, the next most important person in his life right now. It would have been Tommy but that ship sailed a week ago.

ED: That was brave.

BB: I was out of flour. And I was hurting so I decided to channel it.

ED: I wouldn’t want to be Tommy right now.

BB: Why not?”

Eddie sent over a screenshot of what looked like X or another social media site. Buck wasn’t super big on them. It showed a trending tag #LonelyLakersLad and #LakersBFBreakup and several other variants. Some of them had a lot of traction.

ED: You are going viral.

BB: Nobody who knows me would do anything like that.

ED: So you are telling me that you are 100% certain that you never hurt anyone the way you were hurt.

BB: I’ve broken up with everyone amicably as far as I am aware.

ED: And you’ve never kept in touch to see how they are feeling after things?

Buck stopped to think for a second. As far as he was aware he was fine with all his ex-girlfriends. They weren’t in touch anymore, friendship falling off the wayside, but honestly why would they do anything?

ED: Just saying. You might want to contact the recipient of your pettiness. He has been blowing up our phones here.

Buck sighed. Closed the Eddie chat and opened the one labeled Thomas. He hadn’t wanted to keep it the same as it was before the breakup. It hurt too much.

There it was, a lengthy string of texts from Tommy. Words weren’t the greatest thing you could convey emotion through. It was always up to the person reading to get the emotion you were putting into it and more times than not, it was always conveyed wrong.

TK: What the hell was that?

TK: I told you to take Eddie with you to that.

TK: And what do you mean you don’t even like Basketball? You literally forced your way into a game with me and Eddie and Chim.

TK: I know I hurt you. But that was next level pettiness.

TK: We need to talk.

TK: Please answer your phone.

TK: I’ve tried calling you a dozen times. Please just answer.

Buck knew that Tommy had called at least that many times during while he was just messaging his family and friends.

TK: I’m not mad. I swear it. I just want to talk. With words from my mouth instead of my fingers. That way its not misinterpreted.

TK: Please just answer and let me talk to you. Then I won’t bother you ever again.

Buck tapped the name Thomas, pulling up his contact details, and tapped the Call button. At least he could get this over with quickly. Maybe Trader Joes was still open so he could get more baking supplies on his way.

The phone didn’t even get to finish a single ring before Tommy answered, “Evan!”

“You said you wanted to talk Thomas,” Buck replied. He couldn’t stop the smile that came over his face when he heard Tommy call him Evan though. He also knew that Tommy was wincing on the other end at the Thomas.

“What was that all about? I was watching the game at home and I remember saying you could take Eddie and why were you there alone? And what was that sign for?” Tommy rambled. Buck just let him ramble a bunch. A thousand more questions came out of his mouth through the phone.

“If you would let me get a word in I can easily explain everything,” Buck interrupted. Tommy stopped talking for the time being so Buck took that as his time to get his side of things out, “You had just broken my heart. I was feeling petty because I had nothing else to distract me from calling or messaging you. I had spent too many days crying over you so I went to the next extreme. It was probably a little overboard but I was feeling my emotions and channeling them into something different. I didn’t want to turn back into the Buck that slept around to deal with his hurt.”

“I’m sorry,” Tommy said, “God this isn’t great on the phone.”

“Well you were the one who wanted me to call you,” Buck replied, “I was perfectly happy just texting.”

“Were you though?” Tommy’s voice was getting a little catty at this point, “I don’t think perfectly happy people do the stunt you just pulled.”

“Well I WAS perfectly happy,” Buck was just as catty in return, “Until you ended things out of the blue, no real reason except some bullshit about not being your last.”

Buck could feel the guilt through the phone at this point, “Meet  me at Fleur Café. That’s close to the arena. We clearly have to talk in person.”

“Fine by me,” Buck replied. His heart started to flutter a bit cause he did want to see Tommy again, “I know you don’t live near here so I’ll get you a coffee for when you arrive.”

“I’ll be there in about 45 minutes,” Tommy replied, his voice was shaking a bit, “depending on traffic.”

Buck let Tommy end the call and then he quickly pulled up the map on his phone to get there.

***

Buck had gotten to the café after 10 minutes of walking so he waited outside for about 20 minutes. He was mildly curious about the X trend that was happening so he downloaded the X app and signed into the account he made about a decade earlier. “@ranchmanbuck” was the username he had created. He was living in Montana at the time and working on a ranch. It didn’t last long. He also only had maybe 3 posts on his account.

It took him a bit to get signed in but eventually he did and #LonelyLakersLad was still trending. Even the official account of the LA Lakers had posted about it. Seems that everyone online was either trying to find out who he was, telling him that they would date him, telling him that it will get better in the end. There was a few that were insane and threatening harm on the person who hurt him. Seeing threats of death towards Tommy by people who didn’t know him was disturbing so Buck closed that app and swore to never open it again. People online were insane.

Stepping into the café, Buck was greeted by the smell of fresh coffee and baked goods. He had grown to love the smell of baked goods since Tommy broke things off with him. It was soothing and calming. He smelled lemon loaf, and cinnamon rolls, and some savoury cheese buns. He just breathed in and then head to the counter to order, “Good evening,” Buck was always courteous to the staff anywhere, “Can I get two coffees, one black, and one two cream, one sweetener,” He looked at the baked goods. He had so much at home but he wanted something sweet right now, “And two pieces of that lemon loaf, and a cinnamon roll.”

Buck paid for his purchases and went to a table near the window to wait. He started to slowly pick apart the lemon loaf he had gotten for himself and slowly ate it, sipping on his coffee at the same time. After about 10 minutes of waiting, Tommy walked into the coffee shop. He looked around and spotted Buck. He quickly came over and sat down, “Hey,” He said.

“I got you a coffee,” Buck pushed the coffee his way, “And some lemon loaf.”

“Thanks,” Tommy took the coffee and took a sip, “You finally figured out how I like my coffee.”

“We were together for 6 months Tommy,” Buck replied, “If I didn’t at least learn your coffee order then I would have been the worst boyfriend ever.”

“OK so we need to talk,” Tommy replied, “But first I just want to let you know how sorry I am for how things went down.”

“Why did you not come back after?” Buck asked, “You just left me there. I figured maybe it was a fight that we could work through but you didn’t come back.”

“I was scared,” Tommy had his head down, “You idealized me. You didn’t see me or the things that were wrong with me. Just the good. You don’t know how it was growing up and just being abandoned by the one person who loved me, leaving me with my father. Or the first man I ever fell in love with leaving me because he decided someone else was better than me.”

“You never told me any of this,” Buck replied, “You kept your walls up and never fully let me in. I only know what you showed me. And,” Buck trailed off. Well he had him in front of him so it was now or never, “And what you showed me made me fall in love with you.”

Buck watched as Tommy’s face snapped up at those words. Buck had been meaning to say those words to him for awhile now. Since the day at the cemetery at least when him and Tommy had a funeral so that Billy Boils would lift the curse. And he did. But just having Tommy there with him made him realize that Tommy was all he needed in life from now on, “You never said that,” Tommy said.

“I mean it though,” Buck replied, “I might be brand new to this whole loving men thing. But I know what love feels like and I know what I feel for you. I realize that I may have jumped ahead a couple steps. Eddie tells me I’m an idiot all the time. And maybe I am. But I’m an idiot that loves you, Tommy.”

Tommy fiddled with his cup, “I’m just scared that you will get bored of me and leave me like everyone else.”

Buck reached across and grabbed Tommy’s hand, “I need you to learn to trust me. I won’t leave you. You are everything I’ve felt I was missing in my life. From the very first mouth static, something about you made me feel complete. And this past week has made me feel worse, like a part of me was missing. And I don’t like how that feels and I don’t want to feel it anymore.”

Tommy looked ashamed, “I love you as well. And there has been an Evan sized hole in my life that I cannot manage to fill,” Buck watched as Tommy looked up, his face setting, “Fuck it. If my heart gets broken, it gets broken,” He whispered to himself, “Evan Buckley, I know I don’t deserve it after what I did to you, but would you be willing to give me a second chance? I’m also an idiot who is in love with you and I might not deserve it but please?” Tommy’s eyes bore into Buck with intensity. This man meant every word of it.

Buck stood up, grabbed Tommy’s face and brought him into a kiss. The kiss lasted longer than either had planned but Buck was not letting go. He wasn’t certain of it but he thought he may have heard the shutter of a camera on someone’s phone. Maybe someone taking some pictures of their food. They did that a lot. As the kiss came to an end, a single thread of saliva between them, Buck sat down again, “We need to communicate better,” Buck said, “Since we want to try again, I ask that if you have problems, or if I’m jumping ahead or saying something idiotic, that you please just talk to me. We can work through these problems.”

“I can’t promise I won’t get scared again,” Tommy said, “I’ve got more trauma than you can possibly imagine. I’m not the ideal gay that you seem to have thought I am. But I can promise that if things get bad for me, I’ll do everything I can to talk.”

Buck smiled, “That’s all I want. I want to know all of you. Scars and all if you’ll let me,” Buck smiled, “Now help me eat this Cinnamon bun.”

***

6 months later, Buck sat with Tommy at another Lakers game. A repeat of the 6 month anniversary. Tommy had originally wanted to do something that Buck would enjoy, but Buck shut that down, “I enjoy being with you and seeing you happy and if it means going to Basketball games then I want to go. Just means in the winter you’ll have to get better at enjoy the LA Kings games.”

“Deal,” Tommy said. So they were in their seats at the arena. It was halftime as Tommy called it. The camera was panning around the stands looking for couples to make kiss. When it landed on Buck and Tommy. Smiling, Buck pulled Tommy into a kiss, as the kiss broke, he held up another sign just for this occasion, ‘We worked things out, so please don’t make me go viral again. #NotSoLonelyLakersLad’.  Buck smiled and kept staring at Tommy. The crowd was cheering in the arena for them. Just staring into the eyes of the man he loved.

***

Authors Note: Well that's it. I hope anyone who reads this likes it. Feel free to suggest any titles as I have no idea what to call this. If you have any notes for how I could improve, please be kind about it.

[adobe-outdesign]

opposite of that last neo-review! Favorite species of your least favorite paintbrushes?

(Side note, this is the first time I've had to sit down and actually consider what my least favorite colors even are.)

Clay:

Kau: Clay is just such a nothing color; it's oddly specific and has no visual appeal, given that it's completely monotone. I don't think TNT like it either, considering this colour came out in 2005 and only 20 pets can come in it. If they had done more of a pottery color, where the pets are painted with traditional pottery patterns, that could've been really neat, but this is a waste.

That said, the Kau is the best of the lot; the color is nice and the shading and little pockets and nicks do actually make it look like clay. Not saving the color by a long shot, but at least it's well-rendered.

Split:

Xweetok: My problem with split as a colour is just that purple and orange really aren't... a very appealing color combo? You'd think that TNT would go for something super high-contrast, like black and white, or they would change up the color combo with each pet for individuality, but no. I think they chose these colors to tie into the purple vs. orange Grundo conflict, but why they couldn't leave the purple and orange to the Grundo alone is beyond me.

Anyway, the Xweetok's probably as good as you're getting with split. I like that the colors flip not only in the eyes, but also in the ears and along the stripes. It gives the Xweetok a bit of much-needed visual interest compared to your standard split pet.

Striped:

Meerca: Striped is in the same boat as Split, being an early 2000s colour with little effort put into it and a jarring color palette. Blue and pink is a strange color choice in general, and it tends to be so low-contrast as to hurt the eyes. It's not even the same consistent shade of blue and pink, so I can't even give it points for that.

However, the striped Meerca? The striped Meerca slaps. It's only of only two striped pets that don't follow the regular formula (Ruki being the other) and yeah, the chipmunk look is really nice; it works perfectly thematically and the colors are actually bearable here. If all striped pets were this good, this colour wouldn't even be on this list.

Custard:

Meerca: Another oddly niche color and a reminder that Neopets was made by British people. Custard is just a strange choice for a color; it never looks visually appealing and most pets look similar, making it kind of a counterpart to clay. I could've seen this one being similar to chocolate if more effort was put into it, but as-is, it's pretty boring (and kind of unfortunate looking, frankly).

Don't ask me how we ended up with two Meercas on this list, but if you have to have a custard pet, the custard Meerca is the way to go. Instead of just being drippy plain custard, it's a crème brûlée with nice toasty bits. It's the only custard pet that actually looks somewhat appetizing.

Snot:

Grundo: Snot is just another colour that I don't think anyone ever was asking for; it's just kind of gross, and similar to other colors on this list, tends to look all the same. I've heard some people say this colour could've been fixed by just naming it "slime" instead, but that just makes me want a slime color with different colors of slime and maybe some mix-ins, which is not this.

If you have to go snot, I guess the Grundo is the best. The rendering and shading are pretty good, for better or for worse, and the drippy bits are well-placed. Plus if you want a slime colour, the space alien does make the most sense to be sporting it.

[growth-opportunities]

casting a spell on the girl you wish had a bigger chest against her will

AN: Definitely longer than I intended (1700+ words) but sometimes I start writing and I can't stop! I hope you enjoy it!

Dana had been my friend for a long, long time, since we were too young to be stopped by the idea that boys and girls weren't allowed to be friends with each other. It made our bond special and it meant that we could really talk about anything with each other. There were no secrets between us, even when we started growing up and going through changes.

Well, some changes.

While I did okay, puberty was less kind to Dana. Her face changed and she got a little taller, but even before she hit five feet, her body decided that it was just done growing. Done growing upward, done growing out. She transitioned from a training bra to a 28AA, though one could hardly call that a transition. Her hips stayed narrow. I told her that her slender waist have her body a really feminine shape, but I could tell she didn't really believe me. She said she was fine with it, though. We'd talk about girls in our classes who had shot through the alphabet and turned into bombshells overnight and Dana insisted that she didn't want any part of that. Tits made people dumb, she said. Tits made people boring. As soon as you could rely on your figure, your personality shriveled up and withered away. She said she was far happier with her smaller body than she could ever be as some huge-boobed bimbo. It was pretty obvious that she was just trying to bury her jealousy in pride, especially when she said that she'd never sully her body by get implants or trying to grow even a single cup size bigger.

The fallout of her first girlfriend leaving her for a bustier woman was intense. Dana was practically catatonic for a week, and I did all I could to look after her. She barely ate. She barely slept. It was the most depressed I had ever seen her. One night, when she was delirious from lack of sleep, she grabbed me by the collar and told me that big tits made someone a bad person. Busty women were all homewreckers who deserved to be shunned from society or be forced into brothels where they can perform their singular service to society and they can't hurt anyone else. She finally fell asleep with her arms crossed over her chest.

In hindsight, casting a spell on her against her will to make her tits grow probably wasn't the best way to go about helping her. It was a bit of a panicked idea; I just couldn't bear the thought any longer of not being able to help. Nothing I did could drag her out of her slump, so I resorted to an admittedly extreme measure. There was a decent chance, anyway, that the magic would be bogus or be indistinguishable from natural growth, which made it easier to justify. Neither of those were the case.

It was interesting, at least, to watch her reaction to growing. The first few cup sizes, grown quickly over a day or two, were met with a trepidatious pride. In her mind, she could still consider them "small", even if they were magnitudes bigger than the next-to-nothing she had before. There was an adjustment period, getting used to having weight and wobble on her chest. I occasionally walked into the room just in time to see her yank her hands away from her tits, blush on her cheeks, embarrassed for having acknowledged them at all. She'd stammer out something along the lines of "Well, this is fine. They're still small. I'm not a big titted, girlfriend stealing whore. As long as I stay this big, I'll be fine."

She didn't, of course. Dana's growth continued unbothered by her own feelings about her tits. Once she passed the DD mark, she couldn't really excuse them as being small. The timid fondness that marked her early growth quickly turned to dismay and frustration. A glass was knocked off the table and shattered on the ground, a casualty of Dana's slow acclimation to her own size. She was so angry at herself and her tits in response, that she punched her boob hard enough to leave a bruise. "Fuck these things! I never wanted them! And now they're huge and in the way! Gross bags of fat, never fucking stop moving! The moment you stop growing, I'm chopping you off, you hear me!"

She wouldn't get the chance. By the time the bruise healed, she was pushing the limits of common bra sizes. She never gained an inch in height, still standing with the top of her head below my chin, and her hips stayed narrow as ever, but that slim waist of hers was rapidly being concealed behind her growing tits. She was growing too fast to even buy a bra to contain them and so she milled about my apartment in shirts that were rapidly becoming too tight, struggling to contain that much tit. I could hear the seams straining whenever Dana arched her back and lifting her arms above her head inevitably caused a bit of underboob to slip out.

As much as I tried to keep myself under control, it was about that time that I started staring. I couldn't help myself. These were the biggest tits I had ever seen in real life and rapidly encroaching on being the biggest tits I had seen ever. The first time she caught me staring, it caught her off-guard and I could tell she dismissed it as nothing. The second time, she got angry, punching my arm a bit harder than just "playfully", reminding me that she's a person and more than a pair of tits. The third time, though, I could tell something was different. She blushed and turned away, but her body betrayed her, two little indents forming on the front of her stretched shirt, her nipples stiffening beneath.

It was a few days later, when we were both watching TV (or, rather, we were on our phones on the couch while the TV was on) when Dana turned to me. By now, her breasts nearly rested in her lap, only an inch or two between her thighs and the undersides of her tits. "Do you, um..." She bit her lip. "Do you like big tits?" My face flushed and I stammered something completely incoherent, but she waved her hand in the air, her tits wobbling. "No, no, it's okay. You're fine, dude. I was just... You've been so nice to me through all of this. The break up first and then these." She gave the side of her tit a little slap, the impact rippling across her bust. "And I realized this morning that, um..." She bit her lip, her toes (not reaching the ground past the edge of the couch) curled and uncurled. Her nipples stiffened beneath her shirt, larger and more obvious than ever. "I realized that I'm bigger. Not just bigger than I was before, I mean, anyone would be bigger than I was- hell, you're bigger than I was-" She waved her hand and cleared her throat. "What I mean to say is that I'm bigger than her. The one that stole Nadia away from me. By, like, a lot." The more she talked, the wider her smile grew. She sat up straight, pushing her breasts forward slightly. "I think... I think it would help me get my confidence back if I, y'know, did something with them."

She shifted in her seat, turning her whole body towards me, climbing up onto her knees. There was nowhere for me to go except back into the corner of the couch where Dana quickly trapped me. There was nowhere I could go that wouldn't have me brushing against her bust. "I've never felt... attractive. Before. I told myself it wasn't important. The closest I ever got was the first date Nadia and I went on, but clearly that didn't pan out. But now I have these huge fucking boobs. And you can't stop looking at them. And I've seen you, er, react to them. A little tent in your pants." Now both of us were blushing. The tension in the air grew thicker by the second. "It wouldn't surprise me if you, ahem, jerked off to them. I've already done it myself a few times. They're... they're really sensitive." Her hands felt so small as they reached out and grabbed my wrist. I could barely believe what was happening as she dragged my hand up to her bust, my palm hovering an inch over her left tit. Warmth radiated out of them and into me. Her breathing became deep and slightly ragged. "If you wanted to, we could... I mean, it would be alright if... We'd still be friends either way, but..." Her confidence was wavering so I bridged that final gap, pushing my hand forward and taking her tit in my grip.

Instinct took over. I squeezed. Hard. The initial shock was quickly broken through by a wall of arousal slamming into Dana. She arched her back, pushing her tit into my hand. I don't even think I could describe how it felt to have that massive breast bulge around my fingers, spilling out through every gap, her nipple twitching and quivering against my palm. Even now, the memory of pulling her shirt up and exposing her massive tit, how it felt to have her little hands on the back of my head guiding my lips to her nipple, moaning in time with the rhythmic sucking and squeezing of her head-dwarfing tit, leaves me feeling a bit dazed.

Dana would grow a little bit larger before finally stopping, the spell wearing off. Nadia was quickly forgotten (though I had to talk Dana down from sending her a Big mistake. Huge. style text with a picture of her cleavage) and Dana's attitude on tits quickly normalized. Dana and I didn't end up together, though we did briefly have a friends-with-benefits relationship. Then she met Lillian and the two have been together ever since. I did, eventually, tell Dana about the spell and there was an awkward couple of days, but apparently Lillian helped her through it and she was able to, eventually, thank me for it. She said that I probably should have asked, but admitted that she probably would have said no and then she would have missed out on something wonderful. Lillian occasionally sends me pictures of Dana's bust as continuous thanks for my part in making them. She says it's the least she can do.

[redux-iterum]

Sometimes I just have to reread and reread and take in how you’ve written Fireheart because it’s just so…

He’s just so good. So genuinely and unceasingly good. He cares so much and more than that he’s wise. Sometimes a character will say something and I go ‘there’s no way to comfort someone about this’ and then five minutes after that Fireheart says something wise that makes me rethink some shit that I, a real life human, am doing. Which is hard! This is harder to write convincingly than a strong character, because a character like Fireheart whose greatest strength is his heart HAS to follow through. And he has to be genuinely emotionally intelligent in a way that can’t just be, like, told. It has to be shown. And you manage to show that to us flawlessly, constantly, and consistently.

Like, man. No wonder everyone loves this guy. I love this guy. Absolute favorite version of Fireheart that I have EVER read.

Also, follow-up, Cloudpaw’s situation. You managed to make it not kind of infuriating, you found a reason for what he was doing that honestly broke my heart, and you did it all so naturally I’m still reeling over it. And then you managed to have Fireheart make an argument so convincing without contradicting the beliefs that he already has (ie: he’s not a xenophobe) and it just. Man. I hadn’t even thought of come of that stuff. I’ll be honest, I remember reading the original series and thinking it was morally neutral for Cloudpaw to go eat kittypet food, and now I’m rethinking it!

It IS rude to steal food. It IS rude to feed yourself in a way you can’t share with the people you love who are in constant threat of starvation. I always thought of it as a practical way to feed himself that didn’t take from his clanmates but…it isn’t fair, is it? It’s not fair at all for him to do that. Most of the argument in the original series felt like ‘OTHER CULTURE BAD AND WRONG AND YOU WRONG FOR PART IN IT’ and it made me kind of side with Cloudpaw out of sheer spite. But this is so much better! Actual arguments! And REASONS! That make sense for why these kitty people are doing what they do and thinking how they think!

We always say the Erins were two steps to the left of greatness with these battlecats. I think they were actually two miles away, because they have never provided the characterization they need. I think they were two miles away because the premise is great, sure, and they can handle plot but they are incapable of making these cats feel like the people they are. The Warriors Clans in the original never felt like a community because every individual never felt like a living person and I think that’s a problem much farther than two steps away from greatness.

Anyways, all of this is to say: You’re doing great work and thank you for this latest update! I’ve been trying to comment more lately :D Share thoughts and stuff.

I absolutely adore these long, analytical asks. Thank you for this, and for so many compliments!

Fireheart is such a fun little guy to write specifically for his goodness, and how everyone around him interacts with that. It's not often that I get to handle a character as dedicated to compassion and love as him. His entire being is based around "I care" - that's something even his mother doesn't have, and she's the matriarch. There are a couple unique challenges to this that'll come along in the future, so I won't say anything here, but I am very interested to see how you feel about one of the last chapters in this book.

As for Cloudpaw, thank GOD I avoided the annoying aspect of it. His behavior and subplot in the books aggravated me to no end for a variety of reasons that I won't get into here, so I put a lot of work into justifying why he would do that in this version. With Fireheart's explanation of why stealing kittypet food is wrong, as well, I remember sitting down for a long moment with myself and slowly knitting together exactly why Fireheart would not approve of humoring kittypet stuff like that, when he's got the most understanding of that life out of anyone in the Clans. The fairness struck me, and that was his reason. The Clans definitely refuse wet food out of pride and discrimination first and foremost, and don't bother explaining it to kits beyond that, but if someone overheard Fireheart talking to Cloudpaw, they'd snap their fingers, point at him and go, "Exactly! Yes! That!" He managed to put into words a concept that the Clans subconsciously understand but don't really analyze to themselves.

For the Erins: honestly, yes, I agree. I could go on for YEARS about the characterizations and lack thereof in the books (someone remind me to rant about that at some point), and how much of the story could be so much greater and more natural if everyone had a consistent, present personality. And, honestly, that's what was the most wrong about the original Redux - no personalities for anyone. I spend a LOT of time stewing over the characters of everyone written in Iterum to make up for that. It brings me great joy to hear that my work has paid off!

[sawboans]

the fact that i have seen so many disingenuous takes on harding's banter with a romanced emmrich is wild, and maybe it's because the banter is actually part of a set and people aren't triggering the full conversation? but (more so on other social media) the jump to villainize her is genuinely surprising to me because i thought she made it pretty clear that she was coming from a place of concern - specifically, she was worried about emmrich.

whether it's reflected in the game or not (imo it isn't but that's another can of worms), he and rook are apparently moving fast, and a relationship between an older person and a younger person does in fact come along with some real considerations. not just how other people will see them, and how much this will change about their lives, though those are both also factors. i think in the case of emmrich and rook they're on even footing in a lot of other regards, but the prospect of emmrich dying first is absolutely on the table and, yeah, are we sure the guy with A Well-Known, Debilitating Fear Of Dying has thought that through fully?

their argument near the end of the game tells me that no, he hasn't. like... rook clearly has. they're confused why the issue is getting brought up at all after so long of already being together. but emmrich spends the whole game talking about how real, lasting romance was a dream he never quite reached, and goes on about summer companionships and failed courting attempts, and says he and rook are just exploring things and the game uses words like paramour and companion, significantly not anything more permanent. he hasn't even reached the point of saying the big scary L word (and doesn't until basically right before the final battle). he has been avoiding thinking about the specifics of a long-term, committed relationship with rook and rook can call him out on it during their argument - it's because he's scared. and harding is pointing that out; that he jumped into this relationship because rook was just so exciting and now they're running at, as she says, full gallop without looking out for branches, aka the genuine considerations of what this will entail for them moving forward. even if the banters with harding had never happened emmrich was always going to have a crisis about this - she says he's been mopey and distracted, it's clearly been weighing on his mind, and the night before tearstone island is when it comes to a head because if they pull this off, if the threat of the gods is over, then what will he and rook do? plan for the future? god forbid. no wonder he's such a bitch during the argument, he's trying to get rook to cut things off so he doesn't have to (because deep down he doesn't want to, he's just trying to pull the emergency brake)

anyway tl;dr imo harding was showing real concern about how emmrich is approaching the relationship and was fair to point it out. if you bring the two of them around often enough to hear their banter, they actually seem like very good friends (they dig into each other's pasts and interests more than a lot of the other companions and harding asks him for quite a bit of advice, emmrich asks her in turn for a lot of reflection on her connection to the titans... he even starts to take care of her plants if she dies) and i would fully expect my friends to bring up this sort of thing if i was in his situation because it's coming from a place of care. you can interpret that as misguided if you want, but even if she's romancing taash it doesn't necessarily come across as hypocritical to me - maybe taash and harding have already discussed their circumstances and worked through it, but it's clear that emmrich has not.

[hyperpotamianarch]

So, Jewish Fantasy! A very nebulous idea that tries to catch form in many different ways. I don't know much about how it works outside of Israel - I saved the recommendation list that circulated around here but didn't try anything from it yet (outside of Spinning Silver, which I read before I ever saw the list). So, if anything of what I say seems ludicrous to you because you've seen a book that does it well - don't hesitate to recommend it to me! Though I'm not sure how applicable it will be for what I'm about to say.

There are a couple of angles from which one can try to get at Jewish Fantasy: through using Jewish folklore and myth as a basis for your story, through using Jewish characters or by writing out of a Jewish cultural context. In certain stories, different angles tend to be more pronounced - Charashta is based on Midrashim and Jewish folklore, Spinning Silver has Jewish characters, and Agam HaTzlalim is written out of some degree of Jewish culture. Yeah, two of those are Israeli books that weren't translated, feel free to give alternative examples but those are the only one I can safely talk about since I've actually read them.

I could elaborate more on that, but what actually made me want to write a post on the topic was a post about how so much of Fantasy is Greek (in a way) and Sci-Fi is Roman. And that made me think, what about Jewish Fantasy? And while this is a topic I've thought of and been somewhat involved in conversations on for some time now, this is looking at it from a particular angle. An angle which could be examplified by the simple question: why is there no Jewish Disney Princess?

All right, all right, settle down. I know about the Vanollope von Schweetz thing. Quite frankly, considering the source for it is the word of the actress and that it has no effect on the story whatsoever, I think I'm fine with ignoring it. Feel free to shout at me in the comments, hopefully the rest of the post will explain this better.

You see, the problem is that Disney Princesses mostly come from stories about Medieval Europe, and in that particular time and place "Jewish" and "royalty" were inherently contradictory. A Jewish girl couldn't have been a princess, because Jewish communities were never a part of the ruling class. At least not in medieval Europe.

Now the reason what I'm saying is rubbish is because of other contradictory examples, like Mulan or Tiana, and maybe Pocahontas or Esmeralda. And based off of those examples I could probably whip up a couple of ideas on how to do an interesting Jewish Princess story - base it on the Book of Judith, for example, or offer a Jewish twist on some European folktales (which might be hard considering some of them actually have straight up Jewish characters playing as the villains), or... have a movie about Jews assimilating into European culture... Yeah, I can see why Pocahontas or the Hunchback of Notre-Dame might feel a little uncomfortable. But the point is: Fantasy is based on Medieval times, and Jews' role during that time wasn't one of royalty.

You can't really write a medieval Jewish kingdom, because there wasn't really any. And yes, many people try using the Khazarians for that. However, their kingdom was only Jewish for a century, maybe, before it was completely destroyed. Plus, we barely have any data on what it looked like, and its culture was likely very different from Jewish culture. So the medieval presentation of Jews would have to be of a persecuted minority. That, essentially, is what we see in Spinning Silver: a Jewish family in medieval times, a member of which serves as our protagonist. And Maryem is pretty much constantly angry about the antisemitism flourishing all around her. So I suppose that could be an example to follow - along with the stories about Maharal of Prague and the Golem, fighting blood libels.

So, you can portray Jews as an oppressed minority, constantly fighting their persecution. An alternative could probably be following the example of Ḥassidic stories, talking about the Rebbe, the Renter, the Trader and the Widow (regular character archetypes in such tales). You could have the antagonist be the local Pariz, nobleman, or perhaps the gentile that decided to be a robber, or occasionally a fellow Jew who out-leassed your protagonist from their home. All regular tropes in the day-to-day life of an... (checks notes) early modern Eastern Europen Jew? Huh. I suppose it's not exactly the same period.

Either way, if you want your story to be more fuly Jewish, to not always play against the backdrop of a non-Jewish kingdom, you have some interesting options. The first question would be: are you taking from the past or the present? If you choose present, well, you can choose between Diasporan or Israeli culture. In addition, this will more or less constrain you to some type of Urban Fantasy or other Hidden World stories, with not much of an option to delve into Epic Fantasy. If that's what you want to do - great! Go ahead and do that. Personally, I have some degree of a problem with how I've seen Israeli culture portrayed in stories so far, but that's a story unto itself.

If you choose past... well... Jewish history is nothing if not long. And if we're really trying to make a more Jewish backdrop, we'll probably need to pull from Jewish independant states or kingdoms. Of which there are a couple that can be used - Ancient Israel throughout the time of the Tanach, from the Judges through the first kings and the divided kingdoms of Judea and Israel; Yehud Medinta, which while it existed under the Persians had a Jewish governor for certain periods; the Hasmonean Dynasty, with all its ups and downs; the Kingdom of Adiabene, which converted to Judaism for a time; some short-lived Jewish independant states in defiance of the Romans; and of course, the infamous Kingdom of Khazar. There are also legendary kingdoms of the lost 10 tribes, which could possibly work as interesting additions. It is also important to note that in the Tanachic period I included a pretty vast array of periods, including the Judges (periodical local saviors and heroes), the House of Sha'ul (which isn't too easy to characterize), the Davidic Dynasty (Temple! Prophets! A bloodline promised to last! Evrything you might want from a kingdom), and the Kingdom of Israel (a couple of dynasties have their own characteristics, but most didn't survive for long).

Maybe I'll try my hand in suggesting what a kingdom based on the Hasmonean Dynasty could look like later. For now, let us start with: there is no medieval Jewish kingdom, so we'll take one from the Hellenistic period or from the Bronze Age to cover it up! Either that, or we'll try figuring out the structure of the early medieval kingdom that converted to Judaism that one time.

I'm not sure how much of a point I made, really. Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

[neysaadept]

Prometheus Chapter 10

Emily Prentiss x Female CIA Reader

Chapter 10 - Ladies' Night

Side note- I love how the gif is five shots 🥳

Tags: Limited use of y/n but established last name. Swearing, mentions of the pandemic and human and sex trafficking. Canon typical violence. Sexual innuendos. Drinking. Smoking. Slow Burn. Murder. Depictions of Flaying. Implied Rape. Mentions of Date Rape Drugs. Strangulation. Restraints. Mental Institutions. PTSD. Childhood trauma. Psychological Trauma. Implied references to child abuse. Mentions of Arson. Religious Discussion. Mentions of Religious Extremism. Mentions of Suicide Bombings. Minors DNI.

Word Count: 2.9k (Shorter chapter but I think has a lot of meat to it)

AO3

Chapter 9

“So how long we waiting for Emily to show up?” asks Tara. “She said she’s coming, right?”

Penelope nods. “Yes! She did. Ugh, she better not be working late. She promised!”

JJ has her phone out to text her. “I’m sure she’s running late and not being an ass staying at work. If she is, I’ll personally kill her this time.”

All three of them had arrived at the Fireside Lounge roughly the same time and pushed two high top tables together with five chairs surrounding them. They had waited on ordering drinks until they were all together but after twenty minutes and Prentiss being a no show, the ladies were getting restless.

“Ah! She says she’ll be here in fifteen. Apologizes for running late and will explain why when she gets here,” JJ announces, pleased. “Won’t have to kill her.”

“JJ …” Penelope whines. “I know you’re joking, but our Emily makes such jokes almost realities so, please don’t?”

“Yes, yes. Sorry. I only say it out of love though.”

“Which I can’t really blame her,” says Tara with a grin. “We do love our Prentiss.”

“Fine, yes. Hooray! We love, Emily. Speaking of Emily,” Penelope starts looking right at JJ, “and to change the subject…” She brings her arms atop the table and her body is thrumming with gossip, “… did you totally see her eying our cutie today?”

“Eying?” Tara chuckles. “You mean ogling. But it got her off our backs for going MIA on her. I don’t think Whitlock even noticed.”

“Yeah, have to agree there. She didn’t notice a thing,” confirms JJ.

“I’m surprised you were even paying attention, Jareau. Especially with all that trash talk you were doing,” taunts Tara.

“Oh please. I’m like a bloodhound when Emily shows even the slightest interest in anyone. Which has been a long fucking time. Even before the pandemic.”

“And her last serious relationship was with that girl Goodman before she got transferred to the Dallas office. Girl wanted to U-Haul Prentiss something fierce,” Tara says with a cackle.

Melanie Goodman was an FBI special agent the team met during a local case. Her and Prentiss hit it off, but Goodman wanted a lot more very quickly. In typical fashion, Prentiss dragged her feet on what she wanted, and when Goodman got a promotion to head up the Dallas office, she wanted Emily to come along. Thus, concluding that relationship. But truthfully, the two of them were doomed from the start. Emily wasn’t ready to open her heart and just wanted a physical relationship, then maybe see how things were going. And as she was bad at communicating her needs, so the relationship crashed and burned the night before Goodman’s flight out to Dallas with a huge argument.

“Well, she is looking to get some,” says JJ offhandedly that makes Penelope smack her arm. “Ow! Hey!”

“Spill!”

“It was nothing. Really!” JJ defends herself when Garcia stares her down. “Just an off the cuff comment about not getting laid. One of the few people at the office not getting any.”

“Interesting …” Garcia looks to Tara. “Anything you can add to this?”

Tara looks confused. “Like what?”

“You and Rebecca had dinner with Whitlock. Know any, I dunno, preferences?” Garcia presses.

“Preferences for what?” But then Tara realizes what Garcia was fishing for and holds up a finger. “Oh no. We are not playing matchmaker with these two.”

“So, she does like women?!” squeals Penelope.

“No, no, no, no! I did not say that,” Tara states firmly but then starts bobbing her head in thought. “Though probably, yeah.”

“What do you mean?” asks Penelope with a shrill.

“Because she’s queer considering the story they told me.”

JJ looks with interest, raising her brows. “Which was… ?”

With the two of them looking pathetically expectantly, Tara gave in. And Whitlock didn’t mind Rebecca telling the story of how the two of them met, so there’s no reason to not believe that it would have circulated already within the BAU family.

“Alright, it’s about how the two of them met. Her and Rebecca.” Tara starts to explain, and JJ and Penelope lean in closer, absorbed by the story. “They were set up on a potential date. Bunch of girls at the DOJ wanted to hang out and used that as pretense. What they were really trying to do was set up my girl and Whitlock.”

“Aaaaaaand?!” Penelope’s desire for gossip was making her impatient which made JJ snigger.

“Calm down, Pen! Give me a chance to explain the whole story!” scolds Tara. “Now, both of them didn’t know Rebecca’s friend Mandy, who’s also friends with Whitlock, was trying to get them together for awhile and the mastermind behind it all. They all show up at a bar and of course everyone is making sure there’s a chair open by Rebecca for our girl to take. Both of them play stupid as to what was really going on. But at one point, they go get some more drinks at the bar and basically end up apologizing for Mandy at the same time and laugh it off. They said they realized they’ll probably end up being good friends at that point.”

“That’s kind of adorable,” JJ says with gleam in her eyes. “No wonder they’ve kept in touch for so long.”

“Exactly. But that’s not even the best part.”

Penelope claps. “And here we go.”

“So, the next day they’re at work together, they’re pretending they hit it off and are dating.” JJ and Penelope start laughing. “They do this for a whole week just to mess with this Mandy. I guess this girl would not take no for an answer. Kept meddling getting them together for a while, or whatever. So, they give her what she wanted. Put on a whole show for her when Whitlock visited Rebecca at work. Our girl even sent her flowers! Can you believe that?”

“I already loved her and now, I love her more,” Penelope declares firmly.

JJ has to agree. “She goes all in on things, huh?”

Tara nods, “Whitlock confirmed that at dinner. She loves getting into mischief with the right people. They were wondering how far they could take it, but Mandy finally figured out she was being fucked with. She was so embarrassed and never talked to them again.”

“How’d she find out?” asks JJ.

“By overhearing us without our knowledge,” you said, sneakily coming in with Prentiss. “Poor work on my part considering I’m CIA. Utterly embarrassing.”

“AAAHHH! YOU’RE HERE!” Penelope shrieks with pure joy and jumps off her stool to squeeze you tightly. “You said you couldn’t come, but you’re here!”

You half cough and half laugh, looking to Prentiss who has to sidestep away from you since Penelope’s forceful hug almost knocked you into her. “Yeah, well …”

But you didn’t have to come up with anything to say as she did it for you. “New boss asked old boss for some leeway. I basically pulled the we used to work together card.” She offers. “And Korogoth didn’t mind at all.”

You smile with gratitude at the partial truth given by her, humbled that Prentiss was doing that for you in front of her longtime friends and coworkers. That wave of affection for the section chief came over you once more and you had to look away from her. You weren’t sure what to say but JJ saves you.

“Now I feel bad for taking your fifty, Whitlock.”

Penelope finally relinquishes her hug and wraps an arm around yours, leading you to the chair by hers. Prentiss takes a seat between you and Tara. “Well, I can always take it back …” you offer candidly but JJ just laughs.

“I’m not feeling that bad. Ah!” She threatens a finger towards you. “Don’t sit yet. Come with me to get drinks. There’s five of us now and I need help.”

“Happy to.” You slide free from between Penelope and Prentiss and walk off with JJ to get the first round.

That left Penelope and Tara staring down Emily who looks befuddled at the scrutiny. “What?”

“Lotta effort getting Whitlock here. Not that we’re minding her company,” starts Tara which only made Emily lean forward with scrutinizing eyes as to where this was going.

“Really wanted her here for girls’ night, huh?” Penelope says with a knowing look.

“Well, yeah. Of course I did.” She sits up straighter on the chair, tapping the table idly. “She’s supposed to be on vacation and ends up helping us. Last thing she needs is working double duty.”

Penelope and Tara share a look that Emily notices. “Okay, what?”

Tara decides to get her to explain further. “Is that all? Just being a concerned boss?”

“What else could it possibly be?” she asks, hoping this isn’t going where she fears it is. She didn’t forget how Penelope was looking at her yesterday during the spar.

“Uh, the cutie over there by the bar, of course!” Penelope accuses.

Damn it!

“There’s a lot of people by the bar,” she deflects.

“To clarify, the CIA operative that you found so hot yesterday, it made you forget you were mad at the entire unit and then … joined in on the betting,” Tara reminds with a haughty smile.

Emily inwardly sighs once again regretting she works with a bunch of profilers. It wouldn’t matter if she tried to deny what happened earlier. She couldn’t lie to herself about the budding attraction she had for you, especially after your conversation together on the drive here.

“How long were you a spy?” The ride had been quiet, but this question was weighing on your mind.

“You don’t know?” she says with surprise, coming to stop at a redlight.

You look at her cheekily. “I know a lot of things, but not everything. Besides, I rather hear it from you.”

She chuckles. “Fair enough. Close to nine years.”

You nod. “Long time.”

“Not as long as you,” she counters.

“True.” You didn’t even hide your vocation anymore. Prentiss had a way of disarming you and Brian gave her a bit of clearance. “How do you know Brian?”

“Pardon?”

You look at her suspiciously. “You heard me just fine, Prentiss. He doesn’t just let anyone know about me. Even with section chief cred. He trusts you.” You catch Prentiss’ gaze when she looks to you expectantly and you simply ask, “Why?”

She is forced to look away as the light turns green and starts driving again. “Our paths crossed when I worked Interpol. We collaborated on a case.”

You repeatedly nod at that while bringing your attention forward. As you are aware the ending of the Doyle case meant Prentiss being transferred to the FBI, that meant this was a case prior to that three-year stint. “That was a while ago.”

“Yes, it was.” She says it with melancholic introspection. She shifts gears, taking a chance. “What were you up to back then?”

“Define back then. I like specifics.”

“2002.”

“Investigating suicide bombings in Israel.”

Prentiss winces, knowing it was a bad year for those bombings. “That was a really rough year.”

That year and the next were bloody. It took combined efforts of the US Department of Defense, Interpol and the Isreal government to determine Iran, Iraq and Libya were involved in those terror attacks.* You worked with the bomb units identifying materials and tracing it back to the source. Following that, you found the money trail, which led to names that were given to the respective governments involved in the investigations.

You understand the logical themes behind religion and its ability to bring individuals in. They provide community, a sense of purpose and belonging, and a truth to why you are on this planet. People that have little control in their life are easily swayed to something that has strict rules and a way of life to explain all of its uncertainties. But then you have these charismatic leaders that swoop in and promise you eternal glory by blowing yourself up and murdering others. They only cared about power and control.

You weren’t religious before your recruitment, and you certainly saw no need to be after witnessing the horrors of the world.

Prentiss looked at you quickly, wondering why you suddenly went quiet. She felt her comment was open ended and shouldn’t have tripped you up. “You okay there, Whitlock?”

You look at her and brazenly ask a personal question. “You religious?”

“Ah …” She fumbles at the complicated question. “I was raised Catholic.”

“That doesn’t tell me if you’re religious,” you point out immediately.

“Are you?”

The deflection was an unspoken admission of a tricky relationship with faith. “I believe there’s evil in the world and it’s up to people like us to stop it. Seen too much to think otherwise.”

Caused too much of it to be absolved by any fucking deity anyway … you thought regretfully.

Prentiss makes a long face as she tries to interpret that response. She didn’t want to discount your reasoning for feeling this way because there is truth to your words. “I can understand that.”

You cross your arms defensively as you allow the same vulnerability to come out like it did back at the apartment. “And … helps calm the demons inside. Helping the helpless, ya know?”

Which Prentiss did. She admitted as much on the jet and now agreed with a darkened tone. “I do.”

The ease in which she talks with you and the spoken and unspoken cues that you truly understood her without detailed explanations were astounding to her. She had deep connections with members of the BAU as close friends who were found family, JJ especially so, but not once did a romantic relationship blossom into something close to that level of transparency. Admittedly, there was that potential with you.

“I’m her boss.” She hears how lame that is as do the others.

“She’s a consultant and reports to Korogoth at the end of the day,” counters Tara. “Try again.”

“We don’t know if she’s into women.”

“Good chance she is,” says Penelope and Emily’s eyes widen in question to which she is happy to provide. “How Whitlock and Wilson met. Next!”

“Whoa, back it up.” This was genuine interest and not an attempt to sidestep around the conversation. “What do you mean that’s how they met?”

“Oh, I know what this is about,” you say while playing waitress and handing out the sunset shots with JJ. She insisted on fun fruity shots, not something boring.  “This about me and Rebecca.”

“That was pretty funny.” JJ playfully scrunches her nose. “Especially when you sent her flowers.”

“Sent flowers to who?” asks a confused Emily.

Penelope and Tara answer together. “Rebecca.”

“Wait.” Emily pushes against the table so she can angle herself to look at you as you sit down beside her. “You and Rebecca dated?’

Everyone at the table begins laughing, leaving Emily put out. “Guys! Can someone please tell me what’s so funny?”

“Sorry, Emily,” you say, trying to calm your laughs, but then end up laughing harder seeing how dour the section chief’s expression is. It was cute how Emily hated being the last to understand something.

“Guys …” Emily says, gritting her teeth.

“Okay, okay!” Tara manages to control herself first. “The two of them didn’t date. But, they were set up.”

“In a bullshit way.” You sit back in a huff as you explain further. “We didn’t even know it was supposed to be a date. Just some hanging out with friends. But this girl …” You snap your fingers trying to jog your memory. “What the fuck was her name …?”

“Mandy,” supplies Penelope quite quickly, proving she still deserves being the queen of gossip recollection.

“Oh my god, yes! That’s her name. Mandy!” You chuckle. “Yeah, so she did this after I told her I wasn’t interested in dating anyone, but not listening, went behind my back. Rebecca wasn’t thrilled either, so we played pretend girlfriends.”

Emily holds her head and starts to laugh. “And knowing you …”

“I was all in. Ah …” you grin, playing with the shot glass. “Rebecca being so cool with it is why I knew we’d be good friends.”

With you wistfully looking down, Penelope looks right at Emily and mouths a silent, ‘Gay!’ which makes her blush and JJ fights a laugh seeing that exchange.

“Well, I think I can speak for all of us here, and not just because me and Rebecca are together, that we’re all happy that friendship happened. Because if not, you wouldn’t be here,” Tara says with sincerity, and then shrugs mischievously. “But I guess Emily’s got something to do with that too.”

You roll your eyes. “Oh, for fuck’s safe. Are we drinking or not? Because you profilers talk too damn much.”

There was a chorus of oohs around the table at the dig, but Penelope slaps it with purpose. “She’s right. This is girls’ night out and we haven’t had one drink! Time to fix that. Ladies!”

The five of you take your shot glasses and follow Penelope’s lead by lifting them up for a toast. “To Whitlock finally having a proper night out with us.”

“Cheers!” everyone says, including you, before clinking your glasses together and knocking back the first round of drinks.

RE: Amateur Fire Start Up

KarmaKat: Gasoline. Lots. Won’t be suspicious when getting it.

               Replying to KarmaKat and w@mpum@:

               FlamePit23: Don’t listen to him. More isn’t better. Gas is good but need proper accelerants placed in key locations. That is what gives you the desired effect you’re looking for.

                              Replying to FlamePit23, KarmaKat and w@mpum@:

                                             User45125: As always, you got solid recommendations. Good to see you back.

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@unkonw00 @ara-a-bird @rayisaknight @sevyscoven @maybe-a-humanbean @unoreverselu @fluffypalmtree

[wordsandrobots]

#Judau's journey is also interesting to compare to Amuro and Kamille's because he's very internal compared to them#we don't get quite the same view into his head that we get with his predecessors#and that can make his feelings on certain things harder to ascertain

So, thinking about this and the posts you added these tags on, @kaxtwenty, one of the important things to consider with Judau is that he begins much less innocent than either Amuro or Kamille. Not in the delinquent sense, because let's face it, the previous protagonists were hardly model citizens on their best days, but in that he starts off living with the explicit failures of the Universal Century.

Shangri-La is the first space colony. Number 1 in Side 1. And it's a dilapidated wreck, worn down by years of neglect and war. Amuro and Kamille had rough family situations and unstable lives caused by their parents working in the military-industrial complex. Judau's parents had to leave him and Leina behind because they couldn't find employment on Shangri-La and needed to travel elsewhere to have a hope of supporting their kids. Even that isn't enough and Judau has to work as well in the hopes of giving his sister a better life, making the exact same decision as his parents and developing his 'adults suck' attitude as a result.

So while he doesn't see his entire colony devastated in episode 1, and doesn't have his parents murdered in front of him, he's hardly ignorant of the ways his society screws people over. His apparent self-centredness -- for a long while, most of his actions are framed around what benefits him -- is less a case of needing to learn to value his community and accept his duty, and more a response to circumstances that require him to pay attention to what will keep his family afloat. His loyalty to *his* people, which comes to include everybody aboard the Argama and a lot more besides, is the other side of the same coin.

And the really interesting thing is that this evolves into making the case for having faith in humanity en mass rather than elevating certain bloodlines (Glemy) or otherwise isolating yourself from the wider population (Haman). Judau *doesn't* set aside his personal feelings for the greater good; his desire to protect his sister and his friends, his horror at Neo Zeon's actions, his anger at the callousness of the AEUG, these all feed into him taking the stance that 'thinking with your head' (e.g. going along with some higher-level plan, trusting the chain of command, being cold-blooded about sacrifices 'necessary' for the future) is a crock of shit.

Judau is stated as hiding his real feelings behind a joking surface attitude. But when things come to the crunch and he starts telling people what he believes, it's a refutation of things that dragged Kamille deeper and deeper towards his breaking point, and a return to Amuro's arguments against Char at A Baoa Qu. Judau does not let people slap him or 'correct' him. He does not learn to trust that a commander will see the battlefield more clearly. He is not forced to reluctantly murder his fellow (cyber)Newtypes because there's no choice. He's trying to reach Chara and Ple right to the end. He never stops trying to convince *Haman Karn* to change her mind.

In a lot of ways this is futile. The adults in the room don't get it. Bound by their blinkered need to control the world, they never will.

Except Bright, of course, who has been here since the start, seen the same failures of the Universal Century Judau grew up with, and who commanded successive waves of children in battle, only for nothing, ultimately, to change.

Judau's feelings might not alter the facts. He's still right and he was right from the very start. He always acted for the benefit of others and he always knew the world was rotten. His journey -- his loss of innocence when it comes to fighting and killing, every encounter with others trying to survive the meat-grinder -- merely allows him to articulate why.

if Zeta Gundam centers around Kamille and his growth into an adult who accepts the brunt of society's burden on him, then Gundam ZZ is inversely about Judau's loss of innocence in the face of the same burden. In this essay, I will-

[14dayswithyou]

tell ren to turn his location on👉👈

I saw one of the posts of how ren does get jealous of pets being loved over him and alll that so now I have the thought of the one meme of ‘ah yes, me, my partner and their [enter normal pet size] foot [pet]’

I don’t have anything else, it did pop into my head though and I thought I’d share with the class.

⌞♥⌝ ItsNotVivy on Twitter actually made that exact meme with Ren a looong time ago!!

[sage-nebula]

Kristoph Gavin's black psyche-locks have remained unbroken for 17 slutty, slutty years.

[faunandfloraas]

Seungmin saying they changed song by so it would be easier for people to watch and listen and then me seeing people going "Yes! It's good it's on tiktok and shorts now" and I'm like. Oh. You're all so fucking stupid <3

[fcrafcrtnight]

"GOOD, BECAUSE I'D CHASE YOU. HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD IF I HAD TO. YOU'RE WORTH CHASING, GREEN." which.. it was not something that she had ever done for anyone. not at all and not in the slightest. elaine pederson was not the chaser - no, she liked to be chased. but in a way? he seemed to be chasing everything about that for her and no.. she didn't think that would be different anytime soon. leaning against him, she closed her eyes, leaning into the kiss a little more. this was not nice. it was more than that. it was.. CLOSE TO BEING EVERYTHING. "no complaints from me. pretty sure i hit the jackpot when i met you. couldn't get luckier than this, i don't think?"

moving on to kiss him again, because.. it was a reminder that he was here. that it was not too late. "i'd be honoured to meet her. truly. i.. my own mother was a nightmare, but.. my father's wife - yvonne, she.. she's the closest thing that i have to a real mom and.. she's here. she's simpler than my father. KINDER, TOO. I THINK YOU TWO WILL GET ALONG WONDERFULLY." and she wanted him to meet everyone that mattered to her. she wanted him in her life and by her side - right now and.. always. right? she had never been more sure of anything as she was of that much. "well.. i do have a few properties around town that are just laying there.

never got that much into real estate, so they're just.. not being used at the moment, but.. maybe we could use them for that? every corner in town - giving people a new place to call home. god, it's almost a slogan? I LOVE IT." it was the mention of the future that got her throat tightening for a second, remembering the talk with fiver. without thinking, she stood up out of a sudden, holding her hand out to him. "that's right. we do have that road ahead, but.. remember what i said about moments? I'M MAKING THIS ONE OF THEM. I'D LOVE FOR YOU TO SEE MY PLACE AND.. I HAVE A PRETTY NICE BALCONY. where we could eat dinner in and see the stars at the same time. INTERESTED? think it's time i prove those cooking skills of mine." mostly? she just didn't want to let go of him right now. @springbandit

Jake let out a low chuckle, arm shifting to pull her closer as she laced hers through his. "Run away? Not my style. I don't run from problems." He paused, his gaze softened as his free hand reached up to caress her cheek. "So, if anyone's stuck with anyone, it's you stuck with me." he leaned in, lips brushing hers in a slow, deliberate kiss. "But, I don't hear any complaints." Her mention of the fundraisers and her father only made his smile more cement, his confidence assured. "I'm sure I'll survive your galas, as long as I've got you running interference, at least. Hopefully, someday, you'll get to meet my mom. She was a nurse, so she'd probably want to hear all about your work." He paused, hand still lingering at her cheek, though his thoughts shifted briefly. He couldn't think of his mother without, of course, thinking of his father. Of that day when New Bern came for their throats. The chaos, the blood, the final moments with him before everything changed. Jake blinked, pulling himself out of his own head with a deep breath.

"Anyway," he said, clearing his throat. "I think renovating that old hotel is a great idea. Turning it into something that actually serves the community? That's the kind of thing this city needs." His voice steadied as he considered the logistics. "But, what if we took it a step further? Section the city off into quarters, each with its own hub just like that. Somewhere people can go when they need help; housing, food, information, whatever. Plus, it'd give us better intel, hiring locals to be the eyes and ears of each one. People who know their neighbours, know the streets. That way, we're not just building community, we're staying ahead of any...surprises." his tone shifted slightly but he shook it off, refocusing on her. "But, hey. That's all for down the road, right? Right now, we have plenty to keep us busy." His thumb traced along her cheek, smile softening. "And if you're in this for the long haul, then so am I. We'll figure it out. One hell-bent step at a time."

@fcrafcrtnight

[dangerous-advantage]

(Image description below 'read more' line.)

[Image ID: A four-by-four alignment chart on a white background with text descriptions to the left and to the top of the squares.

The top left description reads, "seems like they'd be good at parenting." The top right description reads, "seems like they'd be bad at parenting."

Then, from the top down, to the left of the squares, the other set of descriptions reads: "excellent child rearing instincts," and "never trust them with a child in your life."

Each of the four squares contains an image of a different character. At the top left is an image of Lan Wangji of the Mo Dao Zu Shi donghua. He sits between the descriptors "seems like they'd be good at parenting," and "excellent child rearing instincts."

In the top right square sits an image of Wei Wuxian, also of the Mo Dao Zu Shi donghua. He sits between the junction of "seems like they'd be bad at parenting" and "excellent child rearing instincts."

In the bottom left square is an image of Xie Lian from the Tian Guan Ci Fu manhua. He occupies the square with the captions, "seems like they'd be good at parenting" and "never trust them with a child in your life."

Finally, in the bottom left square, sits an image of Hua Cheng from the Tian Guan Ci Fu manhua. He occupies the junction between "seems like they'd be bad at parenting" and "never trust them with a child in your life". /End ID]

[fancrohw]

ok but My Adventures with Superman is SO GOOD THOUGH? like. sobbing on the floor, squeeing and screaming good????? this is a dc show that both knows dc and specifically KNOWS SUPERMAN. everything about it is so schmoopy and soft and dramatic and dire and silly and just ugh. I love it.

I'm so happy this show exists, I'm so happy we're getting a season 2 im so excited to see brainiac and whoever else they decide to bring in just AAAA